Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir

by Ruth Reichl

GINA MARIE’S CHEDDAR SCALLION BISCUITS (Adapted from Gourmet magazine) ••• 6 ounces cheddar cheese 3 tablespoons Parmesan (finely grated) 3 scallions ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter 1¾ cups all-purpose flour ¾ cup stone-ground cornmeal (not coarse) 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk (well shaken) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Butter a large baking sheet. Coarsely grate the cheddar; you should have about a cup and a half. Mix in the grated Parmesan. Chop the scallions—both the white and the green parts. Cut the cold butter into ½-inch cubes. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then cut in the butter with two knives until it’s about the size of peas. Stir in the cheese and the scallions and then gently mix in the buttermilk, just until the dough comes together. Drop the dough onto the baking sheet in twelve mounds, leaving space between them. Bake until fragrant and golden, about 15 minutes.