Strawberry Shortcakes

1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stemmed and quartered


5 tablespoons sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Whipped Cream, recipe follows

Directions

Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.





Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.





Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Place mixture in an ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.





Remove shortcake from pan and place on a rack to cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and split each piece in half horizontally.





Spoon some of the strawberries with their juice onto each shortcake bottom. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and then the shortcake top. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve.



Whipped Cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Using a mixer, beat the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest until soft peaks form, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

Blueberry Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks

1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones

1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 lemon, zest finely grated

1 tablespoon unsalted butter


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.

Technically you should make this simple lemon glaze in a double boiler (i.e. over a pot of simmering water with a heatproof bowl set on top) but it's even simpler to zap it in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.

Mini-Orange Crumble Top Muffins with Orange Butter

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) melted unsalted butter

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, thawed

2 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Orange-Butter, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 small muffins tins (with 24 (1 3/4-inch) wells), and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together 1 1/2 cups of flour, the sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a bowl, beat together the egg, 8 tablespoons of the butter, the milk, orange juice concentrate, and 2 teaspoons of the zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, combining just until moistened and being careful not to overmix. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins, filling each halfway.

To make the crumble topping, in a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour, the chopped pecans, the brown sugar, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of grated zest. Mix to combine and sprinkle 1 teaspoon on top of the batter for each muffin. Bake until the muffins are set and golden brown and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 14 to 16 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes in the tins, then cool on wire racks. Serve with orange-butter on the side.

Orange-Butter:

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup sweet orange marmalade
1 teaspoon honey

In a bowl, cream together the ingredients. Transfer to a decorative crock or small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until slightly firm. Serve with the muffins or spread on toast.



Yield: about 3/4 cup

Homemade Roasted Chicken Stock

If you are like me, you pick up a roasted chicken from the grocery store for a meal or to use in meal... instead of throwing out the carcass, make stock!  I promise you it is better than anything you can buy in a carton and even better than chicken stock made from fresh chicken.

If you want to make a large stockpot of broth, freeze the carcass until you have a couple of them... then put them in a large stock pot and add the herbs and seasonings, onions etc and ...poof!  You have a great pot of stock ... simply strain and use. Often I make stock through the summer to freeze and use in the winter.



Let's get started -

Put the carcass in a stockpot, add  a couple carrots, some stalks of celery (leaves are good), some onion, a little garlic, dill or thyme...a tsp or so of salt and a few peppercorns..add enough water to cover.Bring to a simmer.. skim off any scum that may accumulate on top...simmer for a few hours. Cool enough to handle... strain and then cool and freeze, making sure to label it with the use by date.... 3 -  4 months.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Makes about 20 small-size biscuits



1 pound sweet potatoes or yam (one large one is usually sufficient)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (chilled), cut into small pieces

1/4 cup milk


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Prick the sweet potato and bake until soft (about one hour...you can also do this more quickly in a microwave). Once the sweet potato has cooled, scoop the flesh from the skin and pass through a food mill, ricer or sieve. You should have about 1 3/4 cups puree.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cayenne. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter (or use your fingers) until it resembles a course meal.

Mix milk with sweet potato puree and add it to the other ingredients. Mix dough, just to incorporate (I use my hands). If the dough is really sticky, add a touch more flour. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead a few times. Pat out to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut biscuits with a biscuit-cutter or glass.

2 inches in diameter is good.

Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Place in preheated oven and cook until risen and slightly brown, about 12 minutes (longer for larger biscuits). Serve warm.

Chocolate Butter

How could anything that combined the two of these ingredients be anything but wonderful?

This recipe is on AmberLee's GiversLog.com - as an added bonus, if you are crafty, you will find a wealth of DIY instructions on there.... really a great site, she is so creative!

Diet Cherry Coke Cake

I found this on a wonderful art and recipe blog - http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2008/04/diet-cherry-coke-cake.html   Food and art, two of my very favorite things!


1 box of regular or low-fat cake mix or Cherry Cake Mix

1 12-ounce can of Diet Cherry Coke®

(You can use any regular or low-fat cake mix and add the diet Coke).

Bake the cake according to the package directions.

You can frost the cake a couple of different ways: Sprinkle the cake with confectioners sugar, or mix together an 8-ounce tub of Cool Whip and 1 package of sugar-free, fat-free cherry pudding mix.