If you watch as much food television as I do, you hear the adjective "sexy" thrown around quite a bit, and more often than not, it just doesn't fit. No matter how nice a bowl of chili looks, or how beautifully a game hen glistens, they're not really "sexy."
This burrata bruschetta with grilled figs on the other hand? Totally "sexy!" If there were such a thing as word association flash cards of food, the most common result for this one would be "sexy." Okay, I'm going to stop using those quotation marks now. Above and beyond how awesome this recipe tastes, it's so nice to be able to post such an aesthetically pleasing dish after the recent string of homely food. I appreciate all the nice comments about the sausage and zucchini stew, but if that thing was a blind date, it would have been described as, "having a nice personality."
Depending on the location, I can't guarantee you'll be able to find burrata and fresh black mission figs, but if you can, you really need to give this a try. I know someone will ask, so I'll tell you right now, there really isn't a great substitute for this heavenly cheese.
A very fresh mozzarella would be the closest, but it would still be like substituting for Beyonce with Wanda Sykes. That's no insult to Wanda Sykes (she has a great personality), but in the sexy department, Mrs. Jay-Z is in a whole other league, and so is this burrata and grilled fig bruschetta. Enjoy!
Ingredients: burrata cheese fresh figs Italian bread balsamic vinaigrette (1 part vinegar to 1 part extra virgin olive oil - shaken vigorously) salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
This great sourdough starter video is from Eric at Breadtopia. Eric was one of my fellow nominees for most innovative video content in the Saveur best food blog awards, and as you'll see in this clip, he's a great teacher.
One of my very few regrets with the pro food blogger lifestyle, is having almost no time to visit and watch/read other people's blogs. When I first started out, I would spend a few hours a day surfing the web. Now, I'm pretty much limited to a few minutes here and there, and it's sad knowing I'm missing out on so much great content – like this lesson.
This video shows a very clever method for making a sourdough starter using pineapple juice to increase your odds for success. I hope you enjoy it, and please check out all the other great videos on Breadtopia. Enjoy!
I've been waiting almost 3 years to work an E.T. reference into one of my blog post titles.
For whatever reason, I've had quite a few requests lately for a scone recipe video. I should say at the outset, I've never made scones before (or at least never remember making scones before), and I've never been a big fan of eating them either.
I've always found them so dry and crumbly that I just assumed some devious Scottish café owner invented them to increase sales, since most of the scones I've tried take about five cups of coffee to wash down.
Then I thought, maybe I've just never had a really good one. So I did what any social media savvy professional video recipe blogger would do; I asked my friends on Twitter for a recipe.
I got many great suggestions for all kinds of wonderful sounding versions, but since I'd never made them before, I decided to just make a plain, very traditional version to start off with. I figured I'd get the basic recipe down before trying anything crazy.
This recipe is very slightly adapted from one by someone called "Friendlyfood" on All Recipes, who claims it was adapted from a version made at the Savoy hotel in London. I have to say, I am very impressed. It was light, tender, moist and very delicious.
By the way, a couple of my favorite foodies, Denise from ChezUs, and Jennifer from In Jennie's Kitchen, may also be posting scone recipes soon, and when they do, I will share those with you as well (and believe me, they won't be as plain as this one!).
Another friend of mine, Tamar from Starving off the Land, pointed out the controversy regarding the correct pronunciation. While most Americans (and by most, I mean all) say it so it rhymes with "cone," the proper articulation is said to rhyme with "John."
As you know, I've never been big on pronouncing things correctly, and I'm not about to start now, but I wanted to point that out in case you find yourself in Scotland someday. Hey, you don't want to sound like a tourist, or worse, a Brit.
One last thing, you'll see me add the currants along with the wet ingredients. I don't understand why recipes for cookies, muffins, etc., call for fruit, nuts, and/or chips to be stirred in after the wet ingredients are mixed in. These types of recipes suffer greatly from over mixing, so I say add the chunky bits when you combine the wet and dry. Having said that, I'm not a baker, so maybe there's a reason for this common recipe instruction. Is there? Anyway, enjoy!
Ingredients: 8 ounces by weight all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups) 4 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 cup white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/3 cup dried currants 1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup sour cream (and 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon milk for the wash)
Last year you just watched. This year, you actually make the bread. That's the plan at least. Below you'll see two videos; one for my family's traditional Easter bread, and one for a pink lemon icing.
These video recipes ran last year, but we have so many new visitors on the blog these days, I decided it would make a good pre-Easter rerun.
I'm sure some of you gave this try, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we do every year. Sure you can bring that half-dead lily plant to your Easter gathering, or you can bring a couple loaves of this great bread. What would Jesus do?
Yes, it's true! A couple poppy seed muffins can cause a positive drug test for opiates. So if you're being tested tomorrow, never mind, but the rest of you are encouraged to try this poppy seed muffin I'm testing for the cookbook, and let me know what you think. I think I have the formula down, and I really love the taste and texture of this easy recipe. Enjoy!
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Makes 12
2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 stick (1/2-cup) unsalted butter, softened 1 cup white granulated sugar finely grated zest from 2 lemons 2 large eggs 2 tablespoon lemon juice 1 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons poppy seeds For the glaze: 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl, and reserve until needed.
In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest, until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly before adding the next. Stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the lemon juice, and 1/2 of the sour cream until combined.
Add half of the remaining flour mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in the remaining sour cream. Stir in the rest of the flour mixture, and then the poppy seeds.
Line a 12-muffin tin with paper baking cups. Fill each to the top with batter. Bake about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While the muffins are baking, mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar together for form a thin glaze.
Remove the muffins from the oven when ready, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Brush the lemon glaze evenly over the top of each muffin. This is not intended to be a frosting, but just a very light glaze to give the tops a little shine and extra kiss of lemon flavor.
When cool enough to handle, remove muffins from the tins and cool completely on a rack before serving.
Give or take a pinch of baking powder, most blueberry muffin recipes are pretty much the same. One thing that varies is the dairy used – some recipes call for buttermilk, while others use yogurt, or sour cream as this one does.
When it comes to the amount of blueberries, it seems that 1 1/2 cups is the standard measure. Since I get my blueberries in pint baskets, which is 2 cups, I decided to push the envelope and toss in the whole thing.
Is that too many? You can be the judge, but I really like that these are chock full of juicy fruit, and while it does make them less sweet, I think it's a good tradeoff. This recipe is going to be published, so let me know what you think if you decide to give them a go.
I usually do my voiceovers in the morning, when I'm fresh and peppy, and my voice is dripping with enthusiastic verve. This voiceover was done late in the evening, as I was getting ready to take off to Las Vegas (where this is being posted from).
If you are new to the blog you probably wouldn't have noticed anything, but the regular viewers will hear the same thing I do…I sound really tired. Anyway, maybe I'm being a bit self-conscience, but I thought it was really noticeable, and a good reminder to make sure I do these soundtracks before a long day of production. Notwithstanding the sleepy narration, I like these blueberry muffins a lot, and hope you give them a try. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 16 muffins: 3 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup white granulated sugar 1 (1/2 cup) stick butter, softened finely grated zest from one lemon 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 large eggs 1 cup sour cream 1/2 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract, optional 2 cups fresh blueberries
I won't give you my full list, but if I had to decide on 10 contests for a Great American Food Decathlon, the first event will be buttermilk biscuits. Sorry, but if you can't make buttermilk biscuits, you have no business attempting the other nine events.
Buttermilk biscuits are not so much a recipe, as they are a mythology. Secret knowledge passed down from generation to generation, mother to child, blogger to people like you.
This deceptively simple recipe can come out a million different ways with some very minor variations on the ingredients and amounts. This one's my favorite – flaky, but not dry; chewy, but not tough; crisp in just the right spots.
This is a recipe you need to practice to really get a feel. Once you do, you can refine the formula to achieve your ultimate buttermilk biscuit. Some like their biscuits moist and tender, while others aren't happy unless they collapse into a buttery pile of crumbs.
In the video recipe, you'll notice I only cooked 10 biscuits. You can get a few more than that, but I only cooked the prettiest ones since, like the dinner rolls, this was made for the cookbook.
Anyone who makes the recipe below is encouraged to chime in. Thanks and enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into thin slices, chilled in freezer 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
If you watch as much food television as I do, you hear the adjective "sexy" thrown around quite a bit, and more often than not, it just doesn't fit. No matter how nice a bowl of chili looks, or how beautifully a game hen glistens, they're not really "sexy."
Depending on the location, I can't guarantee you'll be able to find burrata and fresh black mission figs, but if you can, you really need to give this a try. I know someone will ask, so I'll tell you right now, there really isn't a great substitute for this heavenly cheese.
