Lemon Scones

-good morning sunshine!-

so i'll make this quick since we are literally on our way out the door to head down to ole Virginia for the weekend. i made these as a "good mornin' sunshine! - now these get oudda here." breakfast. aaaand they. are. delicious. i made these with my homemade butter and buttermilk, both of which made these guys super moist with a perfect crumb. add in the lemon zest and brown sugar for a hint of summer sweetness. oh and slather these babies with homemade blueberry jam (stay tuned for the next post..) and dudes - you will fall in love with mornings again.

LEMON SCONES

2/3c buttermilk

1egg

1 tbs lemon zest

2oz cold butter

2c flour

1tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4c packed brown sugar

*preheat oven to 375F, line your cookie sheet w/ parchment

*in a small bowl combine the buttermilk, egg and lemon zest

*in a larger bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar

*quickly cut in the butter with your fingers or forks until the you have pea sized bits - a very coarse crumbs

*quickly stir in the buttermilk mixture until just combined - do not over stir!

*turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 6-8 times, quickly pat into 1/2" thick round

*place on your prepared sheet, cut into 8 wedges

*bake for 25 minutes until golden brown

*let cool then break into individual wedges

Butter

-budda-

just when you thought you've seen me reach the peak of modern kitchen turned old school insanity (that phrase makes sense to me...) i've gone ahead and just lept over the cliff and decided i NEEDED to make my own butter. growing up i can't tell you how many time my mom and dad would mention how good fresh, homemade butter was when they were growing up. my mom raised on warm milk straight from the cow, along with uncountable other mazing farm-house goodies and my father being his father's only-store-in-town stock boy (aka fresh foods everyday) they shared the enjoyment of real food. ahh real food - where can i get some of that? anyways since i began my obsession with homemade, local, small batch dairy butter has been a high priority. it makes totally sense - over the last year i've honed jam skills & fresh bread has been a staple for me for almost a decade now (gasp - i'm old!) all that WAS missing is butter. so butter i made. to be honest its one of the easiest things i've "challenged" myself with. the most important factor is where you get your cream - make sure its fresh, local and from a small batch farmer with healthy cows. don't waste your time (and arm strength) with mass produced, ultra-pasterized, homogonized, hormone and antiboitic laced garbage from wal-mart, you'll just concentrate the lackluster. i adore my local dairy farmer (thanks NYC for rockin out with the greenmarkets) and you should too.

oh and by the way - my mom and dad where absolutely right; real, fresh butter is absolutely amazing - spread it on a fresh slice of bread and top with peach jam and you'll fall in love. i promise. sorry land-o-lakes you taste like wax - dirty wax.

BUTTER (yes butter)

1 1/2c heavy cream

quart glass jar

rested, healthy arms

*make sure your cream is at least 50% fat

*let 1 1/2c of heavy cream come to 60F

*pour into a jar that will allow for some "swishing" room and shake, shake, shake for about 15-20 minutes.

*you will see that first it will get pretty thick, then will start to seperate into a solid and a milky liquid - this is buttermilk

*drain off the buttermilk and save for later

*add cold water to the jar with the butter solids, shake and drain again. continue this process of rinsing until the water runns clear

*place the butter ball in a bowl and "knead" with a spoon or a couple of forks and continue to drain off the excess water.

*add 1/4 tsp or so of sea salt if you like your butter salted or leave it as is and lavish yourself by mixing it with honey. store in frig and enjoy over the next few weeks.

Peanut Butter Teff Cookies

-peeeeeeeanutbuttttttter mmmmmmmm-

who ever invented peanutbutter cookie deserve a noble peace prize. seriouslyeverything about peanutbutter cookies says: fun childhood stuff, make love not war - that kind of jargon. just the name makes me happy - how can you go wrong with a cookie made out of creamy lovely goodness, its on the same level as chocolate chocolate cookies, no? but there is something about peanutbutter cookies that is so humble and simple that makes them so perfect. they stand out, just enough, from other cookies; they aren't of the "spiced" variety or the "fill-in-the-blank chunk" variety. nope, they are simple, unassuming and just waiting to be loved. so does anyone know how or why the fork print stamps got on these treats? i suppose it has to do with cooking them evenly??? i don't think anyone really cares. so i'll move on.

so i got some teff flour in hopes that i would be successful in making injera and when that end in a stinky failure i turned the bag over and discovered a simple, and brief, recipe for teff peanutbutter cookies. i made a few changes as per, well just per me and making them heart healthy-er. the earthy-ness of the tiny teff grain paired really well with the peanutty-ness and since teff has no gluten the crumb is pretty close to perfect. whip up a batch and before you throw em in the oven add a tsp of banana jam to the center - oh my god.

PEANUTBUTTER TEFF COOKIES

1 1/2c teff flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 c coconut oil

1/2 maple syrup

1 tbs vanilla

1c peanut butter (smooth, unsalted)

*preheat oven to 350F

*combine the teff and salt

*in a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients until completely smooth

*add the teff mixture and stir to completely combine

*drop by tbs full, roll into a ball, place on cookie sheet and flatten a little (with a fork if you please)

*bake for 12-14 minutes

Home (quick) Cottage Cheese

- yes you can -

it's proably just me, but it seems like lately store bought cottage cheese has gone completely over board with the salt. if you try the "no salt added" option you're left with a mouth full of rubbery little disks that taste like a combination of elmers and playdoh. and did i mention the cost of organic dairy products? and the exorbitant AGE of processed dairy? yeah its not pretty out there for us penny pinching food lovers. with this in mind along with my recent conversion from a yogurt customer to a yogurt making guru i have set out to tackle all my favorite dairy products. my little kitchen has a new task and this was one was a bit of a kick off. this recipe is ridiculously simple, really all you need to know how to do is turn a burner on, stir, be patient and strain. granted this is a "quick fix", the real deal involves a few more steps and rennet - which i will be getting to in the near future (most likely in the next few days) - but this is a great warm-up to making cheese. a little culinary stretch if you like. oh and the taste - fresh and clean, slightly salty and perfectly creamy. add in a few slices of fresh peach and you will be in heaven, i know i was there yesterday.

HOMEMADE (quick) COTTAGE CHEESE

8c milk (any kind you wish)

1/4c vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)

1/2c milk or cream for serving (optional)

*heat the milk to 180 - 185F

*add the vinegar, stir just to combine

*let sit for about 30 minutes, the curds and whey will separate

*line a colander with a fine mesh muslin or flour sack linen which is what i use

*pour into the lined colander and strain the curds - you can discard the whey

*put curds in your bowl and sprinkle in salt

*store in frig and mix in the 1/2c milk if you wish when you are ready to eat - this will make it more "creamy"

Blueberry Corn Muffins

-there's basically sunshine rays beaming out of this muffin-

i don't know about you but, breakfast is sacred. there seems to be two kinds of people when it comes to the morning meal. exhibit A: roll out of bed ready to devour the kitchen and all the goodness it has to offer. exhibit B: rolls out of bed, checks emails, hangs around a few hours then scrounges up some lame "meal" of something like box cereal or worse yet a coke paired with a candy bar (my god!). forgive me if i am offending any of you exhibit Bs out there, but really guys? lets get through this together. i understand that yogurt and granola isn't for everyone BUT muffins are. there is not one human being that doesn't enjoy a nice buttery golden blueberry muffin. add in some cornmeal, which not only adds a whole grain, and you have yourself an all around perfect day starter. if you think you can muster it slather on a bit of honey butter and you just elevated yourself to deity. have i convinced you to out that box of trix up yet?

BLUEBERRY CORN MUFFINS

1 1/2c AP flour

1/4 c sugar

1/4c brown sugar (light packed)

1/2c cornmeal

1tbs baking powder

3/4tsp salt

2 tsp lemon zest

3/4c buttermilk

4oz butter, melted

1 egg

1c fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries

*line 12 muffin tins with paper cups, preheat oven to 350F

*sift together flours, sugar, salt and baking powder

*in separate bowl combine zest, buttermilk, butter and egg

*quickly combine the wet and dry ingredients

*fold in blueberries

*spoon into prepared pan and cook 20-25 minutes, until toothpick is clean

Brown Rice Pudding

-nectar of the gods-

this.recipe.makes me very very happy. firstly; i adore rice pudding. i love it warm. i love it cold. i love it sweet. i love it savory (aka risotto). and being you know, somewhat health conscious i have been trying to pin down brown rice pudding for - and i am not exagerating here - years. years people. sometimes it was totally disaster: pellet textured rice imprisoned in rubbery milk mortar. sometimes it was just simply not right: your taster just looks puzzled at the first bite (the worst feeling in the world). i think my biggest problem layed in my resistance to pre-cook the rice. as much as i love the idea that the rice is completely fused with the sweetened milk from the get-go, cooking long grain brown rice this way is just not going to workour for me. maybe you can pull it off, i most definately can not.

precook that rice, or use left over from chinese take-out whatever you like just make it easy on yourself and trust me that this is delish and somewhat, yeah ok i'll call it nutritious.

BROWN RICE PUDDING

adapted from honey & jam

1c long grain brown rice, steamed in 2 1/2c water

1 tbs butter

2 1/2c whole milk

1 1/2c skim milk

2 tbs cane sugar

3 tbs honey (or agave or maple - i used a combo of maple and honey)

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds removed

*combine milks, sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla seeds in large pan over medium heat

*bring milk mixture to boil

*add the cooked rice and butter, bring to a moderate simmer

*stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes - do not let it boil over or scold

*take off heat, remove cinnamon stick

*serve warm or chilled

Coconut Joy Brownie_(GF)

-it's something like stuffing an almond joy inside a gooey brownie-

bbq season is on, and everyone knows brownies and/or cupcakes are simply a necessity during these trying times of cold beer in the hot sun times. i mean, how else do you cool yourself off when you're standing next to an open flame in 90 degree heat, on a roof? come to think of it - why exactly do we wait until it's blazing hot to fire up a grill and stand next to it? well anyways i don't make up the rules - but i do make brownies and these are killer. seriously they may kill you. if you think you are on a diet go ahead and make these, they will cure you of that ridiculous endeavor. BUT the good news: they are gluten free and better yet - totally delicious. so all you gluten-less folks out there: eat your heart out! if you like your gluten - just use the standard AP flour. and maybe one of these days i'll make a GF burger bun for you too - until that time just eat more brownies and wallow in the joy of it all.

COCONUT JOY BROWNIE_GF

3/4c cocoa powder

12 oz butter

3 large eggs

1 1/2c sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbs coconut flour

(handful) sliced almonds

JOY LAYER:

2c shredded sweetened coconut

2/3c sweetened condensed milk

pinch salt

*preheat oven to 350F, light grease an 8x8 baking pan

*melt butter, whisk in the cocoa powder and let cool slightly for a few minutes

*whisk in eggs, one at a time

*mix in sugar and extracts, stir to combine

*stir in flour and salt

*in a separate bowl combine all the ingredients for the JOY layer

*pour half the brownie batter into the prepared pan

*drop blobs of the JOY mixture on top, generously sprinkle the almonds over the coconut

*pour the remaining brownie batter over the top

*bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted shows only a few crumbs.

*let cool for about 30-45 minutes, cover and chill in frig a few hours before cutting (these guys ages very well)