Basic Biscuits

Tim loves bread. Shawna loves soup. I look forward to the colder months so that I can live off of soup. Tim has a black hole for a stomach and cannot quite wrap his brain around the idea of soup being his whole meal. So, out of guilt, I decided to make him some biscuits to go along with our soup. This seems to make him feel better about the meal, and I feel like I can enjoy my soup without worrying whether Tim is still starving. What a relief!
I believe the first round that I made were cheddar cheese biscuits with a hearty broccoli soup. Tim loved this. Last night I made lentil soup. Tim is not crazy about this soup because he thinks it is boring. I knew he was gonna need some biscuits to get through that meal! I made a basic biscuit recipe and just added a tablespoon, maybe a little more, of sour cream to the dough. This made them super moist. They spread a bit more while baking, so they were thinner than normal, but I thought they were really delicious. Tim also liked them, but thought that I should add both sour cream and cheese next time...can you tell the boy has Wisconsin in his blood???

Here is the basic biscuit recipe:
*from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book Pg 27

2 C all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t sugar
3/4 t salt
1 C butter milk -see note below-it will make your life easier
8 T (1 stick) melted butter, slightly cooled

*note* If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can make soured milk out of 1 C of milk, 1 T lemon juice, and 1 T white vinegar. Let this stand at room temperature for 10 minutes at which point it should be thickened. I usually don't keep buttermilk in the house, so I find this to be really helpful.

If you want cheesy biscuits just add enough grated cheese so that it looks like it is evenly spread throughout the dough. I think I probably used a cup of grated cheddar cheese, but I didn't measure, so you should add a little bit at a time, stir, keep adding until it looks like you have enough. I am very precise, aren't I? :-)

If you want the sour cream biscuits add about a tablespoon of sour cream into your dough, and leave a little extra space in between biscuits on the cookie sheet because they spread more than the normal ones.

Adjust oven rack the center slot and pre-heat oven to 475 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray of line with parchment paper.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix butter and buttermilk together until the butter starts to form small clumps. Stir the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture together just until incorporated. You don't want to over-mix or your biscuits will be tough.
Use a greased 1/4 C measure to scoop dough onto cookie sheet. Bake until the tops are golden brown and crisp, 12-14 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.
Serve warm.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of these!

Seared Steaks with Caramelized Onions and Gorgonzola

One day, a couple of years ago, I was surprised with an issue of Eating Well, addressed to me, in my mailbox. I never signed up for the subscription but by some happy accident I ended up with a two year subscription. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and sometimes go back and re-read the issues. Yes, I know, I have a bit of an addiction to anything food related. hey, at least it's not heroin :-) Anyways...........I happened upon this recipe for seared steaks and was instantly drawn in. As a former vegetarian, I do not always get super excited about red meat. I do, however, love a good steak once in a blue moon. I also love, love, LOVE Gorgonzola. Tim is not a fan of pungent cheese, but he went along with the operation due to the fact that it was on top of a big, fat, juicy, steak. This steak was delicious, yet simple. Elegantly served on a bed of caramelized onions, how can you go wrong? I served this with a very simple salad of spring greens, avocado slices, and heirloom tomatoes. Yum!



















Seared Steaks with Caramelized Onions and Gorgonzola
*recipe from Eating Well December 2008. Pg 22

2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Large onions, sliced
1 Tablespoon brown sugar (I may have added more than that...Tim made me do it!)
1/2 Cup reduced sodium beef broth (I used chicken broth because that's what I had on hand...still wonderful!)
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound beef tenderloin (fillet mignon, or sirloin steak, about 1 inch thick),trimmed and cut into 4 steaks
1/4 Cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add brown sugar and onions and cook, stirring often, until brown and very tender. This should take 15 minutes. Add broth, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and continue to cook until liquid is almost evaporated, about 3-4 minutes. Keep warm.

season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook until browned, 3-5 minutes. Turn them over and top with the cheese. Cook until cheese is melted and the steaks are the desired done-ness. This will be another 3-5 minutes for medium-rare. Serve the steaks with the caramelized onions.

Eating well is also kind enough to provide nutritional information for all of their recipes. Here is the info for this one:
338 calories, 16 G fat, 69 MG cholesterol, 11 G Carbohydrates, 36 G protein, 2 G Fiber, 468 MG sodium, 565 MG potassium.

Cinnamon Toffee Apple Pie Squares

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week for the simple reason that on that day, I get to read the Good Eating section of the Tribune. I love the Good Eating Section. This recipe came from September 23rd's Good Eating. It is clear that the writers over there at the Trib are in full holiday mindset, and this recipe is a true Fall delight. I am hoping to make this again for Thanksgiving. Be prepared that this is no quick and easy recipe. It requires time, and a lot of peeled, cored, and sliced apples but it is so worth it. For someone who finds joy in the process of creating a beautiful and delicious dessert, this recipe is perfect. There is a thick crust on the bottom that wraps up the sides, a streusel top, and pounds of apples in the middle. This filling is simple, with just a bit of sugar and lemon added to highlight the flavor of the apples. The only thing that I changed was that I omitted the pecans in the streusel and used a cup of oatmeal instead. I am not a huge fan of the texture that pecans add to baked goods, but if you are a pecan lover go ahead and keep them, I am sure they add a delicious flavor. I know that if I am ever making these for my father-in-law, the pecans will be a must. For me though, the toffee added enough crunch while the oatmeal smoothed everything out. I also dusted the top with cinnamon to add some extra color.

Crust:

3 Cups all purpouse Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Vegetable Shortening, frozen and cut into small bits
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, very cold and cut into small bits
1/2 Cup Water
3 Large Egg Yolks (don't throw the whites away-you can freeze them in ice cube trays and thaw them when you need them)
1.5 teaspoons Lemon Juice

Cinnamon Toffee Streusel


1 Cup Pecan Halves
1 Cup All Purpouse Flour
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
pinch Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, very cold and cut into small bits
1/2 of an 8 oz package of Toffee Bits

Filling:

4 Pounds Mixed Apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious) peeled, cored, sliced
1.5 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 C Granulated Sugar
3 Tablespoons Minute Tapioca
Grated Zest of 1/2 Lemon
1/4 teaspoon Salt


For the crust:
Put flour, baking powder and salt in to a food processor and process until well mixed
Sprinkle in shortening and cold butter and pulse until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Mix water, egg yolks and lemon juice in a small bowl. Sprinkle over flour mixture and process just until the dough gathers into a ball. Do not over-mix or the dough will become tough. Transfer to a large sheet of waxed paper and flatten into a large disc. Wrap and refigerate for about 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle that measures about 12 X 16 inches. Place the dough in a greased 9 X 13 pan and press it to make it even along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

For Streusel:
Put pecans in food processor and chop coursely. Transfer to a bowl. Add flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon to the food processor. Process to mix. Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles course crumbs. Add to pecans Stir in toffee bits. Squeeze mixture into small clumps and set aside.

For Filling:

Put apples into a large bowl. Toss with lemon juice to coat. Stir in the sugar, tapioca, lemon rind and salt. Mix well.























Take your pan with crust out of the refrigerator and evenly spread apple mixture over the crust. Top with streusel to completely cover the apples. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until top and crust are brown, about 40 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack to cool, and serve when barely warm.

Butternut Squash? In Chili?

Tim was craving chili and cornbread last week. Some one told him they were having it for dinner, and he immediately wanted some for himself. That same night, I talked to my sister on the phone and she said that she had just made her favorite chili recipe. She didn't know where it came from but that it was scribbled on a piece of notebook paper with a recipe for meatloaf on the other side. Those are the best kinds of recipes. So, she e-mailed it to me, and I used her base recipe to create a colorful, veggie-packed chili that was hearty but not overly meat-filled. I am not a huge fan of ground beef, so I usually make turkey chili but this one had enough other flavors in it that the beef was more of a compliment than a focal point. It helped that I had a lot of vegetables in my fridge begging to be eaten, but from now on, I will purposely buy them when I am making chili. Feel free to sub-in any veggies that you have, chili can be an experiment, that way it won't get boring!

1 lb Ground Beef (I used just under a pound which worked well when I added in all the extras) cooked, drained
2 (15 Oz.) cans of chili beans
2 large Green Peppers, Chopped
1 Medium Onion, Chopped
4 Celery Ribs, Chopped
3-4 large cherry tomatoes or small roma tomatoes, diced
1 Red Pepper, Chopped
1 Small Butternut Squash, peeled, cubed, pre-cooked (directions in recipe)
1 (8 Oz) Can of Tomato Sauce
1 envelope Chili Seasoning
3 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 (8 oz) package of Macaroni Noodles, cooked and drained
Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt, Pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Start with your butternut squash because this is the most time consuming part of the whole process. Cut off the top and the bottom with a sharp knife. Use a sharp vegetable peeler to get all of the skin off. Cut up the squash into small cubes. Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil, or other cooking spray. lay squash in the cookie sheet in a single layer and season with salt. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes. Set aside.

While the squash is cooking, brown your meat and prepare all of your other veggies. Throw everything (squash last) except the macaroni, cheese, and salt and pepper into the crock pot. Add the squash last so that you can see how much you think you need. I probably added half of a pretty large squash. That was a perfect amount, but I just eye-balled it until it looked like it had a good ratio of ingredients. You can keep the rest of the squash in your fridge and use it with another meal because all the hard work is already done! Hurray!

Now that you have everything in the pot, turn it to low and let it cook for 6 hours. If you are using macaroni, stir it in after the cooking time is complete. I decided to leave the macaroni out just because there were already so many other things in this chili, I thought it may be too heavy. But, I do love chili mac, maybe I will try it next time. Season it with salt and pepper, and grate some sharp cheddar (or regular cheddar if you prefer) over the top of each bowl. Serve it by itself or with some good bread. Tim always needs to have cornbread with honey if he is having chili, but any hearty bread with some soft butter would do. Hope you enjoy it!

Rustic Plum Cake

For my birthday I received several baking related books from my family. One of those books was America's Test Kitchen's Family Baking Book. The thing that I really like about this book is that it tells you the best way to bake, mix, roll, etc, and then they tell you why it is the best way. Their job is to experiment and find out what the best way to make the perfect baked good is and then share it with their readers. Isn't that awesome? I think it is. I feel like I am learning something and therefore my baking is productive somehow :-)

The first recipe that I chose to make from this book was a Rustic Plum Cake. It struck me because it is not your average, run-of-the-mill cake. It is a sweet almond cake with cooked plums on top. It is just sweet enough, but not too sweet. We brought it over to share with some friends for dessert. We each had 2 pieces and it was gone within a half hour. Let me tell you something: I NEVER eat two pieces of cake. Okay. This cake is good. Do you get it? It would be great with some vanilla ice cream too. Something to remember for the future, I guess.

Rustic Plum Cake

*Recipe from America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book Page 324

Makes one 9-inch round cake

3 Tablespoons Brandy (see note below)
2 Tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
1 Lb Italian plums, halved and pitted
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 Cup Slivered almonds
3/4 Cup All purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened
1 Large Egg, room temperature
1 Large Egg Yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

*1 Tablespoon of water can be substituted for the brandy

Cook the brandy and jam together in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until it becomes a thick syrup. This should take 2 minutes. Remove skillet from the heat and place plums, skin side up, in the syrup. Return the skillet to medium heat and cook until the plums have released their juices and the syrup is thickened. This should take about 5 minutes. Let the plums cool in the skillet while you prepare the cake batter.

Adjust an oven rack to the center of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch spring form pan.

Place the granulated sugar and the almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the butter pieces over the top and pulse until the mixture resembles course sand. Add egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and almond extracts and process until smooth.

Scrape the batter into your springform pan. Stir the plums around in the skillet to coat them with syrup. Spoon the plums over the batter, skin side down. I added a little of the jam mixture along with the plums, but the original recipe does not say to do this. I just felt it added a little more flavor to the top of the cake. Bake the cake 40-50 minutes,rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it. Let the cake cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours. Remove the sides of the pan and transfer the cake to a serving platter. Beware, the cake will be sticky and difficult to remove from the spring form bottom, so be gentle with it.

Birthday Cake

My Birthday was on Saturday. To celebrate we went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants-Mana in Wicker Park-We had a nice, filling but light dinner and then came home for a decadent birthday cake. I of course picked a light dinner place on purpose because dessert is always way more important in my book.

A few months ago, I saw that Smitten Kitchen had posted a recipe for Espresso Chiffon Cake with Fudge Frosting . I immediately e-mailed the link to Tim and told him that I wanted this cake for my birthday. I was of course expecting that I would be making the cake, as I am the baker in the family. But, Tim offered to make it for me. He spent a good portion of his Saturday in a hot kitchen making this cake. He did a great job. This cake is rich with obvious flavors of dark rum, dark coffee, and sweet chocolate. How can you go wrong? Be prepared though, this cake is rich and very, very sweet. We had 6 people over for dessert on Saturday, and only half of the cake disappeared. You have to eat a small piece and savor every bite, otherwise it will just be overwhelming.
I do highly recommend this cake, and I will be making this in the future for sure!

Peanut Butter for a Good Cause?

Tim and I are city dwellers and as a result we are constantly seeing people who are poor and hungry. It is impossible to ignore, and it is wrong to turn a blind eye to these people. I always feel helpless when I am sitting at a stop light and a man is walking from car to car begging for change. I never have any readily available money in my car, and honestly, I don't feel like my giving him a spare 15 cents is going to do him a whole lot of good. But, I do have a deep desire to do something that will help them, if even temporarily. Since I have a job that requires me to be driving for a good part of the work day, I think that I see this type of thing more regularly than a lot of other people do. What I have decided to do is pack a few peanut butter sandwiches in my car every day. This way, I have something handy to grab and hand to the person on the other side of my car door. I hope that these sandwiches will be a blessing to these people, and that they will satisfy their hunger for a time. I will use whole wheat bread so that the sandwiches will be a good source of protein and fiber. I am wondering how others of you have responded to these types of situations, and if you have any other ideas on how I should respond. I hope you will tell me if you have had any creative ideas in helping others in need. I hope to make this a long term commitment. I know it is small, but at least it is something.