TWD: Sweet Cream Biscuits

I think that I can count on one hand the number of times I've made biscuits. We just don't eat biscuits that much around here. We love 'em though...that's for sure. Maybe that's why I don't make them! In the past, on the few occasions we've had biscuits with dinner, I've just bought the frozen ones and heated them up. (I know, I know...but they're good!) I think biscuits have a reputation as being difficult to make, so I kind of bought into it, I guess. And, being from a Southern state, a girl kind of feels obligated to make delicious, light, flaky biscuits. Well...I can't say that I've got biscuit making down to an art, but I've got a start!
Dorie (and everyone else who is good at making biscuits) will tell you that one of the keys to light, flaky biscuits is to NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH. This is the thing I have the most trouble with in baking. I guess I just like to be stern with dough. If I get dough in my hands, I have to work it! It's a compulsion! With these biscuits, I tried not to work the dough too much. I was afraid that I had erred too far on the side of caution, but they rose pretty well. I also didn't twist my biscuit cutter when I cut my rounds. I think that helps some, too. I don't understand the chemistry of it all, but I'm pretty sure it helps the dough rise a little higher. Overall, these biscuits were very well-received at my house! David ate 5 of them. But they're teeny-tiny biscuits...cut with a 2-inch cutter. I'm not used to petite biscuits...around here, we want a biscuit the size of your fist! But I do think that these would be precious at a shower with country ham sandwiched between the two halves. YUM! If you'd like to make your own batch of super-easy and delicious biscuits, check out Melissa's blog, Love at First Bite.

Florida Pie

Last weekend, I made dinner for my father-in-law's birthday. Last year, I gave him a choice about his birthday dessert, and he chose banana cream pie. This year, I didn't really give him a choice. But Earl loves Florida, so I thought I'd make Dorie's "Florida Pie."
It was delicious, as are most things I bake from Baking: From My Home to Yours. The pie starts out with a simple graham cracker crust (which is delicious on its own!), and then it gets a little fancy. It's a double-decker pie. The bottom layer is a coconut cream, and the middle layer is lime filling. Dorie's recipe calls for Key limes, but I had no intention of juicing a bazillion little limes to get 1/2 cup of juice. I used regular limes, and they were delicious. I took the recommendation of several TWDers who made this in the past and I included the zest of one lemon in the lime filling. It was tart and limey and incredible! Of course, the top of the pie is covered in meringue.

I got a little over zealous and let my meringue whip a little too long. It was awfully stiff and not so pretty. Not anywhere near as pretty as the meringue on David's grandmother's (Mama) pies, but I guess I don't have quite as much practice as she does, either! All in all, this was a wonderful pie. It was perfect for a springtime birthday, but it would also be a welcome treat during the hot and humid Kentucky summers we'll be experiencing before too long. If you'd like to try the Florida Pie sometime soon, just click the link above, or you can find it on page 340 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.

TWD: Swedish Visiting Cake

I've been a member of the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group for just a little over a year now. I flip through the cookbook pretty regularly, because I love the pictures (which are so delicious!), and because I like to fantasize about what I might choose when (and if) we get to my turn in the rotation. I waffle between choosing something dramatic and rich, or something simple and rustic (because honestly, I'm a little lazy in the kitchen). This cake is something that I've looked at almost every single time I've opened my copy of Dorie's book.
Every time I look at the picture and the recipe, I think it's just a sweet cake, but it's certainly simple. Look at it...it's made in a cast-iron pan, there's no frosting, and it's pretty squatty. I've wanted to make it so many times, but for some reason I never had. Usually, when I bake something from this book it's for one of two reasons: 1) it's what I'm supposed to make for TWD that week or 2) I'm taking the dessert somewhere and I want something a little impressive. I guess that's why I've never made this cake before...it doesn't fit either of those criteria. So when I saw April's selection of recipes, I was glad that Nancy, of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs, chose this one. It was so good.

When I made this cake on Saturday, I'd already had a marathon cooking session. I'd been in my kitchen cooking and washing dishes for about six hours. At about 9:45pm, I jumped up from the couch and decided to make this cake. Thank goodness it's so simple! Here are the dishes that were dirtied in the making of this cake: 1 bowl, 1 whisk, 1 spatula, 1 cast iron pan. The whole thing took about 10 minutes to throw together, and my house smelled delicious while the cake baked. David wanted to eat the cake when it came out of the oven at about 10:30, but I told him he'd have to wait until the next day. I planned to take it to my parents' house for our dessert after our Sunday dinner.

When Mom cut slices of the cake, David said, "Oooh! It looks like those Danish butter cookies in the blue tin!" (By the way, lots of things look like Danish butter cookies to David.) But I don't think it tasted (or looked) like those cookies. In fact, I think Nancy hit the nail on the head in her post. It tastes a lot like a thick, chewy, almondy sugar cookie! I loved how dense the cake was. There's lemon zest in the cake batter, but I could only taste a hint of it in the cake. It was a perfect complement to the almondy-vanilla flavor. I'm usually not a fan of almond flavored desserts, but I'm certainly a convert now. This will certainly be a cake that's in my regular repertoire. In fact, my church women's group will be going to a nursing home on Thursday night to take desserts to the residents and spend time with them...and I'm pretty sure this will be my contribution. I have a feeling that it will be well-received. If you like almond, or if you like simple, delicious desserts, please visit Nancy's blog to get the recipe.

Tuna Croquettes: YUM!

Do you remember my discovery that ground turkey is disgusting? The texture was just gross. But I have found something even more disgusting than ground turkey. CANNED SALMON. Yikes. That is some nasty stuff. I had planned on making salmon patties for dinner. I got out my can of salmon, opened it, and was revolted. I realized that it had LOTS of little bones in it. And some kind of black slimy stuff. When I dumped it out to pick out the bones, I discovered that the black slimy stuff was skin. It was too much. I couldn't do it. I threw it away. And I got out some tuna and got to work.

And I'm so glad that I did! These were so very good. I know that it probably sounds crazy to gush about how wonderful tuna croquettes are, but these are definitely something you should try. The ingredients are all things that you probably have on hand: tuna, onion, bread, eggs, lemon juice, some herbs. It's all combined and shaped into patties that are lightly fried in olive oil. So good!
By the way, my mom used to make salmon patties for us growing up. I HATED salmon patty night. I called her and asked how she could stand to make the patties with the nasty canned salmon. She said, "I use the salmon that comes in a pouch. It's boneless." Oh. I had no idea the stuff existed! I knew that tuna came in a pouch, but then again, I'm not a salmon connoisseur, either. Anyway, who needs canned salmon? Use tuna and make these instead!

Tuna Croquettes

Adapted from Three Fat Chicks

15 oz. canned tuna, drained well

1/3 c. minced onions

2 c. soft bread crumbs (whirr about 4 pieces of bread in your food processor)
1 T. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. dill

2 T. fresh parsley

2 eggs

olive oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together well. Shape into croquettes (patties) and fry in olive oil until golden brown. (To get my patties all the same size, I used a small ice cream scoop to portion them out, then flattened them. It worked pretty well.)

TWD: Coconut Tea Cake

Here I am again...doing my Tuesdays With Dorie "assignments" out of sequence. This beautiful cake was supposed to be last week's post, but I wanted to make it for the Klingenfus Easter dinner.

Lots of people have an aversion to coconut, and I guess I do too...in some ways. I wouldn't touch an Almond Joy or Mounds candy bar with a 10-foot pole. I'd rather have a Butterfinger Crisp or Snickers. But I like lots of other coconut-flavored things (pina coladas? yes.), and I don't mind sweetened dried coconut, either. I can add this to a yummy coconut dessert that's very well received by groups, too! I had never used coconut milk before, and when I opened the can, it reminded me a lot of wallpaper paste. I'm glad Dorie's recipe said to stir up the coconut milk, because I wouldn't have thought of that. I wish I had kept the tiny bit that was left...it would have made a much better glaze than the one I threw together at the last minute. Even with the coconut milk and the sweetened dried coconut, the coconut flavor wasn't overwhelming. I also added some lemon juice (although most TWDers used lime, I think), and it was a nice addition. There was rum in there too, but I couldn't taste it at all.

When I made last week's Mocha Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake, my pan stuck and ripped away chunks of the cake. As I turned this cake out of the pan, I prayed over and over, "Please don't stick. Please don't stick. Please don't stick." And look at it. Honestly, it's the most beautiful bundt I've ever made. I love how it's lightly browned at the top and gets darker toward the bottom. I couldn't get over how pretty it was!

This week's pretty Coconut Tea Cake was chosen by Carmen, of Carmen Cooks. If you're in the mood for a tasty coconut cake, visit her blog for the recipe.

Greek Chicken Pitas and The Winner!

The Blogiverary Giveaway winner is all the way at the bottom of the post. I know you can't wait to see if you won...but stick around here first to see what we've had for dinner recently!
When I was younger and still living at home, I can remember Mom asking, "What do you want for dinner?" And pretty regularly, my response was, "Something fun to eat." And Mom would get exasperated and say, "What's fun to eat?!" And you know what, I didn't know. I didn't have any idea. Now, I think that by "fun," I meant "different." These Greek chicken pitas are very different from what David and I have on a normal evening, and by different, I mean fun! When David pulled the pitas out of the grocery bag Sunday afternoon, he said, "Oh! We've never had these before!" I think he was excited to try them.
I really enjoyed these sandwiches, but I wish I had stuffed my pita with more chicken and less lettuce. The lemon/garlic marinade on the chicken was really good, and it's something that I'll definitely use again...maybe just on chicken breasts to grill. The lemon flavor was pronounced, but not overwhelming.

I also served Greek rice with the pitas, and it was delicious! This stuff was so good...I liked it better than the chicken. For lunch the next day, I mixed some of the chicken and rice together, and that was a great lunch! The Greek rice also has lemon juice in it, which is a perfect complement to the herbs and onions. This one is a keeper, for sure!

Greek Chicken Pita Pockets

Heather's Website

1/2 cup lemon juice

4 Tbs. olive oil (you can probably get away with a little less)

1 1/2 Tbs. garlic, minced and divided

1 tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips

shredded lettuce

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

black olives

pita pockets

Combine lemon juice, oil, 1 tsp. of the garlic, the mustard, and the oregano in a gallon zip top bag. Add chicken and seal bag. Turn bag and gently move chicken around to distribute marinade evenly. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Greek Yogurt Sauce

Heather's Website

1/2 cup cucumber, chopped

1/3 cup nonfat yogurt, plain

1/4 tsp. dillweed

In a small bowl, combine cucumber, yogurt, dill, and remaining garlic (from the pita recipe above). Cover and refrigerate until serving. (NOTE: Cucumbers have a lot of moisture in them, so if you want your sauce to be less runny, squeeze as much water from your cucumbers as possible.)

To Assemble the Pita Pockets:

Saute the chicken for 7-8 minutes or until the juices run clear. Fill pocket with lettuce, black olives, onion, and chicken. Top with cucumber sauce.

Greek Rice

Taste of Home Message Board (Redraspberrygirl)

2 cups water

2 Tbs. lemon juice

1 cup brown rice

1/2 tsp each: thyme, oregano, and rosemary, crumbled

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 Tbs. chopped kalamata olives

Combine water, rice, oil, salt, and garlic in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Now, for the winner of The Sweet Life's Blogiversary Giveaway! Suburban Prep was the reader chosen by the random number generator. Please send me an email (no later than Wednesday, April 7th) with your name and mailing address. You can email me at erinssweetlife[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Thanks so much to all who entered! I love reading your comments and getting to know you all! I appreciate all your encouragement!

Blogiversary Giveaway

It's my blogiversary! One year ago today, I started my little food blog with two Tuesdays with Dorie posts. I read my very first post last night, and it seemed so long ago! My food photography skills have come a long way, but they still leave quite a bit to be desired. I've made lots of foods I normally would have never tried, and I've had some failures. But overall, it's been a lot of fun. There were some days when I wanted to just chuck the whole thing, but there were always a few people who have encouraged me to keep it up. So, to thank you all, my dear readers, I decided that I'd have my very first giveaway!
Here's the "Sweet Life Prize Pack": two cookbooks (Brittles, Barks, & Bonbons: Delicious Recipes for Quick and Easy Candy and Cookies: 200 Inspirational Cookie Recipes), a Harry & David Moose Munch chocolate bar, and a package of Late July Vanilla Bean and Green Tea cookies. I found the cookbooks the other day while I was browsing the cookbook section, and I wanted them for myself. But the last thing I need is another cookbook, so I decided that I wanted to give them away! There are so many yummy recipes in these books.

Like Mocha-Hazelnut Truffles, from the Brittles, Barks, & Bonbons book. Oooh...I want a couple of these right now!

Or how about some "Melt-in-the-Middles" or "Really Large Coconut Macaroons"? I don't even like to bake cookies, but some of these look like they'd be worth the trouble!

So there you have it. A nice little prize pack to celebrate my blogiversary. And really, you don't have to do much to get it. Just leave me a comment! I'd love to know if you have a favorite recipe that you've tried after seeing it on my site. Or how about some suggestions of things I can make in the coming year? I'm making a list, and I plan to share it with you in the next few days, but I'd love to hear what you've got in mind. The giveaway will close at 10pm Eastern time on Saturday (March 3rd), so leave your comment, and the winner will be drawn randomly! I'll post the winner's name on Monday, March 5th. Thanks for stopping by, and come back soon!