My whole family has postponed our Christmas celebration to January. While this meant that we haven't quite felt that holiday spirit this year, it turns out it wasn't that bad of a decision. If my brother and his girlfriend had been flying home, they would have found themselves stuck on the west coast due to the recent weather. Let's hope that January, which tends to be snowier all around, doesn't throw us for a loop too!
Postponed family Christmas celebration means postponed traditional meals. On Christmas Eve we usually have sausage, cheese, dill bread and soup. Christmas morning brings caramel rolls and scrambled eggs. The Christmas Day meal is typically either ham or turkey. There was one Christmas where my mom and I tried to break with tradition and had an Indian meal one day and Cajun the next. I still haven't heard the end of the gastronomic adventures my weaker stomached family members experienced.
Since I have tradition to look forward to and I'm spending this Christmas Eve and Day with my brother and sister-in-law, we're covering the Puerto Rican traditions of my sister-in-law's family. If you haven't had the pleasure to eat good home cooked Puerto Rican food, you are missing out! Earlier this week Jen (my sister-in-law) made Frijoles con bollitas (stewed black eyed pea with green banana dumplings). It's one of my favorite Puerto dishes. Tonight, for Christmas Eve dinner we'll be having Alcapurrias (green banana and plantain dough filled with seasoned beef and deep fried). Tomorrow we'll be having pork roast seasoned with garlic, green olives and adobo. Yum!
This morning, while my brother, Kurt, and Jen went for a run, I made breakfast. I fried up the mashed potato filling from the varenyky like hash. I scrambled a few eggs and cooked some sausages. While all of that was delicious, it mainly played the role of accompanying my first attempt at Ginger Scones. Jen and I have both had Ginger Scones that we've loved. I wanted to capture the variety of tastes you can get from ginger in its many forms, so I used candied ginger, ground ginger, and freshly grated ginger. The only thing I would do differently is to squeeze the juice out of the grated ginger and not use the pulp. Oh, and follow the recipe accurately and not add an extra 1/4 c of butter (oops). What follows is an adaptation of a Buttermilk Scone recipe that my mother found online and which we've found to be the best basic scone recipe. I've marked the items I added with an asterisk. That way you can omit or change those to make your own creations.
Ginger Scones
3 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon*
1/2 tsp ground ginger*
3/4 c unsalted butter
1/2 c candied ginger, chopped*
1/4 c walnuts, chopped*
juice from 3 inches of fresh ginger, grated*
1 c plus a dash buttermilk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and ground ginger in a large mixing bowl and stir together well.
Cut butter into the dry ingredients until coarse meal is achieved.
Stir in candied ginger and walnuts.
Mix fresh ginger juice into buttermilk.
Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients.
Using a wooden spoon or stiff rubber spatula, gently mix. (I slide the spoon into the bowl along the edge, scooping up through the center.)
When everything is JUST moist, gather dough into your hands and gently form into a loose ball.
Divide dough in half.
With each half, pat into a loose ball then place on a lightly floured surface.
Pat ball flat to about 1 inch thick.
Cut each dough round into 8 wedges and arrange on cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until inside is dry and outside is only slightly browned.
Serve warm.
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Saturday, November 10, 2007
After losing my internet at home, I have been strongly neglecting my blog, but last night I devised a plan to finally update you on some of the recipes I’ve been making lately. Type the posts at home and upload them before work.
We begin this long journey into my recent past with a recipe for a Pasty potpie style. Some of my coworkers and I have created a cooking club and I was hosting the first round. We chose to do our club like a potluck, since we would be holding them on work nights. We also felt that a theme would help ensure that the foods would complement one another. The first theme was fall foods, which I was forced to enforce with certain individuals, who shall remain nameless, but had chosen the theme and suggested she bring a spring vegetable. Ahem. My strict enforcement of the theme prompted a rather unflattering association between myself and a certain WWII German political party. I, personally, had no trouble deciding what I was making. I had been craving a good pasty, but I had never made one and wasn’t quite sure what gave it its delicious flavor. Enter the internet and it’s perpetual eagerness to find what I needed in less than 4.832 seconds. I found that a generous helping of pepper and onion was the key, as was rutabaga. Done. Many of the recipes had their own pastry recipe, but our family has a tried and true recipe that I opted to use due to its dependability. I did alter the pastry recipe slightly, since I was out of sugar, but I did have some honey and it worked just as well. The pasty ended up tasting exactly how I wanted it to, thank you mom for teaching me how to smell for flavor, rather than tasting.
Pasty (potpie style)
1 double pie crust
1 lb ground pork
1 ½ onions, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large rutabaga, peeled and cubed a little smaller than the potato, but not as small as the carrots
freshly ground black pepper to taste (somewhere between 2 tsp and 1 tbsp)
salt to taste (about 1 tsp)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place the ground pork and onions in a cast iron skillet and cook over medium heat. You do not want the pork to brown, but you do want it to cook all the way through. Stir it often enough to prevent browning.
In a large pot, put the potatoes, carrots and rutabaga, covering with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat a bit so that it does not boil over, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop cooking.
Once the pork is cooked through, mix in the cooked vegetables and add the black pepper and salt. Smell the mixture, you should smell a good amount of pepper. If you don’t, add more. Then add about ¼ c water to moisten the mixture a bit.
Roll out one half of the pie crust and place in a 9x9 baking dish. Pour in the filling (I ended up with a little extra. My dog loved that!). Roll out the second crust for the top. Before laying the second crust on top of the mixture, use some cool water and moisten the edges of the bottom crust, along the rim of the baking dish. Gently roll the second crust onto your rolling pin and lay over the pie. Gently press down when you moistened the bottom crust. Trim both crusts so that you have just over 1 inch of crust over hanging. Roll under and crimp the edges. Use a sharp knife to slice a couple slits in the top of the crust.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden.
One of my coworkers is engages to the son of cranberry grower, which means that at harvest time she kindly brought many of use a bag of fresh cranberries. Yum! I used them to make Cranberry Walnut Pancakes, a fruit cobbler and a filling for crepes. The cobbler came of another day where I was trying to make something from what I had in the house while also attempting to sate a sweets craving. I’ve been making crepes on the weekends recently. They are just so delicious. I’m going to share the fruit cobbler recipe I made and how I’m going to make my next batch of crepes.
Fall Fruit Cobbler
2 soft apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and sliced thin
½ c cranberries, washed and halved
¼ c brown sugar
¼ c flour
dash of salt
4 tbsp butter, softened
¼ c honey
½ c walnuts
½ to 1 c rolled oats
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place apples, pear, and cranberries in a bowl. Sprinkle with brown sugar, flour, and salt and coat well. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pour the fruit into a bread dish.
With your hands, mix together the butter, honey, walnuts and oats. Spread over the top of the fruit.
Bake until a fork meets no resistance when inserted into the cobbler.
Orange Crepes with Cranberries
Crepes (make approximately 6):
¾ c flour
2 tsp sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 c milk
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp vanilla
1 tbsp melted butter
zest of ½ an orange
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add all remaining ingredients and whisk until completely smooth.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Using a stick of butter with the paper turned back, quickly grease the pan. Pour in ¼ c of the batter and quickly tilt pan in a circular motion to spread the mixture thinly over the bottom of the pan. Cook until slightly brown on one side, flip and brown other side. To keep the crepes warm, place in a covered dish in an oven set to warm.
Cranberries:
¼ lb cranberries
6 tbsp sugar
½ c water
zest of ½ an orange
Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thick.
To serve:
Place a crepe on a large plate, put a line of filling along the middle 1/3 of the crepe. Fold over one side, then the other. Slide aside and repeat until the desired number of crepes are on the plate. If desired, you can sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the cranberry sauce before folding the crepes.
The past few days I’ve been craving Indian food, but I’ve also been watching my budget. This means using up what I have in the house. I discovered that I have three half-full bags of lentils in my cupboard, one of regular lentils, one of red lentils, and the last of Moroccan lentils. I used two with the following soup that was inspired by dal.
Indian-spiced Lentil Soup
1 tbsp oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp Indian curry powder (the kind that is not spicy)
½ lb of red lentils
½ lb of Moroccan lentils
Enough water to cover, plus more to maintain soup consistency while cooking
1 tsp chicken boullion
salt to taste
Heat the oil in a soup pan over medium-high heat.
Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft.
Add cumin seeds and curry powder and cook until fragrant.
Pour in lentils, stir to coat, the add water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Stir in the chicken boullion.
Add water as the soup cooks. You want to maintain a slightly thick consistancy.
Once red lentils have cooked away and Moroccan lentils are tender, add the salt.
Heat a bit more, then serve.
I let this soup simmer for a few hours before eating it.
Tonight I had a craving for Indian, but also for cream of potato soup. This was the result (though, I did have to run to the store for a couple of things). Warning, this is a bit spicy!
Creamy and Spicy Potato Soup
4 red potatoes (big enough that you can’t quite fit your hand around them), washed and cubed
2 ½ tbsp butter
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ a medium onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp flour
2 ½ c milk
salt to taste
Place potatoes in a soup pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
Heat the butter in the same pan over medium heat.
Once the butter has melted, add the mustard seeds and cook for a couple minutes.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
Add ground ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and cumin seeds and cook until fragrant.
Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute.
Slowly add the milk, then heat over medium-high heat until thick.
Once the sauce is thick, add the salt and potatoes and stir. Bring to desired serving temperature and serve.
Now that I’ve devised my system of continuing my blog, you’ll be hearing from me more often!
We begin this long journey into my recent past with a recipe for a Pasty potpie style. Some of my coworkers and I have created a cooking club and I was hosting the first round. We chose to do our club like a potluck, since we would be holding them on work nights. We also felt that a theme would help ensure that the foods would complement one another. The first theme was fall foods, which I was forced to enforce with certain individuals, who shall remain nameless, but had chosen the theme and suggested she bring a spring vegetable. Ahem. My strict enforcement of the theme prompted a rather unflattering association between myself and a certain WWII German political party. I, personally, had no trouble deciding what I was making. I had been craving a good pasty, but I had never made one and wasn’t quite sure what gave it its delicious flavor. Enter the internet and it’s perpetual eagerness to find what I needed in less than 4.832 seconds. I found that a generous helping of pepper and onion was the key, as was rutabaga. Done. Many of the recipes had their own pastry recipe, but our family has a tried and true recipe that I opted to use due to its dependability. I did alter the pastry recipe slightly, since I was out of sugar, but I did have some honey and it worked just as well. The pasty ended up tasting exactly how I wanted it to, thank you mom for teaching me how to smell for flavor, rather than tasting.
Pasty (potpie style)
1 double pie crust
1 lb ground pork
1 ½ onions, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large rutabaga, peeled and cubed a little smaller than the potato, but not as small as the carrots
freshly ground black pepper to taste (somewhere between 2 tsp and 1 tbsp)
salt to taste (about 1 tsp)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place the ground pork and onions in a cast iron skillet and cook over medium heat. You do not want the pork to brown, but you do want it to cook all the way through. Stir it often enough to prevent browning.
In a large pot, put the potatoes, carrots and rutabaga, covering with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat a bit so that it does not boil over, and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water to stop cooking.
Once the pork is cooked through, mix in the cooked vegetables and add the black pepper and salt. Smell the mixture, you should smell a good amount of pepper. If you don’t, add more. Then add about ¼ c water to moisten the mixture a bit.
Roll out one half of the pie crust and place in a 9x9 baking dish. Pour in the filling (I ended up with a little extra. My dog loved that!). Roll out the second crust for the top. Before laying the second crust on top of the mixture, use some cool water and moisten the edges of the bottom crust, along the rim of the baking dish. Gently roll the second crust onto your rolling pin and lay over the pie. Gently press down when you moistened the bottom crust. Trim both crusts so that you have just over 1 inch of crust over hanging. Roll under and crimp the edges. Use a sharp knife to slice a couple slits in the top of the crust.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden.
One of my coworkers is engages to the son of cranberry grower, which means that at harvest time she kindly brought many of use a bag of fresh cranberries. Yum! I used them to make Cranberry Walnut Pancakes, a fruit cobbler and a filling for crepes. The cobbler came of another day where I was trying to make something from what I had in the house while also attempting to sate a sweets craving. I’ve been making crepes on the weekends recently. They are just so delicious. I’m going to share the fruit cobbler recipe I made and how I’m going to make my next batch of crepes.
Fall Fruit Cobbler
2 soft apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
1 ripe pear, peeled, cored and sliced thin
½ c cranberries, washed and halved
¼ c brown sugar
¼ c flour
dash of salt
4 tbsp butter, softened
¼ c honey
½ c walnuts
½ to 1 c rolled oats
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place apples, pear, and cranberries in a bowl. Sprinkle with brown sugar, flour, and salt and coat well. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pour the fruit into a bread dish.
With your hands, mix together the butter, honey, walnuts and oats. Spread over the top of the fruit.
Bake until a fork meets no resistance when inserted into the cobbler.
Orange Crepes with Cranberries
Crepes (make approximately 6):
¾ c flour
2 tsp sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 c milk
1 egg, beaten
½ tsp vanilla
1 tbsp melted butter
zest of ½ an orange
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add all remaining ingredients and whisk until completely smooth.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Using a stick of butter with the paper turned back, quickly grease the pan. Pour in ¼ c of the batter and quickly tilt pan in a circular motion to spread the mixture thinly over the bottom of the pan. Cook until slightly brown on one side, flip and brown other side. To keep the crepes warm, place in a covered dish in an oven set to warm.
Cranberries:
¼ lb cranberries
6 tbsp sugar
½ c water
zest of ½ an orange
Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thick.
To serve:
Place a crepe on a large plate, put a line of filling along the middle 1/3 of the crepe. Fold over one side, then the other. Slide aside and repeat until the desired number of crepes are on the plate. If desired, you can sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the cranberry sauce before folding the crepes.
The past few days I’ve been craving Indian food, but I’ve also been watching my budget. This means using up what I have in the house. I discovered that I have three half-full bags of lentils in my cupboard, one of regular lentils, one of red lentils, and the last of Moroccan lentils. I used two with the following soup that was inspired by dal.
Indian-spiced Lentil Soup
1 tbsp oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp Indian curry powder (the kind that is not spicy)
½ lb of red lentils
½ lb of Moroccan lentils
Enough water to cover, plus more to maintain soup consistency while cooking
1 tsp chicken boullion
salt to taste
Heat the oil in a soup pan over medium-high heat.
Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft.
Add cumin seeds and curry powder and cook until fragrant.
Pour in lentils, stir to coat, the add water to cover.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Stir in the chicken boullion.
Add water as the soup cooks. You want to maintain a slightly thick consistancy.
Once red lentils have cooked away and Moroccan lentils are tender, add the salt.
Heat a bit more, then serve.
I let this soup simmer for a few hours before eating it.
Tonight I had a craving for Indian, but also for cream of potato soup. This was the result (though, I did have to run to the store for a couple of things). Warning, this is a bit spicy!
Creamy and Spicy Potato Soup
4 red potatoes (big enough that you can’t quite fit your hand around them), washed and cubed
2 ½ tbsp butter
1 tsp mustard seeds
½ a medium onion, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp flour
2 ½ c milk
salt to taste
Place potatoes in a soup pan, cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside.
Heat the butter in the same pan over medium heat.
Once the butter has melted, add the mustard seeds and cook for a couple minutes.
Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
Add ground ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and cumin seeds and cook until fragrant.
Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute.
Slowly add the milk, then heat over medium-high heat until thick.
Once the sauce is thick, add the salt and potatoes and stir. Bring to desired serving temperature and serve.
Now that I’ve devised my system of continuing my blog, you’ll be hearing from me more often!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Happiness
I've become the source of many negative comments and diatribes lately. As such, I thought it was best to start thinking of positive things (a la Crazy Aunt Purl, sort of...)
Example--
Negative: Does Maine even have a summer? It went from spring to fall.
Positive: Mmm, fall food! Rosemary, potatoes, squash, turnips, hearty breads, warm stews, spiced desserts, the list goes on and on. And I can knit too!
I got three family recipes from my mom recently - white bread, Swedish rye bread, and nut bread. I've found I need an oven thermometer. My first batch of white bread looked done, but was doughy in the center. The second batch, after reducing the temperature, was right (or so the people I gave it to told me). I will have to explore some new grocery stores as the one I currently frequent does not carry rye flour. I'm sad, but will persevere. My first batch of nut bread is a little burnt on the outside. I know I can bake, I just have to learn more about my oven so that I can work properly with it. (See me not swearing about said oven, but telling myself that I can work with it? I'm not even going to use the "cooking headaches" label for this post. That's positive thinking... at least for me it is. Don't tell me if it really isn't positive thinking because I don't want to hear it).
Example--
Negative: Does Maine even have a summer? It went from spring to fall.
Positive: Mmm, fall food! Rosemary, potatoes, squash, turnips, hearty breads, warm stews, spiced desserts, the list goes on and on. And I can knit too!
I got three family recipes from my mom recently - white bread, Swedish rye bread, and nut bread. I've found I need an oven thermometer. My first batch of white bread looked done, but was doughy in the center. The second batch, after reducing the temperature, was right (or so the people I gave it to told me). I will have to explore some new grocery stores as the one I currently frequent does not carry rye flour. I'm sad, but will persevere. My first batch of nut bread is a little burnt on the outside. I know I can bake, I just have to learn more about my oven so that I can work properly with it. (See me not swearing about said oven, but telling myself that I can work with it? I'm not even going to use the "cooking headaches" label for this post. That's positive thinking... at least for me it is. Don't tell me if it really isn't positive thinking because I don't want to hear it).
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Lime and Coconut Custard Cakes
Do you remember the plans I had for limes last weekend? I finally got around to the experiment last night. A while ago I made Lemon Custard Cakes from Martha Stewart Living (March 2007, pg.147), and instantly wondered how a lime and coconut version might be. The results were delicate, fluffy lime cakes with a thin layer of custard, resembling lime curd, at the bottom. Admittedly, the flavor of coconut lent by the shredded coconut was so subtle that I nearly missed it. I think, next time, I will either simmer the flaked coconut in the milk (and allow it to cool to room temperature before adding to the batter), or I will use coconut milk or cream in place of the milk.
Here is my version of the recipe:
Lime and Coconut Custard Cakes
Butter, room temperature, for custard cups (or you can melt it and use a brush to butter the cups)
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
zest from two limes
a little over 1/4 c fresh lime juice (juice of two limes)
1 c milk (or the substitutions listed above)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Set a kettle of water to boil.
Butter six 6-oz custard cups.
Place the custard cups in a roasting pan or baking dish lined with a kitchen towel.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and granulated sugar until mixture is light.
Whisk in flour.
Gradually whisk in lime zest and juice.
Whisk in milk (or substitutes).
If coconut has not been mixed in, stir it in as well.
With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form
Add to lime mixture, gently folding in with the whisk.
Divide batter among prepared cups.
Place pan in oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up sides of cups.
Bake until cakes are puffed and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Here is my version of the recipe:
Lime and Coconut Custard Cakes
Butter, room temperature, for custard cups (or you can melt it and use a brush to butter the cups)
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
zest from two limes
a little over 1/4 c fresh lime juice (juice of two limes)
1 c milk (or the substitutions listed above)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Set a kettle of water to boil.
Butter six 6-oz custard cups.
Place the custard cups in a roasting pan or baking dish lined with a kitchen towel.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and granulated sugar until mixture is light.
Whisk in flour.
Gradually whisk in lime zest and juice.
Whisk in milk (or substitutes).
If coconut has not been mixed in, stir it in as well.
With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form
Add to lime mixture, gently folding in with the whisk.
Divide batter among prepared cups.
Place pan in oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up sides of cups.
Bake until cakes are puffed and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Irish Soda Bread
I love (and I don't use that term lightly... at least here) the New York Times food section. They have provided me with some absolutely delicious recipes, and the Irish Soda Bread that was featured recently is no exception. It's a basic, slightly sweet buttermilk quick bread flavored with a healthy dose of currants and some caraway seeds. It's no longer on their website, but I don't feel comfortable copying it here. (But if you asked me, I would be okay sharing via email.) Instead, I'll give you the recipe for a light cream of potato soup which we ate with the soda bread, sharp cheddar cheese and thinly sliced tart apples. By light, I do not mean light on calories (though it may be, I haven't checked), but less dense, through the use of more chicken broth than milk and less flour in the roux.Potato Soup
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper, to taste
2 c chicken broth
1 c milk (I used 1%)
3/4 c diced ham
Place potatoes in a soup pan, cover with water, and boil until tender.
Drain potatoes in the sink while preparing the sauce.
Melt butter in the pan.
Add the onion and cook until starting to brown (better flavor).
Stir in the flour, making sure to get rid of lumps, and allow to bubble for one minute.
Add salt and pepper. (I did not add salt to mine because I thought the ham and chicken broth would lend enough. They did.)
Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring or whisking to prevent lumps.
Add the milk.
Heat this mixture to boiling.
Add ham and potatoes and heat through.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Lemons and Limes
Today we made... scratch that, my mom made Lemon Poppyseed Scones. I took the dogs for an early morning run again. Unlike the Maple Nut Scones, these are more like biscuits in moisture and texture. With the coming of spring, I crave fresh flavors. What's fresher than lemons? Lemon Poppyseed Scones
(adapted from this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_1528,00.html)
3 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
zest of 1 lemon
3/4 c butter
2-4 tbsp poppyseeds
1 c buttermilk
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
1 c powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest together.
Cut in the butter until coarse meal.
Stir in poppyseeds and then buttermilk. (Mix as with the Maple Nut Scones, gently.)
Divide dough in half, pat into rounds on a floured surface.
Cut each round into 8 to 10 wedges.
Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.
Mix lemon juice and powdered sugar into a frosting, drizzle over the scones.
I have some plans for these limes. I'll post that experiment soon.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Maple Nut Scones
I've realized that using a Mac with Blogger has its drawbacks. Like not having the option to insert a cool link into my post (that one down below was only acheived because I used a PC that time). Instead you get this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Restaurant-Quality-Maple-Oatmeal-Scones/Detail.aspx. Not exactly pretty, is it? Nonetheless, this link goes to a great scone recipe that I use regularly, even switching it up and making other flavors. My Gingersnap version is widely appreciated (at least the people at the local lumberyard love it). 
I do, however, make a few changes and have a few tips, if you should like to make these. First, I don't add the dried cherries, but instead a cup of chopped walnuts. Also, scones are a type of biscuit. I have no idea why so many of their recipes ask you to stir in the extras after mixing in the liquids. That is a quick way to end up with some tough, nasty scones. Instead, stir in any extras (nuts, raisins, poppy seeds) after you've cut in the butter and before you stir in the liquid. Speaking of the liquid, I add an extra splash of buttermilk so that I don't have to stir as much to wet all the ingredients, and I use 1 teaspoon of maple extract, not 1/2 of one. Why, you might ask? Because I am my father's daughter; if 1/2 is good, 1 must be extra good. (But don't tell him that. I enjoy teasing him mercilessly about the fact that if he's sent to the store for one quart of half-and-half, he inevitably comes home with two, "Just in case." This goes for most everything.)
Back to the stirring and preparation of the scones, I find that you should start off by gently folding to incorporate dry and wet ingredients. Then, when it's almost all mixed, I get my hands dirty (and sticky) by gathering the multiple lumps and working in that stubborn bit of dry lingering in the bottom of the bowl by patting the lumps into a large ball and dabbing the damp outside into the lingering dry bits. When you're done, the whole thing should be a moist, somewhat sticky ball. Don't try to pack the ball too tight, though, because you might ruin some of the biscuit structure. Basically, over-mixing is your enemy while making scones. Put a very liberal amount of flour on your counter, do NOT knead the dough as the recipe tries to trick you into doing, and proceed to divide the dough and cut as the recipe tells you. If you put this dough on a lightly floured surface, you WILL be using something to scrape it off. It sticks. But the end result is delicious. Oh, and keep an eye on them the first time you make them. Ovens are finicky appliances, and you don't want to end up with burnt scones. I top mine with a "never the same twice" icing of powdered sugar, dash of salt, maple extract and hot water or coffee. If you make it runny enough (but not so much that it just sinks into the scones), and put it on after they've cooled a bit, it should harden nicely on the outside. I find these store best uncovered, as when they're covered they tend to get sticky. Enjoy!
I do, however, make a few changes and have a few tips, if you should like to make these. First, I don't add the dried cherries, but instead a cup of chopped walnuts. Also, scones are a type of biscuit. I have no idea why so many of their recipes ask you to stir in the extras after mixing in the liquids. That is a quick way to end up with some tough, nasty scones. Instead, stir in any extras (nuts, raisins, poppy seeds) after you've cut in the butter and before you stir in the liquid. Speaking of the liquid, I add an extra splash of buttermilk so that I don't have to stir as much to wet all the ingredients, and I use 1 teaspoon of maple extract, not 1/2 of one. Why, you might ask? Because I am my father's daughter; if 1/2 is good, 1 must be extra good. (But don't tell him that. I enjoy teasing him mercilessly about the fact that if he's sent to the store for one quart of half-and-half, he inevitably comes home with two, "Just in case." This goes for most everything.) Back to the stirring and preparation of the scones, I find that you should start off by gently folding to incorporate dry and wet ingredients. Then, when it's almost all mixed, I get my hands dirty (and sticky) by gathering the multiple lumps and working in that stubborn bit of dry lingering in the bottom of the bowl by patting the lumps into a large ball and dabbing the damp outside into the lingering dry bits. When you're done, the whole thing should be a moist, somewhat sticky ball. Don't try to pack the ball too tight, though, because you might ruin some of the biscuit structure. Basically, over-mixing is your enemy while making scones. Put a very liberal amount of flour on your counter, do NOT knead the dough as the recipe tries to trick you into doing, and proceed to divide the dough and cut as the recipe tells you. If you put this dough on a lightly floured surface, you WILL be using something to scrape it off. It sticks. But the end result is delicious. Oh, and keep an eye on them the first time you make them. Ovens are finicky appliances, and you don't want to end up with burnt scones. I top mine with a "never the same twice" icing of powdered sugar, dash of salt, maple extract and hot water or coffee. If you make it runny enough (but not so much that it just sinks into the scones), and put it on after they've cooled a bit, it should harden nicely on the outside. I find these store best uncovered, as when they're covered they tend to get sticky. Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Chicken and Broccoli in a Garlic Cream Sauce and Chayote Dessert
Last night my mentor (who took offense at being referred to as my "clean up crew" despite it being a self-inflicted title) made Chicken and Broccoli in a Garlic Cream Sauce. Look at that beautiful broccoli! It smelled fantastic while cooking, always does, unless you let it cook too long. You can tell you've cooked broccoli too long as soon as your house starts smelling like your high school cafeteria, the holy land of over-cooked or dried-out "fresh" vegetables. Am I glad that my mom used to pack our lunches for us. I could take all the teasing questions about whether my mom also chopped down the tree, mashed it into a pulp, and made the paper bags for us too; the jealous taunts produced when my friends found out my mom made all of our bread. 
I realized that I cook quite differently from my mentor now. I typically put at least eight cloves of garlic in my garlic cream sauce. She used four. I resisted the urge to go grab more. She, after all, was doing the cooking. We typically stay out of each other's way while cooking. If we are in the kitchen at the same time, we are usually making separate things. Did anyone read the New York Times article about alpha cooks? My mom and I are both alpha cooks. I managed to bite my tongue (but not my tone) when she asked me to chop some celery for this dish. I would never put celery in it. But, as my sister-in-law would point out, what "white people" dish is complete without celery and onions? None, I tell you. Many-a "white people" dish contains celery, onion, and ground beef and most often includes some "cream of" something soup. Cook something like that up and you'll be transported to the aromatic world of a white, midwestern church potluck. 
This dessert was not such fare. Chayote squash, which I halved, seeded (only one large seed in this squash), and stuffed with a mixture of walnuts, raisins, coconut, brown sugar and cinnamon. I baked it at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, turned it down to 325 for a while, and then called my dad while on the way to the gym and asked him to turn the oven off, but leave them inside. When we got home a couple hours later, they were soft and still warm. It was agreed that chayote, while probably making a rather healthy dessert, also makes a rather bland dessert. The topping was delicious, but the chayote tasted of nothing next to it. When I use this vegetable again, it will be with something savory. Perhaps I'll take the Field Guide to Produce's advice and make a mixture including chorrizo to stuff them with, making sure to slice the flesh so that the flavor can penetrate the chayote a little better.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Apple Walnut Muffins
I made these this morning. They were very good, though I may add a bit more liquid to them next time, or make sure to remember that the new oven takes less time than the old one to bake most things. Except cornbread. That still takes more time than the cookbook allots. Who knows why. Anyways, here is the recipe, adapted from a sweet muffin recipe in an old cookbook.
Apple Walnut Muffins
1 egg
1/2 c buttermilk
1/4 c oil
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
just shy of 1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 to 15 muffin cups. Beat the egg with a whisk until foamy, then slowly beat in the buttermilk and oil. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl, and fold until mostly moist. Add apple and walnuts, and fold into the batter. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 18 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool in pans for about 5 minutes, then remove (this prevents completely mashing the muffins, which inevitably happens when you try to take them out while hot).
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