Baileys Cream Puffs

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Cream puffs, they're delicious.

Baileys cream puffs, they're out of this world.

Baileys cream puffs for breakfast, I've died and gone to pastry heaven!

Ok, I am not starting the trend of having cream puffs for breakfast. It just happened that I was staring into my refrigerator in the early morning and got the idea of making some cream puffs for breakfast. 

I have been bad.

But my 2 boys did not complain a bit. Would they?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 6 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons Baileys Irish cream
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Over medium heat, cook water and butter until boiling. Remove from the heat, add flour and whisk until well blended. Return to the heat and continue whisking vigorously until the dough is pulling from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Transfer dough into a mixing bowl and cool down for about 5 minutes.
• Using the mixer's lowest speed, add one egg at a time, mix until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer dough into a piping bag fitted with a round/flower tip. Pipe the dough onto the lined baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, 2 inches apart. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F, continue baking for another 10 mints, or until the choux pastry turns golden brown. Remove from the oven and prick each one with a small sharp knife or a skewer to let out steam. Cool completely.
• Place whipping cream, Baileys and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using a mixer, beat the cream until the cream becomes stiff. Transfer cream into a piping bag with small round tip. Make small slit on each of choux pastry, pipe some cream filling into each shell. 

*Makes about 24 cream puffs

Baked Chicken Flautas

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Ingredients:

• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (your leftover rotisserie chicken works wonderfully in this recipe)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar/Monterey Jack
• 20 corn tortillas
• Cilantro sprigs
• Lime wedges
• Salsa, Guacamole, sour cream, and hot sauce for serving (optional)

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook, stirring occasionally until onion turns translucent and fragrant. Add shredded chicken into the skillet, season with cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Turn off the heat and remove the skillet from the stove and cool down
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place some very warm water in a large bowl. Dip one corn tortilla into warm water a few second until it turns pliable (don't skip this step as your tortilla will be brittle and will crack when you roll it). Transfer the tortilla to a work plate, place about one heaping tablespoon of chicken on the lower half of the tortilla. Sprinkle about 1/2 tablespoon of cheese on top of the chicken, and roll the tortilla all the way up. Place rolled tortilla on a lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.
• Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until brown and crispy. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. Serve warm with condiment of your choice (salsa, Guacamole, sour cream, hot sauce).

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

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Ingredients:

• 12 lasagna noodles, cook according to package direction, drain and set aside.
• 3 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cup finely chopped fresh spinach (or 10 ounces thawed and squeezed dry frozen spinach)
• Salt and pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups homemade quick marinara sauce (recipe below), or store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pour one cup of marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch lasagna dish. 
• In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, chopped spinach, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Divide the cheese mixture into 12 portions, spread each portion onto lasagna noodle and roll up carefully. Place lasagna roll seam-side down in the lasagna dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and cheese mixture. 
• Top the lasagna rolls with the remaining marinara sauce. Spread grated mozzarella cheese over the sauce and sprinkle with oregano. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese on top turned bubbly and golden brown. Serve immediately.

Quick Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes 
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook garlic until tender, then add crushed tomatoes, oregano and basil. Bring to boil and reduce the heat. Let the sauce simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or store in a refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Pear, Caramelized Onion, and Feta Flatbread

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Ingredients for flatbread:

• 1 1/4 cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour
• cornmeal for dusting

Ingredients for toppings:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 large pears, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

• Whisk the warm water, sugar and yeast together in a bowl. Let stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes, or until the yeast is foamy.
• Combine the flour and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook and mix well. Add the yeast mixture and oil, mix well. Continue to mix, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer dough to a floured surface and give it a few turns by hand to finish kneading it. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl, tuning to coat. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Add sliced onion and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, mix well with the onion. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is caramelized. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• Add sliced pears onto the same skillet and cook until they are tender. Remove from heat.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Punch down the dough and transfer it to a floured surface. Stretch dough into 2 rectangles, as thin as possible. Sprinkle cornmeal onto baking sheet (or pizza stone) and place stretched dough on the sheet. Brush the dough with the remaining olive oil, spread the onions, followed by sliced pears. Spread feta cheese over the flatbread, and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. Bake flatbread in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the crust turns golden brown. Remove from the oven and slice into sections. Serve warm.

Blue Corn Muffins

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One great recipe from Taste of Home website that produces the moistest corn muffins I ever baked!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup blue cornmeal (or use yellow cornmeal)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 to 3 tablespoons honey

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In another bowl, combine egg, egg yolk, buttermilk and oil. Stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in corn.
• Fill lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees F until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing the muffins to wire rack.
• In a small bowl, beat butter and honey until blended. Serve with muffins.

Makes 12 regular size muffins

Croissants

I can't think of anything better than waking up to flaky-buttery-crispy fresh-from-the-oven croissants served on my kitchen table. One or two of those, plus a cup of steaming joe, and I'm ready to tackle my day. 

But making my own croissants, it's a different story. There are so many recipes and so many methods available through cookbooks and internet postings, it's so difficult to find out which one would work for me. And I have tried a few of the recipes to justify me saying that some produced better result than the others. 

After spending the last coupe of months tweaking and adjusting the recipes, I think I can finally say that I have come up with my ultimate foolproof croissant recipe. 

Ingredients for the detrempe (dough):

• 1 1/4 cup milk, warmed to 105-110 degrees F
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups pastry flour, sifted*, plus more for dusting 

* Pastry flour is preferred, but if it's difficult to obtain, all-porpose flour works OK.

Ingredients for the beurrage (butter block):

• 1 cup/2 sticks butter, chilled and cut into smaller pieces*
• 2 tablespoons pastry flour

* I prefer to use european butter, like Plugra (and occasionally Kerrygold), because I think it gives better and more distinctive flavor to the pastry. 

Other ingredients:

• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

Directions:

• Make the detrempe: Sprinkle yeast and sugar onto warm milk, give a little stir with a spoon, and let it rest for about 10 minutes until the yeast becomes foamy. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour and salt, then add yeast mixture into the bowl. Mix all of the ingredients together with your hand until well mixed. Please do not over handling the dough, just give it enough mixing until all of the ingredients are well blended. Transfer the dough to a floured surface, knead a little bit more and shape it into a ball. The dough will be sticky and spread out a little bit. Place the dough ball on a floured parchment paper, and refrigerate while you're making the beurrage. 
• Make the beurrage: Using a mixer, mix butter and flour until smooth. Transfer butter mixture onto a plastic wrap, shaping it into a flat square. Wrap the butter and refrigerate until the butter is firmer, about 20 minutes.

• On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a thin circle. Place the butter block in the center of the dough. Stretching the dough with your hand, pull the top part of the dough, and fold it to cover the butter. Repeat the process with the bottom, left and right part of the dough, until you get a square envelope. Flip the square over, so that the flaps are facing down.
• Using a rolling pin, flatten and roll out the dough into a large rectangle, sprinkle more flour if necessary. Fold the dough into thirds, by folding left and right side to the center. Transfer dough onto a lined baking sheet, and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
• Repeat the process of rolling the dough into rectangle, letter fold, and refrigerate for 20 minutes in between foldings. In total, do 4 letter folds before final rolling and cutting.

• Roll out the dough into a thin large rectangle, about 16 x 12. Trim the edges using pizza cutter or knife. Cut the rectangle in half vertically, then using the pizza cutter, cut the dough into triangles with 3-inch base. Take one triangle, stretch it slightly with your hand. Roll up the triangle, starting from the base, place it on a line baking sheet with the tip tucked underneath the croissant. Repeat the process with the remaining triangle, placing them about 2 inches apart on lined baking sheet. 

• Place the baking sheets in a warm spot in the kitchen. Let the croissants to rise (but don't let them double in size), for about 1 to 2 hours*. Brush the tops with beaten egg. 
• Bake the croissants in a 375 degrees F oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until they turn crispy and golden brown on the outside.

* I found that if I prepare and shape the croissants in the evening, I can store my croissants in the refrigerator overnight to slow proof them. In the morning, I take them out of the fridge and oven proof them at 85 degrees for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking (I know that butter will melt at 85 degrees, but since the croissants are very cold, 85 degrees work just fine). If your oven doesn't have this feature, you can place a medium bowl of very hot/nearly boiling water in the oven along with the croissants, close the door and let them rise for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Make about 20 croissants

And of course, while we're at it, why don't we also make some Pain au Chocolate?

Cut the dough in small rectangles, place a piece of chocolate bar on one end of the rectangle, roll it up, tuck the other end underneath the croissant, place on lined baking sheet, brush with egg, let them rise, and bake at 375 degrees until done.

Now, don't you want to just grab one of these puppies? :)

Tandoori Chicken

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Ingredients:

• 8 pieces of chicken thighs
• 1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon annatto powder for coloring (if you can't find it, use 2-3 drops of red food coloring)
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Salt 
• Cilantro and lime wedges for garnish

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and the rest of the spices until well blended. Season with salt. 
• Wash the chicken pieces and pat dry. Prick the chicken with fork, then add to the marinate. Toss to coat. Transfer the chicken and all of the marinade to a gallon plastic bag. Push out any excess air from the bag, seal the bag and keep in refrigerator for a few hours to overnight.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the chicken from the bag. Using grill pan, brown both sides of the chicken. Transfer chicken to lined baking sheet and cook in the oven until the meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken registers 160 degrees F. Remove baking sheet from the oven and cover completely with the foil for about 10 minutes more. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Pop Tart Pops

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Ingredients for the pastry:

(Pastry recipe is taken from King Arthur Flour)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• I teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons milk

Ingredients for the jelly filling:

• 1 cup cherry plum jam (I made my own cherry plum jam, but feel free to use any kind you like)
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons water

Ingredients for the glaze:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• colored sugar for sprinkle (optional)

Directions :

• To make the dough: Whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Work in the butter until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it, with pea-sized lumps of butter still visible. Add egg and milk to the dough, mixing it until everything is cohesive. Roll dough into a ball, wrap with plastic and store in refrigerator (up to 2 days).
• To make the jelly filling: In a small saucepan, combine jam, corn starch and water. Cook over medium heat and stir well, until the mixture thickens. Remove from the stove and cool completely.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. On a well floured surface, roll out the dough into 1/8-inch thick. Using square cookie cutter (or pizza cutter), cut the dough into 2x2 squares. Place a popsicle stick on top of one of the squares, then spoon about /2 teaspoon of jelly filling in the center. Place another square on top of the jelly filling, pressing the edges together with a fork. Using a toothpick, pierce a couple of holes on the pop tart. Transfer to baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Bake in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until they turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool down.
• To make the glaze: mix powdered sugar and water in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled pop tart pops, sprinkle with colored sugar, if desired. Give a little time for the glaze to harden, then simply enjoy!

Cajun Spiced Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch kale, washed and completely dried
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• cajun seasoning (combination of garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne powder, cumin, dried oregano, salt and black pepper), or pre-mixed

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Remove the ribs from kale and cut into 2-inch pieces. Spread kale over lined (with parchment paper) baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the seasoning. Toss to combine. 
• Bake in the oven until crisp, turning about halfway through, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve as snacks or side dish to burger/sandwich.