Vanilla Biscuits with Cranberry Sauce & Fresh Whipped Cream

  

For a long time, the only cranberry sauce I knew looked like this. And as long as that was my reference point, I resisted it. Hard. I was never really a fan of cranberry juice either, save for when I found out it promoted good, ahem, health, at which point I desperately tried to persuade my taste buds otherwise (to no avail). In any event, it took a long time for cranberries to worm their way into my heart, but they did. And I'm pretty sure they're here to stay.

So when the rows and rows of very shiny cranberries showed up in my grocery store, I knew they needed a vehicle into my stomach, stat. A leisurely perusal through Martha Stewart's Cooking School unearthed the most perfect companion: vanilla biscuits. I've got to hand it to her, Martha has nailed the vanilla biscuit. When these little cylinders of joy come out of the oven, the smell of vanilla and buttery sweetness are like a silent dinner bell (just watch . . . people will show up in the kitchen). 

I prepared the biscuits and cranberry sauce as a dessert, with whipped cream. But if you really want to step up your Thanksgiving game, serve these biscuits and cranberry sauce with your turkey and stuffing. Your guests, with tears in their eyes, will say "Bless you, [your name here]. This is what Thanksgiving has been missing all my life." Verbatim. I promise.

A few notes: Vanilla bean is expensive. You'll probably pay close to $10 for two beans. But seriously, it's Thanksgiving and it's worth it (do you see those flecks of vanilla in the dough?). Pony up.  

Also, if you (like me) are not practiced at biscuit making, you're in for a surprise. The dough doesn't form a ball in the mixing process. When you combine the wet and dry ingredients, stop mixing once you have clumps that look like the below picture. They will come together just barely enough to cut out the biscuits.

Because not everyone owns a biscuit cutter.

Vanilla Biscuits with Cranberry Sauce & Fresh Whipped Cream

adapted very slightly from Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook

Biscuits

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tbs. cornstarch
3 tbs. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cups cold buttermilk

2 tbs. heavy cream (for brushing)

sugar for sprinkling

Cranberry Sauce

4-5 oz. fresh or frozen (and thawed) cranberries
2 tbs. sugar (or more to taste)

Whipped Cream 

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbs. confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract 

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, incorporate the butter into the dry mix until you have a crumbly mixture (pieces should be the size of small peas). 

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the beans out using a knife. Mix vanilla bean and vanilla extract into buttermilk and whisk. Add buttermilk to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork until the ingredients are incorporated. As pictured above, the resulting "dough" will remain in separate lumps. Turn dough onto a clean work surface and work the pieces together with your hands, folding the dough onto itself a few times. Work the dough into a rectangle 1 to 1-1/4 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter (or round measuring cup or cleaned-out soup can), cut out 6 biscuits (for the sixth biscuit, you'll need to gather the scraps together and form the biscuit). Place biscuits onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chill biscuits in the fridge for 20 minutes before baking. Brush tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 10 minutes and rotate cookie sheet. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook for 10 more minutes. Transfer biscuits to a cooling rack. 

Cranberry sauce: While biscuits are baking, put cranberries and sugar in a food processor or mini-chopper and blend until mixture is chunky. Obviously you can add water or extra sugar and blend longer to get a saucier consistency. Do whatever you like. I served the cranberry sauce cold, but this mix can certainly be warmed in a saucepan or the microwave.

Whipped cream: Place a glass or metal mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes. Mix heavy cream in the cold bowl using a hand mixer at high speed. Once soft peaks form, add sugar and vanilla, and mix until cream is thick.

Makes 6 biscuits and toppings

Sweet Potato Bread with Apricots and Scrabble

A friend of mine has two of the cutest little tots on the planet. The kids are quite hip, but as they are both under the age of two, Saturday nights are still pretty low key. So she recently hosted an evening of Scrabble. I LOVE Scrabble. And until this get together, I fancied myself as good at Scrabble (me = sorely mistaken). Two of the ladies who joined us were like super Scrabble geniuses with laser beams coming out of their eyes and zeroing in on the highest scoring squares (and one of them noted that she was "rusty"). I think I lost by a thousand points. Oh well, at least it was a good excuse for a new homemade treat.

Making something "homemade" or baking "from scratch" has different meanings to different people. I'm pretty lenient with those terms - as long as the dish didn't come straight from the store shelf or out of a box, it counts as homemade in my book. As I've mentioned before, I didn't make a pie crust until this blog, but I would still say that I've made many a homemade pie. So when I read this recipe and discovered that it called for me to actually roast sweet potatoes rather than buy them in a can, I almost skipped it (in retrospect, the roasting was so easy, I feel embarrassed even sharing this bout of laziness). 

But I didn't skip it. Instead I said to myself, "Get it together, woman. You are a flipping food blogger now and food bloggers roast their own root vegetables." And now you all can enjoy the fruits of my labor. And by "enjoy," I mean look at photos. Although if you invite me over for Scrabble, I'll bring you some.

For our wedding, we received a really awesome and unique gift of Penzey's Spices, including a whole nutmeg (thanks Greg & Marlene!). According to European lore, our marriage will remain happy and sound as long as the nutmeg remains whole.

It looks like we may have some rocky times in the immediate future. At least we'll go down with good eats.

Disclaimer: these are actually yams. At the grocery store, I was scoping out the potatoes and could only find a bin marked yams. So I politely asked the grocery store man where I could find sweet potatoes. He walks around to where I'm standing (in front of the yams), gives me a dirty look and says, "Yer lookin' at em." Still politely, I say, "Oh, sorry sir, I'm actually looking for sweet potatoes and not yams." To which he responds, "Same thing." Now I'm annoyed. You work at a grocery store, dude. They're not the same. Upon further questioning, he says something to effect of sweet potatoes only being available around Thanksgiving. Um, hello, grocery store man - that's NOW. Maybe he should reevaluate his line of employment.

Sweet Potato Bread with Apricots

adapted from the awesome cookbook, Good to the Grain

Dry Mix

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbs. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg (freshly ground if you have it)

1/4 tsp. allspice (or pumpkin pie spice)

Wet Mix

2 tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1 medium sweet potato (3/4 lbs.) (photo shows two potatoes because I baked two loaves)

3 oz. dried apricots, cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and roast the sweet potato for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until it is tender all the way through when tested with a knife (all of the insides should be squishy). Juices will start to seep out and caramelize around the potato. Set aside to cool, then peel and cut in half. Cut each half into large chunks, but keep halves divided.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Grease or line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Mix all dry ingredients together. Separately, whisk together the buttermilk and yogurt in a small bowl. 

Using a stand mixer (with paddle attachment) or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Scrape down the sides with a spatula; add the egg and half the sweet potato. Mix on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until thoroughly combined. On low speed, slowly add the dry mix and blend until mostly combined. Add buttermilk mixture and mix until combined. Add remaining sweet potato and continue to blend until barely combined; visible chunks of sweet potato should remain. Spread apricots across the batter (to avoid clumping) and fold into batter using a spoon or spatula. (If using a stand mixer with paddle, you can add the apricots at the same time as the remaining sweet potato.)  

Pour batter into a greased or parchment-lined loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 65-75 minutes. Remove loaf from the pan upon removal from oven and place on a cooling rack. Slice and spread with your fave preserves. Use all 7 letters for a ridiculous bonus. 

Makes one loaf

Pre-race Strawberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Every October for the past four years, my dad and I have run the Army Ten-Miler together. All 40 miles, side by side. It's the biggest ten-mile race in the United States, with 30,000 registered racers in 2010. 2008 was marked by a surprise finish by my little sis, Mary W., who amazingly managed to come in strong, despite having maxed out her training at a three-miler (Mary has put her racing career on hiatus, while currently serving in the Peace Corps). In 2009, we had a guest entry by my Aunt Joanne, who, ten years my dad's junior, dropped us at mile 8 and sprinted to the finish! But alas, Aunt Joanne had some hip problems and so in 2010, it was back to just me and D. We were going to crush it.

And nothing says "I'm gonna crush this race!" like a get-psyched breakfast of fresh strawberry cornmeal pancakes with pure maple syrup. Warning: I'm not advocating eating a breakfast like this on the day of a race (for that, I stick to oatmeal or toast and PB), but for the day prior to race day, pancakes are super. Or better yet, serve them as awesome celebratory brunch. So please don't send me cranky emails about why you should never stuff your stomach with pancakes and syrup immediately before competing in an athletic event. Thx.

The addition of cornmeal to these pancakes doesn't make them taste like corn (I know, I was surprised too). When I first tried this recipe, I was looking for a cornbread style of pancake. Although that's not what I got, I did find a new go-to recipe for pancakes. I think the cornmeal helps get that crispy crust on the outside and the high yogurt content keeps them moist in the middle. And don't even get me started on the strawberries. They are so perfect in pancakes, that I don't understand how blueberries ever became so popular. The inn where Travis and I got married (John Joseph Inn) served up the best breakfast I've ever had (bacon thicker than my arm!), including my first-ever strawberry pancakes.

We topped the pancakes with Shepherd Sugar Bush pure maple syrup made by our friend Laurie's family in Michigan! This syrup put the pancakes over. the. top.

Sidebar: For the second weekend in a row, we had houseguests of the four-legged kind (my parents' dogs, Luna and Spike). They're very small and potentially smooshable. They like to sit on you and snuggle up in your armpits, so you have to be careful not to roll over on them or squish them when you reach for a drink. Travis and I are large-dog people (and sadly lost the best dog ever to doggy cancer in February), but I can't help but miss these little guys (ok, I don't miss the yapping, but I DO miss the snuggling).

Admit it, you kind of want to play with them. Or feed them to your pet snake. (My mom thinks I have a subconscious aggression towards the dogs because they've taken first chair in her heart. I don't know what she's talking about.)

This is Travis, Dad and me, before the race. I wish I had a post-race photo, but our usual photography team (the moms) decided to sleep in this year. You can take my word for it, though - the pancakes served us well. Crushing abounded.

Strawberry Cornmeal Pancakes

adapted from this Cooks.com recipe

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 tbs. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

3 tbs. skim milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 pint strawberries, diced

vegetable oil

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in large bowl. Combine yogurt, milk and egg; mix with dry ingredients, stirring until smooth. Gently stir in strawberries (I sprinkled the strawberries onto the pancakes while they were cooking, but wished I had mixed them in earlier).

Heat a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil on a nonstick griddle or skillet (you have to know your own stovetop, but I used medium heat on our electric range). You want the batter to sizzle, but not smoke (I suggest a little test dollop). Spoon about 1/3 cup batter onto the hot surface. Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Add vegetable oil as needed.

Serve with pure maple syrup and fresh strawberries.

Makes 9 pancakes

Halloween Triple Fudge Brownies with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing

It's Halloween!!!!!!!!! No, wait, it's not Halloween. It's November 7, which is nothing (unless you count the first day after daylight savings time as an event worthy of mention; your call). But I've discovered that this whole blogging about real events thing doesn't always translate into "current" posts. Cuz dang, folks, cooking/photographing/editing/writing/posting is a time consuming process. Generally, I can get around this problem by fudging when events occur, but for some things (e.g., major holidays), that just doesn't work. 

Since becoming a food blogger a month ago, I've tried to check out as many other food blogs as I can. And let me tell you, there are LOTS, just oodles of food blogs out there. People will post about anything from baking dog biscuits to filling nearly empty peanut butter jars with yogurt (I read not one, but two blogs in the same day highlighting this pb jar phenomenon). Some bloggers tell you all about their lives and experiences and make you feel like you're BFFs even though you've never met (Front Burner Blog - thanks for the intro, Carrie!), and some have photographs and styling that are so breathtaking, you could just die (What Katie Ate - seriously, so good it kills me; see the cheese shop photo shoot).

I've discovered that some people can just blog and blog and blog and blog and do it everyday. They must have superpowers (or no day jobs). These super-bloggers are reading my post now saying, "Ha! What a weakling! This girl only posts once or twice a week!" But it's the best I can eek out for the time being and I'm ok with that.

So, now, one full week after Halloween (and 8 days after the party where these brownies made their debut), I'm sharing them with you.

I happen to think brownies from a box are awesome (in particular, the Ghirardelli Turtle Brownies, made in an 8 x 8 square pan so that they come out thick and gooey). I could never understand why anyone would want to make brownies from scratch, when such perfectly delectable chewy brownies could be whipped up with just an egg and some oil. But since I blog about food now, I figured I should Martha up and do some homemade brownie bites. I started at Whole Foods and bought four kinds of chocolate. I didn't use all four, but I like to be prepared. The "triple" fudge ultimately came from: 1) semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2)  bittersweet baking chocolate, and 3) unsweetened cocoa.

But the real deliciousness comes from the PB cream cheese frosting. Holy hannah, it's good.

And a sneak preview of our Halloween costume prop . . . 

Buuuut, I won't make you wait too long for the main event. :) Our costumes were inspired by my amazing arm wrestling feat from earlier this Fall. We were the DC Roller Girls:

I played the part of the "jammer" complete with helmet stars, and we crafted these snazzy t-shirts with sweet roller derby-esque names.

In total we had a six man team, but could never get our act together for a full team photo (roller derby girls are known for being all over the place and generally a little crazy . . . we were just playing our roles).

And there was even some arm wrestling:

Halloween was way fun and resulted in dancing until 4am. Sadly at that point all the brownies had been eaten.

Triple Fudge Brownies with PB Cream Cheese Icing

Brownies

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil (divided in half)

1/2 cup boiling water

3 oz. melted bittersweet chocolate

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1-1/3 cups unbleached flour

1 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cocoa, salt and baking soda. Add 1/3 cup vegetable oil and boiling water and mix well. Over a double boiler (or a bowl set on top of a saucepan filled an inch high with simmering water), melt the bittersweet chocolate. Stir melted chocolate into cocoa/oil/water. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla and remaining 1/3 cup of oil and mix well. Mix in flour until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease two muffin tins. Pour batter evenly into tins (cups should be about half full). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. When testing the "doneness" of brownies, I will often take them out even when they seem a little raw in the middle (something I wouldn't do, for example, with cake mix). This helps avoid burned edges. Also, the general public seems to delight in underdone brownies.

PB Cream Cheese Icing (ratios adapted from Food.com)

6 oz. cream cheese (easiest if room temperature)

2 tbs. butter (easiest if room temperature)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2.5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup creamy, all-natural peanut butter

Blend all ingredients using an electric hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. This will work best if your cream cheese and butter are both at room temperature. If you lack the foresight for that (like me), you can microwave each for 5 seconds, then flip and microwave for another 5 seconds. You can obviously use any peanut butter you want, but all-natural PB has a very different texture that makes this frosting AAH-mazing. Smucker's make an all-natural PB, so you should be able to get it at any grocery store.

My brownies came out like craters (the tops weren't flat, more like tiny bowls). To remedy, I did a first layer of frosting to fill in the bowls and catch any crumbs, and then popped the frosted brownies in the freezer (10 or so minutes is fine). Then I did a quick second layer of room temperature frosting, which works better for the spiderwebs.

Ganache (for making spider webs)

2 tbs. heavy cream

1 oz. chocolate (I used bittersweet)

Microwave cream in a mug for 1:45-2:00 minutes (should be simmering when you remove). Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Transfer ganache into the corner of a small plastic ziplock baggie (for use as a piping bag) and snip off the very tip of the corner. Use piping bag to make three concentric circles on each brownie. Using a sharp knife, run the tip of the knife from the center of the brownie outwards through the ganache circles 8 or 9 times (see photos above). Do the knife step shortly after piping the ganache, as it will start to harden up and won't look as webby if you wait too long.

Garnish with Halloween spider rings (or, um, bats if that's all you have . . . ).

Makes 22-24 spooky brownies