Homemade Biscuits

Warm biscuits are the classic comfort food. They go great with home made gravy, to make egg and cheese sandwiches, or just to eat plain with butter and honey. Although I'm lactose intolerant and baking doesn't really break down the lactose, I can usually eat baked goods made with milk, as long as it's in moderation. You can also try low-fat or fat-free milk which can make it even easier to digest for some people.

I think this is probably because there's not that much milk in any individual biscuit serving or you can always substitute regular milk with fat-free or lowfat lactose-free milk. More importantly, milk provides a great texture for baked goods, it helps to keep them soft and moist.  I regularly use milk for bread, dinner rolls, cakes, muffins, pancakes, and, of course, biscuits.

Here is our tried and true recipe.

Homemade Biscuits
Makes 16-20 biscuits

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

6 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cup milk (or substitute with low-fat, fat-free, or lactose free milk)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) together.
3. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture. This can be done by repeatedly cutting the shortening into small peices with two butter knives or a pastry cutter. In the end the shortening should be cut into pea sized balls and coated in the flour mixture.
4. Finally, add the milk and mix until the dough is slightly sticky.
5. Knead about 8 or 10 times, just enough to stick everything together. Do not over knead. The kneading will provide the layers so the biscuits can be split open nicely.
6. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface so that it is about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out the biscuits with a circular cookie cutter. Be careful not to roll the dough too thin, the best biscuits with lots of soft layers are usually a little bit thicker.
   
7. Put the biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them because they bake very quickly and oven temperatures may vary.

This post was written while participating in my partnership with the National Dairy Council, and as always my opinions are my own.

Blue Cheese Pão de Queijo with Bacon

We've been getting on the kids' case about speaking too much English. We have a rule; at home we only speak Portuguese. Christian and I are not great at inforcing rules apparently because both Enzo and Maria are speaking way more English than Portuguese these days. Christian, the only one in the house who's first language is English, is the one who is the most disciplined about speaking Portuguese.  

We're your average mixed ethnicity family. We switch back and forth between two languages, we celebrate American holidays and wish we could celebrate all Brazilian holidays - for the 4 day weekends that are always coming up in Brazil. I'm not a purist, not with language, not with culture, and definitely not with food. I like mixing and experimenting and trying new variations.

Kerrygold, sent me a 3-pound wheel of their Cashel Blue cheese for me to use in a recipe.

Since cheese and crackers are my staple snack I have been eating away at this wheel like no one's business. This semi-soft cheese is creamy to perfection. I wanted to use this cheese in something besides a salad or the traditional pairing with steak or figs. Since, like I said, I'm not a purist I decided to try mixing the Kerrygold Cashel Blue with a pão de queijo recipe. 

If you've been to a Brazilian steakhouse you've probably had a pão de queijo or two. Pão de queijo literally means cheese bread and they're becoming more and more popular in the U.S because they are gluten-free, made with tapioca flour. I have a recipe that I like to make using my muffin tin. There are some great recipe out there as well like the one from The Kitchn and the one from Simply Recipes. 

For the blue cheese variation I experimented with an older recipe I had and modified it a bit. The chashel blue really brings the dough together. Not only does it add a mild blue cheese taste to the batter, it also makes the batter way creamy. As for the bacon, well you know... it's bacon one of the few foods you can never go wrong with.

Blue Cheese Pão de Queijo with Bacon

Yields: 5 dozen

8 slices of thick cut bacon

1 kilo (2.2-pounds) sour cassava flour or tapioca flour

1 + 1/2 cups warm water

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup Kerrygold Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese 

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

salt to taste

*Preheat oven to 350

Cook the bacon until very crispy.Crumble the bacon and set aside. Reserve the bacon grease for later.

Mix the flour and 1 cup warm water. Break any large lumps with your fingers. If you've never worked wit tapioca flour before it may feel a little strange. It resembles corn starch and you will want to get the flour to feel smooth and chalky.

Measure out 1/2 cup of bacon grease. On a small saucepan heat up the bacon grease and the milk and bring to a boil. Then pour on top of the flour and water mixture.

Knead the dough until all the milk and bacon grease is well incorporated into the flour. 

Add the eggs, olive oil, Kerrygold Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese, parmesan cheese and salt and knead the dough until smooth. 

Add the crumbled bacon and fold it into the dough.

Roll little balls of dough on your hands and place on a cookie sheet 1 dozen at a time.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm 

White Sauce Pizza with Bacon and Summer Squash

Pizza is one of the few foods we eat every week around here, usually near the end of the week. My husband makes the dough, and then while it rises I'll prep the rest of the ingredients, usually whatever veggies we have lying around. Pizza is great because it's versatile and it's easy to make everyone happy. We always make one just cheese pizza for the kids and another one with lots of toppings for the adults and sometimes a dessert pizza (bananas, cinnamon, sugar or guava paste and cheese) for everyone. This week we took the white sauce route, it's hard to go wrong with white sauce. 

Although I'm lactose intolerant I still have dairy products on a regular basis. Lactose intolerance affects people in different ways, and I'll be talking more about this on my blog. Suffice to say that depending on the type and amount of cheese I eat I'm usually fine. The same applies to yogurt. As for milk if it's used in moderation, like in white sauce on a pizza, then I'm o.k. Finding ways to use dairy in my cooking is essential because I know it's an easy way to get the calcium I need and also because, lets be real, cheese and crackers are my staple snack. Christian is a milk addict and the kids have showed no signs of lactose intolerance so milk, cheese, and yogurt are things we always have in our fridge.

I'm a huge fan of white sauce for lasagna and pasta but had never actually put in on pizza so I decided to try something new.

White Sauce Pizza with Bacon and Summer Squash
(printable version)

Pizza Dough

makes about 2 medium pizzas

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2-3 teaspoon dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoon olive oil

2-3 cups all-purpose flour

1. Put one cup warm water in a large mixing bowl, and add the yeast, sugar, salt and oil to the water and mix.

2. Gradually add the flour, mixing with a large spoon until it is too stiff to mix, then gradually add the rest of the flour and knead for a few minutes. I usually make my pizza dough a little bit sticker than bread dough because this makes it easier to spread out.

3. Let the dough rise for about half an hour, or as long as it takes to make the white sauce and to prep the other ingredients.

White Sauce

enough for two pizzas

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 cups milk (Option: if you want you can use 2 cups of lactose free milk)

dash of nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan.

2. Add the flour, stirring until slightly browned, for roughly 1-3 minutes.

3. Gradually add the milk, whisking to thoroughly blend the milk and the flour/butter mixture. Cook over a low temperature until the sauce begins to thicken.

4. Add salt and a dash of nutmeg. Don't omit the nutmeg, it really makes a good white sauce a lot better. Some Parmesan cheese can also help to add a nice flavor to your white sauce. Aged, natural cheeses like Parmesan contain a small amount of lactose, making this recipe lactose intolerance friendly.

Toppings

I will usually cook toppings before hand slightly because I like to make sure everything is well cooked, especially if I am using onions. I also cook spinach, chard, and kale as well because otherwise there's always too little once it's cooked down. For this white sauce pizza this is what I included. The amounts are all somewhat subjective, depending on how you like your pizza.

5 slices of bacon (chopped up and cooked before hand on the stove or in the oven)

10 mushrooms sliced

1 small summer squash sliced

2 large green onions, diced

fresh oregano

2-3 cups shredded cheese, Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Cheddar, or some mix of the three

1. Saute the summer squash, mushrooms, and green onions on a large skillet on medium until not quite done, about 3-4 minutes. Put to the side.

Assemble Pizzas

Oil a pizza pan, cookie sheets, pizza stone or whatever you want to cook your pizza on. I sometimes use the leftover bacon grease which is super tasty. Press down the dough and kneed it once or twice and then divide the dough into two lumps. Press the dough into the well oiled cookie sheet, spreading it out and pressing it down until you have spread it out to the size of the pan. I find this to be much easier that rolling it out and then trying to transfer it to the pan.

1. Spread out the white sauce on the pizza. Sprinkle on the oregano.

2. Sprinkle on the cheese and then top with the veggies and bacon. You can do it in the reverse order (veggies and bacon then cheese) but with a lot of veggies this cooks them a bit more and makes the crust less soggy.

3. Bake for 12-18 minutes at 400 degrees.

Although the baking time may change depending on how much toppings and how thick the crust it. I usually take it out once the crust is starting to turn golden and the cheese is getting crusty in places, which is a better judge.

It seems like a lot of steps but with practice it all happens quite easily. I can usually have two pizzas done in less than an hour from when I first started.

This post was written while participating in my partnership with the National Dairy Council, but as always my opinions are my own.

Banana Bread

I would much rather eat a juicy mango or a tooth achingly sweet pineapple than a banana, but both mangos and pineapple take a full 15 seconds longer to peel so bananas end up being my fruit of choice. It 100% helps that we now live in a place where bananas taste AWESOME.

I really hope one day you get the chance to experience a ripened banana from the tree, in fact go for an apple-banana the best kind there is.

In the U.S I used to make banana bread pretty often. Here, it's a different story. Yesterday Christian bought 15 bananas and in less than 24 hours they are all gone. The kids pretty much snack on them all day long, in fact so do the adults, and if we're not careful the monkeys come and steal some too.

Basic Dinner Rolls

I've been going through my archive of posts. It's not necessarily a fun task. I have over 600 posts all wildly labeled, formated, and so on. Through this organizational process I've encountered some posts I'd like to re-post, give it a new life. About 3 years ago I posted my bread recipe, the picture was pretty awful and the recipe needed to be tighten up so I decided to give you a new and improved recipe for basic dinner rolls.

Dinner Rolls
(printable version)
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon salt
4 1/2 cups flour

1. Mix the yeast and water and let stand for 5 minutes
2. Add sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour and mix until gooey,you can either do this by hand or with an electric mixer
3. Continue adding flour one cup at a time and and knit dough, also something you can do by hand or with an electric mixer that has the hook attachment
4. Let the dough rise for 2 hours
5. Cook at a pre-heated oven of 400* F for 15-20 minutes

Blueberry Pull Apart Bread

Apparently today is blueberry pie day. I just learned this from NestleUSA's twitter stream who said to check out  Nestle Kitchens' Facebook Page for more information. The "more information" was a link to Simply Recipes' blueberry pie and now I am deathly craving blueberry pie and at the verge of convincing myself that I must consume blueberry pie today to keep with tradition, a tradition I didn't even know existed 30 minutes ago.

I am going to be strong and resist the craving. It's called practicing, because as soon as May rolls around we are going off sugar for a month. I used to pride myself that I never had sugar cravings. That was before sweet Maria was born. I am now a full blown sugar addict. This craziness has to stop. The more I eat sugar the more I crave it. It never ends. And then there is the whole Holidays and the excuses I create that as soon as Christmas is over there will be less sugar, but then Valentine's Day comes, and birthdays, and Easter, and it never really ends. Enzo went to a birthday party a week ago where he got more candy from the princess pinata then from hours of trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

So why am I going to share a recipe for the sweetest pull apart bread you have ever tasted?

Donut Waffles

Donut waffles are worth waking up early for. Few things are. I wake up early because I have to, because Christian surfs in the morning and I have small children to tend to. I do an exceptional job at tending them, feeding them cold cereal and nothing more. At best I'll make a real breakfast once a year, Father's day usually because Christian loves a good breakfast and I love Christian.

I used to think that I was the norm and that most people couldn't care less about breakfast. But no, I am definitely the exception. People love breakfast, specially little people.

 My kids are in heaven. My kids who are used to only eating cold cereal are now getting donut waffles for breakfast among other more elaborate breakfast dishes that involve more ingredients than just cold cereal and milk.

I'm also in heaven.

I get to wake up to good breakfast and a house full of beautiful happy kids.

Mariko from the little foodie came over and made enough donut waffles to feed a small army.

She's so the champ!

The recipe below is adapted from Eat my Cake now.

Just out of curiosity what's your favorite breakfast food?

    

Donut Waffles
(printable version) 

• 3 cups all-purpose 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup hot milk
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 2/3 cup white sugar

1. Whisk the milk and yeast together in a large bowl and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. In another bowl mix the flour and salt.
3. In a smaller bowl whisk together the eggs and the vanilla and then stir the egg mixture into the yeast followed by the flour mixture.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. The mixture will be thick and elastic. 
5. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy then stir into the dough and mix well.
6. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Heat waffle iron.
8. When the iron is hot scoop batter into the grid cook according to the instructions from your waffle iron.

Enjoy!

Toast Cups

I'm a complete breakfast slacker. I normally don't even have breakfast and when I do it's toast with butter and some tea. So to try and be a little more inspiring in the early hours of the day I gave Martha Stewart's bacon, egg, and toast cups a try.

This is so basic right? I mean, bread, eggs, bacon and cheese (I had to add cheese), is not that glamorous. Except when it is! Because, having all of the ingredients neatly assembled in a cup is glamorous specially when you have little hands trying to feed themselves and the mess is contained.

 Here is my variation on this awesome recipe.

Toast Cups

(printable version)

• • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 8 slices sandwich bread
  • 8 slices bacon
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • Italian seasoning, salt and ground pepper to taste
  • 
    
  
  

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
  2. Lightly butter 8 standard muffin cups. 
  3. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices then press into each muffin cup making sure bread comes up to edge of cup. 
  4. In a large skillet, cook bacon until almost crisp (It will continue to cook in the oven.) 
  5. Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. 
  6. Season with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning
  7.  Bake until egg whites are just set, 15 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and place shredded cheese on top of each cup.
  9. Put back in oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.
  10. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately.

baked sandwich with Nature's Pride bread

Baked sandwiches are one of my all time favorite meals to make for the fam. It's hearty. It's relatively quick. Everyone eats it. WIN!

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program I received a free coupon for a loaf of Nature's Pride Bread. I've shared a baked sandwich recipe before but I think this one wins the prize. The bread makes all the difference and I loved using Nature's Pride potato bread. And I am not just saying that because of the free coupon, so stop that!

Seriously, I'm a huge-o fan of potato bread. I usually get the hiccups while I'm eating it. Weird no? It's so doughy and dense, I love it. This baked sandwich kind of felt like a lasagna only way easier to make.

Baked Ham and Cheese Sandwich
(printable version)

• 12 slices potato bread bread
• 2 cups Alfredo sauce
• 1 cup cream cheese
• 8 slices cheddar cheese
• 8 slices thick cut ham
• freshly grated Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Place the Alfredo sauce on a large casserole pan with the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. 
3. Place the slices of bread inside the casserole and make sure the bread absorbs the sauce well.
4. On another  casserole pan layer a slice of bread, cream cheese, a slice of cheddar cheese, a slice of ham and another slice of bread. Repeat a second time and add Romano cheese on top. 
5. There is enough to make 4 large sandwiches.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese if fully melted. 
7. serve warm.