Home-baked biscuits enhance summer suppers

With warm weather settling in for the holiday weekend, it's the perfect time to use fresh fruits and herbs to enhance our meals.

Three fairly early garden arrivals are chives (mine are already tall enough to cut and use), strawberries and zucchini. Today we’ll feature them in our “muffin medley.” Enjoy!

Buttermilk Chive Drop Biscuits

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon EACH

salt and baking soda

1/3 cup butter

2 tablespoons minced chives

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and soda into a bowl. Cut in the butter and work in thoroughly until the dough is fine and mealy.

Stir in chives and then the buttermilk. Drop by large spoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 20 biscuits.

Note: When serving leftover biscuits, they are best reheated in the oven.

Zucchini Pesto Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

2/3 cup skim (or other) milk

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/4 cup minced fresh or 1 tablespoon dried crumbled basil leaves

1 large clove finely minced garlic

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup pine nuts (or finely chopped walnuts)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. Sift the flours, baking powder and salt all together into a large mixing bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, egg whites, milk, and oil until well blended. Add to flour mixture and stir just until well blended.

Stir in the zucchini, basil, garlic, cheese, and nuts. Fill each muffin cup nearly full of batter.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and spring back when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan, then serve at once. Makes 12 muffins.

Our photo shows a luscious take on strawberry shortcake. We give you the rich orange-tinged shortcake recipe, plus the how-to for strawberry compote for a dazzling, delectable creation that looks like whipped cream sandwiches atop sweet, juicy strawberries. Deliciously yummy!

Homemade Shortcakes

(for 10 party servings)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup sugar (plus additional for sprinkling)

2 tablespoons minced orange peel

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups chilled whipping cream, unwhipped

Preheat oven to 350; position the rack in the center of the oven. Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper. Blend all dry ingredients together by hand or in a processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add 1 cup of the cream and process until evenly moistened. Place in a large bowl and add 1/4 cup more of the cream, kneading gently just until dough forms.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of 3/4 inch.

With a floured 2-inch round cutter, cut out rounds, gathering unused dough and reforming so as to make 20 rounds. Place them on the prepared sheet, spacing evenly.

Brush tops with 1/4 cup cream; sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake until cooked through and beginning to brown about 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool to lukewarm.

Compote:

3 1-pint baskets strawberries, cleaned, hulled, sliced

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cinnamon sticks

Combine all items in a heavy medium saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened and will coat spoon thinly, about 15 minutes. Cool.

Whip remaining 1 1/2 cups cream in a large bowl to firm peaks. Spoon 1/3 cup compote into the bottom of each of 10 shallow dessert bowls.

Cut the shortcake in halves and arrange 2 shortcake bottom halves in each bowl (as pictured). Place a large dollop of whipped cream on each. Gently press the tops over. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

(Editor’s note: For many years, Valle Novak wrote gardening and cooking columns for the Daily Bee. “Weekend Gardener” and “Country Chef” became renowned for their humor, information, and common sense advice on how to do everything from planting to cooking. While she recently passed away, she has left behind a number of columns to share with and delight her many fans. This is one such column and was originally published on April 18, 2010.)