Biscuits For Every Meal : The Daring Bakers January Challenge.

Tags

Appetizer & Sides, apricot, apricot biscuits, Baking, biscuits, breakfast scones, cambil cream of chicken soup recipes, cheddar biscuits, cheddar garlic biscuits, Chicken, corn, corn and chicken chowder, corn soup, creamy corn and chicken soup, daring bakers, daring kitchen challenge, fan tan rolls, herbed biscuits, light lunch, scone, Soup, sweet biscuits, tea time biscuits

Blog-checking lines: Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

It only took me 25 minutes to get these fluffy and tasty biscuits from the fridge to your table. Which is the most thing I adore about making these all the time, and whether it’s for breakfast, snacks or even for lunch these are very welcome in my family.

The recipe was given by Audax was very successful, I followed every step in the recipe, I really like it. I played with the flavours and added a little to the original. Very special thanks to Audax Artifex for sharing these awesome recipes and dedicated her tries to get the best of the biscuits recipes.

actually, I made two kinds of biscuits, and hoped to make more but as always, the time is my big problem.

The savory one which is the Buttermilk Cheese and Garlic Biscuits. Mmm! Warm and cheesy biscuits are a snap to make, and it went very well with the warm chicken and corn cream soup. That was a superb for satisfying light lunch meal. In the biscuit batter I used grated cheddar cheese, garlic powder and sprinkle of dried parsley leaves, Other delicate fresh herbs (tarragon, chives, chervil) will work in this recipe in place of the parsley. For a browner crust, brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter after baking, it’s also intensify the butter flavour in the biscuits.

The other kind is the sweet biscuits-Stacked Apricot Biscuit. Tender and slightly sweet, these treats are perfect for afternoon tea, and perfect  for breakfast as will. Serve with softly whipped and sweetened whipping cream, or even a your choice of jam.

____________________________

Cheddar and Garlic Herbed Biscuits

For the original recipe check audax recipes here

When the weather outside gets chilly, nothing beats this hearty chicken and corn cream soup, complete with freshly baked flaky buttery biscuits.

1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons fresh baking powder
1\4 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
1\2 cup cheddar cheese , shredded
1\4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried parsley
about ½ cup cold buttermilk
optional 1 tablespoon buttermilk, for glazing the tops of the scones
1 tablespoon melted butter, to glaze after baking

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 450°F

2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.Add the cheese , dried parsley, and the garlic powder (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.),
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.

4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

__________________________________

Corn and Chicken Cream Soup

3 chicken tenders, cut into small cubes
1\4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups water
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1\4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, butter or margarine, and the minced chicken. Saute for about 1-2 minutes, then add the corn kernels, sauté for about 5 min more.
Add the cream of chicken soup, water, salt and pepper. Add in the cheddar cheese, whisk in the cream cheese and allow to heat through. Add the herbs, Stir together, test the taste and serve.

__________________________________

Apricot Biscuits

Stacked biscuits, baked in muffin cups and sweetened or not, make an attractive opener for a feast.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1\4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2\3 cup dried apricot, cut into small pieces
1\2 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup fat-free milk
turbinado sugar (row cane)to sprinkle on the top
cinnamon (optional)
1 tablespoon melted butter for the top and between the folds

Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the dried apricot, the granulated sugar, and the lemon peel. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center; add milk. Stir just until dough clings together.

Knead the dough gently for 10 to 12 strokes on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll one portion into a 12×10-inch rectangle. If desired, sprinkle turbinado sugar and cinnamon over rectangle. Cut rectangle into four 12×2-inch strips. Cut into each strip into 4 square. Stack the strips one on top of the other. Place stacks, edge-side down, in greased muffin cups. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with cream cheese or apricot jam.

The Daring Cooks’ December, 2011 Challenge: CHICKEN CHA SUI & CHA SUI BAO

Tags

Baking, barbecue chicken, buns, Chicken Char Sui Bao, daring cooks

 

Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious!

It’s been a while since the last post I did, very sorry for that. keeping track of posting is very tough ,especially with full everyday schedule. I was very busy that I couldnt even open the internet, but will try to keep on as I can and manage my time.

Today post is my favourite recipe, I did it before several times, and every time tried different flavours for the barbecue. They are my favorite for many reasons:
First of all and the important, these are my kids favorite…
Adorable, satisfying, and convenient for everyday snacks…
Great as lunch box meal for the school…
Delicious…
Barbecue on the go…

For the recipe, I made the chicken barbecue with asian flavour. First I marinade the chicken with soya and teriyaki sauce, then baked the chicken in the oven bag, this make the very tender and flavorful. I did the same dough recipe that was given in the challenge and I love, the dough was very successful and the buns turned on very soft and delicious.

Many thanks for Sara for the great recipes and challenge.

Chicken Char Sui Bao

2 small whole chicken
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon (3 gm) ginger, grated
1 tablespoon corn oil
1 ½ tablespoons honey
1\4 cup soy sauce
1\4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1\2 teaspoon cardamom

to do the barbecue chicken bun filling
1 small yellow onion minced very fine
1 cup chicken stock(that formed in the bag from baking the chicken)
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon cornflour

Clean the chicken. Place the chicken in oven bag, add all the ingredient for the marinade except the onions. With a sharp knife tip, stick the chicken on every side, this will flavour the inside of the chicken meat. Place the chicken in the refrigerator to let marinade overnight.
Bake the chicken in 450 f oven, for 3\4 an hour. It depends also on the size of the chicken(mine was small). Open the bag and put the oven under the broiler until browned.

Let the chicken to cool down a little, and make sure to save some of the stock that formed in the oven bag. Take off the bones and skin from the chicken, and with 2 forks shred the chicken meat into small pieces.
In a small sauce pan, add corn oil then the minced onions,sauté until lightly golden. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock that came down from the barbecue. Add some more soya and teriyaki. In separate cup add 3 tablespoon water to the cornflour, mix very well, add the mixer to the sauce in the pan. Stir and let it thickened alittle. Add the shredded chicken, mix it with the barbecue sauce, set aside to make the buns dough.

Dough Ingredients

2½ teaspoons (8 gm/1 satchel) of dried yeast
¼ cup (55 gm/2 oz) sugar
½ cup warm water
2 cups (280 gm/10 oz) plain flour
1 egg (medium size – slightly beaten)
3 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon (3 gm) salt
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with a dash of water
(1 cup=240 ml, 1 tablespoon=15 ml, 1 teaspoon=5 ml)

Place the sugar and warm water in a bowl, mix until the sugar has dissolved. Add yeast and leave it for 10 – 15 minutes until it becomes all frothy.
Sift flour in to a large bowl.
Add yeast mixture, egg, oil and salt and stir. Bring the flour mixture together with your hands.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly elastic.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise until it is double in size. This will take from 1 – 2 hours depending on weather conditions.
Once dough has doubled in size knock back and divide in to 12 portions and shape in to round balls.

Use a rolling pin to roll out to approximately 5cm (2 inches) in diameter. Then pick the piece of dough up and gently pull the edges to enlarge to about 8cm (3 inches) in diameter
By doing this it keeps the dough slightly thicker in the centre. This means when your buns are cooking they won’t split on the tops.
Place a good sized tablespoon of filling on the dough circle. Then gather the edges and seal your bun. Place the bun seal side down on your baking tray.

Continue with rest of dough. Once all buns are complete brush surface with egg wash. Place in a preheated oven of 200º C/392º F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Raspberry Madeleine: The Classic French Cake

Tags

Baking, cakes, cookies, Dessert, french, madeleine, raspberry

The greatest afternoon tea cookie. You can sprinkle the top with confectioners’ sugar or dip the tips in raspberry jam or chocolate if you want.
Madeleine are small sponge cakes like-cookies baked in the shape of a shell, traditional in France, but it’s a charming shape for any cookie.
My kids love them, even these fluffy cookies will not stay for the afternoon, they will disappear quickly, normally when I made this amount the first batch is for the kids but making sure to hide the last one, so I can enjoy a bite later in the afternoon with my cup of tea.

Madeleine pans have shell-shaped indentations. If you have only one pan, you can bake these cookies in batches; be sure to cool the pan under cold running water and dry it thoroughly before baking the next batch.These soft cookies can be decorated for the holidays, flavoured with any you like or just eaten plain anytime of the year.
You can store the cookies airtight at room temperature up to 3 days.

Raspberry Madeleine

raspberry jam

1 1\2 pint raspberry
3\4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup

for the madeleine:

3\4 cup butter
4 large eggs
1\2 cup sugar
1 1\2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1\2 cup vanilla yogurt
1\2 cup raspberry jam

Preparation
Toss the berries with sugar, cook on medium heat for 15 – 20 min.

reheat oven to 375°.
To make the madeleine, melt the butter, and set aside to cool. Whip eggs and sugar with until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, yogurt,raspberry jam and melted butter; mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to the egg mixture until combined.
Lightly spray 12 madeleine molds with cooking spray. Spoon the batter evenly into the molds, about 1 tablespoon each.

Bake until firm and puffed in the middle, about 10 minutes. Immediately turn madeleines out of the pan (knock them on the counter to loosen), and keep warm. Or let them cool to room temperature, store in an airtight container, and serve later that day.
Enjoy…

Fresh, Fluffy, French Croissant Daring Bakers September Challenge.

Tags

Baking, bread, breakfast, chocolate, daring bakers, french croissant, pastry

 

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

This Challenge was terrific. I wanted to try the croissant a long ago, but there was always no time, I know it will take too much time in preparing the dough, may be this was the reason I didn’t do it until the challenge, but finally I did it, Thank you Sarah for letting us do the honor to make these jewels of croissants.

I followed Sarah recipe and steps except for preparing the butter block, I did the same measurement for the folding the dough though, but found that the final pieces too small, I cut the salt in half since I found it too much for the amount of flour, I twice let the dough sit in the fridge overnight.

The final results was amazingly good, I liked the croissant and the little pockets inside, the croissant was light and fluffy from inside crisp and flacky from outside, I used some dough to make chocolate croissants and pain au chocolate, my kids loved it too, that those beauty didn’t stay for the next morning hahah …

Will definitely be making these goodies again.
Here you will find the recipe as in Db by Sara with tip and vedio clip for Julia Childs, down I wrote the recipe with some improvements and did the correct size for this batch of dough to make a decent medium size croissants for the next time I will do it.

Fresh, Fluffy, French Croissant

Preparation checking outlines

Making dough, 10 mins
First rise, 3 hours
Kneading and folding, 5 mins
Second rise, 1.5 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Rolling in the butter (turns one and two), 15 mins
First rest, 2 hours
Turns three and four, 10 mins
Second rest, 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Forming croissants, 30 mins
Final rise, 1 hour (or longer in the fridge)
Baking, 15 mins
Ingredients
¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used Polish all-purpose flour, which is 13% protein)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
3\4 teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt
½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk (I am not sure if the fat content matters. I used 2%)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used generic vegetable oil)
½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash
Directions:
Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.
Measure out the other ingredients
Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar
Place the flour in a large bowl.
Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour
Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl
Knead the dough eight to ten times only. Smacking the dough on the counter (lots of fun if you are mad at someone) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.
Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag
Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size.
After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.
Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm).
Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up)
Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.
Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. I let the dough rise overnight in the fridge.
Cut the butter into pieces, put between two sheets of plastic or wax paper. Use a rolling pin to tap the butter until it’s soft enough to roll, roll between the two sheets until it’s a 7.5X7.5inch square. Put in fridge.
Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two.
Roll the dough out until its double size of the butter sheet, 11X11inch in this case. Tap butter until it’s roll-able, and the texture is similar to the dough. put the butter in the middle of the dough as following, fold up dough and seal the butter. Pay attention to corners and edges, you don’t want spots where there’s no butter.
Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches.
Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.
Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.
After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter.
Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little

Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
Fold in three, as before
Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (I let it overnight)
It’s now time to cut the dough and shape the croissants
First, lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready
Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter
Roll the dough out into a 16 by 8 inch rectangle
Cut the dough into four rectangles (each 8 by 4 inches ).
Cut the rectangle into two triangle
Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles.
Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape.
Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet
Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 8 croissants in total.
Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 2-3 hours.
Preheat the oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
Mix the egg with a teaspoon of milk
Spread the egg wash across the tops of the croissants.
Put the croissants in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely
Take the croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.