Lemon Glazed Blueberry Scones

I had my very first scone almost 12 years ago, when I was visiting the Eastman Kodak's House in Rochester, New York. When you tour the Eastman home, you can then have a little tea break at their small cafe and choose your teas and sandwiches. I couldn't remember what type of scone it was exactly, but this was my first introduction to scone, and it was a positive one, indeed.

Then in one of my recent business travels, I enjoyed a delicious reduced-fat cranberry orange scone from a Caribou Coffee kiosk at the airport, which was out of the world. Since that point on, I have been browsing at tons of recipes trying to decide on which one to try.

I finally landed on this recipe from Tyler Florence in Food Network. This was my first Tyler's recipe, so I really wasn't sure what to expect. He has two blueberry scone recipes, and I chose the one using buttermilk (because it was lower in fat, and we had some that we needed to use up!)

I also decided (at first), not to use the glaze. But then realized, that the buttery little pillows were missing a little "oomph", so we went ahead with the glaze, but used the lemon version. The other step that I think we should have added was using egg-wash to make the top brown a little prettier and sprinkle some sugar. So the glaze was a MUST!

Red was licking his fingers when he was devouring his first scone, "This is probably the moistest and lightest, fluffiest scone I have ever had!" So it sounds like we have a keeper here!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached flour, plus more for rolling berries
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
• 3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
• 1 egg
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.

In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.

Roll blueberries in flour to coat, this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked. Fold the blueberries into batter, being careful not to bruise. Drop large tablespoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until brown. Cool before applying glaze.

Lemon Glaze:

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 lemon, zest finely grated
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Technically you should make this simple lemon glaze in a double boiler (i.e. over a pot of simmering water with a heatproof bowl set on top) but it's even simpler to zap it in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.

Ricotta Pancakes with Banana Pecan Syrup

I stumbled upon this while searching for a recipe to use up my big bucket of ricotta cheese. While I absolutely love Ina Garten's Banana Sour Cream Pancake, I was still very intrigued by this recipe and didn't mind another pancake recipe in my repertoire.

This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you can find in any pantry and ricotta (I guess you can argue this as a pantry staple in an Italian home). At the same time, it skips the vanilla extract or lemon zest that are the standard in most homemade pancakes. And... the verdict?

Wow, I was absolutely blown away! This is probably even lighter & fluffier than Ina's recipe, and the syrup was just absolutely divine. It makes the regular maple syrup even appropriate for a company. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

For the Banana-Pecan syrup:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 small bananas, thinly sliced (3/4 cup)
1 cup cane or maple syrup

For the Ricotta pancakes
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 cups milk
4 ounces ricotta, well drained (1/2 cup)
Butter or vegetable oil

Directions

For the Banana-Pecan Syrup:
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and saute for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the bananas and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the syrup and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until the syrup is hot and slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside in a warm place.

For the Ricotta Pancakes:
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together onto waxed paper or a plate. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl with an electric mixer or whisk until stiff but not dry. Beat the egg yolks, milk, and ricotta together in a large bowl until well blended and smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix gently with a large spoon. Stir a spoonful of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites with a rubber spatula.
Warm a serving platter in a 200 degree F oven.

Heat a nonstick flat griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Grease with butter or vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto the pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until bubbles form on the surface, then flip the pancakes over using a large wide spatula. Cook on the other side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to the warm platter.

Serve immediately or hold in the oven while you cook the rest of the pancakes. Serve the pancakes on heated plates topped with the syrup.

Flamiche Aux Poireaux (Leek Tart)

As many of you probably saw from my post last week, I have been reading Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking. Her cookbook is full with so many bistro dishes that are simple, yet delicious!

As fancy as the title sounds, this dish is truly what we already know and love: quiche lorraine. With a little extra. And the little extra here comes from the use of chopped leeks & Gruyere Cheese instead of bacon and regular shredded mozzarella! Trust me, this is truly a simple dish that you can easily make for a brunch, lunch, or supper at home, or when hosting a company! We served this along with a mesclun mix drizzled with lemon vinaigrette, and a big hefty crusty loaf of French bread for lunch, when my old friend Lindsay came to visit us. Go ahead and try this, and let me know what you think! I think we just found another new favorite at the Red's.

1 pie crust

12 small leeks (~ 3 lbs)

4 tbsp (~ 2 oz) unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

1/4 cups of creme fraiche, or heavy cream

4 slices (~ 3 oz) ham, such as Parma ham, coarsely chopped

1 cup (~ 3 oz) freshly grated imported Gruyere Cheese

1. Roll out the dough to line a 10/5-inch (27-cm) tart pan. Carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Chill for 30 mins, or until firm. Carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Chill for 30 mins, or until firm.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.

3. Prepare the filling. Trim the leeks at the root. Cut off and discard the fibrous dark green portion. Split the leeks lengthwise for easier cleaning, and rinse well in cold water until no grit appears. Coarsely chop the leeks.

4. Melt the butter in a medium-size saucepan over low-heat. Add the leeks, salt, and pepper to taste until the leeks are very soft but not browned, about 20 mins. If the leeks have given up an excessive amount of liquid, drain them in a colander.

5. Combine the eggs & heavy cream in a medium-sized bowl and mix until thoroughly blended. Add the leeks and mix again. Reserve 1/4 cup each of the ham and cheese to sprinkle on top of the tart. Mix the rest into the leek mixture.

6. Pour the leek mixture into the prepared pastry shell. Sprinkle with the reserved ham, and then the cheese. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper.

7. Bake until nicely browned, 40-45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 6-8 servings. Adapted from Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking.

Easy Cheese Danish

Of all the danishes in the world, my fave has got to be Cheese Danish. I was very excited when I saw this recipe on my Ina's cookbooks because they look so easy! Oh my goodness --they tasted like I slaved all night making these delicious treats! The only warning is that this recipe makes A LOT of filling -- I want to say that it can easily make 16 pastries. I also love that the batter can be made the night before, so in the morning-- all you need to do is assemble and pop them in the oven! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!

Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares.

Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash.

Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.

Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings (or more)

Flour Bakery Famous Banana Bread

After my rather unsuccessful attempt of making a new and better version of banana bread, I convinced myself to try another recipe. This time, I landed on the Flour Bakery's famous Banana bread's recipe. The interesting part of the recipe was that it calls for oil and the use of sour cream --which I had never tried before in my quest to find a perfect banana bread recipe. I only had 3 very ripe bananas, so that's all I used. I also used sour cream instead of cream fraiche.

I was actually pretty satisfied with the recipe. It was very moist, full of flavor, and had just enough sweetness from the banana. It took a little bit longer than an hour to bake (to make sure the center baked completely and wasn't goey), probably about an hour and 20 min. I wonder that maybe Chef Joanne uses her industrial convection oven, which would bake slightly differently than my modest oven at home. And this recipe didn't call out for the size of the pan, so I used the regular 8x4 loaf pan.

Overall though, this was a winner in my book -- and will try again. Red was pretty happy with the flavor and we thought that next time, maybe we'll follow this slightly different version of the same recipe on Runner's World, where it calls for applesauce in replacement of oil, and uses 9x4 pan. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 1/2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat sugar and eggs with a whisk until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Drizzle in oil. Add mashed bananas, creme fraiche, and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients and nuts. Pour into a lined loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

I've have been obsessed with banana bread forever. While I have had some success in the past, I am always in the lookout for a new recipe to try. I ran into this one on from Kona Inn in Hawai-- and I thought this may be a good one to try . One thing that I noticed was that they're using six bananas instead of three or four that most recipes call for. It also uses shortening, instead of regular butter. So I figured that I would try this.

The recipe makes (2) loaves of breads, and I ended up making 1 loaf and using up the rest for mini muffins (it made 20). The bread had an excellent banana flavor, sweet and very moist. I put it in the oven for 1.5 hrs and it was still soft in the middle -- it was actually rather frustrating!

I put the mini muffins in the oven for 20 mins, and they were perfect! I think next time, I would definitely use (2) larger loaf pans and turn down the heat, and leave them in the oven longer.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 6 bananas)
• 4 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350.

Grease and flour (2) 8x4x3-inch loaf pans.

Stir together the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl. In another larger bowl, mix together the shortening, sugar, mashed bananas, eggs and walnuts. Add the combined dry ingredients and stir only until the batter is thoroughly blended.

Pour into the prepared pans and bake 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer or straw inserted in the center of the loaves comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on a rack and let cool completely.

Cranberry Harvest Muffins

I still have leftover frozen cranberries in the freezer, and was looking to make something special for our breakfast this past weekend. Hmm.. yum! This was very hearty, and light at the same time. I had to restrain myself from adding grated orange zest into the batter, because cranberry just goes wonderfully with orange flavoring. And I'm glad that I did, this recipe didn't have to be modified too much.

I did however make a few substitutions because I didn't want to have to go out and get some more stuff to bake this. I ended up using a low-fat milk (since this was the only thing we had at home), raisins (instead of figs), and chopped pecans (instead of hazelnut).

Another thing that I liked about this recipe is that you can prepare the batter a day ahead and bake them in the morning. Anything that I can do in the evening to make my morning less hectic is a big do in my dictionary.


Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup medium-diced Calimyrna figs
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir quickly just to combine. Add the cranberries, figs, hazelnuts, and both sugars and stir just to distribute the fruits, nuts, and sugar evenly throughout the batter.

Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each one to the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned on the top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Yield: 18 LARGE muffins

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

I have been dreaming about baked french toast for a while now. Breakfast is almost non-existent during the week, so we both love to take our time in on weekends' mornings to put something together that's a little bit more special. I saw this recipe on Food Network, and really wanted to try it.

I have modified the recipe quiet a bit. First of all, I halved the recipe and it came out absolutely perfect! With only myself and Red eating this dish, I thought half would be sufficient for two weekends' mornings. I also didn't leave the bread soak overnight. I read the reviews that said that the casserole turn out soggy, so I thought if I just soak them for 30 min, it may prevent that issue -and I think it did.

We also ran out of brown sugar (gasp!), so I used whatever was left to make the praline. Definitely a little less than what the recipe would have called for, and modified the measurement for the rest the ingredients. The praline was a nice addition on the top. Finally, I still baked half of the recipe for 40 min.

Seriously- run to the kitchen now, and try this! Not only that your whole house would smell like cinnamon, the flavor is so out of the world!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt
• Praline Topping, recipe follows
• Maple syrup

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

Red and I love banana pancakes. Well, actually this was a tradition that I had carried over from my single days. I had always loved banana pancakes. Not just *any* pancakes. Not buttermilk. Not blueberry.

I loved banana pancakes. As long as I had known pancakes, I always wanted to put sliced bananas in them. When Red and I had just started dating, I decided to make Red a pancake breakfast. I wasn't sure how he felt about banana pancakes, so I went with the more "mainstream breakfast" and grabbed some frozen blueberries from the freezer. This was back in March 2006, so blueberries were not exactly in season.

Little did Red know, I had never made blueberry pancakes before. Or, I have never made pancakes using frozen blueberries. We later found out that I just served my "heart delight" with half-frozen blueberries inside the pancakes.

"I love them, " he said, nodding, and continued licking his fingers. Needless to say, I realized that I didn't have to try to be someone else, even in the kitchen. We have since then shared hundreds of Saturdays or Sundays of banana pancake breakfast. He loves them, and he hasn't really asked for the "mainstream" breakfasts. He lets me "surprise" him with whatever my inspiration may be for the meal(s) that day.

This recipe from Ina was fabulous, because the sour cream and lemon zest really gave it a depth in flavor and took my little old pancake recipe to a completely different height. A little warning: this is very creamy, but fluffy, and definitely rich! Once you take this leap - you will never go back to the regular boxed pancake mix. Trust me. I know Red was licking his fingers, and said, "I really love this recipe!"


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Unsalted butter
• 2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
• Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Banana Crunch Muffins

From Barefoot Contessa

I've been obsessed with trying out all of the recipes from Ina Garten in the past few months. Maybe because with all of the wonderful recipes out there, sometimes you wonder which one would turn out - and which ones would be successful. This was a big winner for me, since I love bananas and always find ways to incorporate them to our menu everyday.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
• 1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
• 1 cup small-diced walnuts
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.