Greens, Eggs (and Ham?)

I love a dish that gives me room to experiment, and this this versatile greens and eggs dish certainly fits the bill.  A combination of hearty greens, tomatoes, sausage, eggs, and cheese all baked together makes a great weekend breakfast or a quick weeknight dinner.  

I made this for dinner the other night using a blend of pre-cut "Southern Greens" from Trader Joe's--Mustard, Turnip, Collard, and Spinach.  A blend is a great way to incorporate several types of greens at once, without having to buy bunches of all of them.  (And it's a great shortcut!)  For cheese I used some Gouda that was kicking around in the back of the fridge, and a chicken andouille sausage to add some kick!  I was very happy with the results, but I look forward to playing around and using different greens, trying both hard and soft cheeses, and different sausage flavors.  (And obviously, the sausage can be omitted to make this a vegetarian meal.)  It's easy to double or triple for a crowd; I can see myself making this for a brunch buffet and just dumping the whole thing in a casserole dish.

Swirly Cinnamon Raisin Bread

  

I've recently become obsessed with creating an awesome but easy cinnamon-raisin bread.  The idea took hold during a conversation with a friend who suggested that Cook's Illustrated No-Knead Bread would work as a cinnamon-raisin loaf.  I was struck by that though, and since it is the easiest bread by far, I made a couple of loaves the next day.  The results were solid, but not quite what I had in mind.  Because the CINKB is both fat-free and slow-fermenting bread that develops a lot of gluten, it resulted in a tougher loaf than what I was looking for.  Still looking for a lighter, low-fat bread (as opposed to a buttery, brioche-based cinnamon-raisin bread, which would be very tender and delicious, but too rich for my purposes), I decided instead to try a classic white sandwich bread.   These breads are often milk-based, and contain either butter or oil, but are still fairly light.  The first one I tried was good, but it didn't produce as big a loaf as I imagined, and the weight of the raisins in the dough interfered with the rising and left a big empty pocket of air inside.  For take 3 I turned to the Cook's Illustrated companion, Baking Illustrated, and tried their American Sandwich Bread.  In addition to producing a nice big loaf, it's a relatively quick recipe to execute--just over 2 hours from start to finish.  It took a couple of iterations and adjustments, but I've finally achieved what I consider a delicious but not-too-indulgent-for-everyday-breakfast bread.  For ample cinnamon flavor I mix  ground cinnamon directly into the dough and roll cinnamon sugar into the loaf before it goes in the pan, producing an attractive sweet and spicy swirl.  A healthy dose of plumped raisins are kneaded directly into the dough so they're evenly incorporated, ensuring that with every bite you're rewarded with soft, sweet, raisin-y goodness.  My favorite way to enjoy this bread is simply toasted with a light smear of butter and a steamy cup of Earl Gray Tea. 

 

Every Day Cinnamon Raisin Bread (Loosely adapted from Baking Illustrated) 

Makes one 9-inch loaf

* 3¾ cups (18¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

* 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt

* 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

* 1 cup warm milk--whole is recommended, but I use 1%

* ⅓ cup warm water

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

* 3 tablespoons honey

* 1 envelope (or 2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast

* 1 packed cup (5 ½ ounces) raisins

* 5 packed Tablespoons of brown sugar--light or dark is fine

1. Adjust your oven racks to the two lowest positions and prepare your oven for proofing by heating it to 200 degrees F. Once the oven temperature reaches 200 degrees F, turn it off.  Place a shallow baking pan on the bottom rack and set a few cups of water to boil.

2. Plump your raisins by covering them with very hot water, or cover with water and microwave for two minutes.  Set aside for 10 minutes.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3½ cups (17 ½ ounces) of the flour, the salt and 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon.  In a microwave safe measuring cup (at least 2 cup capacity), mix the milk, water and butter, and heat until the butter is melted and the liquid is warm (should be about 110 degrees.  If you let it get too hot--and I do this sometimes--allow to cool for a few minutes).  Add the honey and yeast and whisk together.

4. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the liquid/yeast mixture. When the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth and satiny, about 5 minutes.  If the dough begins to creep up the dough hook, stop the mixer and push it down.  If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add some flour, a tablespoon at a time (up to 4 Tablespoons) until it no longer sticks.  Once your dough has kneaded for 5 minutes, drain your raisins and add them to the mixer.  Knead for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, until the raisins are incorporated.  If they're being stubborn you can also work them in by hand.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead to form a smooth, round ball (and finish incorporating the raisins), about 15 seconds.

5. Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl and turn it around the bowl to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warmed oven.  At this time take your boiling water and pour it into the pan on the bottom rack to create a nice steamy environment.  Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.  

6. In a small bowl, combine the 2 teaspoons cinnamon and the brown sugar and set aside.  Lightly oil a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Dust your counter with a bit of flour and turn the dough out onto it.  Gently press the dough into a rectangle 9 inches across and about twice that in length.  Cover the surface with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Start rolling the dough from a 9-inch side.  When you get to the end, pinch the seam closed.  Place the dough in the greased pan, seam side down, and cover it again with plastic wrap. 

Put the loaf back in the oven until it nearly doubles again in size, 20 to 30 minutes.

7.  Remove the rising bread from the oven and heat it to 350 degrees F.  With the pan of hot water still in the oven, bake the loaf for 40 to 50 minutes.  If you have a digital thermometer, the bread's internal temperature will be 200 degrees F when it's done.  Turn the bread out onto a cooling rack and cool fully before slicing.  This bread will keep for several days in a ziplock bag at room temperature. 

Enjoy!!

Oatmeal Bread...Again

  

Without even realizing it, the next recipe I decided to tackle was a loaf of oatmeal sandwich bread.  You'd think I was on a quest to find the best oatmeal bread out there or something...but truthfully, I had completely forgotten that I made oatmeal sandwich bread 2 posts ago.  Probably because I was a slacker in September...sorry about that, guys.  I'll chalk it up to being in a new house, without my usual arsenal of cookware, and not having Erik to eat half of my culinary experiments.  (Erik has moved on to grad school, did I mention that?  I forget.  I'm now living in Hadwen House.  It is the first house I lived in on Nantucket, so it feels like everything is coming full circle). 

But anyway, back to the bread.  It is a loaf that I've had my eye on for a while now, first spotted on Brown Eyed Baker, though it comes courtesy of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook.  Which is on my Christmas list, FYI.  Just in case you're planning ahead. 

For all intents and purposes, it is quite similar to the other oatmeal bread.  I suppose the major difference is that bread #1 was sweetened with molasses, while this bread is sweetened with honey, though a touch more of it, which results in a slightly sweeter bread that is lighter lighter in color.  And although the amount of oats used in both recipes is the same, I think bread #2 (the one I'm blogging about now) has a slightly nuttier, crunchier texture.  Perhaps because you let #1's dough sit and soften and absorb the liquids for a while before kneading?  I'm not sure.  But here's what I can say.  They're both delicious, and I will definitely make both again. 

But since we're on #2 right now, I will tell you what makes this particular recipe stand out: the ingredient amounts are in ounces!  This is great, because I can just pop my mixing bowl on my kitchen scale, and keep hitting "tare" as I add my ingredients.  This is especially fantastic with the honey--no sticky measuring cups for me!  The original recipe calls for instant yeast, which you can just mix in with the other dry ingredients, no proofing needed.  However, if you only have active dry on hand, as I did, reduce the amount of water that you mix into the oatmeal mixture by 1/4 cup, and then, while the oatmeal mixture is cooling, measure out 1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F), sprinkle the yeast on top, mix or swirl it, then let it proof for 5-10 minutes.  Your yeast should look creamy and have a few bubbles on the surface--if it looks like this, mix in into the oatmeal mixture, then add the dry ingredients.  If it doesn't look like this your yeast may be old, or your water too hot or too cold.  Either way, start again with fresh yeast, because if you mix in bad yeast your bread won't rise.  The other thing I would note is that  I needed to add a fair amount of flour as I kneaded this dough--it's quite sticky!  Michelle of BEB said that she added "a few extra tablespoons," but I think I added nearly a cup!  Either way, keep a measuring cup on hand that you can sprinkle from, so you don't need to dip your sticky doughy hands in your flour repeatedly.  So without further ado, the recipe:

Oatmeal Honey Sandwich Bread (From Brown Eyed Baker and King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking)

Makes 1 loaf

* 1¼ cups (10 ounces) boiling water

* 1 cup (3½ ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats

* 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

* 1½ teaspoons salt

* ¼ cup (3 ounces) honey

* 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour

* 1-2/3 cups (7 ounces) all-purpose flour

* ¼ cup (1 ounce) nonfat dry milk

* 2 teaspoons instant yeast (If using active dry, look at instructions above)

1. Place the boiling water, oats, butter, salt and honey into a medium bowl, stir, and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

2.  Add remaining dry ingredients, stir until combined.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is soft and smooth.  

3.  Place dough in a greased bowl (cooking spray works well for this).  Rotate the bread around the bowl until it's lightly greased on all sides, then cover and put in a draft free place for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in bulk.

4. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.  Lightly grease a surface and your hands, and gently deflate your dough, shaping it into an 8 x 5 inch square while you do so.  Starting on the short side, roll the dough into a tight log.  (For a nice illustration of how this is supposed to look, check out Brown Eyed Baker.  My hands were too greasy to take my own pictures!)

5. When the dough is rolled into a log, pinch the seam and pinch the ends.  Roll the log back and forth a few times to ensure that it's of even thickness, not tapered at the ends.  Place the dough in your greased loaf pan, seam side down, and cover lightly with saran wrap.  Allow to rise for another hour to an hour and a half, until the bread is crowning over the top about an inch and a half.  When the bread is nearly there, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake for 45 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 minutes so it doesn't over brown. 

6.  Cool the loaf for a few minutes in the pan before turning it out and cooling fully.  It will slice better if you allow the loaf cool completely before cutting in (bad Nantucket reference, sorry), but I understand completely if you can't wait to slather a slice with butter or jam and enjoy.  If you want bonus points for presentation, brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with some more oats.  I used up all my oatmeal on this one, so I had to skip that step...

If anyone is inspired enough to bake both loaves, let me know which your favorite is--I can't decide for myself.  Either way you'll feel like a champ after you bake one of these easy and delicious loaves, which are excellent for toast and sandwiches.

Rainy Day Baking Extravaganza

 

It's been a weird day weather-wise: gusting winds, driving rain, resulting in several ferry cancellations.  One tree even blew down in our yard this morning!  Whole tree, not just a limb!  After being awake for quite some time listening to the wind while I lay in bed this morning, I rolled out at 6 like I usually do, and started getting ready for work.  About 5 minutes before I had to head out the door work was postponed til 8, then 10, giving me an awkward chunk of time to fill.  I started packing a few boxes of kitchen stuff and books (I'm moving in a week...ugh), then decided to make the banana bread that I had been putting off.  (For picture, see banner, for recipe see here).

After about 2 hours of work, which left me soaked and chilled, I came home again and decided to tackle a loaf of sandwich bread featured on Orangette a few weeks ago.  It was a good afternoon project, because although it it a fairly easy recipe, it involves several hours of resting, rising, etc.  I think it's a pretty good recipe, although I'll have to try it again because I had a few flubs.  First, I forgot to incorporate the salt, so the resulting loaf is a tiny bit bland.  Second, I dozed off during the second rise, and I let it rise about 15 minutes too long, which resulted in a partial collapse--somewhat reminiscent of a French chef's hat?

            =

I'm going to go ahead and post the recipe for the bread, because I have a hunch that, if salt was remembered and rising time was adhered to, this would in fact be a very tasty toast & sandwich bread. 

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread (From Orangette)

* 1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast

* 3 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses

* 2 ½ cups whole wheat flour

* 2 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading

* 1 cup rolled oats

* 4 Tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

* 2 ¼ teaspoons table salt, or to taste

Grease a large bowl and a 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, (or in the bowl of a stand mixer, if you have one), combine 2 cups warm water, the yeast, and molasses. Stir briefly, and then allow the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. Add the flours, oats, and butter, and stir to mix. The dough will look rough and shaggy. Cover with a towel, and let stand for 30 minutes. [This rest allows the dry ingredients to absorb the liquids, making for a dough that’s easy to work with and even-crumbed.]

Now, if you are kneading by hand, turn the dough out onto a large board or counter sprinkled with more bread flour.  Sprinkle the dough with the salt, then knead for about 15 minutes, adding flour as needed.  I think I added at least 1/2 a cup of flour while I kneaded.  If you are fortunate enough to have a stand mixer, attach the bowl and the bread hook to the mixer. Add the salt, and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. The dough should come together around the hook and slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking. If the dough is sticking, add a tablespoon or two of bread flour, sprinkling it down between the dough and the sides of the bowl.  The dough should be soft and supple and slightly sticky.

If you kneaded by hand, form your dough into a ball and pop in in your greased bowl.  If you're a stand mixer type, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it a few times, and then pop it in the greased bowl.  Cover the bowl with a towel and then let it rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.  To see if it’s ready, gently push a floured finger into it. If the dough springs back, it needs more time; if the dimple remains, it’s ready for the next step.

Next step is shaping: scrape the dough onto your floured surface. Press down on it, working it into a square shape, making sure to squeeze out any bubbles.  Fold the top and bottom edges of the dough so that they meet in the middle, then take the newly formed top and bottom edges and pinch them together; pinch the seam to seal. Pinch the sides together, and roll the shaped dough back and forth, plumping it so that it’s evenly formed and about the length of the pan. Place the dough in the greased pan with the seam side down, and press it gently into the corners of the pan.

Now, the bread rises again: cover the dough with a towel, and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough rises to half again its size. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F--don't wait too long to preheat your oven, or your dough will rise too much, and as I discovered, that is not a good thing!

When the dough has finished its second rise, bake for about 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The loaf is ready when the top crust and bottom crusts are nicely browned. To test done-ness, tap the top of the loaf a thump with your hand.  A hollow sound means that the bread is ready, if not, bake for a few additional minutes.  Remove the finished loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.  Allow the bread to cool fully--this helps the crumb set and the flavor to develop.  If you're a sucker for hot bread, like me, you can always reheat it in the microwave!

This bread will keep for 4 or 5 days at room temperature, if you don't eat it all first.  Just keep in in a plastic grocery or produce bag and enjoy!

Stay tuned for the finale of the rainy day baking extravaganza...I've run out of energy on this post!

The BEST Blueberry Muffins

 

I apologize.  Over a year has gone by, and I have never posted about my favorite blueberry muffins.  Probably, although they are my favorites, I don't think I've made them since 2006.  2006?!?  That was a while ago, even though I keep pretending it was last summer.  

What happened in 2006 is that I graduated from college and moved to Nantucket.  That summer I lived with three lovely Wellesley graduates.  Now, I don't want to generalize about Wellesley women, because I've only lived with a handful, but the ones I know (and lived with), are very domestic.  My first day on Nantucket I bought milk and Cheerios, which I proceeded to eat for dinner.  Then my roommate Christiana served me some delicious risotto and explained that they cooked and ate together every night.  They were very gracious about easing me into the cooking rotation, but I was still intimidated: I had to cook not only for myself, but my three very domesticated housemates?  Cheerios for dinner doesn't count?  Needless to say, my cooking has come a long way since then, but summer of 2006 was my first real foray into cooking and eating like a real adult.  

Along with cooking for my housemates and occasional dinner guests (namely Erik, whose housemates, not being Wellesley women, were not nearly as domesticated as mine), I did lots of baking, and one of my favorite sources for recipes, since I didn't own any cookbooks at the time (a mind boggling thought, now!), was the Cape Cod Table by Lora Brody, which my lovely housemate Erin owned.  By instituting Sunday Morning Brunch and Mimosas we managed to cook and bake our way through nearly everything in the cookbook's Breakfast section, but my favorite recipe remains the one for blueberry muffins.  So much so that when Erin left for law school I bought my own copy of the book on eBay.  While I have handed out the recipe to friends,  for some reason I never made them again myself, but today, that has been remedied.

These muffins are incredibly moist and tender--not like those crumbly muffins that you bite into and all of a sudden you're wearing half of it on your shirt.  Because I've had muffins like those, and they're no good. They are absolutely jam packed with berries--you smash some and mix more in whole, so the blueberry flavor absolutely permeates the muffins.  Citrus zest (officially orange, but lemon works just as well), adds another dimension of flavor.  And, just as a practical matter, the recipe is for 12 regular sized muffins, which is perfect, because 12 fit in one muffin tin.  So grab a couple of pints of blueberries before the season is over whip these up.  Best blueberry muffins, I promise.

The BEST Blueberry Muffins Ever (From The Cape Cod Table by Lora Brody)

6 jumbo muffins or 12-14 regular muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

* 2 cups of all-purpose flour

* 1 cup of granulated sugar

* 2 teaspoons of baking powder

* ½ teaspoon of salt

* 2 ½ cups of fresh blueberries, rinsed and shaken dry, or 2 ½ cups of slightly thawed frozen blueberries

* 2 extra large eggs

* ½ cup of milk

* ½ cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

* 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

* Finely grated zest of a medium orange (or lemon)

For the topping:

* 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

* ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

* ½ cup of finely chopped walnuts

1.  Preheat the oven to 400°F, with the rack in the center position.  Line the muffin tins of your choice with paper muffin cups or coat the cups and flat part of the tins generously with butter or cooking spray.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl.

 3. Place 1 cup of the blueberries in a small bowl and use a fork to mash them roughly.

4. In another medium mixing bowl, melt the butter.  (If you're using the microwave, beware of butter explosions!  Stop the microwave several times while you're melting the butter, or you will end up with a well buttered microwave!)   When the butter is cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), whisk in the eggs, milk, vanilla, and citrus zest.  Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold in the mashed berries.

5. Fold the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing just to combine.  There should be some dry lumps showing.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to combine all the dry ingredients.  Gently, fold in the whole berries.  
 

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans without smoothing the tops, filling them slightly more than half way. 
 

 Obviously I'm not good at following directions.  These

should be less full, and covered with topping.  Oops.
 

7. Make the topping by mixing the sugar, cinnamon, and nut together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle generously over the batter.  Bake the regular-sized muffins for 18 to 20 minutes and the jumbo muffins for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes or so before devouring. 
 

Enjoy!

Banana Pancakes

 

Apologies for the absence, readers.  Don't think I haven't been cooking--I have.  I just haven't had time for the blogging part of the cooking blog.  Here's how my days have been breaking down lately:

Work: 12 hours

Sleep: 8 hours (ha!) 

"Commuting" to work: 1 hour

Morning routine: 1 hour 

So that leaves about 2 hours in the day for the rest of life (cooking dinner, cleaning, laundry, collapsing on the couch, email, facebook...)  Yeah, blogging hasn't been fitting in too well lately.  Luckily there are Sundays, when I do all that stuff that I neglect during the week (which would be most of that list, minus the email & facebook, which I can't seem to wean myself off of.)

Sundays are also a great time for pancakes, which is what this post is all about.  Banana pancakes, specifically.   I always have overripe bananas kicking around, because when I buy a bunch I will only eat the first 3 or 4.  If I were smarter I would just buy 3 or 4 bananas at a time, but alas, I am not.  98% of the time the overripe bananas become banana bread, so I was extremely happy to stumble upon an alternate overripe banana recipe in People magazine last month.  I made them last Sunday with half of the bad bananas I had sticking around, and then made them again today since the other half of the bad bananas were really really really bad bananas at this point.  Although the smell and texture of overripe bananas makes me a little queasy, as soon as you add flour and sugar and eggs and heat, somehow it's all good.  In fact, it's all great.  I don't know how that works, but it does.  The bananas keep these pancakes amazingly moist, not at all dry and bready.  It also somehow lubricates the whole wheat flour, which this recipe uses, so again, nice and moist, not like the hockey puck pancakes that my friend Shannon described when someone else cooked her whole wheat pancakes.

Last weekend I made some blueberry sauce to go with my banana pancakes, because I was out of maple syrup.  I just took a couple of cups of frozen blueberries (though fresh would work, I just happen to have lots in my freezer), and cooked them in a sauce pan until they were unfrozen and mushy, then added just enough light brown sugar (though any sweetener would do), to make it sweet and syrupy.  While I liked the banana pancakes with the blueberry sauce, I actually preferred them with straight up maple syrup.  But don't get me wrong, the blueberry sauce was excellent (as a bonus, I was inspired to brush my teeth immediately after eating, which doesn't often happen on Sundays!)  I ate most of it out of the pan, actually, since I made way too much.  I think I will try it again with vanilla ice cream, or perhaps blueberry shortcake, instead of strawberry...?  Things to try.  But in the meantime, try these:

 Blueberry sauce, delicious right from the pan.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes (From People Magazine)

Serves 2-4, depending on your appetites

* 1 cup of whole wheat flour (you can obviously use white, if you prefer or if that's all you have)

* 1 Tablespoon white sugar

* 2 teaspoons baking powder

* 1 healthy dash of nutmeg

* 2 healthy dashes of cinnamon

* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 2 ripe to overripe bananas, mashed

* 1 egg, beaten

* 1 cup of milk

* 2 Tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil

* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

* Sliced bananas and/or strawberries, to top (optional)

1. Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl

2. In a larger mixing bowl, mash bananas.  If your bananas aren't so ripe they're soggy you may have lumps, but fear not, those taste good.  Mix in egg, milk, oil, and vanilla.  

3. Add dry ingredients to the wet, and stir in until it's all moistened.  It's okay if the batter is lumpy.  If the batter seems too thick to you (mine did), thin with about a tablespoon of milk.

4. Heat a griddle or frying pan and oil or butter lightly over medium heat.  When a drop of water will sizzle on the hot pan, add approximately 1/3 cup of batter.  Cook until the edges are dry and there are lots of bubbles on the surface of the pancake.  Flip, continue cooking for a minute or two until golden brown.  Serves with sliced fruit, if desired, and lots of maple syrup (you don't want these to be too healthy, after all!)  Enjoy!

This is what your pancake looks like when it's ready to flip.  You probably 

already know this, but for the pancake neophytes out there, now you know, too.

A Little Scone Experimentation

 

Baking sans oven thermometer is a scary thought, since my oven is manic.  Seriously.  It runs about 75-200 degrees hot, depending on its mood.  Maybe there's a better way to describe it other than "mood," but since I'm no engineer, I just call the darn thing moody.  All my baking went to hell right after I moved to the cottage--I kept overcooking and/or burning everything!  And then one day I had this stroke of genius: I should buy an oven thermometer!  And so I did, and (for the most part), I've been able to set the oven to a somewhat arbitrary number and achieve my desired results.  But then last week the thermometer BROKE!  I don't know what happened; one day it worked, then the next, it didn't.  At first it wouldn't register any temperature, and now apparently my cottage is hovering around 500 degrees.  Fortunately the thing is still under warranty, and yes, I did keep the packaging, so I can send it in, but I've been lazy (read: I haven't done it yet).  Which is why the oven hasn't been used too much lately.  But I was kind of going into baking withdrawal, so I'm winging it.  It's scary, I'm sitting here wondering what is going to happen.  It's usually a safe bet to set the oven about 75 degrees cooler when you're going for 350, but when you want to get temps over 400 it becomes more unpredictable. 

Oh, I should mention, I'm making scones.  Specifically whole wheat scones with dried apricot pieces.  They bake at 425°F, so right now the oven is set at 325°F and hopefully it's going okay.  I mean, the cottage smells delicious, so that's a good sign.  These scones were discovered on Orangette, source of all things delicious and wholesome.   My family is coming for Easter weekend, which I thought would be a nice thing until I got hit with 2 pet sitting gigs, and I realized I couldn't stay with the fam; they will be staying at the lower maintenance 3 cat house, and I will be staying at the higher maintenance 1 dog/2 cat house.  (Mom, I'm not uninviting you--but we will have our hands full!)  They will be on their own for breakfast while I give the border collie her morning walk, I figured I should provision them for breakfast, which is why these scones are getting a trial run.  Immediately out of the oven I would say they pass--hearty but not heavy, nice light crust, and the apricot pieces make sweet and moist pockets in the scones, which I love--plain ones just don't do it for me.  Too monotonous.  I also sprinkled these with turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw), to give the crust a little bit of sweetness.  Although I didn't try them with anything, a bit of butter and a complementary jam would also be great.  As you may have gathered from other recipes featured in the blog, I love things that incorporate whole wheat flour, and I love dried fruit, so they're pretty much perfect.  These will certainly be making another appearance this weekend (no chance this initial batch will last that long!), and I suspect they will be equally delicious with other dried fruits--perhaps the Craisins I have kicking around the pantry will be incorporated next time!

Whole Wheat Scones With Dried Apricot Pieces (Adapted from Orangette)

Makes 8 scones

* 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used regular whole wheat, since I have never seen whole wheat pastry flour for sale anywhere on island)
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* ½ teaspoon salt
* 4 tablespoons (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
* ¼ cup sugar
* ½ cup diced dried apricots (or other dried fruit of your choice)
* ½ cup half-and-half, plus more for glazing
* 1 large egg
* A few tablespoons of turbinado sugar or sanding sugar (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt.  Add the butter and pinch it between your fingertips to incorporate it into the flour, until there are no butter lumps bigger than a large pea. Add the sugar and dried apricots, and whisk to incorporate.

3. After measuring the half-and-half, add the egg and mix the two together with a fork. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and combine with the fork just until the flour is mostly wet--don't worry about a little bit of unincorporated flour.  Using your hands, gently press and shape the dough, so that it holds together in a messy clump. 

4. Turn the dough and any excess flour onto the counter top, and gently work the dough together, but don't overwork it!  About a dozen kneads should do it.  As soon as the dough holds together, pat it into a rough circle about 1 ½ inches thick and cut into 8 wedges.

4. Transfer the wedges on the prepared baking sheet. Pour a splash of half-and-half into a small bowl and glaze the tops of the scones with a thin coat of half-and-half using a pastry brush.  Sprinkle with turbinado sugar, if desired.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until pale golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm, additional butter and jam optional. 

Easy Waffles From Scratch

 

From time to time any experimental cook will find herself stuck with half a bag of this or that, some leftover ingredient from some dish that they tried. A few weeks ago I tried my hand at Ethiopian cooking, and every recipe I found for injera, the traditional pancake-like Ethiopian bread, uses self-rising flour. Not wanting to alter the recipe on my first effort, I bought self-rising flour, which is just all purpose flour with a certain proportion of baking powder and salt mixed in. I won't buy it again now that I know what it is, (I can make it myself), but still I am saddled with about 7/8ths of a bag of flour taking up precious real estate in my tiny pantry. The challenge when you have these extra odds and ends is to find recipes that use the right amount so you can use them up. (Heck, I'm still trying to finish off that chili in adobo that I bought last summer!) What to do with this flour...? Well, the cat house has a waffle maker, and I haven't had a waffle in years (college, maybe?) so the answer is obvious!

It was a challenge to find a fast waffle recipe; many use either yeast or whipped egg whites as leavening agents and require rest time before cooking. Let me tell you, I am a hungry girl in the morning. Sometimes my hunger even wakes me up. Don't know why, but that's just the way I am. So I didn't have the patience to let some batter sit around for an hour. The easiest recipe I found on AllRecipes.com uses baking powder instead of yeast or whipped egg whites to get a nice light texture, while the vegetable oil--marginally healthier than melted butter because of the lower saturated fat numbers--gives them a lightly crispy exterior, and overall the taste was far superior to the waffles from the just-add-water mix we tried last weekend. Best of all for me, the flour & baking powder measurements made substituting the self-rising flour a cinch. I served them with a simple strawberry sauce made from frozen berries and warm maple syrup. Nothing better on a Sunday morning.


Easy Waffles
Makes 6 7-inch waffles

This basic waffle recipe is quick and simple, whether you are trying to use up self-rising flour, or want to stick to basic. You could also substitute in some whole wheat flour to improve the health-factor :)
 

* 2 eggs 

* 2 cups all-purpose flour and 4 teaspoons or baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt  

OR 2 cups of self-rising flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder 

* 1 3/4 cups milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil 

* 1 tablespoon white sugar 

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1. Preheat an electric waffle iron.

2. Beat eggs in large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in milk, vegetable oil, sugar, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and salt (if needed) just until smooth.

3. Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour approximately 2/3 cup of waffle batter onto hot waffle iron . You will know they are done when the waffle iron lid lifts easily and the waffle is golden brown. Serve hot. 

Simple Strawberry Sauce

You can make this sauce all year long with frozen strawberries. Buy the plain strawberries, not those packed in sugar sauce--although you will be adding sugar to the berries, it's better to control that amount.  

* 1 bag of frozen strawberries 

* 1/4 cup of water
* Sugar, to taste--I used about 1/4 cup
* Juice of 1/4 of a fresh lemon

1. In a medium sauce pan, combine strawberries and water over medium-low heat. Cover, and cook until strawberries have thawed, stirring occasionally.  

2. Using the back of a fork, crush some of the strawberries to thicken the mixture. Add about half of the sugar and lemon juice, and cook for a few minutes until sugar has completely dissolved. Taste, and add more sugar as needed, and cook until it's all dissolved. If you are going to be serving this sauce alongside maple syrup, be sure not to over-sweeten the sauce, since the maple syrup will take care of that!  Serve immediately, or keep in the fridge and reheat gently before serving.

Enjoy!