hands off my buns!

For a nod to the upcoming Easter holiday, I decided to whip up a batch of hot cross buns… these spicy orbs of golden delight take a bit of time to prepare, but the outcome is entirely worth the effort!
The standards for creating these little heartbreakers are flour, sugar, salt, some mixed spices [pumpkin pie spice works as well], yeast, butter, an egg, whole milk, water, raisins, currants, as well as lemon and orange zest!
Everything for the dough is combined in the mixer, minus the fruits and zests… After a good ten-twelve minutes of kneading in the mixer, the fruits and zests are added in until incorporated. Once combined, a layer of plastic wrap covers the dough and it’s off for a nap in a warm spot until the dough rises in volume…
The dough, once risen, is separated and rolled into mounds, then set aside to rise again. As soon as they have risen the second time, a cross is piped along the tops of each bun and it’s off to get baking!
As soon as the buns are golden, a quick brushing of a syrupy glaze is gently slathered over each to finish off these treasures!
Warm out of the oven with a spread of butter or preserves [or hell both] is the best way to enjoy… guaranteed these don’t make it until Sunday!

at a low simmer…
-R

green soup and ham…

Since I’m still taking it easy when it comes to food, I decided that a nice homemade split pea soup was the perfect meal.
After rinsing off some vibrant split peas, I cut up one onion and two cloves of garlic. The onion and garlic were sautéed in some olive oil until softened. Once softened, in went one quart of water, along with one quart of chicken broth, a bouillon cube and of course the stars of the dish… the split peas.
The soup was brought to a boil and then set to a simmer until the split peas began to open and thicken the soup. After tasting for seasoning, in went some cooked ham for an added smokey flavor and then it was time to plate, rather bowl up this warming goodness!
To top off this soup, homemade croutons made with some Italian bread, olive oil and a touch of sea salt.
The soup warmed us up on this chilly night, while soothing our tummies and giving us the nutrition we needed!

at a low simmer…
-R

A quick check-in and update…

So here it is… a BIG ole’ apology to my followers here at The-Kitchen-Guru. I felt the need to make a quick post about the recent lack of entries this past week.
I came down with a pretty nasty bug on Sunday [hence the lacking St. Patrick’s Day post and feast]. Still on the mend, I am currently on a pretty restricted diet [tastes mostly like cardboard, however I have a feeling cardboard may actually be more appealing] so hopefully everyone can understand and meet me back here in the hopefully very near future… My goal is to be back up and cooking by next week!

Thank you all again for understanding, and your continued support!

from under the covers…
-R

simple saturday supper…

So with Saturday night upon us, the question always arises… ‘What’s for dinner’. After a pretty exhausting day, and little desire to get dressed up to go out, I decided dinner would be home cooked!
A rich pasta ‘bake’ from one of my fave home cooks, Nigella Lawson… after looking through her newest cookbook, the whole wheat pasta with brussels sprouts, cheese and potato really stood out. I have made a dish like this in the past with some slightly different ingredients, but decided to give it a go…
The process is as simple, as simple can be… in one pot of boiling, super salty water the pasta, brussels sprouts and potato are cooked together. A slight amount of the pasta liquid is reserved before draining.
While the pasta is cooking, I cubed up some gruyere cheese and measured out some fresh ricotta. This lovely, creamy mixture was tossed with the drained pasta, brussels sprouts and potatoes.
After everything was coated, it was into a baking dish, drizzled with some oil, sage and a heavy hand of grated pecorino. Baked for roughly thirty minutes, then a slight resting period and it was time to eat!
The flavors all complimented one another and made me question… how could this possibly serve anymore than two??

at a low simmer…
-R

that’s how the ____ crumbles!!

After enduring a rainy day, I decided to lift my spirits and make a refreshing crumble for dessert tonight. On a trip to the market, vibrant rhubarb peeked out of the wicker baskets and with their long stalks practically reached out for me!
Once home a nice cleaning, a quick chop and then a toss into a pan with sugar, vanilla and butter. As soon as everything was coated, it was cooked until the rhubarb became almost a glossy pink. Into miniature pie dishes went the filling, while to tuck these beauties in, a tasty crumble made up of flour, butter, brown sugar, salt and vanilla sugar. The crumble mixture was combined by hand until it achieved an almost oatmeal-ish texture, but where the butter still was somewhat together…
The crumbles went into the oven for roughly thirty-five minutes until the topping was golden and the insides were slightly bubbling… the rhubarb bubbling out and cascading down the sides made the excitement for digging in even more appealing!
The crumble was crispy and buttery, while the rhubarb filling had a lovey balance of sweet, but let the minute tartness steal the show…

at a low simmer…
-R

kissing the ‘toad’…

So tonight we took a culinary journey ‘across the pond’ and paid homage to my family roots…
For an interesting dinner, we enjoyed ‘toad-in-the-hole’… may sound unappealing to those unfamiliar with this lovely dish, but don’t worry no toads were harmed in the making of this meal.
The dish is quite simple to prepare, basically everything that would be in your pantry and freezer. To make the batter, 2 cups of flour, salt, six eggs and 1 1/2 cups milk are all combined and set aside. Then sausages [can be any you like] are panfried and browned. The batter is poured into a pretty hot pan of oil, the sausages then nestled into the batter and everything tossed in the oven to bake until puffy, crisp and golden. To go along with the ‘toad’ a beautiful, homemade onion gravy.
The flavors are wonderful and rich, yet not heavy at all, but rather almost light as a cloud!

at a low simmer…
-R

what are you bananas!!

With a few bananas remaining from the cake I made this past weekend, I decided rather than tossing then out they’d do better mashed up into a wonderful banana bread! This wasn’t just any banana bread, but rather a boozy banana bread…
I soaked sweet little golden raisins in some delicious bourbon. Once plumped up and juicy, they went into my batter that was full of the mashed bananas, chopped pecans, vanilla, two eggs, one cup of flour, two teaspoons of baking powder, a half teaspoon of baking soda and salt, one stick of melted butter and sugar.
Once everything was combined, it was into a loaf pan and then off for a nap for fifty minutes on 325. After a quick test for complete doneness, I had to taste! There was very little willpower, but tasting this freshly baked beauty was a necessity. Served up with some vanilla-infused mascarpone made this luxurious delight even more spectacular!
The boozy raisins offered a wonderful addition to the sweetness of the bananas. This definitely will be on my breakfast menu tomorrow!

at a low simmer…
-R

the winter blues… turned vibrant green!

To move the focus off of this last [hopefully] winter storm that is upon us, I decided that something light, summery and refreshing was perfect for dinner…
After a quick dash to the market; fresh basil and pignoli nuts made their way into my bag, along with some cozy snow time treats.
Once home, I plucked the basil leaves from their stems, gave them a quick rinse under the tap and set everything aside to dry off a bit.
While the fragrant basil leaves were drying, into a food processor went some pecorino to get pulsed up until grated.
To bring everything together and make an amazing pesto, into my food processor went the basil leaves. Everything was pulsed up, along with a quite a few cloves of smashed garlic, the pignoli nuts [that I toasted lightly], some of the freshly grated pecorino, salt and pepper.
While pulsing everything, a steady drizzle of high quality olive oil really pulled [literally] everything together!
The vibrant green pesto was lovingly tossed with delicate tagliatelle and an extra sprinkle of the grated pecorino…
Each mouthful transported me from the cold and windy nonsense going on outside, to what summer has to offer us in the not so distant months to come!

at a low simmer…
-R

sunday night sweet tooth!!

To end the weekend on a sweet note, I thought a luxurious, slightly dense cake was in order! This was not just any cake, but rather a family favorite and old recipe passed down…
The cake has an interesting array of ingredients, including both pineapple and bananas, and is filled in/topped off with a silky cream cheese frosting coated in toasted coconut that just exudes sensuality.
Once it was ready to slice into and eat, the vision of heaven glimmered across the plates! With each bite of the cake, the desire to eat more and more became apparent… this was not going to be just a single slice of heaven, but rather the following day… a whipping on the treadmill!

at a low simmer…
-R

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