Easy Buttermilk Biscuits... from Scratch!

Biscuits are not unfamiliar at our home. They are one of Matt’s favorite breakfast dishes, especially when paired with sausage. I love biscuits with melted butter and raspberry jam, and can eat them by the plateful.

It’s hard to find a flaky, flavorful recipe for buttermilk biscuits that doesn’t involve a pre-made mix, or that doesn’t feel painfully excruciating and complicated. That’s why I love the recipe found in Mac and Cheese Cookbook by Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade.

These lovely cooks suggest not over-mixing your dough, which allows for a fluffier, lighter biscuit. I was skeptical at first, but after eating these beauties, I have a hard time believing I’ll try anything else. As a bonus, this biscuit recipe is deceptively simple, making them a perfect choice for brunch, breakfast and snack time.  Enjoy!

Easy Buttermilk Biscuits 

Ingredients: 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, plus melted butter for topping your biscuits

1 cup buttermilk

Instructions:

•  Preheat your oven to 450°F. Grab a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. 

• Mix your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 

• Cut your butter into small chunks or pats, and slowly incorporate the cold butter into your flour. Use your pastry cutter to blend (if you’ve got a mixer, use your paddle attachment on a low speed). Your batter will be coarse. 

• Add your buttermilk and mix your batter until the ingredients are barely mixed together.

• Turn your dough out onto a floured surface, and pat it into a thick round, about an inch thick.

• Take a cookie cutter and cut rounds of dough (about 2-inches in diameter). Place them onto your lined baking sheet, and brush them with melted butter. 

• Bake for about 10 minutes, or until your tops are a nice, golden brown. Allow them to cool, and then enjoy them by the bunches.

Chorizo Potatoes (Chorizo con Papas): An Easy Alternative to Everyday Potatoes

Is there anything better than potatoes? These lovely, starchy vegetables are great for every meal, and I intend to eat them with every meal (Much to my mother’s chagrin. I do what I want, MOM.).  

This morning, Matt was hungry for sausage and toast, and I had already started to make pancakes. We only had enough sausage for 1 person, and since I was already going to make potatoes, I decided to go with a more Mexican route, inspired by this recipe.

Chorizo potatoes aren’t just for breakfast. They can be eaten with refried beans, cheddar, and sour cream and be wolfed down for lunch. They can be served with carne asada and nopales. They can be eaten late at night when no one is looking. Regardless to when the urge hits, you can eat this spicy, savory and simply delicious meal at any time, knowing that it’s not particularly expensive or difficult to make. Enjoy!

Chorizo Potatoes

  Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
10 ounces Mexican pork chorizo (This is soft sausage, and will goop out of its casing)
1/4 small onion, diced
1 pound potatoes of your preference, cut into small (1/4-inch) dice, and boiled
Salt

Black pepper

Cajun seasoning

Directions

• Put your diced potatoes into a pot with enough water to cover them, and boil for about 6-8 minutes. You want the potatoes to almost be barely cooked, and still have a bite. This will keep them from dissolving when you’re cooking them with the chorizo. Drain, then set aside.

• Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chorizo and cook, breaking up the clumps, until almost dry and crisp, about 10 minutes. Chorizo is oily, so don’t be surprised if you have pockets of oil in the corners. That’s ok. It’ll keep the potatoes from sticking.

• In the pan you cooked your chorizo, add the onions and boiled potatoes. Stir occasionally, and allow them to brown, which will take about 12 minutes.

• Stir in the cooked chorizo onto the mixture, blending well and covering all of the potatoes evenly. Season with the salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning to taste.

•  Enjoy with your favorite meal, like I did here with a fried egg, cheddar and pancakes. MM.

Fabulously Fluffy French Toast

Happy Father’s Day to all those Papas out there! I hope you’re being spoiled with love, affection, gifts and great food today.

While my husband and I aren’t having children any time soon, that does not mean that we can’t eat in celebratory style today. For me, that means making something fluffy, sweet and filling. While pancakes typically play a huge part in our breakfast repertoire, I wanted something a little different. Why not French toast?

My grandma used to make French toast for her grandkids practically every time that we slept over. Not that we complained; hers was the best French toast, beating out our mothers’ attempts.

Now, I’m happy to have found a recipe that marries her sweet recipe with something that you’d expect to find at a restaurant. I hope you enjoy!

Fabulously Fluffy French Toast

Ingredients

 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

 1 cup milk

 1 pinch salt

 3 eggs

 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or a scant ¼ teaspoon allspice)

 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 1 tablespoon white sugar

 12 thick slices bread

butter or butter spread, for cooking

Directions

• Measure flour into a large mixing bowl that is deep enough to dredge your bread in. Slowly whisk in the milk. 

• Whisk in the salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract and sugar until smooth.

• Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. While it gets to the right temperature, soak your bread slices in the mixture until saturated. You may need to flip the bread once in order to soak it completely.

•  Cook bread on each side until golden brown with a pat of butter or cooking oil. 

• Serve hot.

Don't forget to add your favorite toppings, like butter, syrup, fruit and powdered sugar!

15-minute Mexican Breakfast: Cheesy Chilaquiles

I don't remember if I've mentioned this, but I'm a total breakfast person. If I could make breakfast every morning (or have someone make it for me), I'd be the happiest person in the world. I love sweet, salty, and savory breakfasts. I love fancy ones. I love simple home-style breakfasts. I'll eat them all with a smile and a cup of coffee. 

With that said, I don't get to eat a nice, home-cooked breakfast unless I have loads of time and fresh ingredients at hand. So I generally have to make do with something fast, like toast and coffee.

This weekend kicked of my spring break. THANK GOD. I need a week of sleeping in, overeating and going out with my husband, who's also taken off most of the week. We began our relaxation with something delicious, comforting and flavorful: chilaquiles.

If you've never had the pleasure, you don't know what you're missing. Chilaquiles are considered a comfort food to Mexicans. You can spice them up, smother them with cheese, and even cover them with chicken, guacamole, or sour cream for additional decadence. They're crispy, but soft because of the egg. They're spicy, but the cheese adds richness. I love them.

I like these because they're so simple to make, and you don't need to have tons of ingredients to go make them. The main ingredient is stale tortillas. If you're planning on making them, just leave some tortillas out for a night or two. Then you'll be well on your way to a great breakfast. 

Cheesy Chilaquiles 

Ingredients
12 stale corn tortillas (if they're fresh, leave them out overnight. Otherwise, your frying time will be extended)
Cooking oil
1 (7.75 oz) can El Pato, a spicy Mexican tomato sauce (If you have fresh salsa, 1 cup can be substituted)
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
4 eggs
1/4 cup white onion, roughly chopped
Seasoned salt

• Cut your tortillas into fourths. My tortillas were very dry, so I simply broke them into pieces.

•  Generously pour your cooking oil into a large sauté pan. Turn your heat to medium high. Once your oil is hot, add the tortillas. You’ll want to be able to coat the tortillas, but not completely submerge them.

• Fry your tortillas until they are a nice golden brown, which should take about 5 minutes. 

Turn them every minute or so to keep everything from burning.

• Remove tortillas and place them a paper towel-lined plate to soak up any excess oil, then remove the majority of your oil and any excess tortilla pieces left in your pan. There is no need to clean it. 

• Re-add your tortillas and onion in the pan, and pour the tomato sauce onto your tortillas. Toss the tortillas to coat them completely, and set your heat to medium-low. Season your sauce covered tortillas with your seasoned salt.

Your onion will cook as the food is tossed and mixed.

• Add your eggs to the pan, and gently toss the tortillas. Continue to cook and mix your tortillas until the "wetness" from the egg is mostly removed, which should be five minutes. Your eggs will take on the appearance of scrambled eggs. Season once again, if necessary.

• Sprinkle the mixture with cheese, and cover your chilaquiles with the pot lid to allow for the cheese to melt. 

• Serve immediately with additional salsa, refried beans, sour cream or guacamole. Enjoy!

Amazing Apple Challah

Now that I’ve overcome my fear of yeast, I really wanted to have some fun with sweet bread.

There’s nothing better than a great piece of sweet bread, typically with fruit, toasted and buttered in the morning. I decided to make my own. I found a beautiful recipe for challah bread, and couldn’t wait to adapt it to my own preferences.

This bread is light. It’s fluffy. The crust captures all of the delicious and makes you smack your lips. Enjoy!

Apple Challah

Bread ingredients

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1 tablespoon plus ¾ cup granulated sugar

5 large eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

6 cups flour

Filling ingredients

1 large firm-tart apple, peeled, cored, and cut into small cubes½ cup raisins (I opted not to use these)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg yolk

• Combine ½ cup of warm water, the yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a small bowl. Stir until the yeast dissolves. You need to wait for the mixture to activate, which should take approximately 10 minutes.
• Take your hand mixer or (if you’re lucky) standing mixer, and beat the eggs at medium speed until blended. Add the oil, salt, and remaining ¾ cup sugar. Beat until pale in color. Add 2/3 cup of water and yeast mixture. Once this has been well blended, add your flour, one cup at a time.

 

Your dough will be slightly dry.

• Place your dough onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes (This can also be achieved with the use of a dough hook on your mixer for 1 minute at low speed). Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and coat the entire batter. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and put in a warm corner of your kitchen to rise. Allow for the dough to double in size, which takes just about an hour.
• Punch down the dough, rewrap with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and let the dough rise for another 30 minutes. It should puff up slightly, but it won’t get doubled in size.

I used all spice instead of cinnamon; stupid allergies.

• As you wait for this final rise, you can begin to make your filling. Take your apple, and toss it with lemon juice, honey, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Let sit for 20 minutes, and then drain any liquid. 

• Take your dough, place it on a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Divide each half into three equal parts. Roll out each of the three pieces to form a 12-inch strand, then try to pat each strand down into a flat rectangle. Spoon your apple mixture down the center of each rectangle. Fold over the dough to tuck your filling into place, and roll each rectangle, pinching the ends tight. You’ll end up with a 15-inch strand.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F before you begin braiding the dough. Once the bread has risen, set the rack to the middle position.

• Now to make the bread. Put three of the ropes on a baking sheet. Braid the ropes together, and pinch at the top and bottom. Repeat with the other three strands on a separate baking sheet. Cover the loaves with kitchen towels, and let them rise for 45 minutes.

• Whisk an egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water and brush over the tops of the loaves.

• Finally, bake your loaves for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake until the crusts are browned and the bread is puffed and light, which should take another 30 minutes.

 

Look at how pretty!

• Transfer the loaves to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.