Okay, here is the first installment of my new summer series: Delicious Discovered.

We love visiting our local farmers market on Saturdays during the summer. Farmers and local vendors gather to sell their cookies, veggies, fruits, flowers, meats, and dairy products to our community. What could be better than fresh summer produce organically grown local and practically delivered to your door. Well, about .7 miles away from our door.

Our market opens at 8 and runs until 12 or until the produce is gone and the crowds have wandered home. Our market is open from May until October and its inventory varies from week to week as the growing season progresses. You never know what you are going to find.

In the past I have signed up for CSAs (community supported agriculture) to help support local farmers and purchase our organic produce at a budget price. But our family has a difficult time eating seasonally, and I found we grew tired of 5 weeks of kolrabi. So this year I decided simply to head to the market and pick up what I needed for my menues that week.

What I did like about the CSA was the introduction to new veggies and fruits. So this summer I made a promise to myself, and my family, to try new vegetables, experiment with new ingredients, and invent new recipes. And I have decided to share them here with you.

I don’t know what I’ll find. I don’t know if we’ll like all that we try. And I don’t know if I’ll be successful in creating new culinary creations.

I plan to share a new recipe with you regularly, like once a week. I’ll aim to keep my recipes simple and quick to prepare (under 30 minutes) and budget friendly. Sorry, foie gras, truffles, and caviar aren’t going to make appearances here. (And I don’t believe these are local.) The dishes most certainly will all be gluten-free. And these recipes may be my own or adaptations of recipes others have published on the web.

If you try out a recipe here and love it, or well, would rather leave it, come back and let me know! I’d love to hear what you are doing to explore what savories this summer has to offer.

Here is the first installment: Ramp and Buttermilk Biscuits. And all I have to say is, “yum, yum, yum.” If this is at all a bit of foreshadowing of our summer culinary adventures, I am feeling hungry!

Ramp and Buttermilk Biscuits

Ramps are an early spring onion native to North America that grows wildly from South Carolina north to Canada. A cousin to the green onion and leek, ramps have a small white bulb, a slim purple stem and broad green leaves, and all parts are edible. To prepare, simply trim the root end and any unsightly foliage, rinse gently, and chop. Ramps are frequently used to flavor soups, dips, egg dishes and casseroles. These wild onions have a particularly strong garlic-y flavor, so consumers beware! Take a mint after delving into one of these savory biscuits!
These biscuits aren’t soft and squishy…but rather are crisp, crunchy, slightly chewy on the inside, and wonderfully garlic-y! This recipe is an adaptation of this ramp biscuit recipe from Epicurious and this buttermilk biscuit recipe from Gluten-Free Girl.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• /2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup white rice flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon scant xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon iodized salt (I usually use celtic sea salt, but this salt seemed to counter the sharp ramp flavors)
• 4 tablespoons butter (cold, cold, cold. Cut butter into tablespoons, and then each into 4 pieces. Keep in the fridge until needed.)
• 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup buttermilk +1T (cold, cold, cold)
• 1/2 C finely chopped ramps, rinsed and pat dry and chop bulbs, stems, and greens

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Combine all the flours, the baking powder, and the salt in the food processor. Pulse a few times to blend them together.

To cut the butter into the flour mixture, toss butter into the flour blend in the food processor and pulse a few times or until the butter is the the size of small peas. The mixture should look in no way wet, and only slightly crumbly.

Froth up the egg white with a fork or small whisk until pale and slightly bubbly.

Pour the egg white and the chopped ramps into the dry mixture in the food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Don’t overwork the dough and break down the butter. Pour the buttermilk into the dry mixture in three installments and pulse a few times in between to incorporate. With a rubber spatula, gently scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl and incorporate any crumbles into the moist dough mixture.

Drop small balls (about the size of a golf ball) of the biscuit dough onto an un-greased cookie sheet.  And place the tray in the oven.

Bake the biscuits for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Pluck them off the baking tray as soon as they are cool enough to handle and eat them hot!

Makes about 12 biscuits. Store leftovers (if you have any!) in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

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Savory Summer Salutations!

I have linked this recipe to Amy’s Simply Sugar & Gluten Free Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays blog carnival. I just love Amy’s blog. As a GF newbie, her tips and recipes have made my personal culinary journey a better one. Click on over and find out how other bloggers are cooking healthy in their kitchen.