Harvest Pumpkin Scones

These are fabulous! Like most of the bread photos on my two blogs, Dave made these great little flaky, sweet scones.   The recipe is from the King Arthur Flour website with the alternative of using miniature chocolate chips in the place of the crystallized ginger. SO GOOD, especially with black tea or coffee.

Soft Homemade Pretzels

Dave has been doing all the bread baking for our family over the last couple of years. He has become quite an expert in making Croissants and Foccacia.  He also does Rye bread, Pumpernickel, French baguettes,  Pretzels, Brazilian Cheese Bread, Whole Wheat Breads, and all kinds of Artisan breads.  You'll find many of these recipes and photos on this blog and my other blog here.  Coming soon to my Little Sugar on the Weekend blog: a video of Dave showing how to make Croissant dough and Pain au Chocolat.  The recipe for these pretzels will be posted soon.  Check back here.  Thanks!

Brazilian Cheese Bread

 

Brazilian Cheese Bread is so easy to make.  The little cheesy rolls are usually served at Brazilian Grill restaurants. Dave makes them frequently and the entire family loves them. They are made in a blender and poured into a miniature muffin tin. You must use tapioca flour to get the right chewy texture.  Tapioca flour is found at the grocery store on the baking isle next to other specialty flours (such as corn flour and cracked wheat).

Brazilian Cheese Bread (Dave's Recipe)

1 egg

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup milk

1 1/2 cups tapioca flour

1/2 cup grated aged Parmesan cheese (or Swiss cheese)

Grease mini muffin tin and preheat oven to 400ºF. Place all ingredients in a blender.  Blend until smooth. Pour into 16 mini muffin tin holes (fill to full because they are supposed to pop over the top).  Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffy and slightly brown (as in the above photo). 

Chicken Stroganoff

Chicken Stroganoff

4-5 skinless boneless chicken thighs washed, dried, trimmed of excess fat and cut

into bite size pieces


sweet Hungarian paprika


½ teaspoon kosher salt


freshly ground black pepper


2 Tbs flour for dusting

½ medium onion diced


8 oz. mushrooms cleaned and sliced

¼ C vermouth or sherry


1/2 C chicken stock


1 Tsp tomato paste


1 bay leaf


¼ C plain yogurt


salt and pepper to taste

chopped parsley (optional)

Prep the chicken then sprinkle with salt, pepper and a generous amount of paprika.

Dust with flour.

Get a heavy bottomed stainless steal saute pan hot over medium high heat then add some olive oil. Use tongs to place a layer of chicken down (you might need to do in two batches). And allow the chicken to brown before attempting to turn over (this makes some great fond and prevents the chicken from sticking to the pan). Flip the chicken and brown on the second side before removing to a plate. Repeat with a second batch if necessary.

Add some more oil if needed then add the onions and mushrooms. Get these nice and brown tossing to make sure nothing gets burned.

Deglaze the pan with the vermouth then add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and bay leaf. Turn down the heat a bit and let the chicken cook, stirring to mix the coating on the chicken with the liquid to help it thicken.

Once the chicken is done and the sauce is nice and thick, turn down the heat to low and add the yogurt. Taste it and add some more salt and pepper if you like.

Finish with some chopped parsley and serve over egg noodles.

Chicken Noodle Soup

The Lady’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Source: FoodNetwork.com

Prep Time: 25 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 0 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

Stock:

1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) fryer chicken, cut up
3 1/2 quarts water
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup cooking sherry
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
Seasoning salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crusty French bread, for serving

Directions

For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside.

For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.

Dave's Chicken Makhani

Chicken Makhani is an Indian Butter Chicken. Dave tells me he changes the recipe every time depending on his mood, but here is the version that he used for this photo.  I can tell you that it is always good.  Play with the spices to get it the way you like it.

Chicken Makhani

Chicken Marinade:
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1 tsp garam masala
Pinch cayenne pepper

Marinade 1 pound of boneless chicken, cut to bite-size pieces, in spices and liquid for 1 hour.



Sauce:
1 Tbsp oil (peanut oil is best)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 inch ginger root, minced
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup tomato puree
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup plain yogurt, mixed with 1 Tbsp cornstarch 

Saute onion and cook it in the oil and butter over medium heat.  Add other ingredients (except yogurt) and cook until liquid is slightly reduced, fold in yogurt & cornstarch.  Use a hand blender to blend it blend it up... be careful, it's hot! Set sauce aside.

Cook marinated chicken until done, add sauce to chicken and reheat until warm.  Serve over cooked basmati rice.

Parmesan Rosemary Popovers

Parmesan Rosemary Popovers
Found here

2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour six custard cups or 6 cavities in a muffin tin. In a medium bowl beat eggs slightly. Beat in flour, milk and salt until just smooth; being careful not to over beat. Gently stir in parmesan cheese and rosemary. Fill custard cups 1/2 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Immediately remove from cups and serve piping hot.