Brown Sugar Oat Scones

Got another great recipe from Catherine Newman's blog, Ben and Birdy.  It's called Brown Sugar Oat Scones!  I've wanted to make this recipe for over a year, and finally did this morning.  I'm not entirely sure why I've been so fascinated with the recipe- maybe because all the recipes I've tried from that blog have turned out amazing?- but the scones were definitely worth the wait!  The only thing I'd change is that I wish I'd made them sooner so we wouldn't have been scone-less all this time.

Let's see if I can describe the scones.  They look very rustic and are sort of pretty in their own way.  They're really brown because of the whole wheat flour and brown sugar.  Just looking, you'd think they have cinnamon in them (maybe an idea for the future?).  They have a very tender, rather crumbly texture to them, and a little bit of sweetness, but not too much.  The whole wheat and oat flavors are very toasty and savory and perfect.  These scones have instantly gained the status of #1 scone in my book!  My husband called them little oat pizzas when he saw them, and he loved them, too.
  

Quick Note: According to Catherine, this recipe is originally from the book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.  In the original, Deborah says to use cream or milk for the liquid.  Catherine uses half and half in her version, but I happened to have exactly 3/4 C cream in the fridge left over from another recipe, so the perfect amount for the scones plus a tiny treat for the kitties.  I'm sure cream makes for the best texture.  Next time I'll try milk and will update the recipe then!
  

  
Brown Sugar Oat Scones
  

1 C rolled oats (not quick oats, they're too fine), plus more

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

1/3 C packed brown sugar (I used dark, added some extra flavor)

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 t salt

7 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces (wait to do this until right before you use it)

2/3 C cream (or half and half)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract
  

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

Stir together dry ingredients.  Whisk together cream, egg, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and set aside.

Cut butter into flour mixture either with a pastry blender or just use your fingers to rub the dry ingredients and butter together until the butter is mostly mixed in and the mixture looks very sandy. 

Pour in the cream/egg mixture and stir just until it comes together, being careful not to over mix.  After I stir it a a little bit, I dive in with my hands because it's easier to tell whether the dough is evenly moist that way.  Gently form dough into a ball.
  

Sprinkle about 1/3 C oats on a clean work surface and place the dough ball in the center.  Gently pat it out until you have a circle about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut the dough into 8 wedges and carefully move them to the prepared baking sheet.
  

Bake scones until they begin to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes.
  

Serve with butter, jam, and honey.
 
Yield: 8 scones

Secret Recipe Club: Thai Peanut Noodles

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Jess's blog, Inquiring Chef!  I was really excited to get her blog because I'd already poked around on it a bit.  Her blog is just chock full of amazing looking recipes.  I couldn't sleep the day we got our SRC assignments and actually read her entire blog that night, all the way back to when she started it in late 2010!
 

Jess's blog is really interesting, and not just because of the recipes she posts.  She's lived in Thailand with her husband for the past several years.  I absolutely love travel and am fascinated with different cultures, so her blog is a good read!  Jess and her husband also have a pair of pretty much the cutest identical twin baby girls, Molly and Clara.  I even love their names!
 

Anyway, to the recipes.  I marked a good 20 of them as possibilities to make for this blog post.  A couple of weeks ago, I actually made her Parmesan Rosemary Oven Fries, but realized after I made them that she originally adapted the recipe for an SRC post a couple years ago, so I had to pick a different recipe for my post.  No problem, like I said, she has lots of yummy looking recipes.  The ones I considered the most were Chicken and Orzo with Lemon and Olives, Chicken Stew with Rosemary Parmesan Dumplings (any recipe with rosemary catches my eye!), Crispy Scallion Pancakes, Baked Crab Rangoon, Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps, Chocolate Pots de Creme, Light and Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes, Apple Rubies in Coconut Milk, and her very simple looking 5 Minute Baked Ziti.  I fully intend on making the ziti, whole wheat pancakes, chicken with orzo, and apple rubies very soon!
 

In the end, I chose Thai Peanut Noodles.  I've made recipes for peanut noodles a few times in the past, and they've ranged from okay to pretty good.  None of them were good enough for me to make again or post on my blog, though.  I'm happy to say that Jess's recipe makes the cut to qualify for its own blog post, even if I didn't have to post about it!

My only changes were to sprinkle the crushed peanuts on top as a garnish instead of mixing them in, and I used canned Chaokoh coconut milk instead of the lighter kind you drink because I didn't catch that I was supposed to use the drinking kind until after I'd purchased a can.  No regrets, though, because the noodles turned out amazing!  Very creamy and delicious with great peanut, coconut, and curry flavor.  Absolutely no complaints, and I intend to make the recipe with the canned coconut milk in the future.  Next time I'll use another half teaspoon of red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen brand, turns out it's pretty mild) and spaghetti noodles instead of bucatini, but that's it for alterations.

Just want to note, I served these noodles with Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles and thinly sliced cucumber tossed with seasoned rice vinegar.  Very satisfying dinner!  I can also confirm that leftover noodles are delicious both cold and reheated.
 

Thai Peanut Noodles
 

8 oz spaghetti noodles

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp red curry paste (or more if you want more spice)

1/4 C peanut butter (the typical kind like Jif or Skippy that has a bit of sugar in it)

1/4 C water

1/2 C coconut milk

1 tsp salt
 

for garnish:
finely chopped peanuts

sliced green onion

Cook pasta in lightly salted water and drain.

While pasta cooks, heat oil over medium in a large nonstick skillet.  Add curry paste and peanut butter, and cook until both are melted and mixed together.  Don't cook at too high a temperature or the peanut butter can separate (I had to throw away my first go at it)!

Stir in water, coconut milk, and salt, and cook until sauce is very smooth and slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes.  Add cooked, drained pasta and toss to coat.  Divide among plates to serve and garnish with chopped peanuts and green onion.

Yield: About 3-4 servings
 

An InLinkz Link-up

Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles

This is an incredibly simple recipe for tofu that has turned into one of our favorites!  It's peppery with a smidge of sweetness from maple syrup.  Doesn't sound like much, but trust me when I say it's delicious!  The edges get all crispy and yummy and it's just an all around solid, reliable recipe.  Nice how such easy recipes with minimal ingredients often turn out really well.  I've made this 5 or 6 times since I stumbled upon the recipe about a year ago at Healthy Happy Life.  I always serve it with some type of salad and sometimes steamed rice or noodles.

Quick Note:  I don't bother drying my tofu with paper towels or pressing out the excess water or anything, I just dump out the water in the refrigerated package.  It's always turned out just fine!

 Salt & Pepper Tofu Triangles
 
14 oz package extra firm tofu, drained
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
pepper to taste (use more than you normally would!)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Cut tofu into thick slices, then cut them into triangles.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high.  Add tofu and sprinkle generously with pepper, then salt.  Let tofu cook without moving them until they begin to turn a little golden on the bottom, which will take about 3 minutes.  Drizzle the maple syrup into the pan and move the tofu around with tongs so the syrup gets evenly distributed.  When bottom of tofu is golden, flip the slices and cook until they turn a deep golden color. 

Yield: 2-3 servings

Bacon Egg Muffin Melts

I made this recipe once about 4 years ago, then not again until just recently when I happened to have leftover hard boiled eggs, bacon, and English muffins that needed to be used.  They're way too good to only make when I happen to have the correct leftovers!  My husband loved them and said they're like Egg McMuffins from McDonald's, only much better. 
 

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman blog, I changed it a tiny bit.  She says the mixture can be made ahead of time and even spread on the muffins the night before and then refrigerated.  I'll have to give this a try sometime when we have overnight guests.

 

 

Bacon Egg Muffin Melts

 
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2/3 C shredded cheddar

1/3 C mayo

1/2 T dijon mustard

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp garlic powder

4 English muffins, cut in half
 

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Stir together everything except muffins.  Spread filling evenly over each muffin half.  Arrange on baking sheet and bake muffins for 10 minutes.  Turn on broiler and broil until the topping is lightly browned, about 3 minutes.  Keep a close eye on the muffins during this time because they can burn very quickly!  Serve muffins immediately.
 

Yield: 4 servings

Orange Muffins

These muffins from Taste of Home knocked our socks off!  A lot of supposedly orange flavored baked goods barely taste like orange, but not these.  Tender, buttery, lots of orange flavor... Yum!  These are so sweet and tasty that I'm not entirely sure they aren't cupcakes without frosting.  They also stay good for several days, we enjoyed the last of the batch a good 5 or 6 days later and they were still really good.  I'm going to experiment with substituting half of the butter with half a cup of applesauce (so 1/2 C butter and 1/2 C applesauce) just so they're a little less heart attack-y, but definitely no complaints in the flavor department as the recipe is written.

 
Orange Muffins

1 C butter, softened

1 C sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 T orange zest

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 C orange juice

2 t orange extract

1 t vanilla extract

2 C flour
 

Preheat oven to 375 and either line a muffin tin with muffin papers or grease the muffin tin.  You will need about 18 prepared muffin cups, but you may want to start with only greasing/lining 15 because there's some variation in the capacity of muffin tins.

Cream together butter and sugar, then beat in egg yolks.  Stir in orange zest, baking powder, and salt.  In a measuring cup, stir together orange juice and extracts. 

Alternate stirring the orange juice mixture and flour into the creamed butter mixture, just until everything is incorporated.  Don't over mix!

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the muffin batter by hand, just until no white streaks remain. 

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.  You want each cup to be about 2/3 full so they don't overflow.

Bake until they turn golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

Yield: About 18 muffins

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

This is definitely one of the best meatloaf recipes I've ever made, or eaten!  My husband liked it a lot, too, but what's not to like?  We weren't even tired of it on day 4 of leftovers.  This recipe comes from the blog Buns in my Oven, and as usual, I made a few changes.  I'd like to note that using both the cheese and the bacon isn't strictly necessary.  It's certainly good this way (and how I did it!), but I think it would be good too with one or the other of you're reluctant to dump both cheese and bacon into meatloaf.
 

Quick Note:  I used lean ground beef, I believe 93% lean.  Probably because of this, none of that gross looking meatloaf sludge formed around the bottom of my meatloaf!  Something to consider if you usually use beef with a higher fat content.
 

 And we're back to ugly photos...
 

BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef

2 C Panko bread crumbs

6 oz diced cheddar cheese (by weight, not volume)

1/2 C mayo

1 egg

2 Tbsp dried minced onion

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1 C BBQ sauce

1/2 C yellow mustard

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
 

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9 by 11 baking dish (or similar sized) with greased foil.  In a large bowl, stir together everything except beef, BBQ sauce, mustard, and bacon.  In a separate bowl, stir together BBQ sauce and mustard.  Add half of it to the bowl with the other ingredients.  Crumble the ground beef over top and stir together just until everything is incorporated.

Place meatloaf mixture in prepared pan and form into a loaf, about 2 inches tall and 8 by 10 inches wide.  Spread the other half of the BBQ sauce/mustard mixture over meatloaf and sprinkle with crumbled bacon.  Bake until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees, about 45 minutes.
 

Yield:  About 8 servings

Yeast Waffles

I came upon this recipe on the Ben & Birdy blog a couple of weeks ago, and was so intrigued that I made the batter that night so we could have waffles the next morning.  They were so good that we had waffles again this morning, too!
 

This is a very old recipe and was first published in the Fannie Farmer Cookbook in 1896.  This is an amazing cook book (read more about it here), and I've actually owned it since I was a teenager, but hadn't made these waffles until now!  What makes this recipe unique is that the batter has yeast in it.  You mix most of the ingredients up the night before (very quick and simple), cover it, let it sit out all night, then just stir in a couple more ingredients in the morning and get waffling.  What's even better is that you can keep the batter in the fridge for several days.  I haven't tried this yet and have cooked all of the batter each time (the leftovers are great heated in the toaster), but definitely will at some point.  These will probably become a Christmas morning tradition because the prep time in the morning is so minimal, and the waffles themselves are amazing!
 

I had what I considered to be the best waffle recipe before, but plan to only make raised waffles from now on unless we're suddenly facing a waffle craving and don't have time to let the batter rise.  The other waffle recipe is very good, but this one undoubtedly blows it out of the water.  It's even dethroned pancakes as my favorite breakfast food.  These waffles have a thin, crisp crust that softens very quickly.  My husband prefers his waffles very anemic and floppy, but likes the delicate crust on these.  Inside, they are very light, airy, and soft, not unlike the inside of a really fluffy, fresh from the oven roll.  The smell while they cook is incredible if you're a fan of yeast breads, and the waffles themselves have a bit of a yeast flavor.  The waffles actually remind us a tiny bit of french toast.  If you're at all fond of waffles and have a waffle iron, you really should try this recipe once!
 

This recipe is very slightly changed from the original, in that 1/4 C butter is used instead of 1/2 C.  That's how it's written on the Ben & Birdy blog, and we have absolutely no complaints about it this way.  I'll probably try the full amount of butter at some point, just because.  Also, when I made the waffles this time, I waited to add the salt with the eggs and baking soda because salt kills yeast.  There was no noticeable difference in the outcome, so I didn't change the recipe.
 

Quick Note:  I used a regular waffle iron for this, not a Belgian waffle iron.  No promises on how the recipe turns out with a Belgian iron!  Also, because the waffles lose their crisp exterior very quickly, I suggest putting the waffle iron right on the breakfast table and serving the waffles as they come out of the iron.  You can also add a little (1/2-1 tsp) cinnamon to the batter if you want something extra special.

 

 It's a miracle, I managed to take a non-disgusting photo!  Thanks, natural light!
 

Yeast Waffles

1/2 C warm water

1 packet yeast

2 C warm milk

1/4 C butter, melted

2 C flour

1 t sugar

3/4 t salt
 

later:

2 eggs

1/4 t baking soda
 

In a very large bowl (must be large so the batter doesn't overflow as it rises!), dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Stir in the warm milk and melted butter, making sure they aren't hot enough to kill the yeast.  Add the flour, sugar, and salt, and whisk until well combined.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature over night.

In the morning, preheat your waffle iron.  Whisk the eggs and baking soda into batter, until smooth.  Grease waffle iron and pour on batter.  The amount will entirely depend on your waffle iron, best to start out with just a little batter so it doesn't overflow!  Close waffle iron and cook until waffle is golden.  Repeat with remaining batter.
 

Yield: About 6 full size waffles (so 24 small ones when torn apart), or enough to feed about 4 people.