Biscuit Bonanza!

We decided to get creative and scientific with this post. Using the same recipe for each of the biscuits and only changing the flour resulted in a range of differing flavors. 

Except there was one problem.

I made a huge mistake. 

Before we go any further I want to be honest with you, beloved follower of this once great food blog. The reasons my biscuits look like hockey pucks is that I read "teaspoon" instead of "Tablespoon" under baking powder in my biscuit recipe. I'm only human, I make mistakes and I'm willingly posting this on the internet; commenters go ahead and have a field day with this one.

Though the "biscuits" turned out more like shortbread, it was still interesting to see how using different flour changed the end results. I give a quick review of each flour below.

Buttermilk Biscuits (half batch) 

(adapted from America Test Kitchen's Buttermilk Biscuit recipe)

• 1 1/4 cup Flour
• 1/2 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Shortening
• 4 Tablespoons Cold Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Butter melted
• 5/8 cups Buttermilk

1. In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Cut the butter into some cubes about 1cm in length. Mix the butter and shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips and make nickel sized butter/shortening patties. Once all the butter is incorporated with the flour, chill the bowl for 15 minutes in the freezer.
3. While the mixture is cooling, preheat the oven to 400°. Then add the buttermilk to the chilled flour mixture and stir just enough to get everything wet. Spread some flour out on a clean counter to roll out your dough. Be sure to fold the dough over itself several times to ensure a flaky texture once baked.
4. Use a glass to cut out your biscuits. Once the biscuit cutouts are in the baking pan, brush the melted butter over the top to create a golden brown color while baking.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

All-Purpose Flour

Resulted in a good ol' fashioned biscuit, just remember to add enough baking powder.

Rice Flour

The end result was a biscuit that sort of tasted like those puffed rice cakes you eat right before swimsuit season to trick yourself into thinking you're losing weight. Definitely needs other flavors to accompany it.

Rye Flour

The rye ryesulted in the most flavorful of all the biscuits of all the flours we tried. Ideally I would top these biscuits with a sage sausage gravy.

Spelt Flour

For those who don't know what spelt is here is wikipedia to save the day, just like it saved all your college essays. These biscuits just seemed like whole wheat biscuits to me.

Barley Flour

These biscuits were barley different than regular biscuits. These would be good served with some blueberry jam and some cream cheese.

Soy Flour

0/10 Would only serve to orphans. The flour itself tasted like fresh green beans and the dough was so sticky that we could only make drop biscuits with it.

Semolina Flour

Semolina flour is usually used in pasta making, because of its high gluten content. The biscuits this flour produced were similar to corn bread, but have enough gluten in them to make your one weird gluten-intolerant cousin get really itchy.

No matter how your biscuits turn out you can still turn them into a delicious breakfast biscuit sandwich. I made this one with a sausage patty, Tillamook white cheddar, green onions, and a fried egg. Just remember in life, sometimes your biscuits don't turn out how you would like them to, but you can still create something delicious with them! Enjoy!

Oh you're wondering about all these amazing biscuit photos? They were taken by the super-talented Katy Weaver

Salmon and Brie Stuffed French Toast

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Salmon and brie stuffed French toast

Want to take your breakfast to the next level? I'm not talking about adding bacon on bacon on bacon on some deep fried potatoes like those Epic Meal Time guys. I'm talking about the classiest thing you can do to food: stuffing it with an even fancier food. 

Stuffed French toast

Sure this isn't a breakfast you make the night after a crazy bender, and it's not the breakfast you make for the girl you met in the bathroom of the bar in the middle of your bender, even if you do end up bringing her home with you. It's the breakfast you make for someone who means something to you, because it takes time, preparation and work. Serving it to anyone else would just be a waste of time. 

Or if you're feeling selfish you can just make it for yourself. 

Chives and Salmon

brie

Salmon Fillet

Brie and other things!

Eggs n' Chives

Challah

Salmon with Maple Candied Onions

Salmon with Maple Candied Onion

• 1 large Salmon fillet
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Small Red Onion halved and sliced
• 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Rice Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Bourbon
• 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Juice from Half of a Lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Add the butter to a skillet over medium high until melted. Throw the onions in the pan and saute until the onions start to sweat. Add the maple syrup, stir the onions around to ensure that they're all covered in maple. 
2. Once the onions have caramelized add the soy sauce, vinegar and bourbon to deglaze the pan. Cook until the liquid is gone.
3. Line a casserole pan with parchment paper. Lay the salmon fillet in the pan, drizzle the lemon juice, and olive oil over the top. Season with a little salt and pepper. Top with the maple onions.
4. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until done. Odds are you'll have some salmon leftover, I like to mix my leftover salmon with cream cheese and spread it on my bagels for breakfast the next morning.

Stuffin' that toast

bread becomes French Toast

Salmon and Brie Stuffed French Toast

• 1 loaf Challah Bread cut thinly (about 1 inch thick) 
• 6 oz. Brie
• Salmon from the recipe above
• Onions from the recipe above
• 1/2 cup of chopped Chives
• 1 cup Milk
• 8 Eggs (4 will be fried) 
• 1 Tablespoon Parmesan grated
• 2 Tablespoons Butter

1. Make a small incision in the bottom on the sliced bread. Insert the brie into the pocket, which should be about tablespoons worth, omitting the rind of the cheese. Then add about a teaspoon worth of chives. Add enough salmon and onions to fill the pocket, leave enough room to seal the crack with brie and finish filling the pocket. 
2. Fill as many slices as you're going to make before you start cooking the toast.
3. Whisk the milk, 1/4 cup of chives, 4 eggs, and parmesan together in a shallow pan, like a pie pan or something similar. 
4. Add one tablespoon to a large skillet over medium high and melt the butter. Dunk the stuffed slices into the mixture, be sure to cover both sides, but that's pretty obvious. 
5. Fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side.
6. Top each slice with a fried egg and garnish with chives or top with a little powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Breakfast

Breakfast

Don't settle for anything less than you deserve in life. When I say that I mean, "we all eat the breakfast foods we think we deserve." Don't get in bed with the drunken bathroom bar girl of breakfast food, aka soggy dinner pancakes, snuggle up with this salmon and brie stuffed French toast instead.

All these fantastic photos by

Katy Weaver

Savory Stuffed French Toast

Breakfast dish

S'Mores Meringue Pie

It's summer! Not if you live in New Zealand though, but to hell if it's not summer where you live, it's always s'mores season. Especially if those s'mores are in pie form. 

S'mores are an American classic- millions are consumed every summer, I'm guessing. If you're looking for a summer dessert that's not just fresh berries thrown on some pastry then why not add an extra half hour to your workout tonight and make yourself a s'mores meringue pie?

Sometimes, instead of focusing on the bitter things in life and in the kitchen, you have make something sweet, even if it takes a little more effort than you're use to. The effort in creating this pie really pays off. 

S'Mores Meringue Pie

Crust

• 10 Graham Crackers
• 8 Tablespoons Butter (1 stick) sliced into 1 Tablespoon squares
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Blend the graham crackers in a food processor for a minute or until they have the consistency of coarse sand, or coarse graham cracker crumbs.
2. Add sugar to graham crackers.
3. Add the butter one square at a time, while the food processor is on until there are no more chunks of butter and the crackers are well incorporated.
4. Use the mixture to make a 1/4 inch crust in a pie pan.
5. Bake the crust for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Let the crust cool for 15 minutes while you make the filling.

Chocolate Filling

• 6 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate
• 2 Tablespoons Cocoa
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1/2 cup Cream
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. In a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water, melt the chocolate, cocoa, water, and cornstarch. 
2. In a medium saucepan heat the cream, milk, butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium high until a low simmer is reached. Add the melted chocolate. 
3. Whisk in the eggs and flour. Whisk until all flour clumps are demolished. Heat until the mixture starts bubbling. Take off heat and use a spatula to fill the pie crust with the chocolate filling.
4. Let cool for 2-3 hours in the fridge.

Meringue

• 4 Egg Whites
• 2/3 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Using a stand mixer whip the egg whites until they're foamy and make peaks. About 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the sugar gradually to the egg whites. Once all the sugar is incorporated add the vanilla and whip on high for 5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy and forms stiff peaks.
3. Use a spatula to top the pie with the meringue. 
4. Place in oven until the top is golden brown, about 6 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let cool before slicing into the pie.
6. Use a kitchen/propane torch to slightly burn the top. This of course is optional, but I recommend it, because it's fun, looks cool and is pretty unsafe for kids without parental supervision.

The meringue is fluffy and reminiscent of the marshmallows you roasted around the campfire when you were a kid. The chocolate filling oozes off the graham cracker crust and brings back memories of licking your fingers clean after devouring a s'more on a summer evening. The American Diabetes Council requires me to say this: please pace yourself when eating this pie. Enjoy!

All photos by Katy Weaver

Grilled Lamb

When start your life you have no idea who will enter it or who will leave it. Honestly when you start off life as a baby the only things you're thinking about are; "I'm hungry," "There's no way I'm cleaning up the mess I just made in my diaper," and "I'm only going to retain, at the very most, blurry shapes from this period of my life, so why am I having such complex thoughts?" The point I'm eventually going to make is that sometimes in life you meet cool people and on rarer occasions you get to work with those people. 

That's what happened with this post. See that fancy looking ice cream up above? Well it just so happened Katy's good friend Michelle has a dessert blog, called More Chocolate! So, we decided it would be a great idea to work on a post together. 

We figured since it is summer that it's only natural that we should grill something. I decided to grill up some lamb and Michelle grilled up some peaches to go with her homemade vanilla ice cream, which you can find on her blog here. 

Grilled Lamb Chops with Peach Balsamic Sauce

Serves 3-4 people

• 1 rack of lamb or 8 chops

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup Port
• 1 Lemon juiced
•  Fresh Thyme
• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. If you purchased a rack of lamb because that's all the store had, slice the rack into chops. Add the chops to the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.
2. Fire up that grill. Once it's hot enough grill the chops for 3-5 minutes depending on the heat of your grill, then flip and cook the other side for 2 minutes or just long enough to get some grill marks on it. Plate and serve with this other stuff that's featured below, and not just because I took the time to write all of it out.

Peach Balsamic Sauce

• Balsamic Vinegar
• Peaches Peeled and diced
• Lemon Juice
• Lemon Zest
• Port
• Salt
• Pepper
• Flour

1. In a small sauce pan add everything listed except the flour and heat over high until it reaches a boil. Once the sauce reaches a boiling point reduce the heat to medium and let simmer for 20 minutes. Use a hand blender to pulverize those peach pieces into a sauce like consistency.
2. Stir in the flour and let the sauce thicken. Serve over the grilled lamb or really anything you want - lamb, burgers, ice cream, Cheetos.

Purple Cauliflower Basil Purée

• 1 head Purple Cauliflower
• 3 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
• 5 large Fresh Basil Leaves shredded

1. Break the cauliflower head into pieces and remove the large steam. Steam the cauliflower for 7 minutes or until it's slightly soft. 
2. Drain the purple Kool-Aid-like water from the pan and add the yogurt, oil, salt and basil to the cauliflower. Use a food processor or a hand blender to blend into a paste-like consistency. Serve as a side.

Grilled Onion

• 1 large Onion peeled and halved
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 pinches of Salt

1. Drizzle oil over onion.
2. Sprinkle salt over onion.
3. Grill for 15 min on side of grill where the coals aren't too hot.
4. Slice thinly.

All wood engraving depicting images of my food by Katy Weaver. And don't forget to check out Michelle's post for dessert! 

Tuna Steaks, Sautéed Zucchini and Raspberry Chocolate Mousse

Despite what a lot of creationists think the basis of good cooking is in fact science. That's why I was interested in the cookbook The Science of Good Cooking. Within the book America's Test Kitchen tests different cooking theories and tells you which one produces the best results. These theories don't just apply to one recipe, they carry over to multiple recipes within the cookbook and can be applied to your everyday cooking. I decided to make a few of the recipes that caught my eye when reading through this fascinating book of deconstructed cooking techniques.

Pan-searing a tuna steak results in an ultra tender piece of fish that cuts like butter. While the sesame seeds add texture and a flavor that compliments the tuna. I recommend the tuna recipe even for beginners. The zucchini side dish works well with the tuna, adding just enough spiciness and texture variety to the meal. While the raspberry chocolate mousse is the perfect ending to this meal. The fluffy texture and the rich chocolate intensity leaves you satisfied with a delicious and filling feast. 

A quick side note. Since these recipes are from a book entitled The Science of Good Cooking I thought I'd share a science based tip. Don't make the chocolate mousse in 90° weather. It results in a more dense chocolate mouse, because the heat doesn't allow whip cream to set up properly. If you absolutely need to make some emergency chocolate mousse (as we've all had to do) I would recommend allowing your mousse to set up in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Pan-Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks

Serves 4

• 3/4 cup Sesame Seeds (I used half black sesame seeds)
• 4 (8-once) Tuna Steaks, preferably yellowfin ( I used tombo tuna [albacore tuna])
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• Salt and Pepper

1. Spread sesame seeds in a shallow baking dish or pie plate. Pat tuna steaks dry with paper towel; rub 1 tablespoon oil over steaks, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Press both sides of each steak in sesame seeds to coat.
2. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch non-stick skillet over high heat until just beginning to smoke. Add tuna steaks and cook for 30 seconds without moving steaks. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until seeds are golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using tongs flip tuna steaks carefully and cook, without moving them, until golden brown on second side and centers register 110 degrees (for rare), about 1 1/2 minutes, or 125 degrees (for rare), about 3 minutes. Cut into 1/4-inch thick slices and serve immediately.

Sautéed Shredded Zucchini with Spiced Carrots and Almonds

Serves 4

• 5 Zucchini, halved lengthwise, seeded and shredded
• Salt and Pepper
• 4 teaspoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 2 carrots grated
• 1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 1.2 teaspoon Ground Coriander
• 1/2 golden Raisins
• 1/2 sliced Almonds toasted
• 1-2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

1. Toss zucchini with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl. Transfer to colander and let drain for 5 to 10 minutes. Place zucchini in center of kitchen bowl and wring out excess moisture in batches if necessary. 
2. Place zucchini in medium bowl and sepate any large clumps. Combine 2 teaspoons oil and mix.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the coriander and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. Add zucchini and  golden raisins to skillet, spread into even layer, and cook as directed. Add the sliced almonds and toss to combine before seasoning with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. 

Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse

Serves 6

• 8 onces Bittersweet Chocolate, chopped finely
• 4 tablespoons Water
• 2 tablespoons Dutch-Processed Cocoa
• 2 tablespoons Raspberry-Flavored Liqueur
• 1 teaspoon Instant Espresso Powder
• 2 large Eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Heavy Cream chilled

1. Melt chocolate, water, cocoa, raspberry liqueur, and espresso in medium heatproof bowl set over saucepan filled with 1 inch of barely simmering water, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat.
2. Whisk egg yolks, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and salt together in medium bowl until mixture lightens in color and thickens slightly, about 30 seconds. Pour melted chocolate into egg-yolk mixture and whisk until combined. Let cool until just warmer than room temperature, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip egg whites at medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, increase speed to medium-high, and whip until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Using whisk, stir about one-quarter of whipped egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it; gently fold in remaining egg whites with rubber spatula until few white streaks remain. 
4. In now-empty bowl, whip cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 15 seconds more. Using rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into mousse until no white streaks remain. Spoon mousse into 6 to 8 individual serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set and firm, at leat 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve.

If you're in the market for a new cookbook that actually explains why certain techniques are used, then I recommend this one. The book is filled with pictures and informative tid bits that would help any chef at any skill level improve their techniques and dishes. As always the fantastic photography is all thanks to Katy Weaver! Enjoy!