Perfect Sunday Morning Scones

These scones are fantastic on a Sunday morning with some Blue Bottle coffee.

Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Ready In: 60 Minutes Yields: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

3 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup white sugar 5 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter 1 egg, beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2.	In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter. Mix the egg and milk in a small bowl, and stir into flour mixture until moistened.
3.	Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll dough out into a 1/2 inch thick round. Cut into 8 wedges, and place on the prepared baking sheet.
4.	Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Creamy Flan

Although it's not the authentic type of flan that you get in Spain, this is one of my favorite recipes for flan. It has a very good creamy texture. It's also super easy to make!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour 15 Minutes

Ready In: 8 Hours Yields: 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup white sugar 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 5 eggs 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened

condensed milk 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden. Pour into a 10 inch round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside.
3.	In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into caramel coated pan. Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place baking dish on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
4.	Bake in preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes, until center is just set. Cool one hour on wire rack, then chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a rimmed serving platter.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

2 large red bell peppers, roasted (procedure follows) and chopped, or 2 jars store bought roasted red peppers 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste 1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, or to taste Cayenne, to taste In a blender blend together the bell pepper, the oil, the lemon juice, the vinegar, the cayenne, 1 tablespoon water, and salt and black pepper, to taste.

Spanish Seafood Paella

I've had this wonderful tasty Spanish dish in a few restaurants in the Bay Area and in San Diego (Cafe Sevilla, which also has a kick'in salsa scene!).  It has been a favorite of mine which I just had to reproduce in the kitchen.  While the actual cooking process wasn't too difficult, the prepping took a while.  Probably due to my inexperience, it took me a while to actually clean the shrimp.  So one time saving measure is to use deveined shrimp.  If you are wealthy enough to afford one, restaurants use a peeling and deveining machine, which saves a load of time.  But for the rest of us, get your significant other or kids to do it!  Another note is to actually use a paella pan.  The main reason is for everything to cook evenly and to have a big enough pan to put in all the seafood.  I originally tried using two 10" sautee pans for the recipe below, which was way too small.  I would use two 12" or larger pan or get a paella pan.  You can also adjust the recipe accordingly.  Enjoy the great classic dish!

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Spice Mix for chicken, recipe follows
1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Spanish onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish
1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
4 cups short grain Spanish rice
6 cups water, warm
Generous pinch saffron threads
1 dozen littleneck clams or 1 dozen mussels, scrubbed
1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
2 lobster tails (1 pound of firm white fish like cod or monkfish can be used)
1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed
Lemon wedges, for serving

Special equipment: Large paella pan or wide shallow skillet

Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.

In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. Have some extra water on hand if the liquid had evaporated.  During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails or fish. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.

Cook's note: The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat.

Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

Spice Mix for chicken:
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken; marinate for 1 hour, covered

Thai Basil Pork w/ Eggplant

It was a very simple dish and VERY good!

 
Diffuculty: easy
Serving Size  : 4   
Preparation Time : 0:15
Cook Time: 0:20 

1 pound Pork tenderloin, trimmed of all fat and sinew   
1 bunch Thai Basil (2 cups leaves) - regular sweet basil will work also
3 small eggplants (chinese or japanese) or 1 large eggplant cut into 1 inch cube
4 Scallions sliced
3 tablespoons Peanut oil   
2 Cloves garlic minced   
2 or 3 hot red or green chiles, thinly sliced   
2 teaspoons Fish sauce   
2 teaspoons Soy sauce   
1 tablespoon Sugar     
1/4 cup Chicken stock or water   

Thinly slice the pork across the grain. Wash, dry and stem the basil.  Mince the white part of the scallion. Cut the green part into 1 inch pieces.  Heat the wok over a high flame.  Swirl in the oil and heat almost to smoking.  Add the garlic, chilies and white part of scallions and cook for 10 seconds.  Add the pork and stir fry for 1 minute.  Add eggplant, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, stock and green part of scallions and bring mixture to a boil.  Cover until the eggplant is soft and has absorbed a lot of liquid (about 10 minutes).  Stir in the basil and cook for 20 seconds or until the leaves are wilted and the pork is cooked.  The dish is supposed to be soupy.  Serve at once with rice or noodles.

Homemade Thin Crust Pizza

This is my third time attempting to make thin crust pizza, which I love. I used to make deep dish pizza, but I found that they were a little to heavy. These are light and crispy with tons of flavorful toppings. My roommate McLain used to have a recipe that I used, which was very good. But, after I moved, I'm not sure where I put it. I'll have to post it when I find it or talk to him next. So, the recipe is a combination of a couple of other recipes I've tried. I use 1 tbsp of honey instead of the sugar for the dough which gives it a little bit of extra flavor. The one thing I am missing is a pizza stone. It's definitely a must have for pizza connoisseurs, but I haven't gone out to buy one. I'll have to buy one soon (see wants list). --Update: I got a pizza stone from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It busted on the second use. I wonder if it is the fault of the user or the stone?

I did make the Sugo sauce version (below), which is good but a bit tart with all the capers and olives. Make sure to rinse both the olives and capers before using. Also, probably adding a teaspoon of sugar would help. I did add some sun dried tomato chicken sausage to it, which was delish.

I also made a second pie that was a bbq chicken pizza topped with caramelized red onions. Fantastic! The ingredients are simple. Bottled bbq sauce, cooked chicken with herbs, caramelized onions, and mozzerella. They go on in that order. That's it.

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Pizza with Sugo Sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella, and Fresh Basil Recipe

Yield: 3 pizzas

1 recipe Pizza Dough, recipe follows
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup large pitted green Spanish olives, such as Manzanilla, chopped
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves, hand torn
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand crushed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1(8-ounce) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained


Make the pizza dough as directed in the master recipe. Stick a pizza stone in the oven and preheat them to 500 degrees F.
Coat a saute pan with the olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onion and garlic, cook and stir for 5 minutes to soften. Add the olives, capers, and some hand torn basil. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce is thick, about 10 minutes; season with salt and pepper and then take it off the stove.

Spread the sugo sauce evenly on the crust with a ladle. Rip the mozzarella into pieces with your hands and distribute them on top; scatter some basil leaves all around. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp, and the cheese is bubbly. Garnish with even more fresh basil before serving.



Pizza Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups 00 flour, plus more for dusting





In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water; stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Turn the mixer on low and add the salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the flour, a little at a time, mixing at the lowest speed until all the flour has been incorporated. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium; stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Get a feel for the dough by squeezing a small amount together: if it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour - 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix until the dough gathers into a ball, this should take about 5 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times; kneading until it's smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a round and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e. over a gas pilot light) until doubled in size, about 1 hour. This is a good time to stick a pizza stone in the oven and preheat them to 500 degrees F.

Once the dough is domed and spongy, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes so it will be easier to roll out.

Roll or pat out a piece of dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Dust a pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the pizza dough. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, and top with your favorite flavors. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crisp. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Yield: 3 pizza crusts