Barefoot Bloggers: Easy Sticky Buns

I was kind of excited when I saw that there were two breakfast recipes to do this month.  The banana pancakes sounded (and were) great.  I was a little less enthusiastic about the Easy Sticky Buns.  I say this for two reasons:

1. I have always wanted to make some good sticky rolls but a big issue with them is it is hard to make them for two people.  I could cut this recipe in half if I wanted but I was pretty sure my wife would not like these with the nuts and raisins and I new I didn't need to eat six myself.
2. The second issue I had was the word "Easy".  Usually something with the word easy in it calls for cans of Cream of Mushroom soup or something similar.  Not every recipe with Cream of Mushroom soup is bad and I have been known to make a few - but I do enjoy cooking and I don't seek out things that are "easy".  

Both of my fears were unfounded.  My wife was having a breakfast at Church where she was going to bring some Blueberry muffins made from a mix - I couldn't let that happen - could I?  A dozen was what she wanted so it worked out perfect ( I actually gave her 11 and ate one myself).  As for my issues with the word easy - Ina Garten hasn't let me down yet so I went for it.

The recipe was easy.  It used puff pastry for the dough so no yeast dough to knead and let rise.  You just sprinkle some ingredients on and roll it up and slice into the rolls.  You stick the rolled up dough into a muffin pan along with some butter, brown sugar, and nuts.  It is that easy.  The butter and brown sugar form a caramel while it bakes.  When you are done you flip them over so the caramel sauce and nuts are on top of the roll.  

I have to admit that even though they were easy they were tasty.  My wife didn't try one because of the nuts but it would be easy to leave them off some of the rolls if I needed too.  She did say they were a big hit at here church breakfast and they were finished off.  I would also say if there is anytime where easy is a good thing it is for a breakfast item.  You don't want to be waiting two hours for something to rise before anyone gets to eat.

My only hint is to work quickly taking them out of the pan.  I might even try to do it before the five minutes is up.  When they start to cool the caramel and nuts start to stick in the pan and you want every last drop.  Cleanup might seem like it will be a pain but everything cleans up pretty easy with a little soak in hot water.  Just make sure to put the muffin pan on parchment paper and a sheet pan so it doesn't get all over the oven - that would be a mess.

One other thing I noticed is that my package of puff pastry had you thaw at room temp for an hour or so.  This doesn't really work great first thing in the morning.  I checked their web site and there they mention that it is actually preferred to thaw overnight in the refrigerator so that is what I did.

Thanks to Melissa at Made by Melissa for this recipe.  I like her menu Mondays feature where she gives her menus for the whole week.  I think I am going to have to start following Melissa.

Easy Sticky Buns

(Source: Back to Basics, page 240)

Makes 12 sticky buns

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 & 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
• 1 package (17.3 ounces/ 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted 

For the filling

• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. 
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture. 
3. Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1½ teaspoons of the cinnamon, and ½ cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about ½ inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1½ inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns. 
4. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely. 

Barefoot Bloggers: Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

So this month we get a breakfast choice - actually two which you will see in the next post.  Lara is a little concerned since she saw sour cream in the title but she does like breakfast.  We were in Florida for vacation for the last two weeks (80 degrees - nice) but now I am back in MN (-15 brrrr) and ready to start cooking again.

My parents came over to visit - now that they have a grandbaby here they visit more ofter and I decided I could fix the pancakes for them to try.  I asked if anyone objected to breakfast for supper and they decided they would give them a try.

Somehow I had all the ingredients except for the sour cream - I remember going to get the sour cream so I am not sure what happened there.  Anyway I had a little over half of what I needed and I used some 1/2 & 1/2 and lemon juice as a substitute.

The batter came out pretty thick for me - I added a little extra milk but it was still pretty thick.  The pancakes were very easy to make and they came out very good.  I think both the sour cream and banana flavor was mild but it was just right for me.  The lemon zest was a nice touch - my Dad even picked up on the citrus taste right away.  Everyone liked them - even Lara.  I'll get her to see that she can eat sour cream.

Thanks to Karen of Something Sweet by Karen for this months recipe.  

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

(Source: Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Page 177)

Makes 12 Pancakes

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

1. 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.
2. 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.

Barefoot Bloggers: Pappa Al Pomidoro

I had never heard of Pappa Al Pomidoro but I always enjoy soup - especially this time of year.  My wife doesn't really like tomatoes but she is usually ok if there are not chunks of tomato so I decided to give it a shot.  I did try to chop the tomatoes a little finer than the recipe intended for my wife but I don't think it took anything away from the recipe.

I must just shop at the wrong places but this is the second recipe in a row where I have had trouble finding an ingredient.  I don't think I have ever seen a thick sliced pancetta.  I suppose a good deli probably has pancetta that has not been cut an pre-packaged.  I decided to substitute good american bacon for the pancetta.  In most recipes I like the flavor of bacon better than pancetta anyway - although it probably added a little too much fat to the soup.

I also seem to be having trouble reading recipes lately.  When I got to the part of the recipe where it said to add the salt - 1 Tablespoon of salt seemed like a lot but I added it anyway.  Well it was too much and the soup turned out a little on the salty side.  It is only now that I see in the ingredient list that I was supposed to use kosher salt.  It should be no issue using table salt in place of kosher salt but 2 tsp table salt would probably be about the same as the Tablespoon of kosher salt.  Oh well - it wasn't too bad.  I should have at least trusted my instincts and left out some of the salt until the end when I could do the seasoning to taste.

I think it was a good soup but I don't think I will be making it again.  My wifes review of the soup is "too tomatoey".  I am not really sure that is a bad thing for most people in a tomato soup but it is for her.

Have I remembered to thank my wife for my dutch ovens?  I have always wanted one but could never bring myself to plunk down $200-$300 for a single pan.  Well last year I found the Mario Batali cookware at Crate and Barrel that looked pretty nice.  Then I also saw that Martha stewart had some nice looking dutch ovens at Macys.  My wife ended up buying me both a 5.5 and 7 quart Martha Stewart Dutch oven earlier this year.  I can definitly say that they have been great.  I thought it would be something I would use a couple of times a year but I am using them all the time.  I have never used Le Cruset but I can't imagine how they would be much better than these.  They look great and so far the finish is holding up well.  I think she said she got both of them for less than $100 - can't beat that; I am sure there were coupons and sales involved.

Thanks to Natalie of Burned Bits for this recipe choice.  I'm always up for soup.

Pappa Al Pomidoro

(Source: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Page 68)

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup good olive oil
• 2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
• 1 cup medium-diced carrots, unpeeled (3 carrots)
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, and medium-diced (1 1/2 cups)
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
• 3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta cubes, crusts removed
• 2 (28-ounce) cans good Italian plum tomatoes
• 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the topping

• 3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta cubes
  
• 2 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, chopped
• 24 to 30 whole fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil, plus more for serving
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, fennel, and garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the ciabatta cubes and cook for 5 more minutes. Place the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process just until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and allow to simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
3. For the topping, place the ciabatta cubes, pancetta, and basil on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes, until all the ingredients are crisp. The basil leaves will turn dark and crisp, which is perfectly fine. Reheat the soup, if necessary, beat with a wire whisk until the bread is broken up. Stir in the Parmesan and taste for seasoning. Serve hot sprinkled with the topping and drizzled with additional olive oil.

Christmas Cookie Time - Chocolate Turtle Cookies

It is a busy time of year but I decided I wanted to make some cookies.  My wife was invited to a neighborhood cookie exchange and she also had a cookie contest at work so I decided it would be the perfect opportunity.  

I saw this recipe on the web somewhere and then got my December issue of Cooks Country and it had the same recipe.  I needed 80 cookies for the exchange so I ended up making 9-10 dozen of these.  The recipe in Cooks Country did not have the pecan halves on top but I thought they added a nice touch.

I need a lesson in reading the recipe all the way through.  Where it says one egg separated plus one white I missed the separated part and threw the entire egg plus the whites into the cookie so my five batches of cookies had 10 egg whites in it that were not supposed to be there.  It was late at night and I didn't have the ingredients to make another five batches so I tested it out.  I am not really sure it affected the cookies much.  I think maybe they might have spread out a little more than they were supposed to but they tasted good and still looked nice.

I didn't win the contest - I blame the judging.  The cookie exchange had another cookie almost the same with chocolate in the center instead of the caramel - oh well.  They were still good and I had fun making them.

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon slat
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup pecans, chopped fine
• 14 soft caramel candies
• 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 24 pecan halves

Directions

1. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl.  With electric mixer on medium beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until Incorporated.  Reduce to low speed and add flour mixture until just combined.  Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 1 hour.
2. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
3. Whisk egg whites in bowl until frothy.  Place pecans in another bowl.  One at a time, roll dough into 1 inch ball, dip in egg whites, then roll in pecans.  Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.  Using teaspoon measure, make indentation in center of each ball.  Bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes, switching and rotating sheets half way through baking.
4. Meanwhile, microwave caramels and cream in bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.  Once cookies are removed from oven, gently press existing indentations with teaspoon measure .  Fill each indentation with 1/2 teaspoon caramel mixture.  Cool 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.