Shatteringly Good Mini Mustard Batons

It's been one of those days.  The air conditioner that conked out last week during 95-degree weather has now been fixed, hooray for that.  And though we still have a lot ahead of us, things have started to calm down into a manageable disarray.  The day is beautiful, a seasonable 82, with (also seasonable) high humidity, but a light breeze makes being outside very pleasant.  My son is working on rebuilding the brick patio now that the uprooted tree has been pulled up and carted off, and I was happily working away in the kitchen making chicken pot pies and chocolate cake for our dinner (and to send home with my son).  Then I heard a strange noise, and I knew that just couldn't be good.  The grass cutters were here, cutting the front lawn.  One of them hit a rock, and sent it flying into our front storm door, shattering it into a million pieces that rained down on the potted plants, porch swing, and brick surface of the front porch.  Ugh.

I poured myself a glass of iced tea, eyeing the bourbon warily, then decided a squeeze of lemon would do instead, enjoying it while paging through Dorie Greenspan's recent tome, Around My French Table.  A recipe on page 25 for Mustard Batons caught my eye.  Hers called for full sheets of rolled out puff pastry and a 1/2 cup of Dijon mustard.  I sized up the trimmed remains of the puff pastry I'd used to top the pot pies and decided to make my own mini version of her Batons.  As she writes in her book, they are terrific!  They also illustrate how it doesn't take a lot of ingredients to make something easy and delicious.  Just ask my husband and son.  I made four of these and by the time I got my camera, only two of them were left!

Dorie's recipe is below, but all I did was slather stone ground mustard onto a long strip of puff pastry, fold it in half, and made four equal, vertical slices.  I transferred them to a piece of foil while preheating my toaster oven, brushed them with an egg wash (1 lightly beaten egg to which 1 tablespoon of cool water has been added), and sprinkled poppy seeds on top.  Since mine were smaller, I baked them a minute or two less than she suggested, removing them when they'd turned golden brown.

I will definitely be making these again!  I love that they can be made ahead of time, and frozen until ready to bake.  I also think a sweet version would make great breakfast pastries sprinkled with a cinnamon and sugar mixture, or cinnamon, sugar, cocoa and chopped nuts, or even raspberry jam.  Imagine the possibilities!  Try these, you'll love 'em.  And while you're at it, treat yourself to Dorie's book.

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and  Everyday Sisters - Appetizers

Orange-Poppy Scones

It is always a good day when the new issue of Everyday Food arrives.  I thumb through it carefully, jotting notes and dog-earing pages, planning for the week ahead.  There are so many things in this issue that I want to try, but considering it's a Sunday and Sunday mornings call for something special, I chose to make the Orange-Poppy Scones.  (Yes, my obsession with scones continues).

These are delicious!  They are easy to make, bake up light and fluffy, and are full of orange-tasting goodness. 

 

One caveat, however: in the recipe in the magazine (above) you are instructed to "Form the dough into a 7-inch square" and "cut into 9 squares."  I would advise against this, if you can even manage, with your sharpest of knives, to cut the dough into such tiny pieces.  Doing this, and then cutting them into diagonals will yield a very small scone.  Instead, do what I did, make one slice across the middle horizontally, and then two vertical slices yielding 6 squares, and cut those into diagonals.  You'll have a perfectly sized scone, and a delicious one too.  

Just look at all of the delicious bits of orange zest spread evenly throughout the scone.

Happy Sunday!

Almond Poppy Seed Pancakes

I have become completely enamored of yet another cookbook.  Sorry.  I just can't help it.  Honestly, I would have thought that by now just about every combination of ingredients had already been put together in recipe form, but boy was I wrong.  The latest addition to my cookbook collection is Mother's Best: Comfort Food That Takes You Home Again by Lisa Schroeder, proprietress of the wildly popular Portland, Oregon, restaurant, Mother's Bistro & Bar, and Danielle Centoni.  Lest you think I add cookbooks to my collection willy nilly, let me tell you that before another cookbook comes into this house it is checked out from the library, thoroughly viewed and reviewed, recipes are tested, and when I find that I want to make nearly every recipe in the book, I buy it.  This was one of those cases. 

A great lover of anything almond, I was completely taken in by these pancakes that call for almond paste as one of the ingredients. As I find anything with almond paste to be swoonably delicious, I had to make these.  Happily I had exactly what I needed leftover from a recipe I'd tried earlier, so let this be a lesson to you to never discard extra almond paste.  Without a doubt these are the best pancakes I've ever eaten (and one look at my thighs will tell you I'm a seasoned veteran when it comes to pancake consumption).  They take a bit of time to prepare, but the wait is well worth it.  I cut the recipe and half and used 1/4 cup to measure the batter onto the griddle rather than the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe, so had lots left over.  I froze the extras -- they freeze beautifully! -- and have had them any number of times since, each time they are just as delicious as the first.  If you like almond, you owe it to yourself to make these.  Or maybe surprise mom with a batch for Mother's Day.

Almond Poppy Seed Pancakes

Makes 16 pancakes

3-1/2 oz. almond paste 

2 cups whole milk 

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream 

1 Tbs. almond extract 

4 large eggs 

3 cups all-purpose flour 

1/4 cup granulated sugar 

1 Tbs. baking powder 

1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt 

1/2 cup poppy seeds 

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 

Vegetable oil or clarified butter, for brushing the griddle 

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted 

Whipped butter, for serving 

Maple syrup, for serving 

Heat the oven to 200 degrees F. Place the almond paste in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed while adding the milk, a little at a time, to loosen up the paste until it's smooth and not lumpy. Alternatively, you can process the almond paste with a little of the milk in a food processor until smooth (add just enough milk to help the almond paste thin out).

Add the sour cream, almond extract, and eggs. Whisk or process until well-blended and smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds. Whisk well to thoroughly combine.

Slowly pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients while gently stirring, and mix just until combined. (Don't overmix or you will activate the gluten in the flour and the pancakes will be chewy, like bread, instead of fluffy.) The mixture will be a little lumpy (and that's OK; if you have pockets of flour bigger than a dime, smash them against the side of the bowl to break them apart without having to stir the batter more). Pour in the melted butter and gently mix just until incorporated. (Sometimes melted butter solidifies when added to cold ingredients. Adding it now helps disperse it evenly in the batter and smooth out some of the lumps.)

Place a griddle or wide (preferably 14-inch) saute pan over medium heat for several minutes. If using an electric griddle, set the heat to 350 degrees F.

Sprinkle the griddle with a few drops of water; they should bounce around before evaporating. If they sizzle away quickly, the heat is too high. If they just sit there and slowly steam, the heat is too low. When the griddle is properly heated, brush with oil or clarified butter, and then wipe with a paper towel so it's evenly greased. (Big spots of oil or butter will promote uneven browning and your pancakes will have dark and light spots.)

Ladle 1/2 cup of batter per pancake onto the griddle, an inch or two apart. Sprinkle evenly with 1 Tbs. toasted almonds.

Cook until bubbles begin to pop on the surface of the pancakes, the edges look a little dry, and the underside is golden, about 2 minutes. Flip them over and continue cooking until the pancakes are cooked through, about 1 minute more. (If the undersides of the pancakes are browning or burning before the tops get a chance to form bubbles and dry out, the heat is too high. If it's taking much longer than 2 or 3 minutes for the bubbles to form, the heat is too low.)

Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep the pancakes warm on a heatproof platter or baking sheet in the oven.

Serve with whipped butter and maple syrup.

From Mother's Best: Comfort Food That Takes You Home Again, pp. 287-290.  BUY IT!  Go NOW!

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Real Food Wednesdays

What’s Cooking Wednesday
No Whine Wednesdays
What’s on Your Plate