Tomato Scallion Biscuits

The cover of one of my favorite cookbooks, the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, features tomato scallion shortcakes.  I patiently have been waiting for tomato season to come so that I could have good tomatoes for this. :)

For whatever reason, I thought I needed buttermilk to make the biscuits and even made a special trip to get some.  Sure enough, you need only milk.  Since I had made that special trip, gosh darn it, I was going to use the buttermilk.  Because of the higher acid content in buttermilk, I changed the amount of baking powder used and added in baking soda.

The biscuits were fluffy and flaky with that buttermilk tang.  The tomato salad and ricotta cheese perfectly balanced out the biscuits.  This is an impressive dish, but it is not overly difficult.  This makes a perfect light summer dinner or a great appetizer.

Since I had recently made fresh ricotta cheese, I used that instead of the whipped goat cheese that Deb used.  I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with either.

Tomato Scallion Biscuits
Yields 6 biscuits

Scallion Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. (265 grams) all purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder, plus 1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. butter chilled and diced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425ºF.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.  Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients and mix until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Add in the scallion.  Then, add the buttermilk, and stir until evenly moistened.

Pat the dough out to a 1-inch thickness, and cut into six to eight 3-inch roads.  Arrange the biscuits on the parchment-lined sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.  Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt
Pinch of sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb. (1 1/3 cups or 225 grams) cherry or grape tomatoes

Directions:
In the bottom of a bowl, whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper.  Quarter the cherry tomatoes lengthwise, and add them to the bowl with the dressing.  Toss together gently.

Toppings
Ricotta cheese
3 tbsp. heavy cream whipped, and then add 4 oz. goat cheese

To serve, generously spoon the tomato salad with dressing on top of the biscuit, and dollop with ricotta cheese or whipped goat cheese.  Eat at once!

Source: Adapted with some modifications from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen Cookbook