Biscuits ... and more...

Sometimes I'm at a loss of what to cook around here.. not because I don't know what to cook, not that the kid is a picky eater... sometimes I just.don't.know.

The last few weeks money's been really tight and my usual $50/week grocery budget has had to be pinched a bit to make ends meet.  It happens, I manage to make it work.  It's not always easy, but I can always manage to make it work.  Yesterday I went online and scoped all the circulars for all the grocery stores around here to see which had the best deals to make the most meals for a week and then armed with some coupons and a solid list in my head I went in, grabbed just what was on my list and was out of there with a week's worth of groceries for $26.94.

I don't often buy breakfast sausage.. sometimes the list of ingredients really creeps me the hell out.. but at $1 a box I went and grabbed two boxes because, well.. makes for an easy addition to a meal.  Eggs were $1.69 for 18 eggs.. I usually spend $2.19 for a dozen so that was a great deal.   Breakfast is often a challenge around here since I'm not a big breakfast eater and kiddo here isn't either unless he can just grab it and go.  So this morning I went ahead and made some biscuits with scrambled eggs and sausage mixed right in.  No muss, no fuss.  but really tasty.  All it was missing was cheese.. I'll remember that next time.  About 1/2 shredded cheese would have made them super!

These biscuits are So easy and really light, fluffy and delicious!

Drop biscuits

2 C All purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into cubes
1 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°f  & Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set baking sheet aside


In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Mix with your hands to incorporate the dry ingredients together and then add the butter.

With your hands, incorporate the butter until it's the texture of a coarse meal*(see note about mix-ins).

Add the milk and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to get it combined.

 DO NOT OVER MIX!

You want this a little lumpy, it's OK.

I use an ice cream scoop to drop even amounts of dough on the parchment lined sheet.

Bake 15-20 minutes and viola!

*Note
If you are adding mix-ins to the biscuits like meat, egg, cheese or all of the above add them to the dry ingredients and toss to coat them before adding the milk, this will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the biscuits.

Banana scones with brown sugar glaze

I love banana bread, but I wanted something a little diffferent.  I saw a recipe for banana scones the other day, but I didn't have a few key ingredients to make that specific recipe so I decided to wing it and try one on my own.. they came out Fantastic!

Banana Scones

2 1/4 Cups + 1 tablespoon All purpose Flour

1/3 C Brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Tbs Unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 Large banana

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbs milk

Preheat oven to 400°f

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice.  

Cut in the butter until it becomes fine crumbs and set aside.

In a small bowl mash the banana and add the egg, milk and Vanilla

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixing until just combined.  Knead dough 12-14 times until smooth and pat into about a 7 inch round about 1 inch high on parchment lined baking sheet.  with a serrated knife cut into 8 slices and separate slightly.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Brown Sugar Glaze:

In a small bowl combine 1/3 C powdered sugar, 1 Tbs brown sugar, 2 Tbs milk and 1/2 Tsp vanilla.  stir to combine and drizzle over scones.

Wanna see my buns? Hot Cross Buns

I was SO excited to make hot cross buns, I haven't had them in ages and my mom always bought them for Easter.  I browsed Foodgawker and found a recipe that looked good.  

They came out beautifully

But, in all honesty, to me they're pretty bland.  They needed a little more sweetness, a little more spice and they would have been perfect.

I got the recipe here if you're interested in trying it.

I have to go through my cookbooks and see if I've got one in there and I'll try again.

Soft Pretzel Bites

While I was browsing through Foodgawker the other morning at work on one of the days I was there at 7 (yea, I was at work at 7am 3 days last week.. kid has review classes for math and science) I saw a pic of these little pretzels and I couldn't wait to make them!  I'm not a huge pretzel lover, but every once in a while I like a good soft pretzel with some cheese or some good mustard.

These were really pretty easy to make and The coolest thing happened while I was waiting for the yeast to bloom.. there was a just a minute or two left and I peeked into the bowl and was all "hmm, it's not bloomed yet, I hope the yeast is good"  when BAM!! it started to bloom right before my eyes.  I've never seen that before and it really was cool. (Yes, I'm a dork... so?)

The Original recipe that I sorta followed called for Much more salt than the one I'm going to post here.. and these IMHO are just salty enough before being overly salty.

Soft Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 T light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
Vegetable Oil (for the bowl)

10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda

coarse sea salt

Directions:
Combine the yeast, brown sugar and warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy.

Add the melted butter and salt to the mixture and combine. Add the All Purpose Flour while the dough hook is going then add the Whole Wheat flour and mix until the dough has formed a large ball.

Remove from the bowl and let rest in an oiled bowl for an hour, covered with a kitchen towel.

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Place a large pot with 10 cups water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the baking soda. Be careful because it looks like it's almost going to bubble over, and it WILL if your pot isn't big enough.

Remove the dough from the bowl and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 12" long. Cut the rope of dough into little bite sizes pieces about 1" long.

Using a slotted spoon, add about 10 to the boiling water at a time. Once they rise to the top of the water, about 30 seconds, remove with your slotted spoon to a paper towel to dry. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Transfer the bites to parchment lined baking sheets.

Sprinkle with sea salt. Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

I stuffed a few with cheese, by The Kid's request I used Pepperjack cheese and it was.. ok, but I probably will use another cheese next time.

There's something so wonderful about home baked bread

It's cool and damp and generally crappy here today in NY. I woke up to rain and despite it's best efforts the sun just isn't coming out.. bummer.

So what am I doing on this crappy day you ask? I'm Baking bread!!

Just before I sat down to make this post I pulled some sweet rolls out of the oven, and just before that I pulled the plain rolls out (and after it cooled I passed one to P. and had one myself, YUM!)

I had a basic recipe for dinner rolls that resulted in dense, heavy rolls that I wasn't really looking for today but I used it anyway, the trick to that recipe is that you don't let the dough rise and they're done in under an hour.. but today I had the time and I wanted some soft rolls, so I let it rise, punched it down and let it rise a second time before dividing the dough into 12 gorgeous rolls and then left them to rise just a bit more before going into the oven.

The result? Perfectly browned, soft, freshly baked rolls and my whole apartment smelling like freshly baked bread is a total bonus :)

Perfect rolls:

Yield: 12 buns

40 minutes prep 10-12 minutes bake time

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water, plus
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3-3 1/2 cups flour

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Add oil and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes.
3. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough.
4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Put back into the mixing bowl and let rise 10 minutes
   
6. Punch down and let rise another 10 minutes
   
7. Divide into 12 pieces and shape each into a ball.
8. Place 3" apart on greased baking sheets.
9. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
10. Bake at 425° for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Remove from pans to wire rack to cool.

I left the first batch plain and the second batch got a filling of brown sugar and cinnamon.

Bread, bread...

It’s no big secret that I love bread.. I tend to tear into a loaf of fresh Italian bread as soon as I walk out of the bakery.. Or even worse, when I pop it right out of the oven I’m cutting slices off and either slathering it in butter or dipping it into the tomato sauce that finds itself simmering on my stove nearly every Sunday. I love baking my own bread and absolutely can not stand ‘white bread’ or pretty much any bread that comes pre-sliced in the supermarket. There is a grocery store by work that bakes bread all day, all kinds of bread, so whenever I get a chance I grab some rolls or a few loaves of bread.. But they never last long in my house.. And if they do start to get a little stale.. French toast, bread pudding, panzanela.. You name it..

One bread that has always caught my attention is Amish Friendship Bread.... my mom bought me a cookbook when I was about 14 and it had the recipe in it, I remember earmarking the page and then I never got around to it and God only knows where that book is now. I guess it’s somewhere along the lines of sourdough bread, but a sweet version.. I would love to try a recipe (although I’m not so sure if I have the attention span to nourish this starter every day.. Sometimes I’m lucky I remember to feed my turtles) I would still like to give it a go.. Maybe a ‘quick starter’ if there even is a thing.. Like for beginners, lol...

Grilled chicken and tomato herb panzanella

I love Stubbs marinade, it just makes chicken, beef and pork so moist and flavorful, unlike any marinade that I have ever used.. I want to try their hot wing sauce next :D

Dinner tonight was grilled chicken that was marinated in Stubbs and tomato herb panzanella, that to be totally honest with you, I wasn't really sure that the kid was going to like it.. but I went ahead and did it anyway because that loaf of Italian bread wasn't going to stay fresh forever.. even though I bought it Friday it was bound to be a brick by tomorrow.. so I set about making the best of it...

I took about 10 cherry tomatoes off the plant outside that were just ready to be picked this morning and tossed them in a bowl with about a half a teaspoon sea salt, 3 cloves fresh chopped garlic and 10 basil leaves covered it with some foil and let it be.

While the chicken was on the grill I cut the remainder of the Italian bread from Friday's dinner into cubes, diced 1 English cucumber, chopped up a bunch of basil leaves, a few oregano leaves and a half a sprig of rosemary from my garden and threw that into the bowl where the tomatoes were waiting.. added about 2/3 cup olive oil and a little more than a half a cup white balsamic vinegar, tossed it up and let it sit in the fridge until the chicken was done.

In the interim I ran outside to get a few more basil leaves and caught the kid with his fork in the panzanella with the fridge wide open.. I don't know what made me think he wasn't going to like it.. he eats everything.. (I'm so lucky)

So.. without further delay, Dinner is served...

Dinner tonight...

Dinner tonight was Meatball sandwiches made with 40 minute "hamburger rolls" (really!) and leftover meatballs from Wednesday night.

Mmmmmm, Meatballs!



Okay, since it was the first time using this recipe I went pretty much 'by the book' they are so light and fluffy! Next time I'm going to add some fresh herbs (maybe from the basil, oregano and rosemary that I have growing on my porch)

40 Minute Hamburger Buns

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water, plus
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-3 1/2 cups flour

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

2. Add oil and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough.

4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Do not let rise.

6. Divide into 12 pieces and shape each into a ball.

7. Place 3" apart on greased baking sheets.

8. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

9. Bake at 425° for 8 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Remove from pans to wire rack to cool.