(Sorta) Muffin Monday

I guess these aren't actual muffins per se, but I'm using poetic licence and declaring it muffin-ish because #1 ~ You can still eat it with your hands, and #2 ~ It's just plain yummy! Biscuits!  These are just about the easiest biscuits I've ever made. Thank you, Pioneer Woman!  (I just love her ~ she's absolutely adorable!)

Southern-Style (aka) Self-Rising Buttermilk Biscuits

The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

2-1/2 c buttermilk 

(or if you don't have buttermilk:)
 2-1/3 c whole milk + 3 T white vinegar

6 c self-rising flour, plus more for kneading

1-1/2 t salt ** (see note below)

3/4 c lard (or shortening or butter or a combination of the three)

melted salted butter, for brushing

Oven: 475*

** Ree says that if you're using salted butter, cut down on the salt that's in the recipe.**

Directions:

If you're making your own buttermilk, stir vinegar into milk.  Let set 10 minutes.

Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl.

Use a pastry cutter to cut in the fat of your choice until the size of small peas.

Slowly pour in wet ingredients, stirring until it just comes together.

Flour your working surface, and plop out the dough.  Knead 10-15 times, adding flour until it's less sticky.

Roll out dough 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick.  Cut out biscuits and place on a baking sheet 1/2 inch apart.

Bake exactly 10 minutes.  Remove from oven & brush with the melted butter.

* I think you could cut these a little larger & adjust baking time about a minute or two.  Split & fill with scrambled eggs. bacon or sausage, and a slice of cheese.  Wrap in a piece of foil (or napkin) ~ and voila!  Breakfast to go!

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

I made these tasty little morsels not too long ago.  I simply adore Ina Garten ~ a.k.a.  the Barefoot Contessa.  She's the epitome of the perfect Jewish mother.  I love the simplicity and "normal-ness" of her food.  I also love her sense of decorating and entertaining style.  She's the greatest, in my opinion!

Without further ado, here's her recipe for Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits from her cookbook "Back to Basics".


Barefoot Contessa's Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

All-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1-1/2 t kosher salt
12 T (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 c cold buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra large egg
1 c grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (Ina suggests Vermont white Cheddar)
1 egg, beaten with 1 T milk

Preheat oven to 425*

Place 2 cups flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small glass measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened.  In a small bowl mix the Cheddar with a small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough.  Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto w well-floured board and knead lightly about six times.  Toll the dough out to a rectangle 5x10 inches.  With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through.  Serve hot or warm.

* By the way, these are fantastic to use as breakfast biscuts!  Cut in half and layer on scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage patty and even more cheese!  I've also thrown in about a tablespoon of fresh chives.  Delish! You're welcome!

My Mom's Breakfasts

Today I want to share two of my favorite breakfasts my mom made for my brothers and I "back in the day".  As I stated in an earlier post, my mother firmly believed that a hot breakfast was essential for her kids to start out their day.

My mom made us a different breakfast each day.  The following is what a regular school week of breakfasts would look like:  Blueberry muffins, fruit & milk ~ Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, juice/milk ~ Pancakes, sausage. milk ~ Baked eggs wrapped with bacon, toast, juice/milk ~ Oatmeal, fruit, milk.

Mom could make eggs at least 12 different ways.  She would not just fry an egg and be done with it ~ she would go the extra mile to cut a heart shape into a slice of bread, toss it into the skillet & crack an egg in the space to make an egg-in-the-hole sandwich.  A scrambled egg would transform into a farmer's omelet, complete with crispy potatoes, onions, bacon and cheese.  Baked eggs were a perfect "cupcake" of bacon and eggs.  Poached eggs were served on crispy, buttery English muffins.  Then, for one of my most favorites:  the simple boiled egg was sliced and made into Creamed Eggs on Toast.

I loved creamed eggs on toast! Mom made this at least one time a month, and I always looked forward to it.  I must admit that it doesn't look too appetizing on the plate, but the flavor is amazing!

Here is the recipe:

Mom's Creamed Eggs on Toast

6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and sliced/diced

4 T butter

4 T flour

1 c milk

salt/pepper to taste

6 slices toast

Melt butter into medium saucepan.  Add  flour.  Cook for at least 1 minute to remove raw flour taste.  Add in milk and whisk until desired thickness.  If too thick, add in more milk.  Add in eggs and seasonings.

Place 2 slices toast on plate and ladle creamed eggs over top.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Enjoy!

* I've found the best way to make a hard-boiled egg is to put the eggs into a large saucepan, cover with water and sprinkle with salt.  Boil for 10 minutes, remove from heat and cover with a lid.  Let set until cool enough to handle.  They usually peel easier that way.

Mom's Baked Eggs

12 eggs

6 slices bacon, cut in half and partially cooked

salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 350*.  Lightly oil each spot on the muffin tin with butter-flavored cooking spray.  Place each bacon half around the perimeter of each spot.  Crack an egg in each spot. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Bake 15-20 minutes.  

Serve with toast, biscuits, or English muffins.

Blackberry Lemon Pull-Apart Loaf

Saw this recipe on Pinterest and just had to try it!  I've seen so many pull-apart loaf recipes, but this one was right up my alley.  However, I modified it a bit to make my life a little easier.


Dough:
1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread dough, thawed
2 T lemon zest

Filling:
1/4 c sugar
1 T lemon zest
1/4 c seedless blackberry preserves

Frosting:
1/4 c confectioner's sugar
2-4 T milk
1 t vanilla

Set oven to 350*

After dough is thawed, place in mixer w/ dough hook.  Mix in the 2 T lemon zest. Let rise until doubled in size.

Mix sugar & lemon zest together.  Roll dough into a long, thin rectangle.  Cut into smaller rectangles.  Brush each with a thin layer of blackberry preserves. Sprinkle with sugar mixture.  Place in loaf pan, standing it up.  Repeat until all rectangles are used up.

Cover pan with towel.  Let rise until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Remove from oven & let cool slightly.

In the meantime, make frosting.  Glaze over top of warm loaf.  Enjoy!

My Mother-In-Law's Breakfast Casserole

My wonderful mother-in-law made this breakfast for my husband & I when we came for a visit many years ago. She generously wrote out this recipe for me, and it has been one of my main "go-to" breakfasts for almost 16 years!

1 package unseasoned stuffing cubes
1 lb. sausage, cooked & drained
1/2 c. sliced mushrooms (small can)
2 c. grated Cheddar cheese
1/4 c. finely minced onion, sauteed in 1 T butter
1 T. chives
3/4 c. cream
1 1/4 c. milk
8 eggs
1 t. mustard
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Place half of croutons on the bottom, then layer the sausage, cheese, onions, and mushrooms. Combine the cream, milk, eggs, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chives, salt and pepper into a blender. Pulse until mixture is completely incorporated. Pour over the layers in the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

You can substitute bacon or ham for the sausage, or use a mixture of the three. You can also make it vegetarian by adding a variety of peppers, spinach, carrots, black olives and mushrooms.

My Absolute ~ Favorite ~ Bread Recipe

I don't know about you, but I've been a little peeved lately about how much a loaf of bread costs.  My hubs is finnicky about the kind of bread he eats ~ no Great Value brand here ~ so we spend over $2 a loaf for bread.  In recent months, it's gone up even higher (along with everything else!) and so we can spend almost $5 for 2 loaves of bread.  I've had enough, so I'm trying my hand at bread making!  

I bought a 10-lb bag of flour at Sam's and 2 lbs of dry yeast for around $5 each.  I'm thinking that bread will be much cheaper (and healthier!) if I try to make it myself!

A good friend of mine gave me this recipe for bread many years ago. It's also known as "Tupper Dough", a bread dough that you make in a large Tupperware bowl. Without further ado, here it is! :)

Ingredients:

9 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c. milk
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1-1/2 c. cool water
4 eggs, beaten
2 packages dry yeast (or 4-1/2 t)
2 sticks butter, melted

Directions:

Measure out 9 cups flour into large bowl. Make a well in the center. Meanwhile, scald milk and add sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve. Add in cool water and eggs. Pour into well of flour, and sprinkle dry yeast on top. Let sit in warm place for 1 hour.

Pour in melted butter and stir well to combine. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until dough is a firm ball. Let sit in a tub of warm water (I usually fill my sink with hot tap water halfway up the outside of the bowl) for 30 minutes. Punch down dough and let rise another 30 minutes.

Form into rolls or loaves and let rise another 30 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden. Brush tops with butter.

For cinnamon rolls, roll out dough and sprinkle with brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Add chopped pecans if desired. Slice, place in pan, and let rise/bake as suggested above. Frost with cream cheese icing!

Cream Cheese Icing:

6 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 c. softened butter (no substitutes, please!)
2 t. vanilla
4-1/2 to 4-3/4 c. sifted powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add in 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in enough powdered sugar to make frosting spreading consistency.

* Both of these recipes can be halved if necessary. *

Gooey Caramel Rolls

For this weekend, I wanted to post one of my favorite decadent breakfasts.  These rolls are simple to make and are so incredibly rich and oh, so ooey-gooey delicious! Serve with an icy-cold fruit salad, and you'd think you were in heaven!

Ingredients:

16 Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
1 c. lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 package Jello cook-and-serve butterscotch pudding
1/2 stick melted butter
1/4 c. grandulated sugar
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Directions:

Mix sugar and cinnamon. Grease bundt pan well with cooking spray. Place frozen rolls in pan. Sprinkle brown sugar and dry pudding mix over rolls. Pour melted butter over top, then sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture and nuts. Cover TIGHTLY with foil. Let set out overnight. The next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. (In case of spill-over, put the pan on top of a cookie sheet to catch those drips. Trust me.  Let's just say that burned-on caramel is a pain to clean out of your oven!) Flip upside down on top of foil and serve. 

Side Note: The sugar and butter turn into this sticky rich bit of caramel goodness that is awe-inspiring, I tell ya!

Here's the fruit salad ~ This is so colorful and pretty ~

Fruit Salad

Mix together:

1 small can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
black seedless grapes
sliced strawberries
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
1 bananna, sliced

For extra decadence, drizzle a teeny bit of Eagle-Brand sweetened condensed milk over the top.
If you want to be "good", a dollop of vanilla yogurt is tasty, too!