Buttermilk Biscuits

Why doesn't any grocery store sell small containers of buttermilk? It always goes bad before I can use it all. Sadly that was the case again this week, but at least I made some biscuits! They were strangely not overly-buttery and somewhere inbetween savory and sweet. As in you could eat this for dinner or dessert. I don't have as many fluffy layers as the blogger, but I went and got some biscuit cutters the other day so I won't smash all the layers together when I'm cutting biscuits out with cups.

Sourdough Bread

I am a potato and bread fiend. I especially love sourdough bread, but was always intimidated by the recipes I found online. You have to make your own little colony of happy bacteria that will make your bread all nice and sour (and also help it rise). I was really turned off by most of the recipes I saw which involved specific proportions of pineapple juice and water. But I found this recipe and I figured I would give it a try. It only takes water and flour and it has specific steps for each day.


I was still sort of scared I might kill someone with my funky bread, but the comments on the daily pages helped sort out what a "bad" starter looked like. It takes a few days, but you can make your own starter too! I made 3 batches of bread, but only the 3rd one really tasted like sourdough. The holes weren't quite there yet and then..... I killed my starter. I killed it so bad I couldn't bring it back to life (which you can usually do quite easily- another reason to make your own starter). It grew mold. It got funky. I threw it away.


I'll have to save this for another time when I have time to bake bread more than once a month and can feed a starter more often. Poor thing, it only lived for a few weeks!

and now... all the photos I didn't shoot

I lost my camera for a few weeks (later found thankfully) and here's a quick list of what I made and ate:

Chewy Pretzel Bites. These taste pretty much like Wetzel's Pretzels. They take a bit of time to make, but it makes a LOT of pretzels. Eat the day you make them or else they turn into stale bits of dough, no good.

Chocolate Kettle Corn. I used my leftover popping corn to make this gluttonous snack. There's butter, sugar and chocolate. You can't go wrong. It's good and it's bad.

Breakfast Pizza. bacon + eggs??? So good! Didn't try the dessert pizza, but it looks drop dead delicious as well.

Victorian Sponge Cupcakes. Not quite as light as I expected, but a good simple cake with a jam filling.

Chive Biscuits

My sister made these chive biscuits for thanksgiving dinner and they were pretty good except they were SO dang buttery (in a bad way). They also weren't very flaky so I decided to make them myself. Well... mine didn't turn out super flaky either, but they didn't taste as buttery (in a good way).

I thought I'd made a pretty good biscuit until I had the chicken + biscuit at Pies n Thighs. If you are ever within 100 miles of this place, you gotta go and get their chicken biscuit ($5). It will blow your MIND! It made my biscuit taste like a rock... sigh. I will have to continue trying out biscuit recipes now that I know what biscuits can taste like.

Cinnamon rolls

There was a time a few years back when I was as obsessed with cinnamon rolls as I am with pizza now. I went through a LOT of recipes and variations and then got sick of them. I found this recipe while perusing the cooking light website.


The previous recipes I've used make gigantic rolls, but this made 18 smaller-than-your-palm ones. They tasted okay up to the second day after I made them, after that they were lethal weapons.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

The Santa Ana winds are back and that means it's officially Fall/Winter here in Los Angeles, which also means it's time for pumpkin! I love pumpkin, but it feels wrong to eat it at any other time. This recipe for spiced pumpkin bread is reallyyyyyy good. It makes two small loaves, but of course because I'm impatient I crammed it into one loaf pan making for a really big loaf. I had to cut the top off when it started getting a wee bit burnt while the inside was still mush. Good thing Ilya likes crusty/burnt bread. Although this isn't bread, it's just a big frosting-less cake.



The before: the pan overfilleth with pumpkin bread. Do not do this unless you want to cut the top crust off and have burnt edges.

Bacon and Pea Orecchiette and Garlic Knots

Did you watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show? I didn't see any of it, but I read about it online. It's a really great cause- I know the food I ate in school was terrible (cheese fries!), but luckily I also liked vegetables and my taste changed as I grew up (still love cheese fries though). This recipe for Pasta with Creamy Bacon and Peas is from Jamie Oliver's show and I don't really know how this is "healthy." It has peas, but it also has bacon. I guess you could substitute whole wheat pasta, but EH I'm not a fan. It was good though-


Do you see all this garlic?? That's only half of it!! I love garlic bread, but I wanted something with more oomph. This recipe for garlic knots has, perhaps, too much oomph. I tasted garlic the next day and into the next 2 meals. I probably reeked of garlic after making this. You probably want to use 2/3 of the amount of garlic it asks for unless you are hunting vampires. Very tasty though- especially when you put some butter on top.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day and Kale Chips

I've read about this no-knead/5 minutes a day bread for a long time and I decided that I finally had to do it. I love bread- my aunt had a bread machine and I remember when we visited her one summer we had fresh bread. It was my first time eating fresh bread and I remember how it tasted just completely different from sandwich bread, which was what I thought of when I thought of bread . My dad also made mantou one summer, a lot of mantous. It's a really easy steamed bread- my next purchase will have to be a steamer so I can make a green onion twisted mantou bread and taro mantou! Ah my favorite! There's nothing like fresh bread. This recipe is from the original source, trust. I'm still working on some quirks and variations I've found online (like no-knead pizza dough!).



My first few batches were strangely undercooked on the inside, but had a great crackley crust. This was so much better than my first attempt at making baguettes and I feel more confident about my bread baking abilities. I've made probably 2 dozen small boules using this recipe. I bake at a slight lower temperature and make really small loaves, just a bit bigger than a dinner roll- it's the only way to fully cook them. It might be my wonky oven though. I'm not sure if this is better than a regular bread recipe- I haven't made enough to really know, but it's nice to have a chunk of dough in the fridge ready to be made into delicious bread.


This next recipe is for kale chips, which was also extensively covered in the blogosphere. The only other time I've had kale is in Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. This dish is easy- just wash and dry the kale, rip off the leaves, toss in olive oil and salt and then bake. They come out light and crispy.... not quite potato chips, the texture is different. But if you're trying to wean yourself off chips and onto a healthier crunchy snack, then this is perfect for you.

Wrinkly Potatoes with a Cilantro Sauce and Sour Cream Dinner rolls

I chose this recipe for wrinkly potatoes (papas arrugadas) because of the way it's made. You boil small potatoes in extremely salty water until all of the water evaporates. The potatoes have a thin crust of salt on them. The cilantro sauce (mojo verde) that goes with it is really good- I loooovvve cilantro. Next up is baking fish in a crust of salt!

Before

After

I had leftover sour cream from some odd recipe a while back and found this recipe for sour cream dinner rolls in an attempt to be less wasteful. These were a lot softer than the other dinner rolls I've made and there was absolutely no trace of sour cream taste.

Potato and Leek Soup, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, & Garlic Bread

You know when winter is transitioning to spring when all you want is to curl up with a warm, creamy soup. With Angela's recent corn chowder post I thought I'd follow up with one of my favorite soups: Potato & Leek.

Recipe here, followed to the T: http://pinchmysalt.com/2008/03/19/a-hearty-potato-leek-soup-recipe-for-the-last-days-of-winter/

The only part that wasn't explained well was cutting the leek. How? You cut off 1/4 inch from the bottom stub, and cut off all the dark green part (about 1/2 inch into the light green part of the leek). You only use the white & light green parts, since that's the tender part of it. Chop lengthwise and then chop it up into finer portions. Wash thoroughly using a colander.


I made one change, and that was to add in some white truffle oil that I've been wanting to use. It makes the soup taste different--even more delicious!



What pairs well with a hearty soup? Hearty food!! So I decided to complete the dinner with some simple Bacon Wrapped Shrimp & Garlic Bread:

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp: wrap uncooked bacon around peeled, raw shrimp and secure with a toothpick.


Grill on BBQ in medium to medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes. When the bacon is done, the shrimp will be done. (In the below picture the bacon is done but perhaps slightly undercooked for my taste.)


Garlic Bread:
Find the freshest french sweet bread you can find.
Make garlic butter sauce--mix 4 tbsp butter, melted + desirable amount of garlic spread + salt if butter is unsalted + dried oregano or basil

If you want crispier garlic bread:
1. Cut baguette in half horizontally.


2. Spread garlic butter sauce as desired, and add freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired
3. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until desired crispiness is reached (this really depends on the size of your bread)


If you want softer garlic bread:
1. Make several vertical cuts, short lengthwise, but leaving the bread still intact at the ends.


2. Spread garlic butter sauce as desired, and add freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired
3. Wrap completely in aluminum foil


4. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until desired doneness is reached


Serve together and it makes for a surprisingly filling and delicious meal.

Jalepeno Cheddar Scones

I have to admit... I don't really like scones. They're dry, crumbly- blegh. I'd rather have a cookie or a crumpet! This was the first savory scone I've had and .... it's still not that good (unless you slather butter or jam on it). I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who takes amazing photos and recipes.


This was also one of the first times I've had to handle raw jalapenos. I've heard a few horror stories here and there about jalapenos so I made sure to wash my hands thoroughly and avoid touching my eyes. I picked out most of the seeds and white flesh so it wouldn't be too spicy.


Conclusion? I still don't like scones... but at least I know I like savory scones a bit better than sweet scones.

Soft Pretzels

One of my favorite Food Network shows is Good Eats, starring Alton Brown. He shows the science behind food through cute visual effects. This is so far, the best recipe for pretzels I've tried (I've tried 3). Boiling the pretzel in the baking soda + water mixture helps the dough brown a lot better than just an egg wash. I don't know why (haven't seen that episode yet).


These turned out exactly like the pretzels you would get from Auntie Anne's- doughy, chewy goodness. I used sea salt instead of pretzel salt and I sprinkled some cheese on a few of them. Be careful storing them, condensation will make the salt dissolve.

Honey Yeast Rolls

I haven't made bread in awhile, but the weather was unusually warm these past couple days so I thought I'd take advantage of it. I've had this recipe bookmarked for awhile, I LOVE dinner rolls almost as much as I love crunchy breads. These are slighty sweet because of the honey. They came out perfectly and were still soft two days later.

This recipe is also great because the mixer does the kneading for me.

Resting. Thanks to the warm weather, it actually rose a good amount.

Resting again. By now it's dark and the pictures are fuzzy )= Bread takes awhile to make because of all the resting- not a good recipe for busy weekdays.

Fresh out of the oven. (Mine aren't as brown as the original author's for some reason.. not enough butter/egg wash?)

Rosemary Foccacia

Nothing beats fresh bread! I love this recipe because I love olive oil, rosemary, bread and big salt crystals. I found this recipe on foodgawker when I was searching for rosemary recipes- I always end up buying more then I need. I love the earthiness that the rosemary brings and it was easy to make since my mixer did the kneading :)

Just dump everything into the mixer, mix, let it rest and then bake!

Super easy! It was soft on the inside, just barely crisp on the outside.

The Perfect Italian Dinner

...with a little dab of Asian inspiration, of course ;)

In this post, you will find: Garlic Bread, Asparagus, and Lasagna.

GARLIC BREAD

Delicious! This recipe I adapted from some trial-and-error cooking at the nice dinner party I had a few weeks ago. I added a few dashes of basil this time and I think the taste matches very well. :)

Ingredients:

• bread of your choice (I used French bread but after this experience I'd recommend going for something softer)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
  
• few dashes basil, or one fresh basil leaf
  

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
   
2. Melt butter in microwave or over stove.
3. Add minced garlic and basil to butter
4. Spread butter-garlic mix onto sliced bread to your liking
   
5. Bake for 10 min or until bread is crispy
   

ASPARAGUS

Ingredients:

• bundle of asparagus
• kosher salt
• rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
  
• soy sauce

Directions:

1. Boil asparagus ~5 minutes in boiling water (or until ready) [I don't know how long since I made the mistake of over-boiling mine... stupid electric stoves]
2. Drizzle soy sauce and rice vinegar (has not regular vinegar) at about a 60:40 ratio, or to your liking.
3. Sprinkle kosher salt to taste

This one was a really fun one; it's simple, light & delicious, and visually very appealing. From the ideas of other recipes and The Food Network (I really should give more credit to them for what I know!), I kind of made this one up on the fly. I chose soy sauce and rice vinegar to provide strong flavor, yet lightness to the asparagus--exactly what you want a vegetable to do to balance a carb-heavy or meat-heavy meal!

Explanation to my deliberate choice of kosher salt over sea salt and table (regular) salt: Table salt will likely dissolve and it's harder to see/less visually appealing. Generally speaking, table salt is used while cooking and not thrown on afterward as a garnish. Kosher salt worked best for the presentation because it offers large, flaky pieces of salt. Sea salt is the one I haven't quite figured out yet... in appearance it looks like large crystalline rocks, probably similar to a blown-up version of table salt. I believe (and I may be wrong here) that choosing kosher over sea salt really depends on how you want your dish to look; some dishes will be better with flakes and some will look better with a rocky-looking salt. Although all probably taste about the same, you'll get less concentration of salt in a pinch of kosher or sea salt versus a pinch of table salt. Also, based on the chef's vision, the presentation is probably the key to the decide which salt is used.

LASAGNA

I have to note that this is not the freshest picture--it's a microwaved piece of leftover lasagna, but it's the only photo I've got. =/

This recipe is adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Lasagna/Detail.aspx. I liked this recipe so much that this is the second time I'm making it. I did make a few changes though:

Ingredient differences:

• swapped the sweet Italian sausage for 1 package of Adelle's Chicken and Portobello Mushroom Sausages, chopped into bits
• added 1 tray of white button mushrooms (whatever size in those blue containers they sell at Safeway), sliced
• did not add garlic
• tomato sauce was flavored with basil
• no basil leaves (cost effective when you buy the above instead, haha)
• no parsley
  
• added slightly more beef and ricotta cheese than called for

I liked it a lot more this time when I swapped some ingredients. :D
Notes I made: Do not add too many fennel seeds. Next time will probably expand use of mushrooms to include portobello mushrooms, and will add garlic. For the future I will also try to use as many fresh ingredients as possible, including upgrading to real tomatoes and chucking that canned stuff!