Garlic Parmesan Dinner Rolls – Can Something Look Too Good?

Let me start by saying that these garlic Parmesan dinner rolls were really great – crusty and cheesy on the outside, tender and garlicky inside, and visually gorgeous. Ironically, it’s that last adjective that may cause problems.

These looks so inviting, so tasty, and so beautiful that it’s almost impossible not to be let down when you bite into one of these and realize it’s just a dinner roll. It’s a great dinner roll, a special dinner roll, but a dinner roll nonetheless.

As I said in the video, when the towel is pulled back (we call that, “breadbasket burlesque” in the business), and these lovelies are finally revealed, your guest’s eyes will send messages to their stomachs to get ready for something way more awesome than a dinner roll.

So, this becomes a classic case of having to manage expectations. You need to make sure your diners know this is a humble bread bun, not some mini calzone, or other stuffed wonder of modern baking.

Anyway, it’s a great problem to have. So the next time you want something a little above and beyond the plain roll, I hope you give these a try. By the way, the leftover rolls make about the best salami sandwich, ever. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 package dry active yeast

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 cups flour, divided (add 1/2 cup to the sponge, and the rest as shown). 
NOTE: Don't add all the flour at once. Add some, and continue adding until your dough looks like mine. You may need more flour as you go for the board.

1/2 tsp white sugar

1 tsp fine salt

1 tbsp olive oil
1 egg

freshly, finely grated Parmesan, as needed

1 1/2 tbsp melted butter

2-3 cloves crushed garlic

2 tbsp freshly chopped Italian parsley

black pepper and cayenne to taste

*Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes

A Banana Bread That’s Okay to Make Early

Banana bread is one of those things people rarely make on purpose. Even though you know you’re not going to eat seven bananas in a week, you buy the big bunch anyway, because, “it’s kind of green.” Now, those last three bananas are almost black and you’re feeling like a bad person.

Then you remember banana bread, and long story short, you realize you’re not a bad person…in fact, you kind of rock. While that’s the most common scenario, this scrumptious banana walnut loaf, spiked with dark chocolate chips, is so good you’ll want to make it well before the bananas get to that condition. Yes, it does come out better with extra ripe bananas, but if you can’t wait (like I couldn’t), you’re still in for a treat.

The chocolate chips are sparse here, but make a big difference in the overall flavor. This is a case where more wouldn’t necessarily make it better. This should be more of a snack, not a super-sweet dessert. When Michele makes this, she actually grates unsweetened baking chocolate instead, and it’s amazingly like that also. And, don’t even get me started on how good this is toasted.

The recipe is adapted from one by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, from their cookbook, City Cuisine. It’s one of the oldest cookbooks we have, and has tons of great recipes, so check the link if you’re interested. Enjoy!

Banana Bread Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk
1 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

*Bake in a 9x4 loaf pan at 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour 10 minutes.

No-Knead Beer Bread – My Second Favorite Use for Belgian Ale

The hardest thing about this ultra-simple, no-knead bread recipe is somehow managing not to drink that last bottle of beer. In fact, if this recipe goes viral, you may actually see a “7-Pack” introduced into the market.

My beer drinking experience far exceeds my beer bread baking experience, so I’m not entirely sure exactly what the beer does here, but anecdotal evidence suggests it does delicious and beneficial things. Besides, it just feels right. When I stirred that bubbly brew into the foamy sponge, I swear I could hear the yeast moaning.

This is adapted from a recipe that my Uncle Bill adapted from our famous no-knead ciabatta bread recipe. That dough only uses a pinch of yeast, and takes about 18 hours to rise, but my Godfather proved that you could get similar results in just a few hours with this short-cut method.

So, if you were using the rising time as an excuse for not making homemade bread, well then, now what are you going to use? This really is an easy, fun, and fast recipe, and you’ll be amazed at how great the results are, even for the most inexperienced bread maker. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

1 1/2 teaspoon dry active yeast

1/2 cup AP flour

1/2 cup warm water (about 100 degrees)

Then:
12 oz bottled beer

18 ounces AP flour (about 4 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Bay Scallops with Garlic Parsley Butter Sauce – I’ll Have the Nostalgia on Toast

They say smell is the sense most closely linked to memory recall, and that was certainly the case while making these garlicky, buttery bay scallops on toast. As waves of the wonderful aromas wafted up from the pan, they brought back a flood of vivid memories of my first real kitchen job.

Barely a teenager, I was hired as a dishwasher at an Italian steakhouse, called The Depot (pictured below is the train station that predated the restaurant). While it was fun being inside a bustling kitchen, washing dishes was anything but. By comparison, what I saw the line cooks doing looked like the greatest job ever, and this certainly played a role in my future career plans.

Anyway, there was a scallop dish on the menu, which consisted of 6 large scallops being placed in a small metal broiler plate, seasoned with salt and pepper, and then doused with wine, lemon, garlic, and butter. This was placed under the flame until the scallops were browned, and the sauce was bubbling below. It was finished with fresh parsley, and served with toasted Italian bread for dipping into the amazing juices.

(c) All rights reserved by John R. Stewart

The smell of that sizzling plate as it went by my station was almost too much to take, and once in a while, thanks to some kind of ordering mishap, I’d actually get to eat one. It was pure bliss, and a flavor combination I still love to this day.

By the way, unlike the large day-boat scallops you’re seen me cook before, these are way too small to worry about searing brown. In a restaurant kitchen, if we’re just cooking a couple ounces, we could get a decent sear and still finish the sauce without overcooking. But doing this many at home, all we really need to concentrate on, is not over cooking them. Besides, bay scallops are so naturally sweet, tender, and delicious, the sear is not as important as with the larger ones.

As I mention in the video, this makes a beautiful appetizer, but will also make a killer pasta sauce with some cream added in to stretch it. I hope you can find some small, wild scallops soon (frozen are great, as long as “Scallops” is the only ingredient listed on the bag), and give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4-6 appetizer size portions:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 pound bay scallops

4-5 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup white wine (NOT cooking wine)

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

4 tbsp cold butter, cubed

cayenne, salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

buttered and toasted Italian bread slices

*Note for pasta sauce, add a 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream with the wine, and proceed as shown. Should make enough sauce for about 4 portions of pasta)

Taking a Trip to Breadtopia

This great sourdough starter video is from Eric at Breadtopia. Eric was one of my fellow nominees for most innovative video content in the Saveur best food blog awards, and as you'll see in this clip, he's a great teacher.

One of my very few regrets with the pro food blogger lifestyle, is having almost no time to visit and watch/read other people's blogs. When I first started out, I would spend a few hours a day surfing the web. Now, I'm pretty much limited to a few minutes here and there, and it's sad knowing I'm missing out on so much great content – like this lesson.

This video shows a very clever method for making a sourdough starter using pineapple juice to increase your odds for success. I hope you enjoy it, and please check out all the other great videos on Breadtopia. Enjoy!



Photo (c) Flickr user grongar

Scone Home

I've been waiting almost 3 years to work an E.T. reference into one of my blog post titles.

For whatever reason, I've had quite a few requests lately for a scone recipe video. I should say at the outset, I've never made scones before (or at least never remember making scones before), and I've never been a big fan of eating them either.

I've always found them so dry and crumbly that I just assumed some devious Scottish café owner invented them to increase sales, since most of the scones I've tried take about five cups of coffee to wash down.

Then I thought, maybe I've just never had a really good one. So I did what any social media savvy professional video recipe blogger would do; I asked my friends on Twitter for a recipe.

I got many great suggestions for all kinds of wonderful sounding versions, but since I'd never made them before, I decided to just make a plain, very traditional version to start off with. I figured I'd get the basic recipe down before trying anything crazy.

This recipe is very slightly adapted from one by someone called "Friendlyfood" on All Recipes, who claims it was adapted from a version made at the Savoy hotel in London. I have to say, I am very impressed. It was light, tender, moist and very delicious.

By the way, a couple of my favorite foodies, Denise from ChezUs, and Jennifer from In Jennie's Kitchen, may also be posting scone recipes soon, and when they do, I will share those with you as well (and believe me, they won't be as plain as this one!).

Another friend of mine, Tamar from Starving off the Land, pointed out the controversy regarding the correct pronunciation. While most Americans (and by most, I mean all) say it so it rhymes with "cone," the proper articulation is said to rhyme with "John."

As you know, I've never been big on pronouncing things correctly, and I'm not about to start now, but I wanted to point that out in case you find yourself in Scotland someday. Hey, you don't want to sound like a tourist, or worse, a Brit.

One last thing, you'll see me add the currants along with the wet ingredients. I don't understand why recipes for cookies, muffins, etc., call for fruit, nuts, and/or chips to be stirred in after the wet ingredients are mixed in. These types of recipes suffer greatly from over mixing, so I say add the chunky bits when you combine the wet and dry. Having said that, I'm not a baker, so maybe there's a reason for this common recipe instruction. Is there? Anyway, enjoy!




Ingredients:
8 ounces by weight all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup dried currants
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
(and 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon milk for the wash)

Looking for something a little less traditional? Check out these other great looking scone recipes:
Oatmeal Raspberry Scones from Joy the Baker
Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze from Steamy Kitchen
Dreamy Cream Scones from Smitten Kitchen
White Chocolate & Sour Cherry Scones from David Lebovitz

Easter Lilies or Easter Bread... What Would Jesus Bring?

Last year you just watched. This year, you actually make the bread. That's the plan at least. Below you'll see two videos; one for my family's traditional Easter bread, and one for a pink lemon icing.

These video recipes ran last year, but we have so many new visitors on the blog these days, I decided it would make a good pre-Easter rerun.

I'm sure some of you gave this try, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we do every year. Sure you can bring that half-dead lily plant to your Easter gathering, or you can bring a couple loaves of this great bread. What would Jesus do?


How to Make Italian-Style Easter Bread



Follow the link to read the original post, "Italian Easter Bread - The Resurrection of a Great Family Recipe," and get all the ingredient amounts.


How to Lemon Icing



Follow the link to read the original post, "Pink Ice Ice Icing - It's Good Friday," and get all the ingredient amounts.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins – What a Delicious Way to Fail a Drug Test

Yes, it's true! A couple poppy seed muffins can cause a positive drug test for opiates. So if you're being tested tomorrow, never mind, but the rest of you are encouraged to try this poppy seed muffin I'm testing for the cookbook, and let me know what you think. I think I have the formula down, and I really love the taste and texture of this easy recipe. Enjoy!


































Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Makes 12

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (1/2-cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white granulated sugar
finely grated zest from 2 lemons
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
For the glaze:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl, and reserve until needed.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest, until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice, and 1/2 of the sour cream until combined.

Add half of the remaining flour mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in the remaining sour cream. Stir in the rest of the flour mixture, and then the poppy seeds.

Line a 12-muffin tin with paper baking cups. Fill each to the top with batter. Bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While the muffins are baking, mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar together for form a thin glaze.

Remove the muffins from the oven when ready, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Brush the lemon glaze evenly over the top of each muffin. This is not intended to be a frosting, but just a very light glaze to give the tops a little shine and extra kiss of lemon flavor.

When cool enough to handle, remove muffins from the tins and cool completely on a rack before serving.

Too Many Blueberry Muffins

Give or take a pinch of baking powder, most blueberry muffin recipes are pretty much the same. One thing that varies is the dairy used – some recipes call for buttermilk, while others use yogurt, or sour cream as this one does.

When it comes to the amount of blueberries, it seems that 1 1/2 cups is the standard measure. Since I get my blueberries in pint baskets, which is 2 cups, I decided to push the envelope and toss in the whole thing.

Is that too many? You can be the judge, but I really like that these are chock full of juicy fruit, and while it does make them less sweet, I think it's a good tradeoff. This recipe is going to be published, so let me know what you think if you decide to give them a go.

I usually do my voiceovers in the morning, when I'm fresh and peppy, and my voice is dripping with enthusiastic verve. This voiceover was done late in the evening, as I was getting ready to take off to Las Vegas (where this is being posted from).

If you are new to the blog you probably wouldn't have noticed anything, but the regular viewers will hear the same thing I do…I sound really tired. Anyway, maybe I'm being a bit self-conscience, but I thought it was really noticeable, and a good reminder to make sure I do these soundtracks before a long day of production. Notwithstanding the sleepy narration, I like these blueberry muffins a lot, and hope you give them a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients for about 16 muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 (1/2 cup) stick butter, softened
finely grated zest from one lemon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract, optional
2 cups fresh blueberries

Beautiful Buttermilk Biscuits

I won't give you my full list, but if I had to decide on 10 contests for a Great American Food Decathlon, the first event will be buttermilk biscuits. Sorry, but if you can't make buttermilk biscuits, you have no business attempting the other nine events.

Buttermilk biscuits are not so much a recipe, as they are a mythology. Secret knowledge passed down from generation to generation, mother to child, blogger to people like you.

This deceptively simple recipe can come out a million different ways with some very minor variations on the ingredients and amounts. This one's my favorite – flaky, but not dry; chewy, but not tough; crisp in just the right spots.

This is a recipe you need to practice to really get a feel. Once you do, you can refine the formula to achieve your ultimate buttermilk biscuit. Some like their biscuits moist and tender, while others aren't happy unless they collapse into a buttery pile of crumbs.

In the video recipe, you'll notice I only cooked 10 biscuits. You can get a few more than that, but I only cooked the prettiest ones since, like the dinner rolls, this was made for the cookbook.

Anyone who makes the recipe below is encouraged to chime in. Thanks and enjoy!




Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into thin slices, chilled in freezer
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

Just Call Me Butter, Because I'm on a Roll

Help Wanted! As some of you already know, I'm putting together an American cookbook for Parragon Publishing. If you'd like to help, I'll be posting a series of photos from recipes being produced for the book, and I'd love to have some of you loyal readers testing them.

Beneath the photo, you'll see a link to the written recipe on my American Food site, where the recipes are also being published. Since I'll be doing so many recipes, I'll also be posting a couple videos a week from the collection, but I really want to know if the instructions in the recipes work even without seeing them.

































Click here to try this Classic Dinner Rolls Recipe. Please report back! Thanks and enjoy!

Brooklyn Bread Porn by Liza de Guia

Liza de Guia (aka @SkeeterNYC on Twitter) is a very talented videographer from Brooklyn, NY, and this film about Matthew Tilden, founder of SCRATCHbread, is nothing short of inspiring.

Not only is the subject inspiring, but her video production and editing skills are at a level I can only hope to someday achieve.

With apologies to the gluten-free folks, if this video doesn't make you want to bake and/or eat bread, you may have issues. Enjoy!

SCRATCHbread: A Brooklyn Chef Creates Food from Scratch to Start A Movement from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

I Could Live on Bread Alone (If it was Aioli Garlic Bread!)

As promised, here's an easy, beautiful, and delicious garlic bread recipe featuring the homemade aioli I showed you a couple days ago. If you think about it, there's really no such thing as "leftover" aioli; just aioli you just haven’t used yet.

I've already sung the praises of aioli's versatile and promiscuous nature. Hooking-up (do people still say that?) with all kinds of savory ingredients is just what it does. When applied to some bread, and baked crisp with a pinch of cheese, this garlicky spread really shows it's more than just an easy cold sauce.

I mentioned it in the video recipe, but I'll repeat it here; this is not an overpowering, intense garlic experience. Since the garlic is pulverized in the sauce, when it bakes it cooks very quickly, and the sharp, peppery flavors turn soft and sweet.

If you want a more traditional garlic bread flavor, simply add some chopped garlic to the spread. The other issue here is butter, or lack there of. I like butter, I like it a lot, but when it comes to garlic bread, I'm an olive oil kind of guy.

I don't think you'll miss the butter since the egg yolk in the aioli gives it a beautiful buttery color, and adds a nice, subtle richness.

Make some aioli, use it for a few days, and then get some bread and give this try. Crisp green salad sold separately. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
French bread
aioli
grated Parmesan Reggiano
fresh Italian parsley

Italian Easter Bread - The Resurrection of a Great Family Recipe

Easter is a very underrated food holiday. What red-blooded, red meat eater doesn't salivate at the site and smell of a garlic-studded roasting leg of lamb?

I've always enjoyed the simple pleasure of a properly cooked hard-boiled Easter egg, and its colorfully decorated shell. And, of course, there's the chocolate eggs, tucked down in pink plastic excelsior grass.

Remember how you would slowly lift the egg out of the basket and immediately gauge the weight. In a millisecond you knew if it was a feather-light, hollow chocolate shell, or heavy and dense - filled with solid chocolate or some other exotic goo.

If you were lucky enough to grow up in an Italian-American home, there's a good chance you got to enjoy the smell of freshly baked Easter bread, with its unmistakable anisette aroma filling the air.

The smell was heady, but so was the sight of those glossy iced braids, bejeweled with candy sprinkles. The sweet, spicy, eggy, buttery taste was complex, but at the same time, familiar and comforting.

This loaf of Easter bread is one of my favorite holiday traditions, and an authentic family heirloom recipe. Made the same way as my mother, and her mother, and her mother's mother made it. I hope you give this a try, and remember, it's never too late to start and old family tradition. Happy Easter! Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (100 degrees F.)
3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp aniseeds
1 1/2 tbsp anise extract
1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup milk
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

Homemade Flour Tortillas - Guest Starring Blanca Díaz

I just filmed a flour tortilla video for About.com, but since I'm not sure when it will air, I thought I would post this video I found on Youtube, which uses the same basic recipe.

It stars the lovely and talented Blanca Díaz. She doesn't do a voiceover, but this is a very well done, and easy to follow clip. I hope she inspires you to make some homemade tortillas. Enjoy!

Kernel Porker's Barbecued Pork-Stuffed Corn Muffins

One of the comments I received on YouTube, for the beef slider video recipe said, "When I saw you put the meat into the muffins cups, I was hoping you were making some kind of meat muffins." My first thought was, "Have another bong hit." My second thought was, "Actually, I could go for a nice meat muffin." So, down to my secret lab I went.

A few hours and several adult beverages later, I was starring at a plate of barbecue pork stuffed corn muffins. This new American classic - part Chinese pork bun, part corndog - looked good, tasted great, and felt oh-so-right in my hand.

Not only did the warm muffin feel good, but also I was eating cornbread with barbecue pork and my fingers were absolutely spotless! Hundreds of years from now, I believe this will be considered the true genius of the recipe.

By the way, I can’t take credit for the brilliant "Kernel Porker" name. I posted this recipe on About.com and asked for some name suggestions from the other guides. The working title, "Memphis Meat Muffins" was a bit too disturbing, and sounded more like a Southern punk rock band.

My friend Barbara Rolek, About's Eastern European Food Guide, submitted this title. If you are ever looking for recipes from that part of the world, check out her great site. Also, if you can't find Jiffy, here is a cornbread recipe video. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 cup chopped barbecued pork
1 box (8.5-ounce) Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack, or cheddar cheese
non-stick vegetable oil spray
8 paper baking cups


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No-Knead Ciabatta - Bread You Can Believe In

Okay, enough with the inaugural tie-ins. Here's the promised ciabatta video recipe. It came out beyond delicious. It was other-worldly, sublime, ethereal, and several other adjectives I would have to look up before using.

It was the perfect marriage of a crisp, light crust outside, and a chewy, yet tender inside. The no-knead part is just a bonus, and only adds to the perfection of this loaf. As you'll hear in the video, I'm a bit under the weather, but even at half-speed this was a simple and enjoyable task.

All I will say is you really need to make this bread. Pretty soon we'll be thinking of romantic, sexy recipes to seduce our Valentines with. Keep this video in mind, for what could be better than having someone bake you a fresh loaf of Italian bread, then slowly buttering and feeding you a still warm slice?

Sorry, I think I took too much cough medicine. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
4 cups bread flour (I used 3 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup wheat)
*Note: you can use All-purpose flour if you want
1/4 tsp yeast
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt

A Successful Ciabatta Experiment?

Ciabatta bread, which according to Wikipedia literally means, "carpet slipper," (as opposed to hardwood floor slipper) is one of my favorite breads. I've wanted to try a loaf using our no-knead dough and I think it worked. I made an extra wet and sticky batch of dough and here you can see the before and after photos. I will reserve final judgment until slicing however. More later.

Sloppy Giuseppe - The Silent Movie Version

I just found some footage shot after the Pork and Beans and Greens video recipe, which shows how I used some of the leftover spice-rubbed pork shoulder to make a delicious Italian version of the venerable Sloppy Joe. Of course, I had to call it a Sloppy Giuseppe.

I'm still in New York and since I didn't bring proper recording equipment, I'll do the narration for this when I get back. I hate how the mic on the laptop sounds, so in the meantime I decided to post a silent movie version complete with classic silent movie soundtrack. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
no-knead dough made into rolls
cooked spice-rubbed pork shoulder, chopped
hot pepper flakes, to taste
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
tomato sauce as needed
splash of water

* Please help support free video recipes, and visit my new sponsor, MOZO Shoes. Find out why chefs (like me) are buzzing about their great shoes!

Just For Making You Hungry (and maybe start a batch of no-knead dough)

The first photo is a lovely white pizza done by one of my protégés, Jairus. He sent it in with the name "no-knead lamb shank pizza," which would have been very cool, if it had been true. He admits this was actually done with leftover pork, which I have to say trumps lamb shank as a pizza topping any day.

The second photo is "awesome Ciabatta" as its creator Claude describes it. I can only assume he learned everything he knows from watching the site. I can see no visible signs of unnecessary kneading. Thanks fellows.

Lastly, a video disproving one of the great bread myths of our time - that you can eat a slice of Wonder Bread in less than 60 seconds.