Rustic Breakfast Scones

April 4, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Scones: “A single-serving cake or quick bread. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and are baked on sheet pans. They are often lightly sweetened and are occasionally glazed. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea or Devonshire tea. It differs from a teacake and other sweet buns, which are made with yeast.”

The word scone actually comes from the Danish word ‘schoonbrot’, which means ‘beautiful bread’. Though some would argue that it actually come from Stone of Destiny, which is where the Kings of Scotland were crowned. And finally according to Webster’s Dictionary, scones originated in Scotland in the 1500’s. Whew. That’s a lot of information, so do with it what you will. But either way, Scones are a delicious morsel of tasty goodness.

Our recipe this morning was inspired by The Kitchen, the first time we made them we followed the recipe using apricots. The next day we made two different version, blueberry with a lemon glaze and apple with a maple glaze.

At the bottom of the page you will find the variations we made for the scones. All three scones were delicious and we enjoyed all of them.

Breakfast Apricot Scones

What You Need

Sheet Pan
Parchment Paper
Ice Cream Scoop
Pam (we prefer the Baking kind)
Pastry Cutter or Large Fork

Scone Ingredients

1 cup dried apricots (roughly chopped, 5 oz or so)
2 cups AP flour (10 oz)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 granulated sugar (2 oz)
1 teaspoon cinnamon **
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold cut into small pieces)
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt (low fat or regular)
1/4 cup milk (whole or skim)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract**

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar (6 oz)
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract**

Step 1:

First thing, preheat your oven and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. We spray the bottom of the pan with pam to prevent the parchment paper from moving.

Step 2:

In a small bowl, cover the apricots with almost boiling water and allow to sit for 10 minutes to fatten up. Drain, pat them dry and chop them roughly.

Step 3:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Step 4:

Using a large fork or pastry cutter, “cut” the butter into the flour. Cut the butter and flour mixture until the butter pieces are no larger than a pea.

Step 5:

Gently fold the apricot pieces with flour and butter to coat the pieces.

Step 6:

In another bowl, mix together the egg, milk, yogurt and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture of the dry mixture. Mix gently until the flour and yogurt mixture are just combined. No visible flour, but don’t over mix!

Step 7:

If using an ice cream scoop, spray with pam before using. This helps keep the dough for sticking to the scoop. If you don’t have an ice-cream scoop, that’s okay. Scoop the dough and drop onto the parchment paper. About an inch apart. Gently flatten the tops of the scones.

Step 8:

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the scones are golden on top and firm to the touch. You can also check the bottom of the scones to check if they’re done. Remove from oven and cool completely before adding the glaze.

Step 9:

For the glaze: Mix together the milk, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over cooled scones. Wait about 15 minutes and then enjoy!

VARIATIONS

We also made these as Blueberry Lemon and Apple with a Maple Glaze. For both, omit step two. You don’t need to plump the fruit because you will use FRESH fruit.

Lemon Blueberry:

First instead of cinnamon, add 1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon zest. Toss blueberries with flour. In addition to the vanilla (which we decreased to 1/2 teaspoon) add one teaspoon lemon extract. Same applies to the glaze. Add freshly grated lemon zest, a little lemon extract or fresh juice and enjoy.

Apple with a Maple Glaze

For this scone, you can keep the cinnamon and even pump it up to 2 teaspoons. We used 3/4 of a granny smith apple for the apple pieces. Chopped into small pieces. In addition to the vanilla add maple extract. Same goes with the glaze. These are like mini apple fritters.

Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad

April 4, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Today’s recipe is a nice change of pace from your typical picnic salad. A cucumber salad is light, crispy, refreshing and can withstand sitting out on a warm day without getting “funky” like any mayo salad. This particular salad is slightly sweet and a has a nice warm after-bite.

Marlee’s dad, Bob, makes a fantastic cucumber salad where he uses a mandolin to get paper thin half moon slices, it’s so freakin’ good that we cannot share that recipe. So, we found one that was completely different.

Ingredients

4 to 5 English Cucumbers (skin on)
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
Red Onion (Half)

Step 1:

Slice your cucumber into bite size pieces, we prefer half moon slices. Place the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle them with salt. Mix thoroughly and place a plate on top of them or something heavy, like a can, to push the excess water out. Set aside for at least 40 minutes. Next, chop your onions.

Step 2:

In a saucepan, mix together the vinegar, water, sugar and red chili flakes. Bring mixture to a boil, and then lower the heat and reduce for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add onions. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Step 3:

Rinse the cucumbers in cool water and let drain for a couple more minutes. Before mixing, lightly pat the cucumbers dry. Put in a bowl and mix with “dressing”. Refrigerate and then serve.

Carol’s “Go Look at the Flowers” Dirt Cup

April 1, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

One thing we LOVE besides cooking is good TV. I mean, we went to film school so we obviously have a huge appreciation for good TV. One of our favorite shows is The Walking Dead. Carol is our favorite and one of those great characters who has made a complete 180° turnaround from the first episode. Melissa McBride does an incredible job portraying her.

We’re actually re-watching the show right now (to ease the pain till October) and you kind of forget how weak and abused Carol was! She went from that to complete survivalist badass like Daryl.

If you don’t watch the show, you probably won’t understand the reference and we’re not going to be the ones to spoil you. One of our best friends, Juhi, was spoiled by her roommate about the ending of Lost and shit got real. That scream was so high pitched! So we will not be spoiling it for you, but if you’re an avid watcher like we are, you understand today’s dessert.

Carol’s “Go Look at the Flowers” Dirt Cup

Ingredients

One package Chocolate Mousse/Pudding
3/4 heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee (optional)
2 tablespoons Nutella (optional)
1 package Oreos
1 package Gummy Worms

Step 1:

Prepare your package mousse or pudding according to package instructions. It’s best to use an instant mix. When you mix the pudding with the milk this is where you can add the instant coffee. Instant coffee brings out the chocolate flavor. Once the mousse/pudding is mixed you can also blend in the Nutella. Place in the fridge until ready to use.

Step 2:

In a medium bowl start whipping the heavy cream. As it starts to thicken, add the sugar and vanilla.

Step 3:

Next, fold the pudding mixture into the fresh cream. Mix until just combined. Return to the fridge.

Step 4:

In a food processor, pulse the Oreos until they resemble the consistency of dirt. If you don’t have a food processor, that’s okay. Place Oreos in a ziplock bag, seal and then smash. You can use a rolling pin, a pan, your hands, whatever you can to smash the Oreos.

Step 5:

Now the fun part, assembling! You can use any type of glass you want, but you can go to your local plant nursery and pick up tiny little pots like we did. The first thing you want to do is sprinkle some crumbs at the bottom of the pot and place a worm or two at the bottom. Scoop the pudding mixture on top and continue layering. Finally sprinkle with a little dirt and stick in the fridge to “firm” up.

Easy BBQ Ribs

March 31, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Everybody loves ribs. But not everybody has a state of the art outdoor kitchen BBQ like this:

Though, we really wish we had one. I mean, look at that. So beautiful. Anyway…so we love BBQ Ribs, especially baby back ribs. And every time we looked for a recipe it required a BBQ or a grill and we can be lazy so we looked for oven recipes.

So we found this awesome recipe and used a recipe on the back of a jar of BBQ sauce we found.

We kid you not, these are super easy to make, and the meat is literally falls off the bone. Some may say, these aren’t the prettiest ribs, but who cares if they taste great? And who needs some fancy shmancy BBQ when you have an oven at your finger tips.

Easy BBQ Ribs

What You Need

Baking Dish
Aluminum Foil

Ingredients

16 oz good quality BBQ sauce
10 oz liquid (orange juice, Dr. Pepper)
Juice of one lemon or lime
1/4 cup of dry rub season
5lbs baby ribs

Step 1:

The first thing you want to do, is try and remove the silver skin. If you can’t remove it, don’t fear, your ribs will still be delicious. Cut the ribs into separate pieces. You can cook them whole, but we prefer them cut before they’re cooked.

Step 2:

Slice the lemon or lime and pour the juice all over the ribs. Liberally sprinkle the ribs with the dry rub until they are covered. Massage the ribs so the dry rub really gets in there.

Pace the ribs meat side up to get the rub EVERYWHERE.

Step 3:

Preheat the oven to 250°. While the oven is heating mix your liquid and the BBQ sauce in a small bowl.

Today, we used Pineapple juice. Sweet and acidic to help tenderize.

Step 4:

Place the ribs in a baking dish and pour the sauce over the ribs. Make sure the ribs are meat side down and cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Step 5:

Put the ribs in the over for 2.5 to 3 hours. After the initial cook time is done, you have three options, you can finish them off on a grill or continue cooking for 20 to 30 minutes in the oven at 350°. Or you can turn the broiler to high and cook under there for about 5 minutes. Basting and watching them carefully, you don’t want them to durn. And remember if finishing off in the oven, remember to drain the liquid and place the ribs meat side up!

Sorry, for the blurry photos here. We got so excited by the ribs, that we couldn’t contain ourselves.

If you’re not using the ribs right away, after you season them put them in a vacuum sealed bag and really let the flavors soak in.

Chicken Curry Salad

March 30, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 1 Comment

Today’s recipe is a mix of two of our favorites, the Gelson’s Chicken Curry Salad and Queen Ina’s Chicken Curry Salad.

For years, we tried to figure out how to make Gelson’s Chicken Curry Salad, and it wasn’t until one day that we saw watched Ina make her variation on The Barefoot Contessa that we realized how similar the two recipes were.

What You Need

Sheet Pan
Blender/Food Processor
Mixing Bowl
Mixing Spoon

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 cup Mayonaise
1/3 cup white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Sémillon,)
1/4 cup mango chutney (Mango Ginger from Trader Joe’s adds a nice bite)
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 1/4 cup celery (chopped)
1/3 cup green onions (whole onion chopped)
1/4 cup raisins (roughly chopped)
1 granny smith (bite size pieces)
1 red delicious (bite size pieces)
1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)
1/4 cup cashew cashews (optional)
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

**Don’t cut the apple until just before you mix everything together, otherwise it will oxidize**

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350°. While the oven is heating up, place the chicken on a sheet pan and rub with olive oil. We use garlic olive for more flavor. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and pepper. If you’re doing bone in chicken, cook for about 40 minutes.

If using boneless and skinless, cook for about 20 to 25 minutes. When chicken is cooked, let cool and then cut into bite sized pieces. Obviously, remove the bones and skin, if using bone in chicken.

Step 2:

In a blender place mayonnaise, wine, chutney, curry and a sprinkle of salt. Blend until smooth.

As usual, our kitchen helper Peaches was envious of all the food.

Step 3:

In a bowl, mix a little of the dressing with the chopped chicken. Chop the apples and mix them in. Add the celery, green onions and raisins. Mix together, adding a little more dressing. Dress to your liking, you don’t need to use all the dressing if you don’t want to.

You can also use Golden Raisins (chopped slightly)

Step 4:

Refrigerate until chilled, this really allows the flavors to develop.

“Breakfast” Oatmeal Cookies

March 28, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 1 Comment

There’s nothing better than a simple oatmeal cookie. As you’ve kind of gathered, we love cookies, and are always finding the best cookie recipes, it’s an addiction!

We definitely like to “under bake” these cookies. When you try these warm, it’s like eating your morning oatmeal. Only better. So. Much. Better. Warm gooey, delicious oatmeal cookies.

What You Need

Cookie Sheet
Parchment Paper
Pam
Ice Cream Scoop

Ingredients

1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
2 cups AP flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Step 2:

In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, mix together butter and sugars. Until smooth and creamy.

Step 3:

Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla and maple.

Step 4:

In a medium bowl swift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and then stir in the salt.

Step 5:

In a separate bowl mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and oats together. Once thoroughly mixed, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. If using chocolate chips, mix them in now.

Step 6:

For best cookie results, we always recommend cooling the dough before using. If you’re in a hurry and want the cookie NOW, pop the dough in the freezer for about thirty minutes. If you have the time, stick the dough in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

Step 7:

When the dough is nice and chilled, scoop out your dough into balls. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes. These cookies are best a little underdone, the gooeyness is very similar to your morning oatmeal, only better. Let cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, and then remove to cooling rack.

** Instead of large cookies, you can do teaspoons instead of scoops. If doing teaspoons, baking 8 to 10 minutes. That should yield waaaaay more cookies than what we made.

Classic Rosemary Chicken Salad

March 26, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

There’s nothing worse than a boring and flavorless chicken salad, but have no fear, you won’t find that here! This recipe is the perfect balance of chicken to mayonnaise, not to creamy but not to dry either. It’s the perfect balance.

Did you know that the first noteable chicken salad consisted of leftover chicken, mayo, tarragon and grapes? Yeah, we didn’t either, but it sounds good, except the tarragon, we’re rosemary girls ourselves.

Anyways, this first chicken salad was made by the owner of a meat market, Liam Gray in 1863. He was so successful that he turned his meat market into a deli.

What You Need

Sheet Pan
Mixing Bowl
Wooden Spoon

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup celery (chopped finely)
1 whole shallot (chopped finely)
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons rosemary (chopped)
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
Kosher Salt
Pepper

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350°. Place chicken on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Rub all over the chicken, then sprinkle generously with kosher salt and pepper. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into bite size pieces and set aside. You can put the chicken into the freezer for five minutes, or in the fridge until ready to use.

Step 2:

In a mixing bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, mustard, and lemon juice together. Season with pepper.

Step 3:

Add the chicken to the dressing, mix in the shallots, parsley, rosemary, and celery. Mix until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Peaches is totally into this Chicken Salad.

Classic Coffee Cake

March 25, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Today’s recipe is a classic coffee cake. No frills, no thrills, just plain old, delicious coffee cake. This recipe really is the perfect cake to eat with coffee in the morning or your cup in the afternoon. Or if you’re Christie, late at night, because caffeine doesn’t affect her!

What You Need:

2 9×9” Pans
Mixing Bowls
Electric Mixer
Glass Measuring Cup

Ingredients:

Cake Batter:

30 oz AP flour
4 oz+ 2 tablespoons dry milk
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons white vinegar
12 oz water
8 oz+ 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups brown sugar (packed)
8 oz granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Streusel Topping:

6 oz + 3 tablespoons AP flour
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar (packed)
2 oz granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
dash of salt
2 oz vegetable oil

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 375° and grease your two 9×9” pans.

Step 2:

In a medium bowl, mix together your flour, dry milk, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

If you can, sift the flour first!

Step 3:

Combine together the vinegar and water in a glass measuring cup. Set aside.

We don’t have pictures of this step because we took pictures of Peaches.

Step 4:

In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, sugar, and oil on a low speed. About 1 minute.

Step 5:

Adding the eggs one at a time, and continue to blend on a low speed for another minute.

Step 6:

With the mixer on a low speed, add the dry ingredients and alternate with the water and vinegar to the sugar and eggs mixture. Remember to always start and end with your dry ingredients. Also, don’t forget to scrape down the bowl.

Step 7:

In a new bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Mix on a low speed for about a minute.

Step 8:

Gradually add the oil until the mixture is crumbly.

Step 9:

Pour the batter between your two greased cake pans. Divide evenly. Sprinkle each cake with streusel topping. We say start with 3/4 cup on each cake and divide whatever is left over between the two cakes.

Step 10:

Bake the cakes for 45-55 minutes. These cakes can overcook really quickly so we always check around the 35 minute mark.

Christie’s Quick, Easy, and Healthy Turkey Burger

March 24, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Like leftover rice, we sometimes buy too much of something. In this case, we were on a ground turkey kick (gobble gobble) and this turkey needed to be cooked. So we made turkey burgers, and they were awesome! We obviously want to share our wonderful recipe with you!

Ingredients

1lb ground turkey
1 half of a red onion
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
worcestershire
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon sprinkle of bread crumbs
salt
pepper
oil (coconut, olive, canola)

Step 1:

Chop the red onion in fine dice and place in a mixing bowl. Add the turkey meat, and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Step 2:

Gently mix ground turkey meat, seasoning, mustard, a few sprinkles of worcestershire, and red onions together. Until the meat breaks down. But don’t overwork the meat. That tends to make the meat tough when cooking.

Step 3:

Sprinkle in some breadcrumbs, start with 1 tablespoon. This will help bind the burger together. You don’t want it too moist, or too dry.

Step 4:

Dived the meat into four 4oz patties. Place a saute pan on the stove turn on heat to medium high. Coat the bottom of the pan with the oil of your choice, wait until the pan and oil are hot. Place the patties in the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side. Flip and repeat on the other side until internal temperature reads 165°.

Step 5:

Serve over mixed greens with your favorite dressing (we used a honey mustard dressing…yum) and enjoy!

Zucchini and Onion Rice Bowl

March 23, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 5 Comments

So we all know, that when we order Chinese food, no matter what you order, they always give you a ton of rice. More rice than anyone can eat in one sitting, and today’s recipe utilizes all that extra rice we have sitting in our fridge.

And like most of our recipes, the amount of zucchini, onions and rice is subject to change on how many people you plan on feeding. You can also make this with fresh rice, I did for lunch yesterday and it was delicious!

Ingredients

Left over rice
1 to 2 zucchini’s(sliced to half moons)
1 Onion (sliced)
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil

Step 1:

In a non sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.

Slice the Zucchini into half moons and the onions into slices.

Step 2:

When the oil is hot, add onion and zucchini and a splash of soy sauce. Stir until zucchini and onion soften. Add a couple more dashes of soy sauce to season. You can also add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Step 3:

Just before the zucchini and onions are done cooking, add the rice, and a few more dashes of soy sauce to season the rice. Stir until combined and cover until rice is warmed. Remove from heat, and enjoy!

Cultured Swines

Cookbook Lovers, Recipe Hoarders, Travelers, Sisters, Best Friends

Recipes

Rustic Breakfast Scones

Sweet and Spicy Cucumber Salad

Carol’s “Go Look at the Flowers” Dirt Cup

Easy BBQ Ribs

Chicken Curry Salad

“Breakfast” Oatmeal Cookies

Classic Rosemary Chicken Salad

Classic Coffee Cake

Christie’s Quick, Easy, and Healthy Turkey Burger

Zucchini and Onion Rice Bowl