Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

I made biscuits this afternoon to serve with the Shrimp Creole, they were sort of an afterthought. But, they quickly became very popular...Jack came home from school precisely as the biscuits were coming out of the oven and I have not seen him (or any child) that excited about food not involving sugar- I think-- ever! He sat down and ate 5 or 6 of them with honey-butter, ( I barely had any left for the photos!). Which really makes me quite happy, because he is a very finiky eater.

The dough is put together in layers, by folding it over and over. I borrowed the method I use to fold the dough for the scones and applied it to the biscuits- it worked perfectly as they are light and very flaky.

Notes: I use a small 2" biscuit cutter only because of personal preference, you may use any size cutter you have. If you use a much larger cutter, you may have to increase the baking time a little. I sometimes mix the flour and butter together, cover it and leave it in the refrigerator overnight then finish the other steps in the morning. This step makes making biscuits in the morning a little faster.  The recipe yields about 2 dozen small biscuits.

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

1/4 lb. cold butter (1 stick)
2 1/4 cup self-rising flour
1 1/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 F

1. Place flour in a large heavy bowl. Cut butter with a sharp knife into small pieces and drop in the flour. Toss butter with flour. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until crumbly and the mixture resembles small peas. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

2. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

3. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface (with self-rising flour); knead 3 to
4 times adding just a little more flour as needed to keep it from being too sticky.

4. With floured hands, pat dough into a 1 inch thick rectangle. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little flour. fold over onto itself in 3 sections, starting with the short end. Do this 2 more times, ending with a 9" x 5" rectangle.

5. Pat dough to about 1/2 inch thickness; cut into rounds and place side by side, on a lightly greased cookie sheet ( I use silpat or parchment paper).

6. Bake 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. I bake for 12 minutes then turn the convection on for the last minute. Remove from oven and brush with a little melted butter.

Tender Potato Bread (Daring Bakers Challenge)

I am always driven by a challenge, it's what keeps me going! Once I have one, chances are you will have my full attention. Being motivated by a challenge is not always a good thing, I sometimes make more trouble for myself because of it...life can just be simple sometimes (ok- repeat to self 100 times!) The good news is, I am very excited to have found a new outlet for my challenges-- by joining The Daring Bakers. Every month brings a new baking challenge, everyone uses the same recipe and this month it was Potato Bread. I am not an experienced bread baker, so it was a challenge indeed. This month was a little busy, so the pressure was on as I baked it yesterday...the day before it was due! (this is so unlike me, as I'm more than a little OCD, but I procratinated early on, then later in the month I really did not have much of a choice).



The instructions were to follow the recipe exactly as it is written, which would normally be my first challenge, But since I am not an avid bread maker, that really wasn't much of a problem. I was more scared to make a mistake by not doing exactly as it said so I followed all directions. The shapping of the bread was left up to each baker, so I made a loaf, some rolls and foccacia.

I had most fun with the Foccacia, I layered it with olive oil, a very nice crumbled Parmegiano Romano, oven roasted grape tomatoes, black Cerignola olives, capers, Rosemary, and sauteed garlic; I then sprinkled sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. It made a very tasty Foccacia which will probably soon be served at the restaurant.





With the loaf, I made Serrano Ham sandwiches. Mixed a little roasted tomato chutney with home-made mayonnaise then put some slices of goat cheese Gouda and lettuce and tomato.

The rolls were very nice, but next time I will probably make them in a different shape, or in brioche pans. Once they were in the oven I thought they were a little too predictable, but it was too late. Nevertheless, they were quite good while still warm slathered with butter laced with Sal de Mer. After eating all this bread I now need to go for a very long and overdue run. After stuffing myself on Thanksgiving, we went for a walk on the golf course and my friend Ale, pointed out my new running shoes were so clean and white they glowed in the dark...I do believe it's time to put them to some use and dirty them up!

The recipe for the potato bread can be found here. I can't wait to find out what the Challenge is for December!

Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Two years ago I planted a Meyer lemon tree in my back yard, last year it produced four lemons. But this year, my little tree must have really had a good spring and summer because I have more lemons than I can count! They are not only beautiful to look at as they grace just about every fruit bowl all over my house, they are delicious as well.

I baked bread this afternoon and was looking for a small and easy project to make while the bread was rising, so I came up with these little shortbreads. It worked out really well since I needed the oven on to warm up the kitchen a bit so the bread would rise correctly. I used the Joy of Cooking shortbread recipe and added Meyer lemon juice and zest. Perfect day for it...it's nasty out, raining and a tornado watch, but I am sitting here cozily with my cup of tea and cookies.

MEYER LEMON SHORTBREAD COOKIES

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (1 1/4 sticks)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
additional sugar for sprinkling tops

1. In large mixer bowl beat butter and sugars, salt and lemon zest until very fluffy and well blended.

2. Gradually sift in flour and mix well. Sprinkle lemon juice over dough and lightly knead until dough holds together. If the dough is too dry, add a few more drops lemon juice, the dough should just come together- do not over moisten it.

3. Press into an 8" x 8" pan and pierce deeply with a fork in a decorative pattern. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes or until just slightly darker at the edges. Turn out of the pan while still warm and cut into bars and sprinkle with sugar. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a rack.

Apple Mince Meat Pie

I made Apple mince meat pie for Thanksgiving, it was my intention to post before Thursday, but life got really busy. Between cooking Thanksgiving meals for take-out at the restaurant and hosting Thanksgiving at home, taking photos of everything I baked didn't happen. Which also explains why there isn't a photo of the whole pie...just the last piece, (and yes, I know it's not the best photo- but I didn't have much to work with).

For the longest time I did not understand mince meat pie- a dessert involving meat? Was it even a dessert to begin with? Needless to say the thought of eating one- much less making one never even crossed my mind. But, then I found this recipe- and wow! I love apple mince meat pie! I had it for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and I've been hooked ever since.

I searched for the origin of mince meat pie...I really needed to understand the meat portion of it and this is what I found: origin of mince meat pie. The recipe used to include liver and all sorts of other meats--I sure like my Food Network version better! I did not alter this recipe one bit and yes, that was hard for me, but it really is perfect as it is. The recipe came from a pie contest episode and can I tell you, that baker sure knew what she was doing!

Notes: I think the recipe must have originally yielded more than one pie.  Some of the measurements given, 1/8 teaspoon and 1/4 tablespoon are not very common measurements. The pastry also makes an extra pie crust, (which by the way, is the the best pie crust I have ever had--really!) so I just use it to make another pie involving only one crust. The good thing is that if you want to make the pie in quantity, I'm sure it can be easily increased- for 3 pies, double pastry and triple filling.

Pie Crust:

1 cup pastry flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter flavored shortening, chilled
1/3 cup ice cold water
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 egg, beaten

Apple Filling:

4 cups apples (Rome or Jonathan), peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon tapioca
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tablespoon heavy cream
1 (27-ounce) jar mincemeat (recommended: None Such Classic or Original)
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon sugar Pastry cut-outs or dollops of whipped topping

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

For the pie crusts:

In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar and baking powder. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles cornmeal. In small bowl, mix water and vinegar with the beaten egg. Add the liquid mixture 1 tablespoon at a time to the flour mixture, tossing with a fork to form a soft dough. Shape into 3 disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator. Use 2 disks when making this pie. Freeze remaining dough for later use. Roll out 1 disk and place into a 9-inch pie dish for bottom crust.

For the apple filling:

Combine the apples, butter and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.

In a medium bowl combine the sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add slightly cooled apples and mix well. Stir in vanilla and cream. Place apple mixture into bottom of pie crust, spreading evenly.

Spread the mincemeat on top of apple filling. Roll out another dough disk and adjust over the filling. Flute edge and vent top. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 30to 35 minutes longer, or until golden. Garnish, as desired, with baked pastry cut outs or whipped topping.

Very Moist Corn Muffins

Last year for Christmas I made a great corn pudding, sort of a blend between pudding and cornbread. The recipe was wonderful and everyone loved it, the only problem is I cannot find the recipe. I have looked high and low and I'm absolutely clueless as to where it came from or where I put it. I have looked through the hundred plus cookbooks I own and yielded no results-- Oh well. On the bright side though, I found this one in the process and after I made a few changes, I was very pleasantly surprised. Putting a small dollop of sour cream on top made them very moist. And yes, this time I have saved the recipe...I knew this blog would come in handy for something! :)



Very Moist Corn Muffins

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup sour cream for topping

Preheat oven to 400 F

1. Butter or line 12 muffin cups.

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

3. Add corn, egg, and 1- 1/2 cups sour cream and whisk until just combined. Do not over mix.

4. Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups. Top each muffin with about a teaspoon of sour cream. Bake until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a rack.

Mascarpone Stuffed Medjool Dates

The holidays are almost upon us, so for the next month I will try to post a few recipes which fall under the party-food category. Mascarpone stuffed dates are really delicious and have proven to be quite a favorite at holiday parties. I found these dates at a local market, the owner taught me about all the different varieties of dates, which was very enlightening. The ones I used here are sun ripened type which is why they have a smoother appearance and aren't as wrinkly (is that even a word?). I could not detect much of a difference in the taste, so if sun ripened dates are not available dried dates will work well.

Whenever I am catering a party I always try to have a balanced menu, and while a variety of foods is very important, I also balance the menu out by the stages in which food needs to be prepared. This is most important to me when I am having a party of my own and don't have a big kitchen staff to do most of the work. All it takes is a little strategic planning-dishes I can prepare ahead, some things which are quick to make and then some very special dishes which may require a little more time. Planning my menus in this manner keeps me from being frazzled the day of the party.

The dates fall into the very easy, very tasty and best of all- make-ahead category! They are great on their own, or as part of a cheese tray. I will hopefully get a chance between now and Christmas to write a post about cheese pairings and how to put together a great cheese tray- one that will definitely not involve cubed cheese!

Mascarpone Stuffed Dates

1 8oz container Mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 lb. Medjool Dates
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 lb. toasted pecan halves ( 350F on a cookie sheet- watch carefully, about 15 min.- this would not be the time to multi-task...they burn quickly!)

1. Make a cut the length of the date and remove pit. Place pitted dates on a plate and set aside.

2. In a small bowl combine cheese, honey and lemon zest with a spatula until mixed well.

3. Fit a small pastry bag with a 1/2 inch tip, fluted or plain. Place cheese filling in the bag. Carefully fill each date with about 2 teaspoons of the cheese mixture for large dates and 1 teaspoon for smaller dates. Place a pecan on top of each filled date. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.