ina's maple oatmeal scones

i always pick the scone at a bakery. they always look so good - nice and shiny, dusted with sugar or coated in glaze. and the flavors always get me - lemon cream, cranberry orange, almond. and it's almost always dry and bland. that's when i decided to start making my own and i've never looked back.

scones are unbelievably easy to make, as long as you remember a couple things -
- make sure the butter is cold when you mix it in. it should be incorporated, but you should still be able to see bits of it.
- don't overmix. mix the wet and the dry together just enough so it's a dough. it's ok if the dough is a bit lumpy.

i saw ina make these on "back to basics" on the food network a couple weeks ago. they are really good, nice and moist, but the maple flavor isn't very strong - if someone served them to me, i wouldn't guess they were maple flavored. could be the maple syrup i used. and i think a small amount of cinnamon would be good added to this recipe, or delete the syrup, increase the milk, and make cinnamon oatmeal scones. i'll try those sometime and see how they come out.



maple-oatmeal scones
adapted from food network magazine

time start to finish - 1hr (includes baking time), makes 8 hearty scones

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup cold milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1 egg mixed with a splash of water for the egg wash

for the glaze
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
splash half and half

1. preheat the oven to 400F. line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. combine flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt. using a mixer, blend in the butter.
3. in a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, syrup, and eggs together.
4. add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. the dough is really sticky.
5. turn the dough out onto a well floured work surface and roll to about 1 inch thick.
6. cut into eight wedges and place on the baking sheet.
7. brush the tops with egg wash and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
8. while the scones are baking, make the glaze by mixing the confectioner's sugar, syrup, and vanilla. add a splash of half and half or milk to thin the glaze a bit and make it pourable.
9. when the scones are finished baking, let cool on the pan for about five minutes. remove and let cool on a rack.
10. when the scones are still warm, drizzle with glaze.

alton's cheese bread

this bread - warm out of the oven - is the perfect combination to homemade cream of tomato soup. jason ate half the loaf dipping it into the soup! it's a breeze to throw together and all but the cheese i had on hand. (and it makes a dinner of tomato soup a bit more exciting!)

the only downside is that once the bread cools to room temperature, it doesn't have the same kick. definitely not as exciting, not quite as good. i tried lightly toasting it and eating it on its own - without the soup - the next afternoon. also not the same. needless to say, we only had a couple slices left after the first night's dinner. this is definitely one i'll make again.

alton's cheese bread
from "i'm just here for more food"

1. preheat the oven to 375F

2. mix together:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard (in a pinch you can omit this)
add 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and mix well

3. in a separate bowl, mix together:
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

4. spray the inside of a loaf pan with non stick spray or use butter to lubricate the pan.
5. make a small well in the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture.
6. mix just enough so a dough is formed and there aren't any large pockets of flour.
7. pour into the loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes.
8. immediately remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

2011.10.10 this was Cook book of trial and error's pick for the secret recipe club!

milk chocolate cookies

i love chocolate. i mean, really, love chocolate. i've made chocolate cookies twice in the last three days - the first time was a horrible attempt at martha's recipe for brownie cookies. needless to say, i ended up with crunchy pancakes, not soft, cakey cookies.

so this morning i wanted to bake. what? i didn't care. i just wanted to bake. so after thumbing through 6 cookbooks, recipes clipped out of magazines, and the more than 20 food blogs i subscribe to, i settled on these: a basic milk chocolate cookie...

and boy were they easy. just be careful when you bake them. after 15 minutes, i didn't think they were done, so i let them go another 90 seconds. big mistake. more than half of one pan ended up too-burnt-for-other-people-to-eat, and the other pan is on the verge of chewy.

i really like the milk chocolate, but next time, i'm going to try dark chocolate. and turn them into peanut butter filled sandwiched. i don't know when, but at some point, those are coming.

milk chocolate cookies
adapted from everyday with rachael ray

total time: 30 minutes (includes baking), makes 24 cookies

15 ounces milk chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler. remove and let cool.
2. beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together at high speed until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
3. while the eggs, sugar, and vanilla are mixing, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl.
4. mix the melted chocolate into the egg mixture at low speed.
5. add the flour and mix until incorporated.
6. refrigerate dough for about 15 minutes.
7. preheat the oven to 375F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
8. when the dough has chilled, drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto the sheets. bake for about 15 minutes, until soft. do not over bake.
9. let cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.

2011.12.05 this was the Swan's pick for the secret recipe club! 

chocolate zucchini cupcakes

i have a lot of zucchini in my freezer. and by a lot, i mean a lot. an easy 10 cups, if not more. and we haven't been eating it nearly as fast as i expected.

so it's time for my go to zucchini recipe - chocolate cupcakes.



when i first made these last summer in the midst of the zuke plant take over, no one knew they had zucchini in them. that's how good they are.

in the summer i used fresh zucchini and grated it in the small holes of a box grater. i didn't squeeze any of the water from it - i think that's what kept them so moist. at the end of the summer, i grated up the rest of what i had and froze them in 2 cup bags. i'm sure they're getting close to their end of life, but these were good none the less. i did notice they weren't as moist, so they really have to be eaten the day they're made.



i topped half with alton brown's chocolate buttercream and cinnamon cream cheese frosting from joy the baker. delicious.



chocolate zucchini cupcakes from 101cookbooks.com

turkey in lettuce wraps

i'm sick of leftovers. it's time for asian food. ok, asian inspired food.

i have to be honest, i was real leery of the fish sauce. i psyched myself up to use it until i went shopping for it. i had a hard time finding it on the shelf of the asian section, so a twenty-something woman stocking the shelves helped me. needless to say she did not recommend i use the fish sauce. but i went with it anyway.

one piece of advice: do not smell the fish sauce. it will totally turn you off of whatever dish you're making and the thought of any fish dishes. it is not so good.

before (L) & after (R) adding the sauce

but i'm glad i used it. turns out the sauce was perfectly flavored, but a bit salty. no fishiness whatsoever. and this is definitely quick. and could easily be made with beef.

notes:

• the original recipe called for a shallot. since i didn't have any, two small onions did me just fine.
• i added all of the sauce to the cooked turkey and let most of the water cook out, to thicken the sauce just slightly.
• we had romaine hearts left over from late last week, so we used those. next time i'll definitely go with iceberg. the romaine has a different taste and it comes through.
• next time i'm going to use low sodium soy sauce to make it less salty.

turkey in lettuce wraps
based on everyday food's stir-fried turkey in lettuce wraps

total time start to finish: 30 minutes, 4 hearty servings

1/4 cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons fish sauce
4 teaspoons sugar
vegetable oil
1 onion or shallot, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground turkey
lettuce

1. mix the soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
2. heat a wok over high heat. coat the bottom with vegetable oil and add the onion, ginger, and garlic.
3. cook for about one minute, until the ginger and garlic are fragrant.
4. add the turkey and cook completely. use a wooden spoon to break up the chunks.
5. add the soy, fish, sugar sauce and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed by the turkey, about 5 minutes.
6. serve inside lettuce leaves.

homemade mushroom & cheese ravioli

it's been a while since i made pasta. and i forgot how much time it takes to assemble ravioli. it isn't hard, i just always think it's going to be faster than it is.



i made these with ground beef in them too, but next time, i'll skip the beef - it didn't do much for flavor - but you're welcome to use it if you like it.



the recipe is easy. adaptable. add a lot of cheese if you like. or more fontina than mozzarella or more mozzarella than parm. whatever you want, you can have.



i used a 2.5 inch circle cookie cutter to cut them apart. usually i cut them with a pizza cutter. either way works, but the cookie cutter ones look a bit nicer. homemade, yes. like a six year old made them, no.





and let me tell you about this tomato sauce. it left me speechless. it's so freakin' good. and so freakin' easy. it's incredible. and will be perfect with a plain old bowl of spaghetti.



mushroom ravioli filling
this makes a lot. and would probably be really good as a chunky sauce - with tomatoes added - to spaghetti.

feel free to change the ratio of cheese or remove whatever you don't care for.

12 ounces white mushrooms, cut into small pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
italian seasoning
~1/4 cup parmesan cheese
~1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
small brick of fontina cheese, cut into 1/4 by 1/4 inch cubes

1. saute the mushrooms and garlic in one tablespoon each of melted butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. season with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning and cook until mushrooms are brown, 15-20 minutes, depending on how small your mushroom pieces are.
2. when the mushrooms are done, mix in another 1 tablespoon butter.
   
3. let the mushroom mixture cool about 20 minutes. mix in the parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
4. when filling ravioli, add 1 teaspoon of the mushroom mixture and push a cube of fontina into it before topping with another pasta sheet.

homemade ravioli
the pasta made 30 ravioli. i have enough filling left to make another full batch.

1. put three cups of all purpose flour in the center of a worksurface (i have a large platter i use, so i don't get flour all over my counter).
2. scramble three eggs with a pinch of salt in a bowl.
3. make a well in the center of the flour. pour in the eggs.
4. using a fork, swirl the flour into the eggs until mostly incorporated. use your hands to incorporate the eggs. if there's a bit of flour that won't mix in, don't worry about it.
5. knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
6. wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for about an hour at room temperature.
7. make the filling and sauce while dough is resting.
8. after resting, use a knife or bench scraper to divide the dough into eight portions.
9. take out one portion and keep the rest wrapped in plastic until you use them to prevent drying out.
10. cut the one portion in half.
11. using a pasta press, press the dough to the thinnest setting.
12. lay out on a cutting board and use your cookie cutter to figure out the layout of the raviolis on the sheet. place about 1 teaspoon filling to the center of each circle.
13. use a pastry brush to brush water on the pasta, around all edges of the ravioli. this will be the glue holding the tops and bottoms together.
14. use the pasta press and press the second half of the portion into a sheet.
15. lay the second sheet on top of the filled sheet.
16. as you press the top onto the bottom, make sure to get out as much air as possible. if not, the air will heat up when boiling the ravioli and they may explode.
17. use the cookie cutter to cut out the ravioli and discard the remnants.
18. use a bench scraper to remove the cut ravioli from the cutting surface. be careful not to crush the ravioli when removing them.
19. with your fingers, move around the edge of the ravioli and pinch the edges closed.
20. place the ravioli on a single layer on a sheet pan dusted with semolina flour so they don't stick.
21. repeat with the remaining dough.
22. bring water to a boil and cook ravioli for 3-4 minutes. serve with tomato sauce.

tomato sauce with onion and butter from smittenkitchen

irish soda bread

i love fresh, home baked bread. i hate kneading and waiting for yeast to do its thing. so when saturday's "america's test kitchen" had soda bread, i was all over it.

all in all, it took about 5 minutes to mix together and get into the oven. ATK recommended baking the bread in a cast iron skillet. since i don't have one, i used a dutch oven with the lid off. and it worked perfectly. mixing, baking, and cooling took a total of 70 minutes to whip up a loaf of bread.

and honey butter (soft unsalted butter mixed with a bit of honey) goes perfect.

important notes:

• don't knead the bread. otherwise it will come out tough and not so good.
• i transferred my dough onto a piece of parchment paper before putting it into the pan. the loaf is kinda patched together, so it doesn't stay in one ball, making it hard to move.

irish soda bread
adapted from america's test kitchen (aka cook's illustrated)

1. preheat your oven to 400F and mix the following in a large bowl:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar

1. cut in 2 tablespoons of very soft butter with your hands.
2. make a well in the center and add 1 3/4 cups buttermilk.
3. use a fork to quickly mix in the buttermilk just until incorporated. do not overmix.
4. turn out and press into a loaf. do not knead.
5. cut a cross slit in the top of the loaf.
6. bake in a greased cast iron skillet or dutch oven without the top for about 40 minutes. check with a wooden skewer to ensure the loaf is done.
7. let cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before turning out and slicing.