Tag: biscuits

Food ‘n Flix – August: Osage County (Biscuits and Gravy Casserole)

Well Dined | Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

It’s Food ‘n Flix time again!  Where we watch a movie and then make something inspired by that movie.  This month’s flick is August: Osage County, hosted by Elliot’s Eats, and boy is it a doozy.

Well Dined | Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

I could tell immediately  from the dialogue that this was a play adaptation, and I was right.  The movie portrays the funeral of the patriarch of an extremely dysfunctional family, set in the desolate plains of Oklahoma.  The cast (including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Juliette Lewis) acted the crap out of some very dark and intense material – addiction, depression, suicide, abuse, and incest.  This is not a feel good movie (you know it’s bad when incest is the best scenario), but it is very good and it will make you think.

Well Dined | Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

As for the food inspiration – there was a ton!  Many of the most tortured scenes revolved around food, including the horrible funeral dinner and the infamous “eat the fish!” scene.  The moment that I was drawn to was Meryl Streep’s character talking about her last interaction with her husband over biscuits and gravy.  She must have said the phrase “biscuits and gravy” ten times.  I’m not even that big a fan of biscuits and gravy, but that was what I wanted to make.

I wanted to make something special, not basic, so I went to Pinterest thinking I would find an herbed biscuit recipe or something.  But what came up were a ton of recipes for biscuits and gravy casseroles.  I had never heard of that before and it sounded awesome!  Some were just biscuits, gravy, and cheese; but I liked the look of one that included eggs (kind of like a strata). (more…)

Tomato Cobbler with White Cheddar Biscuits

Well Dined | Tomato Cobbler with White Cheddar Biscuits

Through a combination of being really lazy and really busy, I haven’t been cooking that much at home lately.  Or at least anything new or interesting (I mean, how many vegetable pastas do you want to see, right?).  So I haven’t been posting very frequently, either.  Thank goodness for my lunches with Melissa, from Smells Like Brownies, or I wouldn’t be posting at all!  We made this savory tomato cobbler on a rainy day with terrible lighting, and it was just the right kind of comfort food.

Well Dined | Tomato Cobbler with White Cheddar Biscuits

Caramelized onions and cherry tomatoes get bound together with the help of a little flour, and flavored with balsamic vinegar and fresh basil.  I love using multi-colored cherry tomatoes, so pretty!

Well Dined | Tomato Cobbler with White Cheddar Biscuits

Then the mixture goes into a baking dish and into the oven.  We used the same cast iron skillet that we caramelized the onions in.

Well Dined | Tomato Cobbler with White Cheddar Biscuits

While the tomato mixture cooks, roll out and cut out some biscuits.  The dough, made savory with the help of sharp white cheddar and black pepper, will have been resting in the fridge while the filling was put together.  You want that butter cold in order to achieve maximum flakiness.  We used whey in place of buttermilk, because we will never run out of whey (so much whey). (more…)

Garlic Scapes

Well Dined | Garlic Scapes

I saw these guys at the Farmers Market and though, “What the heck are those?”  So out came the phone and Google searching commenced.  Garlic Scapes, as it turns out, are a shoot that grows out of the top of the garlic plant.  They need to be removed so that the plant can focus on growing the bulb instead of flowering.  This is fortunate, because the also happen to be insanely delicious.  They taste like garlic, but without the bite, and can be used like scallions.

Well Dined | Garlic Scapes

I bought myself a big handful and set about looking up recipes.  The most common way to use them is in a pesto, so of course I did not make that… because I’m weird.

Well Dined | Garlic Scape Carbonara

Instead, I made carbonara – with guanciale (cuz I’m legit) and peas (which put an end to my legit-ness, but I don’t care cuz I love peas).  You are probably wondering what the heck I am talking about, I don’t blame you.  Here is a link to a great article about the do’s and dont’s of real carbonara.  TLDR (too long, didn’t read for all you non-techies) – while bacon and pancetta are acceptable, guanciale is the best; peas are a definite don’t.

Well Dined | Garlic Scape and Gruyere Biscuits with Goat Butter

I also made biscuits – with garlic scapes, Gruyere, and goat butter (another new obsession of mine). (more…)