quick and easy

Black Bean and Corn Tacos | 10 Minute Meal

January 29, 2013 by Rebecca 7 Comments

This is Day 2 of our three day Taco series leading up to the Super Bowl. Today’s selection is a lightning fast, super fresh and divinely delicious vegetarian taco that cooks up in under ten minutes. HELLO LOVELY! Tomorrow’s taco will be most decidedly decadent, so they balance each other out. One thing is certain, though, and that is that they are both one hundred percent wonderful.

I hope that by now, you all know me well enough to trust that I’m not going to give you a healthy and/or inexpensive meal that feels like you’re wearing a culinary hair shirt, right? I don’t do healthy or cheap recipes just to behave. I do healthy and inexpensive recipes that taste like you just made a REALLY good decision for dinner and you’re going to be just fine watching that cooking competition on television because you’re full and happy. (Can someone please tell me they identify with that line of thinking?)

This recipe fits the bill in more ways than one. Let’s cover the health bases first.

Black beans, corn and carrots are in this recipe. All three on their own are good for you, but put them together and you have a powerhouse of fiber, protein, vitamin A, carotenoids, antioxidants, alpha- and beta-carotene, phytonutrients, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Phew. I feel better just typing that. In short, it’s heart, eye, digestive, immune and circulatory system approved. Beat that.

Now let’s talk about WHY you need a recipe like this in your regular rotation. BECAUSE IT’S GOOD AND FAST AND CHEAP. I’m sorry to yell, but honestly… I’m serious here. Raise your hand if you feel tired/overwhelmed/uninspired/overextended in any way and wish you didn’t have to cook from time to time. (For the record, my hand is in the air.) We all get the kitchen funk every now and again. It’s recipes like these that save our budget and lift our spirits and make everyone happy. Even with my big family, we can all eat our fill from a double batch of this and it costs us less than $10.00 for the whole meal. Let’s break that double batch cost down for proof, shall we?

$1.98 for two ten-count packages of flour tortillas from Aldi.
$1.25 (estimate) for three cups of homemade black beans (this would be about the same for canned beans from Aldi.)
$0.25 for one medium sized carrot (generous estimate)
$0.10 for two teaspoons of chili powder
$1.00 for one cup of salsa (generous estimate for both homemade and commercial)
$0.99 for three cups of frozen corn (Based on a ninety-nine cent one-pound bag from a local grocery store)
$3.00 for one pound of Monterey Jack cheese (Based on the price per pound from a local grocery store.)
$1.00 for half of a bunch of fresh cilantro (Based on a $1.99 per bunch cost from a local grocery store.)
This takes my estimate for the meal to a whopping total of $9.57 for a double batch WITH leftovers from a family of seven.

If you have a smaller family, or are cooking for yourself or a couple, you could cut that in half right away and be looking at an under-five-dollar meal!

I used home cooked, frozen beans but you could just as easily use canned beans (as was specified in the original recipe on CampbellsKitchen.com). Either way, the entire thing is done in less than ten minutes. That makes this last-minute snack worthy. I say this because you WILL crave it. And you WILL want these for game day or Super Sunday or late night snacks. And you want to know something? You don’t even need to think twice about whipping up a batch of these because they’re so good for you!

Good golly. We are looking at a meal that taste incredible for a price that is so low it’s barely believable AND it comes together in under ten minutes to boot. That puts this meal squarely in Unicorn Meal* territory along with this and that other favourite but *GASP* it’s even faster to make!

*Unicorn Meal: That elusive meal that is made at unbelievably fast speeds, pleases everyone, and is budget friendly. Hard to find, impossible to forget.

What do you all think? Will you give it a try? Share your favourite unicorn meal. We’re all in this together!

Black Bean and Corn Tacos | 10 Minute Meal

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Black Bean and Corn Tacos | 10 Minute Meal

Fast, delicious, fresh, healthy and budget friendly, it just doesn't get any better than these Black Bean and Corn Tacos. Salsa and chili powder provide massive flavour in this 10 minute meal will fill you up, make you happy, and keep you healthy all at the same time! This is a perfect addition to Super Bowl parties and any game day festivities.

Gently adapted from and with thanks to Campbell's Kitchen

Ingredients

Vegetable or olive oil cooking spray
1 medium carrot, scrubbed and shredded (about 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon chili powder (or more to taste)
1/2 cup Pace® Picante Sauce or homemade salsa
1 1/2 cups homemade black beans or 1 can (15 ounces), rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
6 flour tortillas (8-inch), charred over a flame or warmed
6 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
fresh cilantro leaves (or parsley leaves or shredded lettuce. See Notes.)

Instructions

Spray a stainless steel (or other not non-stick) saucepan or small frying pan lightly with the vegetable or olive oil cooking spray. Set the pan over medium heat and let it get hot for a minute before adding the carrots and chili powder. Stir well and often and cook until the carrots are tender, about 2 minutes, depending on how coarsely shredded the carrots are.

Add the picante sauce or salsa, black beans, and frozen corn. Stir, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the beans and corn are both hot all the way through and the corn reaches desired tenderness, about 5 minutes.

Divide the bean and corn filling evenly between the tortillas, then do the same with the cheese. Scatter fresh cilantro (or parsley or shredded lettuce) leaves over the top. Fold in half, then in half again to form a triangle. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

The original recipe calls for shredded lettuce and sour cream. While you can certainly substitute the lettuce for the herb, I prefer the burst of freshness that cilantro or parsley provides.

By all means, add sour cream if you want. I like it just as well without (or with Greek yogurt) and it keeps the price down. If you have it on hand and want to use it, though, it will taste wonderful!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/29/black-bean-and-corn-tacos-10-minute-meal/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Please take a minute or two to hop on over to Campbell’s Kitchen. It really, truly does have a recipe for everyone over there. I pinned a couple more simple, fast weeknight meals we’re going to try.

Presented by Campbell’s Kitchen. All opinions are, as always, my own.

Filed Under: Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal, Vegetarian

Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb and Greek Tacos | Make Ahead Monday

January 28, 2013 by Rebecca 14 Comments

In preparation for the Super Bowl next Sunday, I’m running a three-day Taco series. They’re easy, they’re delicious, they’re customizable, they’re crowd-pleasing. In short, they’re the perfect game food. Tomorrow, I’ll be serving up a vegetarian taco and Wednesday will be the taco no one saw coming. Mwahahahaha!

I’ve been on a taco kick lately. Okay, truthfully? I’ve been on a taco kick my entire life. I guess it’s just been more pronounced lately. But honest-to-goodness people, what isn’t to love about tacos? It’s good stuff wrapped in good stuff topped with good stuff then eaten with your hands. Win, win, win, WIN!

Tacos aren’t ALL I’ve been obsessed with lately; I just can’t get enough lamb. Mmmmm… tender, succulent, meaty lamb. It’s hard to go wrong there, too. It really was just a matter of time before I made a Greek taco, and it all started with a gorgeous leg of lamb that I dropped into my slow-cooker with garlic, lemon and oregano and braised ’til it fell apart.

You with me?

The pan drippings I reduced and poured over the fally-aparty lamb. The juicy, garlicky lamb got dropped onto baby spinach lined charred flour tortillas and topped with feta cheese…

Next up was a cucumber dill yogurt sauce, diced bell peppers, garlic stuffed kalamata olives and a healthy dose of my drool.

I’m sorry. That kind of ruined it, didn’t it?

The point is this… The lamb was the easiest part of the dish. I move that we all eat more lamb. (This is selfish, really, because I just want it to be as readily available as beef and chicken in grocery stores what with living in the middle of nowhere and everything. I think my Amish neighbors are tired of me stopping by with a cooler, plaintive expression and “Hey! You’re not butchering lamb today, are ya?” questions…)

If you haven’t had lamb before, this is a great recipe to try. It is garlicky, lemony and herbed to a high state of fabulousness. There’s no tricky preparation, no worry about hitting the perfect temperature and no carving. Since the recipe makes a large amount, it is also a great candidate for Make Ahead Monday. Freeze any leftover lamb with the reduced pan juices in meal-sized portions in freezer bags or freezer safe containers. Then, whenever you need a stiff dose of Greek food, you’re only a defrost away from today’s Greek tacos or braised lamb on polenta or braised lamb on lemon dill rice… You get the picture. It’s good stuff to have on hand!

Speaking of getting the picture… Take a closer look at my taco holder.

I have a confession. It wasn’t sold as a taco holder. It was sold -by my favourite pottery shop- as a business card holder. However, being the girl I am, the instant I saw it, I squealed TACO HOLDER! One of the owners of the shop is a friend of mine and a fellow food fan and she said, “Hey! That’s not a bad idea!” So here’s the deal. As far as I know, they’re the only pottery shop who makes these. And word to the wise? They do custom orders. They do not have a website, but they do have this sign on their door, so I’ll share:

All their pottery is dishwasher, oven, and microwave safe. If that doesn’t make it the perfect taco-ware, I just don’t know what does. Staci is the taco/business card holder maker (and maker of this cake plate), for the record. And also for the record? This is NOT a sponsored post, I just think the whole word needs to know about this place.

Now. Onto that lamb and those tacos and some drooling. Really, I am sorry. I should stop.

Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb and Greek Tacos | Make Ahead Monday

Rating: 51

Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb and Greek Tacos | Make Ahead Monday

Don't be intimidated by lamb. This simple, garlicky, lemony, herbed, succulent lamb braises up beautifully in the slow-cooker. Served over polenta, lemon rice or on these fast, fresh, delicious Greek Tacos, you'll be so glad you made enough for more than one meal!

Freezer Friendly for Make Ahead Monday.

Ingredients

For the Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb:

1 (4-6 pound) boneless leg of lamb (*See Notes regarding using bone-in lamb roasts.)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
8 garlic cloves, peeled
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons dry oregano
generous amounts of freshly ground black pepper and salt

For the Greek Tacos:

2 cups Greek yogurt
1/2 of a diced English (seedless) cucumber
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 of a sweet onion, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill weed
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
baby spinach
chopped kalamata or garlic stuffed kalamata olives
finely diced multi-colored bell peppers
crumbled feta cheese
charred or heated flour tortillas

Instructions

To Make the Slow-Cooker Garlicky Lamb:

Place the lamb roast in a slow-cooker and rub it with the black pepper and salt. Add the extra virgin olive oil, on top of the roast and use your hands to rub it around to evenly distribute the oregano and oil. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and scatter the garlic cloves over and around the lamb roast. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until it falls apart easily when two forks are inserted into the center of the roast and pulled in opposite directions. Carefully transfer the roast to a cutting board, pour the pan juices through a strainer over a saucepan, and press the contents of the pan to get as much juice (and roasted garlic) into the saucepan as possible. Over a medium high flame, reduce the pan juices by half. While those reduce, use your hands or two forks to pull the lamb into bite-sized pieces. Pile the lamb into a serving bowl and pour the reduced pan juices over before serving.

Portion leftover lamb into meal-sized servings (along with pan juices) and freeze in freezer bags or freezer safe containers for up to 6 months.

To Make Greek Tacos:

Stir together the Greek yogurt, cucumber, zest and juice of the lemon, diced onion, minced fresh dill weed, and minced garlic. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pile each tortilla with about 5 or 6 baby spinach leaves, a layer of lamb, feta cheese, yogurt sauce, olives and diced peppers. Serve immediately!

Notes

You can definitely make this with bone-in lamb roasts. It will probably take a bit longer (by an hour or two or even more!), but will be even more flavourful. Use whichever you can find most easily and whichever fits your budget best.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/28/slow-cooker-garlicky-lamb-and-greek-tacos-make-ahead-monday/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Lamb, Main Dish, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: family-friendly, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, slow-cooker

Cheeseburger Bites for Super Sunday {giveaway closed}

January 26, 2013 by Rebecca 139 Comments

If there is one immutable law in this house, it is that finger food is always going to disappear like David Copperfield. Anything that is bite-sized, little, on a stick or otherwise easily portable, or shove-into-the-mouth-able is going to be an easy sale.

With Super Sunday—the crowned jewel of the snack food calendar—right around the corner, I’m assembling my master plan for feeding my football-crazy crew keeping them happy, whatever the outcome of the game. We have some tried and true recipes that cannot be left off of the menu (chicken wings, soft pretzel wrapped smoked sausages, dill pickle dip, and more…), but each year we add a fun new recipe or two to the rotation. This year’s star addition is Cheeseburger Bites from the Land O’Lakes Big Game Recipe Collection of simple, crowd-pleasing recipes.

I made this recipe to have on hand for the webinar I co-hosted with Amber from the Land O’Lakes test kitchen this past Friday. A girl has to keep her energy up while she’s chatting up a virtual room full of fabulous bloggers, right? Hi. I’m Rebecca, I’m a stress eater.”

Here’s the point. I made them, put them on the counter, and found five little men at my elbows giving me the usual shake-down: “What’s that?”, “Is that meat?”, “Can I eat one?”, “Can I eat four?”, “Can I eat all of them?”

Before I knew what had happened, three-quarters of the platter was empty.

I only had a handful of Cheeseburger Bites and a bowlful of dark chocolate chunks and pretzels in my lap to sustain me. Poor me.

Cheeseburger Bites for Super Sunday {Giveaway!}

Rating: 41

Cheeseburger Bites for Super Sunday {Giveaway!}

Crispy, simple wonton cups filled with melty, cheesy good cheeseburger filling. Garnish with chopped pickles and sesame seeds for a super Super Bowl (or any game day!) treat.

Ever so gently adapted from and with thanks to the Land O'Lakes Test Kitchen recipe

Ingredients

36-48 wonton wrappers trimmed to 3-inch squares
nonstick cooking spray
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely minced or grated onion
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced or pressed (or 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, preferably freshly ground
1 cup finely chopped dill pickles, divided
1/2 cup milk
14 slices Land O Lakes Deli American
toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack positioned in the middle of the oven.

Lightly spray mini-muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray. Gently press one trimmed wonton square into each muffin cup.

Place pan in the center of the oven rack and bake for 5-10 minutes, watching carefully as they burn easily!

Immediately turn the wonton cups out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. While they cool, turn your attention to the filling.

Add the minced onion, garlic, and black pepper to a small frying or sautee pan. Use your hands to break up the ground beef over the onion and cook over medium heat, breaking the beef down into very small pieces with a sturdy spoon, until it is cooked through and browned. Tear up the slices of American cheese and add them to the pan along with the milk. Continue cooking, stirring to help the process, until the cheese is completely melted and the mixture is creamy. At this point, you can remove some of the mixture for anyone who is not a pickle fiend. To the remaining cheesy beef mixture, add about 1/2 cup of the chopped pickles and stir them in well. Spoon the mixture into the wonton cups and garnish with the rest of the chopped pickles and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

Serve immediately.

Notes

I made a couple of tweaks to the original Land O'Lakes Test Kitchen recipe to suit our family's tastes. Instead of lettuce, we garnished the cheeseburger bites with additional chopped pickles. Because of this added salty component, I omitted the salt called for in the recipe. Additionally, I upped the cheese, because really? How can you go wrong with more cheese? And for no reason other than that I love my cheeseburgers with a hint of garlic and a belt of black pepper, I added garlic and increased the amount of black pepper. We loved it!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/26/cheeseburger-bites-for-super-sunday-giveaway/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Lack of snacks for me aside, the webinar was a hoot. It was my first time on the co-hosting end of one and I have to say it was a real treat to get to interact with so many talented people from the blogosphere.

I really showed my true nerd colours and I admitted to “MacGyvering” my way through dinner parties by using a garden-variety heating pad disguised by a not-yet-ruined-by-boys hand towel to keep a platter of hot appetizers warm. Yeah. I did that. And not only did no one tell me I was nuts, someone actually told me it was a good idea.

My word, you people are the whole package.

Speaking of packages, participating bloggers were given a sweet prize package to give away to readers, self included! These prize packages -I think you’ll agree- are pretty darned fabulous.

One large serving platter, one Emile Henry pizza stone and one coupon for
Land O Lakes^® Deli Cheese and one insulated shopping bag. As Amber from the Test Kitchen shared with us, she uses the insulated grocery bag to carry hot appetizers to friends’ parties. BRILLIANT!

Would you like to win one of these packages for yourself? Here’s how to enter!

MANDATORY ENTRY: Leave a comment here sharing your favourite munchies for game day or any occasion. If your family is insane over the dish, maybe you could even leave some instructions here. Hint hint…

OPTIONAL ENTRIES (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each method you use so you’re sure to get credit for each one.)

Subscribe to Foodie with Family using the handy-dandy “Subscribe to my blog” button in the right hand sidebar then let me know in a comment!

The Pick Giveaway Winner plugin chose ‘seas’ as our winner on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. Please check your email for details!

Hungry for more chances to win? Visit any of these fantastic bloggers who participated in our webinar to enter their giveaways!

Remaking June Cleaver

She Scribes

Being Alison

Disclosure: I’ve partnered with Land O Lakes^® Deli Cheese. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: Big Game Snacks, budget friendly, family-friendly, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, Super Bowl

No-Knead Cottage Cheese Dill Bread | Papa’s Dilly Bread

January 23, 2013 by Rebecca 18 Comments

I have spent my entire life thinking my dad is pretty much the bees-knees and since he just keeps improving with age like a fine wine (or a stinky cheese, as he would say), I’ll just keep carrying on that way. My dad has always been that perfect blend of serious, goofy, cautious and devil-may-care. For example, he’d make sure you put your seatbelt on before driving on roads that were closed due to weather conditions just because he could.

Dad is one of those renaissance men. He’s equally at home screaming at a hockey match, speaking in churches, ploughing snow, operating his ham radios, working on his local volunteer ambulance squad, fishing, reading books, crafting groan-inducing puns, felling trees on a dime, listening to beautiful music, dandling grandkids on his knees, pulling campers on water skis around a lake in a speed boat, putting nervous parents at ease on airplanes, and hiking the vast wilderness trails near where he lives.

With a list of attributes like that, is it any wonder I’m an unapologetic daddy’s girl?

But that’s not all. My dad can bake. He has a specialty bread -one that most everyone who spends a decent amount of time with him gets a chance to taste at some point or another. Dilly Bread. Many years ago, dad took the recipe from the “Deaf Smith Country Cookbook” and made it his own. Translation: he made it better.

To begin with, this recipe is a no-knead recipe. No knead to tinker with that. Ahem.

You just mix the lot up in a big bowl with a sturdy spoon and let it rise in a warm corner. As for the changes, the original recipe called for honey as the sweetener. Dad has mainly used sugar over the years, mainly because -as he says- that’s what he had handy. I stick with the sugar vs. honey, both because it’s easier to measure and it’s a less expensive ingredient. Dad also played with the type and proportion of onion in the recipe. He suggests using minced dehydrated onions because “it’s easier to add more onion to the dough.” I stick with the minced dehydrated onions not only for that reason, but also because this is a very slack, moist dough and the dehydrated onions soak up a bit of that moisture, making it easier to work with. When I asked Dad what kind of flour he prefers (because the book didn’t specify) he said, “Whatever I have on hand, but I did try making it with all whole wheat once and it didn’t rise enough for my liking.” I personally like to toss a little whole wheat in there, so I go for about a 2:1 ratio of all-purpose flour to white whole wheat. Then you get that wonderful toasting quality of whole wheat along with the more impressive rising ability of all purpose.

Now, once your dough is rising, you need to turn your attention to what you’ll use to bake it. I had a double batch of this rising on the counter the other day when I realized that my oven had (once again!) broken. The potential two-fold horror of wasting A.) a batch of perfectly good bread dough for my favourite bread that has B.) four full cups of cottage cheese ($$$$$) in it made me get really creative really quickly. I determined that my little old toaster oven could fit two standard loaf pans in it side-by-side, but that wouldn’t account for the other two loaves worth of dough. I brought out and greased a fistful of ramekins in a fit of desperation and found that it made BEAUTIFUL little individual loaves when baked.

The little loaves somehow skirt the “don’t cut when hot” rule. Why is this? Well, mainly because a tiny, hot loaf of bread just hollers, “Top me with a cold pat of butter and watch it melt!”

And if you do that, you have to do this…

Right?

So- you’re left with choices… standard loaf pans, ramekins, or…by extrapolation… pretty oven-safe bowls. The nice thing about using ramekins for dough was that I had leftover dough that wouldn’t fit anywhere I could bake it before over-rising.

How is this a nice thing now when it’s usually to be avoided?

It’s time I introduce you to yet another one of my dad’s finer ideas… The Baker’s Tax. This is the reason you want to be at my dad’s house when he’s baking. He deliberately ACCIDENTALLY puts a little too much of everything into his mixing bowl so he has too much dough to fit in available pans. He then rolls little bits of the dough out as thin as he can without ripping it, melts an indecent quantity of butter in a cast-iron skillet…

…And fries those rounds of dilly, oniony, cheese-studded dough.

Behold the brilliance of The Baker’s Tax.

If you are nearby when these are fresh from the oven and you have a single lick of sense, you will beat a hot path for the kitchen and be not proud about eating as many of these little rounds of glory as you possibly can. If you should somehow make an entire batch of dough into these, I will tell you that you probably couldn’t find a better possible flat bread to wrap around smoked turkey breast, lettuce and onion with a smear of spicy mustard. But that scenario would presuppose you hadn’t already eaten them all, so we’ll just leave that one alone.

In the meantime, while you’re waiting for your standard loaves of the stuff to bake, contemplate how you want to serve the finished product. Sliced thin, this is just about the best deli-meat sandwich vehicle you’ll ever eat. Toasted on one side in a pan with butter, you can’t imagine a better accompaniment to a fried egg, mug full of soup, or bowl full of stew.

But if you were to slice a couple of hearty pieces of bread, butter them both and stack them around some nice melty cheese, then slowly fry it in a pan until it was deep golden brown and the cheese was gooey, you might just yawp from the pure joy of the thing.

Six out six sturgeon faces agree: any way you slice it, Papa’s Dilly Bread makes people happy.

No-Knead Cottage Cheese Dill Bread | Papa’s Dilly Bread

Rating: 51

No-Knead Cottage Cheese Dill Bread | Papa’s Dilly Bread

This no-knead sandwich bread is flecked with aromatic and flavourful dill and onion and enriched and kept moist by the addition of cottage cheese. The little melted pockets of cheese make this bread one of the ultimate choices for toast. When baked in ramekins, the dough makes beautiful little individual loaves ideal for accompanying meals.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup warm water plus a pinch of sugar
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons neutral oil (like canola, vegetable, or corn)
2 tablespoons raw or granulated sugar
6 tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon dried dill SEED
1 teaspoon dried dill WEED
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 eggs, beaten
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (*See Notes)

Instructions

Gently stir the yeast into the warm water with the pinch of sugar in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes, or until the yeast is frothy. While that rests, whisk together the cottage cheese, milk, oil, sugar, minced onion, dill seed and weed, salt and eggs in a saucepan over low heat just until lukewarm.

Add that to the yeast mixture and stir. Add the flour all at once and use a sturdy spoon to mix until there are no dry pockets of flour and everything is evenly moist. The dough will be shaggy, but that is as it should be. Don't get zealous and try to over work it.

Cover with a damp tea-towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half, or until almost doubled in bulk.

Grease the pans you want to use to cook them (it will yield 2 standard loaf pans but can also be divided among ramekins or baked in oven-proof bowls.) Divide the dough to fill the greased pans by about 1/3. Reserve any leftover dough for The Baker's Tax (See Notes).

Cover the loaf pans with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the risen dough for 30-40 minutes for full-sized loaves or 25-30 minutes for ramekin sized individual loaves.

Remove from the oven and let the loaves rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Store loaves wrapped in a clean towel at room temperature for up to three days, or wrap cooled loaves in a double layer of plastic wrap and freeze for up to three months.

Notes

*If you don't have white whole wheat flour, you can simply substitute an equal amount of all-purpose flour. It will still be delicious.

The Baker's Tax is simply walnut sized pieces of leftover dough rolled out about 1/4-inch thin and fried in melted butter in a cast-iron skillet until deep golden brown and cooked through. It's a reward for baking that you might just like so much you plan ahead to have leftover dough the next time!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/23/no-knead-cottage-cheese-dill-bread-papas-dilly-bread/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Bread, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: Bread, family-friendly, frugal gifts, kid friendly, quick and easy, Vegetarian

Homemade No-Cook Instant Pudding Mix | Make Ahead Mondays

January 21, 2013 by Rebecca 16 Comments

We are on the tail end of a two week tour of our household by the flu. The only person who has -thus far- remained unscathed is my germaphobe husband. Don’t get me wrong, I am the original Purell poster girl, but next to me, my hubby is Howard Hughes. The poor guy looks like a man on death row awaiting his fate. He jumps at the rattle of every cough (which means he’s been getting quite a cardiovascular workout lately.) He’s been bravely facing his fate, making runs to the store for more boxes of tissues, whipping together dinner for his furniture jockey crew, delivering, “Hey! It’s been five days! I bet you’ll be feeling great soon! Can I throw an ibuprofen to you from over here?” pep talks, and sitting on the couch with his tuberculoid family with barely a deer-in-the-headlight look in his eyes.

It’s been anything-goes on television here. The kids have been glutting themselves on Phineas and Ferb, Little Bill (the little guys), Full Metal Alchemist (the big guys), and recorded episodes of Monk, Nova, and Star Trek. (Wavin’ the nerd flag even when sick. Holla!) And food? Oh gosh. Let’s just say that letting my eleven year old mix up a box of instant chocolate pudding for himself sounded like a perfectly reasonable lunch option for a few days especially if it meant I could remain in my chair with a blanket pulled up under my chin. The boxed instant pudding ran out pretty quickly because I don’t stock much of that (two box maximum is my usual count). We prefer homemade cooked pudding for both flavour and nutritive (HA!) value. Look. I know I’ll never win a parenting award for feeding my kids pudding, so I pretend that homemade is enough better for you that it cancels out anything I’m doing wrong. Yes? Anyone?

But I was saying we ran out of instant pudding. TRAGEDY! And my husband had just come home from a tissue procuring mission and retreated to the home-office germ-free fortress. HORRORS! And the kids were hungry and wanted pudding. And I wanted my blankie and chair. So I did what any insane woman would do. I got up and whipped together homemade instant pudding mix. The first iteration of it didn’t go over so well. They said there was a funny after-taste. I -who could taste NOTHING ANYWAY- had to take their word for it. Take two went much more smoothly. In fact, the one child I have who DOESN’T like pudding (to which I say, what have I done wrong?) actually liked it. In fact, he ate his own serving and part of someone else’s serving, too.

There were two mixes I made for the kids: chocolate and vanilla. Almost to a man, they preferred the vanilla with one hold out for the chocolate. Howard Hughes, er, my husband, also preferred the chocolate.

How did I get a pudding texture with no cooking? I used instant clear jel. (Please note, this is an affiliate link.)

Have you used this stuff before? It’s seriously fun. It is a modified corn starch (and thus gluten-free!) that does not require heat to thicken liquids. It’s most commonly used in fresh berry pies or fruit glazes. Mmmmm… Fresh strawberry pie! It can be used to thicken gravies, sauces and stews, too. When you’re using it in a cold application (like a drink, berry pie, or this pudding) the key is to whisk it into other dry ingredients -like sugar- before combining it with the liquid you want to thicken. This prevents clumping in the final product. If you do end up with clumping, all is not lost, though. You can save the day by tossing everything in the blender and whizzing it together or using a stick-blender to bust up the lumps. When it’s fully hydrated, it yields a silky smooth, soft gelled product.

Naturally, the final product is going to be different than the boxed instant pudding… It’s lighter in texture, in fact, it’s almost fluffy and mousse like. The vanilla pudding is milk white and the chocolate is almost speckly looking because of the lack of artificial food colouring. If you want it to look closer to its storebought counterpart, you can add a drop of yellow food dye to the vanilla and a drop of brown to the chocolate.

One final word before I get on with giving you the recipe. Aside from the fact that I was thrilled to be able to avoid going out in the blowing cold with tissues stuffed up my nose to buy boxed pudding mix for my kids, I’m wicked excited about this no-cook instant pudding mix for another reason; my nieces and nephew have some fierce food sensitivities including gluten. My sister, Jessamine, has spent years making everything from scratch for her kids to avoid ingredients that would make them sick. While that’s just fine most of the time, when she’s feeling poorly or her oven is on the fritz (both of which were true this past week), it is nice to have a couple of go-to convenience items. I can’t even wait to shove a big quart jar of this with directions written on a card into her paws the next time I see her. The pudding is naturally gluten-free, being made with modified corn starch but can also easily be mixed up with coconut, soy, almond, or rice milk to yield a deliciously creamy dairy-free, vegan pudding. I’m having fun picturing my nieces and nephew sitting down to a bowl of homemade instant pudding. Sometimes it’s the little things…

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I hear my husband mumbling something about a Spruce Goose…

Homemade No-Cook Instant Pudding Mix | Make Ahead Mondays

Easy to put together and just as easy to turn into pudding, this dry Homemade Instant No-Cook Pudding Mix is a pantry friendly staple that stores for up to a year at room temperature. This mix is a wonderful homemade alternative to its storebought counterpart, is gluten-free and can be prepared to be dairy-free and vegan with coconut, almond, soy, or rice milk.

Ingredients

For Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix:

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups instant clear jel
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix:

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups instant clear jel
2 cups dutch process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

To Prepare Pudding:

2 cups of milk (Whole, 2%, 1% or Fat-free Cow's milk, Goat milk, Coconut, Soy, Almond or Rice milk.)
3/4 cup pudding mix
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (for the vanilla) or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (for the chocolate.)

Instructions

To Make Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix:

Add the granulated sugar, instant clear jel, and salt to the carafe of a blender. Fix the lid firmly in place and blend on high for about 30 seconds, or until the ingredients are completely mixed and finely powdered. Let the contents rest about 5 minutes before transferring to canning jars or airtight containers with tight fitting lids. I use a spoon to transfer the mix to prevent powder going POUF in the air.

To Make Chocolate Instant Pudding Mix:

Add the granulated sugar, instant clear jel and salt to the carafe of a blender. Fix the lid firmly in place and blend on high for about 30 seconds, or until the ingredients are completely mixed and finely powdered. Let the contents rest about 5 minutes before removing the lid and adding the dutch process cocoa powder. Replace the lid tightly and blend on high for about 15 seconds, or until the mixture is a uniform colour. Let the contents rest about 5 minutes before transferring to canning jars or airtight containers with tight fitting lids. I use a spoon to transfer the mix to prevent powder going POUF in the air.

Store the mix in the airtight containers in a cool, dark place for up to a year. A cabinet or basement shelf should work well.

To Make Pudding from Either Mix:

Pour 2 cups of cold milk into a mixing bowl and add the appropriate amount of vanilla extract. Sprinkle 3/4 of a cup of mix over the top and whisk in thoroughly until thickened. If you are having trouble with clumping, you can either pour the contents into a blender and blend on medium until smooth or use a stick blender to break up the lumps and smooth the mixture. It will be soft set immediately, but improves in flavour and texture if it is allowed to rest (with a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface) for at least 30 minutes.

Notes

If the pudding is too soft set, you can add extra pudding mix, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it thickens to your liking.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/21/homemade-no-cook-instant-pudding-mix-make-ahead-mondays/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Oh! And before I go, I want to invite each of you to a Twitter party sponsored by Land O’Lakes tomorrow evening from 8-9pmEST. It will be co-hosted by Amber, from the Land O’Lakes test kitchen and yours truly. We will be talking about recipes from the Big Game Collection for the upcoming Super Bowl, sharing tips for entertaining a crowd, and giving away prizes. All you have to do to participate is tweet using the hashtag #CheeseChatter during that timeframe and you’ll be entered to win one of several prize packages that will include:

One Mario Batali pizza stone
One bamboo cutting board
One six-inch gourmet chef’s knife
Set of four canapé plates
One reusable refrigerated grocery bag
One high-value Land O’Lakes deli cheese coupon

I hope to see you all there! For more information on how to participate, click here!

Filed Under: Desserts, Gluten Free, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, dairy-free, dessert, family-friendly, Frugal Food, gluten-free, kid friendly, quick and easy, vegan, Vegetarian

Balsamic Chicken Dinner Salad

January 16, 2013 by Rebecca 15 Comments

You know those go-to dishes? The ones that you can’t mess up and no matter how often you make them, you never tire of them? The dishes that you can make with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back? You are looking at one of mine.

That, my friends, is a dish I’ve been making for almost two decades. It started as a recipe clipped from a Wegman’s sales circular. Somewhere -about fifteen years ago- I made a couple of changes to the recipe based on what we had on hand and we liked it so much it stayed that way.

Balsamic Chicken Salad. I have an almost Pavlovian response to the name of the dish I love it so much. Tender strips of chicken are tossed with a balsamic vinegar, sun dried tomato and caper pan sauce over a bed of fresh greens.We are talking the ultimate dinner salad, here. If you serve this with a lovely hunk of baguette or some corn muffins and some sweet cream butter, you really don’t need anything else.

Now, if you’re not a salad person *GASP*, or can’t lay your hands on good mixed greens this time of year, don’t let this stop you. The chicken is so good by itself, you must -ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO- make it. I can’t keep my fingers out of the pan sneaking bites here and there. It is wonderful on sandwiches or tossed into bow-tie pasta with a shower of grated Parmesan cheese.

Mercifully, this eminently craveable dish is shockingly fast to make and budget friendly all while being impressive enough for company. You can’t beat that with a stick!

I’ll tell you, it does make quite a bit of chicken. This IS a dinner salad, after all. Don’t fret, though, if you’re cooking for less than a regiment, because the leftovers are great chilled on salad or folded into other dishes (hint hint… There’s a recipe that is especially good with it coming up in the next couple of weeks…)

Balsamic Chicken Dinner Salad

Tender strips of chicken are tossed with a balsamic vinegar, sun dried tomato and caper pan sauce over a bed of fresh greens.We are talking the ultimate dinner salad, here.

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips.
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not the oil packed variety)
1/2 cup semi-dry or dry white wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp brined non pareil capers, drained
5 basil leaves, ripped into strips
Mixed salad greens
salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Heat the white wine in a saucepan or microwave until steam is rising from the top. Pour over the sun-dried tomatoes in a heat-proof bowl and cover with a saucer or plastic wrap. Set aside to rehydrate.

Sprinkle the sliced chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Place a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. When the oil is shimmery, add as much of the chicken as you can without overcrowding the pan.

Sautee the chicken until just cooked through and lightly browned. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. Repeat with the remaining chicken, adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil each time. You will probably have 3 batches, depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

When the final batch of chicken has been removed from the pan, add any remaining olive oil and the garlic and stir for about 15 seconds, or until the garlic is fragrant. Add the vinegar stir the remove any tasty bits stuck to the pan. When the vinegar boils up and starts to thicken, add the sun-dried tomatoes in the white wine, the capers, the basil, and return the chicken to the pan. Toss to coat and heat through. Remove the pan from the heat.

Add two cups of mixed salad greens to a plate for each of the desired number of servings and use tongs to arrange about a cup of chicken over each salad. Spoon pan sauces over the chicken, if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/16/balsamic-chicken-dinner-salad/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, kid friendly, quick and easy, salad

Green Olive Tapenade | Make Ahead Mondays {GIVEAWAY CLOSED}

January 14, 2013 by Rebecca 102 Comments

I love rich and indulgent food. I love butter, heavy cream, all manner of bread, bacon and the like. I also love healthy food. It all depends on what is going on, what’s freshest and what’s available to me. After the holiday food madness, my food pendulum tends to swing a little further toward the healthier food cravings. I’m more likely to have a desperate desire for broiled fish than a buttery chocolate custard. It has nothing to do with resolutions, because I’ve never been a New Year’s resolution girl; that’s just how I am this time of year.

Don’t misunderstand me; my taste buds have not taken a leave of absence. I still want delicious food. This is where I rely on bold flavours that deliver big like this Green Olive Tapenade. Indulge me for a moment if you’re a tapenade-aholic while I dig into what it is for the benefit of those who haven’t yet tried this ambrosia.

Tapenade -in it’s most traditional form- is a spread or dip made of black olives with capers and anchovies. It is served with bread or crackers or added as a fast-and-easy WHIZZBANG flavour component to sandwiches, flat-breads and many other dishes. For instance, I love a light layer of tapenade atop the aforementioned broiled fish. It’s the difference between plain old broiled fish and “Oooooh! Broiled Fish!”

While I am an Equal Opportunity Tapenade Lover, there is a special place in my heart and in my stomach for Green Olive Tapenade. I chalk this up to the fact that I didn’t discover a love of green olives until I was pregnant with my first child. It’s a matter of mathematics. I must make up for time lost NOT eating things with green olives by eating many things with green olives. I believe my physicist baby sister would agree with this theory. Let’s ask her. Airlia? Are you reading this?

My Green Olive Tapenade is extra fabulous for more than one reason, though. While the traditional tapenade is almost entirely made of salty preserved things (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Believe me, I’ve consumed and will continue to consume more than my share of the stuff…) I like to make mine more exciting with the addition of fresh herbs, garlic, lemon, and flavourful sun-dried tomatoes. It practically sings from the bowl, “I waaaaaaant you to want me. I neeeeeeeeeeed you to need me!”

Please tell me food sings songs from the 80′s to you, too.

In addition to all it’s deliciousness, tapenade has some health benefits. It’s true! Olives are full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. These are the good fats that help control cholesterol and blood sugar. Don’t you love it when great food is great for you?

Now, before I give you this ultimate Make Ahead Monday fabulousness (because once made, the Green Olive Tapenade is good for up to a month when tightly covered in the refrigerator. Tapenade things with wild abandon!) I will put on a dazzling display of mind reading. I sense it deep in my core that the second I said ‘anchovies’ some folks started pulling faces. No nose twitching allowed unless you’re certifiably allergic to fish. Anchovies add that certain je ne sais quois to dishes. Since all the ingredients are chopped or ground together, I defy you to find the presence of anchovy in tapenade. While you won’t be able to say, “A-HA! I taste ANCHOVY!” if you include the wee little fishies, you will most certainly know you’re missing a certain depth of flavour if you omit them. Take the plunge, or your tapenade attempt will sleep with Luca Brasi AND the fishes.

Please make yourself a batch of Green Olive Tapenade. You’re going to want to have it on hand for an impossibly easy and delicious Super Bowl treat I’ll be sharing with you in the next couple of weeks. You really won’t want to miss it!

Green Olive Tapenade | Make Ahead Mondays {GIVEAWAY}

Rating: 51

Green Olive Tapenade | Make Ahead Mondays {GIVEAWAY}

Your taste buds will sing for joy when you eat this fast, delicious Green Olive Tapenade full of briny olives and capers, fresh herbs, garlic, lemon, and flavourful sun-dried tomatoes.

Serve as an accompaniment to bread, crackers, crisps, vegetables or use as a topping for fish, chicken, pork. A spoonful or two tossed with hot pasta is one of the world's fastest comfort food dishes!

Ingredients

2 cups drained Manzanilla olives with pimientos
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons brined capers + a little of their brine
7 anchovy fillets (from a can of packed-in-olive-oil anchovies)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped, oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
the juice and zest of one whole lemon
3 fresh basil leaves
1/2 to 1 small clove of garlic, peeled and minced or pressed

Instructions

Add all ingredients to the workbowl of a food processor* (See Note) fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until everything is evenly chopped. You can leave it more coarse for spooning on top of things or grind it up a little more to use as a dip or sauce. It is a matter of personal preference.

Notes

If you do not have a food processor, don't fret! Finely chop your herbs and sun-dried tomatoes then add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl and use a sturdy spoon to smash them together. It will be a more rustic but no less delicious tapenade!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/01/14/green-olive-tapenade-make-ahead-mondays-giveaway/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Update:The giveaway is now closed. Pick a Giveaway Winner chose Katee L as our random winner. Check your email and congratulations, Katee!

More giveaway fun! Wasa Crispbreads (pictured above with the Green Olive Tapenade) have offered to help kickstart one Foodie with Family reader’s holiday foods reset. The crispbread’s pure, natural grain flavours shine through ready to be topped with anything you wish, whether salty or sweet. Because the crispbreads themselves are not salted, they are a superior choice for serving with salty Green Olive Tapenade and other savoury spreads. My kids also love them topped with cream cheese and candied jalapeños or blueberry jam.

Wasa is giving away the following prize package to one Foodie with Family reader in the United States.

1 $25 gift card (That would buy enough ingredients for a VAT of Green Olive Tapenade!)
2 packages of Wasa Crispbreads so you can discover your own favourite way to eat them.

How do you enter?

Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment on this post telling me what you do to reset after the holidays. Do you do resolutions? Do you crave healthy foods? Are you still doing holiday activities?

Optional Entries: (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each optional entry method used so we can be sure to count it!)

Like Foodie with Family on Facebook.
Follow Foodie with Family on Twitter.
Follow Foodie with Family’s boards on Pinterest.
Like Wasa on Facebook.
Follow Wasa on Twitter.

The winner will be chosen at random and announced here on this post on Wednesday, January 16, 2013. Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: Wasa provided crispbreads for me to review and compensation for my additional ingredients, but all opinions are -as always- my own.

Filed Under: Condiments, Happy Healthy and Wise, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, Frugal Food, quick and easy, Vegetarian

Earl Grey Raisin Scones with Sticky Lemon Glaze | Downton Grub Files

January 12, 2013 by Rebecca 23 Comments

The body of this post and the printable recipe do NOT contain SPOILERS, however, I cannot make any promises about the comments section. If you are not caught up on Downton Abbey (Episode 1 of Season 3 as of this writing on January 12th, 2013), you may not want to read comments. I also ask -No, I BEG and PLEAD- that our friends overseas (or those who somehow saw all of Season 3 already) refrain from giving away what happens in any episodes past where I am!

Whoopsie! Forgot to include how MUCH cream in the ingredients list. It is fixed now!

I am an unapologetic anglophile from television programs to music to art to literature to food.

It is an idea that started with a simple question on the Foodie with Family facebook page…

“Are there any Downton Abbey fans here?”

In sixteen hours, more than seventy people ‘liked’ the post and there were twenty four comments. I knew I wasn’t the only mega Downton Abbey fan out there. Obviously. I hear internet chatter. I read newspapers. I see the news. I know it’s a big deal. What I didn’t know was how many Foodie with Family readers would be interested in me blathering on about how on Sunday the children are duct taped into bed after I rush home from taking my eldest to youth group at lightning speed just so I can see the Dowager Countess, Lady Grantham, Lady Mary, Sybil, Edith, week-ends, Mr. Bates and Anna, the abhorrent Thomas, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Pattimore, Daisy, Mrs. O’Brien, upstairs and downstairs, and lush costuming.

OH, THOSE COSTUMES. The dresses! The DRESSES, I tell you!!!!!!

Yes, I record it on the DVR, but if you have to ask that, you’re not getting my point. I want to watch it the very second it’s airing on PBS. I don’t want to wait one fraction of a second to get my weekly Downton fix.

More than I want to dress like Lady Mary, do something jolly with my hair like Edith, or just plain LOOK like Sybil from time to time, I want to be as witty, incorrigible and stalwart as the Dowager Countess Violet. Every time she speaks, I hush the imaginary people in the room with me. Imaginary, because I DO NOT allow anyone in the room with me lest they should talk over, wiggle, or otherwise interrupt my show.

My husband likes to sit in the other room with the door closed and laugh at me as I yell at the t.v. (Thomas, Mrs. O’Brien, and the former Mrs. Bates, I’m looking at you…), swoon (Oh hello, Lady Mary and Matthew, Anna and Mr. Bates. Yes. You all make my heart go pitter patter.), and otherwise sigh, moon, and mope when episodes conclude. After listening to me watch the conclusion of Season 2, he asked, “Is that what I sound like when I watch football?” My response included something intimating that if football had dresses like that I’d watch it, too.

I was late to the Downton party because of a fun little personality quirk where I deliberately avoid trying anything large crowds of people love. Yeah. That’s working out really well… So far, I can add Harry Potter books, Downton Abbey, and So You Think You Can Dance to that list.* The ONLY advantage to having taken so long to discover the series (midway through Season 2) was that I got to park myself on the couch for an indecent amount of time and watch Season 1 in one sitting.

*To be fair to myself, I can also add the Twilight books, which -after reading- led me to conclude that my personality quirk might actually be useful in some ways. To quote Snorg Tees, “Real men don’t sparkle. Real men defeat dark wizards!”

I quickly discovered that I really couldn’t get through an episode of the show without something to eat since so much of it revolves around time spent at the dinner table or in the kitchen. Since I love a good theme, I decided to stock myself with British Isles treats to nibble while slowly and inexorably becoming part of my furniture. And here’s where my idea came sidling in like Mr. Carson in the dining room. Why not post a little of the grub I made to sustain myself during my Downton Abbey marathon sessions? Just as quickly as the thought was hatched, I could almost hear the Dowager Countess saying, “What IS grub?” The Dowager Countess is apparently my grammatical conscience.

Today is my first contribution to the Downton Grub Files and it’s a doozy; Earl Grey Raisin Scones with Sticky Lemon Glaze. These moist, flaky scones are packed with Earl Grey soaked raisins and a touch of lemon zest and topped with a sticky, absolutely, unequivocally un-Downton finger-licking, Sticky Lemon Glaze. Every time you bite into one of the juicy soaked raisins, you get a little subtle pop of Earl Grey tea. I’m pretty sure Mrs. Patimore would be a-okay with slurping the glaze from your fingers, so go for it.

Tune in every Saturday while Downton Abbey airs for a great new classic British fare recipe to eat while you watch on Sundays! Who’s your favourite on Downton? What moments made you GASP? Cry? Scream at the television? (Come on, I can’t be the only one who did it!)

Earl Grey Raisin Scones with Sticky Lemon Glaze | Downton Grub Files

Moist, flaky lightly lemony scones studded with Earl Grey soaked golden raisins are perfect to nibble while watching Downton Abbey or just because you can.

Ingredients

1 cup golden raisins soaked in 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) hot, extra-strong Earl Grey tea for at least an hour
4 cups (1 pound 1 ounce, by weight) all-purpose flour (preferably King Arthur all-purpose or Galahad flour.)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons (1 a stick of butter or 4 ounces by weight), very cold and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, divided
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
zest of one lemon, divided
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

Pour the raisins and tea into a fine mesh strainer and let drain thoroughly.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add about 1/2 of the cubed butter and work in with a fork, two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture resembles lentils. Add the remaining butter and work in, leaving some slightly larger pea sized -or even larger- flakes of butter.

Add half of the lemon zest, and the drained raisins to the flour, then toss through gently until evenly distributed, taking care not to mash it in. Add 1 1/2 cups of the cream, sprinkling it over the top, then tossing to combine. Pick up a small amount of the mixture and try squeezing it gently together. If it crumbles, or if there are dry crumbs in the bottom of the bowl, add more cream -1 tablespoon at a time- until you have a mixture that holds together as a shaggy dough when squeezed gently. Use a bench scraper or spatula to gently fold the dough in on itself until it forms a shaggy mass you can turn out onto a very lightly floured surface.

Divide the dough in half and gently pat out the dough into two 7-8 inch discs that are about 3/4 of an inch thick. Carefully transfer the discs to a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a bench knife or Chef's knife to cut each disc into 8 wedges, cutting straight down and not sawing back and forth to help it rise higher in the oven. Gently separate the wedges so there is a little space between them.

Whisk together the remaining lemon zest, the lemon juice and the sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Lightly brush the tops of the unbaked scones with the glaze.