Jarlsberg Monkey Bread

Can you believe that there are people out there who haven't yet tried monkey bread?! (Unless, of course, you are one of those people. Then I guess you don't know what you're missing.) When I told my friends that I had been invited to create a dish with Jarlsberg Dip for their 29 Ways to Leap into Jarlsberg Dip promotion and giveaway and that my dish would be monkey bread, I got more than one blank stare in return. 

First, they were confused by Jarlsberg Dip (as was I, before I made this dish). It's a creamy concoction featuring the wonderfully nutty and subtle Jarlsberg cheese. It's just starting to pop up in stores. I used the dip plus regular Jarlsberg cheese in my dish.

And then, more horrifyingly, they were confused by the term "monkey bread." They wanted to know why it was called that, and I couldn't give them a clear answer. (The Internets didn't help me here, either.) Once I put this bad boy in the oven and they started to smell it as it baked, though, they didn't care about the name anymore.

There was pretty much no talking after I pulled this out of the oven (unless you count the mumbles asking for the plate to be passed around the table again). I still don't think I've adequately answered their questions about the term monkey bread...

One note: When I made this, I only sprinkled some of the grated Jarlsberg in the bottom of the pan. When it came time to eat, the extra-cheesy bits were my favorite, and I was sad that I hadn't incorporated more into the final dish. Below I have amended my recipe to include more grated cheese, which would make your monkey bread look a little different than mine.

Jarlsberg Monkey Bread
4 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 lbs pizza dough (I used store-bought)
1 package Jarlsberg Dip
3-4 ounces Jarlsberg cheese, grated

In a small pan, heat butter over medium heat until melted. Add garlic and heat until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Brush interior of a bundt pan with garlic butter and set aside.

Divide dough into even pieces about the size of a golf ball. Flatten each ball and place a small dollop of Jarlsberg Dip in the center. Pinch together the edges of the dough around the dip to seal closed. Brush with melted butter and roll in grated cheese before positioning in the prepared bundt pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Once all the dough has been used, cover the pan and let rest on the counter for 30-60 minutes.

While the monkey bread is resting, preheat the oven to 400°. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is nicely golden. The monkey bread will rise a lot in the oven. Cool slightly before inverting onto a plate. Serve hot!

Jarlsberg wants you to Leap into Jarlsberg Dip too by sharing how you would use Jarlsberg Dip. The winner of the giveaway will win a tailgate tote stocked with Jarlsberg Lite Cheese, new Jarlsberg Cheese Dip, Snofrisk (a Norwegian style cream cheese), crispbreads, honey cremes, and honey vinegar. More details are available on their website.

Full Disclosure note: I was compensated for my time and groceries by Jarlsberg, but my opinions are all mine.

Cthulhu Sticks

Every Halloween, my friend Ann and I throw a party, filled with candy, dry ice, costumes, pumpkins, and lots of good food. We always have a good time coming up with items that are both delicious and spooky. Last year, I came across an idea somewhere (probably in one of the many Halloween magazines we pore over) to make tentacle breadsticks. I used store-bought pizza dough and managed to make some vaguely squiggly breadsticks, which we immediately dubbed Cthulhu Sticks (what, we're not super geeky or anything).

I was pleased enough with my experiment last year to try making them again, but not pleased enough. Instead of going the pizza dough route, I found a recipe for grissini (those long, thin Italian breadsticks).  The dough is pretty simple to put together and is fairly forgiving of being worked, plus I found countless tips online about using a pasta machine to roll out and cut grissini so that they're uniform (and last year, the tentacles were anything but uniform).

I am so much happier with how the Cthulhu Sticks turned out this year. I opted to color half the dough black (I used gel food coloring, but you could use squid ink if you want something more natural), which I think gives them a spooky feel. Sea salt on the black ones and poppy seeds on the white ones add a look of suckers to the tentacles, but you can add whatever toppings (or even mix something into the dough) that you'd like.

Cthulhu Sticks

1/2 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 3/4 cup flour, divided

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

optional: chopped herbs, food coloring, poppy seeds

Combine water, yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup flour in a large bowl. Rest 10 minutes. Add remaining flour, oil, and salt (also any herbs or spices you could like. If coloring the entire batch, add food coloring now. Otherwise, wait until dough is more solid before kneading it in). Knead about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400° and move oven rack to the top position.

Divide dough into four pieces. Using pasta roller, roll into a roughly 9x4 rectangle on the thickest or second-to-thickest setting. Cut with fettuccine cutter. Arrange grissini on parchment-lined baking sheets, keeping one end straight (so they can stand in a vase) and one end tentacle-y. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle on salt or additional toppings. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden (well, at least for the ones that aren't black) and cool on a wire rack.

To serve, arrange in a vase to get the full tentacle effect.

A Little King Cake for Mardi Gras

I have never been to New Orleans, nor have I ever had a real king cake, but that didn't stop me from making one when asked. My friend Ann, who has lived in New Orleans, was the one asking, and since I was using her flour and butter, I was happy to oblige.

I bought Joanne Chang's Flour cookbook before Christmas like everyone else in Boston, but I didn't get a chance to make anything from it until well into the new year. For some reason, I decided to skip any of the easier recipes and jumped right to brioche. The recipe came together with no problems and couldn't have been easier to follow. However, the recipe makes enough dough for two loaves, so half went to make a regular loaf and the other half went to the king cake.

Ann started listing things that would be tasty - I don't think this is actually based on a cake that she has eaten. She wanted chocolate and orange and, of course, something to use as the baby (the small token that brings good luck to whoever gets the piece with it). I ended up dividing the dough into three parts, rolling them into logs, adding a filling, then braiding them together. Ann tells me it was just like king cakes she had in New Orleans (only better, I would assume, because it had both chocolate and orange in it), so I'll just have to take her word for it.

I'm not going to give you the recipe for the brioche, since I used the one out of the Flour cookbook, so feel free to use your favorite brioche recipe. My recipe starts after the dough has had its first rise, but before it has been shaped and given its second rise. Seriously, though, check out Flour - it leaves me wanting to lick the pages every time I look at it.

Braided King Cake
1 brioche dough, after its first rise (half a recipe if using the Flour cookbook)
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped
zest of 1 orange
1-2 Tbsp white sugar
1 large nut (almond, walnut, or pecan are good)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
milk (about 1 Tbsp)
colored sugars (purple, green, and yellow)

Combine orange zest and white sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Divide dough into three equal parts and roll each into a long rope. Flatten the ropes - lay chocolate down the middle of one, orange sugar down the middle of another, and the nut somewhere in the third. Pinch sides together to seal the fillings in, then reroll if needed back into a rope shape. Braid the three ropes together, then bring the ends together to form a circle. Pinch the ends together to form a seamless circle. Place the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, then let rise in a warm spot for 3-4 hours, until it has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350°. Brush loaf with egg. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until completely golden brown. Let cool before icing.

Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and a splash of milk until smooth. Add a little bit of milk at a time until the glaze is just slightly runny (you don't want it too watery, so go slow!). Drizzle over the king cake, then sprinkle on colored sugars.

Mini Cinnamon Buns

Every January for the past few years, I spend a weekend at my friend Ann's house while her husband goes skiing in Vermont. Inevitably, the weekend turns into an all-you-can-bake affair, and I'm pretty sure Ann's favorite part is when I wake up before she does and bake something out-of-the-ordinary for breakfast. This year's treat? Mini cinnamon buns, as found on Can You Stay For Dinner?

I had been planning on making cinnamon buns for our extravagant breakfast, but all the recipes I was finding (including the one in the new Flour Bakery cookbook, which I ended up making other delicious things out of) involved yeast and many hours of rising time. So when I Stumbled (a great way to find food blogs, by the way) across this ready-in-half-an-hour recipe, I knew I had hit paydirt.

My buns didn't come out quite as pretty because I used a mini muffin pan, and the cups were the size of the sliced rolls, which didn't allow room for them to spread out. However, I think I prefer how mine looked - since they couldn't spread to the sides, they spread up, into little conical shapes, which made them look a little more substantial than they were.

Mini Cinnamon Buns from Can You Stay For Dinner?
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter, softened slightly
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
milk (about 1 Tbsp)

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Grease the cups of a mini muffin pan, and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar and cinnamon, and set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the cream and mix until the dough just pulls together and is soft and moist.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until you have a roughly 12x7 rectangle. Smear softened butter all over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture evenly over the butter. Starting at one of the 12-inch sides, roll the dough up into a tight spiral.

Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 24 small spirals. Place each spiral into a cup in the prepared baking pan. Bake about 12-15 minutes, until the buns are lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack.

While the buns are cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and a splash of milk until smooth. Add a little bit of milk at a time until the glaze is just slightly runny (you don't want it too watery, so go slow!) Drizzle the glaze over the buns before serving.

Blue Moon Bistro, Dennis

I spent the week of my birthday on Cape Cod, which has become something of a tradition. On the weekends, we don't leave our neighborhood - it's not worth fighting the traffic - but during the week, we explore a bit afield. One day, we drove up 6A to the Cape Cod Museum of Art and a visit to my cousin's restaurant, Blue Moon Bistro.

Blue Moon Bistro has been open for a few years now, but I get to spend so little time down the Cape, I hadn't been able to stop by (although I have sent my blogging friends before). I'm glad we finally took the time, though, because it was an amazing meal that we're still talking about a couple of weeks later.

Note: My cousin Lisa usually does front of the house stuff, and her husband Peter is the chef, so I'm reviewing family here. But really, if I didn't like my meal, I just wouldn't write about it. While we were eating, the tables on both sides of us talked about how much they enjoyed the restaurant, and they were all repeat customers.

As we perused the menu, the bread basket was brought out. If I were to rank restaurants by how good their bread basket was (why don't I? This may be my new rating system), this would definitely be in the top five. Crispy breadsticks, crunchy cheese-topped crostini, and soft rosemary focaccia was served with a white bean dip and a duck liver pate with wine gelee. This and a cocktail alone would have equaled a pretty perfect dinner for me. But no, we made our choices and ordered our meals.

I started with a half order of lobster ravioli and would have eaten another whole order for my entree. I've ordered lobster ravioli at a lot of places, and I often find the actual lobster flavor lacking - not so here. I'm not sure what else was inside the pasta, but it tasted like lobster without anything getting in the way. It certainly didn't taste like filler. The pasta was lightly dressed in a lemony butter sauce that complimented the filling and that I sopped up with more bread.

My mother went with a goat cheese and beet salad, topped with candied walnuts, that she couldn't say enough good things about, and my dad ordered off the pre-theater menu, which is a great deal, and got a tomato soup.

Since we were on the Cape and Peter focuses on local ingredients as much as possible, I figured fish would be a good bet. I went with the local haddock, topped with olive tapenade and giant capers, and served with veggies and risotto-style wild rice. The fish itself was mild, so the olives gave it an unctuousness that would otherwise be missing. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and still had some body to them, and the rice - oh the rice. I'm not a big fan of rice (ask my mother how many times I've made pilaf, like the good Armenian girl I should be), but apparently cook it risotto-style and I'm in love. I scraped the plate clean. (My parents went with the sea bass and the beef tenderloin, but I was a little too focused on my own meal to pay much attention to theirs.)

I had planned on ordering dessert even though I was getting pretty full, because hey, it was my birthday! My father's prix fixe meal came with two little chocolate tarts. But just as we were discussing dessert, Peter sent out a cheese plate for us. I don't usually think of cheese as a dessert (unless we're talking about Fiore di Nonno's fig burrata, which is totally a dessert), but this was completely satisfying. As with most of the meal, many of the ingredients were local. The aged cheddar (back) and the goat cheese (black rind next to the flowers) were not too challenging, as cheeses go, but were just perfect. I loved the gooseberries (still in their husks) and the honeycomb that served as garnishes. This cheese plate was a main topic of conversation for two days after this meal. I don't know if there is normally a cheese plate on the menu, but there should be - the presentation was gorgeous and allowed the local ingredients to shine.

If Blue Moon Bistro were in Boston, they'd be getting their fair share of buzz, especially in the use of local ingredients and work with local farms, but the food scene on the Cape is much quieter. If you find yourself mid-Cape anytime (they're open year round), definitely make a stop for dinner.

Fruity Oaty Bars Make A Man Out Of A Mouse

Around the time that we were planning our Dollhouse party, our friend April, who lives in LA but visits Boston every year around her birthday, said that she wanted a Whedon-verse themed party for her birthday. We spent the intervening months brainstorming party ideas based not just on Dollhouse, but also Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and my beloved Firefly.


I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to make Fruity Oaty Bars, which has a commercial (above) that unlocks seemingly-crazy River's potential in Serenity. I brainstormed ideas for ages - I didn't want to just dye something with colors to make it match the commercial. I ended up combining a few recipes to include both fruit and oats, as well as to keep the colorful look.

The resulting Fruity Oaty Bars are pretty tasty and would make a great breakfast snack. The texture is similar to a muffin, and it's not terribly sweet. The blueberry and strawberry sections had the strongest taste, while the mango and kiwi sections just tasted vaguely fruity. I would make this again (probably with just a single fruit) just to have on hand for breakfast.

Of course, I had to wrap them individually to make them look like something shiny you would buy in the Core planets. I wanted to wrap them in gold foil, which I thought I had on hand but didn't. I opted, instead, for a copy of the local Chinese newspaper, which I grabbed from a newspaper box on my corner, and added a picture of the Fruity Oaty Bar Girls that I grabbed off the internet.

Fruity Oaty Bars
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
6 Tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups fruit puree (your choice - I used 1/3 cup strawberry, 1/3 cup blueberry, 1/3 cup kiwi, and 1/3 cup mango)
food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a glass baking dish with parchment paper, letting the edges overhang so you can remove the baked bars easily. I used a 7x12 baking dish, which seems like an odd size, so use something that is relatively long and narrow.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and oats and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugar and mix well. Place each fruit puree in a different mixing bowl and divide butter/eggs/sugar mixture evenly between them; mix well (and add food coloring if you want the colors to be bold after baking). Divide flour/oat mixture evenly amongst the bowls and mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Arrange the colored batters in long, thin stripes down the baking dish. The batter will be thick, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get the colors to line up next to each other. Make for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely before cutting.

To serve, cut into slices, making sure to include some of each fruit.

Of course, there was more to the Whedon-verse party than Fruity Oaty Bars. Everyone came in costume - we had Inara, Kaylee, Simon, River, Jayne, Drusilla, Faith trapped in Buffy's body, Faith, and the Man himself, Joss Whedon. We enjoyed Some Kind of Hot Cheese, burgers from Double Meat Palace, and Simon's birthday cake (in miniature, above). We also had tons of themed drinks: Kaylee's Gussied-Up Engine Wine Coolers (strawberry juice, vodka, and riesling), Lorne's Seabreezes (grapefruit juice, vodka, cranberry juice, wedge of lime), Mudder's Milk (depending on who was drinking, it was either beer or Baileys), Wonderflonium (bright greet kiwi strawberry fruit punch and gin, although any bright green juice would work), and my favorite, Badger's Finest (iced tea, applejack, and slices of green apple).

What would you include for a Joss-themed party?

Cheesy Pan Rolls with Ile de France Chaumes

I think I'm like a lot people - I love cheese, but there are probably millions of varieties out there besides the ones I'm familiar with. I could probably count the types of cheese I buy on both hands. So when Ile de France offered to send me Chaumes, something I'd never heard of, I jumped at the chance.

Chaumes is a bit unique, but it's not wholly unlike other cheeses that I was familiar with. It's soft and creamy, much like brie (a tad harder, though), and has a bit of bite like a sharp cheddar. It has a great nutty flavor and a smell that is harsher than its taste. The orange rind is edible, but I wasn't wild about it.

The package arrived when I was babysitting my nephew and nieces, and they were eager to know what was inside. Luckily, they were more interested in the bubble wrap than the cheese itself, and I quickly stashed my goods in the fridge while they weren't looking.

Flash-forward to last night, when I offered to make dinner for my friends who were busy playing Dungeons and Dragons (I've played with them, but I'd rather be cooking than rolling the dice). I knew the group liked bread and cheese, and I was already making a cheesy pasta dish for dinner, so I decided to experiment with the Chaumes I had been sent and make rolls. The resulting bread had everyone clamoring for the extras, and there was discussion of when I could make them again. Fact is, they were so simple, it's only a matter of getting my hands on some more Chaumes!

Cheesy Pan Rolls with Chaumes
1 lb pizza dough (I used the bagged stuff from the supermarket)
8 oz Chaumes cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush olive oil onto the bottom and sides of a square baking dish.

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces, and cut cheese into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten slightly in your hand. Sprinkle a few pieces of parsley on the dough, top with a piece of cheese, and wrap the dough around the cheese, pinching the edges to seal. Place the roll seam-side down in the pan. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Brush finished rolls with olive oil and sprinkle remaining parsley over the top. Grate parmesan over the top (as much as you'd like). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Pretzels are the human equivalent of salt lick

I don't know if guys get like this, but all the girls I know have days when there just isn't enough salt in the world. Chips, of course, are a good source of salt - I rank chips based on how salty they are. Any form of potato - fried, mashed, roasted - also works well for salt distribution. Breads, however, are usually not so salty (especially bread from Tuscany, which contains NO salt - blech!). Enter the pretzel - doughy, with a chewy crust, and as much salt as you can heap on.

I've been hearing for a while from a number of bloggers that pretzels are SO EASY to make, but I had my doubts. How easy can something be if it involves making a dough, letting it rise, shaping, boiling, AND baking? Surprisingly, they are easy. Even with all those steps, the process goes quickly, and the outcome - trays full of pretzels - is worth the effort. It takes me about 2 hours to make a batch, but then I have more pretzels than I know what to do with - definitely a good use of my time.

I'm interested in trying some variations on this recipe - like adding chopped herbs to the dough or sprinkling some grated parmesan on top - but really, these pretzels are pretty perfect just covered in salt. Feel free to vary the amount you sprinkle on - I've made them with double the amount that's on the one in the picture above, and that was just a little too salty for me.

Soft Pretzels (from Alton Brown's recipe)
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
2 ounces butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cups baking soda
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 Tbsp water
Kosher salt

Combine the water, sugar, salt, and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit for 5 minutes or until it begins to foam. Add flour and melted butter and mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment until well combined. On medium speed, knead until the dough is smooth and doesn't stick to the walls of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, give the inside of the bowl a good spray with Pam or other cooking spray, and put the dough back in. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 50-60 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray; set aside. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart pot.

Turn the dough out onto a cutting board and divide into equal pieces. I've made about 16 that come out to about the size of my palm, but you can make as few as 8 (like Alton does) or as many as 24. Roll each piece of dough out into a thin rope, no more than a half-inch in diameter. To shape the pretzels, form the rope into a U-shape, cross the ends over each other twice (like a little twist), then fold the twisted part down onto the curve of the U. Form all the pretzels before moving onto the next step.

Boil the pretzels in the water-baking soda combo one at a time for 30 seconds. Use a large slotted spatula or spoon to remove them. Lay the boiled pretzels on the prepared baking sheets, brush them with egg yolk, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake until a dark golden brown, about 10-12 minutes (add a few minutes if you make them larger). Transfer to a cooling rack.

Cheap Eats: Kupel's Bakery

There are plenty of places around to grab a bagel sandwich, but you're often limited in choices or end up paying more than you'd like. At Kupel's (pronounced "couples") just outside Coolidge Corner, though, you have a whole slew of options and get a tasty sandwich for just a couple of bucks.

Kupel's bagels are baked fresh daily in a wide range of flavors. They're chewy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This Bostonist favors the jalapeno bagel, with just enough spice to make it interesting, but there are so many choices, you could take home a dozen with all different flavors. For the full sandwich experience, choose from a variety of spreads (like honey walnut cream cheese or hummus), fish (like white fish salad or lox) or eggs, and a variety of veggies. You can choose from a number of sandwiches, named mostly for local sports heroes, or pick your own toppings to get exactly what you want.

If you're still hungry after your bagel, pick up a pastry for dessert. The cases are filled with choices, and each type of pastry typically comes in 3 or 4 different flavors. Kupel's hamentashen are so popular, they're made year-round, with fillings like poppy seed and apricot, and they come in two different sizes. This Bostonist loves the flat tires, huge disks of puff pastry with layers of filling (like lemon or chocolate) and sprinkled with coarse sugar, because it's almost impossible to eat one in just one sitting.

Kupel's is located at 421 Harvard Street in Brookline. They are open Sunday-Thursday, 6am-8pm, Friday 6am-7pm, and are closed Saturday. They are also Kosher/Pareve.

Originally published on Bostonist.

Blackberry Scones

There's something so very greedy about berry picking, and it's not just the inherent one-for-now, one-for-later mentality as you pull them off the branch.

My friend Melody invited me by her house to pick blackberries from the wild bushes nearby. After being thwarted by some rain, I finally got my chance - sunny, gorgeous weather in the low 70s. I grabbed a big metal bowl and started exploring her yard. I found the two major areas (back yard = huge bushes with giant berries, front yard = medium bushes with much smaller berries like the ones above) and got to work.

And it was as I was picking that I realized how greedy I was becoming. I worked the whole area, picking only what I thought was ripe and wasn't to hard to reach within the brambles. But as I walked back to my car along the bushes, I realized how much more fruit was on there. Had I missed all these ripe berries the first time, or had they magically ripened in the sun in the last few minutes?

All in all, I probably went over each bush four times, collecting more and more fruit every time. And yet I continued to become greedy. At every pass, I would pick berries that maybe weren't quite dark enough and reach that much further into the thorns, scraping up my arm but coming back with a handful of sweetness. I found myself concocting plans for my next visit, including bringing leather gardening gloves and maybe some clippers to cut off unruly branches. And all for berries in someone else's yard!

Back home, I sorted the berries by size: the smaller ones were perfect for baking, while the larger ones were delicious as-is. I turned to my copy of The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, which is my absolute favorite baking book, and found a great recipe for fresh berry scones. I was a little turned off when I was instructed the grate the butter - it was like herding cats (which I coincidentally also did this weekend...) - but the results were worth it. Oh, and I adapted the recipe slightly because I can't ever manage to read directions correctly...

Blackberry Scones (adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book)

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, frozen, plus extra for melting (about 2 Tbsp)
1 1/2 cups fresh berries
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest (about 1/2 a large lemon)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

On the large holes of a box grater, grate the butter into a small bowl. Once grated, place butter back into the freezer. Place berries in a bowl and set in the freezer - they do not need to freeze, just get sufficiently chilled.

Preheat oven to 425 ° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, salt, and baking soda. Add in the grated butter and lightly toss until the butter is evenly coated. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream, then add to the flour mixture. Fold in with a spatula until just combined.

Turn out dough onto a well (and I mean well) floured board. Lightly knead the dough until it just pulls together, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky. Pat the dough into a 12-inch square, then fold the top third and bottom third of the dough over the middle (like folding a letter). Then fold up the sides of the dough over the middle to form a square. Place dough on a floured plate, then place in the freezer for about 5 minutes so the butter doesn't soften too much.

Place the dough back on the floured board, and roll out to a 12-inch square. Arrange berries on top of the dough and lightly press them in. Roll the dough up into a tight log, pinching the ends and seam shut. Flatten the log into a 12x4-inch rectangle. Cut the dough lengthwise into 4 even rectangles, then cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles (8 total).

Place scones on baking sheet, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops of the scones are golden brown. Turn the sheet once during baking. After baking, transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Brie and Apple Sandwich

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Ile de France, offering me the chance to try some of their brie. I don't think it would have been possible for me to say no, since brie is my favorite cheese. My favorite brie is the Brie de Lyon at Wasik's in Wellesley, but I'm rarely over there to purchase some.

The Ile de France brie was tasty and creamy, albeit on the mild side. I like brie with a little more bite on crackers, but this seemed like it would mix well with other flavors. I opted for a brie and green apple sandwich, which can be thrown together in minutes but tastes sophisticated and unusual. I used my George Foreman Grill as a panini press (it always does a great job), but if you don't have a George or a regular panini press, you can always make this on toasted bread.

Brie and Apple Sandwich
French bread (about 6 inches long)
brie (about 2 ounces, sliced thin)
green apple (about 1/3 of one apple, sliced thin)
honey

Slice bread in half, lengthwise, and place on the hot panini press while you cut the other ingredients. Remove from heat, and layer brie across the bottom slice. Layer apple on top of the brie, then drizzle with honey before topping with the top slice of bread. Place back onto panini press and toasted until cheese is melty and bread is golden. Serve immediately.

My Father's Popovers

The snow today left me wanting one thing - popovers. I couldn't help but give in.

For my parents' wedding, they received a Farberware Open Hearth Rotisserie. As far as I know, it has only ever been used to make roast beef for family gatherings. When it comes to cooking on the rotisserie, the task falls firmly in my father's domain, much like the grill. In fact, when I was growing up and we had roast beef for dinner, he would take on even more of the meal and make popovers to go alongside. And although the beef is always juicy and well-cooked, the popovers are my favorite part of that meal.

When I moved out of my parents' house, this was one recipe I made sure to have with me. Popovers are definitely a comfort food for me - the edges are crunchy, the inside is soft, and the whole thing is amazingly buttery and delicious. Sometimes I use the batter in a large glass dish and sprinkle in chopped apples, but for this snowy day, I opted for the traditionally large and billowy popovers, baked in individual ramekins.

My Father's Popovers
6 eggs
2 cups milk
6 Tbsp butter, melted
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease 6 8-ounce ramekins (you can also use a muffin pan, but you'll get smaller popovers) and arrange on a baking sheet; set aside.

In large bowl with mixer on low speed, beat eggs until frothy. Add milk and butter and beat until combined. Add flour and salt and continue to mix until there are no lumps. Pour batter into ramekins, filling until 3/4 full.

Bake for 60 minutes, then make a small slit in the top of each popover for steam and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Croissants are Surprisingly Easy

Another snowy weekend, another desire to bake. This time, I went with something a little more difficult than biscuits, and something I've only dreamed of making - croissants. I've always thought that croissants must be this time-consuming, nit-picky endeavor, since it is so difficult to find a truly delicious specimen. But as I started to tackle this recipe, I was astounded to discover that each step is fairly easy and short - it's just the waiting period between each step that makes this seem to take forever.

True, it took almost 24 hours to complete the croissants, but active time was under an hour. The result was exactly what I was looking for - buttery, flaky, light-as-air pillows of dough that practically dissolve on your tongue. I'm very happy to know that when I want the real deal, I can now make them at home, instead of driving all over, looking for something that may or may not sate my craving.

And since this was an experiment (I didn't even know if they would turn out at all - better to have low expectations when trying something "difficult," I feel), I opted to try both plain and chocolate croissants. Both turned out splendidly, and I actually liked splitting the batch in half so I could have both flavors. If you do split your batch, use only about half the chocolate I listed below, and save any chocolate that doesn't get folded into the dough for melting and drizzling.

Croissants

3 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp instant or rapid rise yeast (about 1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup warm milk
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (optional)

In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine 2 3/4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. With the mixer at low speed and the dough hook installed, slowly add milk and mix until the dough begins to pull together, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-low and mix until dough becomes sticky and elastic, about 8 minutes. If the dough isn't forming roughly into a ball by about 5 minutes, add 1/4 cup more flour, 1 Tbsp at a time. Scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl and put the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Lay out a large sheet of parchment paper on a counter. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of flour on the parchment, then lay the 3 sticks of butter side by side on the flour. Sprinkle 1 more Tbsp of flour on top of the butter, then top with another sheet of parchment. Working with a rolling pin, gently pound the butter until it is softened and the flour is incorporated. Roll butter into a 12-inch square. Keeping the butter in the parchment, refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out dough so that the butter square will fit diagonally in the center. Place the butter in the center of the dough in a diamond shape, with the corners of the butter at the middle of the sides of the dough. Fold the dough over the sides of the butter so that they meet in the middle and press to seal shut. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch square, sprinkling on more flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Once dough is rolled out, fold the square into thirds, like a letter, to form a rectangle, then fold that rectangle into thirds to form a small square. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll out the dough again, lightly dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Repeat the previous folding process, folding the dough into a rectangle and then a square. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper (rimmed baking sheets are best). Roll the dough into a 20-inch square. Cut the dough into two halves down the middle.

For regular croissants, cut each half into 3 rectangles, then cut each of those pieces diagonally into 2 triangles. Cut a small slit into the wide end of the triangle, then gently roll the dough, starting at the wide end and moving towards the point. Place the croissants on the baking sheet and curl the arms around to form the crescent shape.

For chocolate croissants, cut each half into 6 even rectangles. Place a tablespoon of chopped chocolate at one end, then roll the dough up around it into a log shape. Arrange on the baking sheet with the seam on the bottom.

Loosely cover shaped croissants with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 to 16 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush the croissants with egg wash and place the sheets in the oven, using both racks. Bake until golden, 18 to 22 minutes. Rotate and switch the baking sheets halfway through baking. Serve warm or at room temperature. For chocolate croissants, wait until the croissants have cooled, then drizzle with melted chocolate.

Biscuits That Will Keep You in the House

Well, I knew my winter hibernation instincts had kicked in a while ago, but that's been more evident than ever lately. I have to convince myself to even leave the house, where there are warm pajamas, tv shows to watch, books to read while snuggled under my covers... and delicious baked goods, right out of the oven.

This isn't a new recipe to me, but I realized I hadn't yet put it up on here. And I can't imagine that I'm the only one who's been into hibernation lately (especially with the temperature in the teens this week), so I thought I'd share. These biscuits are simple to throw together, and they come out of the oven in no time - so you can get back in bed before your feet can even get cold.

A few notes:
This recipe works easily if the butter is cut up into little chunks first. I like to cut mine into about 90 pieces - slice the stick into three equal pieces lengthwise, then rotate 90° and slice into another three pieces lengthwise (so you'll have 9 long pieces). Then cut width-wise to form little cubes - 10 slices will get you 90 pieces total.

When you knead the dough, try to do so as little as possible. Overworking the dough will make it tough. Similarly, once you have stamped out the biscuits, gently rework the scraps into another 1-inch thick disk and cut more biscuits. The second batch will be slightly less tender and flaky because the dough has been reworked. By the time you get to a third batch, the dough is pretty tough, and the results aren't very good at all.



Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces and chilled
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add in butter and, working quickly with your hands, press the flour mixture into the butter, rubbing between your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring until it is all combined into the flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead until the dough pulls together into a uniform consistency. Flatten dough out with the palm of your hand until it is 1 inch thick. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits and lay bottom-side-up on the baking sheet.

Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 400° and rotate the pan. Bake for another 10-13 minutes until golden brown. Best served warm.

French Toast Muffins

Ah, the first snow of the season. The French Toast Alert System over at Universal Hub is only at Guarded, but I wanted to inaugurate the season with something French toast-like. Sadly, I have no bread in the house (I clearly didn't pay any attention to the FTAS), so I opted for French toast muffins instead. A little maple, a little cinnamon and nutmeg, a sprinkle of sugar - almost better than the real thing.

French Toast Muffins
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup butter (5 1/3 Tbsp), melted

Topping
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and mix to combine. Add milk, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, and butter and whisk together until well combined. Pour into a greased muffin tin, filling each cup until 3/4 full. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping. Evenly sprinkle the topping over each muffin. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Bacon Cheddar Scallion Scones

I've been playing with a cream scone recipe for a while, but I've gotten tired of sweet scones. So after a little research online, I've put together a few recipes to form one damn good savory scone. Using the near-perfect triumvirate of bacon-cheddar-scallions, these are a nice alternative to biscuits. I'm planning on making mini versions of these to take with me to Thanksgiving next week.


Bacon Cheddar Scallion Scones

3 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
about 5 ounces of cheddar, grated
4 green onions
10 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine dry ingredients (flour through cayenne). Add in butter and work with your hands to combine - press butter between your fingers to form thin sheets. Add cheese, green onions, and buttermilk, and mix together. Add bacon and egg and mix until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Turn dough out onto a flat surface and knead a few times to smooth out the dough. Form dough into a ball, then flatten into a 1/2-inch thick disk. Cut the disk into wedges. Spread wedges across a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a little room around them. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the bottom of the scones start to brown and the cheese in the scone begins to turn golden. Best served warm.

*And don't forget to vote for me (Pam Aghababian) for the Blogging Scholarship! I'm the only food blogger on the list. Voting ends Thursday (11/20) at 11:59pm!

Ye Olde Boston Food Toure

Last night, the wonderful Lily von Schtoop from Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen and I embarked on a tour of our shared Yankee heritage, which we quickly dubbed the Ye Olde Boston Food Toure. (See Lily's report here.) It was like playing tourist in our own city (especially since most of our stops were pretty touristy). And despite having lived in Boston my whole life, I had only visited one of these restaurants before. For fun, we had Phyllis Meras' The Historic Shops & Restaurants of Boston along for reference, which we used to amuse ourselves (and our waitstaff).

Our first stop was Durgin Park in Quincy Market. A mainstay of Yankee cooking, Durgin Park is known for surly waitresses and huge meals catered to tourists. Since this was just our first stop, we didn't go for a whole meal (although I have heard good things about the Prime Rib). Instead, we started with clam chowder, baked beans, and cornbread. The chowder was a lot like what I grew up with, with a thinner broth and extremely tender clams. The beans were surprisingly tasty (especially since I don't even like baked beans) - I doubt I could eat a whole bowl of them, but it was still good. The cornbread was a definite no - bland and uninteresting.

For dessert, we went for the Indian pudding and the coffee jello. The pudding was served piping hot with melty vanilla ice cream on top, and it was delicious. With all that molasses, it tasted like New England in the fall. And the coffee jello - we ordered this pretty much because it sounded so odd, and the serving we received definitely didn't disappoint. I dubbed it "astronaut coffee" because it was like a good ol' cup of coffee, only in solid form. The gelatin was very stiff with a strong, unsweetened coffee flavor, and it was topped with overly sweet, overly whipped cream. It was very odd, and yet, I couldn't stop myself from eating it. Gross and delicious at the same time.

Overall, Durgin Park offers better food than I thought it would, especially with the desserts. I doubt I'll be eating there regularly, but I wouldn't hesitate to take visitors there.

Next up was the Union Oyster House, where we sat at the semi-circular oyster bar for oysters and more chowder. My companion enjoyed her bivalves quite a bit (I'm not a fan, so I passed), but the chowder was delicious. It was quite different than that of Durgin Park - thicker and creamier, with more chunks of clams and potatoes. But while the chowder was very good, the atmosphere, with flies buzzing around, piles of oysters sitting around in slushy ice, and a bar that's not quite level, was... unique, to say the least. It was a little slice of Boston, with locals and tourists crammed in side-by-side, and we even caught a glimpse of Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi on his way in for dinner.

After all that chowder, we were ready for a little break. We wandered over to Cafe Marliave, the only restaurant of the bunch that I had been to before. The Marliave closed a few years ago after over 100 years of business, and it was just reopened about a month and a half ago by new owner, Scott Herrit (of Grotto, which I love). We sat at the bar and enjoyed a few cocktails. Keeping with our Ye Olde Theme, I opted for the Molasses Flood 1919 (Sailor Jerry's Rum, molasses, lime, and bitters) and the Boston Tea Party (tequila, Earl Grey tea, house-made ginger beer, and lemon). They were both very well mixed by Robbie, our great bartender, although I liked the Molasses Flood more (the Tea Party was sweeter than I was in the mood for). We also had a little sample of pumpkin apple soup, a delicious blend of fall in a cup. I'm eager to head back to try more of their food, which smelled amazing.

Our final stop for the night was at the Omni Parker House for their famous Parker House rolls and Boston Cream Pie (recipes for both can be found on the hotel's website). And while sitting in the bar, overlooking the old city hall across the street, on a cold evening was enjoyable, the food was less than spectacular. The rolls seemed like an imitation of what they should be - buttery with a hint of sweet, and soft with a slightly crispy crust. These specimens were, however, oily and dense and just not right. The Boston Cream Pie was another disappointment - the sponge cake and the pastry cream were both very good, but it was all ruined with a coating of limp, slivered almonds, an almost solid chocolate topping, and fake whipped cream. I know, I know, both of these items were invented at the Parker House, but they are so beloved in our fair city (especially the Boston Cream Pie, which is the official dessert of Massachusetts) that they pale in comparison to what can be had at other spots.

Our Ye Olde Boston Food Toure ended up being a fun adventure through (mostly) tourist-land. Durgin Park, the Union Oyster House, and the Parker House all have their places among the culinary history of Boston, and while they are often overlooked by us locals, they are sometimes the only places visitors stop to get a taste of local food. The Marliave only hints at its past, especially since it has been refigured for a more contemporary crowd, with gourmet comfort foods and terrific cocktails.

Any thoughts on where Lily and I should visit for our next Ye Olde Toure?

Durgin Park
Union Oyster House
Cafe Marliave
Omni Parker House

Henrietta's Table, Harvard Square

I like getting my family into this whole blogging thing :)

My aunt was in town for a conference and invited me to join her for a "research" breakfast at Henrietta's Table in Harvard Square. We had a great time chatting and eating, since it's so hard to spend any one-on-one time talking at our large family get-togethers (the eating, on the other hand, is never a problem).

I went for an omelet with spinach and feta, served with hash browns and toast. On my first bite, all I could taste was butter - which was a lovely thing. In fact, I think you can see a nice sheen of butter in the picture above. Sadly, however, the eggs themselves were overcooked and too thick. It may just be my own tastes, but I favor omelets that are more tender and thinner. The spinach, though, was excellent, simply folded into the center of the omelet. It was clear that this was incredibly fresh spinach, and I could have eaten a mound more of just that. The accompanying sides were very satisfying - the hash browns were crispy and golden and just delicious, while my choice of toast, the sweet anadama bread, was cut in big, thick slices. Definitely a hearty and filling meal.


My aunt went with the poached eggs and bacon on anadama bread with hollandaise sauce and asparagus. Again, the eggs were overcooked, with the yolks not runny but firm all the way through. But everything else was great, including the hollandaise with a pronounced lemony zing.

This was my second time at Henrietta's Table (the first was for a wedding shower), and I really appreciate the restaurant's use of fresh and in-season produce. Definitely makes me want to go back for lunch or dinner, when eggs aren't the main focus. (Oh, and also because the seasonal drink menu looks killer!)

Croissants with no effort

Last week, I was talking to my friend Z, and she was asking where to find a good croissant in the area. I didn't know what to tell her. I mean, I've heard good things about Clear Flour (I usually just get their Venetian olive rolls at the farmers' market) and Canto 6, but I didn't have any solid recommendations.

Until now. And they're in my freezer.


Trader Joe's has recently started selling frozen croissants - 8 mini or 4 chocolate per box. Just lay the frozen croissants on a baking tray and let them proof, or rise, overnight (7-9 hours). Then, just brush with egg (optional) and bake for a few short minutes, and voila, hot and fresh croissants!

With almost no effort, I felt like a whiz in the kitchen. The interior was light and airy, and the exterior had a nice crunch to it. They were even good the next day after having sat on the counter for way too long. The hardest part was remembering to take them out the night before.

All I know is that I am now going to keep a box in my freezer all the time. I mean, you'll never know when you'll need a hot, fresh croissant.