I hope you’re hungry! What a fun hour spent with author Lori Fredrich. We spoke about her writing journey and work highlight the relationships that go into our “field to fork” ecosystem.
These recipes are generously shared by Lori from her Wisconsin Field to Fork: Farm Fresh Recipes from the Dairy State” cookbook (Globe Pequot, 2023).
Lori is the Senior Food & Dining Writer for OnMilwaukee and the co-host of FoodCrush, a podcast “for people who eat.”
Her newest book, “Field to Fork: Farm Fresh Recipes from the Dairy State” was released in October of 2023. Lori is also the author of “Milwaukee Food: A History of Cream City Cuisine” (History Press).
You can learn more about Lori’s cookbook and writing by visiting her website.
Chive Blossom Biscuits
Chef Nathan Heck and Laura Maigatter, Hot Dish Pantry with peppers from PepperRich Farm
For the biscuits:
- 2 ⅕ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ¾ teaspoons sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoons black pepper
- ½ teaspoons mustard powder
- ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 8 chive blossom tops (remove purple blossoms from the stem and flower base)
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (chilled in the freezer for at least 1 hour)
- 3 tablespoons melted butter for brushing
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream
To prepare the butter and the pan: Chill the butter in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Make a cutting guide by taking a piece of parchment and drawing a roughly 4×8” rectangle on one side. Make lines down the center in both directions, extending the lines past the edge of the rectangle by about an inch. Flip that over and place the parchment paper in the bottom of a sheet pan. This will be your guide when you begin cutting.
Courtesy of Lori Fredrich, Wisconsin Field to Fork: Farm Fresh Recipes from the Dairy State
Generously sprinkle the parchment lined sheet tray with flour. Using a cheese grater, grate the chilled butter over the tray pausing regularly to toss the newly grated butter with flour to coat. Place the flour coated grated butter back into the freezer while preparing dry ingredients. Melt 3 tablespoons butter on stovetop and keep handy.
To prepare the biscuits: Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine flour, baking soda and powder, sugar, salt, pepper, mustard powder, garlic and chive blossoms in a large bowl and whisk evenly to incorporate. Remove butter from the freezer and toss it in the bowl with dry ingredients. Keep the parchment lined tray handy.
Add the sour cream and begin incorporating it into the flour. Continue until the dough begins to come together, but is still very shaggy. You do not want the dough to become soggy. If you are
able to take a clump of dough in your fist and it sticks together, you are good to go.
To layer the biscuits:
When the dough is still very shaggy, turn it out onto the parchment lined tray and begin to shape into a rectangle. Use the edges of the parchment to aid in shaping the sides of the dough into a rough rectangle about 4×8”. Do not worry if you have a bunch of dry schnibbles scattered around. They will be incorporated in the layering process.
Cut the rectangle in half, scoop up the dry pieces and place them on top of one side and then layer the other side over the one with the schnibbles, sandwiching the schnibbles in between. A bench scraper makes this process much easier. Then smash the two sides to flatten into another roughly 4×8” rectangle. Feel free to use a rolling pin for this part. Don’t worry if you have pieces falling around, you will neaten the block after the layering is over.
Repeat the layering process one more time and then clean up the edges and make sure your final shape is roughly 4×8” and is level on the top. Place your hand under the parchment and press into the sides of the rectangle to sharpen the edges. Try your best to center your rectangle over the guide you created at the beginning.
Cut the dough into 8 biscuits. First cut it in half lengthwise, then cut the new thin rectangles in half. Cut these in half again, making eight roughly 2×2 inch biscuits. This is much easier using the guidelines you created earlier. Once they are cut, place them 2 inches apart on the parchment and put the sheet pan into the freezer to set the butter. Once they have chilled for at least 10 minutes, they can go straight into the oven or be packaged to cook from frozen later.
Brush the biscuits with melted butter before placing them in the oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until dark golden brown. Brush with melted butter right after they are out of the oven. Sprinkle lightly with
sea salt. To bake biscuits from frozen: Follow the cooking instructions above, but bake for 21-25 minutes or until dark golden brown.
Sweet Cream Frozen Custard
Chef Kurt Fogle, Dairyland Old Fashioned Frozen Custard & Hamburgers with dairy from Sassy Cow Creamery
- 3 ¼ cups Sassy Cow whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups Sassy Cow heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons skim milk powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 egg yolks
- ¼ cup honey
Note: You want to get custard mix where it’s going quickly. Cook it quickly, cool it quickly, and
spin it quickly.
DIRECTIONS
- Before you begin, sanitize your workspace, your hands, and your utensils.
- Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and add the milk powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk in the egg yolks and honey.
- Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until it registers 185℉ on a candy thermometer. Remove the custard from the heat and strain it into a bowl over an ice bath to cool it down quickly. Stir to chill and store overnight in the refrigerator to mature.
- When ready to churn, use a hand blender, conventional blender –or at least a whisk – to mix the custard again before you pour it into the ice cream maker.
- Churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the finished ice cream to an airtight container and place in the freezer until ready to serve.
