cheesy artichoke bread & spicy hummus

What a wonderful combo! Oh you simply must try this. It was such an excellent combination that I made a meal out of it. I love my hummus and I love to jazz it up sometimes too, I mean one can only take so many hummus wraps and sandwiches. Now the bread idea I got from Smoky Mountain Cafe. I loved the sound of it, never heard of it before, and simply had to try it. I kicked it up a few notches, and turned some things around. The tanginess of the artichoke bread paired so very well with the spicy hummus. I cannot wait to make this again. This is an excellent appetizer for parties. cheesy artichoke bread with hummus print recipe
¼ cup butter 3 garlic cloves, pressed 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 4 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese 1 cup grated parmesan cheese ½ cup sour cream 1 French bread loaf Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese My changes: for the artichoke bread, I followed the recipe, but used 1/8 cup (maybe a little more) of olive oil instead of the butter, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 jar 10 or 11 oz. of artichokes, about 3 oz. of mozzarella cheese, and did not use cheddar cheese. For the hummus: I have never written down my hummus recipe, I do it all off the top of my head, but I think everyone knows how to make hummus? I just added in a bit of chili oil to the batch to make it spicy. Trader Joes sells a wonderful Mediterranean Hummus too. If you don't have a recipe for hummus, you can try this one, it looks pretty good. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichoke hearts, Mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and sour cream. Stir to blend. Remove from the heat and cool. Slice the bread lengthwise and scoop out some of the center. (Note: You can crumble the pieces of bread and add to the artichoke mixture if you wish.) Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the bread shell and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese. Place each half on a baking sheet and cover lightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes or until the cheese melts completely. Cut into slices and serve warm.

raspberry & lemon buttermilk scones

Another one of my baking addictions is scones. I just love to make them, finding new flavors, textures to put inside them. They literally are so versatile; you can add almost anything to them, be it sweet or salty or as I'm more inclined to do--both! Once you get the hang of making scones and understanding the less you knead the better--you'll soon notice you will be a pro at making them. Overmixing and over-kneading is a big no no with scones and biscuits. Can't overwork the dough because the butter starts to get warm, and the gluten in the batter starts to form. But practice makes perfect, and over time I became quite good at making them. With that said, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, new techniques. This latest scone is from Cooks Illustrated, which I found over at a fellow foodie friends' blog Lick the Bowl Good. She made these gorgeous blueberry & white chocolate scones. I switched it up a notch and made mine with raspberries & lemon zest. I also wanted a 'thinner' scone; I wanted more of a croissant. I used less baking powder and more butter to flour ratio...see my all my changes below.





My changes: I followed the recipe, BUT used 2 ts of lemon zest; did not use white chocolate; used raspberries instead of blueberries; used buttermilk instead of milk; used 10TB of grated butter as opposed to just 8 TB; sprinkled tops with raw, thick sugar before baking; used 1 ts of baking powder as I wanted a thinner scone--more like a croissant texture (as you can see in the photo below). The more butter & using buttermilk will make the scone thinner and not as heavy or thick--in case you're interested.

raspberry-lemon buttermilks scones
adapted from Cooks Illustrated
print recipe

10 TB unsalted butter, grated and kept frozen
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 ts baking powder
1/4 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
2 ts grated lemon zest

Heavy cream (about 3 tb), optional, for brushing tops of scones before baking
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling to the tops of scones before baking

Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Grate the stick of butter on large holes of box grater. Wrap stick of butter where you put your fingers to hold it with some parchment paper.
Place grated butter in freezer until needed.
Place raspberries in freezer until needed. Measure out your 1 cup of buttermilk and refrigerate until needed.
Whisk the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in medium bowl. Add frozen grated butter to flour mixture and toss with spatula until thoroughly coated. Fold in the chilled buttermilk until just combined (do not overmix).
Turn the dough and any floury bits onto a well floured work surface. Lightly flour your hands and the dough.
Knead the dough gently 6-8 times until it just holds together in a ragged ball, adding additional flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Roll dough into approximate 12-inch square.
Then fold dough into thirds like a business letter, using bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough if it sticks to counter top.
Lift short ends of dough and fold into thirds again to form approximate 4-inch square.
Transfer dough to plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in freezer 5 minutes.
Transfer dough to floured work surface and roll again into a 12-inch square.
Sprinkle raspberries evenly over surface of dough, then press down so they are slightly embedded in dough.
Using bench scraper or thin metal spatula, loosen dough from work surface.
Roll up dough, pressing to form tight log, and pinch the seam closed. Lay seam-side down and press log into 12 by 4-inch rectangle.
Using sharp, floured knife, cut rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles.
Transfer the scones to parchment-lined baking sheet.
Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

dark chocolate peanut butter cups

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy were these delish. My stars, these were good! I am a HUGE fan of anything peanut butter and chocolate. These homemade peanut butter cups were some of the best I've made in years. I have to thank Pete over at Pete Bakes for this one. I've made peanut butter cups before and they were ok, but I never thought to use high cacao chocolate (60-70% cacao); it made all the difference, it truly did. The dark chocolate really melded perfectly with the salty peanut butter (I added in some sea salt to the peanut butter mixture). These are the perfect little treat to make for family, friends or special clients for the upcoming Easter holiday. Trust me, those Reese's peanut butter cups have nothing over these. These are frutto di Dio (fruit of the Gods), heavenly.

That center is salty, creamy, peanut buttery goodness.

dark chocolate peanut butter cups
adapted from pete bakes
print recipe

12 oz dark chocolate 60-70%
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I added in an extra 1-2 TB) Note**1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup crushed graham crackers (finely, but not a powder, but not chunks either)(I added in 1 tsp salt to peanut butter mixture)
In a bowl, mix together the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and graham crackers. I put mine in the fridge to harden up a bit as it’s easier to form into balls.
In a double boiler, carefully melt the chocolate (set a metal bowl on top of a saucepan with boiling water).
Use regular or mini cupcake tins and line them with cupcake liners. It is best to use 3 to 4 liners per each compartment as this will help hold the structure of the pb cup.
Using a pastry brush, brush the melted chocolate on the bottom and sides of mini cupcake liners; when in doubt, add more chocolate, since this will be the base for your candy. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
While those are in the freezer get out the peanut butter mixture and form into teaspoons or tablespoon balls depending on what size peanut butter cup you are making.
remove the cupcake tins from the freezer, and place about one teaspoon (1 tablespoon for larger size) of the peanut butter mixture in each cup, make sure to put it in the middle, not touching the sides of the cup. Spoon more melted chocolate on top of each cup, make sure to get filly in around the sides too.
Place the peanut butter cups back in the freezer for another 15 minutes to set. Let them sit at room temp before devouring. Should make 12-16 mini's or 8 big ones.
Note** I used Whole Foods 365 Organic creamy peanut butter.

buttermilk & tarragon biscuits

Homemade morning biscuits. Ahhh, nothing quite like it right? I mean the smell alone drifting through the house, mixing with the smell of brewing coffee. Those smells are so comforting to me. This past weekend was all about comfort to me. I had a crappy week. The house hunting, the process of the down payment, price of houses not coming down as I thought they would like the rest of the country, higher than normal property taxes over here, these are all things that we are getting our way through as we try and finalize which house or houses to start the bidding on. So nothing is more soothing, comforting rather, than baking some comfort food that smell so good. Plus, I also curled with with one of my favorite feel-good movies: Sex & The City. Watching that movie always makes me feel so relaxed; those girls are in a way my feel-good friends, they lift me up, they get to play dress up, they get to be spoiled if only for an hour and a half and they have fun. (I know it's a bit of a fairy tale, but it makes me feel good and reminds me there is good in the world and all will be ok). I love how Carrie finally gets treated right. After all those years of bad dating, bad men, bad relationships she finally gets a good relationship (or rather Big finallys shapes up!). Best part of the movie? The part where Carrie & Big are apartment hunting and they see the perfect place with views of Central Park. Carrie freaks, and falls in love with the place, the views, the layout and says to Big "can we afford this?" and Big leans in, winks, and says "I got it." Love that--what girl wouldn't?

This original recipe is from CI, but I've made a few adjustments, don't I always? Feel free to do whatever you want with this recipe; it's just so versatile, you can add almost anything or nothing at all. My adjustments are in parenthesis. And yes, I added in fresh tarragon, cheese and ham and still put my jam on top--will you trust me on that one? Heavenly!

Cheddar Biscuits
Slightly adapted from CI

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder (I used 1 TB)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used 1 cup buttermilk)
(I added in 2 TB fresh, chopped fresh tarragon)
(I added in a large handful of chopped sweet ham)

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Add 1 1/4 cups cream and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough from bowl to countertop, leaving dry, floury bits in bowl. In 1-tablespoon increments, add up to 1/4 cup cream to dry bits in bowl, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition, until moistened. Add moistened bits to rest of dough and knead by hand just until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Pat dough into 8-inch circle, cut into wedges, and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake until just beginning to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining cheese on each biscuit, and return to oven, rotating baking sheet from front to back. Bake until golden brown and cheese topping has melted, 7 to 9 minutes. Serve warm. Should make about 8.

butterscotch-banana bread

Calling all banana bread lovers out there! Have I got an insanely delish banana bread for you. This banana bread will take you to a whole other banana bread level--yes it's that good! Why? Well, the flavor of the butterscotch is so gentle and melds so perfectly with the banana. I think the trick was finding the right amount of butterscotch to put in, and of course the mascarpone cheese adds a lot of smoothness. You know how the flavor of butterscotch chips is kind of strong and chemicaly-testing? Well, I added just the right amount of butterscotch chips to meld perfectly with the bananas, and cheese to give it a wonderful light-sugary, banana taste. The taste is so hard to describe, but trust me, this banana bread is fabulous. No butter or cream cream will be needed on your slice of this. The leftovers, I swear only get better with time. Seriously, you need to make this.





butterscotch-banana bread
kind of, sort of adapted from The Secrets of Baking
print recipe

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup mascarpone cheese
6 ounce unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 fully ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9-x-5-3-inch loaf pan. (I did 2 of these). Make sure to grease and flour, do not skip this step!
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
Combine the buttermilk and mascarpone cheese in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl beat eggs then combine them to the buttermilk & mascarpone mixture.
Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the butter with the cinnamon on high speed until soft and creamy, about 1 minute. Slowly add the sugar beating continuously on high speed.
The mixture should be light, fluffy and creamy white in color. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add one third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat until it is just incorporated.
Add one third of the mascarpone cheese mixture and mix until just incorporated.
Add the flour and mascarpone mixture in two more additions, mixing until addition is incorporated before adding the next.
Fold in the mashed bananas and butterscotch chips.
Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (mine was done in an hour, so watch your bread as the hour-mark approaches, but I have a convection oven that seems to have a higher heat than most ovens; so your bread my take longer than an hour. always use a cake tester to judge if it's done or not).
Cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and set on rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Note: you might be tempted to add nuts to this - don't! I did and it just didn't taste the same.