Tortillas - Seriously!

This one is not a recipe that I have adapted. It is literally PERFECT as written. I have never had the time of day for tortilla making because I never like the results. It always feels like, "Well, that's a chunk of time I'll never get back." No more with this recipe. If you follow it exactly, you won't be disappointed. We've been in lockdown so I decided to give them another go. These were soft and didn't break open when you filled them. I kept the cooled tortillas in a bag in the fridge for several days, and they were still so soft.

Pro Tip: If you have a child who is an expert with playdough, get that kid to help you roll these out. Seriously! My 11-year-old is a champion tortilla roller thanks to all her days on playdough. If you're not doing this yet, get your kids in training.

In closing, here's the recipe, and from everyone who has ever been a tortilla failure, thank you for redeeming us, Cafe Sucre Farine!! Also, yes, I get that olive oil is not "traditional," but I have nothing to complain about with this awesome recipe.

Ham and Cheese Sliders

The slider craze is everywhere in the US now. They are mini-burgers and sandwiches with various fillings and toppings. When I was last in the US, I had these delicious Ham and Cheese Sliders and recreated them here very easily. This recipe is based on this one from Dinner at the Zoo.

Ham and Cheese Sliders
1-2 long baguettes, cut into small sandwich sizes of your choice*
300 grams ham or enough to stuff each small sandwich
Thin cheese slices**, enough to stuff each small sandwich
2 teaspoons mustard (Dijon, Honey, or Spicy Brown)
2 teaspoons poppy seeds (optional)
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
6 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 170C. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients from mustard through melted butter and stir until well blended. Lay the bottoms of each sandwich across the bottom of a greased baking dish. Add ham and cheese to each sandwich, and then top with the remaining bread tops. Using a brush or spoon, apply the glaze over the top of each sandwich. It will also drip down the sides. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil from the top and put the pan back into the oven for 3-5 more minutes until the tops of the sandwiches are brown and toasty.

Enjoy your delicious sliders warm!

* You could also cut the bread in a few long lengths that go all the way across your baking pan and slice them into smaller sandwiches after baking.

** I think any cheese that pairs well with mustard would work here. I used sliced processed cheese, but I think the local cheese or something like brie would also work beautifully.

Also, I'm not sure what the point of poppy seeds is other than looks, and don't think the recipe would be missing anything if you didn't have them.

Gingerbread Pancakes with Sauteed Apples

I love gingerbread! I'm not talking about gingerbread cookies or biscuits, but soft cakey gingerbread. I think it started in Girl Scouts with my first box of cheap Martha Washington gingerbread topped with a dollop of Cool Whip. I was hooked. This recipe, which is a melding of this one (which is vegan and gluten-free if you need that) from Jessica in the Kitchen and this one from Genius Kitchen has all the right flavors and then some. I think we might have a new pre-Christmas breakfast tradition!

Using our weekend plates. :)

Gingerbread Pancakes with Sauteed Apples

For the apples:
Apples, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt

Peel and chop enough apples to fill a pan for your family. Add the butter, cinnamon, and a 3-fingered pinch of salt to the pan. Cook over medium heat until apples start to turn a caramel color. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the apples are softened to your liking.

For the pancakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup molasses
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil*

Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just combined. Don't over mix or you'll get flat pancakes. Cook over a griddle heated to medium heat and just brushed lightly with oil on a paper towel. Flip once bubbles have formed and outer edges are set.

Top pancakes with sauteed apples, butter, and any other toppings your family loves!

*I accidentally omitted the oil, and our pancakes still tasted awesome so you could completely leave that out.

Morning Sanity Saver: Oatmeal/Porridge Cakes

My kids (and I) love these things. I found them while perusing Eating Well’s quick, healthy breakfast round up. Trying to get off to school in the morning with no major hiccups is an obstacle in our house. It can often make or break our day. I think breakfast can also be an indicator of how the day will go for homeschooling families. If things start off well, it can set a positive tone for the day. We all know what can happen if the day starts off rotten… These are a great change from boxed cereals and work well for children who aren’t into traditional oatmeal/porridge breakfasts. I make 2 batches of these to keep in the freezer. On school mornings when I have power, I pop them in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. When I don’t have power, I take them out the night before and then heat them up in the Miracle Oven on the stove top in morning.

Oatmeal/Porridge Cakes

2½ cups oats

1½ cups milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar

2 Tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup fresh fruit, chopped (apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries)

Combine the oats and milk in a large bowl. Once mixed, allow to rest 20-30 minutes so the oats can soak up the milk. After the milk has mostly soaked into the oats, add the remaining ingredients and gently stir to combine. You could also opt to put a tablespoon of the fruit on top if you don’t want to mix it in. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with papers if you’re lazy like me. Pour ¼ cup of mixture into each muffin cup. Bake in a 190C oven for 25 to 30 minutes until they spring back like a cake when you poke them. Cool and freeze or refrigerate for future use.

Note: Use porridge specifically labeled as "gluten free" if you need that option. Regular oats cannot be assumed to be gluten-free.

French Dip Subs

Only one meat dish in the past 12 posts! Can you see that I prefer the vegetarian diet? I think it's time for one though. I will apologize in advance for my hastily snapped photo. This is because I have made these twice and gobbled my food so quickly I forgot to take a picture. This time, mid-scarfing, I snapped a photo of my husband's plate. These are so good I have literally come home so excited to make dinner both times! The recipe is from a 2004 Country Woman magazine...is that really a real magazine?!

French Dip Subs
2 Tablespoons oil
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
500g tenderloin steaks or chuck roast, sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 chicken bouillon cube (or 1 1/2 cups stock)
Hoagie rolls, toasted

Begin by slicing the beef thinly. Partially frozen meat tends to slice thinly the easiest because it doesn't move around. Heat the oil in the bottom of an open pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the onions, sauteing until golden brown. Toss in the garlic and cook about 30 seconds until fragrant. Next, add the dried herbs, salt, and pepper, crushing them slightly in your hand. Add the sliced beef and brown in the bottom of the hot pressure cooker. Once browned, pour in the liquid and chicken bouillon. Stir, then clamp on the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook over high heat until it reaches pressure (first "whistle), turn the heat down to medium, and cook for about 30 minutes or 20 minutes more if you have a thick or tough cut of meet. Turn off the heat and allow the pressure to release naturally. Serve on toasted hoagie rolls with toppings of choice. Scoop the liquid from the pressure cooker into little dipping bowls to dip the subs as you eat.

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

Let's face it--whole wheat anything here tends to be crumbly or tough or just not quite the same as at home. I think it's the absence of vital wheat gluten in baking supplies or something different in the milling. Well, these rolls are anything but. They are fluffy, soft, and delicious! I wanted a roll that reminded me of those soft buttery ones my school cafeteria made when I was a child, but I wanted a whole wheat alternative. I found this recipe on An Oregon Cottage, and it is a real winner. I only altered the mixing method and the option to use milk, as my take 2 using kefir was much fluffier than the first ones I made. Yes, this one takes a little time, but patience, Grasshopper. Your efforts will be rewarded!

The back ones have caramelized onion filling.

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
2 Tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup (or 128g) butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk, sour milk, or kefir
4 1/2 to 5 cups wholewheat flour (atta)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the honey. Set aside. Cream the butter in a bowl. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition to prevent separation. Next pour in the buttermilk and yeast. Add 1 cup of the flour to create a sponge and stir until relatively smooth. Add in the remaining flour and salt, kneading just until the dough begins to spring back when poked and is no longer tacky. Do not add too much flour, or you'll get a tough dough. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise in warm place for 1 hour or until doubled. Once doubled, knead on a lightly floured surface to release air and allow to rest several minutes. Shape into 24 equally sized balls (see tutorial) and place in a greased 9x13 baking dish. The pieces should be touching. Cover and allow to rise again for 1 hour.

Bake in a 170C/350F preheated oven for 15-30 minutes. Brush the tops with melted butter before serving and enjoy warm!

Note: These freeze really well. Just wrap in plastic then foil once cooled. To reheat, thaw, remove plastic, wrap in foil and bake 10 minutes. Also, yeast can be a bit problematic here as far as blooming/not blooming. I have found that buying smaller packets more often (check for expiration) alleviates this problem to some degree.
 

Rolled Biscuits

This will be a quick post because this recipe is so ridiculously easy. In a hurry? Need a bread for the breakfast or dinner table? Biscuits to the rescue! Pull out your homemade baking mix, and get going.

Fancied up with a sausage patty and cheddar cheese!

Rolled Biscuits
2 1/4 cups baking mix
1 cup cold milk

Mix the two ingredients together, pat into a large lump with your hands. Try not to get the mixture too warm with your hands, or you'll get flat biscuits. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until they are about the thickness of the first joint of your pointer finger (3/4 - 1 inch). Using a drinking glass, cut out circles from the dough and place them on a baking sheet. Continue to re-roll the scraps until you get as many biscuits as you can out of the dough. Bake in a 220C/425F oven for 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden. Eat while they're warm!

To make scones, the process is the same, but you might want to apply an egg wash or some milk to the tops to allow for more browning.

Kitchen Staples: Bisquick

I am generally not a fan of boxed mixed for baked goods since I've learned out of necessity how to make many of those from scratch, but this one from Kitchen Simplicity...what a time saver! For our non-American readers, Bisquick is an all purpose baking mix that already has butter, salt, and baking powder mixed in. You can use it to make pancakes, a flaky topping for a pot pie, dumplings for soups, American-style breakfast biscuits (similar to scones), crescent rolls, and more. On a crazy weeknight when I had guests coming over and just needed one extra item, I had hot biscuits in under 20 minutes. I make a large batch of the mix, place it in a ziptop bag, and keep it in my freezer with my favorite recipes written on the bag.

Bisquick Baking Mix
5 cups flour
1/4 cup baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup/~260g butter, straight from the fridge

Food Processor Method:
Sift all the dry ingredients together and pour into the bowl of the food processor. Cut the butter into smaller pieces and add to the processor. Pulse until you have something that resembles corn meal. Pour into an airtight container and store either in the fridge or freezer.

Hand Method: 
Start by making sure your butter is frozen or you have a hand pastry blender. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Cut the butter into the mixture. If you're using it from the fridge, cut it in using two forks or a pastry blender. If it's from the freezer, you can use a cheese grater to accomplish this quite easily. When it has reached cornmeal consistency, pop into an airtight container and store the same as you would in the food processor method.

To turn these into fluffy pancakes, take 2 cups of mix, add 1 cup of milk and 2 eggs. Mix just until it comes together (lumps are okay!). Cook pancakes on a hot griddle.

For drop biscuits, 1 cup of mix needs about 1/3 cup of milk. Stir until it comes together then drop by spoonfuls onto a pan. Bake in a 230C/450F oven for 10-12 minutes.

For rolled biscuits, see my next post! Get creative. Look up Bisquick online, and you can probably find hundreds of recipes that call for this mix.

Tingmo

These are one of my favorite little Tibetan treats. I seriously could eat a ton of them. They are like the meeting of Asia with cafeteria rolls. You need a steamer basket of some kind to make these. I have a tall momo stack, but you could also use one of those foldable flat steamer inserts. My kids like them with sauteed greens or peanut butter and jelly so the sky is the limit there. There are just about an equally large number of possibilities when it comes to the design of your little rolls, and I have no clue how to do any of them except a simple round bun or a cinnamon roll-type swirl.

Tingmo
1 Tablespoon yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon oil

Combine yeast and sugar in a bowl. Add the warm water and allow yeast to bloom until bubbly for about 5-10 minutes. To the foamy yeast mixture, add the flour, baking powder, and oil. Knead on a lightly floured surface until you have a dough that is smooth and elastic. Place in an oil bowl, cover, and allow to rise until almost tripled in a warm place. Punch down the dough and roll it out into a rectangle shape. Roll it up like a jelly roll then cut into equal sized portions (10-15 pieces). Twist the bun into the shape you want then place each bun on a greased steamer basket. Allow to rest 15 minutes, and then place the basket over boiling water, cooking the buns covered for 15-20 minutes. 

These are best enjoyed hot as a sort of fork to soak up whatever you're eating, but they will stay soft after they have cooled if you keep them in an airtight container. You do have to eat them quickly as their steamed "moistness" causes them to mold faster than other breads.

Panzanella

I love this salad. It is seriously one of my favorite salads in the world! I learned about it a few years ago from Barefoot Contessa when I was trying to find a way to use up some stale bread leftovers I had. You can pretty much use any salad vegetables you want, which is perfect for those seasons when the lettuce doesn't look great. Any kind of crusty bread will work for this, but sandwich bread would be too soggy for this salad. This dressing is also the base for most of the vinaigrettes I make, too.

Panzanella
1 loaf day old crusty bread (boule, baguettes, foccacia)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 large cucumber, roughly chopped
1 green pepper, cut into small cubes
Handful salad greens or other salad vegetables
3 Tablespoons capers (optional)
1 red onion, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon mustard, Dijon preferred
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar (AKA "grape" vinegar)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon mixed herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground

Cut bread into chunky crouton-size cubes. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and when warm, add the bread and 3/4 teaspoons salt. Toss to coat the bread evenly with the olive oil. Saute, shaking the pan often, until the bread is toasty and golden. Remove from heat and cool. In a salad bowl, toss together all the salad vegetables, pulling apart the red onion so slivers mix throughout. In a small jar, combine all the ingredients from the garlic cloves through the pepper. With the lid on, shake to combine the dressing. Toss the bread cubes and about 1/2 the dressing into the bowl with the salad. Allow the flavors to meld about 30 minutes before serving, adding more dressing according to individual tastes.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Biscuits – like fluffy American biscuits—that’s definitely something I miss being away from my Southern roots. We’re biscuit people. We can’t help it. If you’re not American, our biscuits are deliciously flaky, savory, crisp outside, soft inside, buttery treats. There’s a seafood restaurant in America that serves a very specific type of cheesy garlicky biscuit as table fodder, and they’re absolutely addicting. This is the closest version I can come up with for them after tweaking several copycat recipes that I found. They’re also drop biscuits so no rolling and cutting makes these easier to prepare for an ordinary meal. 

Golden biscuit goodness!

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)

1/2 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup buttermilk (sub sour milk)

1/4 cup melted (regular salted) butter

 Topping:

1 Tablespoon melted butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried herbs like parsley or an Italian mix (x 3 for fresh herbs)

First combine the dry ingredients, including the garlic and cheese. Allow the melted butter to cool for about 5 minutes then add it to the buttermilk, stirring until you start to get little clumps. If you're short on time, just dump these two into the dry ingredients separately, stirring a little after each addition. Mix all the ingredients until you have a uniform, wet dough. Preheat the oven to 225C/435F. Once the oven is hot, the dough should have begun to look more dry and less liquidy. Drop biscuits by the rounded tablespoon onto a flat pan, leaving about 2 inches of space between each. Add the last clove of garlic to the tablespoon of melted butter. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the garlic butter then sprinkle lightly with the dried herbs. Bake for about 12 minutes or until the tops and bottoms just begin to turn golden.

Notes: To make 1/2 cup of sour milk, add 2 teaspoons white vinegar to a 1/2 cup measure. Pour in enough milk (NOT hot or you'll get cottage cheese) to make 1/2 cup. Stir briefly then allow to sit for 5 minutes before using. Also, if you have a little cookie scoop or ice cream scoop, that works great for getting uniform biscuit sizes.

Pumpkin Bread

I've tried many different very successful pumpkin breads, but this one I tried recently from Baked Bree is one of my favorites. She also has an amazing pumpkin butter recipe that I tried out in America, but I've not yet figured out a way to make any of those fruit butters without using up large amounts of cooking gas. There were a few adaptations to make up for a lack of ready made ingredients and high sugar content, but it's still very simple.

Pumpkin Bread
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground or freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
Scant 1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Combine all the dry ingredients except the sugar (considered a "wet" ingredient) and pumpkin seeds in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients, including the sugar. Make sure the contents of each bowl is thoroughly mixed. Add the wet mixture to the dry bowl. Stir just to bring it all together. If the mixture looks a little drier than a regular quick bread, you can add a splash of yogurt or sour milk just to moisten it. Pour into a greased 11x7 baking dish, loaf pans, muffin tins, or whatever you have. If desired, sprinkle the top with pumpkin seeds. I'm too lazy to de-shell the seeds so I just leave them out. Baking times will vary according to the size of the baking dish and your oven's temp. For muffins, check after 20 minutes. For anything in larger pan sizes, 40-50 minutes should be sufficient to bake but not dry out the bread. When done, a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean.

In my opinion, a bread like this just says "autumn" and is a perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of tea or coffee. If you're really adventurous, some kind of caramel frosting or glaze would probably also be delicious on top, but the bread is flavorful enough to stand on its own.