The Charmed Kitchen

Cinnamon Sticky Buns

What could be better than a warm sticky bun?  These are even better with the addition of plenty of nuts and cinnamon. I like this recipe because they are rich, soft and not too sweet. The rolls are full of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon and topped with a lovely later of soft caramel. They aren’t hard to make, although they look tricky. While the recipe makes 12 rolls you can cut them bigger, or smaller, to suit your needs.

 Cinnamon Sticky Buns

Dough:
1/3 c. milk
¼ c. sugar
½ t. salt
¼ c. butter
¼ c. warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 egg
2 ½ c. flour
Topping:
¼ c. butter, softened
¼ c. brown sugar
½ c. pecan or walnut halves – I use a little more, maybe 2/3 cup
Filling:
¼ c. soft butter
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. raisins, optional
1 t. cinnamon

In small pan heat milk until bubbles just form around edges. Remove from heat; stir in sugar, salt and butter. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water in medium bowl and stir in milk mixture, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Mix by hand until dough leaves sides of the bowl. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour if needed. Lightly oil dough in bowl and cover with a towel allowing to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1 ½ hours. Meanwhile, make topping. Cream together butter and brown sugar and spread on bottom and sides of 9×9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with nuts and set aside.
Punch down dough and roll into a 16×12- inch rectangle. Spread with the softened butter, sprinkle on the brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Roll up from long side. Cut crosswise into 12 pieces. Hint: Using a knife tends to flatten the rolls. Instead use a piece of thread, string or even dental floss. Slide piece of string under dough where you wish to slice. Holding string ends above roll cross the ends over each other and pull outward. String will cut through easily. Repeat with remaining rolls. Place in prepared pan and cover with cloth, allowing to rise until doubled, 1- 1 ½ hours.
Bake 25-30 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven. Invert onto board and let stand 1 minute. Remove pan. Serve warm. Makes 12.

Sweet Potato Biscuits with Herbs

I like sweet potatoes cooked any number of ways. Steamed, roasted, mashed. In this biscuit recipe, raw sweet potatoes are grated and added to the dough, along with some herbs. The biscuits come out tender, with great flavor and texture. They go well with any number of dishes. I enjoy them with a bit of butter, warm from the oven.  When you mix the dough, don’t be worried if it seems too dry. It takes a little bit of kneading to get the moisture out of the potatoes. The extra effort is worth it.

 Sweet Potato Biscuits with Herbs

2 1/4 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. grated lemon peel

1/4 t. each baking soda, dried basil and dried thyme

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 c. shredded sweet potato, about 1 large

1/2 c. fine chopped green onions

1/2 c. sour cream

2T. butter, melted or olive oil

Stir together dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients and add to flour mixture mixing until just blended. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times until dough just stays together. Dough will look too dry- but it will come together after you knead it. Press into an 8-inch square and cut into four squares.* Cross cut each square into four triangles. Place on greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Makes 16.

* I press the dough into a lightly floured 8×8-inch baking pan and then flip it out onto the work surface. That way you’ll get nice, even edges.

Pumpernickel Bread

There are few aromas I like more than freshly baked bread. I like to bake all sorts of bread.  I don’t bake much during the hot summer months and look forward to cool Autumn days and fresh baked bread. Today I made Pumpernickel Bread. The dark color comes from a mixture of rye flour, strong coffee, cocoa powder and molasses. These ingredients also give this bread a richness and texture I adore. It’s hard for me to find a store bought Pumpernickel bread that comes close to this one. Some store bakeries rely on caramel coloring for the color in the bread. For real flavor you need the real ingredients.

Pumpernickel Bread

2 Packages active dry yeast

½ c. warm water

2 c. lukewarm strong coffee

¼ c. each molasses and unsweetened cocoa

2 T. Caraway seeds

2 t. salt

5-6 c. flour- I use bread flour

2 c. rye flour

Cornmeal

1 egg white, slightly beaten

In large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in coffee, molasses, cocoa, seeds, salt and 3 cups of flour. Beat with wooden spoon about 2 minutes. Stir in rye flour and enough of the remaining regular flour to make soft dough. Turn onto floured surface and knead until dough is smooth, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top, cover and let rest until doubled, about 1 hour. Grease large baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal. Set aside.

Punch down dough, divide in 2, and form into balls. Place on baking sheet and cover. Let rise until double, brush with egg whites, slash tops and bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Curry Roasted Cauliflower

I have been on a cauliflower kick lately. I keep seeing beautiful, big heads of cauliflower at the local markets. I can’t resist. I bring them home and start hacking away. I might sliced some off to add raw to a salad. Sometimes, I cook it up and mash like potatoes, adding butter and milk. Stir fries, soups, even a low carb pizza crust. Cauliflower is so versatile.

One of my favorite ways to prepare cauliflower is roasted.  The roasting brings out a whole different taste and texture.  Simple and very tasty. I made some for a recent brunch with friends. I often pair up cauliflower with curry- so it was natural to add it to this preparation. You can also make this dish ahead of time- even a day ahead- and warm it when ready to eat.

Curry Roasted Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1-2 T. curry powder- or more to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash cauliflower and break up into flowerets. Place in roasting pan and drizzle with oil. Use a spoon to toss the cauliflower with the oil. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and curry powder. Toss to coat evenly. Place in oven and roast until cauliflower is tender and has gotten some color on it. Takes about 35-45 minutes. Spoon into serving dish. Adjust seasonings. Serves 6.

Candy Spider

This is the only kind of spider I want in my house. If you are looking for a quick spooky decoration/treat idea, you might want to make some candy spiders. These are about the size of a tarantula. Super simple and kids can make them, too. You only need a few ingredients. The body is made from marshmallows, the legs are chow mein noodles and the eyes are small candies. I used melting chocolate, but you can use any kind of chocolate you like.

To start, melt some chocolate. Dip the chow mein noodles in the chocolate and tap gently to remove excess. I leave one end un-dipped to make it easier to stick in the marshmallow later. Allow to harden up before going to the next step. I set them on a flexible cutting board, but wax paper is good, too. You have to peel them off later, a flexible surface is best. You’ll need 8 for each spider- so be sure to make enough. Allow for breakage.  Set a marshmallow flat side down and poke 4 holes in each side, 8 total. I used a bamboo skewer. Stick a noodle “leg” in each hole. Spoon chocolate over the marshmallow until coated. Whatever drips off can be re-melted and used again. While the chocolate is still soft, press 2 candy eyes into place. Hold them for a minute to be sure they are secure. Now, you can decorate cakes with them, use them on a dessert tray- or just eat them.

Chow mein noodle legs

Insert legs into marshmallow

Spoon chocolate over the marshmallow to cover it.

Kitty Cupcakes

If you want a simple dessert your kids can brew up for Halloween, these kitty cat cupcakes are pretty cute. You can use a box mix, or make the cupcakes from scratch (kitty reference). A recipe for cupcakes follows. Then, just top with chocolate frosting, and use a couple of dollops of frosting to form the ears. I just used chocolate frosting as is, (recipe follows), but you could add some black food coloring, if you like. Use little candies for eyes and a nose and cut out fruit roll-ups for a tongue and whiskers. You can also cut out little triangles of fruit roll ups for the ears. Super easy- and not too scary for the little ones.

Classic White Cupcakes

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 12paper liners. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cupcakes are done when they springs back to the touch. Makes12.

Easy Chocolate Butter Cream

6 T. butter, softened
1/3 – 3/4 c. cocoa, depending on how dark you want your frosting.
2 2/3 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
Cream butter. Combine cocoa and sugar. Beat cocoa mixture in alternately with the milk until frosting is spreading consistency. Beat in vanilla. You may need an additional tablespoon of milk. Makes about 2 cups.

Rice and Beans Enchiladas – Vegan

When my niece and her boyfriend were in town recently, I invited them for brunch. They are vegan, which is always more of a challenge for me. I am comfortable with cooking vegan, but I always want to make them something new and fun. I decided to make enchiladas. Not a difficult dish to make, but a  little more challenging without cheese.  I ended up making a creamy tomato sauce using almond milk. The dish came out great. They liked it so much they asked for the leftovers for home. Here is the recipe.

Rice and Bean Enchiladas –Vegan

Filling:
1½ c. brown rice
3 c. vegetable broth
2 T. oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 can beans, any type you want, drained and rinsed (I like black beans in this recipe)
2 T. chili powder
1 T. paprika
2 t. cumin
2 t. oregano
1 t. smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste

9 – 10 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Sauce:
3 T. oil
3 T. flour
1½ c. almond milk (you could also use coconut, soy or rice milk)
1 can ( 14.5 oz.) canned tomatoes, I used a pint jar of home canned tomatoes
1 t. cumin
1 t. oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste

Place rice and broth in saucepan and cook, covered, over medium low heat until rice is cooked, about 40 minutes. While rice is cooking heat oil in skillet and cook onions until golden. Add peppers and garlic and cook until peppers are tender. Combine pepper mixture with the rice, once cooked, the beans and the seasonings. Adjust seasonings. Lightly oil a 13×9-inch baking dish. Spoon some filling into a tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in baking dish and continue with remaining tortillas and filling. Dish will be pretty full. Start sauce. Combine oil and flour in a saucepan. Add almond milk and cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a simmer. Cook until mixture thickens and is bubbly. Add tomatoes and seasonings, adjusting to your taste. Pour sauce over the tortillas in the pan. Try to get sauce down in between the tortillas as much as you can. At this point you can bake them or cover and put in fridge until ready to bake. These can be made a day ahead, if you like. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes, if freshly made, 55 minutes if cold from the fridge. Uncover and let enchiladas cook 10 minutes longer. Allow to stand 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 9-10.

Apple Pie Blintzes

I had friends over for brunch yesterday and wanted a dessert to go along with the meal.  I looked at what I had on hand and decided to use flour tortillas and fresh apples. I ended up with apple-filled tortillas that tasted like warm apple pie.

I soaked the tortillas in milk – actually I soaked them in almond milk because my guests are vegan- but you could use regular milk if you prefer. By soaking the tortillas in milk, they soften up and can be used like a crepe. Soak them for at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour. I placed the tortillas in a shallow baking pan and made sure to drizzle each one with almond milk as I added them to the pan.

For the filling, I peeled a couple of large apples and cored them. Then I sliced them thin and placed them in a skillet with sugar, cinnamon and a tablespoon of water. I cooked the apples until they were just soft.  The amount of sugar depends on how sweet the apples are and how sweet you want your filling. Same thing with the amount of cinnamon. Add the amount that tastes right to you. I also added a little lemon juice and a pinch of salt. I wanted them moist, but not too watery.

To assemble the blintzes, place a softened tortilla on your work surface and spoon a little apple filling in the middle. You can do this with hot filling, or even make the filling ahead of time and use it cold. Don’t over fill them or you won’t be able to fold them up. I used 8-inch tortillas and used about 1/4 cup of filling for each one. Fold the sides in until they almost meet in the middle and them roll the tortilla up to cover the filling. Place seam side down until ready to fry them.

Heat oil ( or butter if you like), in a skillet,  and brown the blintzes over medium heat until lightly toasted on both sides. They will be crispy on the outside, but tender in the middle. Put on a serving plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve while warm.

My guests really liked them and said they did not realize they were made from tortillas. I have made these before and use different fruit fillings. I’ve even made a cheese filled version a few times. It seems I usually have a package of tortillas, so it is a go-to dessert for me in a pinch.