Tag: cheddar

These Savoury Biscuits are Sweet

Cheddar Sage BiscuitWe are very conscious of food waste in our house, so when we cook, we save vegetable scraps to make broth. We also roasted a chicken earlier in the week, and the carcass went into the stock pot to make chicken soup. Since I hadn’t made bread yet this week, I put together this batch of savoury whole-wheat cheddar and sage biscuits to go with the soup, and we ate the leftovers the next day for breakfast.

It’s an easy recipe, adapted from tea biscuits from a recipe book of my mom’s. You could probably make vegan substitutions such as chilled coconut oil for the butter, or soy cheese – my go-to expert is my friend Louise Spiteri at Vegan Footprints – but I used what I had on hand:

Preheat oven to 400F

Put 1 c (250ml) whole wheat flour, sifted with 1 T (15ml) baking powder in a large bowl. To this, cut in chilled butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. I used to use vegetable shortening but I would rather have an ingredient that is less-processed. When using butter, I generally use the salted kind but there is no additional salt in the recipe, except what occurs in the cheese.

Gently stir in 2T (30ml) chopped fresh sage or 2t (20ml) dried sage, plus 1/2c (125ml) grated sharp cheddar (or other hard, flavourful cheese as you like). Vegan cheese can be substituted.

Add 1/2c (125ml) almond milk and stir just until mixed. Drop onto cookie sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Makes 8 biscuits.

Our recipe used Canadian-milled flour from Rogers Foods, sage from our garden, and aged Ontario cheddar, purchased at St. Lawrence Market.

There's No Excuse for Bad Food

Around the world, and even around your town, there are people struggling to simply get enough to eat. Their food security is precarious at the best of times. But for most of us, the choice is between good-for-us food, and not-so-much. With all the shovelling and digging out we’ve had this winter, it would be easy to say we could “afford” the calories in some bad, unhealthy food. However we prefer to think of it this way: harsh conditions require the best food possible. This morning, multigrain toast (homemade) and a veggie scramble with local eggs and a judicious grating of PEI’s COWS aged cheddar.

Nutritious food seems expensive if you keep buying junk food. But if you replace the junk and plan wisely, you can eat well and have food left over to help your local food bank. So instead of overdoing, eat healthy, and think of how you can nourish someone else today.



Make Yourself Comfortable

Sometimes comfort food is what you need. I’d put tuna sandwiches on the menu plan, but it was a cold day. There were too many things on my plate.

Earlier in the week we had picked up some delicious Black River Cheddar at Better Bulk. It is creamy, crumbly, sharp, and completely awesome. It’s the kind of cheddar that makes anything better!

The melts started with some toasted whole wheat bread. For the topping (makes enough for four slices): 1 can of water-pack tuna, 1 tomato, diced, and a tablespoon or 15ml each of Dijon and light mayo. If you have some herbs, by all means, chop them in. I used dill. Mix this and put on the bread, on a broiler-proof pan. Grate on some cheddar. Under the broiler til bubbly, and you’re set. Don’t forget the pickle!