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Pomegranate Streusel Muffins

POM Wonderful really is wonderful. I remember the days before POM, when I was a kid, and I had to get on my "dirty clothes"  and sit in the bathtub just to eat a pomegranate. Seriously, actual fact. Now, you can buy all these great pomegranate related products, all the antioxidant and yumminess without the blood-like stains. Win, win.

I made these during Rosh Hashanah. I’m not Jewish, but I have recently had the honor of learning about all the beautiful food traditions the Jewish religion has. I had lunch with my friend Tori, of The Shiksa In The Kitchen, the other day and she told me all about eating pomegranets during the Jewish New Year to "to remind ourselves that our good deeds in the coming year should be plentiful." Now, who can’t get behind that? Wouldn’t the world just be a better place if we all took a second to remind ourselves to do more good deeds in the coming year?

Besides the beautiful symbolism of eating pomegranates during the High Holiday, these muffins were awesome. I was so happy with how they turned out.

Pomegranate Streusel Muffins

2/3 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup almonds, chopped (BTW: POM Wonderful ALSO has almonds! And, they’re great)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 sticks butter, cold, cut into cubes

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice

1/2 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate seeds

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl add the white sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, almonds, cinnamon, pecans, oats and salt. Stir to combine. Add the butter cubes and using either your hands or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is well combined and resembles crumbs. Measure three cups of the crumb mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Put the rest of the crumbs into the refrigerator to chill.

Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and pomegranate juice to the mixer. Mix on medium/low speed until just combined. Don’t over mix. Add the pomegranate seeds and stir to combine.

Spray the wells of a muffin tin with butter flavored cooking spray. Add the batter to the wells until about 1/2 way full. Top with the chilled crumbs until the wells are filled to just below the top, about 1 or 2 tbs of crumbs.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Makes 20 muffins

Cheddar Beer Biscuits

When you go about baking biscuits, beer is a great addition. Not only because beer is fantastic will every possible edible substance, but because the the carbonation is an amazing leavening agent that lends itself well to culinary beer usage.

For this recipe I used a Orange Wheat beer from Hangar 24, a Southern California based brewery. The beer was beautiful and the flavors where perfect for these biscuits. When I pick up a beer with fruit on the label, I am initially a touch apprehensive. I wait for the possibility of a Hard Cider like taste with the hesitation of a contused prostitute, before taking a sip. I am HAPPY to report that the natural orange was perfectly subtle and a well balanced citrus flavors, with a clean, crisp finish.

Even after cooking, the flavors stayed intact and complimented the white cheddar beautifully.

 

I also used Kerrygold cheese, although this has nothing to do with Oktoberfest, it’s just really great cheddar. The flavors are perfect for this recipe.

Cheddar Beer Biscuits

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sugar

1 stick (8 tbs) butter, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup craft wheat beer (Orange Wheat from Hanger 24 preferred)

1/2 cup white cheddar (Kerrygold reserve preferred)

Preheat oven to 400.

Put the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in your food processor and pulse until combined. Add your butter cubes and  process until the butter is evenly distributed, about 1-2 minutes.

Move to a bowl and add the cheese and beer and stir until combined.

 

Dump the dough onto a floured surface. Squish together with your hands to form a ball and then flatten into a rectangle about 6  inches wide and 10 inches long and 2 inches high. Use a sharp knife to cut the biscuits into squares.

 

You can make them as big or small as you want, but this recipe will make 6-8 average sized biscuits.

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with a bit of sea salt and pepper.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown.

 

Oktoberfest Beer Recipe: Cheddar Beer Biscuits

Oktoberfest started this past Saturday, September 17th, marking the 201st anniversary of this high holiday devoted to beer. In honor of the German festivities, I am declaring this week "Beer Week" on Domestic Fits.

I have a love and a passion for really fantastic craft beer that started while working as a waitress at a micro brewery when I was in college. I was able to get a tour of the brewery and a crash course in beer making from two very excited, self proclaimed "Beer Geeks." Up until this point the idea of a "Beer Guy" conjured up images of frat boys playing beer pong, but the Geeks changed all that for me. They were excited about the beer, the flavors, the process of it and the difference between an Ale and a Lager (FYI: there are several differences but the main difference is a Lager is brewed longer). I was hooked and a world of flavors opened up. Lucky for me, the West Coast has a fantastic, seemingly endless, supply of craft beers. If you are ever so lucky to visit us, and you love the art of beer, take a tour of a microbrewery. Beer guys are the nicest breed.

Although the true Oktoberfest celebrations won’t allow any beer to be served at the festival that aren’t brewed within the Munich City limits, I decided against using German beer. I love German beer, its lovely, but the locavore spirit of using what is close by is what I wanted to capture. For this recipe I used a Orange Wheat beer from Hanger 24, a Southern California based brewery. The beer was beautiful and the flavors where fantastic for these biscuits

I also used Kerrygold cheese, although this has nothing to do with Oktoberfest, it’s just really great cheddar. The flavors are perfect for this recipe.

Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

Get the recipe on my other blog, The Beeroness!

Jalapeno Brioche Rolls

Happy National Spicy Food Day! Seriously, its a day. August 19th is dedicated to the celebration of spicy food. I love spicy food, and have a tendency to look at a dish and think, "And how would this taste with jalapenos?" Which is where these rolls came from. I took perfectly innocent, delightful brioche rolls and corrupted them with jalapenos. Just like I did with that Mac N Cheese, and those cornbread muffins. It might be a sickness.

Jalapeno Brioche Rolls

1/4 cup chopped jalapenos

2 tbs butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup  milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1 envelope of dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoons salt

3 large eggs

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Chop the jalapenos, removing the seeds.

Heat 2 tbs of butter in a pan over medium heat until melted. Add the jalapenos and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool. Combine the milk and the water and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds, test the temperature (you want it between 105 and 110) and repeat until the desired temperature is reached. Put your warm milk/water  and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Sprinkle the yeast on top and allow it to get foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the flour and with the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until its combined into a flaky ball (about 1 1/2 minutes).

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined.

Add the softened butter (softened is important) and the jalapenos,  beat until the dough gathers around the hook and is smooth and shiny.

Coat the inside of a bowl with olive oil and place the dough ball in it

Wrap with plastic wrap leave in a warm place until it’s double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Grab the dough at the sides until it has deflated.

Allow to rise a second time at room temperature, until it has doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Remove from the bowl and shape into a long log, about 4 inches wide and 1 foot long.

Using a sharp knife, cut in 3 equal sized pieces.

Then cut each of those pieces in half (you will now have 6 pieces.)

Now cut each of those pieces in half and you will have 12 equal sized pieces.

Each of these pieces will be a roll, but you have to make some more cuts first.

Cut each slice into 3 equal sized pieces, rolling each into a ball and placing all three into the same well of a muffin tin. Repeat for each slice.

Cove with plastic wrap, place in the fridge and allow to double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with Roasted Garlic Butter.

Truffled Soft Pretzels with Smokey Garlic Aioli

 

A few weeks ago I professed my love for Hepp’s Salt Barrel. They have this amazing Black Truffle salt that I have a huge culinary crush on. I’ve spent that last week inventing a recipe that would showcase this gorgeous spice. What better vehicle for salt consumption than a pretzel? Salt makes everything taste better, but in this case, it’s the star.

Truffled Soft Pretzels with a Smokey Garlic Aioli

1 cup water, warmed between 105-110 degrees fahrenheit

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp active yeast

2 2/3 cups flour

1/4 cup truffle oil (can use olive oil instead) plus 2 tbs, divided

2 tbs veggtable oil

5 cups of water

1/2 cup baking soda

1 tbs black truffle salt

Aioli:

4 cloves of garlic

1 tbs olive oil, plus 1 tbs, divided

3 egg yolks

1 whole egg

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/8 tsp salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, sugar and then sprinkle the yeast on top. Give it five minutes to get foamy before proceeding. With a dough hook attachment, put the mixer on low and slowly add the flour and kosher salt. slowly add the 1/4 cup truffle oil, then increase the speed to medium and allow the mixer to knead the dough unit it’s smooth and gathers around the hook about 6-8 minutes. Coat the inside of a glass or metal bowl with the vegetable oil. Gather the dough into a ball and place inside your oily bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm place for about an hour or until it’s doubled in size (this may be a good time to start working on the aioli, instructions at the bottom).

Preheat your oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bring the water and baking soda to boil in a pot on the stove.

Remove the dough and place on a sheet of parchment paper (if you don’t have parchment paper, use a clean oiled surface that will resist the dough sticking to it). Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into three equal sized pieces, then cut each of those pieces in half, giving you six equal sized pieces of dough.

grab one end of the dough and hold so that the other end hangs towards the ground. Using your other hand, gently squeeze the dough from top to bottom to form a long rope, using gravity to assist. You can also try rolling the dough on an oiled surface, to form a 12-18 inch rope of dough. Place on the parchment paper, forming a U shape, then brining each end in towards the bottom, crossing the ends in the middle to form a pretzel shape, pressing the ends in to secure them in place. Once the water has come to a boil, add one pretzel at a time. Allow the pretzel to boil on one side for 20 seconds and then flip it over and allow to boil on the other side for 20 seconds and remove and place on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper. once all of the pretzels have been shaped and boiled, brush with the  remaining truffle oil and sprinkle with the truffle salt. Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes or until a dark golden brown.

To make the aioli, you first need to roast the garlic. I prefer to roast whole cloves at a time, because it smells amazing, and you can always use roasted garlic in just about everything. But you only need 4 cloves for this recipe so that’s what we’ll do. Preheat your oven to 450. Take your four cloves from the bulb and leave the paper skin on. Place on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tbs olive oil. Fold the aluminum into a tight package and place in a baking dish. Roast in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes, allow to cool. In a food processor, add the yolks, whole egg, smoked paprika and salt. Cut the root of you roasted garlic bulbs (where it was attached to the clove) and squeeze the garlic out and add to the food processor.  Turn the food processor on and allow to process for about 3 minutes, or until thick and frothy. While your food processor is still on, slowly, slowly add the remaining 1 tbs oil, a tiny bit at a time. Allow to process for a few more minutes, until thick.

Serve your pretzeles right away. These just don’t keep very well, so if you have leftovers the next day, put them in your food processor because they make amazing bread crumbs. Keep the pretzel bread crumbs in an air-tight container in your refrigerator.

 

Roasted Garlic and Spinach Muffins Stuffed With Goat Cheese

I love to stuff food with other food. It’s so fun to try and figure out exactly how that can be done. These turned out beautifully, but if you would rather not eat stuffed muffins, you can always serve the goat cheese mixture as a spread.

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic

1-2 tbs olive oil

6 tbs of butter

1 cup of chopped fresh spinach

1/4 cup of onion, chopped

2 1/2 cups of flour

3 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs rosemary, minced

1 1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup oil

2 eggs

5 oz goat cheese

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Makes 12 muffins

Preheat oven to 400. If you have never roasted garlic before, it’s time you start. I love roasted garlic so much, its great to add to so many recipes or just use as a spread on toast. Plus, it smells amazing.  Start by chopping off the top of the garlic to expose the cloves inside. Put him on a sheet of aluminum foil and pour about 1-2 tbs of olive oil over him, salt and pepper.

gcm-garlic-po

Close the foil into a tight package, put in a baking dish and cook for about 30-40 minutes or until garlic is soft.

gcm-garlic-oo

While the garlic is roasting, heat the butter in sauce pan over medium heat until melted and bubbly. Add the onions and the spinach and saute until onions are translucent and spinach is soft. Allow to cool

in a large bowl, add the flour, salt, rosemary and baking powder and whisk until well combined. make a well in the center. In another bowl, add the eggs, milk and oil. Once your garlic is done cooking and you have allowed him to cool a bit. Squeeze the garlic into the liquids bowl and break up the pieces as much as you can. Make sure that the papery skin doesn’t make it into the bowl. Stir the wet ingredients until well combined. Add the wet ingredients and the butter/spinach mixture to the well you made in the dry ingredients and still until combined, but don’t over mix. Add the batter to a greased muffin tin until each well is about 2/3 full.

In a small bowl, add the goat cheese, tomatoes, salt and pepper.

gcm-cheese-tomatoes

Mix until combined and then form balls with your hands using about 2 tsp of the cheese mixture.

gcm-cheese-valls

Add the cheese balls to the middle of the batter filled muffin tin, press down slightly.

gcm-po

Put the muffin tin in the refrigerator and allow to chill for 15 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

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gcm-finished5

Drunken Southern Scones: Bourbon Peach

I came across these adorable small little white peaches at my local market. Beautiful, firm, fragrant and adorable. I walked around the store muttering to myself, “Peaches, Peaches, what goes with peaches…” Ginger? Too trite. Blueberry? Too expected. Tequila? Hmmm…too “Spring Break Hangover.” Bourbon just seemed to fit the bill. I love cooking with bourbon, the sweetness is a perfect complement to the peaches. The vessel for my bourbon soaked peaches? Scones. Drunken Southern Scones.

scone-peach-bourbon-bottle

If you don’t have the adorable small versions, a regular size peach is fine.  I leave the skin on, but feel free to take it off if that’s what you like. While cutting these little guys, the peach seeds broke in half more often than not. Out came the mellon baller, a perfect sollution

scones-peach-pit-baller

Preheat oven to 375.

Dice two cups of peaches

scones-2-cups

In a pan, over medium heat, add 4 tbs butter, 1 cup sugar and your diced peaches

scones-peaches-pan-start

Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes. You will know that the peaches will be ready once the sauce leaves a track behind when you drag your spoon through it

scones-pan-track

Then add a 1/4 cup of bourbon (I like Buffalo Trace) and stir over medium heat until the sauce thickens again, about 3 minutes

scones-bourbon-pour

At some point while the peaches are cooking, start the dry ingredients. 3 cups of flour, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, whisk together in a bowl and form a well in the middle.

scones-flour-well

After the peaches have cooled, add them to the middle of the well you have created in the dry ingredients,

scones-flour-peaches-well

stir together until well combined with the dry ingredients. It will be flaky and crumbly. Add 1/3 cup Greek yogurt and stir until a soft dough forms.

scones-yougurt

Mound the dough onto a floured surface and form a log that is about 14 inches long by 1 1/2 inches tall

scones-log

Cut into 6 to 7 equal sized  slices

scones-cut-1

then cut the slices diagnoaly to form two triangles for each slice

scones-cut-2

Bake in the oven at 375 for about 12-15 minutes or until goldeny brown.

scones-single-pre-glaze

Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice and 1/2 tsp water in bowl

scones-glaze-in-bowl

Once the scones have cooled, drizzle glaze on top and allow to set.

scones-finishedscones-finished-bowlscones-finished-bowl-2