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I have been sitting on a number of recipes for quite sometime waiting for just the opportune moment to make them.  One of these recipes was for Buttermilk Biscuits and I finally got a reason and a chance to make them.  As far as a dish goes they are pretty bland and disappointing, however, as biscuits they are awesome.  The biscuits have just a hint of buttermilk tang and a whole lot of fluffy goodness and when topped with a dab of margarine (butter would also be good, however, I am allergic) and some honey they make a great snack or compliment to a meal.  They would also be great on a pot pie or smothered under a thick layer of sausage gravy.

Ingredients
2 3/4 c flour
1 1/3 c buttermilk
1 egg
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
pinch of baking soda
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
2/3 c margarine or butter cut into 1 inch pieces

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF

In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl whisk together buttermilk and egg.  Cut butter or margarine into dry ingredients until butter or margarine is pea sized.  Stir in buttermilk mixture, until just mixed, do not over mix.

Remove dough to a lightly floured surface, pat to desired thickness (mine was 3/4″).  Use a large glass to cut into rounds.  Place biscuit rounds on a large ungreased baking sheet.

Bake the biscuits until light, fluffy and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Now if I was feeling ambitious I would make up some sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy in the morning, something tells me it will just be yogurt.

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It has been nearly a month since I last posted and for that I am to blame, we have been on a diet and no matter how much you like chicken it just seems that after a couple days of chicken breasts it gets kinda boring.  Well we have been eating chicken breasts about 5 out of every 7 days since the first of the year and we have found some pretty creative ways to prepare and season them.  I recently also discovered we are not the only one who have been eating chicken day after day, week after week this year, so this shall be post one of an ongoing series on the ways we eat chicken in the Elston household.

Tonight we had Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry over white rice.  The first time we made this dish we did not have any soy sauce and so we had substituted Dale’s Marinade for soy sauce, Dale’s imparts quite a different flavor to the dish than does straight soy sauce, you should try it both ways.

Chicken and Broccoli over White Rice

The recipe we used to create our chicken and broccoli stir fry was derived from several recipes online for chicken and pork stir fry and is as follows:

Ingredients
1 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 c beef broth
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp cornstarch
6 c broccoli florets
1 c water
1 tbsp canola oil, divided
3 large cloves garlic, pressed

Instructions
In a medium bowl toss chicken with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and red wine vinegar until evenly coated.  Set aside.  In another bowl combine remaining soy sauce, beef broth, sugar, ginger and cornstarch.

Place broccoli in a large skillet over high heat with water.  Cover and steam until tender.  Drain and transfer to a plate, set aside.

Heat oil in same skillet over high heat until it sends up wisps of smoke.  Add chicken, stir-fry until cooked through.

Return broccoli to skillet and add garlic.  Stir-fry until garlic is fragrant (about 2 minutes).  Pour in broth mixture and cook until thickened, stirring constantly.  Serve immediately over white rice.

In order to the consistently great rice I use a Cuisinart 4 Cup rice cooker with a touch of canola oil in the bottom of the pan and use a 1 to 2 ratio of rice to water and a pinch of salt.  Great stir fry should be accompanied by great rice, every time.

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Rarely to I find Dutch food a treat, I am Dutch and the closest thing that I find that is Dutch that I purposely plan to consume is Rusk and I am not sure why that is, I am usually not a fan of bland food.  However, this Christmas I was asked to make Pigs in a Blanket, to bring to Christmas brunch and so I have.  Using a recipe found online and then confirmed against a family recipe to create a truly Dutch treat, it is possible.

Homemade Pig in the Blanket

Ingredients
For the dough
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1 egg beaten
1/2 c milk

For the filling
1 lbs pork sausage
1/2 lbs ground beef
1/4 c bread crumbs, made from bread dried in the oven and crumbled
2 tbsp cream
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Sift together dry ingredients, cut in shortening.  Mix in beaten egg and milk.  Turn out onto a floured surface, knead dough about 10 times until uniform.  Divide into two sections, roll each to 1/4 inch thick and cut out 15 2″x3″ rectangles from each, set aside.

For filling, blend all ingredients together by hand, until uniform.  Roll into 30 rolls of meat, think sausage links.  Wrap dough around each “link”.

Place on brown paper bag on cookie sheets with sides, bake 40 minutes at 350°F

If you are afraid it is going to be too bland, spice it up with some hot and spicy whole grain mustard.  This will become a Christmas, and most likely year around favorite for me.  What are you favorite Christmas time dishes?

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I have found the the best time to sit down and write a recipe review is while stuffing my face the result of that recipe.  And tonight is a prime instance of this, all that is missing from this late afternoon dessert is a bit of coffee.

Cranberry Apple Walnut Pie

But let me back up, yesterday was well sort of a first for me.  I had never prior to yesterday made a real pie start to finish, sure I made Key Lime pie which is a chore but just used crumbled up cracker, sugar and margarine for a crust.  So yesterday the journey began using a set of recipes I had found in Midwest Living some time ago.  (By the way thank you to the previous renters at my address for not forwarding your mail, I hope all that stuff marked urgent and last notice wasn’t important, I digress.)  One was for the pie itself and another for the crust, which is certainly not a Weight Watches approved crust.

Double Pie Crust Recipe
Ingredients:
3 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c cold margarine (butter) cut into pieces
1/4 c butter flavored shortening
7 tbsp cold water
1 egg beaten
2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions
Mix flour and salt.  Add in margarine and shortening until pea sizes pieces form.

Mix remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Combine all ingredients tell wet throughout.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface and work into a ball with hands.  Divide in half and roll out one at a time into pie crusts.

Bake as directed in pie recipe.

Apple-Cranberry-Walnut Pie
Ingredients
1 c cane sugar
1/3 c flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 lbs tart cooking apples, peeled cored and sliced (I used my Apple Peeler-Corer-Slicer to make the job easier)
2 c cranberries (fresh)
1/2 c chopped walnuts
2 tbsp margarine (butter)
milk, sprinkle of sugar

Instructions
In a small bowl mix flour, sugar, cinnamon.  In a large  bowl mix fruit an walnuts.  Sprinkle sugar mixture over fruit tossing to combine.

Roll out first pie crust and place in pie plate, add in filling mixture and distribute evenly.

Roll out remaining pie crust and either just cover and cut a slit in to allow steam to escape of do as I did and give it a nice weave, which makes it look all the more tasty.

Brush top crust with milk, sprinkle with sugar and place in the over for 90 minutes (give or take) at 325ºF.  Remove when crust is lightly browned and fruit is tender.

Pie ready for the oven

You’ll notice the weave which was tricky but looked outstanding when it came out.

Pie!

I am not gonna lie that is one fine looking pie for a rookie and while it was not the best pie I have ever had it was way better than most.  The tartness of the apples and the cranberries make this pie quite unique and the crust was pretty good as well.

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Bacon, pork and sage what more could one ask for, but all together these three ingredients make a startling pleasant and extremely tasty meatball.  Now drench those same meatballs in a tangy-thymey gravy and BAM, Olive Garden better head for the boarder there is a new sheriff in town.

I had originally found this recipe along time ago and had yet to make it, with an impending potluck this coming weekend I thought I would make them ahead only to discover yesterday that a pound of pork doesn’t go to far so I decided to eat them tonight piled high on a bed of rice.  I was not disappointed, thought I feel sorry for those of you who could have sampled them on Sunday.

This recipe is headed for the recipe box, it may become a frequent favorite.  You can find the original recipe over at Apartment Therapy.

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