Real Vermont Cooking

Cucumbers are such a great summer food. Radishes and scallions add some bite to this dish

Ingredients
2 cucumbers
4 radishes, thinly sliced
2 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
4 teaspoons seasoned vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon black and red pepper mix

Directions
Cut the cucumbers into quarters and remove the seeds. Cut the quarters into 1/2 inch thick slices.
Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl and keep cool until ready to serve.

These yummy biscuits are great for every day meals. You don’t need have to cut them from the dough, just drop spoonfuls onto your cookie sheet. This recipe makes about 1 dozen biscuits. You flatlanders and omit the pepper if you just want to have plain biscuits.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 stick butter, chilled
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup plus two tablespoons milk

Directions
Preheat your oven to 375.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into 1/4 inch or so slices and places into the bowl. Mix with a hand-mixer until the you have a mixture that resembles cornmeal (you may need to cover the bowl with a towel to keep the flour from flying everywhere).
In a separate smaller bowl, mix the yogurt and 1/3 cup of milk with a whisk and pour into the larger bowl. Mix with a fork until most of the liquid is absorbed, then add the pepper and remaining milk. Continue mixing until you have a consistent dough.
Drop the dough onto a cookie sheet by the spoonful. You should have enough dough to make 12 biscuits. Space them appropriately. Bake until the tippity tops are just turning golden brown, or around 17-19 minutes.
Serve warm with butter or jelly!

Ahh, rarebit. I’ve been told that the name is based on “Rabbit”, but with the phonology of the Scottish or Welsh retained. The Welsh part comes from the silly notion that Welshman would have a pot ready for their rabbit stew, but they would never be able to nab a rabbit. Not wanting the heated pot to go to waste, they would dump some cheese, beer and whatever else they could find to make “rabbit” stew. I can only imagine some 17th century Wendy’s lady going “Where’s the Rabbit?”

Moving on, this is snack is based on putting some cheese on toast, but with some kick! This is a great mid-day snack. Be careful about eating this just before going to bed, the gastro-instenstial effects of some of the ingredients have been known to cause nightmares in some people

Ingredients
2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup European* beer
2 tsp. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. paprika or red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 egg
4 slices toast

Directions
Cook cheese, beer, butter and dry ingredients in saucepan over a low heat until cheese is melted, and stir it every once in a while.

Next, take a bit (tablespoon or so) of the cheese sauce from saucepan and put into a small bowl, add the egg and beat together. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir until well blended. Continue cooking until it’s thickened.

Make your toast and spoon the sauce on it. Yum!

*Keep the intended taste of the sauce by using only European or like-minded beers that have some taste to them. Killians Irish Red is good. Samual Adams is good. Local micro-brews are probably good. Bud, Coors, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Corona, etc are NOT.

When I was a little girl, I remember walking past all those sap buckets on my way home from church and sneaking a drink of the fresh sap. These cookies have almost the same natural maple sweetness, but none of the stray pieces of bark!

Ingredients
1-2/3 cups flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 large egg
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and grease 2-3 baking sheets.

In medium bowl sift flour, baking powder and salt, then set it to the side.

In a large bowl, cream the shortening with the brown sugar until it’s fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup, egg, and vanilla until everything is well mixed. Grab the flour mixture, dump it in and stir until it’s just barely mixed and then stir in coconut.

Grab a teaspoon and scoop out the dough in balls onto the baking sheets about 2-inches apart. Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are a golden brown. Move the cookies to a wire rack and let them cool. Store in airtight jar with some bread to keep them soft and chewey.