Pumpkin Scones w/Berry Butter

These were some of the best scones I've had. Not your typical dense brick but a moist, almost layered scone. It's not too sweet, so the berry butter (recipe below) or your standard scone spreads (preserves, clotted cream, lemon curd, etc.) are a must.

Berry Butter

2 Tbsp dried cranberries
½ C boiling water
½ C butter, softened
3 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Place cranberries in a small bowl, add boiling water. Let stand for 5 minutes; drain and chop. In a small mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioner’s sugar and cranberries, mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Makes about ½ C butter which was more than enough for 16 scones. Consider adding a little salt when using unsalted butter.

Pumpkin Scone

2 ¼ C flour
¼ C packed brown sugar
¼ C sugar (optional, especially with the berry butter)
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
½ C cold butter
1 egg
½ C canned pumpkin
1/3 C milk
1 Tbsp chopped pecans (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pie spice, salt and baking soda. Sift. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with few pieces the size of peas. Place in refrigerator. Meanwhile, Whisk in a small bowl the egg, pumpkin and milk; add to crumb mixture until moistened. Stir in pecans if desired and stir until dough comes together.

Turn dough out onto a floured piece of plastic wrap. Cover and refrigerate or freeze for about 10 minutes (I refrigerated overnight). Roll out into an 8” circle. Cut into 8 wedges, separate wedges and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with berry butter, dusted with confectioner’s sugar.

Yield 8 scones

Tartine's Bread Pudding (w/Challah)

Don't be intimidated by the loooong recipe. This recipe is super duper easy and the results are rewarding. The recipe calls for Brioche but I used Challah--you just have to make sure the braided Challah fills the pan as much as a square loaf slice would, but don't squeeze any bread in otherwise the pudding will end up dry.

If you notice in the above recipe, the bread didn't soak up all the egg mixture so it baked on the bottom into a custard. Gross. No no no. Wrong. Maybe I needed to toast the bread a bit more to dry it out till the center to absorb the custard before baking. It was ok though. Just scooped and plated it without the custard dregs. Serve it with this caramel sauce. So good.

If you have leftovers, you can fry up the pieces with a little oil and it turns into a beautiful french toast.

6 brioche slices, cut 1-inch thick
8 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
4 cups whole milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 9×5-inch glass loaf pan (or an 8x8-inch glass baking pan). Arrange the brioche slices on a baking sheet. Place in the oven until lightly toasted, keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn yet dries out. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Really, let it cool.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Add the sugar and whisk until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla and salt and whisk until completely blended. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve.

Place the toasted bread slices in the prepared loaf pan, cutting the slices to fit as needed. Pour the custard evenly over the bread, filling the dish to the top. You may not be able to add all of the custard at this point. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, so that the bread can absorb the custard. (Supposedly, it's going to soak up all of it.)

Just before baking, top off the dish with more of custard if the previous addition has been completely absorbed. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, place in the oven, and bake the pudding for about 1 hour. To test for doneness, uncover the dish, slip a knife into the center, and push the bread aside. If the custard is still very liquid, re-cover the dish and return the pudding to the oven for another 10 minutes. If only a little liquid remains, the pudding is ready to come out of the oven. The custard will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven and it will set up as it cools.

Let the pudding cool for about 10 minutes before serving. You can serve the bread pudding by slicing it and removing each slice with an offset spatula, or by scooping it out with a serving spoon.

While the bread pudding is cooling, peel and slice a couple of stone fruits (peaches, plums) or berries (blueberries, raspberries). In a medium pan, warm the fruit in the caramel. Top the bread pudding with the warm fruit-caramel mixture before serving.

Serves 8, from Tartine and this beautiful blog

Sweet Cornbread

Can be doubled and baked in a 9x13" pan. Baked in a cast iron pan with corn molds. Ah! So adorable. Got the pan on sale at World Market for $3.99. Super moist right out of the oven and when it's kept warm. One of the best cornbread recipes I've tried.

3/4 C cornmeal
1 1/4 C milk
1 C flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 C vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. Grease your pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Optional: brush with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Makes 1 8x8 pan, or about 24 corns

Pao de Queijo

My favorite Brasilian breakfast food! Perfectly chewy, crusty, cheesy, and warm (usually). Oh, even when it's cold it's divinely delicious as long as it's not day old. Then, it's disgusting. Universally liked as my Jaru team can testify--Russia, Puerto Rico, Texas and California were represented in an unofficial pao de queijo study and the results were unanimous--yum.

If mochi and cheesy biscuits could have a baby, this would be him. I like to bake them at 350 degrees for the last 10 minutes so they're more biscuity on the outside. You know, for that contrast of textures I love so much.

The recipe below is adapted from a recipe from a sister in Uberlandia. All measurements are according to what it looks likes and how it feels, as is the norm with home cookin'. Joanna Yang did her best to quantify the recipe. I only adjusted it a liiiitle bit since I wasn't actually there to watch the sister make it.

Look! Joanna made them soooo perfect.

1 C water
1 C milk (whole is preferred but I used 1%)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C canola oil (she said about 80% of 1 C which made my first batch oily)
2 C mandioca flour
2-4 large eggs (depending on consistency)
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1/2 C powdered Mexican Cotija cheese

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Boil the water, milk and salt and remove from heat. Add the oil and whisk together. Remove from the heat and pour in the Mandioca flour. When cool enough to touch, mix in the eggs. This is what it looks like when it is a little too wet:

Stir in each egg and check it out. It should resemble mash potatoes, but not be super greasy. Add in the cheeses.

Oil hands and roll into 1" balls with less than 1" apart. Bake for 30 minutes. Be patient. They're hot. Let them cool on the tray.

This makes a full cookie sheet of more than 2 dozen

Tomato Basil Muffins

Moist and savory muffins, great for breakfast or a side dish.

1 ¾ C flour (used whole wheat and it turned out good)
1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese (canned would turn out saltier, I opted for fresh)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp dried basil (or rosemary, crushed)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper

1 beaten egg
½ C milk
½ C tomato sauce
1/3 C olive oil

Grated parmesan cheese to top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tins.

In a bowl, combine flour, 1/3 C parmesan, sugar, baking powder, basil, baking soda, garlic powder, pepper. Make a well in the center. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. Add the egg mixture all at once to the dry and stir until just moistened. Batter should be lumpy.

Spoon into tins filling about 2/3 full. If desired sprinkle the grated parmesan on top. Bake for about 15 minutes regardless of the size and check. Cool for 5 minutes, remove and serve warm.

To freeze muffins, wrap them tightly in heavy foil or place in freezer bags and freeze.
To reheat frozen muffins, wrap them in heavy foil. Heat them in a 300 degree oven for 12-15 if 1 ¾”, 15-18 if 2 ½” and 25-30 min for jumbo sized.

Can make 36 mini muffins or 12 regular sized

Wela’s Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Wela never ceases to amaze. A recipe from her Bride Cookbook. We are becoming His bride. *wink wink*

2 2/3 C sugar
1 can 15 oz. pumpkin
1 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 ½ C flour
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 ½ C coarsely chopped walnuts
2/3 C dried cranberries

In a Large mixing bowl, beat sugar, pumpkin, oil, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and cloves; gradually beat into pumpkin mixture until blended. Fold in walnuts and cranberries.
Transfer to two greased 9x5x3” loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Yield 2 loaves, 12 slices each

Apricot Almond Bread

“Moist and tart with apricots and crunchy with almonds, this bread is ideal for brunches and teas. It’s also good as a mid evening semi-dessert, when you want something sweet but not too sweet.” True that.

It suggested 1 ½ hours but when I checked on it after 1 hour, it was done and the apricots on top were a little burnt. Bready, not cakey. Dense and hearty, but moist. There’s something about the apricots that really bring out the creaminess of butter without the fat and without too much buttery mouthfeel. I agree—would be perfect paired with a cup of coffee or hot tea.

40 min to prep
1 to 1 ½ hours to bake

1 ½ C thinly sliced dried apricots
1 ½ C water

2 ½ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp butter
½ C real maple syrup or honey
1 egg beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 tsp orange rind (I omitted)
1 C finely chopped almonds (I used some slightly crushed sliced almonds)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray oil the loaf pan or butter it.

Place apricots and water in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium sized bowl (I just removed from the stove yet kept it in the pot), and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift together dry ingredients except for almonds in a separate bowl.

Stir in the butter plus honey/syrup into the apricot mixture. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients, orange, and almonds. Mix minimally but well.

Spread into the prepared pan (the batter will look dry) and bake about 1 to 1 ½ hours or until a probe inserted all the way down comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then rap the pan firmly a few times on its sides and bottom. The bread should slip right out. Cool at least 15 minutes more before attempting to slice it. (Although I was really impatient and simply used a good serrated knife to go at it and it worked just fine.)

Yield: 1 large loaf, Moosewood Cookbook

Christina’s Baked French Toast

One of the little things you learn in the Training is how to be resourceful. When you can't finish both slices of bread from your sack lunch sandwich, save a slice for later to make something like this on Monday morning! I had to be careful which slices of bread I saved...that peppered turkey meat really stuck to the bread making strangely savory french toast. Ew.

5 slices bread (thank you, sack lunch!), cut into 2” squares
1 egg
¾ milk
¼ tsp vanilla
2 tsp sugar

1 T raisins
finely chopped nuts of choice
1 T brown sugar
1 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Layer the bread on the bottom of a small baking dish. Mix the egg, milk, sugar and vanilla and pour on top. Sprinkle the raisins and nuts and brown sugar on top, then drizzle the butter evenly on the top. Bake 20-30 minutes.

3 Cheese Pizza with Onions, Sage and Arugula

“Why a trio of cheeses? Fontina for its melting quality and nutty flavor, Gorgonzola for its biting blue punch, and Parmigiano-Reggiano for its uncanny ability to amplify other cheeses.” I’m glad Gourmet wrote that little introduction for this because I wasn’t able to find Fontina at Stater Bros. or Trader Joe’s and instead used Mozzarella—which was a bland alternative, yet had the “melting quality”.

Made for a special Mentor/Mentee time with Sherri Lin! Dough was crisp and thin yet light. Not too airy, nor doughy. Served with sliced pears and TJ salami.

Active time: 45 minutes
Start to finish: 2 ¼ hour

For dough
1 (1/4 oz.) package active dry yeast or 2 ¼ tsp
About 2 C unbleached flour
¾ C warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 tsp salt (originally 1 1/2 tsp)
1 ½ tsp extra-virgin olive oil

For topping
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ lb Italian Fontina, cut into ½ inch pieces (2/3 C) OR about 1 C shredded mozzarella
2 oz Gorgonzola dolce, crumbled
½ C thinly sliced red onion (1 medium)
6 large fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced crosswise (about 1 Tbsp)
½ oz. shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano about ¼ C
¼ lb. loosely packed baby arugula (about 4 C) I used the an herb/spring mix from TJ’s but I thought a plain arugula would have been better

Make Dough
(If using a pizza stone, place it on the oven floor of a gas oven or on the lowest rack if using an electric oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees. Allow for 1 hour for the pizza stone to heat.)

Stir together yeast, 1 Tbsp flour, and ¼ C warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until mixture develops a creamy foam on surface, about 5 minutes. If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.

Stir together 1 ¼ C flour with salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture, oil and remaining ½ C warm water and stir until smooth. Stir in enough flour (more or less about ½ C, I used less) to make dough come away from sides of bowl. Dough will be wetter than other pizza doughs you may have made.

Knead dough on lightly floured surface with lightly floured hands (reflour hands when dough becomes too sticky) until smooth, soft and elastic, about 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball, put on a lightly floured surface, and generously dust with flour. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1¼ hours. Dust a wooden peel or a large baking sheet without sides (I used a baking sheet with short sides with cornmeal or line with parchment paper.

*Really read this paragraph before starting: Do not punch down dough. Carefully dredge dough in a bowl of flour to coat and transfer to a dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting bottom just touch the work surface, carefully and quickly move hands around edge of dough (like turning a steering wheel), allowing weight of dough to stretch round to roughly 10”. Lay dough flat on peel or baking sheet. Continue to work edge of dough with your fingers, stretching it into a 14” round.

Make Topping
Brush dough with olive oil, leaving a 1” border, then scatter Fontina and Gorgonzola over dough (leaving a 1” border).

Scatter onion and sage leaves over cheese. Sprinkle the pizza with the Parmigiano-Reggiano, then line up far edge of peel with far edge of stone in oven and tilt peel, jerking it gently to start pizza moving. When edge of pizza touches stone, quickly pull back pizza.

Bake until crust is golden and cheese is bubbling, 10-12 minutes. Slide peel under pizza to remove from oven, then top with arugula.

Note: Dough can rise slowly, covered with plastic wrap (or it will dry out on top), in the refrigerator for 1 day. Bring to room temperature before using.

Makes 1 14” pizza, which serves 4-5 people, adapted from Gourmet January 2006

Japanese Raisin Bread with Auntie Mindi

I thought this bread was sweet, dense, and moist! Maybe it wasn't super fluffy, like Mindi was expecting, but still very, very good.

First you have to make a paste:

1 C water
1/4 C flour

Mix and cook over medium heat until custard like

420 g bread flour
70 g sugar
5 g salt
1 pack yeast (about 7 g)

1 large egg 45 g
98 g milk
45 g maple syrup
120 g paste at room temperature

45 g unsalted butter
80 g raisins

Mix dry ingredients then add the wet. Mix on low speed in an upright until shiny and firm.

Add butter in small cubes, mix on high for 10 minutes. (We actually did it for like...2 hours or something...until it passed the window test. Take a bit of dough and stretch it out, if it doesn't break, but instead stretches so that you can see a little bit through the dough then it's ready.)

Allow it to rise for 40 min or until doubled. Roll out into 2 loaves, then rise 1 hour.

Brush with egg, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sun Dried Tomato Pinwheels (a.k.a Spirals of Death)

Best to double the recipe if making it for dinner. This recipes makes about 6 medium sized pinwheels.

1/4-1/3 C sliced sun dried tomatoes
1/2 C thinly sliced basil
1/4 C shredded romano and/or shredded parmesan cheese
1 t minced fresh rosemary (optional)
3 garlic cloves, minced

1 13.8 oz pizza dough (Trader Joe's is pretty good and is usually under $2, the whole wheat doesn't rise as well so go for the regular one)
1/8 C olive oil in a bowl with a brush

Preheat oven 425 degrees. No need to brush the pan with oil.

Roll out dough into a rectangle 9x13 or at least so that the dough is 2-3 mm thick or so, lightly brush with oil and then evenly spread the tomato, basil and cheese to the very edges. Starting with the long side edge, slowly roll the dough on itself. Not too tight so that the mixture pokes through, but not so loose that it falls apart.

Reshape the log into a tight cylinder and cut into 8 pieces. Flatten each wheel on the pan, brush with oil and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

Makes 8 rolls

Orange, Fig & Hazelnut Bread

Care Package Time for Vicky!

We make a lemon-fig cookie at Kookie Karma, so I thought the citrus/fig combo would work really well here too. I guess the orange is a bit strong so the zest can be optional. I made my bread with white sugar, but think brown would be a more mellow sweetness.

Also, I tried baking in a glass 8x8" pan at 325 for 45 min, which resulted in more browned "crust". Maybe next time:
1. Bake 8x8" glass pan at 325 for 35 min.
2. Bake in 8x4" glass pan at 325 for 35 min.
3. Bake in metal 8x4" pan at 350 for 45 min. (this is what the recipe originally suggests)

1/3 C hazelnuts
3/4 C orange juice (maybe even 1/4 C lemon juice + 1/2 C water)
1 C chopped figs

a little less than 1/2 C brown sugar
3 T vegetable oil
1 T orange zest (opt.)
1 large egg
1 large egg white

1 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring once. Turn nuts onto a towel, roll up towel and rub off skins, then chop coarsely. (Adjust oven temp. according to list above.)

Bring oj to a boil, pour over figs in the same measuring cup you used to measure oj, let stand for 15 minutes. Combine sugar, oil, eggs, and stir well with a whisk, then add to fig mixture.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine dry ingredients and add to fig mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon into a pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkle with nuts.

Bake until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan, then cool completely on a rack.

Pizza!

I was so honored and cherished AND shocked with the Adamos and my roommates said my crusts were better than Trader Joe's!

Makes 2 pizza crusts that fit into 2 of those 10"x15" jelly roll pans. Best if rolled out kind of thin. If using toppings that are juicy (i.e. sliced tomatoes or pineapple) best to bake the crust a little bit before putting the toppings on.

2 t yeast
1 C warm water
3 t sugar

3 C bread flour
1 1/2 t salt
2 T olive oil

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water for 10 minutes. (If you don't have a thermometer for the water, if you microwave it in a pyrex measuring cup for 30 s, it should do the trick.)

Stir together flour, and salt and mix in the water with a wooden spoon until a ball, then knead for 5 minutes adding flour until ball is no longer sticky.

Oil a large bowl and let rise, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled. Punch down and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut in half and roll out.

I like to put all the toppings except cheese and bake at 450 it until it's just about done, and then lastly add the cheese and bake until the cheese melts.

Topping suggestions:
Hawaiian
Marinara (usually a jar of sauce + a small can of tomato paste to thicken), mozzarella, ham, pineapples

BBQ Chicken
BBQ sauce, cheddar/mozzarella OR gouda/mozzarella, red onions, chicken, cilantro

Meat Combo
Marinara, mozzarella, sausage removed from casings, ham, mushrooms, olives, bell peppers

Susanne's Specialty
Ricotta, mozzarella, spinach, red potato slices (baked and sprinkled with Italian herbs), caramelized onions

Taco
Marinara, mozzarella, corn, red bell peppers, ground beef (with cumin, salt, chili powder, garlic and onions), sliced onions, cilantro

Vegetarian
Alfredo sauce, crushed garlic, artichoke, mozzarella, green onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, sliced tomatoes

Mediterranean
Hummus, mozzarella/feta, oregano sprinkled on top, curried cauliflower, bell pepper