The Great Biscuit Fraud

My Cream Biscuits, still hot from the oven

This post is MUCH too long to be just about biscuits, but, what can I say? I'm a carb queen.

I wish I didn't love McDonald's Buttermilk Biscuits. I shouldn't love them. No one should. Come on, it's a fast food chain -- they shouldn't sell good biscuits, but they do. I like that they are light and tender, and hold up well to a sausage sandwich. I've heard tales from some forums that McDonald's uses a mix and adds water, rolling them out and baking (which seems unlikely); while others claim they come in a pre cooked slab and are heated from frozen with a brush of margarine (which seems more likely). I once knew a woman who -- ahem -- never had to pay for her lunches because she was particularly nice to the married cafe manager. Really nice. I'd like to think I'd never barter myself for a tuna sandwich, but then again, if I confirmed McDonald's uses a water based mix I might shame myself with my efforts to meet a manager and get a big bucket of it, somehow.

Buttermilk Biscuits shouldn't be difficult to make, but I've yet to find the perfect recipe (e.g., one that I can't screw up with too heavy a hand). Don't even suggest Pillsbury Grands -- those are an abomination, and although I'm a Trader Joe's Junkie, I don't like their frozen biscuit dough, either. Heavy, dense and greasy.

I'd like to be able to make my own and keep them frozen so that I can grab one for a portable breakfast sandwich, so I've gone on a quest to find that recipe. This will not only address my portable breakfast agenda, but, will help bring to an end a long running fraud I've been committing for years. YEARS, I tell you.

At least 7-8 years ago, I was invited to a potluck picnic by my boss and his wife. They were serving chicken and ribs and such, and I was asked to bring bread. Ah Ha! I thought. I've got some frozen Schwan's Southern Style Biscuits , those will work just fine. I baked them off, took them to the BBQ, and my boss went nuts, telling me, and his wife, that they were the best biscuits he'd ever had.

This Biscuit Adulation didn't sit well with his wife, who is a great cook and didn't like that someone else was getting all the attention, so she asked me for the recipe over and over again. I never said "Oh they are just frozen Schwan's biscuits, order some." NO, I had to complicate my life and lie, so I said "Oh I don't share that recipe -- it's my family recipe, but I"ll bring you some anytime you want, and you can keep them in your freezer and just bake them off for him whenever he asks for them."

Thus began the Great Biscuit Fraud. I ended up having to buy -- several times -- bags of frozen Schwan's Biscuits and giving them to her in a baggie with written instructions (they come in frozen par baked dough). I've done it probably once or twice a year, for 7 years. She's even said we should have one of those biscuit and tamale making parties around the holidays and put them all up at once. I always decline (of course). Oh what a tangled web we weave, and all that. Fortunately she doesn't read this blog.

I agree they are pretty damn good, but more free form -- a little closer to a drop biscuit -- than the rolled biscuit in the Schwan's product photo, but it's a pain in the ass to order ahead and coordinate delivery every other week, and tell the driver yet again that no, I don't want any of their overpriced frozen steaks. Just the biscuits. Oh, and some of the English fish and chips, those are excellent. And um, those vanilla ice cream sandwiches, too (See? this is why I can't shop at Schwan's anymore, except when I need to lie to my boss about biscuits).

Anyway, I want -- and need -- to master my own biscuit recipe so I've set about finding one that is fluffy, light, golden, and buttery. I've tried Angel Biscuits in the past, which are yeast based, but they didn't quite make it, either. Too much like a roll.

I found a recipe booklet online (and what a hoot it is), which has recipe clones for everything McDonald's sells, and it had the biscuit recipe in it. It seemed simple enough -- basically a doctored Bisquick biscuit recipe, but I was wary of anything which started with Bisquick. I was right to be wary. They were NOT the biscuits they sell in the restaurant, so don't be fooled. I'm not even posting the pic of those I made because they are not worthy. A decent enough biscuit, surely, but nothing to write home about. Oh, sorry, was I droning on? Have you tired of my biscuit drama and you want a link to the McMenu Cookbook instead? See the bottom of this post, if you're still with me.

Anyway, back to the biscuits. The McDonald's clones -- out. Not worthy. The Angel Biscuits -- meh. Not quite worthy. Then I found a "Cream Biscuit" recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and tried those. I recently learned that I really liked cornstarch based bakery recipes due to the wonderful texture. The best cake I've ever made was mostly cornstarch, so this recipe, which calls for more than the average amount of cornstarch, and heavy cream (whoo yeah) which I had on hand, seemed promising.

Also, I read a cookbook by Jane and Michael Stern -- Recipes from The Blue Willow Inn -- and the tip from the cook at this Southern inn said to handle the biscuit dough as little as possible. Literally stir just a bit until the flour is moist, slap the stringy floury wad down on the board and pat it out without kneading, and cut them without really mixing the dough all that well. I used KAF's recipe, but followed the Blue Willow Rule, and I'm really glad I did.

These biscuits were VERY VERY good. Best biscuits I've made to date, that's certain. The texture was wonderful. Very tender, very buttery, very delicate. Loved the crispy almost granular crust and the soft interior. However, they were not high and pillowy -- they didn't rise terribly high, and, when sliced for a sandwich, tended to crumble. So while these are great for a breakfast basket, they are not quite the right biscuit for a portable sausage breakfast sandwich.

KAF calls these Guaranteed Biscuits. I guarantee I'll make them again and eat the batch within 24 hours because they came together really quickly (except for the freezing time in Step 5 but that gave me time to clean up), but the quest for the McDonald's biscuit close, or a proper Buttermilk Biscuit, continues. Got any winning recipes for me?


KAF GUARANTEED BISCUITS (CREAM BISCUITS)

1 3/4 cups KAF AP Flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 to 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, enough to make a cohesive dough
1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter

Directions
1) Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Stir in enough heavy cream to moisten the dough thoroughly. You'll probably use about 1 cup in the summer, 1 1/4 cups in the winter, and 1 cup + 2 tablespoons at the turn of the seasons. You want to be able to gather the dough together, squeeze it, and have it hang together easily, without dry bits falling off.
2) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and very gently pat it into an 8" circle about 3/4" thick. If you're uncertain about your ability to make a nice free form 8" round, pat the dough into a lightly floured 8" round cake pan, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
3) Use a sharp 2 ¼" biscuit cutter to cut rounds. Place them on a lightly greased (or parchment-lined) baking sheet.
4) Brush the biscuits with butter, if desired, for extra flavor.
5) Place the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes. This will improve the biscuits' texture and rise.
6) Preheat the oven to 425°F while the biscuits are in the freezer.
7) Bake the biscuits for 20 minutes, till they're golden brown. Remove from the oven. If you have any melted butter left over, brush it on the baked biscuits. Serve immediately.

McMenu: Do-It-Yourself McDonald’s Restaurant Recipes

Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bread

Banana Blueberry Breakfast Bread. That's a lot of B's. This bread was totally worth the experiment it involved.

I started with my standard breakfast bun recipe which I created with the Stealth Cinnamon Rolls from earlier this week. Since I halved that recipe, I was left with a half a box of yellow cake mix, and I wanted to see if my theory, that this recipe would make a great yeast bread, was a good one. It was. In fact, it made a better loaf bread than it did rolls.

When I made the cinnamon rolls, I didn't trust how "wet" the dough was and I added as much as an additional cup of flour to the "half" recipe, and the rolls, while still high and tasty, were somewhat dry and more bread than pastry-like. This time, I resisted the urge to add more flour and just let the wet dough raise on its own without my interference, and I'm glad I did. It turned out just fine, and was moister than the rolls.

BASIC BREAKFAST BREAD

This recipe is for ONE LOAF -- a half recipe.

1/2 box of yellow cake mix (no pudding in the mix)

1-1/4 cup of warm water

1 package of yeast

3 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Allow to double in volume. Punch down, and stir in any mix-ins, or, roll out on a chopping board, layer toppings, and roll up. Add to a buttered loaf pan, allow to double in volume again, and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

For this variation of the basic bread, I used my bread machine to mix the dough, only. At the "fruit and nut beep" I added 2 big handfuls of Trader Joe's Freeze Dried Blueberries, and 1 big handful of Trader Joe's Freeze Dried Banana Slices, and 1 big handful of chopped walnuts. I crushed more dried blueberries for the top of the loaf (which was really pretty, like painting with water colors). I then took it out of the machine and kneaded and raised it myself, in a loaf pan, before baking.

This particular loaf would have tasted great with a lemon cake mix, but I was using up the 1/2 box left from the cinnamon rolls. I let the loaf raise, baked it off, and sliced. It was just perfect. This bread is not "too too" sweet, it's closer to Hawaiian Sweet Bread. It made EXCELLENT toast -- really superb toast, in fact. 

As pictured, though, I've spread some Lemon Quark on a slice, which was also top notch. Quark is a much lower fat and creamier, lighter version of ricotta or mascarpone.  Many compare quark to cream cheese but quark is much "fluffier."  I get mine from a Farmer's Market in both Vanilla and Lemon flavors. Lemon Quark on Blueberry Banana Bread Toast was really fantastic.  

I buy mine from Spring Hill Cheese Company based in Petaluma, California, which sells it at Farmer's Markets, but it looks like you can get it mail order -- which has to be a little costly because it's perishable -- but if you have to go through life without trying their Vanilla Bean or Lemon Quark, it just may be a sacrifice you have to make.

Stealth Cinnamon Rolls

I'm calling these Stealth Cinnamon Rolls because I'll bet you don't realize you've got every single ingredient for these, in your pantry, most of the time. I saw the recipe and thought "You know, I could make those right now!" and I did. The concept is interesting, and I immediately thought of several variations on the theme, as shown below.

CAKE MIX CINNAMON ROLLS

• 1 box of yellow cake mix (no pudding in the mix)
• 2.5 cups of warm water
• 2 packages of yeast
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 5 cups AP flour

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Allow to rest and raise, doubling in size, for approximately 1 hour. Roll out, spread thickly with butter, and sprinkle thickly with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up on the long edge, cut into 1 inch spiral rolls, and set in pan, or in muffin pans. Allow to raise a second time, approximately 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Ice with glaze of your choice.

I halved this recipe, and found the dough so sticky, I kept adding more flour to get it to come together in a soft ball. As much as a cup more flour than I thought. I think may have lead to the rolls being more bread and less pastry like, but they were still soft and tasty. Next time, I'll trust the sticky dough and leave it alone. Still it was so simple. I added ground vanilla powder to the cinnamon sugar mixture, but not nearly enough butter -- they were cooked perfectly throughout, but I like a bit more moisture in the rolls, so next time I'd use more butter and maybe bake them 5 minutes less. Otherwise, they rose high and light. HALF of this recipe made a full 13x9 pan, so if you used the recipe as written, you'd get a bunch of rolls for sure.

VARIATIONS I'VE CONSIDERED:

Red Velvet Cake Mix + Cream Cheese Filling

Chocolate Cake Mix + Coconut Pecan Nutella Filling

Lemon Cake Mix + Citrus or Coconut Filling, or Blueberry or Poppyseed

Spice Cake Mix + Nut Filling

Carrot Cake Mix + Cream Cheese Filling

White Cake Mix + Almond Extract + Chopped Cherry Filling

Ooh, the possibilities of fast breakfast rolls!

Semolina Rye Muffins

These were a fast, savory muffin. Not too rye tasting -- just like cornbread in texture, but a little more savory from the caraway seeds. Simple and fast, it's a small batch that makes just four muffins for soup or dinner.

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rye flour -or- 1/4 cup rye flour and 1/4 cup semolina
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
cornmeal

Mix all gently and just until combined. Pour into four muffin wells which have been sprayed with cooking spray. Dust with cornmeal. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Semi Homemade English Muffins

This is a "vintage post" culled from my Flickr account, posted there in 2007 after my experiment with a vintage recipe for hacking "English Muffins." I want to gather some of those older Flickr posts here, so bear with me.

I found a cookbook recently, in a thrift shop, for .25 cents. Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Cookbook, published in 1960 (the year of my birth). I saw an easy recipe for English muffins that would make Sandra Lee proud (in fact, as much as I despise her, she should make this on her show). It did take three batches to complete the experiment, however, due to products available today, which probably differ wildly from those available in 1960.

The recipe called for opening a tube of refrigerated biscuits, and, flattening each one in cornmeal and frying in shortening until well browned on both sides. That was the recipe and I saw it had some potential, because if Paula Deen can make donuts out of them, I'll bet Amy Vanderbilt could make a passable English Muffin.

BATCH ONE

I had a can of flaky style biscuits needing to go. I used those and followed the recipe exactly, dipping each one in corn meal, and pressing it flat in a skillet in which I had melted some Earth Balance Shortening. The biscuits sizzled up nicely and developed a wonderful crust, however, these types of biscuits are really high in fat to get that flake factor, and they were brown and crusty on the outside, but, doughy, raw, and wet on the inside. A definite failure.

BATCH TWO

Coat a few more in cornmeal, sizzle in the hot skillet until very well browned on the outside, and then, finish in a hot toaster oven for 5 minutes, to finish the inside. This batch was significantly better, however, this flaky "fake fat" kind of biscuit is really not the right kind, and, doesn't lend any kind of an English Muffin feel. A five minute bake-off did, however, greatly improve how this biscuit looks, feels, and tastes with that crusty exterior.

BATCH THREE

I got a small tube of regular, cheap, non flaky buttermilk biscuits, the small cheap-o kind. I lightly ran them under the tap so that they would be moist and I could get them to adhere more cornmeal. I dredged in cornmeal, and, this time, fried them in a very hot non-stick skillet with NO shortening, and finished them in a hot toaster oven for 3-5 minutes. Perfect exterior, perfect interior. Split apart nicely. Deep, nice crunch to the exterior. Perfect for a bit of ham in the morning. However, not nearly as dark brown as those without the fat in the pan. They just didn't get that hard crust that was necessary.

BATCH FOUR

I barely smeared a stick of Earth Balance shortening on thE pan, just to barely give a sheen, and finished the batch this way, and, there I had it. They are tiny, crusty, and can be split and then frozen for small breakfast sandwiches, or ham and mustard biscuits. The texture is very, very close to an English Muffin, although the flavor isn't. It's far better than a store bought chilled tube of biscuit dough, but not as good as say, a toasted Thomas' English Muffin.

Still, you can definately spruce up store bought biscuit dough this way.

Interesting side note: The darker I fried them (almost until they smelled burnt), the better they were and more close to the dense texture of an English Muffin). The cornmeal is burning -- not the dough, and it helps make that thick crust that is so appealing, and had no charred taste. Just a deep rustic taste that was very pleasing. These will hold up very well in Bento Boxes, and will make great appetizer sandwiches (a bit of ham, or turkey, or a mini BLT even).

I split them and froze them, so I can make a sandwich on a frozen mini muffin which will easily be thawed by lunch time.

BYOB: Rye Crackers to Restore My Dignity

Zoe and Jeff of Artisan Bread in 5 were kind enough and patient enough to do some research for me, and it appears the reason my ABin5 bread wasn't baking off correctly was the flour. I was using White Lily flour, and the lesson to be learned here is, know your flour. I had no idea it was self rising or had salt and other ingredients in it. I was certain it was unbleached AP, but apparently not! Teaches me for storing it in a big glass canister, with no bag, and assuming I knew what it was.

Jeff suggested I try again with unbleached AP flour, so I'm working on my second tub of Master Dough, with freshly purchased flour that I *know* is unbleached AP, which will be ready tomorrow night for another stab at the ABin5 bread. Pray for me!

In the meantime, I had to restore my dignity and assure myself that I can bake something worthwhile in my oven, and I had a hankering for crackers. I'm still committed to the Bake Your Own Bread movement, and I'm including crackers in that challenge. I buy too many boxes of crackers. I may have three or four kinds at any given time. Time to change that.

I love Rye Crackers so I gave those a whirl for my first attempt at cracker making. These were very simple, very fast, and very tasty -- courtesy of the recipe on the bag of Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye Flour.

The only variation I noticed was that the crackers needed to be baked longer than specified on the bag -- ovens vary and the thickness of your cracker will vary the bake time, so I'd gauge total bake time based on the color of the cracker, and the not the ::ding:: of the timer.

When the cracker is uniformly brown, as shown below, it will be crispy, like a traditional cracker:

Whereas if the cracker is only slightly brown around the edges, as shown below, it will be crisp on the edge, but like a cookie. It was still quite tasty, this Rye Cookie, but do bake accordingly.

RYE CRACKERS

Courtesy of Bob's Red Mill

1/2 cup of Bob's Red Mill Unbleached White Flour

1/2 cup of Bob's Red Mill Dark Rye Flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon Turbinado Sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

4 tablespoons margerine (I used Earth Balance)

3 tablespoons milk

Mix together dry ingredients and seeds. Work in margerine until fine crumbs form. Stir in milk and form into a ball. I adjusted with more flour because the dough was too soft. I added a few tablespoons until I could easily roll a very soft ball. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper until 1/8 to 1/15 inch, and cut into desired shapes. I used a pizza wheel. Transfer to an ungreased cookie sheet, and prick all over with a fork. Sprinkle *lightly* with coarse salt (the dough is already salty), and bake 5-6 minutes in a 400 degree hot oven, or, until uniformly brown as shown above. I found I needed 10 minutes to get the deep brown shade I liked best.

Cool and store in an airtight container.

Absolutely delicious.

Barefoot Bloggers: Easy Sticky Buns

This week on Barefoot Bloggers, we made Ina Garten's Easy Sticky Buns, as chosen by Melissa of Made by Melissa. This recipe was so fun, and so easy, and so tasty, I'm surprised it never occurred to me to try it before. This recipe and method is a natural for any kind of breakfast pastry. I can easily see substituting dried cherries and crushed almonds for Cherry Almond Pastry, or perhaps Maple Butter and Pecans. The varieties you can use are numerous.

As with all Ina Garten recipe, butter figures prominently. I didn't follow any of the recommendations for amounts. Because the *base* for this recipe is puff pastry, which by itself is quite fatty enough, I just used the *idea* of her recipe, and adapted accordingly as I went along, using far less butter.

These rolls were superb! I was particularly happy that the butter melded with the dough to create a more traditional feeling dough, rather than a shattery-flakey roll that disentigrates when you bite it. These held together nicely. It would be very easy to make these rolls, cut, and freeze the cut rounds for baking off on rushed mornings.

Butter and brown sugar is combined to make a loose slurry.

A dollop of the sugar butter is placed in the well of a cupcake tin. I only used six wells, because I only used one square sheet of pastry from Trader Joe's. Pecans are sprinkled over the dollops of sugar butter, and the pan is then set aside.

One sheet of puff pastry is spread thinly with melted butter, onto which cinnamon and sugar are sprinkled. I also added a bit more brown sugar, as well as more pecans.

The pastry is rolled up, jelly roll style, to make a log.

Ina's recipe calls for cutting off the ends and discarding them. How silly and wasteful is that? (said in her own style). Puff pastry melts, spreads and puffs, so trimming uneven ends is completely unnecessary. Cut the log into six equal pieces.


Place one roll on each dollop of sugar butter, in the cupcake pan. Bake for 30 minutes until the roll are well browned and caramelized.

Cool for a few minutes, and turn the rolls out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment. Serve while still warm.

Devour!

About this challenge: The Barefoot Bloggers join forces and cook or bake recipes by Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten each month, chosen in order by members, and present them for discussion on two Thursdays each month. Hungry? Please join us at the table!

Cilantro Pepper Jack Biscuits

After I made the Easiest Sticky Buns ever (already posted) I was left with one square sheet of Trader Joe's puff pastry.

I spread it with TJ's Roasted Pecan Cilantro Dip (which I love so much I could eat it with a spoon), and layered a few thin slices of pepper jack cheese, and rolled up jelly roll fashion.

Sliced into equal pieces, and baked for 30 min (it takes surprisingy long to get the centers done on this kind of dough) in a lightly buttered cupcake tin.

Mighty fine!

Go To Recipes: Aunt Elfred's Magical Cornbread

It has been a long journey, for me -- finding a cornbread recipe that meets my rigid demands. It has been a long and hard search, fraught with peril, disappointments, lowered expectations, and more.

I didn't think my demands were that high. I want my corn muffins or bread to be slightly sweet (I do fall on the sweet side of the debate -- but I don't want it to be corn cake). I want it to be grainy, but maintain its integrity when you break it apart. I want the muffin to be crispy and toothsome on the crust, but that crust has to be thin and the inside should be high and fluffy.

I want it to be golden yellow. I don't want it to be wet and dense. I just want my corn muffin to be a big, yellow, grainy cloud.

I've tried many recipes over time, but none met my expectations. I finally gave up making my own, and just relied on ::head lowered:: an instant mix by Marie Callender's. In the restaurant, the bread is light and fluffy, so I began using cans of MC mix a long time ago. This add-water-only recipe was quick and fast. I wouldn't say it was great (it's actually too sweet) but it was the best of the mixes, I thought. Something happened recently, though. I bought a very large bag of the mix from Costco (previously I'd be using the smaller cans of mix from the grocery store) and I've made it several times, including very recently, and each time I found it was heavy, short, and dense. Nothing like I've been used to. I wondered if the mix was just old and ulimately I just assumed the formula had changed or cheapened and it wasn't going to the bread I ever remembered.

Fortunately, within days, I stumbled across a recipe on a blog called LunaCafe (don't get your hopes up -- it isn't a restaurant that I can see, darn it all) for cornbread where the blogger described it perfectly.

::Perk::

Does she understand this delicate balance required between bread and cake, muffin and biscuit? Dare I hope?

I gave LunaCafe's recipe for Aunt Elfred's Magical Cornbread a try, and, it was a complete success. My search is over. I say that with emphasis, so much so, that I've created a category called "Go To Recipes" to house those recipes which end the game for any others.

This recipe has an interesting distinction -- oil and sugar are whisked together into a paste into which eggs, milk and cornmeal are then added.


After the wet ingredients and corn meal are mixed, its added to the dry ingredients...

... and mixed just until it holds together. No longer.

LunaCafe uses a popover pan for high, proud muffins, but I'm quite fond of this squared off muffin pan, because they make perfectly sized muffins which fit in my bento box lunch container, and the shape makes for an interesting sandwich base.

This recipe also serves double duty for me. It ended my search for the perfect recipe, but, it qualifies for the BYOB (Bake Your Own Bread) Challenge I recently joined (more on that in my next post). While not a yeast-raised bread, it neverthless qualifies because it puts me back in the kitchen with a whisk and an array of ingredients which ordinarily would come out of a pre-made pouch of mix. That pouch Marie Callender's mix? Yeah, I threw it out, without one second of angst.

See the recipe here, and trust me on this. You'll love it. I followed it faithfully, but skipped the additions the first time out. Perhaps in the future I may add them (peppers, or onion, or more), but for me, a good corn muffin recipe can stand on its own without embellishment. This passes the test.

Barefoot Bloggers: Lemon Rosemary Chicken on Panzanella Salad

Two! Two! Two mints in one!

This month the Barefoot Bloggers made Panzanella (tomato bread salad) as chosen by Melissa of It’s Melissa’s Kitchen and Butterflied Chicken chosen by Stefany of Proceed with Caution.

When this month's recipes were announced, my mind did a quick calculation:

1) a big tub of bread salad is too much for one person
2) an entire grilled butterflied chicken is too much for one person
3) I don't have a grill
4) I don't have a patio
5) None of this matters because
6) I can adapt the chicken to a serving for one because it's so basic; and
7) I can make a small portion of the salad; and
8) I can put the chicken ON the salad for a COLD chicken salad!

Jeffrey! Lunch is ready!

When you deconstruct classic and basic recipes such as these, you're left with a concept that is very easy to adapt. Ina's recipe for Grilled Butterflied Chicken is just a paste of lemon, garlic, olive oil, and rosemary, rubbed under the skin and then grilled. I had a container of recently made Moroccan preserved lemons from my bounty of meyer lemons earlier this summer and that is nothing more than lemons and salt. Add some garlic and olive oil, blend it in a blender cup, and you're good to go. I rubbed it on a chicken breast, marinated it, and then grilled it in a panini pan and let it chill.

Onto the salad. I made it almost as called for, although I typically despise cucumbers and bell peppers. Not a huge fan of capers either, but I was game because often, a dish is a success based on the sum of its parts. I made the salad and dressing as written, except I wouldn't budge on the bell peppers -- nasty.

I tossed it all, chilled, layered the grilled chicken on top, and served. This was a mighty fine tasting salad!

About this challenge:The Barefoot Bloggers join forces and cook or bake recipes by Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten each month, chosen in order by members, and present them for discussion on two Thursdays each month. Our Next Challenge: Ina's Smoked Salmon Spread. Hungry? Please join us at the table!

Barefoot Bloggers: Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread

I was looking forward to making this month's Barefoot Bloggers selection. It's Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cheddar Scallion Cornbread, selected by Sabrina and Alexander of Cooking With the Kids.

I'm a big fan of cornbread, and, as far as the two camps (sweet or plain), I'm usually in the sweet category, but I like most varieties: Sweet, savory, crumbly, firm, yellow, white, baked, or skillet. I've never made my OWN cheese based cornbread, however.

I wasn't gung ho to use Jalapeno peppers. I don't like peppers, particularly Jalapeno, although I DO like the cooked/pickled green chili that you'll find in eggs or so-called "Monterey" style dishes. I thought I had some, so didn't bother to shop for them. Turns out I had a can of pickled Jalapeno Peppers, whole, seeds and all. Not what I had in mind, but I did chop one up and use it anyway, to keep an open mind.

My adaptation, below, took into account the comments made by my fellow Barefoot Bloggers -- that the original recipe was not very corny. I made the ratio of corn flavor to AP flour more level, and, I scaled the entire recipe by half, using less butter as well, as suggested by another blogger.

BAREFOOT CONTESSA JALAPENO CHEDDAR CORNBREAD

1 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of fine cornmeal
1/4 cup of corn flour
1/8 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup egg beaters
3/4 stick of melted butter
4 oz sharp, grass fed New Zealand White Cheddar Cheese
Scallions
Jalapeno, pickled, chopped
Penzey's Southwest Seasoning

Combine all dry ingredients and set aside. Combine the milk, egg beaters, and melted butter in a blender cup and whip. Pour into dry ingredients and gently mix. Add most of the grated cheese, a generous teaspoon of chopped Jalapeno (or more if you actually like it), and diced scallions to taste. Spread in a greased 8 inch square pan, and let it sit for 20 minutes. Just before baking, sprinkle with additional reserved grated cheese, more diced scallions, and I added a sprinkle of Penzey's Southwest Seasoning for color and smoke. Bake for 25 minutes at 350, or until browned and a skewer comes out clean.

***

I liked the bread, but if I made it again (on the fence on that one) I'd leave out the Jalapeno and just stick with the scallions. The cheese and scallions added quite a bit of flavor and "bite" and that would be enough for me. Or, if I had them, I'd use the pale green, very mild canned chili peppers that I *do* like. I'm not sure what the distinction is, other than no seeds and a much paler color.

Ok, if you're still reading this far, I've got to tell you a funny cornbread story. I went to a potluck hosted by the soul-filled Southern Family of a friend of mine, and the "Aunties" were lording over the buffet table, loading it with some fierce chicken, beans, greens, cornbread, you name it. I was eating Auntie's cornbread and said "Oh my, this is the best I've ever tasted. It's so light and fluffy, but grainy at the same time. How did you make this?!" She responded "Oh honey, that's 'jes a couple boxes of mix." "A mix? Which one!" I was really excited I could recreate this. "Oh you just take any cornbread you like, I used Jiffy this time, and you make up one box of cornbread mix just like the box tells you, and then you take one box of yellow cake mix, and you mix that up just like the box tells you, and than you just stir it all up and bake in a pan. That's my special cornbread!"

Well no, um ... that would be corn CAKE courtesy of Betty Crocker. And no wonder I liked it so dang much. No, I never made it. I can't fool myself into believing I'm not just eating a pan of cake.

About this challenge:
The Barefoot Bloggers join forces and cook or bake recipes by Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten each month, chosen in order by members, and present them for discussion on two Thursdays each month. Our Next Challenge: Ina's Smoked Salmon Spread. Hungry? Please join us at the table!

Tea Sandwiches with the Slice a Slice

Hooray, it's here! The vintage Slice a Slice which I first saw on Robin Sue's Big Red Kitchen blog is now mine, courtesy of eBay.

I knew, as soon as I saw her post, that was something I had to have. I can't stand thick, messy, so-called "Four Napkin" style sandwiches or burgers. The Carl's Jr. commercials with the "If it's not all over your face" or "the place" or whatever that tag line is, and the dripping ketchup and meat juice, are an abomination to me.

I love thin, delicate sandwiches. I may eat more than one, true, but I'd rather eat two very thin sandwiches than one monster sandwich that I have to open my mouth like a python to take a bite. No one looks good doing that.

The appeal of this vintage sandwich slicer is two-fold. First, I can't get thin-sliced bread in my area. Thin sliced varieties are available to East Coasters in the grocery store, but for some reason, brands like Pepperidge Farm won't sell them in California. It's difficult to slice your own that thin, unless the bread is sturdy. Bakeries don't slice it thin enough for my taste either, and when it's really fresh, it tends to mush and tear when they try. Second, the effect of reducing your sandwich to one slice of bread is a calorie and carb savings. Unless you eat more than one sandwich of course!

It has rubber feet which keep it solid on the counter. There is a wooden rod at the base, where your knife travels down. The holes in the device are slightly jagged, so the bread stays put (but doesn't get punctured) and believe it or not, the knife slides very easily down the center of the bread when it's being squeezed fairly tight. I'm thinking I'd get an even cleaner cut if the bread was slightly frozen.

So here it is ... one slice of bread, one slice of ham, one slice of cheese. Perfect!

In Search of Pretzel Croissants

Technically, I already have access to them, but still. I'm not sated.

Pretzel Croissants recently came to Northern California. At last. My town, outside of the Bay Area, just last year opened its first cupcake bakery, to give you an idea that we lag WAY behind New York and its cupcakeries, or City Bakery andtheir pretzel croissants, pictured at right, and other food cities -- despite being a short distance from San Francisco.

Anyway, we finally got Pretzel Croissants by way of OctoberFeast (what a great name) German Bakery, which sells them at our Farmer's Market. They are darker than your average croissant -- the exterior flaky layer is a deep, caramelized brown. The interior tastes exactly like any other croissant. This happens to be GOOD, moist, flaky croissant, but only an average Pretzel Croissant, because there is only a hint of that pretzel flavor. No salt or sesame crunch on the exterior. Worse, they are very expensive -- $3.00 per croissant means I can' t just buy a bag of them and freeze them.

So. In preparing to thaw and bake off what I consider to be a very good frozen croissant dough from Trader Joe's (which I understand uses the same baker who makes frozen croissants for Williams-Sonoma), I had an idea.

Hey. I've made Pretzel Bread before and that wasn't hard. The secret to good pretzels and bagels is to boil them in a baking soda and water bath, first. Why not try it on frozen croissants?! If it worked, I could salt them and everything!

I was willing to throw myself on that grenade for you people, my foodie friends, to find out if I could achieve a Pretzel Croissant Flavor, without the Pretzel Croissant Price. I got out two frozen croissants, brought a big pot water to a boil, threw in some baking soda, and as I started to boil them, I figured one of a few things would happen:

A) It will have no effect whatsoever. You have two Pretzels for which you did nothing more than add an extra step to what otherwise is a pretty simple process: Thaw, Raise and Bake.

B) You will ruin two pieces of frozen croissant dough by boiling what was supposed to be tender flaky dough, and turn it into strands of gooey white yeasty smelling mucus.

C) You will make two Pretzel Croissants using nothing more than your above-average imagination and ingenuity. People will exclaim "Why didn't *I* think of that? Man, I'm never buying a $3.00 croissant again. I'm going to write about this and link to Kate's blog. If Tastespotting were still available, which it isn't, which depresses the shit out of me, I would submit Kate's picture of her basket of Pretzel Croissants because it is nothing short of FOOD PORNOGRAPHY.


The results are in, my friends and the answer is.... ?





A.

Pretzel Bread Baguettes

I saw sandwiches tonight at My Sweet and Saucy, and I instantly wanted to crawl through my screen and eat them. The post reminded me that I've been meaning to bake a batch of pretzel bread which I saw on another blog not too long ago. It will have to do. It will have to do.

Pretzel Bread / Baguettes (Small Batch)
Makes 4 Medium Sized Pretzel Rolls

Pretzel Dough:

2-3/4 cups bread flour
2-1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast or SAF instant yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup hot water

Water Bath:
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar

Topping:
coarse sea salt
egg white

I adapted this recipe from Desert Candy, to use my bread machine, which calls for adding the dough's liquid ingredients first, followed by dry, yeast on top. I set it to "dough only" and let it knead and rise first in the machine, and then removed it to a pan lined with parchment. I slashed into the bread dough with scissors, covered, and let rise again for approximately 15 minutes while I prepared the water bath. I brought a soup pot of water to boil, and added the baking soda and sugar when I was ready to add the rolls. Boiled the rolls on each side for 30 seconds (they float, so flipping is in order).

Removed to a pan lined with parchment paper, brushed with egg white, and salted. Baked at 375 for 30 minutes.

I found them to be quite tasty, but not as "pretzel tasting" as I would like. Very good, make no mistake (all homemade bread is good), but not quite what I'm looking for yet. I thought they were more like bagels than pretzels, and the baking soda flavor was more pronounced than I anticipated, so perhaps I added too much or the ratio of water to baking soda was off. Still, I have a chicken breast roasted and this will make a lovely sandwich tomorrow.

The action shots:

Zucchini Bread

I clicked through from Tastespotting (aka my Porn Site of the Day) and read Au Naturel's recipe for zucchini bread made with chickpea flour, with interest. I had all of the ingredients on hand and was eager to try baking with this unique and healthy flour. I also wanted to try, and have on hand, high fibre coconut flour, so I gave this recipe a go, with a few adaptations.


At first, tasting the mixed batter, I was nervous. It tasted odd, gamey, too chick-pea'ish. But then, as I readied the batter for baking and cleaned up before baking, I tasted the batter again. Within a minute or two, I was tasting it again, scraping the bowl clean for washing. It was growing on me, minute by minute. Very earthy, nutritious tasting. It had personality and a distinct nutty flavor.


The completed bread was delicious. It was simply more interesting than your run of the mill zucchini bread. Mine wasn't nearly as moist as Au Naturel described, but I attribute this to using the coconut flour.

Without knowing I'd be making this quick bread this afternoon, I already purchased lovely, light, tasty Vanilla Bean Quark from a Farmer's Market vendor this morning, and it was the perfect spread. I learned that quark is a European style soft whipped cheese, much lighter than cream cheese, but with a similar taste and texture. It is high protein and much lower in fat. This version was plump full of vanilla bean, and was sampled by the vendor by presenting it on a strawberry. $5.00 later, and it was mine and I was on my way home to making something with it. Turns out, it was this bread!

My lunch for work tomorrow will be tea sandwiches -- high fibre zucchini bread with vanilla bean quark -- and an artichoke from my garden. Spring is here!

ZUCCHINI BREAD with VANILLA BEAN QUARK

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup chick pea (garbanzo) flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla bean pod
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini

Sift all dry ingredients (flour through salt) together, twice, to thoroughly blend, and set aside. Beat butter until light and fluffy, and add agave nectar and one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and beat. Add shredded zucchini, gently mixing in with a spoon. Add the dry flour mixture in thirds, stirring just until combined after each addition. Add batter to a buttered loaf pan, and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

The most significant change I made was the addition of coconut flour and using a full two eggs in my version. I did this because the package of coconut flour warned that you should only use a ratio of 20% coconut flour to regular flour, that it is very high fibre and absorbent, and will require an equal amount of liquid to help balance out that absorption which will occur during baking. By adding a full second egg, that extra moisture seemed to work just fine, but next time I'll add a bit more liquid. I also sprinkled my loaf not with cinnamon, as in the recipe I read today, but with vanilla flecked sugar, in very light amounts.

Slice when cool, and spread with quark, cream cheese, or fruit butter.

Verdict: Tasty as heck.
Skill: Easy to make, but unusual ingredients means not many will have all these things on hand.
Make again: You bet.

Mini Brioche French Toast

Mini Brioche French Toast

Looks like a huge plate of it, doesn't it? Nope! Made with a leftover brioche dinner roll.

1 small brioche dinner roll
1 egg
1 teaspoon fat free half and half
1 dash of nutmeg
2 pats of butter spread
2 tablespoons sugar free maple syrup
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Beat the egg, half and half, nutmeg and any other spices you like, slice the brioche dinner roll and dip into egg custard, and sautee in a pat of butter spread until golden brown. Top with another pat of butter spread and SF maple syrup.

My friend Dottie in PA has always recommended the sugar free maple syrup from the East Coast based Waffle House chain. I found a bottle online and purchased it, and boy, was she right. That stuff is just plain AWESOME. No fake flavor whatever, and no nasty after-effects of the sugar alcohols.

As soon as my bottle is gone, Dottie, I'm afraid I'll need to send you on an errand. :)

Low Fat Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I suck.

I complain about muffin flavors pretty much every time my boyfriend and I visit a coffee shop. You visit a coffee shop or bakery, you want a muffin for breakfast, and you are always presented with the same boring flavors:

Apple Cinnamon (my least favorite)
Blueberry (works in a pinch, but it's not inspired)
Chocolate (who are we kidding, it's a cupcake)
Banana Nut
Bran
Lemon Poppyseed (occasionaly makes an appearance)
Carrot (occasionaly makes an appearance)

Where are the interesting flavor combinations? Where are the coconut and pineapple muffins (the best muffin I ever had in my life was in the Kansas City airport; light as a feather, bits of pineapple, coconut, and I think mac nuts -- it was ethereal), the apricot chutney muffins? The curried cranberry and pecan muffins? The Cherry Vanilla? It's so easy to use some flavor imagination, and yet no breakfast joints break out of that muffin rut. They can dumb down to popular choice. Fooey on popular choice.

I recently purchased a couple of muffin cookbooks from a thrift store (because with more than 100 cookbooks, I didn't have nearly enough, and I'm positive not a single one of those 100+ cookbooks had any muffin recipes in them so I needed these new books), and set about finding some interesting flavors. They were to be had, for sure.

So what did I do? What mold did I shatter with my gourmet muffin madness?

I made Lemon Blueberry, because I had blueberries on hand, and some meyer lemons.

As I said ... I suck.

LOW FAT LEMON BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

1 - 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 - 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low fat milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon lemon extract or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 cup of Meyer Lemon Simple Syrup (optional)

Combine first four dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and make a well. In a seperate bowl, beat wet ingredients (except blueberries) until thoroughly blended, and pour into the well in the flour mixture. Mix very gently until moistened. Toss blueberries with 2 tablespoons of sugar, and add to batter. Sprinkle with lemon zest, and mix very gently to incorporate the berries. I spooned the batter into paper lined mini muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees F for 14 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

Optional step: When the muffins were fresh and hot, I brushed them with Meyer Lemon Simple Syrup to glaze the tops.

Verdict: Tasty, but not very interesting. The muffins stuck to the paper -- I think next time I'd spoon them into a greased tin. Also, next time I'll break out some peaches and ginger and go for broke with new flavors.
Skill: None.
Repeat: Who am I kidding? Probably yes. Blueberry is the boyfriend's favorite and he's a) younger and b) cuter than I am, so I am a slave to his every whim.

Prosciutto Spiral Focaccia

What I've made is a simple spiral focaccia to serve in place of sandiwch, along side soup. It's more than bread, less than a sandwich, although you'll find it rich enough to get by with one piece.

It doesn't escape my attention that this "cheater's focaccia" is something the love-to-hate Sandra Lee would make, but I rest more easily knowing she'd probably use Carl Buddig ham or bologna, and dried herbs from the .98 cent store, instead of proscuitto and fresh herbs.

With this version, I've used prosciutto and herbs, however, it's very easy to customize this recipe. Olives and Parmesan would be wonderful, herbs and cheese would be wonderful. I've even seen it with bacon and cheddar cheese (too fatty for my tastes), and pepperoni for a "pizza spiral."

Let's assemble the ingredients. Chopped fresh herbs of your choice (here I have diced thyme, scallion, sage, and parsley), an egg, a bit of butter, several slices of prosciutto, and a tube of ready-to-bake dough breadsticks. I've used Pillsbury Low Fat (don't worry, we'll fix that) Breadsticks.



Seperate the breadsticks and flatten each one slightly, so that you may spread ingredients on each piece. It isn't necessary to saute the herbs, but that is my preference. You could just sprinkle the herbs on the dough, but I melted a small amount (perhaps a tablespoon) of butter and quickly heated the herbs to release their flavors. I spread the herb butter on each breadstick.


Seperate the thin layers of prosciutto and tear into long shreds, laying a narrow piece on each breadstick. Complete coverage isn't necessary -- it's salty and flavorful, so a little goes a long way.

Coil up one breadstick, and place it in the center of a lightly buttered pie tin. Leave the tail of that piece exposed slightly, as you'll be continuing the coil. Take the second piece, and press the end very firmly into the first end of the coil, and begin to wrap that piece, as well.

As you coil each piece, it will begin to look like a large rose. It's important to make sure the ends are pinched together tightly as you affix each new piece, but, do not wrap them tightly. You want them to expand and cook fully throughout.

When the spiral is complete, use the rest of any herb butter, and brush over the top. Now, beat the egg and brush beaten egg over the top, as well. Be generous with the egg, you want it to dribble into any nooks and crannies to help seal the spiral.

Bake the spiral at 375 for approximately 20-25 minutes, until well-browned. Let cool a bit before slicing into wedges, and serve. Be sure to expand this last photo ... it's really sexy up close.

You know what I'm thinking? You could make one mondo cinnamon roll with this. Make your favorite filling, roll it up, glaze it with cream cheese frosting, and serve this extra large roll at the table. For bakers who are yeast whisperers and not afraid of making their own dough, you could also make your dough and roll it spiral style, for homemade focaccia in a new style. Hmmmm. The variations are endless.

P.S. Guess who's boyfriend bought her a new digital camera? He's such a keeper. No more cell phone blogging!