Drop Biscuits

Breakfast is special to me. I honestly don't care that much about lunch, since I am a grazer, but breakfast is, you know, 'the most important meal of the day'. If we have a chance to eat together as a family I really, really enjoy it. I don't particularly enjoy being the short-order cook, preparing breakfast for my husband before he leaves for work, then preparing it for each of my children as they wake up....it kind of sucks the fun right out of it.

I do love those late morning breakfasts, when everybody lazily rolls out of bed, somebody makes some French press coffee, and I start some potatoes and eggs, just lolling about the kitchen, maybe putting together a fruit salad and some crepes. Honestly, we don't have days like that very often. Lately, they only happen if there is a national holiday. We are so busy we scarf down breakfast and hurry on our way. Too bad.
But, for either of those days, these biscuits are  a miracle. They are drop biscuits, so you simply stir together a bunch of ingredients and plop them onto a baking sheet and make a batch of hot sausage gravy while they are in the oven. Throw some potatoes or eggs on the plate and you have the breakfast of champions.

Drop Biscuits
from the Bride and Groom Cookbook
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled heavy cream, plus more as needed


Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and kosher salt in a large bowl. Add the 1 cup cream and stir just until dough forms. The dough should be slightly sticky. If it seems dry, add a little more cream. Drop 1/4 cup of the batter onto a baking sheet for each biscuit, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake until the biscuits are pale golden on the top and golden brown on the bottom, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cook for 5 minutes before serving.

Variations are listed, such as adding 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 teaspoon dill, and an additional 2 Tablespoons flour. I have never been so inclined.

Basil Pesto

Well, I was trying to decide what I should write about...again.... it's not because I haven't made anything, nor is it because I have any shortage of recipes, but I do try to think of things that are seasonal, and people are possibly cooking right now. I made a roasted chicken last night for dinner, that I think I will share soon. It is very good, and fairly easy. You will have most items on hand and you can throw it in the oven and just fill the house with delicious scents, throw together a salad, maybe some dessert and everything comes to the table in a snap.
I made these absolutely amazing  apple pie cookies on Tuesday. I mean they are really good. Flaky, filled with warm apple goodness, bite-sized, and perfect for...well...just about anything. We had tacos, lasagna, and bbq chicken. We also had pesto.
I really, really like pesto, and so does my family. I love making creamy pesto, with some butter, half and half, and chicken stock. It is so flavorful and fresh tasting! The other thing I love about it is it is so easy to make, freezes well, and I can just pull a container out for an impromptu dinner. Like I did on Wednesday. I got back to the house later than I had anticipated. I had forgotten to thaw some chicken. I was running behind. So, I pulled out some frozen cheese tortellini and some pesto, threw together a salad, and voila!
I urge you to make homemade pesto. Everything tastes better, fresher, and healthier when you make it at home. You would probably be surprised at how vibrantly green pesto is when it is first made. And how absolutely amazing it is.

The other great thing about it is, if you ever feel like you want to stray from the traditional basil pesto, you can switch out the nuts (or omit them) change herbs to parsley for a mild flavor, or cilantro for a clean taste, and make a new, different pesto to drizzle on freshly roasted vegetables, pastas, fresh salads, or cheese and crackers.

Basil Pesto
adapted from Bride and Groom Cookbook
1/2 cup pine nuts
4 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup grated parmasan

Combine basil, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food proecessor fitted with a steel blade and process until the ingredients are well incorporated, about 15 seconds. Shut off the motor and scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the motor running, slowly add the 1/2 cup olive oil through the feed tube. Shut off the motor and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the cheese and pulse until the mixture comes together and sooks like a thick paste. Use immediately or transfer to a container, drizzle with a thin layer of olive oil, cover tightly, and refrigerate.

The herbal base of this pesto, minus the cheese, can be frozen. Add the cheese after defrosting the pesto and stir well to combine.

The Go-To Dinner: Pork Chops

We love to have company over and there is one meal I make more than any other when we have people over: Pork chops. Not just any pork chops, pork chops with apples. When I was a kid, I remember my dad talking about eating pork chops with applesauce. I thought that was pretty disgusting. Right up there with creamed tuna on toast and 'ramen-a-la-dada' (trust me, you don't want to know). Alright, I'll tell you. Ramen noodles cooked as usual and accompanied by cut-up hard-boiled eggs, mixed frozen vegetables and soy sauce. Not a big fan.
Anyway, back to the pork chops. As a young teenager, I made sure nothing on my plate touched the other items on my plate. I hated it when people served me and the mashed potatoes were touching the corn, and the gravy from my Salisbury steak was rushing to meet my buttered piece of wheat bread. Yucky! Or so I thought. When I began cooking as an adult, I realized some of the delicious unions that occur when foods meet.

I am not talking about those bland, tough chops with mealy applesauce smeared on top. This, I assure you, is not the meal I am describing to you. This meal is easily and quickly prepared, looks amazing and impresses every time. Don't you wish all meals went like that?
For starters, the pork chops are 'cured' in a mixture of salt, brown sugar and rosemary, that imparts a wonderful depth of flavor  and allows the pork chops to cook quickly and retain their moisture.
Secondly, the chops are fried in bacon grease. Now, if you are not in the habit of keeping bacon grease, get into it! Green beans, eggs, breaded zucchini and more reach astronomical levels when fried in bacon grease. Before you know it, you will be eating it with your breakfast cereal (ok, maybe not).
Then, you cook peeled apple pieces in the leftover grease with a bit of chicken stock, cinnamon and apricot jam. the emerging sauce has a hint of sweetness and gives you that magical union of fruit and meat. My husband asks for this meal at least every few weeks, and is always elated to find it on the menu for dinner.
I assure you, you will come back to this recipe time and time again-whether its to impress company, a quick weeknight dinner, or a way to use those lonely apples sitting on your counter.
Trust me.

Pan Fried Pork Chops with Glazed Apples

Serves 4
2 Tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
4 Thin-cut pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick each)
Freshly ground pepper
1 Tablespoon bacon grease, plus more if needed
2 Small to medium crisp apples such as honey crisp, gala, pink lady, Fuji or jazz, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 Cups chicken stock
1/3 Cup apricot jam
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or another if you don't have it)

Combine the brown sugar, kosher salt, and rosemary in a small bowl and stir together. Coat the pork chops on both sides with the mixture, gently massaging the meat with your fingers to jump start the curing process. Let stand for 15 minutes. Rinse the chops and pat dry with paper towels. Season the chops on both sides with pepper to taste.
Melt the 1 tablespoon bacon grease in a large heavy skillet over high heat, add the pork chips, and cook until crispy brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
Transfer the pork chops to a plate and cover with foil. Add the apples to the skillet and cook, stirring gently to brown slightly, about 30 seconds, adding a bit more bacon grease if the pan is dry. Add the stock, jam, vinegar and cinnamon and stir well. Cook until the sauce thickens and is rich brown in color, about 10 minutes. (Don't cook down the sauce too much, but if you do, simply add a little more stock.)
Uncover the pork chops and top with the glazed apples.
For a beautiful and festive variation, add 1/4-1/2 cup of dried cranberries when you add the stock.
We like to eat this with Green Beans....

Unbelievable Banana Bread

I am not joking-you might have a banana bread you really like, but I am telling you this one is absolutely amazing!
I have always made my mom's recipe for banana bread, which I think she acquired from her mother. It is good, and more importantly, it is what I was used to, which sort of implies that it doesn't really have to be good, it is just the thing we crave because it is familiar. But, nonetheless, her banana bread is good-it is a wonderful, simple recipe that calls only for staples, and is a great way to use those leftover, over-ripe bananas.

This banana bread, on the other hand, is a work of art. It is for that time that you want something extra special. The recipe makes two loaves, and I am telling you it is an absolutely grand gift. Just the other day I made up a batch and took the second loaf to an elderly couple living in a retirement home. They shared it with some friends, who asked if they could pay me to make more!

Add a cup of dark chocolate chunks for an extra special treat!

The recipe calls for buttermilk, which gives this loaf tenderness, but that density you can expect from buttermilk, and the large amount of sugar used gives the bread a crispy, sugary top that reminds me of my favorite part of muffins.Vanilla and cinnamon give subtle flavors to this delicious bread.
I am not kidding you, when I bake this bread if I do not take the second loaf to someone it rarely makes it to the next day's breakfast. Walnuts add a delightful depth to the recipe, but if you don't like them, you can leave them out and the bread is still divine.

As bananas begin to become over-ripe at our house, I peel them and place them in a plastic freezer bag. Once I have enough for a recipe, I just set them on the counter for about an hour and they are extremely soft. They practically dissolve into the batter, leaving you without any big pieces of banana!
Enjoy!

Unbelievable Banana Bread
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Grease two 9-by-3-inch loaf pans. Combine all ingredients, except bananas and walnuts, in a stand mixer. Once thoroughly combined, add bananas and walnuts, if using.
Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and place in oven.
Bake until bread is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  Transfer pans to wire racks and let cool for five minutes before removing bread from pans.
Let cool an additional 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe from Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook.

Shhh...don't tell

I was going through recipes in my mind, trying to decide what to write next. I thought about a main dish I had made recently, but then I realized, I have not posted a dessert in a while (that is because I am trying to give you other things besides desserts!)
And then, it hit me. This cake is fantastic. It is actually a beautiful union between a fudgy, delightful chocolate cake, and some brownies I had. This cake could stand alone and be perfect for birthdays, dinner parties, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Columbus Day (trust me, you will be trying to find reasons to make this cake).

What makes this cake sooooo good? First, it is four layers high, which tends to impress in and of itself. But add to that fudge frosting, and the fact that you use a cake mix, and you have the makings of an easy, delicious dessert that can be made ahead. Add orange peel and you have taken it to the next level. Now, if orange turns you off, leave it out, but if you have ever enjoyed one of those chocolate oranges at Christmas time you will love love LOVE this cake. The zest of two oranges is all you need to take this cake over the top. Be careful with the frosting, it is what really makes this cake amazing!
Let me tell you something about this, you want to make two cake recipes if you want an extra tall cake. This is what I usually do. It turns out fantastic this way. I have listed the ingredients for a single batch, but you should try the four tiered version for company! You will also need to clean out your bowl to use it for the frosting. Do not try to hurry and make this cake before company comes. You want to start early in the day or even the day before.

Chocolate Orange Fudge Cake
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/3 cup corn oil
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
zest of 1 orange

Icing
3 cups (1 1/2 bags) semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 nonstick 8-inch cake pans. Cut parchment to cover bottoms of pans and place inside. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
To Make the Cake: Combine the cake mix, water, eggs, oil, sour cream, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Alternatively, use and electric hand mixer. Beat on low speed until the mixture is well blended. Increase the speed to medium if using a stand mixer (high for a hand mixer) and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest. Pour the batter into a prepared baking pans and bake until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and let cool completely on the racks. If you are making the four layer cake, repeat.
To Make the Icing: Put the chocolate chips in the metal bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Alternatively, use and an electric hand mixer. Combine the sugar, milk, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let boil vigorously for exactly 1 minute. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the chocolate. Add the vanilla. Beat on medium speed until the mixture begins to thicken to a spreadable consistency, 10 to 15 minutes.
To assemble, place 1 cake, flat-side up, on a platter. Spread one quarter of the icing (about 3/4 cup) over the top of the cake. Top with the second cake, flat-side up and spread one quarter of the icing (about 3/4 cup) over the top. Repeat with layers three and four. Spread a thin layer of the remaining icing over the op and sides of the cake.
Note: if your kitchen is warm, refrigerate the cake for about 15 minutes after frosting the second layer. This will prevent the cake from sliding.

Berry wonderful!

Strawberries are here! I love the season's first offering of these sweet-but-sassy berries (which, actually, are not berries). So every time the first strawberries appear at the grocery store, I am compelled to buy them. Especially when they are running a 'buy two get a deal' thing. I then try to use the as fast as I possibly can, because I don't want to waste anything. You know the routine. Buy something on special, throw it in the bottom of the fridge.                           Two weeks later.              Digging through fridge and find special deal asparagus that you never used for anything. I know. It stinks. What I have started doing with miscellaneous produce items that I cannot seem to use in time is freeze them. This works especially well with strawberries. You hull them and throw them in a freezer Ziploc bag. They can be used for all sorts of things. Throw them in a smoothie with a banana, some honey, yogurt and a little milk. I also make jam out of them if I happen to collect enough.
Lately, though, I have been getting better at using the abundance of produce I end up with. One way is my second son, who thinks he is a garbage disposal. He loves, I mean loves strawberries. He thinks they are apples (he is only one and a half). If he sees them he starts saying, "Apples, more apples. Apples. Thank you." How can I resist? He will eat as many as I let him.
I also like to take fresh strawberries, hull and quarter them, plop on some yogurt (flavored is fine, or if you have unflavored mix it with jam or honey) and smash up some cereal like Honey Bunches of Oats on top of it. It's delicious. It is like a parfait, but in about 2 minutes. I love serving that with breakfast on our days off.
They are also great in salads with walnuts and feta. Add a raspberry vinaigrette (I like Ken's light) or balsamic dressing and you have a great start to a meal.
Well, I recently found another great addition to my strawberry repertoire. Strawberry shortcakes. I am not talking about those spongy, sweet circles you buy in the store. Real shortcakes. They are a snap to make, and filled with homemade whipped cream and fresh, ripe strawberries, I am going to be making these more often!
The shortcakes come together in food processor in a matter of moments. Just flour, salt and leavening, then add some cold butter and heavy cream. Roll them out and cut them into *heart shaped* shortcakes-so much fun! Perfect for an evening with just you and your man-or in our case, me and my men.

While they are baking in the oven, hull and quarter the strawberries and mash a few for a bit of a different texture. Whip up the cream and there you go!
I served mine after an easy dinner of pasta and salad, but it made the evening feel special and they were delicious!
You can make the shortcakes ahead, so all you have to do is fill them for a special meal. There is a lot of the shortbread leftover, so I just bake it up and use it for breakfast with some homemade blackberry jam and lots of butter...mmmm! It can't get any better than this!

Strawberry shortcakes

 3 cups cake flour, plus more as needed
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Strawberries

2 cups hulled and quartered strawberries
1 tablespoon blackberry preserves
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Whipped Cream

1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

powdered sugar for dusting

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable-oil cooking spray.
            To make the shortcakes: Sift together the flour, the 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, the baking powder, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the butter and pulse 3 or 4 times at 2-second intervals until the dough resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and process until the dough begins to come together, a few seconds more. It will still be crumbly at this point. Do not overwork or the shortcakes will be tough.
Transfer the dough to a well-floured work surface. If the dough is sticky, sprinkle it with more flour. using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 12 inches long. Fold the left end to the middle and the right end up over the left end for for 3 layers. Roll out the dough to 3/4-inch thickness. using a 3-inch-wide heart-shaped cutter, cut into 3 individual cakes. Gather the scraps, roll out the remaining dough, and cut out 3 more hearts.
Place the shortcakes at least 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops lightly with the beaten egg mixture and sprinkle lightly with the 2 teaspoons granulated sugar. Bake until the shortcakes are light golden brown. 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the strawberries: Stir together the strawberries, blackberry preserves, granulated sugar, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Put 1 cup of the mixture in a small bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher. Add to the strawberry mixture and set aside.
To make the whipped cream: Combine the heavy cream, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of  a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. The cream should slowly fall over forward when lifted with a whisk. Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer.
To serve, using a serrated knife, cut 2 shortcakes in half horizontally and place the bottom halves on each of the 2 plates. Top with the strawberries, dividing evenly. Add a dollop of whipped cream and top with the remaining sugar.

Raindrops on roses...

On days when our house just can't seem to get warm I like to bake cookies. The oven is normally on for a few hours, and everybody, of course, is perfectly fine with the fact that the house is warm and there are fresh, homemade cookies to be found. I have tried a few different varieties, but cookies are one area that I don't really stray from the mainstays: chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar, refrigerator (at Christmas) and every once in a while I will do something different, like peanut butter thumbprints (I know that isn't really different), or I will add different types of chocolate chips or perhaps toffee chips (divine!). Now, perhaps you noticed a very common cookie that I didn't include in that list, namely, oatmeal raisin. There is a reason for that. I am not was not terribly fond of oatmeal raisin cookies, and I have a very valid reason for that. Have you noticed that the raisins get this burned taste? Maybe you like that, but raisins are not my favorite to begin with, so then when they taste burned I pretty much have no desire to eat them. I like the cookie part of oatmeal cookies, so I have often considered altering the recipe slightly, i.e. omitting the raisins, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it.
Lately, though, I have been purchasing my rolled oats in bulk from a large warehouse store (read: Costco). I use it for a myriad of things I cook, from meatballs to butternut squash muffins, and rolled oats are better for you than instant oatmeal, so I try to fix that for breakfast about twice a week. Anyway. I have a lot, I mean a lot of oatmeal laying around, so I decided to look in my no-fail recipe book and make some oatmeal cookies from that recipe.
I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, and added semi-sweet chocolate chips, just because chocolate is good in everything. Well, almost. They were awesome! The cookie is so soft and chewy, with a very buttery flavor accented with just the right amount of sweetness. We couldn't stop eating them. My Dad named them his new favorite cookie.

The next time I made them I used white chocolate instead of the semi-sweet, and that was also wonderful. A little on the sweet side, but if you are a sugar fiend like my sister you will really enjoy that.
The variations are virtually limitless. We like dried cranberries a lot. If you like dried apricots, that would be delicious with the white chocolate chips also. Just about any dried fruit would be great and you could put white, semi-sweet, milk chocolate or dark chips. Coconut, walnuts, pecans or almonds would be absolutely incredible!
I recommend making a double batch and sharing with your friends or the elderly in your neighborhood or church-they will love you for it!

Oatmeal Cookies
makes about 48 cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups rolled oats or quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 or more baking sheets with vegetable-oil cooking spray or line with parchment paper or silpat.
Stir together the flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
Stir together the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy and blended. Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture in two additions and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Reduce the speed to low, slowly add the dry ingredients, and beat until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Stir in the oatmeal, cranberries and chocolate chips.
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden and the centers are barely cooked, about 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire rack and let cool completely.

Do-Ahead:
Bake half the cookie dough, then wrap the rest in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze for later baking. The dough keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator and 1 month frozen.