Biscuits and Gravy

During quarantine, I’ve been doing a lot of baking, and experimenting with recipes I’ve wanted to make, but just haven’t. Today I decided to make biscuits. Now I don’t begin to believe I’m a biscuit maker, since all of my In-Laws live in the south, I would never compare my biscuits to theirs!

After reviewing quite a few recipes, watching a few videos, several failed attempts years ago, I think I finally get it.  I had been overworking the dough.  Here’s what I came up with....

Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

• 4 cups bread flour, plus more for the work surface 
• 2 tablespoons baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3 sticks salted butter (¾ pound), cold, cut into ½-inch pieces or grated 
• 2 large eggs, beaten, plus 1 large egg for brushing 
• 1½ cups buttermilk, or as needed, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing 
• Pinch flake salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the butter and use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until the pieces are even and about the size of peas.
2. Stir in the beaten eggs with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in 1½ cups buttermilk until the dough comes together into a sticky mass. If it is too dry, add more buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition, until it reaches the correct consistency. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
3. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Scrape the dough onto a floured work surface. Use your floured hands to press it into a round roughly 14 inches across and about ½ inch thick.
5. Use a floured 2¾- inch round cutter to cut out about 20 biscuits. If necessary, collect and pat out the scraps to cut more biscuits.
6. Transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet, arranging them so that they all are touching.
7. In a small dish, beat together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon buttermilk. Brush the mixture on the top of the biscuits. Very lightly sprinkle with flake salt.
8. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool slightly in the pan on a rack.
9. Biscuits are best the day they are made (and ideally fresh out of the oven!). Serve with strawberry jam or sausage gravy, if desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Oh, yeah....here’s the Sausage Gravy

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients

• 4 oz Sausage (I had frozen patties, so I chopped up 2)
• 2 oz Butter, cut up 
• Flour
• 1 cup Milk (give or take a few ounces)
• Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Fry up the sausage. Once browned, add in the butter, stir until melted. 
2. Reduce temp to med/low. Sprinkle in the flour, and whisk until combined. Mixture should be dry. If it’s not add more flour and continue to stir. You’ll want to continue to cook the flour/butter/sausage for a few minutes to reduce the flour taste. 
3. Slowly add in the milk, and stir to combine.  As the mixture thickens, add in more milk to “thin” the mixture out, until desired thickness.
4. Add pepper to taste. 

  

Oh and a gratuitous picture of Zoey, my sons chef, taster, sniffer and kitchen companion. 

“Sous Vide” Egg Bites

We’ve all bought those little delicious Egg Bites at our favorite coffee shop on the corner or in our grocery store. They are so good, but man they cost a small fortune. Here is the recipe I use to recreate these morning tasty treats. 

Sous Vide Style/Instant Pot Egg Bites 

INGREDIENTS

4 Large Eggs
4 Bacon Strips, or 6 T of sausage (precooked is great!)
1.5 Cups Favorite Cheese 
½ Cup Cottage Cheese (can substitute sour cream)
¼ Cup Heavy Cream
½ tsp. Salt
Optional: Dash of Hot Sauce

Special equipment: Baby Food Mold (see pictures below)

INSTRUCTIONS-

Baby food mold method:
Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of your Instant Pot followed by the trivet that came with your pot.
Cook the bacon utilizing your favorite method to cook bacon. Crumble and evenly distribute into the 7 forms. 
Add the eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, cream and salt to the blender and blend until smooth (about 15 seconds).
Add a dash of hot sauce if desired and blend for a few more seconds.
Divvy the egg mixture evenly into the 7 forms. 
Cover loosely with foil and place gently on the trivet in the Instant Pot.
Place the cover on the Instant Pot and select "Steam" and set to 8 Minutes.
NPR (natural pressure release) for 10 minutes and then quick release (QR) the rest.
Carefully remove the egg bites from the Instant Pot and let cool down for a few minutes.
Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for up to a week! Can also be frozen and microwaved to rewarm. 

INSTRUCTIONS-

Mason jar method:
Put 1 cup of water in the bottom of your Instant Pot followed by the trivet that came with your pot.
Cook the bacon utilizing your favorite method to cook bacon. Crumble and evenly distribute into 4 mason jars.
Add the eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, cream and salt to the blender and blend until smooth (about 15 seconds).
Add a dash of hot sauce if desired and blend for a few more seconds.
Divvy the egg mixture evenly into 4 mason jars.
Cover each mason jar loosely with foil and place gently in the Instant Pot.
Place the cover on the Instant Pot and select "Steam" and set to 8 Minutes.
NPR (natural pressure release) for 10 minutes and then quick release (QR) the rest.
Carefully remove the egg bites from the Instant Pot and let cool down for a few minutes.
Enjoy immediately or refrigerate for up to a week!

Combination options:

Jarlsberg/Bacon

Monterey Jack/Chorizo

Feta/Spinach

Goat cheese/Chopped bell peppers

Frittata Breakfast Sandwiches

I love a quick breakfast, well any meal for that matter. Traveling for work make me figure out alternatives to fast food breakfasts, and make something that can be microwaved. 

Recently while I was on the road, I tried a premade breakfast in a cup, you know where you just crack an egg. But I took and split it in two and made it a sandwich by adding an English muffin. PERFECT. I’m not so sure about healthy, but healthier than a sausage McMuffin for sure. 

Well, I got home, I was like, “I’m sure I can recreate this”!  So here is it is:

Frittata Breakfast Sandwiches

(Makes 2)

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon frozen diced O’Brien hash browns (this has peppers and onions)
• 1 tablespoon shredded cheese
• 2 English Muffins, split and toasted 

Optional alternatives:

• 1 tablespoon prediced onions and peppers, frozen. 
• 1 tablespoon diced ham (prediced and frozen) or diced/crumbled bacon (you can omit if you are putting bacon or a sausage patty on the sandwich)
• 4 strips of bacon (optional)
• 2 sausage patties (optional)
• 2 slices of cheese (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a larger Ramekin, place hash browns and cheese and crack the eggs. Add salt and pepper as needed. (At this point you can add the additional optional items, if desired). 
2. Microwave on high for 30-45 seconds. Remove and stir. Microwave again for 90 seconds. When complete, ramekin will be hot. Touch the top of the eggs, if firm remove. If not firm, microwave for another 30 seconds. 
3. While eggs were cooking toast English Muffin and heat sausage patty, if adding. 
4. Remove eggs from microwave and turn ramekin upside down on cutting board. Allow to cool slightly. 
5. Split eggs in half sideways to make two egg patties. Place one on each half of English Muffin. Add sausage, bacon and or cheese if desired. 

Note:

• On my sandwich I used a sausage patty and omitted the ham in the frittata. 
• To make things quicker in the morning, pre-dice the optional items and freeze them in a ziplock baggie, flat. Once partially frozen break them up so you don’t have a block to deal with in the am. 

Blue Cheese and Green Onion Scones

A few years ago, I was watching a tv show, specifically Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, when a blue cheese scone flashed across the screen.  I was like, I must have that.  Well, I have no intention on going to Minneapolis to visit Colossal Café, just to get a scone.  So I searched and searched, and like everything else, I got distracted and the years passed, until yesterday when the episode aired again (probably for the 300th time, you all know tv programming!) and I did a quick search, and low and behold, there it was.  “Ahhhhhhhhh”, is what I heard.  I also noticed, I (thought) I had everything to make this savory treat.  So early this morning, I decided to attempt to make these.

While I was inspired by the original recipe from Bess at Colossal Café, but alas, I did not have all of the ingredients.  Here is my version….and I have to say they turned out awesome!

Blue cheese green onion scones 

Ingredients

22 ounces all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon rosemary salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

6 ounces very cold butter, diced

4 ounces blue cheese crumbs

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 bunch chopped green onion

3 eggs, beaten

1 ½ cup sour cream

Directions

Preheat the convection oven to 350°F.

Add all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. 

Using a pastry blender, gently blend in the diced butter into the dry ingredients. Add the blue cheese, parsley, and green onions. 

Mix together the eggs and sour cream. Make a well and add in half of the egg/sour cream mixture. Fold until just holding together, adding the remaining egg/sour cream mixture as needed. 

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop 3-ounce portions of batter onto the paper. Bake for 22-28 minutes, until firm and golden.

Savory Sausage Bundt "Cake"

Every year we are invited to a friends poker party.  The party is a lot of fun, and we are able to  catch up with old friends, meet some great new friends, but the funny part is neither Craig or I play poker. At the party, Craig helps maintain the buy in table, and keep track of who's in and who's out, while I tend to help keep the kitchen picked up. 

Since there's an occasional alcoholic beverage, we usually reserve a room and our “thanks” is to make breakfast (for those who have crashed or reserved a room. Some times people leave before breakfast, and miss out big time, just sayin!). In years past we've made fig scones, omelettes just to name a few. This year, I came across a recipe for a Savory Stuffed Bundt Cake, and was like, I just have to make this!!

So the recipe goes like this:

Savory Sausage Bundt "Cake"

 

Ingredients

* 1 batch pizza dough (store bought or homemade)

* 2 lb bulk sausage(I used a turkey breakfast, but chorizo would be incredible)

*¾ lb jack cheese, shredded

*¾ lb cheddar cheese, shredded

* 1 fresh jalapeño, seeded & diced fine

* 1 onion, diced fine

* ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped, plus more for garnish if desired

* black pepper, to taste

* 5 eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Generously grease the bunds pan.

3. Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, drain as needed

4. While the sausage is cooking, mix the cheese, jalapeño, onion, cheese and cilantro in a medium mixing bowl, add black pepper to taste.

5. Roll out the dough and place in a greased bundt pan, placing the dough so that there is enough lip around the inner column and outer edge to fold together after adding the filling. If your bundt pan is larger, just do your best. You'll have to pinch together the ends anyway.

6. Once the sausage is cooked, add to the cheese, jalapeño, onion and cilantro mixture. Mix together and check seasoning, adjusting as needed.

7. Whisk the eggs and combine with the sausage mixture. Pour the sausage mixture into the bundt pan and distribute evenly.

8. Fold the outer and inner edges of the dough together and press to seal.

9. Bake the bundt cake for 40-45 minutes until the dough takes on a golden color.

10. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving platter. Serve warm.

If your not a fan of sausage, you can substitute bacon, ham or even turkey.  Can also be made with vegetarian, using EverRoast “sausages”.  Also, can add additional vegetables as desired,

• blanched broccoli, 

• diced celery, 

• diced potatoes, 

• chopped asparagus…..the list goes on.  

Make it with whatever you would like.  I would recommend that if you change the meat or vegetables, that you use a complementary cheese.  Example:

• Ham/Swiss/Asparagus, 

• Chorizo/Queso Fresco/Cheddar/Potatoes,

• Turkey/Dill Havarti/Broccoli…..(maybe avocado?)

Think ahead….for this, I pre-browned the sausage and made the onion/cheese/sausage mixture the night before. I would highly recommend that you don't assemble the entire mixture ahead, as the dough would become soggy.

Recipe adapted from www.goodiegodmother.com 

Black Friday Breakfast Sandwiches

So you all can have your Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches, with your rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey and cranberry, or however you make it, I’ll take this one,

EVERYTIME!

It’s is a recipe Craig’s family used to make with Ham, but when Craig stopped eating Pork, they switched the meat to Turkey.  I can see where this sandwich might have developed from, with leftover dinner rolls & turkey, then adding the topping, but the way we make it, it’s amazing!!!

We make sure we have the supplies bought for these by Wednesday.  Cause there’s nothing worse than not having this tasty lil’ sandwiches when you come back from shopping.  We usually put these together after Thanksgiving dinner and chill them overnight, then bake them when we return from our Black Friday shopping.   ENJOY…like I need to tell you!

****New development since I first posted this, we now make them for Christmas breakfast.

Black Friday

Breakfast Sandwiches

1 package dinner rolls
1 lb sliced turkey
½ lb sliced swiss

Topping:
1 stick butter, melted
4-5 splashes of Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup dried diced onion
¼ cup yellow prepared mustard

DO NOT SEPARATE ROLLS! If not already sliced, slice as one piece. Remove top piece and set aside.

Layer cheese, turkey, cheese, turkey ending with cheese. Place top back on bottom, and with a fork “prick” holes in the top of the rolls.

Melt butter, and mix in the rest of the ingredients. If cools down rewarm in the microwave then pour over the top of the rolls, SLOWLY. Making sure all of the mixture covers all of the rolls.

Bake at 350, for approx 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the tops are golden. Cut and ENJOY.

 

Weekend Biscuit Casserole

The last couple of weeks have been exciting around our home.  Last week my Sister and her family were visiting during the kid’s spring break.  We were fortunate enough to have very nice weather (for Seattle!).  Being a tourist in your own city is quite a fun thing, when you have nothing pressing. 



Pike Place Market,

Pike Place Market,

The Seattle Waterfront,

The Seattle Waterfront,

The Great Wheel,

Leavenworth,

 

 

Snoqualmie Falls,

 

Chateau St. Michelle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a quick stop at Chateau St. Michelle for a little wine tasking, all in 3 days! 

 

It was a quick trip, but it’s always great spending time with family! 

Each morning I had planned something great for breakfast.  First day, I made these Weekend Biscuit Egg Casserole, and I must say, I was impressed.  (So much so that when my cousin called asking if her family could come up and stay while they toured colleges with their son during his spring break, I decided to make them again.) The second morning I made Black Friday BreakfastSandwiches. 

Black Friday Biscuits

 

Both dishes were AMAZING, but since I’ve posted the Black Friday Sandwiches before, I decided to post this one.

 

Weekend Biscuit Egg Casserole

Ingredients

1 can of buttermilk biscuits (8 count)
1 pound of Turkey breakfast sausage roll (browned, drained, and cooled)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
7 eggs, beaten
¾ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 °F. Crumble and cook sausage in s skillet over medium heat until browned. Drain.

Pull each biscuit in half, then line bottom of greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish with 4 of the biscuits, firmly pressing the edges of the dough to seal.

Sprinkle with ½ sausage and ½ cheese.

Repeat with the last 4 biscuits, ½ sausage and ½ cheese.

 

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until blended; pour over sausage and cheese.

 

Bake 30 minutes or until set (A knife should come out clean when inserted in the center). Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares; serve warm.  Makes 9 biscuits, The pictures show a doubled recipe.

 

 

Footnote, Next time I will try making them in muffin tins, and maybe add onion and green peppers….

Enjoy!

 

Other Pictures that I didn't include in the above post:

Seattle Gum Wall

Beecher's Cheese

Peacocks at Chateau St. Michelle



My Family in Leavenworth

Lemon Rosemary Scones

I usually get up early in the morning…what do you do at 3am, you ask?  Well, I make a pot of coffee, and turn on the cooking channel (or Food Network), turn down the volume and get on my computer to search the cooking websites I love. This time I found this Lemon Rosemary Scone (The Pioneer Woman Cooks ), and have been thinking about it non-stop since.  So this past weekend off, I decided to make them.  Woke up early, ran down to my rosemary bush, picked a branch of fresh rosemary and was set…..

Lemon Rosemary Scones

Ingredients

SCONES
3 cups All-purpose Flour
⅔ cups Sugar
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Unsalted Butter, Chilled And Cut Into Pieces
1 whole Large Egg
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tablespoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
Zest Of 1 Lemon

GLAZE
5 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
½ cups Whole Milk, More If Needed For Thinning
Zest And Juice From 1 Lemon
1 teaspoon Finely Minced Fresh Rosemary
Dash Of Salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Mix cream with egg, lemon zest and rosemary and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes to steep.

Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter pieces into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs. Mix wet mixture with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork until combined. Mix should be crumbly, but if it’s too crumbly to work with, splash in a small amount of heavy cream.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary. Final rectangle should be about 18 inches by about 10 inches.

Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle, then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form smaller triangles.

 
Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

GLAZE

To make the icing, add lemon zest, lemon juice and rosemary into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.

One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.

Savory Rosemary Figgy Scones

Fresh Figs!

Recently, we were invited to our friend’s annual wine tasting party.  This year we decided to stay over, since we have heard about the great food they have the next day for brunch.  I decided to bring some savory scones.  I must say these were a hit, even Craig said, “Can you make these again?”

Savory Rosemary 
Figgy Scones

Ingredients

    ¾ cup well-shaken buttermilk

    ¼ cup pure maple syrup

    ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream

    3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

    ¾ cup sugar

    1 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon baking powder

    ½ teaspoon baking soda

    2 oz goat cheese

    2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

    ½ lb dried Calmyrna figs, stems discarded and figs cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups) I also added 4 fresh figs, chopped

    1 spring of Rosemary, stripped and coarsely chopped

    2 large egg yolks

Preparation

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.

Whisk together buttermilk, syrup, and 1/2 cup cream in a small bowl. Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment at low speed (or whisk in a large bowl) until combined. Add butter, goat cheese and mix (or blend with your fingertips or a pastry blender) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Mix in figs and rosemary, then add buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined. (Do not overmix.)

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and drop 10 (1/4-cup) mounds of batter onto each sheet, leaving 1 inch between mounds.

Whisk together yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons cream, then brush over tops of scones (use all of egg wash).

Bake, switching position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until scones are puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes total. Transfer to a rack and cool to warm.