Cream Scones

I made some raspberry jam the other day.  You know what goes perfectly with raspberry jam?  Scones.  And cream.  It was lovely.  These cream scones are amazingly tender, light, and crumbly.  They are not dry like the ones you might buy at stores.  If you've never had a scone, you should get in touch with your inner Brit and try one today.

Cream Scones

from Savory Sweet Life

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg slightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and butter in a food processor. Pulsate everything in 3-second intervals until everything resembles course meal. If doing this by hand, use 2 knives, a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles course meal.
Transfer everything to a large bowl. Stir in heavy cream, egg, and vanilla mixing the dough by hand until it forms into a uniformed and slightly moistened dough. *You can also use your Kitchenaid with the dough hook on the slowest speed for a few minutes.

On a floured surface, grab enough dough to fit into your hand about the size of a baseball and gently roll it in a ball.  Flatten the ball and until your disk is approx. 3/4″ in height. Press down the outside of the dough circle so the center is slightly taller. Evenly sprinkle sugar on top of each circle.  Cut each circle in quarters. You should have enough dough to make 4 circles and 16 scones.
Bake on a ungreased cookie sheet, or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove scones from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Serve with butter, honey, cream or jam. Enjoy!

Coney Island Hot Dogs with Homemade Buns

I have always loved coneys from Sonic.  Yes, some of you may scoff.  And yes, I am aware of how low brow a coney may seem, but come on!  Hot dogs with chili and cheese?  Yes please!  These turned out really well.  The chili was slightly sweet for my taste, so I think I would decrease the brown sugar next time, but the hot dog buns turned out just beautifully and were so much better than the storebought kind.



Yummy yummy!  This is a highly kid friendly meal as well.  And it can always be customized.  My daughter didn't have any of the chili, but she had some ketchup and cheese.  It's so easy to make this meal fit anyone's tastes.  Try some soon!

Coney Island Hot Dog Sauce

adapted slightly from Mommy's Kitchen

1 lb ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
Salt and pepper to taste
hot dogs and hot dog buns (recipe follows)

Brown the meat in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Make sure to break up the meat as fine as possible (a potato masher works great (I just used the back of my spoon and worked it a little more than usual)). When the meat is cooked, drain and return to the skillet. Add the garlic and cook for a couple minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except the hot dogs and add the mixture to your crock pot. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 2 hours. Serve the Coney sauce on top of cooked hot dogs with diced onions and mustard.
To cook the sauce on the stove, prepare the mixture the same way and just simmer on low for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. (I used the stove method, and it was just as easy and much faster.)


Homemade Hot Dog Buns
adapted slightly from At the Baker's Bench

3 cups flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm water

In the bowl of a stand mixer, put salt and warm water.  Sprinkle the yeast over the water and allow to bloom for 5 minutes.  Add flour, vegetable oil and sugar.  Knead using the dough hook until it’s smooth and satiny, then put it in an oiled bowl. Turn the dough over to coat it with oil, or brush the surface lightly with oil, and cover the bowl. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it’s doubled, about 1 hour.
Gently de-gas the dough by pressing your fist down into it, shape it into a 12-inch log, cover with a piece of oiled plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a 20 x 8-inch strip. Cut the dough (a pizza wheel works well here) into ten 4-inch squares. (Cut in half lengthwise, then into fifths vertically.) Shape each square by folding it over, pressing the edges to seal them, then rolling to form a bun about 6 inches long. Flatten the buns till they’re about 2 inches wide, and transfer them to lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving 3 inches between them. Note: If you prefer to tear the buns apart from one another after they’re baked, place them so they’re only about 3/4-inch apart. Cover the buns with a piece of oiled plastic wrap, and allow them to rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until they’re puffy.
Bake the buns in a preheated 350°F oven for 16 to 18 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, cool them on a rack, and store tightly wrapped, or freeze.

Thanksgiving Menu 2010

That picture is, unfortunately, not mine.  I don't have any current pictures of my Thanksgiving food, but I promise that after Thanksgiving, I will post many of the recipes I used up here.  About a week ago I finalized my Thanksgiving menu.  If you can't tell, I'm really excited about it.  It's the first time I will host Thanksgiving, and although it will be small, it will be awesome.  Here's the menu:

Appetizers

My Mother-in-Law's Cheese Ball

Main Course

Roasted Turkey and Gravy - my husband is the one who cooks the turkey, so we'll see what he comes up with this year!

Sides

Fresh Cranberry Sauce

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Stuffing (I'm still trying to decide between 2 recipes for this)

My Grandmother's Snail Rolls with Compound Herb Butter and Honey Butter

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie with Sweetened Whipped Cream

What can you not live without on your Thanksgiving table?  I would love to know!  Any other traditions that you really enjoy?  What about ideas for leftovers?

Fried Apples & the Winner!

I really love fall, and I love when the apples come by the thousands into the stores.  This is a really simple and wonderfully delicious way to use up some of that harvest.  But be careful, it might melt your ice cream - but then you just have some yumminess to drink.  And congratulations to commenter number 1, Miss Nesbit, who won the cookbook!  Keep looking back for yummy recipes and more giveaways in the future!

Fried Apples

from La Fuji Mama

2 medium apples
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon table salt

Peel and core the apples and then slice them into 1/4-inch wedges.
Melt the butter in a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the butter has fully melted, sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter and then quickly place the apple slices in a single layer on top of the brown sugar. With a wooden spoon, stir the apples to coat them in the butter and brown sugar. Continue to stir the apples. When the butter and brown sugar have formed a syrup, sprinkle the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt over the ingredients in the pan and stir to incorporate.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to stir the apples until they are fork tender and the syrup has reduced and thickened slightly. Remove the skillet from the heat and let the apples cool for several minutes. Serve alone, or as a topping for ice cream.

Cowboy Spaghetti & A Giveaway!

I'm not usually a big Rachael Ray fan.  But she does have some recipes that are really delicious, and yes, easy.  This is one of my favorites.  The best thing about this pasta is the switch-up on the cheese.  This picture shows it with your typical parmesan and mozzarella on the top, but the recipe calls for grated cheddar to garnish the pasta.  And it's delicious!!  This is not your typical spaghetti with meat sauce.  It has bacon and a nice smoky flavor that is just wonderful.  And because I love this recipe so much, I'm giving away a copy of the book that contains it!

If you want a chance to win, just comment on this post!  The winner will be randomly selected by using random.org and announced on Thursday when I'll put up another yummy recipe!  Enjoy and good luck!

Cowboy Spaghetti

from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals

Salt

1 pound spaghetti

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 slices smoky bacon, chopped

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion (once again, I left this out since my husband hates onions)

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

Black pepper

2 teaspoons hot sauce (like Tobasco)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 14-oz can chopped or crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

1 8-oz can tomato sauce

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese

4 scallions, trimmed, chopped (I omitted these too)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water and add the spaghetti.  Cook the pasta to al dente, with a bite to it.  Drain the spaghetti.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil and bacon.  Brown and crisp the bacon for 5 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate.  Drain off a little excess fat from the skillet if necessary, leaving just enough to coat the bottom.  Add the beef and crumble as it browns, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the onions and garlic and stir into the meat.  Season the meat with salt and pepper, hot sauce, and Worcestershire.  Cook for 5 to 6 minutes more, then stir in the tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Add the hot spaghetti to the meat and sauce and combine.  Adjust the seasonings and serve up the pasta in shallow bowls.  Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with the scallions.

Halloween Cupcakes

I help out with activities for the 8-11 year old girls at my church, and last night we had a daddy/daughter pumpkin carving night.  All the girls and dads came dressed in costume and we had a great time carving pumpkins, giving out prizes, wrapping the dads up like mummies (and then watching them hop around in a mummy parade), and eating some scary food.  There were deviled eggs that looked like eyeballs, breadsticks that looked like bones, and dip that looked like spiderwebs.  My contribution?  Vampire cupcakes and slime-filled cupcakes.  They were both absolutely delicious, and the vampire cupcakes are by far the best cupcake I've ever made.  It's a light almond vanilla cake with marshmallow frosting filled with cherry pie filling.



They even bleed when you bite into them.  The slime-filled cupcakes were also wonderful.  Vanilla cake with a simple frosting, but the filling really made these cupcakes.  A tangy and surprising lime curd.  They were both fabulous and the girls just ate them up.  Having a Halloween party this weekend?  Whip up a batch of these cupcakes!

Vampire Cupcakes

from Baking Bites

2 cups cake flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large egg whites
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins (you will need 18 cups total) with paper liners and set aside.  Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and blend, using the paddle attachment.  Cut butter into 4 or 5 chunks and drop into the bowl with the flour mixture.  Blend on low speed until mixture looks sandy and no large chunks of butter remain, 1-2 minutes.
In a large measuring cup, combine eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat lightly with a fork until combined. With the mixer on low, pour 1 cup of the buttermilk mixture into the bowl. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Reduce speed back to low and pour in the rest of the buttermilk mixture. Continue to beat at low speed for an additional 30 seconds, until liquid is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a few more seconds, if necessary.
Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins, filling 18 cups as equally as possible.  Bake for 16-20 minutes, until cupcakes are light golden and a toothpick inserted into their centers comes out clean. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed.  Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes 18 cupcakes.

Filling
1 can cherry pie filling

Puree cherry pie filling in a food processor until fairly smooth. Very small pieces of cherries are ok.
(A photo how-to of the assembly method can be found on the Baking Bites blog.) Take a cooled cupcake and, using a small pairing knife, cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the top. Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a flat circle of cake. Set aside and repeat this process for all the cupcakes.
Take the cherry filling and spoon about tablespoon or so into each cupcake cavity, filling it almost to the top with filling. Top off with the flat circle of cake you just removed to seal the hole and hold the “blood” filling in place. (On these cupcakes the cake was too soft for me to keep a circle to put back on top, but they turned out fine anyway.)

Marshmallow Frosting
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/3 cup water
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk sugar, egg whites, 1/3 cup water, light corn syrup, and cream of tartar in large metal bowl to blend. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch simmering water). Using handheld electric mixer, beat on medium speed until mixture resembles soft marshmallow fluff, about 5-7 minutes.  Increase mixer speed to high and beat until mixture is very smooth and thick, about 3 minutes longer. Remove bowl from over simmering water. Add vanilla extract and continue beating until marshmallow frosting is completely cool, about 5-7 minutes longer. (I don't have a hand mixer, so my husband and I switched off whisking this by hand.  It took a little bit longer, and was very tiring, but worked just fine.  We used the whisk attachment on our Kitchen Aid for the last 5-7 minutes.)

Using a butter knife or a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with a layer of the cooled marshmallow frosting by placing a dollop of icing in the center of the cupcake (on top of the cut out circle of cake) and spreading from the center to the sides of the cupcake.
Dip a wooden toothpick or skewer into some leftover cherry pie filling and poke two fang-holes, about 3/4 inch apart, in the frosting on one side of the cupcake. Dribble a little extra filling from the holes for effect.
Repeat until all cupcakes are frosted and decorated. You will probably have frosting leftover for another batch if you are baking more.


Slime-Filled Cupcakes
also from Baking Bites

Slime (Lime Curd) Filling:
2/3 cup strained fresh lime juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
10-12 drops green food coloring

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, dissolve sugar into lime juice.
Lightly beat eggs in a small/medium bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly trickle hot lime/sugar syrup into the eggs. Beat for about 1 minute, until well combined, then transfer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until curd starts to bubble and is thick. Stir in the food coloring while the curd is cooking. Remove from heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.  Makes about 1 1/3 cups.

Vanilla Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk (low fat is ok)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  In a medium bowl, whisk together cooled, melted butter, eggs, vanilla and milk. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.  Distribute batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 16-19 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool completely on a wire rack before filling and frosting.  Makes 12-cupcakes.

(A photo how-to of the assembly method can be found on the Baking Bites blog.)  Take a cooled cupcake and, using a small pairing knife, cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the top. Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a flat circle of cake. Set aside the circle and discard (or eat) the rest of the cone. Repeat this process for all the cupcakes.
Take the slime filling and spoon about tablespoon into each cupcake cavity, filling it almost to the top with lime curd. Top off with the flat circle of cake you just removed to seal the hole and hold the “black lagoon” filling in place.  Once all the cupcakes are filled, they can be frosted just as ordinary cupcakes.

Swampy Vanilla Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
green food coloring

Cream butter with an electric mixer until soft. Add vanilla and gradually add in sugar until most has been incorporated. Mixture will look a bit sandy. Add in milk as necessary (start with 2 tbsp), along with any remaining sugar, until frosting reaches a thick, but easy-to-spread consistency. Add green food coloring until desired green color is reached. Add in a few drops of red with the green for a brownish color, or a drop or two of blue to deepen the green.

Eggs Blackstone

Eggs Benedict has always been one of my favorite breakfast dishes, but I never get to eat it.  Hollandaise sauce is notoriously difficult to make correctly.  My first attempt at making it was when I was dating my husband - so 5 years ago.  It was disastrous.  I was in a little teeny college kitchen and was still perfecting my cooking skills.  I think I was a bit ambitious.  Needless to say, I was scared to try again, but now that I am a more confident cook I decided to go for it.  Not with Eggs Benedict though - with Eggs Blackstone.  And holy cow, they beat out Eggs Benedict.  Instead of ham, they use bacon and a tomato slice.  Yum!  My hollandaise, although imperfect, did not break like it did on my last attempt, so I have improved!  Watch out for the temperature on your double boiler.  Mine was too high, so the eggs yolks cooked a little bit too much, which gave the sauce a mildly eggy flavor.  It was still magically delicious though.  The sauce will take a few tries to get right, but hey, better start now so I can enjoy it more often!  NOTE: I just used regular fried eggs instead of poached eggs, but I will include the poaching directions for you.

Eggs Blackstone with Meyer Lemon Hollandaise

from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Breakfast and Brunch

For the sauce:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice (I used regular lemon juice)

3 egg yolks

4 tablespoons boiling water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 slices thick bacon, cut in half lengthwise

1 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice (once again, I used regular)

8 eggs

4 English muffins, halved and toasted

8 heirloom or regular tomato slices

Freshly ground pepper

To make the hollandaise sauce, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Remove from the heat and keep warm.  In a small nonreactive saucepan over low heat, warm the lemon juice.  Place the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl or in the top of a double boiler and set over (not touching) barely simmering water in a saucepan.  Heat the yolks, whisking constantly, until they begin to thicken, 3-4 minutes.  Add 1 tablespoon of the boiling water and whisk until the yolks thicken, about 2 seconds.  Add another 1 tablespoon of the boiling water and whisk until the yolks thicken, about 2 seconds.  Repeat twice, adding 1 tablespoon of boiling water each time.  Whisk in the warm lemon juice and remove the bowl from the heat.  Whisking constantly, very slowly pour in the melted butter.  Whisk in the salt and cayenne and continue to whisk until the sauce triple in volume, 3-4 minutes.  To keep the sauce warm until serving, set it over (not touching) hot water in the saucepan and whisk occasionally.

Preheat a broiler (grill).  Arrange the bacon slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the broiler about 6 inches from the heat source.  Broil (grill) the slices until browned, about 3 minutes.  Turn and broil until browned on the second side, about 2 minutes longer.  Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain.

Pour water to a depth of 2 inches into a large frying pan and add the lemon juice.  Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer.  Break 1 egg into a small bowl or cup.  Hold the bowl so it is just touching the simmering water and slide the egg into the water.  Quickly repeat with the remaining eggs, one at a time, keeping them about 1 inch apart.  Adjust the heat to keep the water at a gentle simmer.  Cook until the whites are set and the yolks are glazed over but still soft, about 4-5 minutes.

About 1 minute before the eggs are done, place 2 muffin halves, cut side up, on each warmed plate.  Top each half with 1 tomato slice and 2 bacon slices.  Using a slotted spoon, lift each egg from the simmering water, letting the excess water drain into the pan.  Trim any ragged edges of egg white with kitchen scissors.  Top each muffin half with 1 poached egg and sprinkle with pepper.  Spoon 2 tablespoons of the hollandaise sauce over each egg.  Serve at once.