Croissants

Recipe (we made two of these amounts with one failing during the butter incorporation stage) 

Mix in all of the ingredients in  food mixer, let dough chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours in homogeneous square shape, in Saran wrap

Roll out dough with a rolling pin, into a large rectangular shape of equal thickness.

Prepare the butter by hand, squish the entire needed amount onto wax paper, create a rectangular butter shape of even thickness by folding over the wax paper.
Butter needs to be just the right temperature - not too squishy and soft but also not a brick. It will likely need to be chilled in the fridge after being wrapped in wax paper.

This is what the dough will look like when the butter is inside. Make sure all the butter is covered by the dough flaps or it will come out during the multiple rolling stages.

Roll out the dough that now contains butter inside CAREFULLY, trying to apply even pressure and not squeezing any butter out. Use as much flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to rolling pin or table. Once you have a long rectangular shape rolled out, fold like a letter, onto itself, and put in the fridge to chill.



This image shows how the dough is folded between rolling sessions. It also shows that we were working with 2x the recipe. We alternated between chilling and rolling.


After rolling, folding and chilling about four times, we rolled out the dough for the last time to the size 8" x 24" trying to keep the rectangular shape. This method will yield 24 small croissants.



Now the fun part - rolling up individual croissants! Make a small cut in one of the triangle's sides - that's where you begin folding the dough back on itself to create the roll. We added three different fillings to our batch - ham+cheese, hot dogs, and almond paste. All tasted great, almond being my favorite. Make sure to dust off the triangles before adding fillings, and wipe on some beaten egg first so the piece sticks together after it's rolled up.

The croissants looked pretty ugly before they were baked. Once we rolled the entire pan and had the oven preheating to 360F we set the pan aside to let the croissants rise (they have yeast in them).

Letting them double in size is important as it will give them a fluffier texture. We likely didn't let ours rise long enough, or the repeated process of cooling and rolling the dough inactivated the yeast. Ours came out a bit dense. Here's what the pan looked like right before it was placed in the oven. We brushed some egg on tops for the golden brown look.



After they were baked at 360F for about 15-20 minutes

Final product (almond batch) with some powdered sugar sprinkled on top

Spinach and Mushroom Chicken Casserole

This idea morphed several times so no specific recipe was followed.

Chicken thighs, cubed and fried
Spinach and mushrooms, chopped and cooked down
Zucchini, chopped
Red onion, garlic, thyme, pepper, salt, vinegar (spicy)
Cream of mushroom soup
Parmesan cheese, grated

Cooked on stove top, finished in cast iron skillet at 375F

Scavenger Meal: Rice Bowl #1

Chopped cabbage, onions, garlic, grated carrots, sautéed in rendered chicken fat (from a leftover rotisserie chicken). Added in the chicken meat and some chopped banana peppers. Seasoned with fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar. Garnished with chopped green onions. Served over rice.

Voila!

Peanut Butter Fudge

Followed THIS recipe (heat the sugar mixture to 238F, which wasn't specified in the recipe)

Peanut butter+fluff

Evaporated milk+sugar, starting to boil

Peanut butter+fluff after being mixed with KitchenAid

Sugar liquid + PB/fluff, getting ready to go in the fridge

Voila! After ~1 hr in the fridge

Quiche

Preheat oven to 375F

Chop up any veggies/meat you have and sauté/cook them. We used the following:
- broccoli
- white onion
- yellow pepper
- spinach
- goat brie
- white cheddar
- garlic scapes
- leftover rotisserie chicken

After sautéing veggies, add in the chicken and the cheese, and a mixture of 4 beaten eggs with ~1 cup of milk. Add salt+pepper to taste.

Bake at 375F for ~30minutes (we used a cast iron skillet). Take out, let sit for 10 min

Garnished with banana peppers

Walnut Chocolate Fudge

Super easy recipe (makes 8"x8" pan):
1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 cups of high quality chocolate (we used 50:50 milk:bittersweet)
1/4 cup butter

Pre-melt butter first in large glass bowl/microwave (supposedly gets rid of potential gritty texture)
Add chocolate and sweetened condensed milk to pre-melted butter
Microwave for a total of 3 minutes on medium power, taking breaks to stir the mixture. Make sure that mixture doesn't ever come to a boil.

Spray the 8"x8" pan with Pam (or line with wax paper for easy non-stick removal later). Transfer the mixture to it with a spatula, make sure to press down to remove any bubbles. Chill in the fridge for an hour or so. Take out, slice and enjoy!

Homemade Pizza (baked in cast iron pan)

Dough (1x12" pizza)
3 cups flour
1 cup warm milk
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp sugar
1 packet dry yeast
2 sticks of butter (1 stick=8 tbsp)

Step 1: Combine milk with yeast and 1 tbsp sugar
Step 2: Combine egg yolks with 2 tbsp sugar in the separate bowl
Step 3: Melt the butter and let it cool back down to room temperature

When bubbles appear in the yeast mix start adding ingredients from steps 2 and 3 to it. When 2/3 of the flour is added, you have the option of mixing in desired spices into the dough (we added oregano, garlic powder, chili flakes and coarse salt). Knead the dough with hands until homogenous and doesn't stick to fingers.

Wrap bowl of dough with Saran wrap (tightly) and set in a warm place to rise (about 1.5 hrs)

While dough is rising prepare the sauce and the pizza toppings. We went with a secret sauce recipe and selected broccoli, yellow pepper, cremini mushrooms, spicy sausage and topped everything with 1 block (1/2 lb) of mozzarella cheese. To help the broccoli and yellow peppers cook we steamed them for about 5-7 minutes prior to adding them to the dough.

Once the dough is ready, load it into the cast iron pan making sure that the edges are slightly raised. Add the toppings.

Place in the oven, preheated to 500F for 12-15 minutes. Watch intently until done :)

Steak and Kale/Spinach Quinoa

- Round steak - rub with a mix of salt, pepper and thyme then pan sear
- Cook quinoa in water, when done, rinse with cold water. Add meat/deglazing juice from meat frying pan to quinoa for extra flavor
- Steam kale and spinach, chop and add to cooled quinoa (*note: make sure to sufficiently drain the steamed veggies)
- Sautée chopped red onions until translucent, add chopped garlic, then add broccolette - add an ice cube and some lemon juice to pan and cover for about 5 minutes
- Flavor/season the quinoa with extra sautéed onions and garlic from the step above, pepper, salt, vinegar (cumin: optional)

Philly Cheese Steaks

Meat: Beef chuck short rib (sliced into small pieces with the grain)

 Fry beef on griddle in Worcestershire sauce until golden brown 

 Fry chopped onions, peppers and garlic until onions are translucent and peppers are softer

 Beef ready for assembly (don't forget the Cheez Whiz!!)

Served with fresh tomato/red onion salad dressed with olive oil/lemon juice/pepper

Bearnaise Sauce (over crepes)

Slightly modified THIS recipe (thyme instead of tarragon)
- Crepes made separately
- Filling made separately, consists of cubed brisket (see this recipe) fried with peppers, onions and garlic

Cranberry Coffee Cake

Makes 1 standard springform 

1.5 stick butter (room temp, unsalted)(1stick=8tbsp=4oz)

1 cup regular flour, 1/2cup corn flour or yellow fine corn meal

1tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 cup orange zest (from 2 large oranges)

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1 cup sugar

1tsp vanilla extract 

4 egg yolks

2 whole eggs

Preheat oven to 350F, butter springform, sprinkle with flour (to prevent sticking)

mix flour, corn meal, powder, salt zest

in separate bowl, mix cranberries with 2tbsp from flour bowl

load into mixer - butter, sugar, mix

add to mixer - vanilla, egg yolks, then 2 whole eggs, then the remaining flour

fold in cranberries, gently with spatula (batter will be thick)

pour batter into springform, spread evenly

bake at 350F for ~40min (test readiness with wooden toothpick)

take out, let cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar