Breakfast Pizza

I have two words for you. Breakfast pizza.

There are two things you should know about it.

1) It will change your world and

2) You will not only make it once.

I have tried to make this for two days in a row only to finally make it this morning. The two main ingredients? Bacon and eggs. OK, I'll stop with the "two" stuff now since I'm even annoying myself.

Jeremy's cousins Brett, Derek and his wife Nancy, plus two friends, Jeff and Kathy came to visit us yesterday. They were only here a mere 22 hours and we ate out last night so I really had to make a proper breakfast for them this morning. It was only polite. I will now forever associate them with breakfast pizza. I think I might love that.

It sounds weird, I know. But the combination of the fresh baked dough coupled with bacon, eggs, cheese (both mozzarella and Parmesan) and a pop of scallion and a hint of garlic just hits the spot. It's everything you wish you had for breakfast this morning and should probably have tomorrow if you are as smart as I think you are.

Breakfast Pizza

adapted from "The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook" via smittenkitchen.com

makes 1 large pizza, serves 6-8

1 large pizza dough (make your own or pick up from a local pizzeria)

6 strips bacon

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

2 cups grated mozzarella

6 large eggs

freshly ground pepper

Kosher salt

5 scallions, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Fry the bacon in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until crisp. Cool on a paper-towel lined plate; roughly chop.

Stretch the pizza dough out onto a large baking tray or pizza stone that has been sprinkled with a bit of flour so it won't stick, and shape into a rectangle about 16x12 inches...or as big as you'd like. Sprinkle minced garlic over dough and sprinkle with half of the Parmesan, the mozzarella and bacon. Crack the 6 eggs over the top and season with salt and pepper. Top with the rest of the Parmesan.

Bake for 10 minutes, rotating after 5 minutes if necessary. When crust is golden, the cheese is melted and the egg yolks are cooked to medium, it is done. Sprinkle chives over the top, cut into sections and serve immediately

As many of you know, I am currently working on a new page for my blog. It's slow going since I don't know much about computers or how they function. Yes, I just said that. I am hoping to remedy this as soon as possible but I have a pretty strong feeling that technology won't ever be my gift. I need to stay in the kitchen, apparently. Anyway, look out for the change. It could happen as soon as next post but more likely next week.

PS. Kel, I'm sorry you missed this but having your kids, who have croup, over for breakfast with my kids, who are healthy would probably be frowned upon in the parenting world. This pizza though? It might have been worth it. For you anyway.

Petite Vanilla Bean Scones

A couple weeks ago my friend Kel sent me a link for these scones from The Pioneer Woman Cooks website. She was drooling over them and said we must make them. I had to agree, they looked pretty darn good. Then, a little over a week ago Kel came to my house to catch up on a Beth Moore bible study video we had missed. She mentioned in the e-mail in which she said she was for sure coming that we should most definitely have something scrumptious to eat, like those vanilla scones...hint hint. Sweet friend that she is, offered to make them, although she didn't have vanilla beans but I knew she would be gone all day, and you see, I always have vanilla beans. So I made them, they were so good, almost like a butter cookie in consistency and taste with a glaze that tasted like Breyers vanilla bean ice cream. That being said, they were only delicately sweet. These really would be a good accompaniment to you morning coffee but are equally fit for dessert.

I have to confess, I messed up a bit. I didn't have whole milk on hand for the glaze so I substituted cream. It sounded good, but the consistency was off since cream is thicker and I had to add more and more to get it right. That meant sadly that there wasn't enough powdered sugar to cream in the ratio and so the glaze didn't harden up properly but they still tasted good! The moral of the story is use whole milk people, and you will get it right.

Petite Vanilla Bean Scones

adapted from Ree Drummond via The Pioneer Woman Cooks Website

makes 24 small scones. Serves 12

SCONES:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cups sugar

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, chilled

1 whole large egg

3/4 cups heavy cream (more if needed)

2 whole vanilla beans (note you will need another for the glaze as well)

GLAZE:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cups whole milk

1 whole vanilla bean

dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Split two vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all of the vanilla beans inside. Stir vanilla beans into the cream and let it set, set aside for 15 minutes so the flavors can intermingle.

Put the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Cut cold butter into pats, then add to the food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles crumbles. Alternately, you can cut the butter in the flour mixture with a pastry cutter.

Mix vanilla cream with egg, then with the food processor running pour the vanilla cream mixture in to combine with the flour mixture until it comes together. (I had to add a bit more cream to get the dough to come together). Alternately, if you have used the pastry cutter method, stir the cream into your flour mixture with a fork, gently, until it comes together.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle (mixture might be a bit crumbly) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares. next , cut each square in half diagonal, to form two triangles.

Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

VANILLA GLAZE:

To make the icing, split one vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the caviar. Stir caviar into milk; allow to sit for a while. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency to the right thickness. It should be thick, but still pour easily. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. that depends on if you want he whole scone coated, front and back or just the top. Transfer to a parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

Don't make these scones without the vanilla beans, they just will not be the same. Vanilla beans impart such a lovely, luxurious flavor that you just can't get from the bottled stuff. I know they are expensive, but I usually buy them in bulk. Sure you have to spend more money but you get a ton of vanilla beans, like 25 of them at a fraction of the price, plus they keep forever, literally, if properly stored where no air can get to them. Just google "bulk vanilla beans".

Also, these in my opinion would make a great Christmas cookie since they don't puff up a ton in the oven. Just cut them into rounds with a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter instead of making them into rectangles, glaze the same way and call them a vanilla bean butter cookies. Great idea. And if you make these, I would like to get some too. :)

Pumpkin Bread and Blogging

I'm new to this whole blog thing. I've only been writing for 9 months. I started writing and keeping this blog as a way to get to know my relationship to food better, to understand how I cook, what I cook in a given year and also to chronicle all of this so my kids could read it someday. Also, I thought it would be pretty cool if someone outside my immediate circle read my stuff because it would mean I had something legitimate to offer. Usually, I put that aspect of blogging on the back burner. I write for me and that's that. Sometimes I'd sit to write (usually when I have been un-inspired and not in the mood) and thought "Why write? No one is going to read it anyway". But then I'd remember I was doing this for me. A self discipline and an outlet that I, most of the time adore. It sparks my creativity and gives me time to reflect. However, I couldn't help but start to wonder why other blogs I read had 50 followers, 100 followers, 750 followers, 1000 followers, and so on and why I had a meager 15, (One of whom is myself, how did that happen?) and five of whom probably read regularly. I didn't much mind this but I got curious as to how this happens and thus, I started to fall down the rabbit hole of the blogosphere.

The above picture is a shot of my computer/desk area. It's where I blog.

It's confusing guys, really. So the first thing I learned came from my friend Kel who said over breakfast, "OK, here's how you get followers...Read other people's blogs, comment and follow with a link to your blog" OK, fine. Simple enough. Except, I think I really only have an interest to read a limited number of blogs, so I wasn't sure how far that could take me. The second thing I learned was that there is this un-spoken, (or maybe it's is very spoken) rule that if you follow someone else's blog, (unless said person is a celebrity in the blog world) they should return the favor and follow you. If you are a celebrity you don't have to follow the "little people" because you have enough followers and don't need them. HA! Petty, even online! Here's the problem with that one for me; I'm not a fake person in real life (at least I don't think I am) and the same is true on the Internet. I'm not going to follow your blog to just get you to follow me. I understand why other people do this and yes, it actually works, but it's not authentic to who I am. I want people to read because they want to, not out of some bloggy obligation. In return, I'm only going to follow your blog if I like you and like reading what you have to say. I'm not going to follow you if I don't read what you publish. I just don't see the point. I don't have enough time or energy to devote to reading hundreds of blogs everyday, so why follow? I understand why other people might have other motives for doing this and that everyone has another way to look at it. This is just my opinion. I personally believe if you are good at what you do, are authentic, entertaining and know your stuff, people will follow. People are attracted when you genuinely have something to offer.

Then there's the argument that in order for people to actually know you are out there you need to market yourself to some degree. I hate this. Hate it! I couldn't sell you a $100 dollar brand new Aston Martin, let alone get you to read my blog. But I understand the necessity in this step if you want to expand your options, build friendships and create a network. So, I have no idea what I'm doing (I'm still in the process of this step) I tried to join this one network where people can find my blog and I can claim my blog (the name escapes me, but I remember it was something like "techno- something" Techerati, or something). Anyway, it's like a google for blogs, I think. Don't quote me on that. I also joined blog frog and I'm still confused as to what it does, but sometimes when I check out other peoples pages it lets them know I was there and leaves my information so they can find me and my stuff if they so choose. Then there's a blogroll and I'm still not sure what this is either. I tried to install one. It didn't work. I'm horrible at technical computer things, you know.

Who knows if will this will bring me more followers, and frankly, I'm too tired to actually find out at the moment. Following or commenting, I believe, is your civic duty if you have read someones blog more than a few times. That way they know you are reading. It lends support. It shows you like them, etc. It's just like how I believe that if you watch "Dancing With The Stars" every week for example, it's your duty to vote for who you are rooting for. It just is, and I can't help but think it. I have a friend who watches the show religiously and NEVER votes. You know who you are. I can't stand it! But I still like you...

There's also something called "Wordless Wednesday". Am I not supposed to blog on Wednesdays and instead just share a picture of food? I think not. And what's with the give-aways? I'm not complaining, but is the point to get more followers or more comments? Is it to gage how many people read your material? Or is it just that your love language is giving gifts and you just wanna express your gratitude like that? Also, how do you pick the winners? Do you play favorites?

I also just found out you can check your "stats" on your blog. To find out how many people have viewed your site that day or week or month, etc....yes, it's taken me this long to figure that out, (and I think it doesn't really know everything anyway because my husband said he read a blog of mine and it didn't show up as the page being viewed...weird) but none of that matters because what I found out is that completely random people read my blog! They really do! I had no idea you all were out there! I had like 55 hits this week alone (hundreds in the last couple months) on my recipe for spanakopita. That may seem like small potatoes to most of you, but to me it's thrilling! I found it odd however that the overwhelming majority of people were only viewing my spanakopita recipe and upon further investigation I discovered I was getting all these hits because my recipe is linked to some phyllo dough website (or maybe it's a Greek website?) for reasons completely unknown to me (how did they find me?) Maybe I should cook with Phyllo dough more often? OK, but aside from that I also learned that in the last week, 1 person from Sweden looked at my site, 2 people from China, 1 person from Italy, 15 from Brazil, 10 in South Africa, a couple from Alaska, and it's just so exciting. People I don't know reading my recipes. My stories. I'm beginning to understand why people are hungry for followers. There's a weird sense of accomplishment that comes from that and I love it. Of course all these people could have just glanced at my site, decided it was lame and moved on. Who knows? None of them are following me. I have one lone person who I do not know that currently follows me. But you know what? One is one. One is good. And I love comments/interaction so the more the better. I can start with one.

So In conclusion, I will still write for me and I will still only follow people who's blogs I'm interested in reading. And between those two things, perhaps I can wrangle a few more genuine followers...are you out there?

Let's talk Pumpkin Bread. Tis the season! This one bowl wonder makes 2 loaves, is incredibly tasty and moist and is ideal to give away to friends wrapped in parchment paper like in the picture above. It's equally as good to hog both loaves to yourself with a big mug of apple cider or buttered rum.

Pumpkin Bread

adapted from Paula Deen

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

1Cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

4 large eggs

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour *see note

3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 2 (8x5-inch) loaf pans. In a medium bowl, beat pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer (or wooden spoon) until smooth.

In a separate medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Gradually add to pumpkin mixture, stirring to combine.

Pour into pans, and bake for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. let cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

*I used 1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour and used all purpose flour for the rest of the 2 cups. Just to attempt making this a bit healthier.

This bread bakes up beautiful and big, puffing very handsomely on top. It's a show off.

Zucchini Bread

If theres one thing I trust Paula Deen to make well, it's baked goods and boy oh boy, she did not let us down here! I'm really excited about this zucchini bread. Not because it was beautiful (it wasn't) but because it's the best one I've ever had! I mentioned it wasn't the prettiest bread I've ever made and that's the truth. It was downright ugly, actually. It rose dramatically in the oven and I was feeling pretty proud of myself, right up until I took it out when done, only to realize it fell again...dramatically. Cest la vie! Honestly, I knew it was coming. This recipe calls for 3 whole cups of sugar! Any baked good with that amount of sugar is going to fall at this altitude. Usually I don't put in more than two cups of the stuff for any one recipe, but I knew leaving out the whole additional cup of sugar would not be good, so I put it in. I'm glad I did because 3 cups of sugar or not, it was delicious and not sweet. Well, not very sweet anyway. It definitely needed all 3 cups. Don't be afraid to serve this to company. Once cut, you can hardly tell there is a narrow dent on top. Besides, when they try it, they won't care and neither will you. You'll both be in hog, zucchini bread, heaven. Eyes rolled back, willing yourself not to take another piece. Oh, but you will.

Now to be very clear, I need to disclose one tiny thing. I eat my zucchini bread warm (either fresh out of the oven or warmed in the microwave for a couple seconds) with a generous pat of salted butter that melts slowly into it. And sometimes, I even put a drizzle of honey on top of that. Soooooo, that might have had to do with why I think this particular zucchini bread is the best one ever. Just a suggestion...Just a suggestion.

I made this bread because my Mom dropped off some monster zucchini fresh from her garden. I couldn't possibly eat it all, so I thought, ah, zucchini bread would be perfect! Oh, yeah. It was.

Zucchini Bread

adapted from Paula Deen

preheat the oven to 350 degrees

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and 2 1/4 cup all purpose)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/3 cup water

2 cups zucchini

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup walnuts

Mix oil, eggs, water, and lemon juice together in a bowl and set aside. Mix the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, and sugar together in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Stir in the zucchini and walnuts to combine.

Spray two loaf pans with oil and divide mix evenly into both. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

I like zucchini bread anytime throughout the day. Breakfast. Snack. After lunch snack, dessert. It's the most versatile food, isn't it?

I thought everyone knew about zucchini bread since I grew up eating it but I'm finding that some people (mostly men) have no idea what it is and think it's gross that I made bread out of a vegetable. You only have to say 2 words to shut them up. Carrot cake.

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Coconut Syrup and Fruit

This just might be my favorite breakfast. Although, that might be because I don't eat very interesting breakfasts in the first place. Plain oatmeal, Ezekiel toast, grape nuts with peaches and bananas don't exactly scream excitement. But this, this is something to celebrate!

If you have never had coconut syrup before, I pity and urge you to make it a priority to taste this week. I first had it in Hawaii where it is served commonly like maple syrup is here. My husband and I stayed in Kauai for the "baby moon" of our second child. Lucky us. The sun shone, the clouds rained and since there were no cocktails to be had, the guava juice and coconut syrup flowed. I remember my cousin Harrison had bottles of coconut syrup in his pantry that he would bring home from his trips to Hawaii because you couldn't get it here. Harrison's dad is Hawaiian and had connections. I knew early on that it was a precious and much coveted commodity. I thought you had to order coconut syrup over the Internet to get it here, and I did a couple times, but then I found a recipe online for making it yourself at home and I was intrigued. So I tried it and it's dang close people. Close enough that I probably won't buy it again over the Internet.

I had a very memorable breakfast at my Aunt Jenny's house a couple years ago. Becca and Micah were there. I'll just call them my cousins even though Becca is really my aunts, husbands sister. I grew up around her and even though we are not blood related, anyone married in or remotely related to me in anyway gets chalked up to "cousins" in my mind. Any who, we had this amazing breakfast consisting of these outrageous butter waffles (they are called butter waffles for a reason) covered in various chopped up fruit with coconut syrup and whipped cream. Can anyone say gut-bomb? It was absolutely delicious but I didn't feel very good the rest of the morning. Sugar tends to do that to me. Gut-bomb aside, I certainty couldn't go the rest of my life without having these flavors for breakfast every now and again so I thought about how I could change it to make it both healthier and to cut down the sugar quotient. This recipe is what I came up with and can I tell you, you don't miss a thing! You don't need all the butter in those waffles or the extra sugar in pre-bottled syrup and whipped cream. Because this, my friends, is breakfast nirvana.

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Coconut Syrup and Fruit

adapted from allrecipes.com and various other sources that are just hodge-podged together

for the pancakes:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup wheat germ or oats

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

5 1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a food processor or a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, white flour, wheat germ or oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt.

Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife, and add the butter to the flour mixture. mix until the mixture has a sand like consistency (If using a bowl instead of the food processor, just warm the butter in the microwave for a few seconds so it blends easily).

Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, and add the buttermilk and eggs. Stir until the liquids are fully incorporated.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease the surface with 1 tablespoon of butter or oil. Ladle the batter onto the surface to form 4 inch pancakes. once bubbles form on the top of the pancakes, flip them over, and cook them on the other side for about 1-2 minutes.

serves 4

Coconut Syrup:

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

1 can of good quality coconut milk*

a pinch of kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and boil together until it's reduced in volume by roughly half. Strain the can of coconut milk through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the watery stuff that falls out and only use the more solid stuff.* Add the coconut to the syrup mixture and whisk to combine. Let it cook just until it's thickened up a little, about 5 minutes. Add the salt and vanilla and mix well. Serve warm.

* good quality coconut milk should separate a bit to leave some watery stuff floating in the top and bottom the can. That's what I want you to strain out. However, if you open your can and don't see any separation, just pour the whole can in, it'll be OK, just a tad thinner.

Fruit:

dice up any combination of the following and mix together: (we use all)

bananas

strawberries

kiwi

peaches

mango

To assemble- top pancakes with fruit and drizzle with coconut syrup.

The blog I got the coconut syrup recipe from was adamant that the salt and vanilla extract are NOT optional. So please add it in. It gives it depth of flavor. If you have more than 4 very hungry people, I would urge you to double the pancake recipe. Happy weekend everybody!

Danish Raspberry Cheese Braid

I know. This is one of those things that you look at (especially if you have young children) and I know you think "Who does she think she is? People never make stuff like that! Who has the time anyway?" But, hark! Before you get all up in arms I have good news for you (further down) and an explanation for me. Me? Well, I have been participating in what I like to call "The Pastry Frenzy." I don't know why but I just got this wild hair last week and made apple strudel from my own phyllo dough, then there were the chocolate croissants from homemade danish dough and now this. I just got to thinking why doesn't anyone make their own pastries? Why does everyone buy store bought puff pastry and phyllo dough? Why do you hear people always cautioning you to never attempt to make your own dough unless you want to pull your hair out over frustration by the end of it all? I pondered such things. Then I decided I needed to know. I had to find out how hard it was. I had to feel the pain! Mostly, I needed to know whether homemade was worth putting in the effort or if store bought was just as good.

My findings so far are this: if you were ever thinking of trying to make your own phyllo dough for apple strudel, DON'T BOTHER! Just buy phyllo dough. It's not necessarily hard, per se, but tedious and extremely time consuming and unless you are a VERY patient person (and even if you are) you will inevitably rip the tissue thin dough while you are stretching it to a see-through almost unachievable state, thus resulting in thought of "this better be damn good!" only to realize upon the first bite that store bought is perhaps, gulp, better. NOOOOOOOO!

Danish dough, for things like chocolate croissants and this raspberry cheese braid is a whole other animal. It was great! Sure it takes something like 6-7 hours to complete, but it's not hard! Just time consuming. So I say, if you are feeling methodical and have the day to blow make homemade dough as it is better than store bought puff pastry. However, if that isn't even a remote option for you, you can still make this recipe using the store bought (the good news) and it's still really, really good and fast! See? Your "I would not, could not with a goat, I would not, could not on a boat, I would not could not....attitude about this braid just turned into "I could, I would with a goat, I could, I would on a boat, I could, I would wearing mittens, I could, I would make this in my kitchen!!!! I do like raspberry cheese braids Sam I am, I do like them, but not with green eggs and ham....eeer, or something like that.

Let me explain a couple things first. I find much more success in an otherwise complicated recipe if I fully understand exactly what is going to go down and why. Here are my pointers about this one. You are basically going to make a simple dough for your first step. It will take all of 5 minutes. You will then let it rest in the fridge for a half hour and you will be feeling victorious. In step 2 you will make a butter block. A butter block is cold butter (it has to be cold so don't try and bring it to room temp) that has been blended with flour. This is done easily in a stand mixer, but can also be done by beating the butter and flour together with a rolling pin until combined (Just mash over and over until there are no more lumps). It's cinchy (especially if you use the kitchen aid) and you will still be feeling victorious. The butter block will be folded into your dough several times later on to fully incorporate layers of butter throughout, thus making it a flaky light pastry. (you cannot achieve this by just blending it in, trust me. So don't try, this is an art people!) In step 3, you roll the dough out into a lightly floured surface (so it doesn't stick) into a rectangle about 18x13 inches and 1/4 inch thick...This is where people freak the heck out. Don't. It's just a measurement, so get your your trusty ruler out or if you are lucky like me you own a pastry mat that has measurement already on it. The measurement doesn't have to be exact, but make sure you're pretty close. Step 4: You situate the dough so that the short side is facing you (so you have a longer, narrower strip of dough going out like you are on an airport runway. Then you spread that butter and flour mixture you made over only the top and middle thirds, leaving a inch border around the dough so that when you fold it together the dough can stick to itself to seal shut rather than onto the butter to squish out. So now you should be left with 1/3 of the dough on the bottom of your runway closest to you, bare, no butter, non. Then you fold that naked 1/3 up over the butter like you are folding a business letter. Then you fold the top third over that (like you are folding a business letter). Now there should be no butter visible. This is called your "first turn" and you will have to do 4 of those before the dough is done, between refrigeration. In step 5, you will refrigerate the dough for another 30 minutes (this is to keep the butter cold) before you will roll it out again (situating it so that the folded side is to your right and the open sides is to your left) in an 18x13 inch rectangle and fold like a business letter. After doing this the third or fourth time, butter inevitably squirts out, but it's OK. Just flour over it so your rolling pin doesn't stick and keep going. In your step 6, you refrigerate the finished dough again for a longer period of time (at least 5 hours or overnight) perfect if you are having this for breakfast really, because you can do all of the prep the night before and finish it in the morning. Just make sure you get up early, because you still have to roll it out, fill it and let it rest for 2 hours at room temperature before baking. But, it's worth it. You'll see. But guess what? All you people who are going to skip the whole making your own dough thing and use puff pastry...all you have to do it thaw your dough, roll it thinner, fill it and bake it. No waiting, no proofing, just instant gratification! And, who couldn't appreciate that?

Something to note; This recipe for dough makes enough for 2 large braids. The filling recipe is enough for only for 1 braid. I like to freeze half of the dough and keep it for another time and make the braid with the remaining dough. I just cut the dough in half after it has refrigerated overnight and roll it out to an inch thickness (detailed instructions below) and freeze before rolling out my dough for the braid.

Danish Raspberry Cheese Braid

adapted from Sherry Yard's "The Secrets Of Baking" by way of Sass & Veracity

Danish Dough:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped (optional)

2 large eggs, chilled

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

Egg wash: 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk (to be used later)

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds if using, eggs and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt and flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing the speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough with the dough hook for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap (I just skipped the baking sheet and wrapped it in plastic wrap). Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Butter Block:

2 sticks cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

While your dough is resting in the refrigerator, make your butter block. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature until you are ready to use.

Directions:

After your dough has chilled for 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter top and roll it out into an 18x13 inch rectangle. (Just lean all your weight onto the rolling pin if it seems like it is hard to roll. However, if the dough ever shrinks back after you roll it at any time, let it rest for a couple minutes and then try rolling again). position the dough so that one of the short ends is facing you. Cover the upper two thirds of the dough evenly with the butter leaving a 1-inch border of the dough along the sides and at the top. Fold the bottom third of the dough, without the butter, on up over the middle third of the dough with butter.Fold the top third of the dough, with the butter, down over the middle third like you are folding a business letter. Press the edges of the dough together on all 3 sides to seal in the butter. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. your first turn is now done. After the 30 minutes, position the dough onto the floured work surface and position it so that the folded side of the dough is to the left and one of the short ends is facing you. Roll into a 18x13 inch rectangle and fold the bottom third up and the top third down, as if folding a business letter. wrap in plastic and put into the refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes. The second turn is now complete. After 3o minutes, take the dough out and rotate it so that the folded edge is on the right and roll again into an 18x13 inch rectangle. Fold again like a business letter, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for another 30 minutes. The third turn is now complete. After the 30 minutes give the dough it's final turn, making sure that the folded edge is on the right before rolling. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight. At this point, if desired, the dough can be frozen for up to 1 month for future use. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then foil and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

raspberry preserves

Before you are about to roll out and fill your dough to bake, place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, vanilla and salt until just combined. Don't whip. Set aside until ready to use. Later, you will spread some raspberry preserves over the cream cheese filling. How much you use is up to you. I used about 1/3 cup for the whole thing.

Assembly:

When the dough has been chilled for 5 hours or overnight, cut into half as you will only be needing half of the dough to make 1 braid. save the other half to make another braid (or freeze for later use per the instruction above). Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 15x20 inch rectangle (mine was a little smaller, but not by much, maybe 14x18?) if the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper or a silpat. VERY IMPORTANT! Place the dough on a baking sheet! (I totally skipped this step and assembled the braid on my counter and had a heck of a time transferring it to my baking sheet)

Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5 inch long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you've already made.

Spoon the cream cheese filling down the center of the braid, making sure to not spread it right up to the edges of the cuts or it will leak out during baking. Keep about 1/4 distance from your filling and where the cuts start. Spoon the jam over the filling (use lemon curd, alternately if you like lemon better). Starting with the top and bottom "flaps", fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom "flap" up to cover filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Cover the braid with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with Pam or oil so it doesn't stick and leave out at room temperature for 2 hours until it's almost doubled in volume. (I cheat a little, which I encourage, and warm up my oven to the lowest temp possible, then let it cool off a bit so it's around 100 degrees in there. Then, I place the braid in the oven and the heat helps the rising process along.)

After the 2 hours is up, heat your oven up to 400 degrees. Beat 1 egg and an egg yolk together (to create an egg wash) and brush it over your braid. When the oven has reached 400 degrees, put the braid in and bake for 10 minutes. Then, rotate the braid so that the side previously in the back of the oven is now in front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk

Stir and drizzle over the cooled braid. Use more milk for a thinner glaze, less for a firmer glaze.

You. Are. Done.Pheww!

For all the rest of you who are going to cheat and use frozen puff pastry, just make the filling as directed and thaw the pastry per the package directions. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to roughly 1/8 inch thickness. Make cuts as directed for the danish dough above, fill with you filling of choice per instructions above, braid, brush with egg and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Glaze. Enjoy.

Other filling options are to substitute lemon curd for the raspberry filling. Sauteed apple filling or chocolate or nutella and raspberries. The list goes on, really and that is what google is for. Some people just put fresh fruit like strawberries inside. For me though, it's got to be the cream cheese and raspberry filling because it tastes exactly like a fresh Entemans Raspberry Danish, like they sell in grocery stores, except, like, a million times better. I used to love those Entemans Danishes! But, I'm never going back.

Dried Cherry, Almond Scones

Scones! Oh, lovely scones! I first fell in love with you at The Brown Palace in Denver while having high tea and you still got me! OK- seriously The Brown in Denver really does make out of this world buttermilk scones served with crazy good devonshire cream and strawberry preserves. That and some black tea, with 1 sugar cube and a dash of milk and I'm in hog heaven. No where else I'd rather be. I've tried to make scones at home before using a pre made mix from King Arthur Flour. They did the job but were just not fantastic. Then, yesterday, I was watching Food Network when Anne Burell (the restaurant chef), bless her, made dried cherry almond scones. I watched as she combined the cream with the butter and flour mixture that was lightly scented by fresh lemon zest and cinnamon. I watched as she added in the dried cherries and sliced almonds, cut them into sweet triangles and dusted them generously with turbinado sugar. But what really did me in was her homemade "butter" she made to top the scones. Oh. my. gosh. I think it may actually taste better than devonshire cream. She basically whipped cream very high and longer than you do for whipped cream so as to "whip it back to butter". She drizzled in some honey and added fresh orange zest. Is everyone with me on this? These are going to be out of this world right??? Plus you can make and freeze the dough already cut out in the triangle shapes and just pop them in the oven when you are ready for a fresh scone. That's what I'm talking about.

I had to try out these scones so I decided I would make them for Mother Day. I would give my Mom a little package of fresh scones with the scented butter on Saturday night when I'm going to see her so she could have breakfast on me the next morning. Come to think of it, if you tucked a tea cup and tea or her favorite coffee in there it would really be a great idea.

I made these last night and they looked fabulous. They smelled awesome and the texture was amazing. The crunch of the turbinado sugar on top just makes it, so don't leave it out. It's worth the four bucks to buy the bag for these scones alone. OK, so my confession is that I didn't actually eat one. I can't because I'm on this dang no sugar cleanse. However, Jeremy, a scone aficionado tried one and said they were exceptional and he didn't even have the scented butter! Plus I tore into his scone to touch the inside to inspect and it was just lovely. Cakey, light, but the outside had some body and crumbly bite. I put some already made, not yet baked ones in the freezer for me and the second I'm done with this cleanse, I'm eating one over tea! You my dear friends, thankfully don't have to wait that long.

Dried Cherry, Almond Scones
Adapted from Anne Burell

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 lemon zested (I did about half a lemon)
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used slightly less)
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
1/2 cup heavy cream (I needed more like 3/4 cup)
Turbinado sugar for garnishing
Honey butter, recipe follows

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar. baking powder, lemon zest, salt and cinnamon and process to combine, just a couple seconds. Add in the butter and run the machine until the butter is distributed evenly throughout (it will look like your starting flour mixture, only a tad clumpier) Dump mixture into a bowl and add the cherries and almonds. Add the heavy cream and combine in into the butter flour mixture. Adding more cream if necessary, a tablespoon at a time until you can squeeze the dough in your fist and it holds the shape. It will be slightly crumbly, but should be able to hold together well. If it doesn't, add more cream and mix it in.

Dump the dough out onto your counter and form it into a ball. Press down on the ball of dough evenly to create a 1 inch thick disk, then cut it (like a pizza) into 6-8 equal wedges. 6 for large scones, 8 for smaller. Sprinkle each wedge generously with turbinado sugar and give it a little pat on top so it sticks to the dough better. Transfer the wedges to a parchment lined sheet pan (I didn't use parchment paper) and bake in the preheated oven for 17 to 18 minutes, turning the pan halfway through, to ensure even browning. Serve warm with honey butter.


Honey Butter

1/2 pint cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey
1 orange zested

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add all ingredients and whip on high speed until the cream starts to clump and turn light yellow. Continue mixing as butter forms and the buttermilk begins to separate out which will take a little longer than 10 minutes. Scrape sides and continue mixing until is one lump of butter. The butter will all clump to the mixer whisk and there will be a big puddle of buttermilk below. Place butter into a clean container or serving dish and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

These scones are light, slightly crumbly, gloriously cakey and moist when served fresh from the oven. If baked ahead of time and allowed to sit out they are more dense and crumbly and still delicious. If you want to make them ahead of time and keep them in the freezer until ready to use, just do everything, even adding the turbinado sugar on top, then place the individual wedges in a freezer zip lock bag, careful to keep a little space between each one and freeze on a flat surface. When you are ready they can go straight from the freezer onto a sheet pan and bake.

If you don't have a food processor, you can just combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and when you add in the bits of cold butter, just smash them throughout the dough with your fingers. It's more time consuming, but it will work. Also, if you don't have cream for the scone dough, you can substitute for half and half or buttermilk. Cream is lovely though. Also, I said it once and I'll say it again, the turbinado sugar makes this really special so I really do recommend buying it. It was in the baking aisle of my grocery store and you can use it for topping any number of baked goods, strudels and cakes or for just using in your morning coffee.

You will get such a kick out of making the butter. It tastes delicious and is a great chemistry lesson!

Breakfast Smoothie

Alton Brown has inspired me to start the morning off with a smoothie again. I used to make myself a smoothie all the time but about a year and a half ago I stopped for some reason or another. He recently lost 50 pounds and stresses that eating breakfast is vital to sustained weight loss and health. We all know this, but for some reason when I heard him say it, something clicked. Back in the day, I used to blend my smoothie up with 2% milk, plain yogurt and various fruits. Nothing is wrong with that per se, but it's not exactly the most efficient fuel for your body. There's little protein in that concoction and lots of sugar (albeit natural) and sorry to say, the base, the liquid if you will, was just fattening with little nutritional value per calorie.

The smoothie Alton inspired me to make however is improved and I'm happy to report very good for you, with the protein I need to run until lunchtime. Here's the recipe for 1 smoothie: (4 oz is the equivalent to about a 1/2 cup)

Breakfast Smoothie

4oz plain soy milk (that's the protein)
4oz pure purple juice (either pomegranate, acai, or grape)
4oz frozen wild blueberries (or another berry, but blueberries are especially good)
4oz frozen yellow fruit (either mango, pineapple or peach)
1 banana (frozen or fresh)

Blend together, pour in a tall glass, sip through a straw and enjoy!

What's that? You think you hate soy milk, huh? Especially plain? I thought the same thing! But I promise you, you can't taste it. This smoothie tastes no different from my old go to one made with milk. Oh, and hey, one more thing...When you drink the smoothie, chew on it a bit. I do this naturally because of the seeds involved and you probably do too, but it is important because when you chew you make saliva and saliva is the stuff that helps to break down your food and absorb it into your body. I think that's how it works, so without the critical chew, if you were to just swallow it down, your body wouldn't use the nutrients as effectively. For added protein, add a handful of almonds into the blender, its good.

When it comes to ingredients in smoothies, I like to stay with fruits that go together. Although I have been known to just throw whatever I have into the blender, usually smoothies with purpose taste better. Some great combinations I have tried include

-pineapple, mango, banana with chunks of coconut (if they are available, just crack the husk away and put a few chunks of the flesh into the blender, it will have a brown outer layer and that's fine. It gives it a wonderful milky texture and I love the consistency, but I like to chew a bit)
-Strawberry, blueberry, peach and banana
-Peach, mango, banana, strawberry
-blueberry, banana, pineapple

I would blend all of the above with plain soy milk and a juice of your choosing as long as it's not a commercial sugar bomb of a juice (apple, pineapple) and also, don't use too much juice. Also, as a little side note: I absolutely LOVE raspberries, but only for eating and not necessarily in smoothies because the seeds get stuck in your teeth.

Some other out of the box idea's for smoothie's:

-Peanut Butter oatmeal smoothie

peanut butter
vanilla yogurt
chocolate whey protein powder
skim milk (or soy)
a bit of cooked oatmeal
(thanks Angie, for the idea!) Blend together until smooth

-Strawberry-Watermelon Smoothie with Ginger

1 1/2 cups cubes of seedless watermelon
1 cup frozen quartered strawberries
3/4 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Process all until smooth

-Honeydew-Kiwi Smoothie with Mint

1 cup cubed honeydew melon
3/4 cup peeled kiwi
5 large mint leaves
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 tablespoon honey
1 cup crushed ice
Process until smooth


-Ultra Chocolate Smoothie

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk, or regular unsweetened almond milk
3/4 cup chocolate low fat frozen yogurt
Process until smooth

This last one is more of a dessert smoothie in my opinion, but whatever floats your boat...

Oh yeah, one more thing...If you are feeling daring you could turn any average breakfast smoothie into a version of a "green smoothie" for added nutrition. Just add a big handful of baby spinach to everything else and blend. It sounds gross, but honestly you can't taste it that much. If you are oddly intrigued with the green smoothie, google it. I'm not a huge fan of the authentic ones, but a handful of spinach is OK.
Besides the smoothie, I haven't been cooking too much lately. Well, nothing worth noting anyway. We had "vegetarian tacos" last night. I flavored black beans with taco seasoning. It was kind of bland to be honest, but I didn't have much time to put into them because of cheer leading practice, so I can't complain. I can tell if I would have put some more effort into flavoring each ingredient and had better salsa they would have been killer. I also cooked dinner for 50 people last week. It took 2 days, but I got er done. It was for sk8 church. I made 2 huge sausage lasagnas (my Grandma Burgos' recipe because she makes the very best lasagna) and 2 portabello mushroom lasagnas made with bechemel sauce (white sauce). Then I rounded it out with multiple huge Cesar salads that I made with romaine, roasted cherry tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and pancetta wheels with homemade dressing. For dessert, coconut cupcakes. The mushroom lasagna, salad and the cupcakes were all Ina Garten's recipes. She is one of my fave's.
TTFN ta ta for now!