Peanut Soup

 from Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martin

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 C minced onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 T flour

1 C peanut butter (ideally natural, not sweetened)

1 qt. chicken stock

1 C heavy whipping cream

Salt and pepper

Hot pepper sauce (optional)

Crushed roasted peanuts, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In a med saucepan heat the butter over med heat until it is sizzling. Add onion and garlic and saute about 3 minutes until translucent but not browned. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and use a whisk to stir it together, about 30 seconds. Whisk in the peanut butter until softened and smooth.

2. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock and bring it to a very gentle simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook it very gently for 20 min to thicken and marry the flavors, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. 

3. Stir in the cream and let it gently heat up to your desired service temperature. Do not overheat. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Serve w/peanuts if desired. 

Orange Biscuits

 From Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martin

You can also make these by rolling the dough 3/4 inch thick and spoon the marmalade into a little dip pressed into the center of the biscuit. 

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 butter or shortening, chilled and cut into pieces

2/3 C heavy whipping cream

2 tsp grated orange zest

2 tsp fresh orange juice

1/2 C orange marmalade (I used canned apricot pie filling)

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly butter a 9 inch baking pan (or pie plate). 

2. Combine dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening. 

3. In a small bowl, combine the cream, orange zest, and orange juice. Using a form gradually blend three quarters of the cream-juice mixture into the flour mixture, stirring gently. Stir in enough of the remaining cream-juice mixture to make a slightly sticky dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 8-10 times until the dough comes together and is smooth. 

5. Roll or pat the dough into a rectangle 12 in long, 1/4 in thick. Spoon the marmalade over the dough and spread it out. Roll up the dough and cut into 1 inch slices. Place the biscuits in your pan, leaving no space between. Brush with melted butter.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 375F and bake another 10 min until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm.

Malva

Reviving the recipe blog after several years dead, in which time I have become a much better cook by pivoting from online to cookbook-based cooking. My phone is getting cluttered with snapshots of recipes and it would be easier to just get back to blogging them than sifting through my phone! But this is an internet recipe and I made this for Three King's Day in 2021 and it was very easy and very pleasing and wholly new, from: https://www.food.com/recipe/malva-pudding-south-african-baked-dessert-118545

Ingredients:

For the pudding:

3/4 C or 180 g white sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp apricot jam

1 C or 150 g all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda (maybe do half and half baking soda baking powder?)

1/2 tsp salt

1 generous Tbsp butter

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/3 C milk

For the sauce:

3/4 C fresh cream

7 Tbsp butter

1/2 - 2/3 C sugar

1/3 C hot water

2 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 deg F/180 deg Celsius. 
• Grease an oven dish. I used a 7 x 7 x 1 1/2 inch Pyrex dish. (18 x 18 x 4 1/2 cm)
• Beat or whip the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until thick and lemon coloured, then add the jelly (jam) and mix through.
• Melt the butter (don't boil) and add the butter and vinegar to the wet mixture.
• Sieve, or simply mix together: the flour, soda and salt.
• Add this mixture with the milk to the egg mixture in the processor or mixing bowl. Beat well.
• Pour into an oven-proof dish and bake until pudding is brown and well-risen -- depending on your oven and oven dish this will be between 30 - 45 minutes. (Mine was done in 30 minutes this time).
• In a pot, melt together the ingredients for the sauce, and stir well.
• Pour it over the pudding as soon as it comes out of the oven.
• Leave to stand awhile before serving. Serve warm. Because it's rich it does not really need enhancement (agree), but if you want, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Sanguinaccio

The Robber and I have been treating ourselves to what I think this is at Cafe Venecia in Palo Alto for the last few years-- I'll admit this recipe is the reason I saved any of the Italian newspapers in the first place. I'm hoping it delivers when I actually make some. From AdriBarrCrocetti.com. Serves 4 or more, depending on serving size.

Ingredients

3 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
1 1/2 C whole milk
1 1/2 C heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
4 oz 62% semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Whipped cream, to garnish

Directions

1. Pour the milk into a 2 qt saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape the seeds into the saucepan and add the bean. Heat over a medium flame until small bubbles form around the edges. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover and set aside to steep for 20 min.

2. Blend the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Add the cream and combine. Add the egg yolks and beat well.

4. Slowly pour all the hot milk over the cocoa mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Stir over a medium low flame until it thickens and comes to a boil, about 7-8 minutes.

5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler.

6. Remove the milk mixture from the heat. Remove and discard the vanilla bean. Add the melted chocolate, stirring until smooth. Garnish with whipped cream.

Panettone French Toast

Sounds really really bad for you but very delicious. Maybe I'll eat it once in my life to be fancy. From AdriBarrCrocetti.com. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 lbs of Panettone
6 large eggs
1 C heavy cream
1 C milk
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 T brandy
Zest of one orange
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Unsalted butter, softened
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting
Pomegranate seeds, for garnishing

Directions

1. Remove the discard the paper from the panettone. Cut the top from the panettone and cut remainder of panettone into 1-inch thick slices, cutting the very large inner slices in half.

2. Place the eggs, cream, milk, sugar, brandy, orange zest, salt and nutmeg in a low baking dish and whisk until blended.

3. Place the panettone slices in the mixture, 2 or 3 at a time. Soak, turning once, about 10-15 sec per side.

4. Heat a griddle over medium heat and brush lightly with unsalted butter. Cook panettone until golden brown, 4-5 min per side. Can keep cooked slices in warm 200 degree over.

5. Serve topped with butter, sugar and pomegranate seeds.

Butterscotch Pudding

An indulgence, really, but somehow when I found this recipe it caught my eye and knowing how much the Robber loves butterscotch and I love cold, creamy things, I decided to give this a try. The flavor is more carmelly than butterscotch really, and I didn't have a strainer so the texture in mine turned out less than ideal but it was easy to make and the Robber loved it, so let's call it a win. (I did not make the ganache, this is rich enough it is totally unnecessary).

From the Pizzeria Locale in Denver by way of the NYTimes Restaurant Takeaway Column:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/02/dining/butterscotch-pudding-creamy-light-and-nutty.html?ref=restauranttakeaway

Ingredients:

For the pudding:

3 C. heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 C. milk

3/4 C. plus 1 T. dark brown sugar

3/4 tsp. fine sea salt (or just regular salt)

4 large egg yolks

1 large egg

4 tsp. cornstarch

4 1/2 T. unsalted butter

For the ganache:

1/4 C. heavy whipping cream (plus additional for topping)

2.5 oz. chopped milk chocolate

Directions:

1. Make the pudding: In a small pot, bring the cream and milk to a simmer. Cover to keep warm.

2. In a medium pot, bring brown sugar, 1/3 C. water and salt to a boil. Cook while stirring occasionally until the solution is 240 degrees on a candy thermometer (5-10 minutes). The mixture should be a deep brown color and smell nutty and carmelized.

3. Immediately whisk cream mixture into brown sugar to stop the cooking. The mixture will seize. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook until smooth.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks, egg and cornstarch. Pour a ladleful of hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle. Pour egg mixture into the pot with the cream, whisking more. Cook for another 2-4 minutes until thickened (ok if the mixture simmers).

5. Strain mixture into a bowl and whisk in butter until smooth. Divide into 8 serving dishes (or one large souffle dish) and chill for at least 4 hours until custards are set. 

6. Make the ganache: In a small saucepan, heat cream until steaming. Add chocolate and stir constantly over very heat until just melted. Strain into a glass measuring cup with a spout. 

7. Pour a thin layer of the ganache over the tops of the custards. (There may be some left over.) Chill for an additional four hours and serve with whipped cream on top.

Quick Biscuits with Maple Butter

These are the biscuits that I made with the dreamy cream scones to use up my leftover Thanksgiving whipped cream and I had very low expectations for them because the picture in the NYTimes made them look just like any other lesser biscuit. Low and flat and not particularly flaky. But then I made them with butter and cream, not margarine and grain milk. and you better believe these were so packed with butter and cream that it was like eating a flaky, salty stick of butter and if you are into that thing, well, then you can imagine it being pretty amazing. So much for being "well."

We didn't try out the whipped maple butter, but trust me, these don't need it.

From the NYTimes Well Thanksgiving blog 2012:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/12/health/20121111_vegetarian-thanksgiving.html#Quick_Biscuits_With_Maple_%E2%80%9CButter%E2%80%9D

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

2 C. all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface

1 T. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 C. vegan margarine... or ahem butter...

3/4 C. soy, almond or rice milk... or real milk, or cream...

For the "maple butter":

1 C. vegan margarine, at room temperature

1/4 C. maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add margarine and cut it roughly into flour using a pastry cutter, until mixture is the texture of coarse meal with a few larger margarine lumps. Add nondairy milk and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Do not overwork.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into an oblong shape, about 1 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch floured cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits out and place them on a baking sheet (or just cut them into wedges). Brush the tops lightly with melted margarine and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden. Remove biscuits from oven immediately and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5. Make the maple “butter.” In a mixing bowl, using a whisk or electric mixer, whip margarine with maple syrup until light and fluffy. Refrigerate until serving.

Dreamy Cream Scones

The last new scone recipe I tried was so bad I didn't even post it. The scones were lumpy and soggy and gross and I gave up on new scone recipes figuring, as you all figure, that I have enough. But then came this day after Thanksgiving when I had this exact amount of whipping cream I had to use, and this and another scone/biscuit recipe were both circulating the air, and the Robber was hungry, and such came to such and I made these with chopped fresh cranberries in them and then they were what every scone should be--  more biscuity rather than cakey, but not dry-- not too sweet-- and I ended up buying more cream and making them twice. The end.

Note: For the add-in I chopped my cranberries in half and then coated in sugar before adding to the dough.

An old Smitten Kitchen recipe:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2006/11/dream-a-little-dream-of-scone/

Ingredients:

2 C. all purpose flour

1 T. baking powder
3 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
5 T. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 C. heavy cream

1/2 - 3/4 C. currants, cranberries, etc.

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425°F.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. 

3. Using a pastry cutter, quickly cut the butter into your flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Stir in add-in ingredient (currants, etc.) 

4. Stir in heavy cream with a rubber spatula or fork until dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

5. Transfer dough and all dry, floury bits to countertop and knead dough by hand just until it comes together into a rough, sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. Form dough into a round disc and flatten gently until about 1-1.25" thick. Cut into 6 wedges.

6. Place wedges on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake until scone tops are light brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Momofuku Crack Pie

This pie was nominated best pie in New York City in 2009, which is when I ran across it at pieloveyou and thought certainly I will have to make this pie for myself. How could you not make something called a crack pie if you are living in San Francisco? I mean really? Except that it requires that you first make cookies, and then crust, and then pie... and you know that all is too much even if your name is Momofuku. I put it off and put it off and put it off until finally in a bit of residency whatnot stress-relief I needed to be heroic in my pie making and vowed to make it. I only made half the recipe for the cookie and the pie, which I will record here, but the original recipe makes two pies. This pie is actually as delicious as people make it out to be-- I would call it salted caramel in a pie more than a pie-- and worth the effort but very rich. Don't bother whipping cream or getting icecream to serve with it, it packs all the punches on it's own!

Originally printed in the LATimes but comes to me from PieLoveYou:

http://pieloveyou.blogspot.com/2010/05/momofuku-crack-pie-22.html

Ingredients for the cookie:

1/3 C. all-purpose flour

1/16 tsp. baking powder

1/16 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 C. softened butter

1/6 C. light brown sugar

1 1/2 T. white sugar

1/2 beaten egg

1/2 C. rolled oats

 

Directions for the cookie:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. Stir in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

 

Ingredients for the crust:

1 crumbled cookie recipe

2 T. butter

2 tsp. brown sugar

1/16 tsp. salt

 

Directions for the crust:

1. Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). 

2. Press the crust into a 10" pie plate to form an even layer along the bottom and sides. Set the prepared crust aside while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients for the filling:

3/4 C. sugar

1/2 C. light brown sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1/6 C. milk powder

1/2 C. butter, melted

1/2 C. heavy cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

 

Directions for filling and pie assembly:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

4. Scoop the filling into the prepared pie crust gently.

5. Bake the pie at 350F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

6. Refrigerate the cooled pie until well chilled. Serve the pie cold.  

Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie

I know everyone else made this pie a million years ago when it first came out in the New York Times, and I've had it on my list to make for at least two years now, but with a title like "Nutmeg Maple Cream" it's not as compelling as anything chocolate or peach, you know? But this last weekend we had some cream and not much else, and I let the Robber choose a pie off my unmade list, and that all led to us finally making this pie and you know what? It was delicious and so easy to make. Seriously really delicious. Like a perfect flan, in a pie crust. Who knew? I wouldn't make it again in the summer, you know, when there are peaches around, but I would make it in the winter and be glad every time.

Of course I tripled the nutmeg and threw in a splash of cinnamon. So I'll put the increased number here and you can reduce it if you want. I used my mother's pie crust and that was good, but I also think the smoky almond and vanilla wafer crust from the Creamy Peach Tart recipe would also work well with this.

From the NYTimes (why why why aren't they having their Vegetarian Thanksgiving feature this year???)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/dining/155crex.html?_r=0

Ingredients:

¾ C. maple syrup
2¼ C. heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
¼ tsp. salt

1 T. freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pre-baked 9-inch pie crust of your choice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce maple syrup by a quarter, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in cream and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and egg. Whisking constantly, slowly add cream mixture to eggs. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a cup or bowl with pouring spout. Stir in salt, nutmeg and vanilla.

3. Pour filling into crust and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pie is firm to touch but jiggles slightly when moved, about 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

Spiced Plum Pie

Voila the spiced plum pie! I had wanted to make this pie for a long time, but the Robber likes so many other pies it is hard to get around to new ones sometimes. He left town and I wanted to make him a peach pie for his return out of my great love for him, but the peaches at the store were nowhere near ripe so shoot, shoot I just had to buy plums. And then I had to make plum pie. And my, oh my, was it so delicious! This is one of those pies that is going to be a strong favorite of mine forever, whether the Robber ever overcomes his preference for pecans or not.

A must. From Epicurious (with a few adjustments):

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spiced-Plum-Pie-232397

Ingredients:

Unbaked pie crust of choice (used Tender Pie Crust)

3 T. plus 1 C. granulated sugar

1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided

4 T. cornstarch

2 tsp. (packed) finely grated orange peel

3/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt (I used a dash)

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (optional)

2 1/2 - 3 lbs. plums, haved, pitted, each half cut into 6-8 wedges.

2 T. whipping cream (or egg white, or egg yolk) for brushing crust

Directions:

1. Roll out 1 pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

2. Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Place foil-lined baking sheet in bottom of oven to catch any spills. 

3. Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. 

4. Whisk 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and next 6 ingredients in large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Add plums and toss to coat. (This is where I recommend macerating for at least two hours then draining off the excess liquid before pouring into the crust. That way your pie will be way way less goopy and it has worked consistently for me to do it like this, even though you end up wasting spices that way. You could always just macerate in sugar and then add less spices to the macerated fruit. Whatevs. But if you don't macerate, expect a goopy pie no matter how much cornstarch.) Spoon filling into crust, mounding slightly in center.

5. Roll out second pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Drape crust over filling; trim overhang to 1 inch. Press top and bottom crust edges together. Fold edges under; crimp. Using sharp knife, cut four 2-inch-long slits in center of top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crust (but not edges) with cream. Sprinkle reserved cinnamon sugar over crust. (I actually used turbinado sugar, not the cinnamon sugar, on my pie crust and it was excellent.)

6. Bake pie 30-45 minutes. Tent pie loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Continue to bake until filling bubbles thickly through slits, about 1 hour longer. Cool completely on rack.

Raspberry Custard Pie

I tagged this recipe maybe last year, maybe the year before and because it was sitting there-- albeit among better pie recipes-- I felt obligated to make it. I have a problem these days with feeling pressure from my self-created recipe file. Ah, well. I made this on the pretense of feeding it to KK, our friend who is coming over for dinner tomorrow. But then the Robber and I couldn't wait and got tempted to eat a piece of it tonight... and well... maybe I will have to make another pie for tomorrow. As for this pie, it's good. It's good. It tastes good. It's simple. It's so easy to make. The raspberry is paired well with the custard. It's a good summer pie. But there are better. Ah, but my standards are too high these days. Le sigh.

From Martha Stewart:

http://www.marthastewart.com/343295/raspberry-custard-pie?czone=food/produce-guide-cnt/summer-produce-recipes&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/raspberry-recipes#slide_7

Ingredients:

One half pie crust of your choice, baked blind in shallow pie plate

2 T. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out crust

3/4 C. sugar, divided

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 C. heavy cream, at room temperature

1 lbs. (3 1/2 C.) fresh raspberries, plus more for garnish

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Whisk flour and 1/2 C. sugar in a medium bowl. Add egg and cream, and whisk to combine.

2. In separate bowl, toss raspberries with remaining 1/4 C. sugar and the salt. Allow to stand at least 15 minutes, then drain in colander to remove excess fluid.

3. Spoon berries into pre-baked crust, then pour in cream mixture, filling to just below rim.

4. Bake at 350F until custard is set, but still a bit wobbly in the center (45-60 minutes.) Let cool in a dish on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Serve cold with fresh raspberries. 

Truly Short Shortcake

The redeeming thing about these (and the plum gratin before it) was that I was able to eat these in one of my favorite summer ways: the biscuit split open, with a layer of plain Greek yogurt on each half, and fruit (or fruit puree) scooped over the top. Like a strawberry shortcake with yogurt instead of cream, and more mash to the fruit. Otherwise, this biscuit was a little disappointing. The texture was nice and biscuity, but I like my other biscuit recipe better, and this lacked flavor even with me using buttermilk. The problem is I just keep trucking along, hoping to find alternates when I have things I am already perfectly happy with. So the chances of making this again are slim, but this is not a blog about perfection, just about archiving. Trying. Experimenting. Being. 

Note: I only made the cake part, not the berries. Also, the recipe says this makes 12, but what a mighty small 12 those would be. I made six more substantial sized scones by cutting a round of the dough into six triangles.

From Mark Bittman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/29/dining/the-minimalist-truly-short-shortcake.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 C. cake flour or all-purpose flour

Pinch salt

4 tsp. baking powder

4 T. cold butter

7/8 C. milk (low fat is ok)

6 C. cleaned and sliced strawberries

Sweetened whipped cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Toss the strawberries with 1 cup sugar. 

2. Mix remaining sugar with flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl or food processor. Cut the butter into bits, and either pulse it a few times quickly in the processor with the dry ingredients or take a little of the dry ingredients, rub a bit of butter into them with your fingers and drop back in the bowl. All the butter should be thoroughly blended.

3. Slowly add the milk to the bowl, stirring it in with a large spoon until the mixture forms a ball. The mixture should be sticky; use a little more or less milk if necessary. 

4. Drop mixture onto an ungreased baking sheet, one heaping tablespoon per cake. 

5. Bake about 10 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown. (Keep an eye on them; once browning starts, it goes quickly.) Let cool a bit; top with strawberries and their juices and the whipped cream.

Strawberry and Cream Biscuits

I will be done with new "scone" recipes some day, I promise. Some day when I'm no longer obsessed... I promise, this one was definitely worth it. Yes! Yes is was! This produced a concoction with a lovely flaky exterior with a soft, moist interior and not too much sweetness-- definitely more biscuity than cakey. And so easy too! And better than the prior strawberry scone recipe I have posted. This now becomes my go to for strawberry scones. And maybe pear scones and everything scones... that is until I find another new recipe. Or want an oatmeal scone. Or a chocolate chip scone. Or... 

Notes: I used half whole wheat flour and loved it, no reason to do it differently next time. Although next time I might try using turbinado sugar instead of white sugar, for some extra crunch and a little interest. 

From Smitten Kitchen:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2012/06/strawberries-and-cream-biscuits/

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat, loved it)

1 T. baking powder

1/4 C. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

6 T. cold, unsalted butter

1 C. chopped very ripe strawberries (could add more)

1 C. heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Cut butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, breaking it up until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal with tiny pea-sized bits of butter about. 

3. Gently stir in the strawberries, so that they are coated in dry ingredient, then stir in heavy cream. When you’ve mixed it in as best as you can with the spatula, go ahead and knead it once or twice in the bowl, to create one mass. 

4. Generously flour your counter. With as few movements as possible, transfer your dough to the counter, generously flour the top of it and with your hands or a rolling pin, gently roll or press the dough out to a 3/4-inch thickness round and cut into 8 even triangles. Carefully transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between each.

5. Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, until bronzed at the edges and the strawberry juices are trickling out of the biscuits in places. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mango-Coconut Clafoutis

We had left over coconut milk and left over whipping cream, so why not make a clafoutis? The real problem was that I didn't actually know what a clafoutis technically was-- should have read Wiki beforehand-- so I bought too much mango and filled up my dish and consequently it was too liquidy, but whatever! It was delicious all the same. I had some extra batter that I used to fill some ramekins with strawberries and make extra clafouti and those were even more delicious than the mango kind. Plus this was all very very easy as you just have to throw everything in the blender. Next time the Robber wants coffeecake for breakfast (we made this on a Saturday morning) I will make him a clafoutis instead (although because he is the Robber he likes coffeecake better). Oh well. What is nice about this is you can probably swap out the coconut milk for real milk or additional cream and the mangos for any old fruit you want. Voila! Clafoutis.

From the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/11/magazine/mag-11eatpie.html?ref=magazine#Mango-Coconut_Clafoutis

Ingredients:

3/4 C. heavy whipping cream

3/4 C. coconut milk

1/2 C. sugar

3 eggs

1/3 C. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I doubled this of course)

1/2 tsp. vanilla (could try almond or coconut extract!)

1 lb. mangoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Directions:

1. Combine heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla extract and cinnamon in a blender; blend until smooth.

2. Put mangos in a buttered and floured 8- or 9-inch pan. (I used a pie pan, maybe a cake pan would have been better as it would have been deeper and thus held my extra fruit.)

3. Pour the batter over the mangos.

4. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Serve warm or cold. (We ate it with a little extra sweetened condensed milk sprinkled over the top. Some toasted coconut would be nice with this as well.)

Thai Coconut Icecream

Everyone in Thailand eats icecream. It makes sense. It is always hot and never cool and icecream and the 7-11 where the icecream is sold is your only chance for relief. About a week into our trip we came to a little local icecream shop where, in a brochure, I saw a picture of coconut icecream with peanuts and sweetened condensed milk on it and it looked like heaven in a dish to me. Subsequently the Robber and I tried the remainder of our time in Thailand to find and purchase this dessert, with little success due to either a) no peanuts, b) no coconut icecream, c) a preference for putting creamed corn (creamed corn!) instead of peanuts on coconut icecream, d) no baht. Finally I determined I would have to make this myself when I was back in the States. So make it I did. I found this recipe among many on the internet and who knows if it is the best or the most authentic-- I suppose not, as it uses cream and eggs, cream being a non-Thai ingredient, although the milk in Thailand is very very creamy. But it's flavor is excellent and it is not too sweet, a winning truth about Thai coconut icecream. The texture too is similar, and it froze beautifully overnight without an icecream maker in my freezer, a plus for any icecream recipe in my opinion. And I ate it with salted peanuts and sweetened condensed milk and was happy.

From Group Recipes by some guy named Shine:

http://www.grouprecipes.com/56004/thai-coconut-ice-cream.html

Ingredients:

2 3/4 C. coconut milk 

1 1/4 C. heavy whipping cream

3/4 C. sugar

2 large eggs

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk, cream, and sugar to a boil while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly in the pan.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well.

3. Slowly add the coconut mixture to the eggs while constantly whisking the eggs (going slowly avoids crippling the eggs.) Continue adding the coconut mixture until half of it has been added to the eggs. At that point, you can add the remaining half in directly while whisking the eggs.

4. Cool the mixture completely and chill in the refrigerator.

5. Transfer to your ice cream maker to freeze, or pour the chilled mixture into a small loaf pan, cover it with cling wrap, and remove any air between the wrap and the mixture. Freeze for about two hours until it starts to get firm throughout.

6. Remove from freezer and mix with a spoon, then place the mixture into a food processor or blender and beat until smooth (I skipped this step and it was fine.)

7. Pour back into pan and put the cling wrap back over the pain, again removing any air, and freeze for several hours. 

Note: This icecream freezes up very hard, so place it in the refrigerator to soften for a few hours prior to serving. Serve with peanuts (and sweetened condensed milk, if you want. The salted peanuts are the real key.)

Peanut Butter Cream Pie

This recipe came to me from our friend KK who posted it on my Facebook wall. The story behind the recipe is actually quite sad... this is the favorite pie of a food blogger's young husband who passed unexpectedly about a year ago. As a tribute to her husband the blogger asked others to make this pie for him on a certain day. I missed the day, but pulled out the recipe to use some cream cheese we had that needed using before our big trip to Thailand. Peanut butter pie is not the Robber's favorite, but I personally always enjoy it and was excited for this one. The chocolate/peanuts part at the bottom of the pie is wonderful and the flavor of the filling was perfect, in my opinion-- very peanut buttery and not too sweet.

Notes: The crust definitely needs a different cookie/butter ratio, or some melted chocolate in it to act as a binder. Much too crumbly. Also I omitted the cup of powdered sugar simply because I didn't have any and I was glad as the pie was plenty sweet without it. I whipped some additional cream to go on top, but it doesn't really need it as it would just dilute the wonderful peanut butter flavor of the filling. I didn't have a 9" springform pan and most of my problems with the pie came from this fact. It's amazing how much of cooking is just having the right equipment.

From In Jennie's Kitchen:

http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/08/for-mikey.html

Ingredients:

8 oz. chocolate cookies

4 T. butter, melted

4 oz. chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 C. chopped peanuts

8 oz. cream cheese

1 C. creamy-style peanut butter

1 C. confectioner's sugar (can be omitted)

1 – 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 C. heavy cream

Directions:

1. Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs.  Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well.  Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. 

2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.  Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

3. Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use.  

4. Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl.  Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar.  Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

5. Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream).  Fold in the remaining whipped cream.  Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan.  Drizzle additional melted chocolate on top (optional) and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

Asparagus Bread Pudding

About two weeks ago the Robber and I went to Whole Foods to buy him some chicken and I came across some asparagus bread pudding in the hot foods section and thought it looked delicious so I bought a little square to try it. The Robber said, "Oh that is a you food" by which he meant "This looks strange but it might turn out to be good." Hmmmmmph. I said. Hmmmmmph. And of course in the end the Robber loved it enough that I thought I should replicate it at home and this is how I did it. I looked at a few recipes online and then just kind of made things up as I went and was fairly pleased with the result, as was the Robber.

Next time I'll increased the liquid by 1/2 cup because this was a little bit dry and I won't precook the vegetables. As the Robber said, "If you make this again, I would be happy."

Ingredients:

1 lbs. bread, cut into 1/2-1" cubes and left overnight to dry out (alternately you can dry them out in the oven at 150F)

2 lbs asparagus, cut on the diagonal into 1" pieces

1 C. sliced green beans

1 C. buttermilk

1/2 C. chicken broth

1 C. heavy whipping cream

6 eggs

2 tsp. salt

6 oz. soft goat cheese

12 oz. feta cheese

Slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Prepare bread as above. I used sourdough hoagie rolls and thought they were quite delicious in the pudding.

2. In the blender, combine buttermilk, broth, cream, eggs, salt, and cheeses. Blend until smooth.

3. Pour egg mixture over bread cubes in large bowl. Allow to soak for minimum of 15 minutes, submerging the cubes entirely in the liquid mixture.

(Here I sauted the green beans and asparagus until slightly tender, but I wouldn't do that again.)

4. Preheat the oven to 375F. When oven is hot, scoop 1/2 of the bread mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13 glass baking pain. Spread 1/2 of vegetables over bread mixture. Repeat with second half of bread mixture and then vegetables. Generously sprinkle slivered almonds over the top of the pudding.

5. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to sit 15 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm.

Creamy Potato Soup

So I actually "blogged" this recipe before-- but was corrected in the actual soup made by a comment from my sister R. (I had not made the soup, just eaten it at a family dinner). Now a few months later the Robber has purchased a big bag of red potatoes, languishing on the counter. Having time off, I took it upon myself to turn some of the potatoes into soup, with excellent results and minimal effort. We ate this soup with half whole-wheat biscuits and the Robber declared it a success, which for soup, is saying something.

Adapted from Potage Parmentier, a recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Ingredients:

1 lbs peeled potatoes, sliced or drained (I used six smallish red potatoes)

1 lbs thinly sliced leeks including the tender green (I used two leeks, some of the green)

5 C. water

1 T. salt

2/3 C. light whipping cream

Pepper to taste

Additional salt to taste

Directions:

1) Place chopped potatoes and leeks in large pot. Add in water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer partially covered 40-50 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

2) Remove 1 C. (or more, as desired for texture) of water/broth.

3) Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it has the desired consistency (I like to leave a few chunks of potato hanging around in my soup rather than make it uniformly blended.)

4) Remove from heat. Add in whipping cream and stir thoroughly. Add in additional salt and pepper to your taste. Serve warm.

Cinnamon Roll Scones

Just when I was going to close the door on new scone recipes, this one had to come along! Actually, it's not a new recipe at all, but rather an alteration of the lemon blueberry scone recipe I already have. The wheat flour makes the scone less sweet overall, but the texture is just as perfect here as with the lemon version. I didn't have cinnamon chips so I chopped up some white chocolate instead, which makes for a more subtle scone as I imagine the cinnamon chips would have been more overpowering. The toasted pecans in it were delicious, and as the Robber is currently on a huge toasted pecans kick (he always is, actually) he has been eating these non-stop.

I skipped the "finish" part because why would you put butter and sugar on top of a scone you are going to glaze? It seemed too much for me.

From Annie:

http://annies-eats.com/2012/02/13/cinnamon-roll-scones/

Ingredients:

For the dough:

8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen whole

½ C. milk

½ C. low-fat greek yogurt

1 C. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

1 C. whole wheat flour

½ C. sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

For the filling:

Milk or cream, for brushing

3 T. sugar

¾ - 2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used more because I lacked cinnamon chips)

2/3 C. chopped pecans, toasted

¼ -1/2 C. cinnamon chips (white chocolate, strawberries, whatever)

To finish:

2 T. melted butter

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

For the glaze:

1 C. confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 T. milk

Directions:

1. Adjust an oven rack to middle position and preheat to 425˚ F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Grate the frozen butter on the holes of a large box grater.

2. Whisk together the milk and yogurt in a medium bowl; refrigerate until needed.

3. Combine the flours, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated

4. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula just until combined. Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour, and knead with well floured hands, 6-8 times, just until the dry ingredients have been mostly incorporated.

5. Roll the dough into a 12-inch square. Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter (a dough scraper really helps with these steps). Fold the short ends of the dough into the center in thirds, to form an approximate 4-inch square. Transfer the dough to a plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.

6. Return the dough to the floured work surface and roll into an approximately 10-inch square. Lightly brush the surface of the dough with milk or cream. Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the dough. Layer with the toasted pecans and cinnamon chips.

7. Roll the dough up into a tight log. Lay the log seam side down on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to slice into 8 round discs. Place the shaped scones on the prepared baking sheet (I patted my slices down flat a bit on the baking sheet). Lightly brush the top of each scone with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar. (If freezing ahead of time, flash freeze on the baking sheet for 20 minutes, then wrap individually and store in a freezer bag until needed.)

8. Bake until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, 16-20 minutes (about 20-22 if baking from the freezer). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least 10 minutes.

9. In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and milk. Whisk together until smooth, adding additional milk or sugar to reach your preferred consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the scones. Serve warm.