Inside: Roasted mushrooms, walnuts, parsley and cheese. Outside: a biscuit-like crust made with whole wheat flour, toasted oats, rosemary, black pepper and buttermilk. I called these dumplings because of their shape, but it might be more accurate to call them stuffed biscuits. They’re not soft and flaky, like anything made with paté brisée. They’re a little heartier-tasting, so they’re nice with soup or something saucy. Or even a sauce! Like the herbed walnut sauce, perhaps. Each bite has subtle flavors of baked rosemary and black pepper, and you can pick them up and eat them with your hands! Always a bonus.

Here’s Big Joe Williams with King Biscuit Stomp

The crust…

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
6 t. cold butter cut in little pieces
1/2 t. salt
1 cup milk soured with 1 t. lemon juice, or buttermilk
2 t. baking powder
1 t. rosemary, chopped
1/2 t black pepper

Toast the oats in a small saucepan. Process them until they’re a rough meal texture.

Mix the flours, oats, salt, baking powder, rosemary, black pepper. Add the butter and mix with your hands till it’s blended in and the texture is like crumbs.

Add the milk and mix till you have a stiff dough. You might need to add a drop or two of cold water. Knead for a few minutes till the butter is incorporated thoroughly.

Wrap in plastic or foil and store in the fridge till you’re ready to shape the dumplings.

The filling….

Roasted mushrooms (I think I used closer to 16 ounces for this recipe)
1 cup walnuts – toasted and briefly processed. You want them in small pieces, but not completely broken down to a powder.
1 1/2 cups parsley – washed and chopped very fine
about 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs, made by processing fresh whole wheat bread
1/2 cup mozzarella, cut into tiny cubes
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar, grated
salt & pepper

1 egg, beaten

Mix the mushrooms, walnuts, cheese, bread crumbs, parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add all but about 2 t. of the beaten egg. Mix well.

To assemble…

Take the dough out of the fridge. Break off a handful (about the size of a large lemon) Roll it out to be about 1/4 inch thick and a 6 or 7 inches across. It doesn’t need to be perfectly round.

Put 2 heaping spoonfuls of filling in the middle… 1/2 to 3/4 cup. You want to leave about an inch all the way around. Fold the edges up and press together lightly.

Place the dumplings seam-side down on a baking sheet. Brush them each with the remaining eggwash and prick them twice with a fork.

Bake at 425 for about half an hour, till they’re brown and crispy.

Serve alongside soup or with walnut herb sauce.