Strawberries and Cream Biscuits

The boyfriend found this recipe on the smitten kitchen blog (if you haven't checked it out, you should!) and since I had a co-worker give me a couple of quarts of strawberries shortly after, it seemed destiny.  I baked them and we ate the first couple plain, and although they were tasty, the boyfriend thought they weren't as sweet as he expected a scone to be and therefore would work great as a strawberry shortcake base.  So, of course, as I still had berries left, I sliced up some (use an egg slicer if you have one lying around - works great!!), added some sugar, whipped up some whipping cream and presto, strawberry shortcakes with strawberry and cream biscuits.  Very tasty!  I neglected to get a picture, but, well, we all know what strawberry shortcake looks like.  And the pictures on the smitten kitchen blog are amazing.

2 1/4 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold, unsalted butter
1 cup (about 130 grams) chopped very ripe strawberries (I quarter small or medium ones and further chop larger ones)
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together. Add butter, either by cutting it in with two knives or a pastry blender (alternatively, you can freeze the butter and grate it in on the large holes of a box grater; a tip I learned from you guys) cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, breaking it up until the mixture resembles a crumbly meal with tiny pea-sized bits of butter about. Gently stir in the strawberries, so that they are coated in dry ingredient, then stir in heavy cream. (I like to use a rubber spatula to gently lift and turn the ingredients over each other.) When you’ve mixed it in as best as you can with the spatula, go ahead and knead it once or twice in the bowl, to create one mass. Do not worry about getting the dough evenly mixed. It’s far more important that the dough is not overworked.

Generously flour your counter. With as few movements as possible, transfer your dough to the counter, generously flour the top of it and with your hands or a rolling pin, gently roll or press the dough out to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2-inch circles with a floured biscuit cutter or top edge of a drinking glass, pressing straight down and not twisting (this makes for nice layered edges) as you cut. Carefully transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between each.
You can re-roll the scraps of dough, but don’t freak out over how wet the dough becomes as the strawberries have had more time to release their juice. They’ll still bake up wonderfully.
Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, until bronzed at the edges and the strawberry juices are trickling out of the biscuits in places. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Do ahead: Biscuits are generally best the day they are baked. However, if you wish to get a lead on them, you can make them, arrange them on your parchment-lined sheet and freeze them. If you’re prepping just one day in advance, cover the tray with plastic wrap and bake them the day you need them. If you’re preparing them more than one day in advance, once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or container. Bring them back to a parchment-lined sheet when you’re ready to bake them. No need to defrost the froze, unbaked scones, just add 2 to 3 minutes to your baking time.

Chicken Florentine Casserole

Time for another cooking creme recipe.  As usual, the prep time was longer than indicated.  And I hate spinach - I can never get it to defrost for me!  I also sprinkled some extra mozzarella on top with the bacon.  The spinach makes you forget how much cheese you're eating!  Overall, very tasty and a recipe I'll make again.


1 tsp. oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Creme
3/4 cup milk
2 cups cooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

HEAT oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 6 to 7 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in all remaining ingredients except bacon.

SPOON into 1-1/2 qt. casserole sprayed with cooking spray; cover.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through, uncovering and sprinkling with bacon after 15 min.

Praline Sweet Potatoes

Located at 4 o'clock in the picture, the Praline Sweet Potatoes is a recipe I've been meaning to try for ages (I printed the recipe out in 2001!!!)  Very sweet and decadent - not a recipe for your everyday sweet potatoes, but for a special meal, definitely a treat.  The recipe calls for four cups of mashed sweet potatoes, so I guessed at four potatoes.  Well, by the time I finally made it (the ham dinner was delayed a couple of times), two of potatoes no longer looked so appetizing, so I halved the recipe.  I think I ended up with a bit more than two cups though.  But even so, I halved everything else and it still came out absolutely amazing! (edit December 15 2016 to add a new picture taken on Thanksgiving)

Ingredients

• 4 cups mashed sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 pint heavy cream (1 cup)
• 1/4 pound butter (8 Tbsp)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Directions

1. Butter one 2 quart casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs and cream. Blend well, and spread evenly in casserole dish.
3. Prepare the topping by combining the butter, brown sugar, flour and pecans. Mix until crumbly, and sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven.
   

Red Velvet Waffles with Cream Cheese Icing Drizzle

Rachael Ray had these on her show at Valentine's Day and I finally got around to making them.  I made a couple of small changes to it... I never find 4 oz blocks of cream cheese, only 3 or 8, so I went with 3 and stirred in part of the milk until it looked drizzley.   And I have no idea where to find pomegranate seeds, so I skipped them entirely and used the whole 6 oz container of raspberries, which might have been slightly over the one cup.  We had them as a breakfast treat for Easter. And a word of caution, I used a Belgian waffle iron, so I was guessing at how much to ladle in... the batter is thinner than regular waffles (or at least my regular waffles), so go with less than you think or you'll have batter all over the iron and counter.  Oh, and on the show, she used liquer in her berries, but I skipped that too, already decadent enough for breakfast, didn't need boozy berries too!

Ingredients

• 1 box of red velvet cake mix
• Nonstick cooking spray
• For the Cream Cheese Icing Drizzle:
• 4 ounces cream cheese, one small block, softened
• 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• For the Red Berry Salad:
• 2 cups strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup red raspberries
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1 tablespoon sugar 

Yields: 8 waffles

Preparation

Preheat waffle maker to medium-high heat.

Prepare cake mix to package directions. Once waffle iron is hot, spray with cooking spray. Pour 2 cups (about half) of the cake batter into the waffle iron. Cook 5 minutes; carefully remove from the waffle maker.

For the cream cheese drizzle, cream together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt into a bowl. Slowly whisk in milk. Set aside.

Mix together all ingredients for the red berry salad in a small bowl.

Top each waffle with a heaping spoonful of red berry salad and a drizzle of cream cheese

Shrimp & Broccoli Fettuccine

 Alas, this was not among my favorites for the cooking cremes (Enchiladas still win!).  Not bad, but I would make some changes the next time.  I used a whole pound of shrimp (what was I going to do with 1/4 pound that would've been left?) which turned out to be too much (boyfriend said that he prefers his shrimp breaded) and I left out the tomatoes as he doesn't care for them and a 1/4 cup seemed negligible.  I wasn't sure how far the cream sauce would go so I didn't add more broccoli as I was inclined.  One cup of broccoli is not enough, particularly if you want to make this a one dish meal.  I would increase the amount of pasta, double the broccoli, and use a 1/2 pound of shrimp (which would leave enough to make it again another time! - and more economical too).  If and when I make it again, I'll let you know how the changes came out.

1/4 lb. fettuccine, uncooked
1 cup broccoli florets
3/4 lb. frozen cooked cleaned medium shrimp, thawed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Savory Lemon & Herb Cooking Creme
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

Directions

Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting salt and adding broccoli for the last 3 min. Drain; keep warm.
Cook and stir shrimp and garlic in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 2 to 3 min. or until shrimp are heated through. Add cooking creme and milk; cook and stir 2 min.
Add pasta to shrimp mixture; mix lightly. Top with tomatoes.

Penne with Turky & Broccolini

Tonight's dinner is courtesy EveryDay with Rachael Ray (April 2012).  Another time I would cut back on the crushed red pepper as it was a bit spicy for us.  We couldn't find the broccolini at the store so we went with the tip and used broccoli crowns instead.  Definitely easy to throw together and cooks up quickly.

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound penne
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 1 bunch broccolini (9 oz.) tough ends trimmed, stalks, and florets chopped into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat

Tip If you can't find broccolini, use broccoli florets instead.

Tip ...roasted red peppers. Slice 4 oz. drained jarred peppers into thin strips and mix into the pasta along with the broccolini.

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the penne until al dente, 11 to 13 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, add 2 tbsp. EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini and season with salt and pepper. Stir in 2 tbsp. water, cover and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Lower the heat to medium, add the remaining EVOO and the onion and cook until soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Push the onion to the side of the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and crumble in the turkey; season. Cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the pasta, broccolini and three-quarters of the reserved pasta water to the turkey; toss well. Add the remaining pasta water if needed to thin the sauce.

Meatloaf & Potato Pileup

I saw this recipe in an issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray, and then saw her make it on her show one morning. The video on the show's website wasn't available for a little while, but she verbally says that you can use any combination of meat that you want, as well as saying that they gilded the lily by adding the pesto. So, I halved the recipe, using a medium onion, one beet (halving that would've been a pain, and what to do with the rest?), and a pound of ground beef, and completely skipped the pesto. I messed up when reading the instructions for the cheese sauce, so my cheese didn't melt in the way that it should have. And I probably didn't get the beet wrung out well enough, as there was beet juice in the bottom of my casserole dish. It was a significant amount of work and dirtied a lot of dishes! Tasty overall, but probably not one we'll add to regular repertoire (although the boyfriend might have like it better had I gotten the cheese sauce done the right way!), especially considering the amount of work it took.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds baking potatoes, scrubbed and sliced crosswise 1/8-inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, quartered, one quarter finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half, warmed
• 6 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
• Salt and pepper
• 2 carrots, peeled and quartered
• 1 small beet, peeled and quartered
• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 pound ground dark meat turkey
• 1 pound ground beef chuck
• 1 cup basil leaves
• 1/2 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Yields: 8

Preparation

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.

In a large pot filled halfway with boiling, lightly salted water, cook the potatoes for 3 minutes. Drain and spread them out evenly on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet to cool.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour for 2 minutes, then pour in half-and-half and bring to a boil, whisking constantly; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Let cool.

Using a food processor, chop the remaining onion and the carrots. Transfer to a bowl. Add the beets to the processor and chop. Transfer to a kitchen towel, wrap and squeeze out any excess moisture.

Whisk the eggs, marinara, breadcrumbs, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper into the carrot mixture. Crumble in the turkey, beef and beets, and mix well. Transfer to a 9x13” oval casserole, pressing into an even layer. Top with the potatoes and cheese sauce.

Place the casserole on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are bubbly and top is browned, about 40 minutes. Cover with foil and continue cooking until a meat thermometer placed in the center of the loaf registers 175°F, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Purée basil, EVOO, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Serve with the meatloaf.