Art Smith's Goat Cheese Drop Biscuits

Inspiration:
My friend Carli recently treated me to dinner at Art Smith's Chicago restaurant Table 52. We were able to secure seats at the 5-seat bar which overlooks the wood-fired oven. One of the many highlights of our meal were the goat cheese biscuits served to all guests in lieu of the traditional bread basket. We observed the line cook make a number of cast iron pans full of biscuits as we raved about how delicious they were. Upon returning home from Chicago, I immediately searched for a recipe, and thankfully, it wasn't hard to find. You must make these.
Recipe


Ingredients:

• 2 cups King Arthur self-rising flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp cold butter (2 oz)
  
• 4 tbsp goat cheese (2 oz)
  
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• butter to grease pan and top biscuits

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Place one 10 inch cast iron pan into the oven while it is preheating. Place flour and salt into a medium sized bowl. Cut in the butter and goat cheese. Make a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the milk. Stir until the mix is moistened, adding an extra tablespoon of milk if needed.
2. Remove the hot skillet from the oven and place a tablespoon of butter into it. When the butter has melted, drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the pan, (use a muffin scoop to drop the batter if you have one). Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter. Bake from 14-16 minutes until browned on the top and bottom. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Enjoy warm!

Tim's Rating: 9.5/10 "They don't even taste goat-y." (He thinks he doesn't like goat cheese.)
Liz's Rating: 10/10

Banh Chuoi Nuong (Vietnamese Banana Cake)

Inspiration:
The Amazing Race's pit stop in Vietnam
and
this recipe


Ingredients:

• 1.25 lbs ripe bananas
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 7 slices of sandwich bread
  

Instructions:

1. Slice the banana diagonally and sprinnkle with half the sugar. Cook the remaining sugar in coconut milk until dissolved, then add the vanilla. Remove crusts from the bread. Soak the bread in the sweetened coconut milk.
2. Butter a 12-inch non stick pan. Arrange a layer of banana on the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of bread, then another layer of bananas, another bread layer, and then finish with a layer of bananas, another bread layer, and then finish with a layer of bananas. Drizzle the remaining butter over the top, then cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 1 hour.
   
3. Rest for 12 hours before cutting.

Notes: This bread pudding-like dessert was really easy and quick! I assembled this dish in a pie pan, and I only had one layer of bread and two layers of bananas. It tastes much better than it looks.

Liz's Rating: 8.5/10
Tim's Rating: 8.5/10

TWD: Whole Wheat Mango Muffins

For this week on Tuesdays with Dorie, I modified the Fresh Mango Bread recipe into a whole wheat muffin recipe. They turned out great!

You can find the recipe on Baking with the Boys.

I halved the recipe, which made 8 muffins. I omitted the raisins and used half whole-wheat and half all-purpose flour. I baked them for about 25 minutes. I loved the spices combined with the sweet mango and will definitely make these again!

Liz's Rating: 9/10
Tim's Rating: 8.5/10

TWD: Chocolate-Orange-Almond Bread Pudding

This week on Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Bread Pudding!

I had never made bread pudding before and was excited to try it. I am trying to use up items in my pantry since we are moving soon, and I had some orange chocolate that I thought would work well in this recipe. It did! We loved it.

You can find the recipe at A Baking Blog and find links to all of the TWD bakers at the home site.


Tim's Rating: 9.5/10 "Tastes like chocolate French toast!"
Liz's Rating: 9/10


Next week on TWD: Chocolate Cream Tart

TWD: Coconut Butter Thins

Inspiration:
Kelly of The Barefoot Kitchen Witch chose this week's recipe and will be posting it on her blog.

These aren't pretty, but they are delicious.

I loved these cookies! They have a shortbread texture with just a hint of coconut and lime. When I make these again (and I will), I will double the lime zest.

These remind me of the World Peace Cookies, which has been my favorite TWD recipe so far. I might try the method used this week with the World Peace Cookies next time; it was much easier than slicing the rolls of frozen dough.

Do any long-time members think I have missed a recipe I'd love that is similar to the World Peace Cookies and these? (I have only been with the group since January.)


Tim's Rating: 9.5/10 ("I don't taste coconut or lime. Oh I taste a little lime. These taste like butter. These are really good.")
Liz's Rating: 9.5/10

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

Inspiration:
Sihan of Befuddlement chose this week's recipe!


I thought it was tasty and not too much of a production. It is definitely a step up from the Betty Crocker Blueberry Streusel Muffins I have so enjoyed over the years. :)


Tim's Rating: 8/10
Liz's Rating: 8/10


Next week on TWD: Coconut Butter Thins

TWD: Lemon French Yogurt Cake

Inspiration:
Liliana of My Cookbook Addiction chose this week's recipe and will be posting it on her blog.

I skipped the optional marmalade glaze because I didn't want it to be too sticky. It was a simple, delicious bread, sort of like a lemon pound cake. It would be a nice thing to take to a friend's home or to serve to overnight guests.

This was easy to make. I used a dark metal pan, and my loaf didn't seem to rise as much as others. It was also done earlier than the recipe described.

I am a little late posting this because... I am lazy. I baked this on Sunday but didn't get the photo uploaded in time. Whoops!


Tim's Rating: 8.5/10
Liz's Rating: 8/10


Next week on TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake (!)

Lavash

Inspiration:
When I saw these on Lindsay's blog, I knew I had to try them. Then Tim and I went to her home, and he had some. "You made these?" He was shocked and impressed, which made Lindsay and I laugh a little. Lindsay gave him a bag to take home, and he ate all of them by the time we got home. So, I made him some more today.
Recipe adapted from Bread Baker's Apprentice


Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup room temperature water
• one egg white, lightly beaten with 1t water
  
• coarse salt
  
• spices (I used dill, cumin, caraway, and rosemary)
  

Instructions:

1. Stir the flour, salt yeast, honey and oil together.
2. While continuing to stir, slowly add the water into the dry ingredients. Stir until the dough gathers into a ball.
   
3. Lightly flour the counter top and knead the dough for 10 minutes. You will know the dough is ready when it stretches thin without breaking. (Do the windowpane test.)
   
4. Spray a bowl with oil and swirl the dough to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 90 minutes -- the dough should double in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Lightly oil the counter top. Place dough on the oiled surface and sprinkle with flour. Roll the dough out until its paper thin. It should be at least 12" x 15".
7. Place dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
   
8. Using a pastry brush, thinly coat the dough with the egg wash. Sprinkle coarse salt and any spices you would like onto the dough.
9. If you would like pre-cut crackers, use a pizza cutter and cut the desired shapes - the crackers will break even once removed from the oven.
10. Bake the crackers for 15-20 minutes, when the crackers are evenly browned.

Notes: I didn't roll the dough as thinly as I should have. I still like the result, but Tim prefers Lindsay's crunchy crackers. She used whole wheat flour, which I will try next time. (I am currently out.)

Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 9/10

TWD: Caramel Crunch Bars

Inspiration:
Whitney from What's Left on The Table chose this recipe and will be posting it. I was excited to make it, as Tim loves toffee. It was pretty easy to prepare, especially since I have a stand mixer. I have no complaints-- easy and tasty! I did use an 8*11 pan instead of a 9*13, and I was glad I did.


Tim's Rating: 9.5/10
Liz's Rating: 8.5/10

Next week on TWD: Chocolate Armagnac Cake

TWD: World Peace Cookies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Jessica of cookbookhabit. She will be posting the recipe, which is also found on pp. 138-139 of Dorie's cookbook.

LOVE. Love. Love. I love these cookies. Chocolatey. Salty. Delicious. You must make them.

Only one slight issue with the execution: I froze the dough--when I went to slice it to bake, it crumbled a bit. I waited 5 minutes and then it sliced beautifully. I will be making these again-- SOON!

Liz's Rating: 10/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

I will be skipping the next two weeks of TWD due to vacations and a busy schedule. I look forward to seeing other members' results with the Floating Islands and Devils Food Whiteout Cake! I will be back on Feb 24th with the Caramel Crunch Bars.

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

This week's TWD recipe was chosen by Heather of Sherry Trifle, who should post the recipe sometime today. You can also find it on page 212 of Dorie's book.

I had never made gingerbread before--I am not a huge fan of molasses, and I think that's why I didn't love this recipe. I must say the icing is amazing! I used an 8x11-inch pan, and the batter fit perfectly.


Liz's Rating: 7.5/10 (9.5/10 for the icing)
Tim's Rating: 8/10


Next week on TWD: World Peace Cookies

Reindeer Cookies

Inspiration:
Taste of Home magazine

Prepare your favorite recipe for peanut butter cookie dough. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, flatten, and make an indentation so the cookie is a peanut shape. Use red M&Ms or red hots for the nose, chocolate chips for the eyes, and mini pretzels for the antlers. Do this BEFORE baking. (We found out the hard way, haha). Bake as instructed in your peanut butter cookie recipe. These need to cool a very long time so that the chocolate eyes harden.

How cute are they? I hope these are a hit at the cookie swap I am attending.

ANZAC Biscuits (Cookies)

Inspiration:
The Amazing Race's stop in New Zealand
and this recipe.
I think the ANZAC biscuit background story is kind of interesting, which can be found on Wikipedia.

We visited New Zealand's south island in January 2006, and we loved it! I highly recommend a visit, and we are hoping to return sometime soon.
Here are a few of my favorite photos:

Queenstown

Fiordland

Glenorchy

Franz Josef Glacier

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  
• 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, chopped
  
• 3/4 cup flour
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 8 tablespoons butter
  
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup (or honey or corn syrup)
  
• 3 tablespoons boiling water
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugar, and coconut.

2. Combine the baking soda and boiling water in a small bowl to dissolve, and set aside. In a small pan, melt the butter and stir in the golden (or corn) syrup. Once the syrup is mixed into the butter, stir in the baking soda and water mixture. Remove from heat and pour into the mixing bowl containing the dry ingredients.

3. Stir until the dough forms. It should be moist and able to hold its shape. If too dry, add a few drops water. If too moist, add a sprinkle of flour.
   

4. Place rounded teaspoon of mixture on parchment and generously space apart. The cookies will each be 3-4″ wide.

5. Place baking sheet into a preheated 300 degree oven for 12 minutes or until the cookies are a deep golden brown on top. They will puff up during baking and once cooled will be very thin. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Recipe Notes:
Since the cookies are thin, it’s best to bake them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. When removed from the oven they are too fragile to remove by spatula, with the parchment you can lift them off of the baking sheet and can set on a rack to cool.


My Notes:
Make sure you leave plenty of room between cookies as they really spread during baking.

Liz's Rating: 9/10
Tim's Rating: 8.5/10

Next week on The Amazing Race: Cambodia, another of our favorite travel locations!

Katie's Apple Spice Cookie Bars

Inspiration/Ingredients/Instructions:
The fabulous Katie. Her blog is one of the first I started to follow, and it's fantastic!

Katie's Apple Spice Cookie Bars

Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 8.5/10

Rhubarb Crunch

Inspiration:
Farmers Market rhubarb and Tim's request for a childhood favorite.
I used a recipe by Barb Rampolla from the Kettle Moraine Curling Club cookbook, which sounded closest to my mother-in-law's description of Tim's favorite.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 cups rhubarb, cubed
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 2 T flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 t vanilla
• red food coloring

Instructions:

1. Mix flour, brown sugar, oatmeal and butter until crumbly. Pack 1/2 the mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Reserve the remaining half mixture.
2. Spread rhubarb evenly over the packed crust. Cook sugar, flour, water, and vanilla until thickened and clear. Add food coloring. Pour sauce over rhubarb. Sprinkle with the remaining crumb mixture.
   
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Tim's Rating: 9/10

Zucchini-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inspiration:
A recipe found in the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

Ingredients/Instructions:
PDF or HTML


Notes:
Very moist. You cannot taste the zucchini. (We actually used summer squash.) I think that I may reduce the amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg the next time I make these.

Tim's Rating: 8/10
Liz's Rating: 8/10

Zucchini Muffins

Inspiration:
The Simple Recipes blog
as well as a large zucchini from our CSA

....AND this lovely new kitchen tool. Thanks, Mom!
Ingredients:

• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)
• 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture. Fold in the walnuts and dried raisins or cranberries if using.
2. Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Recipe Notes:

• Much like the banana bread, these zucchini muffins are insanely good and insanely easy to make. No mixer, wooden spoon only, and two bowls, though you could really even make the batter in one bowl. Very moist. Just sweet enough.
  

• You don't need a mixer for this recipe.
• If you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin).
• For those of you who prefer to use oil over butter, be my guest (use 1 cup vegetable oil instead of the butter) but I have to tell you, I've made these both ways, and the butter version just tastes better.
  
  

My Notes:
These are really good! I wish it used up more zucchini than it did-- I got 4.5 cups shredded zucchini from one medium-large zucchini. I froze the remaining cup and a half. I still have three large zucchini left, and more coming next Thursday! I have added a zucchini tag to this blog to help other people with lots of it!

Liz's Rating: 9/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

Naan

Inspiration:
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup ghee or oil
  
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Instructions:

1. Whisk the warm water with the yeast and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 10 minutes.
2. Sift flour and salt three times into a large bowl add the yeast mixture, half of the ghee or oil and all the yogurt. Mix into a soft dough then knead on a floured surface for about 5 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough is doubled in size .
3. Punch down dough then knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Let rise for an additional 10-30 minutes if you have the time. Roll each piece out into 8 inch round naans.
   
4. Brush the naan with a little of the remaining ghee or oil. Heat oil in a large flat skillet. Pan fry naan one at a time for about 2 minutes on each side or until puffed and just browned, adding additional oil as necessary.
   

Recipe Notes:
"This is an authentic Indian Naan recipe. I have made this many times. It goes well with Indian curry which has a lot of gravy, such as the Butter Chicken." (Original recipe uses ghee instead of oil.)

My Notes:
This is my best yeast-bread result so far. I have to say I am pretty impressed with myself- this naan tastes exactly like that of our favorite Indian/Nepali restaurant, Everest on Grand.

Tim's Rating: 10/10
Liz's Rating: 10/10

Gougéres

Inspiration:
A NY Times recipe, adopted from Sara Dickerman and Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch cayenne pepper
  
• 3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs
• 5 ounces Gruyère, grated
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water.

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg and cayenne in a small bowl. In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter with the milk and ¼ cup of water over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Bring to a rolling boil, add the flour mixture and stir briskly for 1 minute. The dough should form into a ball, and a thin film should cover the bottom of the pan.
2. Immediately transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix on low to quickly release the steam. Just after the steam subsides, add an egg and increase the speed to medium. The dough will break into lumps at first. Once the dough comes back together, add the second egg and continue mixing.
3. In a small bowl, lightly beat the third egg. Stop the mixer. When the dough is lifted with a spoon, it should detach and form a slowly bending peak. If the dough is too thick and doesn’t bend, mix in half of the beaten egg. Check the dough again; add the remaining beaten egg as needed.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
5. Fold ¾ of the Gruyère into the warm dough. Pipe or scoop the dough onto the prepared pans in tablespoon-size balls. Using a pastry brush, glaze each ball with the egg wash, smoothing out peaks with gentle pressure on the brush. Top each ball with a pinch of the remaining grated cheese. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating the pans once. The puffs should be light golden brown. Turn off the oven, crack open the oven door and let cool in the oven for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve immediately.

My Notes:
I had a problem with them falling. When I cracked open the oven door at the end of the recipe, they had all puffed up beautifully. I didn't do anything for those 10 minutes, and then about 80% of them had fallen flat. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
These were so delicious right out of the oven! I took them to book club, and they were just ok when cooled. So I will follow the instructions next time and "serve immediately."


Tim's Rating: 8/10 ("There wasn't much to them.")
Liz's Rating: 9.5/10 when warm, 8/10 when cooled.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Source:
Food and Wine

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the blueberries. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, oil and lemon zest, then whisk in the lemon juice. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until blended; do not overmix.
2. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins stand in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Notes:
"Using frozen berries makes the batter incredibly thick and keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the pan. Of course, the muffins are fantastic with fresh blueberries as well.
Once thoroughly cooled, the muffins can be kept overnight in an airtight container."

My Notes:
Next time I will sprinkle a little sugar on top before baking. These are very, very good.

Tim: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 9.5/10