The Charmed Kitchen

100 Flower Dandelion Muffins

The curious name for this recipe comes from my own curiosity. I wondered just how many blossoms I would need to get about a cup and a half of petals. I decided to make muffins with some of the dandelions blooming in my yard. I have a lot of dandelions, and I wanted to use a really decent amount in my muffins. I started counting as I trimmed them and  stopped when I had a cup and a half. It turned out to be 100 flowers. So now, if you want to make this recipe, you will know when you can stop picking!!!

If you can’t beat them, eat them. I actually am a big fan of dandelions. I have organized dandelion cook-offs and edited a dandelion cookbook. I eat the leaves, and  a tea made from the roasted roots. The flowers are a wonderful ingredient in cooking, too. They are used to make dandelion wine and I enjoy adding them to fritters, pancakes and other baked goods. So here is my recipe for dandelion muffins.  They are pretty tasty, tender, light and not too sweet.

100 Flower Dandelion Muffins

2 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

½ t. salt

1 egg, beaten

1½ c. half and half

1/3 c. honey

¼ c. melted butter

1 t. vanilla

1 t. orange zest

1 ½ c. dandelion petals*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease them, set aside. In medium bowl, combine flour with baking powder and salt and set aside. In another bowl, combine egg with half and half, honey, butter, vanilla and orange zest. Beat by hand until well mixed. Stir in dandelion blossoms, then stir in flour mixture. Do not over mix. Stir just until flour is mixed in. Spoon batter into prepared pans, filling them about ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Great served warm with butter and honey. Makes 12.

* To prepare the dandelion blossoms you want to trim of the tough base and just use the petals in the recipe. Some of the green sepals will get mixed in, and that is OK. Measure the petals after trimming. I picked 100 flowers and ended up with about 1½ cups of petals.

Candied Violets

This time of year, I always get requests about how to make candied violets. I thought I would share the recipe again.  Since my yard is full of violets right now, I decided to candy some today. It’s an easy way to enjoy these delicate flowers throughout the year.  I use them to decorate baked goods. Lovely on a cake they, also add a sweet touch to cupcakes.

Candied Violets

Powdered egg whites (see note)
Water
Superfine sugar (see note)
Fresh violet flowers, rinsed and drained on paper toweling- Not African violets

Following package directions reconstitute egg whites to the equivalent of one or two egg whites. You can dilute them a little to make them easier to brush on. Place sugar in a shallow bowl. With a food-grade fine brush coat a violet with the egg white and press into the sugar. Place on wax paper and repeat with remaining flowers. Allow to dry for about a week. Store in a container with a tight fitting lid in a cool place. I like to store them in the freezer.

Sweet Potato Sour Cream Pie

Sometimes things just work out. I like when that happens. I was cleaning out my freezer, and came across a pie crust I had frozen. My favorite recipe makes two crusts, but I don’t always need the second one, so I freeze one for later. I was thinking of making a quiche, but a bag of sweet potatoes inspired me to make a pie. As I rooted through the fridge for the rest of the ingredients, I came across a carton of sour cream I had opened a few days ago. I normally use milk in my sweet potato pie, but decided sour cream would work just as well. Plus, I didn’t have any immediate plans for the sour cream. I was very happy with how it came out. In fact, I think I like it even better than the old version.

Sweet Potato Sour Cream Pie

½ c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

½ t. nutmeg

½ t. salt

2 c. cooked, mashed sweet potato

2 eggs, beaten

¾ c. sour cream

2 T. melted butter

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust- recipe follows

Combine sugar with seasonings. Stir in remaining ingredients and combine until smooth. Pour into pie crust and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes, or until filling is set.

Flaky Pie Crust

2 c. flour

1 t. salt

3/4 c. butter, chilled

1 T. cider vinegar

4-5 T. cold water

Combine flour and salt and cut in butter. Toss in vinegar and water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough holds together. Use a fork to toss the ingredients together and as soon as the mixture holds together stop adding water. Makes 2. Chill well before using.

Fresh Blackberry Muffin

Sometimes, little things can just improve your day. For me, it was starting the day with a mug of raspberry tea and a warm blackberry muffin.  I used a recipe I had made before, but decided to add cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter. I also dipped the tops of the warm muffins in melted butter and a spiced sugar mixture to finish them off. So good. So very, very good.

Fresh Blackberry Muffins

 1 c. milk

1 egg

¼ c. oil

2 c. flour

1/3 c. sugar

1 T. Baking powder

¾ t. salt

½ t. each cinnamon and nutmeg

1 c. blackberries, I used fresh but frozen would work, too.

Topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. each cinnamon and nutmeg

4 T. butter, melted

Beat together milk, egg and oil. Combine dry ingredients and add to milk mixture, stirring to just moisten flour. Fold in blackberries. Fill 12 paper lined muffin cups to 3/4 full.  Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Combine sugar and spices in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another bowl. When muffins are removed from the oven carefully dip the top of a muffin in the melted butter and then in the spiced sugar. If muffins are too hot to hold wait a few minutes before dipping. Repeat with remaining muffins. Serve warm. Makes 12.

Cherry and Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

I had some cherry pie filling left over from making Danish. I needed to use it up. I also needed a dessert for dinner with a friend. I came up with these. Really nice recipe, especially in a pinch.  To start with, it’s cheesecake, which is always a good thing. It is also a really quick recipe, and simple to make. Finally, it just makes 6 little cheesecakes. Perfect for when you don’t need a whole cheesecake. Nothing stopping you from doubling, or tripling the recipe, if you need a few more. I used cherry pie filling (homemade), but you could top these with almost any pie filling or fresh fruit you liked, or even eat them plain.

Cherry and Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

6 vanilla wafers

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 egg

chocolate syrup or sauce

cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper liners in 6 muffin tins and place a vanilla wafer in each one. Set aside. In medium mixing bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg until just mixed. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.  Bake for 15- 20 minutes. Cheesecakes will puff up and then deflates a little when cooled. Once cooled top each cheesecake with a little chocolate syrup and a spoonful of cherry pie filling. Chill. Makes 6. Serves 2-3.

Fricassee of Lamb with Lettuce

I love lamb and enjoy cooking it different ways. This recipe uses lamb shoulder, cooked with onions and Romaine lettuce- yes lettuce. The lamb is browned and then cooks gently until tender. The lettuce also cooks down and adds a nice green flavor to the dish. The real magic is the lemon egg sauce, used to top the lamb once finished. It is creamy and has just the right amount of tang from the lemon juice.  You could also make this dish with pork or even chicken, but my favorite version is with lamb.

Fricassee of Lamb with Lettuce

2 1/2-3 lbs. lamb shoulder, or use pork

3 medium onions, chopped

2-3 heads romaine lettuce, washed and sliced thin

1/2 c. olive oil

Egg and Lemon Sauce -recipe follows

Cut the meat into serving pieces. Heat the oil in a pot and sauté the meat. Add salt, pepper, the onions, lettuce and a small amount of water. Cover the pot and let the fricassee simmer for about an hour. Prepare the egg and lemon sauce, pour it over the fricassee and serve.

Egg and Lemon Sauce

1-2 c. stock

2 eggs

juice of 1 lemon

flour, about 1-2 tablespoons, depending on how thick you want the sauce

Bring stock to the simmer. Beat eggs well. Mix the flour with the lemon juice.

Add to the eggs and keep beating. Add the hot broth slowly while you keep beating. Pour the egg and lemon sauce in the pot and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Makes 1-2 cups. For a thinner sauce eliminate the flour.

Biscuits Supreme

Biscuits are easy to make. They really are. Fast, too. You can mix up  a batch of biscuits in the time it takes the oven to preheat.  Yet, I know  people who seem to struggle with them. The other night in class we were talking about the secret to  a light and flaky biscuit.

So what goes wrong? How do you make light, flaky biscuits every time?

For the moment I’ll assume you have a decent recipe. There are a lot of great biscuit recipes out there. I know people that have treasured family recipes. Biscuits that have been made the same way for generations.

Assuming also, that the baking powder is fresh*, there has to be some other reason that some folks just seem to struggle with biscuits.

The problem is – more than likely- over-mixing the dough. When I talk to someone who tells me that their  biscuits are always heavy or tough I first ask about how they are put together.

Once the dry ingredients have been mixed and the fat cut in, there is just liquid to be added. At this point the dough should be handled just enough to hold together. A light hand means a light biscuit. The same is true for making scones. The more you knead the dough, handle the dough and roll the dough, the less flaky biscuits become.

Don’t treat biscuit dough the way you would a yeast-based dinner roll. The two are very different in how they are handled. Yeast based doughs benefit from kneading and “working” the dough. Biscuits are the opposite.

Even when cutting out the biscuits, it will help if you cut  them out as close together as you can. That way you have fewer scraps to re-roll. Every time you roll the dough out- it becomes a little tougher.

Here is a recipe for one of my favorite biscuits. They are light and very flaky. Is there anything better than a fresh, warm biscuit with some butter?

Biscuits Supreme

2 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
2 t. sugar
½ t. cream of tartar
½ t. salt
½ c. shortening- or cold butter or coconut oil – you can even use lard.
2/3 c. milk

Stir together dry ingredients and cut in shortening to resemble coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add milk all at once. Stir until dough sticks together and knead on lightly floured surface 10-12 strokes. Roll or pat to ½ inch thickness. Cut with 2-21/2 inch biscuit cutter and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in 450-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 10-12.

*If your baking powder might be old, you can test it. Place a couple of tablespoons of boiling water in a cup. Add a teaspoon, or two, of baking powder. The mixture should bubble vigorously. If there are no bubbles, or very few bubbles, you might want to get a new container of baking powder.

Scotch Broth

After picking  up some lamb neck bones the other day, I knew I was going to make stock from them. It was unseasonably cold, and snow was in the forecast. Not that I need snow to be in the mood to make soup or stock. I make soup all the time. Still, with a couple of chilly days ahead, I knew I was really going to be craving some home made soup.  I used the lamb bones to make the stock and then used the stock to make Scotch Broth the next day. The house smelled so good.

There are a number of variations for Scotch Broth. Traditionally it is made with lamb stock. Barley is often added as well. I used what I had on hand and what I liked. I was very happy with the dish, in the end.

Scotch Broth

2 T. oil or butter- I used fat from the stock

1 red onion, diced fine

2-3 shallots, diced fine

1 c. pearl barley

2 qts. Lamb stock*

2-3 carrots, peeled and diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 c. diced lamb meat

Parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce to taste

In soup pot, heat the fat up and sauté the onion and shallots until just turning golden. Add the barley and cook a few minutes longer. Add the lamb stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until barley is pretty tender, about 45 minutes. Add the remaining veggies and lamb and cook until veggies are tender. Add seasonings to taste, simmer a few minutes longer and serve.

* To make the stock I started with a couple of packages of lamb neck bones. I browned the bones in a stockpot. Then I added a couple of chopped onions and browned them, too. I also added additional vegetables including some carrots, celery, a few cabbage leaves and garlic. I covered all of it with water and simmered it for several hours. I added salt, pepper, parsley, thyme and savory as well. I let the mixture cool down a little before straining it. I had almost 8 cups of stock. I also let the lamb cool down and removed the meat from the bones. I diced it up and set it aside to add to the soup later. I made this the day before I made the Scotch Broth, so it was easy to just remove the fat from the stock, before using it. I actually used a little of the fat I removed, to sauté the onions for the broth.