Saturday, December 20, 2008

Scones and Snow


SCRONES!

So, today it snowed. And I made scones. And they were fabulous. The fact of the matter is that the success of the scones rests entirely upon the shoulders of a dear friend of mine: Angel. On our way home from the Pike Place Market as the snow began to drift down from the fluffy clouds, Angel said, "You know what else is fluffy and delicious, much like the snow clouds? Whipping cream when whipped. Freshly whipped. And I have strong wrists. This means that I can whip the whipping cream until it is whipped."

"Genius, Angel!" I responded. And off we went on an adventure. The result was the perfect compliment to a snowstorm.

Now you get the dull part, which is just the recipe. I adapted it from here and added a little kick of cinnamon and ginger.

{+} Scones Recipe

Now, this is where it's handy to have a partner. While one of you is sconesin' (and you are both jonesin' for some sconage) the other should make the whipped whipping cream.

{+} Whipped Whipping Cream!

{+} Honey Ginger Drizzle

Top a scone with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of the honey-ginger drizzle. Accompany with a cup of warm coffee (with its own touch of heavy cream if you are feeling decadent).

Enjoy.

Signing off,
El Gran Caballero Don Pedro del Toro

Monday, December 1, 2008

Mama's Sweet Rolls

I guess this is the format that the posts are in then. Great. So I've unfortunately left the recipe at home (I'm at work, duh) and yeah I'll just tantalize your taste buds with some pics. Apparently my great grandmother made these rolls and good old uncle Tony introduced them to me Easter 2007? Anyway, the rolls themselves are made up of
6 cups all purposed unbleached flour (I used bleached and they were still delicious)
a lot of butter (all told at least 2 sticks)
2 packets yeast
some brown sugar
2 eggs

I'll add recipe steps later. There is also a delicious brown sugar + butter topping that really puts these rolls over the top. The topping consists of
1 cup brown sugar
a stick of butter
1 tbsp karo syrup

(I will double check and confirm what the recipe calls for later)

Well, as I said this is mainly to show off how the rolls came out and to hope that all who tasted can vouch for their deliciousness (even when they were a couple days old). They really are best about 3-5 minutes after you put the topping on. They're still warm and the spirals just pull apart. Trust me, they're really damn good.

Before baking and topping:


After baking and topping:


Check out my other post to read up on no-knead bread progress.

Bone appaTIGHT

--Will

Friday, November 21, 2008

Omelet Sandwich

For the past couple months or so, my go-to breakfast has been this egg sandwich cooked in the style of late-night Ghanaian street vendors. It is also ridiculously simple. You need:

A good sized omelet pan (about 10 inches is ideal, maybe a little bigger).
Eggs (however many you want, I find 3 is best).
Bread.
Some butter.
Fixins (whatever you like).

This is how it goes: Whip up the eggs in a small bowl like you would if you were making an omelet. Grease the pan with butter or cooking oil, turn to just below medium heat, and throw on the fixins. It can really be whatever you want. Onions are always a good call. I normally like a little bit of meat--chunks of sausage are quite delicious. My favorite fixins besides that are habanero and red chili peppers. I normally dice up one whole pepper of each variety to put in the omelet. For maximum spicyness, I throw the peppers in right before I pour the eggs onto the pan. Once you pour the eggs on, make sure the fixins are evenly distributed about the omelet, then don't touch it. Prepare your bread--I prefer small hoagie rolls here, but again, you can use whatever you like. Once the base layer of the omelet is cooked, go around the sides with a spatula and make sure that it is not stuck to the pan. Right before you put the bread on, you might like to throw on some cheese, or some gourmet lunchmeat. Trust me, it's delicious. When the egg on top of the omelet is still uncooked, put two pieces of bread that will make up your sandwich on top of it. Let them cook like that for a while, then fold the omelet in half between the two slices and cook the outsides of the bread for a little while until all the egg is cooked. Feel free to take liberties with this recipe--make the omelet however you like. It is always delicious.

Italian Cheese and Bread Soup for a Cold Winter Night

1 quart of vegetable broth
2 cups of cheese - fontina, gruyere or chedder
1/2 loaf of good, hearty bread - whole grain, pumpernickel or rye
3 cloves of garlic - minced or pressed
1/4 cup parsley
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small fresh lemon
black pepper, paprika, thyme or cayene pepper to taste

Start off by placing the garlic in olive oil and cook till golden brown in the pot. Then slowly pour in the vegetable broth, add onion salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the broth. Once the broth is boiling nicely, bring to a simmer. Now that the soup is ready to go, toast the bread till it's nice and crispy, then place directly in the serving bowls. Shred 1/2 cup of cheese for each person who is partaking in the deliciousness and place on top of the bread. Slowly pour or ladle the vegetable broth over the bread and cheese. Flavor to taste. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and parsely. Enjoy!

I got this recipe from the Moosewood Quick Dinners cookbook and served with a baked lemon pepper chicken. Delicious.