Ugly Tomato-Scallion Shortcakes with Parmesan Cream {Pass the Cookbook}

It's Pass the Cookbook time again...this was all started by Kita, the culinary force Pass the Sushi blog. This month we had the option of cooking one of three recipes from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman - Cheddar Swirl Breakfast Buns, Tomato Scallion Shortcakes with Whipped Goat Cheese, or S'mores Layer Cake. I opted to do a twist on her shortcakes; goat cheese is verboten. Bleu is fine, sheeps' milk is fine. But I use goat cheese and they wrinkle their little noses with disdain. I'll expand their palates eventually. For now, I'll respect their 'no goat' preference.

Ugly Tomato-Scallion Shortcakes with Parmesan Cream

Adapted from Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen

For these, I opted to make drop biscuits - instead of rolled - and swapped out the whipping cream for a heartier sour cream. All three boys have this a thumbs up! Success.

Biscuits:

2 C + 2 T white whole wheat flour (plus some for dusting)

2 T baking powder

5 T butter, chilled, and cut into small cubes 

1 scallion, thinly sliced

 1 C whole milk

Tomato Salad:

1 T olive oil

1 1/2 T peach balsamic vinegar

freshly ground sea salt

freshly ground pepper

pinch of organic, granulated sugar

1-1/4 C diced ugly tomatoes

Toppings:

1/2 C organic sour cream

1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

 Greens from 2 scallions, thinly sliced
freshly ground salt
freshly ground pepper

Make the biscuits: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Using your fingertips, or a pastry blender, cut in the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir in the scallions. Add the whole milk and stir until evenly moistened. Drop biscuits on the parchment lined baking sheet, spacing 2” apart. Bake until golden brown on top, for about 15-20 minutes, rotating pan to ensure even baking half way through.

Make the tomato salad: In the bottom of a bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and black pepper. Dice the tomatoes and add them to the bowl. Toss gently.

Make the cream: In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream with the parmesan cheese.

Assemble the shortcakes: Split each warm biscuit in half, and generously spoon in the tomato salad. Top with the other half, then spoon on a dollop with the sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with scallion slivers, freshly ground salt, and freshly ground pepper. Eat immediately.