Featured Recipe

Today's recipe is a variation on basic baking powder biscuits but they are more like a scone than a biscuit. They are sweet but not too sweet and have a pleasant texture. They are particularly good warm from the oven with a bit of butter. I substituted vegetable oil for the traditional shortening as I hate cutting in shortening - it does give it a spongier texture than shortening, but it is much faster and less hassle.  I added Peach/Passionfruit curd that I had in my pantry, but you could add apricot or peach jam instead. The curd is nice because it is made with butter and it is not as sticky as jam. Lemon curd would be really lovely too. You could add blueberries or blackberries instead of raspberries if you wanted.   

Peach/Passionfruit Raspberry Biscuits

Ingredients:
3-3/12 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup peach/passionfruit curd
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen raspberries

Method:
1. Mix together 3 cups of the flour, the baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium sized bowl
2. Add the veg oil, milk and fruit curd. Mix well. Add the frozen raspberries and mix well. The dough should be really soft and a bit sticky, If it is too sticky, add more flour
3. Gently pat about 1/2 cup of the dough into a disc about 1.5 cm thick and about 6-8cm in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, leaving about 3 cm between biscuits. It should make between 9-12 biscuits
4. Bake at 450 for 8 mins, then turn the pan 180 degrees (so the the biscuits that were at the front of the oven are now at the back) and bake for 5 mins more. They will be light golden on the top and a rich brown on the bottoms when they are done.
6. Let cool at least 10 mins before serving. Freeze any leftovers

Experiments in the Kitchen

 Today was a gloomy, grey day - perfect for baking. I wanted to make cookies so I asked my husband what kind he wanted and his suggestion was Chocolate Thimble Cookies. I make these at Christmas every year and they are his favourite (they're one of my favourites too), but I ended up giving most of them away this year and I did promise him I would make a batch just for us. It is now June....I guess it was time.
Chocolate Thimble Cookies are made with a chocolate dough that you roll into balls, then in nuts (pecans are best), the when they're on the baking sheet, before they go in the oven, you make a depression in the middle with your finger. When they come out of the oven, you put 4-5 chocolate chips in the depression and when they melt, you swirl them with a toothpick. (A traditional version of these cookies are called thumbprint cookies and are usually a white dough with jam in the middle). 

Experiment #1:

Terr's suggestion was to make the dough chocolate/peanut butter - I can't believe I had never thought of this before! I figured I could just substitute half the butter for peanut butter and everything would be good. Yeah, that didn't work too well. My dough was really dry and crumbly and was impossible to roll into balls. I ended up adding more butter (in total about 3/4 of what the original recipe called for) and even then they we drier than they should have been. I managed to roll them, though they did fall apart a wee bit when I tried to put the depression in. They actually managed to hold together fairly well as they baked and weren't too dry to enjoy. The flavour was incredible and I would totally do it again. Lesson: substituting peanut butter for butter does not work. Next time, add the full amount of butter, plus the same amount of peanut better. If I need to add more flour, so be it.
Was it a success? Yes! Just a few minor tweaks and they'll be perfect!

Experiment #2:

I also wanted something that I could take in my lunches to have for my coffee break. I toyed with the idea of muffins, but decided on biscuits in the end. But, of course, I couldn't make just plain baking powder biscuits - I was in a creative mood. I settled on Peach/Passionfruit Raspberry biscuits. I had a jar of Peach/Passionfruit curd in my pantry and some frozen raspberries. I had to adjust the amount of flour becuase of the curd and the raspberries, but they totally turned out. They're a little spongier than normal biscuits and are more like a scone.   
Was it a success? Totally! They are delicious and will be nice in my lunch.So good, in fact, that they are this week's featured recipe!

Featured Ingredients

I have learned that not everyone is a "foodie" like me and may not know what all the ingredients I refer to are. So, here is another installment of "get to know new ingredients:

Quinoa
Quinoa is a lovely grain (technically it is a seed more than a grain and it is not a part of the grass family) that cooks up quick like couscous (10-15 minutes) and, to top it off, it is packed with protein (unlike rice or beans, it is a complete protein; you would need to eat rice and beans together to get a complete protein). Quinoa originated in the Andes of South America and was cultivated by the Incas who referred to it as the "mother of all grains." It has a somewhat nutty flavour and can be used in place of couscous or rice and is great in salads, soup and other side dishes. It has also been made into flour and pasta as a gluten-free option (these products can usually be found at health food stores). It must be cooked before you eat it.

Uncooked Quinoa seeds

Cooked quinoa

Proscuitto
Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham that is usually very thinly shaved. It is nicely salty and tastes a bit like bacon but is much leaner. A classic Italian dish is melon (often cantaloupe) wrapped in prosciutto. I like to wrap chicken breast with it, put it on pizza or fry it until crispy to put in salads.

Cumin
Cumin is an ancient spice originally cultivated in the Mediterranean, Middle East and parts of North Africa (Egypt and Morocco). It can be purchased in both its original seed form, or ground into a powder (I have never used the seeds, only the powder). It has an intense smoky, earthy flavour (but no heat) and is very good in chili, Mexican/Latin style dishes and Indian curry. A little goes a long way

Cumin Seeds

Ground cumin

Monterey Jack Cheese
This is probably my favourite type of cheese. It is a semi-hard (like Cheddar), white, cow's milk cheese with a kind of mildly tangy flavour (as opposed to a "sharp" flavour like cheddar). It melts really well and I love it on pizza (though not as stretchy/stringy as mozzarella). We also like a variety called Jalapeno (or pepper) Jack cheese that has bits of jalapeno peppers mixed in. Gives a nice bit of heat.

Montery Jack cheese

Jalapeno Jack

Featured Recipe

Two featured recipes in one day! I must be hungry or something. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook for Chicken Margherita (chicken breasts stuffed with bocconcini cheese (soft mozzarella), spinach, tomatoes and pesto and then wrapped in proscuitto and baked) which is really, really good, but we've recently discovered that my husband gets sick when he eats tomatoes and spinach. Unfortunate, but I can change. I wanted the taste of this chicken, but without using spinach or tomatoes. My version uses Monterrey Jack cheese, dried oregano and minced onion. Turned out awesome (and sooo cheesy)! It sounds a bit complicated, but it isn't really. Served it with Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad (which I'm also including the recipe for).

Cheesy Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fillets attached)
8 slices prosciutto
8 slices Monterrey Jack cheese (about 5mm thick)
dried minced onion (about 2 tsp total)
dried oregano (about 2 tsp total)

Method:

1. Pound chicken with a mallet (the bottom of a heavy frying pan works too) until the chicken is an even thickness of about 1.5 cm
2. On the side of the breast opposite the fillet, make a horizontal cut down length of the breast with a sharp knife so that you have a pocket large enough to put a piece of cheese in. Be careful not to cut all the way through the chicken. Place a piece of cheese in the pocket you created and sprinkle with a bit of the onion and oregano. Fold the chicken over the cheese to enclose it in the pocket
3. Flip the breast over and place a second piece of cheese in the natural pocket between the breast and the fillet (you may need to use your knife to make the pocket big enough for the cheese). Sprinkle with the oregano and onion
4. Wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around the chicken breast enclosing the cheese. Place in a glass baking pan (brush with olive oil)
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 with the remaining chicken
6. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through (should reach 165 degrees on a meat thermometer). The cheese will ooze out somewhat during cooking but that's ok, just scoop it out of the pan and spread in on top while it's still melty.

Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 each green and red peppers, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp each pepper and salt
1 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning

Method:
1. Cook quinoa according to the package directions, but substitute the water for chicken broth
2. While the quinoa is cooking, sautee the peppers in the olive oil. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the peppers are warm through but still crunchy. Add green onion and cook for 1 minute more
3. Mix veggies with quinoa and sprinkle on garlic seasoning. Stir and serve warm

Featured Recipe

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I've had this recipe in my file for quite some time but only tried it for the first time yesterday. You should try it too because it is delicious. The recipe comes from Cooking Light Magazine and the link can be found here. I made a few changes to the recipe and it turned out really well (see the recipe below - the notes in blue are my changes). This bread is not super sweet, but the glaze is and makes it more like a cake than a loaf. It's really nice served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream 

Ingredients

• Bread:
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt)
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (I don't like the texture of flax seed in things so I added an extra loose handful of flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (This is a very strong spice - I used it but I would leave it out next time as I think it is a wee bit overpowering)
• 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts (I omitted these and added 2 handfuls of chocolate chips instead) 
• Cooking spray
• Glaze:
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk (I substituted for chocolate milk)
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter 
• 1/4 tsp cocoa powder

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.
4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2010

 

Featured Recipe

Broiled Pork Chops

I made these for dinner tonight and my husband said "these are sooo good, you should post the recipe on your blog." So, here it is. I made 2 pork chops, but the marinade would probably do 3. The measurements could easily be adapted for more meat. I used bone-in loin chops that were about 1 inch thick. You don't want to use the thinner fast fry ones as they would get too dry when you broil them.

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce (I happened to have gluten free but regular or low sodium is fine too)
1/4 cup orange juice
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried minced onion

Method:
1. Mix all the marined ingredients together in a small bowl. Place pork in a shallow dish big enough so that all of the pork chops can lay flat. Pour marinade over meat. Refrigerate for 1 hour, turning meat over every 15 minutes
2. Set the broiler on your oven to low. Place marinated meat on a rack in a broiler pan. Broil for about 16-18 minutes, flipping over halfway through the cooking time. The meat is done when it is no longer pink in the middle (if you have a meat thermometer, it needs to read at least 160 degrees) and it should be golden around the edges.

Serve with pan roasted potatoes and a green salad.

Beer

Hey everyone! My brother has just started a blog about beer! If you are a beer person and are interested in reading about new beers, you should check it out. You may find a new favourite

Joel's Beer Blog