Homemade Cinnamon Rolls... yummmmm....

There's nothing better than the smell of cinnamon rolls baking away on Saturday morning.  Wait... there is one thing that's better, the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls!  If you have a bit of extra time on your hands, it's so worth it to make these delicous treats from scratch rather than buying the pre-made packages.

They aren't difficult to make, but there is quite a bit of 'wait time' involved, so plan on baking something else in the meantime!  I think the waiting makes the final product even more rewarding!  Our mouths were literally watering as the rolls sat on the cooling rack!  These were perfectly gooey and delicious but to try something different, next time I think I'll skip the orange zest in the icing and add chopped pecans to the filling for a bit of a crunch!  Can't wait! 

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with

Zesty Orange Icing

Ingredients

1 cup warm low fat milk
1/3 cup sugar, divided
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 package dry yeast
3 1/2 cups flour, plus more for kneading
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 tsp salt
non-stick cooking spray
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablspoons cinnamon

Icing:
3 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp orange zest

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine milk, 1 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp butter, and yeast.  Let stand 5 minutes

2. Add egg, remaining sugar, and 1 cup of flour.  Combine and let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Add remaining flour and salt, stirring until a dough forms.

4. Lightly flour a working surface and turn dough out.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Add bit of additional flour to dough if it is sticky. 

5. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the mound of dough in the bowl.  Cover and let rise in a warm area for 30 minutes.  Check by pressing 2 fingers into dough, if indentation remains, dough is risen enough.  Punch the down down , cover and let rise for 30 more minutes.  Punch down again, cover and let rise for an additional 5 minutes.

6. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a large rectangle (about 18 x 12 inches).

7. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon.  Brush the dough with melted butter and spread with brown sugar mixture. 

8. Roll up dough tightly beginning on the long side.  Cut dough into 1 inch slices.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and arrange rolls into baking dishes coated with cooking spray so that they just fit.  Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. 

9. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.  Cool in dishes on a wire rack then turn out rolls and cool for 5 more minutes. 

10.  Meanwhile, prepare icing by combining softened butter, cream and vanilla extract.  Gradually add powdered sugar until blended.  Stir in orange zest. 

11. Spread rolls with icing and serve immediately.  Should be warm, but not hot. 

A Berry Satisfying Breakfast

It was a Saturday morning and I was craving blueberry pancakes.  As pancakes are a little closer to the baking side of things, I needed help.  I decided to consult my good friend Ina Garten (I could only be so lucky).  She never fails me for these tried and true recipes.  She had a recipe for Banana Sour Cream Pancakes that had rave reviews.  I substituted greek yogurt for the sour cream, blueberries for the bananas, used a touch less salt and a touch more sugar, threw in a couple of my tricks, and came out with beautiful blueberry pancakes.  The greek yogurt made them very rich and moist and the subtle flavor of the lemon zest added so much.  These will definitely be on my table again.  Thank you Ina for the inspiration!  Maybe next time I'll try your banana version.

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3/4 cup low-fat milk, more if needed to thin out batter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
strawberries, for serving
powdered sugar, for serving
100 % maple syrup, for serving

Directions

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

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the greek yogurt, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.  Do not overmix.  If mixture is too thick, add a bit more milk to get to desired consistency.

3. Heat pan to medium low and brush with butter.

4. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Place blueberries on the pancake and push into the batter.  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.

5.  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 strawberries, dust with powdered sugar and drizzle over maple syrup.

Enjoy and have a great day!

Spinach & Gruyère Soufflé

I must admit, I was a bit nervous to prepare a soufflé as I've heard they can be quite temperamental.  I've even heard horror stories about having to tip-toe around your kitchen or you will cause it to fall flat.  Texture is king is this dish and as it's name, which is French for "to blow up", indicates, it should be pefectly puffed. 

In short, a soufflé is base of egg yolks with a sauce and beaten egg whites.  The base provides the flavor while the egg whites give it volume.  There are both savory and dessert soufflés, and probably not too surprising, I chose to make a savory one; besides, I had spinach that I needed to use up.

The presentation of this dish is just beautiful.  Mine did not come out perfectly symmetrical by any means (thanks to my uneven cooking Australian oven) but I actually loved the quirky looking outcome.  It was fluffy with a light crust on the outside, and of course had to have that rewarding creamy center.  Make sure to season well and it will explode with flavor. 

Spinach & Gruyère Soufflé

Ingredients

1 large bunch of spinach, stemmed and finely chopped

1 tbsp parmesan, grated

3 1/2 oz butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk, warm

1/4 tsp nutmeg

4 oz Gruyère cheese, grated

5 eggs, separated

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).  Grease your soufflé dish or individual ramekins completely using upward strokes and sprinkle all sides with parmesan (supposedly these 2 tricks will help the soufflé rise).

2. To make your base (kind of a very thick bechamel sauce), melt the butter in a pan.  Stir in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes until you have a paste.  Gradually add warm milk while stirring to prevent lumps, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. 

3. Stir through the spinach and cheese, allow to cool, then add the egg yolks.

4. Beat the egg whites until you have stiff peaks.  Fold the whites into the spinach mixture while you season.

5. Pour into prepared dishes.  Baking time varies greatly depending on what size dish(es) you are using.  For a large dish, cook for about 30 minutes, raise heat to 425 degrees F (220 C), and cook for 15 more minutes.  For individual ramekins, cook for 10 minutes, turn heat up and cook for about 5-10 more minutes.  You want the soufflé golden and just set.  In the traditional French method, I prefer mine still moist and creamy in the center although some like it cooked all the way through. 

A couple of tips:   

1.  Make sure to be careful when separating your eggs not to break the yolk on the shell.  If there is even a trace of yolk in your egg whites, they will probably not whip up.

2. Room temperature egg whiles will foam more quickly and to a greater volume.

3. When you fold in the egg whites, be gentle.

Mamma's Banana Bread

My mom makes the best banana bread, hands down.  It's always perfectly moist with just the right amount of sweetness.  It's a simple recipe, there are no secret ingredients, but it just works.  Maybe my love for this rendition has something to do with the comfort of being home but I'd be surprised if any other critic found it short of amazing. 

Remember I said it's simple?  I know it's probably breaking some cardinal rule of baking but you just add all the ingredients at once and mix.  There's no mixing of dry and wet ingredients separately, gradual incorporation, etc.  Maybe one day I'll try it out using more traditional methods but it's hard to find a reason to when the outcome is this good.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).  Butter your loaf pan.
2. (If you've forgotten already) Mix it all together using wooden spoon. 
3. Pour into buttered pan and bake for 1 hour. Cool completely on wire rack.  Voila, so easy!

On the 12th Day of Christmas, the Recipe Diva made for me...

Crab & Asparagus Puffs

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday!  It's been entertaining around here, gas lines accidentally turned off, no heat or hot water... etc.  Good times!  Everything is all fixed up now and the Christmas ham has about 15 degrees to go!  Can't wait to dig in!

Because I knew we'd be grazing on appetizers and treats all day, I wanted to make a nice Christmas breakfast but keep it light.  I saw a recipe a while back for some cheesy crab and artichoke breakfast puffs.  I decided to do my own spin - less cheese, more crab, asparagus, and few other additions.

Exactly what we needed to start the day!  They were light, fluffy, and the flavors worked perfectly together.  Can't wait to double, triple, or quadruple this recipe for a brunch with friends!

Ingredients

5 beaten eggs

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

8 oz. cottage cheese

5 oz. crab meat - use the good stuff, it really pays off!

4 spears asparagus

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

S&P

Directions

1. Cook asparagus in boiling water until crisp tender.  Plunge in cold water and thinly slice

2. Combine all ingredients and pour into 6 buttered ramekins.  Bake 30 minute at 350 degrees F until golden. 

Like I said, we wanted to keep it light but these would be great served with hollandaise sauce.  They are very easy but taste quite gourmet.  Perfect for special occasions and entertaining when you want results without investing a lot of time! 

G'day from Qantas!

As some of you may know, I just arrived back in the US after a LONG flight from Australia.  Although I am never looking forward to the flight, thanks to a lot of transcontinental traveling, I am always looking forward to the pre-flight brekkie!

Our One World Alliance status gets us access to the elite Qantas Lounge in the Melbourne airport.  Refering to it as a lounge is somewhat misleading...

Full service, gourmet food, top shelf alcohol and best of all

it's all ON QANTAS!

I ordered my usual - egg white omelette with herbed ricotta, sauteed spinach, roasted tomatoes, and wholemeal toast... obviously complemented by a glass of Veuve Clicquot!

Now that's how you say 'Happy Travels'... mate!

Aussie Brekkie

You won't find a Denny's anywhere around here!

A typical Australian breakfast, or 'brekkie' as they say here is quite different from the American version.  I LOVE the Aussie rendition.  Although these poached eggs on toasted ciabatta, roasted tomatoes, avocado, and baked beans will set you back about fifteen bucks as opposed to $4.95, it's worth every penny!  I feel much more satifisifed after this hearty and healthy breakfast than the greasy, budget bacon and eggs that you might find at a 24 hour joint!