Reinventing the Breakfast Biscuit

This is a simple variation on a breakfast biscuit or popover using biscuit dough.  The trick to any kind of hand-pie is to cook the fillings first, so if you keep that in mind you can stuff these with just about anything.

Breakfast Pies
1 can refrigerated large biscuits
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 pound bulk country sausage
1/4c chopped onion
1/4c chopped bell pepper
1/2c shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
flour
water

Cook the sausage until it's brown and crumbly.  Drain and set aside.  Saute the onions and peppers, then add the eggs and scramble them together.  When they're done, stir in the sausage and remove from heat.

The biscuits should be of the large "Grands" variety that come eight to a can.  I think the non-flaky kind work best.  Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on the biscuit can.  Open the can and separate the biscuits.  On a floured surface, roll the biscuits into flat circles.

Dip your finger in water and moisten the edge of the biscuit circle.  Place a couple spoonfuls of the egg mixture on the biscuit and top with cheddar cheese.  Fold the biscuit over and press the edges with a fork to seal them.  Place the pie on a cookie sheet and repeat until you've used all the biscuits.

Bake according to the biscuit directions until golden.  Serve warm.

You could certainly make your own biscuits, if you prefer!

You could add almost anything to this, like potato, spinach, or mushrooms. You could leave the egg out and use feta to make a nice veggie pocket.  Just remember that when it goes in the oven you're only cooking the biscuit, so make sure all the fillings are pre-cooked.

Biscuits

I love biscuits!  We had a cold snap recently and delicious southern-style biscuits hot from the oven were just what I needed to keep the chill off. They're easy, economical, and use ingredients I always have on hand.  For my non-American friends, these are a light flaky non-yeast bread that is probably closest to a scone.

I used to use Bisquick, but I've since discovered that I like scratch biscuits better.  Here's the very best biscuit recipe I've found, from La Belle Cuisine.  The author notes that lard, which is rendered animal fat, makes a crisper biscuit than vegetable shortening.  I don't keep lard around and these are pretty crisp with Crisco; one day I'll try them with lard.

If you do not keep buttermilk or buttermilk solids around you can use 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in enough milk to make one cup total (remember the acid will flavor the milk, so white vinegar is best).  Let it stand five minutes so the milk sours properly.

Southern Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons lard or solid vegetable shortening
3/4 cup buttermilk

Makes 25 to 30 biscuits

Sift the dry ingredients into a roomy bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture has the texture of coarse corn meal. Add the buttermilk and mix with your hand, lightly but thoroughly. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. Knead for 1 minute. Wrap in wax paper or foil and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Roll the dough out 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface or pastry cloth. (Always roll from the center out for tender, crisp biscuits.) Cut the dough into the desired size biscuits.

Place the biscuits on a dark baking sheet and bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

I used a 3-inch biscuit cutter and got 12 biscuits.  I don't have a dark baking sheet; the difference is whether the pan absorbs or reflects heat, but mine came out fine. Serve them warm with butter or jam; smother them in country gravy for breakfast; or use them instead of bread in your sandwich!

Ridiculously Easy Donuts

I was looking for an easy but special Christmas morning breakfast, as our morning routine goes completely out the window when there's a tree full of presents involved.  I was actually having a hankering for beignets (diet be damned), but had that time consuming project derailed when Dyadem, one of the EQ2 ZAM regulars, mentioned donuts in IRC. There are an awful lot of gamers at ZAM who are also excellent cooks! 

Anyway, Dyadem linked a picture of beautiful donuts he had just made, then said there was no recipe involved.  His secret?  Pre-fab biscuits.  I was skeptical.  I figured if you fried a biscuit you'd get something that tasted like fried biscuit, right? Wrong.  You end up with something close enough to a donut as to make no difference at all.  The flaky layers apparently don't flake when you fry them.  So here's how I did it.

Ridiculously Easy Donuts

1 can refrigerated biscuit dough (I like the large ones)
at least one quart of oil for frying
Toppings (see below)

Heat the oil for frying.  I use a kitchen kettle, but you could do these in a frying pan if you had at least an inch of oil.  Joy of Cooking says the easy way to remember the proper temperature for frying oil is to think of the days of the year:  365° is right on the money.

While the oil heats open the can of biscuits and separate them.  Dyadem said he used an empty salt shaker to cut the holes, and that worked well for me too.  Fry the biscuits a couple minutes on each side until they have a lovely golden color. Remove from the oil (a slotted spoon works great) and let drain on paper towels.  Don't forget to fry the holes!

Toppings

• For sugar donuts, top them with powdered or granulated sugar while they're hot.
• For chocolate donuts, Melt 1/4 c chocolate chips in the microwave by heating on high 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time, until they are melted. 
• For glazed, take 1 cup powdered sugar and add up to 4 tsp milk one tsp at a time until it's the right consistency.
• For quick and dirty maple icing, substitute maple flavoring or syrup for some of the milk in the glaze.
• Sprinkles stick best to glazed donuts.

Happy New Year!

Well, we survived the holiday season! As you can tell from my lack of posts, it's been a busy one. I thought for my first post of the new year I'd share some recipes I found over the holidays.

I was looking for a "real" crueler, which is a type of doughnut that has an eggy cake rather than a raised cake. Turns out what I wanted was a French crueler, which is made from pate a choux. I haven't got it quite right; I suspect that the texture I'm looking for inside happens when you bake the dough, not fry it, but I learned how to make beignets. It seems every culinary tradition has some kind of fried dough; this one is French.

Pate a Choux is the pastry dough used to make cream puff and eclair casings. I've seen it worked with when I was in catering, but I've never made it. It was remarkably easy, just follow the directions meticulously. I found a dandy visual guide at Culinary Alchemy. The recipe is from Foodista.

Beignets

Oil for frying
1 cup flour
4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup water or milk
1/3 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs at room temperature

In a large heavy skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat 3 inches oil to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar and nutmeg, set aside. In medium saucepan heat water or milk, butter and salt over medium heat until boiling and butter is melted. Add vanilla, then add flour mixture all at once. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball. Continue stirring a few minutes more to dry. Remove from heat and beat until slightly cooled. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Using 2 spoons, shape a generous tablespoon dough into an oblong and drop into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 at a time, turning beignets as they rise to the surface. Fry 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle immediately with sifted confectioners' sugar. Repeat with remaining batter.

Because of my current bagel obsession, I have been following LoveMyPhilly on Twitter. I discovered Philly's Cheesecake Customizer that way, the results from which inspired this recipe. I started by making peach pie filling (I halved the recipe) out of those canned peaches.

Peach Walnut Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sugar

Cheesecake batter:
2 8oz packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup peach pie filling
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Topping:
1/2 cup peach pie filling
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, with the ends extending well over the sides. Mix crust ingredients; press firmly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just blended. Fold in sour cream. Stir in pie filling and nuts. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts and top with remaining pie filling.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Last but not least, a really simple brunchy-type thing that we had the day after Christmas and there wasn't a single crumb left. This is easily adaptable: I've made it with sausage crumbles and pepperjack cheese and I think smoked ham and asiago cheese would work well too. Here's the original recipe from Grouprecipes.

Bacon-Cheese Pull-Aparts

1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 can refrigerated biscuits
1 2.1 oz package precooked bacon, cut into small pieces
3 oz (3/4c) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

Heat oven to 350F. Spray an 11x7 or 12x8 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl beat tge egg and milk until smooth. Separate the biscuits into individuals and cut each one into quarters. Gently stir the biscuit pieces into the egg mixture to coat evenly. Fold in bacon, cheese and onions. Spoon the mixture into the baking dish, arranging the biscuit pieces in a single layer.

Bake at 350F for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares.