Sunday, June 24, 2012

Blueberries & Cream over Biscuits

This is a great summer dessert (or snack, or breakfast) that my partner introduced me to a few years ago. This time I made my own biscuits and used the blueberries left over from the blueberry milk syrup I made yesterday.


Pair with:
a blueberry ale (like Oliver's Something Borrowed, Something Blue)

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
(for biscuits)
Three (3) cups of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of butter
One (1) cup of milk -- I used almond milk
Four (4) teaspoons of baking powder
One (1) teaspoon of sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
(for toppings)
One (1) cup of fresh blueberries
One (1) cup of vanilla ice cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 450F degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients for biscuits together in large mixing bowl.
Mix butter in until it is in small clumps.
Pour in milk and mix slightly.
Remove from bowl and place onto floured surface. -- Using a cutting board usually makes for easier clean-up.
Knead dough until it is cohesive.
Roll out dough into a 1/2" thick rectangle and cut into circular shapes. -- I used a little Tupperware bowl to cut consistently.
Bake biscuits for 8-10 minutes, or until a little golden.
When they come out, top with a little butter.
Cut one of the biscuits in half, place blueberries on it, and top with vanilla ice cream.
Grab a book, sit outside in the sunshine and enjoy!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Blueberry Milk

Flavored milk is one of the best human inventions. I mean, I used to drink coffee milk religiously in a Rhode Island elementary school (and all of you RI'ers know what I'm talking about!). Blueberry milk was recently brought to my attention by a friend & this website. We picked some blueberries up from a roadside stand in rural Maryland and used almond milk to make this epic drink.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Beer Mac & Cheese

Some days, all I want to do is eat mac & cheese. And by that, I mean, every single day. I'm always looking for new mac & cheese recipes, so if you have a good one, send it through. Today, I am presenting my two favorite things in one recipe: beer and mac & cheese. I found the recipe on Pinterest and it linked back to this website. Enjoy.


Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes






Pair with: beer, of course! I used New Belgium's Fat Tire for the recipe, so it seemed fitting to drink that.








Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of Trotolle noodles -- You can use any noodles that you prefer, these ones just looked so fun to me! 
Two (2) tablespoons of butter
Two (2) tablespoons of flour
Eight (8) ounces milk -- I used almond milk, because it is what I had on hand. It worked well, but for those of you who are weary about it, I recommend regular cow's milk
Eight (8) ounces of beer -- Like I said, I used Fat Tire amber ale
Eight (8) ounces of cheddar cheese, shredded
Four (4) ounces of smoked gouda cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Seven (7) basil leaves, chopped for garnish
Black pepper, for seasoning

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
Cook pasta as directed on the box, leaving it al dente, as it will cook more in the oven later.
While pasta is cooking, melt butter in pan on medium heat.
Once the butter is melted, whisk in flour and cook until it is a golden color (about 2 minutes).
Add beer and milk into the pan, continuously stirring. Then, add the cheese.
Continue to stir on a lower heat setting for about five minutes.
Add the paprika and pepper to the sauce.
Once the noodles are done, add the noodles and sauce to a casserole dish.
Top with panko bread crumbs and cook for 30 minutes.
When it is done, top with fresh basil and let cool.
Enjoy!


Tip
To chop fresh basil in the most efficient way, stack the leaves, roll them up and slice the roll. When you unfurl it, the basil will be in neat strips.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Feta-Topped Corn on the Cob

This is the easiest thing I've made in a long time, with a lot of flavor payout. I hear that there is a restaurant in Baltimore (Ryleigh's Oyster Bar) that offers feta-topped corn on the cob and, while I haven't tried it there, they did give me the idea. This can definitely be done on a grill, but while I am living sans grill, the oven worked amazingly, and keeping the husks on provides very tender and juicy corn.


Prep Time
: 2-3 minutes
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Pair with: a light Rosé wine, or a wheat beer (like Boulevard Wheat)

Ingredients
One (1) medium ear of corn
One (1) tablespoon of feta cheese
Butter for topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.
While keeping the husks on, place corn on a baking pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven.
Remove from stove and, while being careful (it'll be hot!), remove husks and silk. It should peel away really easily.
Top with butter and let melt.
While butter is melting, sprinkle feta on top of corn. It will lightly melt.
Eat as soon as it's cool enough!

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Croissant Breakfast Ring

I saw a similar recipe on Pinterest and could not resist. The best part of this recipe is that, outside of the eggs and croissant dough, you can pretty much put any other ingredients into it that you'd like. Great for feeding a group, or a few hungry folks.


Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Pairs with: orange juice, or if you're the brunch-y kind, mimosas.

Ingredients
One (1) package of crescent rolls/croissants
Four (4) to five (5) eggs -- I used five and had a little bit left over
One (1) cup of cheese of your choice, shredded -- I used Yancey's XXX Cheddar, which is extremely sharp and extremely delicious
One (1) tablespoon of green onions, chopped
One (1) tablespoon of sun-dried tomatoes

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Scramble the eggs and cook them on the stovetop while oven is preheating.
Lay the croissants out in a star-shaped pattern, with the flat ends facing inward (see photo).
Lay a  small layer of cheese down on the croissants.
When the eggs are almost done, spoon them on top of the cheese layer. -- I make sure that the eggs aren't completely done, because you don't want dried eggs from the oven later.


Next, sprinkle the green onions and tomatoes over the eggs.
Top off with the last of the cheese.
Fold the pointed edges of the croissant into the center.
Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until dough is golden and baked all the way through.
Slice & enjoy!