Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Blueberry Scones

I don't bake that often, but when I do it's very soothing. I have just sadly returned from a trip home to Colorado, which was also soothing. Baking scones, with my mother, while in Colorado made for the ultimate baking experience. Eating fresh scones the next morning wasn't bad either. I created this after checking out a few different scone recipes. The whole wheat flour made me feel a little less bad about the butter and sugar in these, but they're certainly not a health food. A little extra fiber here and there is always positive though, right? These really were quite simple, held up well for a couple of days and made for a nice gift to send home with my grandparents.



Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour (plus more for rolling blueberries)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup plus two tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, mashed
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
1 cup fresh blueberries

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Mash the butter with a fork or pastry blender. Mix the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles crumbs. In a separate bowl, mix the cream and the egg, then incorporate into the dry ingredients. Roll the blueberries into the flour to coat to prevent them from discoloring the batter or sinking to the bottom. Carefully fold the blueberries in. You may drop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or if you would like triangular scones you can press the batter into a round pan and cut the dough like a pizza. Bake at 400 for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.


Friday, July 9, 2010

Frozen Nutella Banana Bites

These are a great snack - the frozen banana takes on the consistency of ice cream, you don't have to use a ton of nutella to get great taste and they are super fast. I like to grab a couple of these for a quick snack that doesn't make me feel too guilty.



Frozen Nutella Banana Bites

Method:

Slice banana and add about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of nutella between banana slices. You may add toothpicks before putting the bites in the freezer, but it's whatever your preference is.



Thursday, July 8, 2010

Faco Frenzy


My boyfriend is very cute in that he likes to make up funny words, like "faco." Less creative individuals probably tend to refer to the "faco" as the "fish taco." My boyfriend also likes to sneak off to the meat area of the supermarket while I'm shopping for produce so that when we get home I find out that we have weird cuts of beef, a ton of shrimp or some fish that I haven't ever prepared before. I suppose it's a good thing because I have to be creative and it makes me feel a little like I'm on Iron Chef, though I suppose my secret ingredients are not quite as exciting as theirs.

This particular faco was inspired by the boyfriend's purchase of a large amount of Flounder. We were having an especially hot Florida day, so light and tasty fish tacos sounded like the way to go. Tilapia or any other mild, flakey white fish would work well in this, but the Flounder was actually quite good. I was making some salsa and other stuff from scratch, so Leon took care of the fish - which came out great. I am generally the only one who cooks, which is probably good for those around me because I can be a bit of a 'backseat cook," but I do love when Leon and I work together to make a meal. It's a romantic thing to do and a lot more fun than cleaning than most other in-home collaborations.

There were several components to this meal, so I'm going to break up the different components as best I can. I wouldn't suggest the canned tostitos salsa for this because of the flavor of the fish and everything else, pico de gallo or plain shopped tomatoes would be a good substitute. Corona or other Mexican beer is, of course, an excellent addition to this meal.



Flounder Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

1 lb. flounder or other fish
10 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cabbage
kosher salt, to taste
old bay seasoning, to taste

Method:

Coat a pan with a bit of olive oil and bring it to medium-high heat. While pan is heating, coat fish filets with salt, old bay and any other desired seasonings. Put the fish in the pan and try not to move it around much to keep it from falling apart. Cook for a minute or so on each side until brown and crispy and flip. Heat tortillas in the microwave and add warm fish, cabbage and other desired accompaniments.

Spicy Mayo

Ingredients:

2 tbsps. light sour cream
1 tbsp. light miracle whip
sriracha, to taste

Method:

Mix ingredients together and slowly add sriracha until it is to desired spiciness. You could use mayo, but the light sour cream and light miracle whip makes this fairly low calorie.

Spicy Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

2 medium tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped and deseeded
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons cilantro

Method:

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse a couple times until homogenous. Use less jalapeno or none at all if you don't like spicy food. Likewise, use more if you like it super spicy. The salsa will become less spicy over time in the fridge.

Rice with Black Beans

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. sugar

Method:

Cook rice according to package directions. When rice is done, mix beans, salt, pepper and sugar. Allow rice and beans to sit covered for a few minutes to allow flavors to marry.