Bacon Cheddar Scones

How about a breakfast recipe? This week's recipe is from Annie's Eats, adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. I've been meaning to try it since someone posted it on another board a few weeks ago.

Ingredients

For the scones:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. ground black pepper (depending on your preference)
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
4 green onions, thinly slices
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk (plus up to ½ cup extra, if needed)

For the egg wash:
1 large egg
2 tbsp. water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400˚ F.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and black pepper; mix briefly to combine.  Add the cubes of butter and mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter pieces are about the size of small peas.  (Alternatively, this can be done in a regular mixing bowl, using a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.)  Add in the grated cheese and mix just until incorporated.

Mix in the green onions, bacon, and 1 cup of the buttermilk into the flour-butter mixture.  Stir by hand just until all the ingredients are incorporated.  If the dough is too dry to come together, mix in the remaining buttermilk a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough can be formed into a ball.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into an 8-inch disk.  Slice the dough into 8 to 10 wedges.

In a small bowl combine the egg and water and whisk together.  Brush each wedge lightly with the egg wash.  Transfer the scones to an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Indian Food

This was my first attempt at making Indian food and I loved it. However, something in the flavor profile didn't work for J, so I may not do this one again. He said it smelled great when he came in and he couldn't tell me what the taste was that he didn't care for, so I'm not sure what I could do to fix it.

I was a little afraid of the amount of cayenne pepper in the marinade, so I cut it down a lot, and I think this was a mistake. The finished dish could have used some more heat.

I used the George Forman to cook the meat, rather than the broiler since I have a horrible habit of burning things to a crisp in the broiler. A note for future reference, small chunks of meat in a heavy marinade will stick to the top of the grill when you open it. I swear, it looked like all my chicken pulled a Houdini.

I served the dish over brown rice.

Fall and soup are two of my favorite things!

I love fall and I LOVE soup! I always try through the fall and winter to make soup on a Sunday so that I can eat it for lunch all week...Not only is soup an easy lunch, but I also tend to use it to clean out my fridge of anything that I didn't get a chance to eat over the week. This soup was no different--which means I didn't follow the recipe super closely.

First of all, I added yellow and red peppers to my soup since I had about half of each one left in the fridge. I also used ground turkey breast instead of chicken because I had it. I used the rest of the ingredients in the recipe, but I made the soup nice and thick so it came out as a mix between a soup and a white chicken chili. It was delicious for dinner Sunday night and I ate it every day this week for lunch! Perfect!

Oh, and lest I forget...what else would I have for a perfect fall dessert...Apple crisp! Yep, perfect meal.

Soup Time

My husband loves soup; we have it once a week. This one was so quick and easy, it's going into the recipe file.

The only changes I made were to the seasoning. I tasted it as it was simmering and decided it needed some more heat, so I added chili powder. As I was eating it, I decided that it was too smoky for my taste, so next time I will cut the cumin down and up the chili powder.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I've been cooking Chicken Tikka Masala at least a couple times a month for over 4 years. The recipe has evolved over time with my research and the help of a local Indian restaurant owner. He will not give me his recipe, he will however hint at what I need to change.

(I've met ring_pop's Mr.V in person and he's a very nice man. I hope that if they choose to cook this or a spin off, he's gentle on the critique!)

The stars:


Yes, I have an addiction to paprika and cumin and use large quantities.


Chicken Marinade
1 lb boneless chicken breast cubed into 1-1/2" pieces. (I use tenderloins cut in 1/2 or 1/3)
1C plain yogurt (I use greek)
1Tbsp lemon juice
1tsp cumin powder
2tsp coriander powder
1tsp paprika
1/2tps turmeric
1tsp cayenne pepper
1Tbsp minced ginger (I use jarred)
1Tbsp minced garlic (also jarred)

Mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Toss chicken in marinade and marinade for at least an hour. I am known to let it marinade all day or overnight.


To cook, I place the chicken on a broiler pan and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. I broil them for a 5-7 minutes after that. Remove from oven and set aside of you haven't started your sauce.

Masala Sauce:
2Tbsp butter or oil
3 garlic cloves minced (I use jarred)
1 jalapeno, de-seeded and diced
1 small red onion
8oz tomato puree
1C heavy cream
2tsp ground cumin
2tsp paprika
1/2tsp garam masala
cilantro
1tsp honey (optional)

Melt butter in large heavy skillet over medium. Saute garlic, jalapeno and onion for 1-2 minutes. Season with cumin, paprika and garam masala. Add tomato puree and cream and mix well. Simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes until sauce thickens. Mix in chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Add honey the last minute if you plan to do so. Garnish with cilantro.

Aaron prefers jasmine rice, so I serve it over that. I use a rice cooker, so I can ignore it while I prepare the rest of the meal. I wasn't in the mood to make garlic naan this time, so we used store bought, shame on us.

Final product:

Everything's better with TEQUILA

Aaron always gets intrigued when he sees me grab the bottle of tequila when cooking, since I swore off drinking it years ago. Since Aaron has texture issues with carrots, celery and other vegetables when cooked, I looked around a bit and decided to piece this soup together.

I marinated the chicken using Guy Fieri's recipe.

Marinade
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces silver tequila
2 limes, juiced
2 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 cloves garlic (used jarred garlic)
1 teaspoon oregano
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 lb chicken tenderloins

I marinated the chicken overnight. Original recipe says 6-8 hours.

Soup Base
Olive oil
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 can fire roasted green chili's
4 garlic cloves
1 (14oz) can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 (14oz) can great norhtern beans
1 box (32oz) of chicken stock

In a large pot heat up olive oil and saute onion, green chili's and garlic for a couple of minutes. Deglaze pan with a little bit of chicken stock and add remaining chicken stock, tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 30-45 minutes.

While the soup base is cooking, cook your chicken. There is no right or wrong way here, most recipes I saw called for grilled, but since I was already at the stove, I just threw it all into a pan.

To serve
Place cooked chicken in the bottom of a bowl and add as much soup base as you'd like to the top. Garnish with whatever you'd like, but I'd recommend Guy Fieri's tequila creme!

Tequila creme
2 oz tequila
3/4 cup

Whip together using a hand whisk or hand blender. I think Aaron liked the tequila creme more than the soup itself! He didn't want any to go to waste so he ate the leftovers with salsa and chips.

Update-palooza

This is a bit ridiculous, I know (and I'm sorry!), but I have a few updates to make. I figured I'd do them all in one post to try and be as least obnoxious as possible. I'll also keep the pictures down to one or two per recipe.

In order of first appearance on the blog...

Grilled Salmon with Blueberry Pan Sauce
We enjoyed this! I decided to use the entire amount of balsamic since we both love it, and I'm glad that I did. It was very blueberry-y (obviously), but I thought it paired really well with the salmon. Unfortunately, I didn't have any mint (and didn't want to make a special trip to just get that), so I made it without. As you can see, I served it over a bed of fresh spinach. Yum!

Thai Ground Pork Salad
We seriously loved this. I don't really have much else to say other than that. I pretty much made it exactly as written, except omitted the cilantro (my food arch nemesis... but seriously, the only ingredient I've ever come into contact with that I don't like. And by don't like, I mean despise) and made up for it with extra basil and mint. I also added a bit of extra Sriracha and jalapeno because we like things spicy. Oh, and as you can see I had to use iceberg lettuce instead of Boston (sad!). AND I used regular onion instead of shallots. Hmm, I guess I changed more than I thought, but nothing too drastic. Anyway, we loved it and are looking forward to the next time we have it!


Thumbprint Cookies
YUM! I made these today, and had to restrain myself to only eat two. They're delicious. I had a haunting suspicion that I'd love them given the Nutella and espresso and hazelnuts, and I was definitely correct. So tasty, and I love that they're semi-healthy. (Not really, but they're from Cooking Light, so I can believe that... right?!) I put a little extra salt in because I love when certain cookies have a bit of saltiness to them, and I was so glad I did. It worked perfectly with the sweet Nutella.