Cinnamon Rolls

 

I love cinnamon rolls, particularly the glorified cinnamon roll known in Louisiana as the king cake. While this is not a king cake recipe, it's close.  What I like most about this recipe - besides the aroma - is the incorporated cleaning breaks.  When you have a tiny alley kitchen like I do, baking can become a HUGE mess.  So thanks Paula Deen, I now have a clean kitchen and a dozen gooey delicious buns.

CINNAMON ROLLS 

- Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe

- Makes approx. 12 rolls

Ingredients:

Dough

* 1/4 oz. package of active dry yeast

* 1/2 cup warm water (important that water is WARM)

* 1/2 cup scalded milk

* 1/4 cup granulated sugar

* 1/3 cup melted butter

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 egg

* 3.5 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filing

* 1/2 cup melted butter (and a little more for greasing pan)       

* 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 

* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

* Optional: 3/4 cup raisins, crushed pecans, or crushed walnuts

Glaze

* 4 tablespoons butter

* 2 cups powdered sugar

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast with warm water and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with a wooden spoon mix butter, milk, egg, salt, and sugar.  
3. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. 
4. Add yeast mixture. 
5. Mix in the remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. 
6. Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes (at least 5 minutes) on a lightly floured surface.  
7. Place dough in a well-greased bowl and cover and let dough rise until it doubles in size (about 1.5 hours)
8. When doubled in size, punch dough down.
9. Roll out the dough into a 9"x15" rectangle on a lightly floured surface. 
10. Spread melted butter all over rolled dough.
11. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
12. Sprinkle sugar mixture all over buttered dough.
13. Sprinkle with nuts or raisins if desired.
14. Grease the bottom of the baking pan. 
15. Beginning at the 15" side, roll up dough and pinch edge together to seal.  Cut into 12 or 15 (approx. 1" in thickness).
16. Place cinnamon roll slices close together and let rise for about 45 minutes.
17. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
18. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
19. ***Glaze*** I used packaged frosting instead, but here's the posted recipe for the more ambitious: Mix butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Add hot water one tablespoon as a time until glaze reaches the desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled buns.

Red Wine Mustard Seed Vinaigrette Dressing

** For this salad, I substituted the sugar with light sweet vidalia onion dressing because we're trying to get rid of the onion dressing.  The onion dressing substitution creates a creamy texture.**

This is another incredibly easy recipe; I'm not sure where I originally came across it.  It has been a long time favorite and is simply a sure-to-please dressing.

RED WINE MUSTARD SEED VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

Ingredients:

                                                     

* 1/3 cup olive oil

* 3 tablespoons white sugar (or sweet vidalia onion dressing)

* 1 and 1/2 teaspoons prepared dijon mustard

* 1 clove garlic, chopped

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* Crumbled blue cheese (if desired)

Directions:

Combine and serve.

Homemade Wasabi Mustard Mayonnaise

This is so incredibly easy to make - all you need is a food processor.

HOMEMADE WASABI MUSTARD MAYONNAISE
- Adapted from Viet World Kitchen. 
- Makes about 1 cup of prepared spread.

Ingredients:

* 2 egg yolds
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon Wasabi mustard (or dijon mustard) - Optional
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh or concentrate)
* 2 teaspoons rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
* 1 cup canola oil

Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks, salt, mustard, lemon juice and vinegar in the food processor. Pulse 4 or 5 times to combine well.
2. Remove the feed tube, if it is still in place. Run the machine and pour the oil SLOWLY (the slower the better) through the feed tube in a thin (less than 1/4 inch wide), steady stream until completely incorporated. The mixture will thicken as the oil gets worked in, and the sputtering will diminish by the time the sauce becomes super thick and creamy. It should take 3 to 5 minutes to add the oil.
3. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.
   

If the mayonnaise seems overly stiff, work in water by the teaspoon. Taste and adjust the flavor for extra salt and mustard, pulsing the machine to blend the ingredients.

Shrimp Po-Boy (With a Vietnamese Twist)

A few days ago I was reading one of Brent's back-issues of Maxim and I came across an article about a gastronomical pilgrimage to New Orleans, more specifically about soft-shell crab po-boys. I was salivating at the thought of such a perfect combination and kicking myself for having never had one. So a few days later and still day-dreaming about these po-boys, I sought out to find some soft-shell crabs, never mind that it's August and they're out-of-season. Two grocery stores later and a bit disappointed, I decided to make the second best po-boy...Shrimp Po-Boys.

Being me (a bit picky that is) I prefer lightly-battered shrimp. I find that the asian tempura mixes do just that. To top it off, while I was out searching for those crabs I came across freshly baked sourdough french loaves.



SHRIMP PO-BOY (WITH A VIETNAMESE TWIST)
- Makes about 2 servings.

Ingredients:

* Tempura batter mix (I use Hime-brand, only because it happened to be in my cupboard)
* 1 lb of 21/25 shrimp (thawed, peeled, and deveined)
* Vegetable oil (enough to cover frying pan 2 inches)
* French bread loaf (sourdough variety if desired)
* Mayonnaise (homemade recipe - separate post)
* Sriracha hot chili sauce
* Tony Chacere's original creole seasoning (or similar)
* Sliced fresh tomatoes (if desired)

Directions:

1. Prepare homemade mayonaise at this time if not using prepared mayonaise.
   
2. Pat dry shrimp until they are reasonably dry.
3. Prepare tempura batter mix as directed on box with a bit of Tony Chacere's seasoning as desired.
   
4. Heat frying pan with oil on medium heat until oil begins to bubble.
   
5. Place shrimp into batter one at a time, making sure to avoid any splatter as oil is very HOT.
6. Fry, turing occasionally, until light golden brown.
7. Drain tempura shrimp on paper towels.
8. Optional: I like my bread lightly toasted and warm. For this, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cut bread in sandwich size portions and then slice bread in halves to create sandwich. Place cut bread onto a baking tray in oven. Turn off the oven and let bread warm.
9. Once bread is toasted to one's desire, spread mayonnaise on inside of each half. Place as many shrimp onto bun as possible. Drizzle hot chili sauce onto shrimp. Top off with some tomato slices.

Chocolate Florentine Cookies

Among the many jobs I've had over the years, I once worked at an Italian bakery in New Orleans. They had some of the most delicious pastries; I even promised myself that I would arrange my future wedding date around the availability of their addictive strawberry cake, which is only prepared during Louisiana's strawberry season. Besides from their mouth-watering cakes, one of my favorite cookies is their Chocolate Florentines. By far the world's perfect cookie: wafer thin lace almond cookies, sandwiched with chocolate filling and then drizzled with more chocolate and EASY to make. What could be more perfect than that?!



CHOCOLATE FLORENTINE COOKIES
- Adapted from Group Recipes - 28845
- Makes about 24 sandwiched cookies.

Ingredients

* 1 and 3/4 cups sliced or crushed, blanched almonds
* 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* Finely grated zest of one orange
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* 3/4 cups sugar
* 2 tablespoons heavy cream
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (smart balance buttery spread will work)
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* Chocolate topping, optional
* 2 to 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate chopped
* Water for boiling (need for melting chocolate topping)

Supplies

* Parchment paper or silicone mat
* Food processor (hand mixer will not do the trick on this recipe)
* 2 baking sheet trays
* Pastry bag or disposable zip-loc bag
* Saucepan with bowl (for melting chocolate topping)

Directions

1. Measure and stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.
2. Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty.
3. Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup and butter in a small sauce pan.
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine.
6. Set aside until cool enough to handle, approx. 30 minutes.
7. In the meantime, line baking sheets with silicone mat or parchment paper.
8. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
9. Once the batter mix is cool enough to handle, transfer the batter mix into a pastry bag or zip-loc bag (cut a very small hole in the corner tip of the bag).
10. Squeeze a small amounts of batter onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie since they spread. (About 12 cookies per baking sheet.)
11. Bake one pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color (approx. 10 minutes) throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time (at 5 minutes).
12. If you were impatient as I usually am and have placed the too many cookies on one sheet and they've now joined in places you're in luck, the cookies can be easily separated when they are still warm from the oven. Just take a knife and gently separate the cookies from one another; you can also mold the cookies to reform a circular shape if you so desire.
13. For rolled cookies: Roll the cookies while they're still warm.
    
14. Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a plate or rack to cool. The cookies should easily peel off the mat or parchment paper. Repeat with remaining batter.
15. Optional chocolate topping: Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.
    
16. Bring a saucepan filled wit 1 inch or so of water to a boil and then to a very low simmer. Set the bowl over, but not touching, the water.
    
17. Stir the chocolate until melted and smooth. Stir and continue to heat until completely melted.
18. For sandwiched cookies: Drop about 1/2 teaspoon chocolate onto the flat side of one cookie and then press together with another cookie. Return to rack and let chocolate set.
19. For chocolate drizzle decor: Drizzle melted chocolate over Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.
20. Store baked cookies carefully, separated by parchment or waxed paper in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
    

******Note: While still delicious, I found the cookies to be a bit nutty for my liking. In the future I might try using a half finely grated almond and half crumbled almond paste. I will let you know how that turns out.*******