Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup Scones

I baked scones for breakfast  but with a slight twist on my regular scone recipe.   Brown sugar was substituted for the white and a splash or two of maple syrup was added in with the cream.  Finished with a maple syrup glaze.

Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup Scones
===================================================

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter
3/4  cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
extra cream and sugar

Maple Syrup Glaze

1 tablespoon melted butter
1/8 cup of maple syrup
Powdered Sugar - Enough to make a glaze

Drizzle glaze over warm scones

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into mixture with pastry blender until it resembles a course meal. Add cream  and maple syrup to  dry ingredients. Mix lightly
with fork until mixture forms a  dough. Using hands gently pat the ingredients together.  Fold over once or twice or even three times if necessary.  Do not over-handle.

Roll into 7-inch round and cut into 6 or 8 wedges. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet; brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

Tip:  An easy way to cut in the butter is to use a box grater. The large side of the grater makes the perfect size pieces of butter.

Individual Pizzas

Sunday night's dinner.

Individual pizzas.  

Moe's pizza was topped with sauted mushrooms and Italian Sausage

and mine  had mushrooms, black olives and fresh basil.  

The pizza crusts were made from dough that had been given a 4 day fermentation before baking.

 The crusts can be prebaked.  Just hand-shape, brush with olive oil and bake on a hot stone (I preheat mine to 500° to 550°F) for about five minutes.  Just long enough to set the dough.  Let cool and then  wrap well and freeze.  

 No need to defrost.  Just dress your pizza and bake.

Nice to have in the freezer for a quick dinner.

See previous post:

Thibeault's Pizzeria

Hot Fudge Sauce - Saturday Blog Showcase

Welcome to this weeks Saturday Blog Showcase.  
Our 10th

I'm hosting again this week, filling in for my co-host Lori of All that Splatters.

If you would like to participate:

1. Make a recipe  from a  fellow blogger's website and share the recipe on your blog with a link back to the blog where you found the recipe. 
   
2. Add the Saturday Blog Showcase logo to your post.
   
3. On Friday night or Saturday, link your post to Mr. Linky

 I needed something simple that I could make before leaving for work this morning.   I had been saving a recipe for a Hot Fudge Sauce that I found on  The Cookie Shop.  This sauce is very simple to  make and absolutely delicious. 

I also made a White Chocolate version using Callebaut White Chocolate.   Both sauces were used in tonight's dessert.   

I took a  warm decadent brownie surrounded it with a  split banana , added a scoop of French Vanilla and a scoop of chocolate ice cream 

and  

drizzled the vanilla with the  Hot Fudge Sauce 

and

the Chocolate with the White Chocolate sauce. 

Cabbage Rolls

I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner until I got into the grocery store and started looking for ideas.   I found a beautiful big savoy cabbage which is my favourite cabbage for making cabbage rolls. The only other ingredient I needed to pick up was lean ground pork.

My favourite cabbage rolls are filled with rice and pork, seasoned with onions, garlic, parsley and rosemary or thyme.   And, I like them  baked in chicken broth with tomatoes, onions and garlic.  I don't like them in a thick tomato or ketchup sauce.

Normally I would have made something like mashed potatoes and another vegetable to serve with them, but Moe was happy with just the cabbage rolls served with a little sour cream on the side.

Cabbage Rolls
=============
1 large Savoy cabbage
large pot of boiling water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced
extra garlic cloves
2 cups hot chicken stock
1 can chopped tomatoes

For the Stuffing

1 onion chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons butter or margarine or olive oil
1-1/4 pound ground pork (can use Beef or veal)
2 cloves minced garlic
rosemary and thyme to taste
3/4 cup to 1 cup of raw rice, Cooked until almost tender.



Bring some water to boil in a large pot. Add the cabbage and steam for 10 minutes to soften leaves.

Remove leaves and return cabbage to pot if needed. Continue removing leaves.

Saute onion until soft and add chopped garlic, and parsley.

Mix the ground pork with the rice, onions, garlic and parsley,, season with salt and pepper and herbs.

Fry a small piece to test for seasoning. Adjust seasoning if needed..

Cut onions into slices and place in bottom om covered roasting pan. Add some cracked garlic cloves.

Add 2 cups of chicken broth and one can of tomatoes coarsely chopped.

Place cabbage rolls on top of onion mixture and cover tightly. I cover with foil and then the lid.

Bake in oven until cooked approximately 1 1/2 hours at 350° to 375°.

Serve with some of the juices from the pan and some sour cream.


Option for Greek Cabbage Rolls

Replace rosemary and thyme with  with fresh chopped dill and lemon zest
to taste.

Cook in chicken broth.  Add three or four garlic cloves to the pan.
Cover cabbage rolls and bake until tender.

Serve with an Avgolemono sauce. Add some fresh chopped dill to the
sauce just before serving.

Raspberry Meringue Roll

The grocery store had beautiful looking raspberries on for a good price today.   I knew exactly what I was going to bake.  A meringue.   Soft, chewy, sweet meringue rolled around whipped cream and raspberries.

Raspberry or Strawberry Meringue Roulade
=======================================
Fresh Raspberries or Fresh Strawberries, Sliced

4 large egg whites

1 1/4 cups of fruit/berry sugar (extra fine)

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly added the sugar and continue
beating until the meringue is thick and shiny.  To test rub a little bit of the
meringue between two fingers. If you can still feel the grit of the sugar, keep beating.

Cover a 10 X 15 cookie sheet with parchment. Spread the meringue
evenly over parchment and bake in a 400 oven for about 8 minutes.
Meringue should be turning golden and the surface should be starting
to crisp up. Turn the oven down to 325 and bake for another 8 minutes.  Meringue should still be soft in the centre.

Remove from the oven and tip meringue on to a tea towel and peel away the parchment.  Let cool for about 20 minutes.

Spread with whipped cream, sprinkle raspberries or sliced strawberries over the surface  and roll.  Don't

worry if the meringue starts to crack a little. Just keep rolling.Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Filling

2 cups whipping cream
pinch of salt
powdered sugar
vanilla

Whip the cream with the salt, sugar and vanilla until thick.

Bacon, Cheddar and Green Onion Biscuits

 Saturday Morning Breakfast

Scones and Biscuits appear on the menu around here on a regular basis.  There isn't a lot of difference between the two.  Scones are sweet and biscuits are savory.  I know there isn't a fast rule on this, but that is the rule in this house.

This morning's offering was a savory biscuit cut like a scone. Made with buttermilk and filled with crisp bacon, a five year old cheddar and green onion. 

   

Country Biscuits
================
2 cups of flour
1 Tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, lard, Crisco or butter (I use butter)
1 cup of milk (cream) or buttermilk
if using buttermilk add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda)

Optional. Add a little sugar if you prefer sweet rather than savory.

Mix the flour with the baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter/shortening until it resembles coarse meal. Stir milk or cream in to flour mixture. Mix quickly with fork until dough comes together. Using hands gently pat the ingredients together.  Fold over once or twice or even three times if necessary.  Do not over-handle.  

Pat out to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with biscuit cutters and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 450°F.
TIP:  Using your finger push a little dent into the middle of the biscuit.  This helps the biscuit rise straight and prevents it from tipping over as it rises.

If making cheese biscuits add the mustard and cayenne to the dry ingredients and add the cheese after the shortening has been cut into the flour.

Tip: An easy way to cut the butter into the flour is to use a box grater. The large side of the grater makes the perfect size pieces of butter.
 
Options:

You can use any favourite cheese. Gorgonzola and other blue cheeses are wonderful with the addition of black pepper. Cheddar cheese is good with chives or green onions. Sometimes I add dry mustard and cayenne pepper. Or bacon or ham.

Click for Printable Recipe

Salty Cheese Cookies/Crackers - Saturday Blog Showcase

Welcome to this weeks Saturday Blog Showcase.

 Lori of All That Splatters and I are sharing hosting duties.  This week is is my turn.  

If you would like to join us:

1. Make a recipe  from a  fellow blogger's website and share the recipe on your blog with a link back to the blog where you found the recipe. 
   
2. Add the Saturday Blog Showcase logo to your post.
   
3. On Friday night or Saturday, link your post to Mr. Linky.

The blog that I'm am showcasing this week is Petra's at Zoom Yummy. I found this recipe for Salty Cheese Cookies on her blog last year. I originally found a picture of Zoom Yummy's Salted Cheese Cookies on Tastespotting. Unfortunately the link to the recipe is no longer available on her site but you will find lots of other wonderful recipes.

I made these once before because I knew that Matthew would love them.  And I was right.   So when he and Dana where here this week I made them again.

I bought a new set of cookie cutters and used them to cut the crackers into different shapes.

Cheddar Cheese Crackers
=======================
Salty Cheese Cookies -
Adapted from: http://zoomyummy.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/salty-cheese-cookies/

1 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour
1 cup  butter
3/4 cup  grated aged cheddar cheese
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
mustard powder

1 egg beaten with teaspoon of water
sea salt

Heat oven to 350°F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix by hand or add flour and butter to food processor and pulse to cut in butter.  Add seasonings and pulse until just before dough comes together.  Add cheddar cheese and pulse again just to form a ball.

Roll dough out to desired thickness.  about 1/8" for crackers, 1/4" for cookies.

Cut into squares or rounds. Cut criss cross pattern on each cracker using a sharp knife. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Bake until golden approximately 15 minutes.

Option:  Form dough around pimento filled  olives, brush with egg wash and bake.

Dinner with Matt and Dana

Matt and Dana came up to visit yesterday. 

I love when Matt comes home and Dana is able to come with him.

Dinner was  rib eye steaks, as per Matt's request for something grilled.

with Parisenne Potatoes 


     Thankfully both Matt and Dana like their meat on the rare side. 

 For dessert I baked my favourite "Decadent" brownies

and served them warm topped with vanilla ice cream, and drenched in homemade Caramel Sauce.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.

Decadent Brownies
============================
1 Cup butter
20 Ounces chocolate
1-1/2 Cups sugar
Pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 Cup flour
vanilla to taste
1 Cup toasted pecans/walnuts

(Optional:  use 3/4 cup brown and 3/4 cup white sugar)

Add a shot of espresso

Method One
Melt chocolate and butter in microwave bowl. Beat in sugar and salt. Beat in eggs add vanilla Mix in flour. Mix in pecans. Pour into rectangle cake pan that has been lined with tin foil and rubbed with butter. Bake in oven at 350 for approximately 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Should still be soft in the middle. Put into freezer immediately for 1 hour or until cold. Cut into 8 bars and wrap each in plastic wrap and freeze.

Method Two

Another Option.  Both methods are good and I use them interchangeably.

Melt butter and sugar together  over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Add the chocolate and stir until chocolate melts.  Continuing stirring until the mixture is smooth.

Add one egg at a time and mix until each is well incorporated before adding the next egg. Add vanilla (and espresso if using).

Stir in flour and salt and mix well.  Stir in the pecans or walnuts and pour into prepared pan.  Bkae in a 350 °F for approximately 30 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Brownies should be set in the middle but still
slightly soft.  Place immediately in the freezer.  When cold, remove and cut into bars.  Wrap each bar in plastic wrap  and store in the freezer.