Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

I made these for breakfast tomorrow, but I am not sure they are going to make it through the night.

A food processor is the best way to bring all the ingredients together in this recipe because the peanut butter is a bit hard to handle by hand. I basically chopped the butter and peanut butter into the flour with a spatula. Try not to use your fingers.

These scones are light, with a definite melt-in-your-mouth quality from all the butter and peanut butter in them. They're delicious!

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
10 tbsp butter, cold and cut into 10 pieces
4 tbsp peanut butter
1 1/8 cup milk (1 c + 2 tbsp)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pulse to combine. Add butter and peanut butter and pulse a few times, until mixture resembles very large, coarse crumbs. Add mini chocolate chips.

Combine milk and vanilla extract. With the motor of the food processor running, pour in milk. Stop when the dough starts to come together into a ball. Try not to fun the food processor any more than necessary.

Divide dough into three or four pieces and pat each piece into a circle on a lightly floured surface. Cut each circle of dough into 4 pieces, to make 16 triangular scones. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 16-20 minutes at 400F, until light golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container if not eating right away.
The scones are best within two days of baking made.
Makes 16 scones.

Butterflied Shrimp on Coconut Risotto with Avocado, Lime

Butterflied Shrimp on Coconut Risotto with Avocado, Lime and Cilantro Cream

This recipe is really very easy. It is done in three very easy steps. I was really very surprised, the trick to me is to know what the finished Risotto looks like. Be patient with it. The Shrimp part was easy. Those of you who know me realize that I did not have Shrimp. Mine was topped with Salmon which went with the cream sauce very well.

For 4 Servings:
Risotto:
1 cup arborio rice
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk
2 - 3 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon sliced green onion
1 Tablespoon neutral oil
1/4 cup shredded coconut - toasted

Cream:
1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/2 small avocado
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup sour cream

Shrimp:
12 large shrimp - tails on and butterflied (sliced down the back nearly all the way through)
1 Tablespoon neutral oil

Make the risotto:
Saute green onion in 1 T oil briefly. Add rice and toast lightly. Mix coconut milk and chicken stock. Add stock mixture to rice one cup at a time - letting rice absorb stock before adding another cup. Add the toasted coconut after the second cup of stock. Stir nearly constantly. When you get to the 20 minute mark, check the rice for consistency. Once the rice is al dente and creamy, you're done. You may or may not use all of the stock. Keep warm.

Make the cream:
Combine cilantro, avocado, lime and sour cream in a blender. Puree until very smooth.

Make the shrimp:
Pan-fry the shrimp - cut side down - until lightly browned. This will take about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan so the shrimp will finish cooking and curl slightly. This will take just another 2 minutes or so. For service I used coconut halves filled with risotto and topped with 3 shrimp each. Place a dollop of cream on each shrimp and garnish with a sprinkling of toasted coconut and a cilantro leaf.

Wilted Baby Spinach with Honey and Bacon

Dorothy and I did this with only 0.5lbs of Spinach, decreased the honey by half. Cut the cooking time to 4 minutes. Turned out great and very tasty.

2 lbs baby spinach cleaned
3 slices thick bacon-diced
2 T cider vinegar
4 T honey

Cook bacon in a heavy pot until crisp. Drain fat and keep the bacon in the pot. Add honey and vinegar and stir well. Add spinach and sprinkle with 1/4 c of water. Cook over medium high heat, covered, for about 10 minutes - just until wilted. Remove lid and stir up all that honey and bacon goodness throughout your spinach. Delicious!

Lasagna Rolls on Sauce Béchamel

Sauce Béchamel (a.k.a. white sauce):
Thank you Cooking with Anne




3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup milk (use whole milk)
salt and pepper to taste
freshly ground nutmeg - a pinch or so

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan and add flour. Stir together and add milk (at room temp.), stirring over a medium flame until thickened. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan

Rolls:

1- 15-oz container ricotta cheese
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked until crisp-tender and chopped fine
1 small carrot, peeled and grated - about 1/2 cup
1/2 large red pepper - diced fine - about 1/2 cup
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 cooked lasagna noodles
1 cup tomato, spaghetti or marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix ricotta, egg and Parmesan well. Fold in vegetables. Lay out lasagna noodles and spoon filling onto each-spreading to the ends. Roll up and place in the sauced pan making sure the seam is facing down.

Top each roll with marinara and mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with Béchamel sauce under each roll.

Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze

Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

I made this one tonight and was not happy with it. I felt they were dry and overcooked. I reviewed an article in Cooks Illustrated and found that the first stage browning was excessive and dried out the port chop. Since most of the color comes from the Balsamic Glaze its not really necessary to truly brown the chops. The second cooking stage I lost track of time and the chops got to 170. I will be working on this recipe and update the photos with better results soon.

4 center cut Rib Pork chops, pounded to 3/4 inch thick
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 T olive oil
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. sugar

Trim fat from pork chops, and pound to 3/4 inch thickness. Season chops on both sides with salt, pepper. Starting with a cold pan, add olive oil, add pork chops and cook over medium heat (4) until lightly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 3 minutes total.

Remove pork chops to plate, lower heat slightly, and add vinegar and sugar and cook until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Put pork chops back into pan with any liquid which has collected on plate, and cook about 5-6 minutes, (internal temp of 140) turning several times to glaze pork chops with sauce. Serve hot, with sauce poured over.

3/12/2008 Update

OK, I reworked this one today and followed the times and temperatures to the letter. What a huge difference. The chops were moist and with an excellent taste of the Balsamic Glaze. I will do this again real soon. Learned a lot about Pork Chops and how to cook them.