About, Muffins and Scones

Raisin Scones

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A Sunday morning favourite. The scones are so basic and so good! I got this recipe from a Province newspaper many years ago. You know I have to switch it up from time to time! Sometimes I add White Chocolate Chunks and fresh Raspberries for a sweet delight! Often I will swap in Fresh or Frozen Blueberries. Sometimes I add cinnamon to the dry ingredients, give the scored dough an egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of Cinnamon and Sugar; you really have to watch these ones don’t brown too quickly!
I have even cut back the sugar and made a Savoury Scone with grated Cheddar and Herbs.
This is a great, versatile recipe.

Raisin Scones
Raisin Scones

2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Shortening, cold and cubed
3/4 cup Raisins, soaked and well drained
*1 cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425F.
Sprinkle a little bit of cornmeal on a baking tray or a pizza pan; set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add raisins and buttermilk, stirring with fork until all ingredients are moistened. (Dough will be sticky)
Turn out onto a well floured surface  and gently knead for about a minute.
Shape dough into a ball, cover with a clean tea towel and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Pat down dough to form a circle, 3/4″ (2cm) thick and about 8″ (20cm) in diameter; transfer to prepared baking tray.
Score round into 6 – 8 wedges, gently with a knife.
Bake in hot oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown and set in centre.
Cover with foil if becoming brown to quickly.

Serve while warm.

Makes 6 – 8

*If you don’t have Buttermilk, sour the milk with 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice or Vinegar – Measure Acidic ingredient into a measuring cup, add milk to 1 cup measure, let stand for 10 minutes. Sometimes I will prep the milk the night before if I plan on making these on a weekend morning.

 

 

About, Sandwiches and Wraps

Reuben Sandwich

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Reuben sandwiches are a memorable experience and you either love them, or hate them. I must have loved them because I have been a vegetarian for 30 years and the memory of a reuben sandwich still sets my mouth watering!

Reuben Sandwich
The Classic Reuben

1/3 cup Thousand Island Dressing or Dijon Mustard
12 slices Rye Bread
6 – 1 ounce slices of Swiss Cheese
3/4 lb (350g) thinly sliced cooked Corned Beef
1 – 16ounce (498ml) can Sauerkraut, well drained (drained and squeezed)
1/4 cup Margarine or butter, softened

Set oven to Warm or 200F

Set large 2 large skillets on to heat.
Throw drained sauerkraut into one skillet and heat through; turn heat off, leaving sauerkraut in warm pan.
Throw corned beef into the other skillet and heat through; transfer to heatproof bowl.
Wipe out the skillet.

Spread thousand island dressing or dijon mustard over 6 slices of bread.
Place a slice of swiss cheese on each of the dressed slices of bread.
Top with warmed corned beef and warmed sauerkraut.
Top with remaining bread slices.
Spread the top slice of rye bread with a bit of butter or margarine.
Place sandwiches, buttered side down in skillet, spread butter or margarine over top slices of bread.
Grill over low-medium heat until bottoms are golden brown.
Turn and cook until bottoms are golden brown and cheese is melted.

If cooking a large quantity, transfer cooked sandwiches to a wire rack on baking tray and place in warm oven.

Yeast

Dinner Rolls

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One of the reasons that I love my Kitchenaid Mixer is because it takes the hardship out of making bread dough! Which, in turn, makes it very easy to make fresh dinner rolls to accompany hearty soups.
My husband recently bought me a bread maker so I tried the dough setting, which worked fine. The Recipe book that came with the bread maker didn’t have a Dinner Roll recipe so I used the White Bread recipe on the Dough setting. I shaped the dough, proofed the rolls, covered lightly with a clean tea towel in a slightly heated oven in which I then placed, on the oven floor, a bowl with about four cups of boiled water. I proofed them for about 45 minutes then baked them in a 400F oven for about 17 minutes (I had the time set for 18), removed them from the oven and immediately brushed with them with melted butter.
After all that effort? I was not too pleased with the dinner rolls! Why not? Because I was expecting these!

Dinner Rolls
Crescent Shaped Dinner Rolls

3 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Shortening (butter works too)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Quick Rise yeast
1/2 cup very warm Milk (120F – 130F)
1/2 cup very warm Water (120F – 130F)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Butter, melted

Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, shortening, salt and yeast in Kitchenaid mixing bowl.
Add warm water, warm milk and egg; using the Paddle attachment, beat on low speed for about a minute.
Scrape down sides of bowl and stir a couple of times.
Switch to Dough Hook attachment and slowly add enough remaining flour to make a soft, pliable dough.
Knead for about 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface, knead a few times by hand to shape the dough into a ball; cover and let rise for 10-15 minutes.
Lightly spray two baking trays with vegetable oil spray; dust ever so slightly with cornmeal.
Divided dough in half; cover the half you are not working with.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large thing circle.
Using a knife, cut dough into 8 wedges.

Crescent Shaped Rolls
Rolled out, cut and ready to roll up

Tightly roll each wedge, from base to tip, place on prepared baking tray, forming a C-shape with each roll.

Roll up the Wedge to Win
Roll up the Wedge to Win!

Cover and let rise for about 30 – 40 minutes.
Heat oven to 400F.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.

Makes 16 Rolls

Soup

Split Pea Soup

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Winter had finally hit! When my husband was asked what he wanted for dinner he replied, “This cold weather calls for some kind of soup.” He jumped all over my suggestion of Pea and Ham soup, minus the ham. Well, I did add ham but I wanted to be able to eat it too so added pan-fried chunks of ham at the serving stage.

Split Pea Soup
Split Pea Soup-With the addition of Pan-Fried Ham

2 1/4 cups dried Split Peas (1 lb/454gm) sorted and rinsed
8 cups Water
2 McCormick’s Vegetable Stock cubes
1 large Onion, diced
2 stalks of Celery, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Tarragon
3/4 teaspoon Thyme
3 carrots, grated

200 grams thickly sliced Ham, chopped

In large stock pot saute the onion in a bit of olive oil until soft.
Stir in chopped celery, tarragon and thyme and continue cooking for a few minutes.
Add split peas, water, pepper, grated carrots and vegetable stock cubes and bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
I used an immersion blender to break down some of the split peas. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a potato masher.
About 15 minutes before serving, pan fry the chopped ham over med-high heat until heated through and lightly browned.
Ladle soup into each bowl, add ham, if desired.
Top with freshly ground black pepper

8 servings

Original Recipe :
Crocker, Betty. “Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook.” Recipe. Split Pea Soup.  Minneapolis, Minnesota: Macmillan, 1996,

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