Butterscotch scones

 I feel as though I've had a number of savory posts lately and that they far outweigh the sweet posts. Some of you may be thinking that I never bake anymore. Well, that's not true. I do bake. But I seem to be baking my way through The Pioneer Woman's site/cookbook and I don't post those because she does a far superior job than I ever could.

Therefore, the chocolate sheet cake that I made and devoured last night will not be mentioned. And while we are not on the subject, I won't bother to mention that it was one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten in my entire life. Nope. I won't say that at all. And I'm also not going to tell you I made it from start to finish in about half an hour. You definitely won't get any of that out of me.

What you will get me to talk about today is butterscotch scones. And let me put the emphasis on butter here. These things were buttery! If I made these again I would definitely add in the entire bag of butterscotch scones to give them a little more sweetness.

Now don't get me wrong. I love butter. I've been told that when I was little I would sit under the dining room table and just go to town on a tub of butter. I know...gross right?? What can I say?? I was little!

But now, these scones proved to be a bit of a match for me. A bit too buttery for me.

I made these to enjoy with coffee at a friend's house. She enjoyed them tremendously. And her husband, while stuffing the fourth scone down his gullet, has proclaimed that I am never again allowed to take food to their house. Ever.

Are you ready to make these? Let's go...

Ingredients: brown sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, heavy cream, an egg, and of course...butter.

Start by sifting together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt...

Into a large mixing bowl.

Take some cold butter, dice it up and toss it into the sifted mixture.

Use your fingers to press the butter into the mixture until it is all thoroughly mixed and kind of crumbly.

Add in your butterscotch chips. Like I said, I would use the whole bag instead of just the cup at this point.

Mix the chips into the batter.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and egg.

Slowly add it to the batter while tossing with a fork to mix.

The recipe calls for you to just drop the batter onto a cookie sheet but I chose to pat it out into a round cake like thing and cut them into triangles. Then pop them in the oven.

And bake them.

When they are done, let them cool on a wire rack.

Serve with coffee, a good friend, a great conversation and enjoy!!

Butterscotch Scones
Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1 cup (6 oz) butterscotch chips (If you would like them sweeter, use the entire 12oz bag of chips)
• 1/2 cup (or more) chilled heavy cream
• 1 large egg 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into large mixing bowl.
3. Add butter, press with fingers until well mixed and crumbly.
4. Mix in chips.
5. In small bowl, whisk together cream and egg.
6. Gradually add cream mixture to dry mixture while tossing with a fork until dough comes together in moist clumps. (add more cream by teaspoonful if dough is too dry)
7. Form batter into round disk, cut into triangles; place on baking sheet.
8. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown and tester comes out clean.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature, enjoy!
   

Daring Cooks: July 2010

It's that time again!! I have to say that this month was a lot of fun. Let's get down to it.

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

There were four recipes provided for us to try using several different types of nut butters. I made three of the four recipes.

I was a bit intimidated at first because I've never made nut butters from scratch. But learning that it just takes a good food processor and a little patience, I was able to conquer nut butter! One thing to remember when making nut butter is to have double as many nuts as you want nut butter. For example, if you want half a cup of almond butter, use a whole cup of almonds. Here's the breakdown of the recipes:

The first recipe was chicken with pecan cream and mushrooms. Well, I didn't really do that. When I looked at the picture of the chicken with pecan cream and mushrooms it reminded me a bit of beef stroganoff. So I ran with that idea. I made instead: beef tips with walnut cream over spaetzle.

Here's the recipe:

Beef Tips with Walnut Cream and Spaetzle

Walnut Cream:

• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup water
• ¾ teaspoon salt, more as needed
• ½ pound spaetzle
• 1 1/2 pound beef tips or stew meat
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, more as needed
• Salt & pepper to taste

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon deglazing liquid (water, broth, wine; optional)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, more as needed
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 Teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• Chopped pecans, (optional garnish)

Directions:

1. Prepare walnut cream. Grind walnuts in a food processor for about a minute or so until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. Add water and 3/4 teaspoon salt; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Set aside walnut cream.
2. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain, rinse, and keep warm.
3. Sprinkle beef with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef; sauté 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to desired doneness. Set aside cooked beef on a clean plate, cover to keep warm.
4. Add deglazing liquid to pan if using and stir up any browned bits. If needed, add another teaspoon of oil (or more) to pan for sautéing the shallots. Sauté the shallots over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes. Add thyme to the pan. Stir in walnut cream; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 minutes till reduced slightly.
5. Divide the noodles among serving plates. Top with beef. Add a scoop of the walnut sauce on top of noodles. Garnish with fresh thyme and/or a pinch of chopped walnuts if desired.

The next recipe I tried: 

Chicken with Curried Tomato Almond Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 4 (6 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• Salt to taste

Spice Blend:

• 1.5 tablespoons garam masala seasoning
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, cut in half pole to pole
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• ⅓ cup almond butter
• ⅓ cup milk
• ½ to ¾ cup chicken broth or water, more as needed
• 1 cup (240 ml) frozen peas (optional)
• Hot basmati rice for serving
• Chopped parsley (optional garnish)
• Sliced almonds (optional garnish)

Directions:

1. Cook the chicken. If desired, pound chicken to ¼ inch (6 mm) thickness to promote even cooking. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken; sauté 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Cook the chicken in 2 batches, adding more oil if needed for second batch. Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces; set aside on clean plate and keep warm.
2. Prepare spice blend. Stir garam masala, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook gently for several minutes to infuse the butter with onion flavor. Keep the heat low to avoid burning the butter; a little color is fine. Add the spice blend and garlic and cook for 1 minute or till fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the tomato sauce, stir well, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Whisk in almond butter and milk until thoroughly combined with tomato sauce. The almond butter is thick so it takes a while to make a smooth sauce. Return to simmer. Add broth (or water) to sauce to reach desired consistency; return to simmer. Add more broth (or water) as needed to thin sauce as desired.
4. Remove onion from sauce and discard. Stir frozen peas (if using) into sauce. Transfer sliced chicken to sauce. Simmer gently for a few minutes until peas and chicken are heated through.
5. Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Garnish with chopped parsley and/or sliced almonds if desired.

And finally:

Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing

Ingredients:

Cashew Butter:

• 1 cup (240 ml) cashews*

Cashew Dressing:

• ½ inch slice of fresh ginger, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped
• ½ cup cashew butter
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 3 Tablespoons vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• ¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon water
• Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Noodle Salad:

• 1/2 pound linguine or thin rice noodles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 pound small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped cashews (optional garnish)
• Lime wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth. (*Or start with ½ cup (120 ml) prepared cashew butter.)
2. Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker -- to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 1 ½ cups (360 ml) dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
5. Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about ½ cup (120 ml) cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired.

Out of all of these recipes the beef tips with walnut cream sauce was amazing! I plan on working that into our regular rotation. However, the dish is extremely heavy and would probably do better in the colder months.

The chicken with curried tomato almond sauce was a big hit with The Hubble. I thought it was good, it just didn't have the "wow" factor the beef tips with walnut cream sauce had.

Then there's the Asian noodle salad with cashew dressing. I thought for sure this dish would knock my socks off. Sadly, I couldn't even finish it. I didn't like it. At all. I ended up tossing mine and having left over burgers instead. However, The Hubble thought it was great. He ate all of his, but he didn't keep the leftovers. This dish made me sad because I really had high hopes for it.

This was definitely a fun experience. Making my own nut butter is definitely something I probably never would have done without the Daring Cooks. There were links to make our own fruit butter too but I never got around to those.

All in all I would say that this was a successful second Daring Cooks challenge for me. I found a super amazing recipe and another one that The Hubble really loved. Not too shabby!

If you are interested in seeing how my fellow Daring Cooks did, hop on over to the blogroll to check them out. The pictures of the dishes are also in a type of slide show on The Daring Kitchen main page for a while too. Enjoy!

No-Fuss Focaccia

As I've mentioned before, The Hubble is the sponsor of a Polish student in his current class. Most Sundays, The Hubble and The Polish Student will get together for a study session, leaving me and Little Butt to spend the day doing whatever it is we do (she usually plays and I usually sit on the computer or read).

A few Sundays ago, The Hubble and The Polish student were working late studying for a big test the next day. So I knew that I was flying solo for dinner. Little butt usually has mac & cheese or chicken nuggets. I found this recipe for spinach with garlic chips and decided to throw it over some angelhair pasta for dinner that night.

I knew my dinner wouldn't take very long and my mom had just sent me a huge box of books so I decided to sit down and read for a bit before making Little butt and I something to eat. Well, shortly after I sat down to read I received a  twitter message on my phone from King Arthur Flour about a no-fuss focaccia. I watched the video and wrote down the recipe and rushed to get this bread started. I thought it would be great with my planned dinner.

Though the video is better than what I can show you I figured I would go ahead and take you through the process anyway. The bread was delicious and well worth jumping up to get it started in time for dinner. So here we go:

Ingredients: All-purpose flour, active dry yeast, salt, Italian seasoning, extra virgin olive oil and your favorite sharp cheese (I used extra sharp Vermont white cheddar because that's my favorite!).

You are going to first dump some warm water in a bowl (we are going to be doing a lot of dumping in this process).

Dump in the yeast...

Salt...

Olive oil...

Flour...

Cheese (after you have shredded it)...go ahead and add a bit more than called for if you want. Mmmm...cheese!

And 1 tablespoon of the Italian Seasoning. Easy so far right??

You can either do this by hand (which the video suggests) but I'm lazy and used my mixer with the bread hook.

While the dough is mixing, pour some olive oil in a pan (I only had a glass pan but I would recommend using/getting a metal cake pan).

Use a basting/pastry brush to spread the oil and coat the pan.

When the dough is sufficiently mixed together...

Dump it in the oil coated pan...

Then spread it out and cover it with plastic wrap. Let is sit and rise for about an hour.

Make sure you thank your sous chef for all the help she's given you!

After the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap...

Pour more oil over the top...

And use your fingers to spread the oil and press holes in the top of the dough.

Sprinkle a bit more Italian Seasoning over the top.

And sprinkle more cheese on top as well...because why not? Cheese makes everything better!

Pop it in the oven, bake and bam! You have focaccia. Easy peasy...

Until you try to take it out of the glass pan and it all sticks to the bottom that is. Oh well. It still tasted delicious! Enjoy!!

No-Fuss Focaccia
Slightly adapted from How2Heroes via KAF twitter

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese (heaping) + more for sprinkling on top
• 2 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F about 10 minutes before hour of rising time is finished.
2. Liberally grease bottom and sides of 9x13 baking pan with oil.
3. Combine water, yeast, salt, oil, flour, cheese, and 1 Tablespoon seasoning in large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer for about a minute or until combined.
4. Place dough into oil greased pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for one hour.
5. Once risen, drizzle with oil and spread with fingers while indenting bread with fingers.
6. Sprinkle dough with the remaining Tablespoon of seasoning and extra cheese.
7. Bake about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes then turn out bread onto cooling rack.
9. Serve and enjoy!