Palmabella's Passions

Shannon posted a recipe for Cheddar-Date Biscuits on Slow Talk. I am not a big fan of dates (even though they are grown and sold everywhere here in the desert). I of course thought...FIGS!

Cheese Date Biscuits!

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 c. packed)
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. cayenne
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. milk
1 8 oz. package whole pitted dates

Preheat oven to 375F. With a mixer beat together butter and cheese. Mix in flour, cayenne and salt. Add milk and stir until stiff dough forms. Wrap 1 tablespoon dough around each date, completely incasing date and forming small cylinder. Place on ungreased baking sheet (can be made ahead and refridgerated.) Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

I had cheddar, some blue cheese, and I ALWAYS have figs, so I decided to do a little taste test. I made half a batch using cheddar dough, and half a batch using blue cheese dough.

*In the blue cheese biscuits, I reduced the salt by half, and replaced the cayenne with ground black pepper. I also had half a cup of half&half (leftover from the bread pudding), and used this instead of milk, as I hate to use the skim milk for my coffee in baking.

Brad and I had the results for dinner with our butternut squash soup from Jerry's blog. (WHAT did I used to cook before Slow Talk recipes and food blogs?)
Butternut Squash Soup with Apple, Sage and Bacon

Results: Brad and I both LOVED the blue cheese-fig taste combination the best. I will use the rest of the blue cheese dough to make and freeze these tomorrow. The cheddar dough is wonderful, but I wouldn't combine it with figs. I'm thinking I'll use the cheddar dough with something else as the "surprise" in the center...a slice of apple? A piece of rolled up prosciutto? We shall see.