Drop Biscuits

This recipe is straight up from JOY of Cooking which is pretty much the encyclopedia of cooking. Seriously. When we first got this we played a game where we had to think of an ingredient or some crazy food we had heard of and then check to see if there was a recipe for it. And there was one every single time. It's a beast. There are no pictures but there is so much information that it's really helpful to have. We like these biscuits because we don't always have Bisquick and these are almost just as quick and we always have all the ingredients on hand. And every now and then we get cravings for biscuits and gravy and these are perfect for that. Also there is note that these can be bland on their own due to the fact they are made with oil instead of butter or shortening. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 450° F
2. Sift the first 3 ingredients into a bowl. 
3. Add wet all at once and stir with a fork until the dough readily leaves the sides of the bowl. 
4. Drop dough in desired size onto ungreased baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10 -12 minutes.

NOTE:  The original recipe states this makes 24, one and 1/2 inch biscuits. We like bigger biscuits so this makes 6 for us. You can double the recipe for a full dozen which works out well because we like cooking it in muffin tins. It just makes for consistent sizing and you get a nice outer crust.

German Pancakes / Dutch Babies for Two!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 - 3 Tbsp butter for baking dish - not mixed in w/ other ingredients
• 2 eggs at room temp (can put in a bowl of warm water for a bit)
• 1/2 cup warmed milk (heat up for about 20 sec in microwave) 
• 1/2 cup sifted flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch salt
• Juice from 1 lemon and about 2 Tbsp powdered sugar for topping

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F 
2. As the oven is warming, put butter in 8x8 baking dish and let melt as oven preheats.
3. Place eggs and milk in blender, blend lightly until frothy. Add remaining ingredients and blend until just incorporated. 
4. Remove baking dish from oven with melted butter and pour batter in without stirring or mixing and return to oven.
5. Bake 20 - 25 min. until golden brown crust on top and puffy!
6. Top with lemon juice and powdered sugar and enjoy!

Brazilian Cheese Rolls

Ok, so this is officially my new favorite recipe. So I'd have to say one of my favorite foods is cheese, I LOVE it. Melted cheese in particular. So we end up eating pizza quite a bit around here, but sometimes it's a hassle either going out to get it or finding room to store it in our fridge/freezer. This recipe is perfect for cheesy cravings! I've been wanting to try it ever since I found it and even bought all the ingredients for it. But I didn't have a mini-muffin tin. So everything's been waiting patiently in the fridge for me to get one. We finally got one and made 2 batches in 2 days and I pretty much downed the 2nd batch all on my own. Yikes, right?

If you've ever been to a Tucanos (Brazilian style)  restaurant I'm pretty sure you've had them. They're the little cheesy bites they have over by the fried banana. Last time we went I was totally considering finding out how much it would be to get a side of them to take home. Anyways, this recipe is super super quick and easy to make. Original recipe is here. And I guess depending on your pan and oven you'll have different baking times. I found that for us to get the look she had on hers we baked at 375 for about 11 minutes. Our muffin pan is shallower than hers and I think a little darker. And I think our oven may run about 25 degrees hotter, so it's kind of a trial and error type thing. Seriously though, even when we overcooked our first batch it was still delicious! The only thing different was texture wasn't quite as chewy as our next batch. Anyways, here it is! Oh, and the only harder ingredient to find is the tapioca flour, which we got at our Winco over in the bulk foods from a bin. Over on the original Our Best Bites blog she goes into a little more detail about maybe where to find some. And sorry, once again no pictures, we finished them too quickly, ha! Would definitely recommend heading over there and looking at the pictures for it just to get an idea of what your final product should look like...

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup *fine* grated cheddar cheese (preferably medium or sharp - we did this with sharp cheese and you can use a little more if you want. Also on the original recipe she says you can try different types of cheeses instead of the cheddar here)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (I would say not to use the powdered kind, we got a small container of the parmesan shards, for some reason I couldn't find the whole stuff, but definitely if you can get the stuff you can grate fresh)
• OPTIONAL: Extra cheese to sprinkle on top and or any extra herbs or flavorings you'd like to add. On our 2nd run we added about an 1/8 of a tsp. of garlic powder while blending and it was quite good. Blog recommends rosemary, which it turned out we didn't have, so haven't tired it that way yet....  

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Blend all ingredients minus cheese in blender until smooth
3. Add cheeses and pulse a couple of times
4. Immediately pour batter into mini muffin tins (spray pan if it isn't non-stick) filling each cup 3/4 of the way full. Can make anywhere between 16-24 rolls. (We made 24 each time, but once again that could be because our muffin pan is a little wider and shallower...she got 16-18 on hers. Also, pouring takes some practice, on the first try we had to go back with a spoon to even out how much was in each cup). 
5. Sprinkle any additional toppings, such as more cheese on top
6. Bake for 11-15 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool for a few minutes and serve warm!

Pineapple Buns!

Originally Posted By Ez: So these were a great treat from the Chinese bakery shops in Brooklyn. Someone found a link for this recipe, so I'm just posting it here. Enjoy!

http://chowtimes.com/2008/04/28/pineapple-bun/

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

Focaccia Bread

I made this for a project in my foods class, so easy to make and it smells sooooo good while you're making it! A lot of ingredients, but still pretty much a fail-safe recipe. (I stink at making bread-can't usually get it to rise, but this has always turned out well!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella / coarse salt

PREPARATIONS:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
• When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Cornbread

 Aunt Rachel's recipe for 'Incredible Cornbread' from the Bastian Cookbook...
I've been noticing though that this makes a lot, way too much for just 2 or even 4 people, so here's the halved recipe which you can make in an 8x8 or 12 cup muffin pan. We usually do the 12 cup muffin pan, easier for individual servings. Doubled recipe goes in a 9x13. Also, this is a slightly different preparation taken from a recipe on allrecipes.com which it turns out is almost identical to Aunt Rachel's recipe cut in half. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (Can substitute w/ 3/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup water)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cups cornmeal
• 1 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt (I usually end up just using 1/4 tsp because I use salted butter)

PREPARATIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 (I've also baked it at 375, it cooked faster but edges were darker)
2. Melt butter in pan then remove from heat and mix with sugar. Add eggs and beat until well blended.
3. Combine buttermilk and baking soda and stir into egg mixture.
4. Then mix in cornmeal, flour, and salt. Blend well.
5. Pour batter in greased 12 cup muffin pan or greased 8x8 pan.
• For Muffin Pan: Bake for 18-22 min.
• For 8x8 Pan: Bake for 30 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.