Rocky Road Bark

If I share something with you, promise you won't abandon our love of good food friendship? You promised, right? Okay, well here it is. I haven't yet jumped on the current sheet pan dinner bandwagon. The one-pot, or rather one-pan wonders that are all the rage right now. I am neither one of the early adopters, nor one of the fast followers. This sheet pan craze has been around for at least four years. Maybe even longer. Which means I seem to be getting dangerously close to falling into the (gasp) laggard (aka embarrassing late to the party) category. It's not that I haven't been paying attention. I have been. And it's not that I have any aversions to convenience. I don't. The only savory thing my sheet pans have been making lately is Roasted Bacon. Which could be loosely described as a sheet pan side dish. Right? Truth be told, my sheet pans have been otherwise occupied lately. Not permanently. Just temporarily.

This Rocky Road Bark is it's own one pan miracle. Getting a text from your niece telling you it's the best thing she has ever eaten is yet another kind of marvel.

What is not to love about dark chocolate, roasted almonds, soft pillowy marshmallows, graham crackers, and a sprinkle of sea salt? Nothing. This variation of a Rocky Road Bark has the best of all textures.

Always use a good quality chocolate, one designed for melting. Sometimes I use the chocolate from a local confectionary, but this time I used the Ghiradelli dark chocolate. It would be equally delicious made with milk chocolate.

I know I will sound will like a broken record when I say 'always roast your nuts' before using them in your baked goods or confections. Roasting deepens their flavor and will take most anything from good to great.

I used a large (12"x18") sheet pan to make this Rocky Road Bark. If you halve the ingredients, it can easily be made in a half-sheet pan. The bark is simply a layered bar. The bottom layer is half of the melted chocolate; the second layer is made up of some of the graham cracker pieces, marshmallows and roasted almonds; the third layer is the other half of the melted chocolate; and the final layer made up of the remaining graham cracker pieces, marshmallows and roasted almonds. A sprinkling of sea salt and drizzling of any remaining chocolate are the finishing touches.

The Rocky Road will set up in less than an hour. But unless you are in a hurry to cut it up (and you probably should be), you can let it sit for several hours before cutting into bars or odd-shaped pieces. This is a use a knife versus your hands cutting kind of bark.

Many think of making a bark only around the holidays as they make great gifts and give a cookie platter more dimension. However, bark is something we should be making year-round. And like those one pan sheet pan dinners, you can decide your ingredients. Don't like almonds, use peanuts instead. Want to make a gluten-free bark? Eliminate the graham crackers. Like a bark with a little more sweetness, add some raisins (kind of like a Chunky but with marshmallows bark). The possibilities are endless. And like the early flowers of spring, this bark won't last long.

Recipe
Rocky Road Bark

Ingredients
1 3/4 - 2 pounds of dark or milk chocolate, melted and divided
1 2/3 cups miniature marshmallows (divided)
3/4 cup whole almonds, roasted and coarsely chopped and divided
7-8 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces and divided  (I used almost one package of the rectangular shaped Nabisco Graham Crackers)
Sea salt 

Directions
1. Line a large (12"x18") baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or carefully secure and position a bowl over the top of the pot of simmering water).
3. Pour half of the melted chocolate on the prepared pan. Spread with an offset spatula.
4. Using 3/4 of the graham crackers, lay randomly on the top of the melted chocolate. Next sprinkle approximately 2/3 of the marshmallows and roasted almonds on top of the graham crackers.
5. Pour the remaining melted chocolate over the top.
6. Scatter the remaining graham crackers, marshmallows and almonds over the top. If using dark chocolate, lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Using a fork, drizzle any remaining melted chocolate over the top.
7. Allow the bark to set for at least one hour. Using a sharp knife, cut into bars or random shapes. 
8. Serve and/or store in sealed container or tightly tied cellophane bags.

Spring crocus (April 2017)

Roasted Bacon

It is quite possible you think this might be a belated April Fool's Day post. It's not. Or maybe wondering 'Does someone really needs a recipe for Roasted Bacon?' That might depend on your definition of a recipe. However, if you have never roasted bacon in the oven before or have and keep forgetting (like I do) the oven temperature required needed to get perfectly crisp bacon, then the answer is definitely yes. We all should have or rather need a recipe for Roasted Bacon in our lives to put an end to the days of having bacon grease splatter all over the top of your stove. Better yet. We can all stop ruining our nails and sponges spending an inordinate amount of time soaking and scrubbing our favorite frying pans.  With a simple recipe for Roasted Bacon, nothing is standing in the way of you and a platter of delicious crispy bacon.

"If it's not broken don't fix it." Going the non-traditional route for making anything most of us grew up accustomed to making only one way can cause a bit of skepticism. But it's kind of like most things in life. Until you actually experience them you don't realize what you had been missing out on. Roasted bacon might be one of those things in your life.

This is a plain, simple version of roasted bacon. The only ingredient needed is bacon. Preferably a good-quality thick cut bacon. A large rimmed baking sheet, a baking/cooling rack and some foil/parchment paper to line the pan are the only things you need. Besides an oven of course.

Roasting the bacon on a rack, versus laying it flat on the pan, creates extra crispy bacon. Raising the bacon off the baking sheet allows the heat to circulate evenly around the bacon. If you like the edges of your bacon to be crisp, but love the center of your bacon to have some of that chewiness to it, don't roast it on a rack. Simply roast in on a baking pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Leave some space between the slices to prevent your bacon slices from sticking to one another.

The bacon roasts in a 400 degree (F) oven for 18-22 minutes, depending on the thickness of bacon slices. Place the baking pan on the lower rack in the oven and begin checking for doneness at around the 15 minute mark. If you are making two trays of roasted bacon, place one pan on the lower rack and the other on the upper rack.

Transferring the roasted bacon to a platter lined with paper towels allows any residual grease to be absorbed as well as finishes the crisping.

Whether you are making bacon for breakfast, for BLT sandwiches, or for any recipe calling for cooked bacon, try roasting it from now on. If you like your eggs or hash brown potatoes fried in bacon grease, you still can. Just drain the drippings from the baking sheet into your pan. Save your cast iron skillet for making Dutch Babies, cornbread, skillet cookies or brownies, and/or frittatas. You have more important things to do with your life than clean up after cooking bacon on the stove top.

Recipe
Roasted Bacon

Ingredients
1/2 to 1 pound of bacon (preferably a thick-cut bacon)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Place an over rack in the lower third of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper OR place a cooling rack on top the foil/paper lined baking sheet.
2. Lay the strips of bacon in a single layer, leaving some space between each of them.
3. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a beautiful golden brown. Note: Baking time may vary based on the thickness of the bacon. Check for doneness at the 15 minute mark.
4. Using a fork or tongs, transfer the bacon to a platter lined with paper towels. 
5. Serve immediately. 

Dogwoods in bloom (April, 2017)

Mixed Berry Scones

Last week I felt the need or rather had a strong urge to make some scones. I had gotten it in my head that a brunch would not be a real brunch without scones. However, the brunch without them happened. In retrospect, this was a mixed blessing. Had I gone forward with the scone recipe I had intended to make, I would not have made THESE. And I definitely would not have spent hours of my life reading even more scone recipes. What would cause me to become so scone recipe obsessed? Well, I started to second guess my initial scone recipe choice. While entrenched in the scone recipe world, I came to realize there didn't seem to be any crystal clear butter to flour or dry to liquid ingredient ratios. And then, to make it a bit more frustrating, recipes calling for 2 or 3 cups of all-purpose flour all called for using one tablespoon of baking powder. My quest to find the 'perfect on the first try' scone recipe was making my head spin. Not to allow all of the time invested in scone research to go to waste or worse yet, turn into recipe paralysis, I ended up doing what I usually do. Trusting and listening to my instincts (which have been known to fall somewhere between 95% and 100% of the time). In this case it meant incorporating techniques and/or ingredient amounts from one recipe into another based on what made the most sense. And then keeping my fingers crossed this would not be one of those times when I got it completely wrong.

The time spent on the deep dive into the scone world resulted in THESE Mixed Berry Scones. On a side note, they can also be made into blueberry scones, single berry scones, or plain no berry scones. But since I had my heart set on Mixed Berry Scones, Mixed Berry Scones it was going to be! Even if that meant making another trip to the grocery store shamelessly dripping wet after an hour long hot yoga class. There are probably grocery store rules prohibiting people from entering the store looking as I did, but they weren't posted anywhere and none of the grocery store employees would be comping my grocery bill.

The recipe for these Mixed Berry Scones ended up being a hybrid version of two scone recipes: The Royal Wedding Scones (shared by a community member on the Food52 blog) and the Mixed Berry Scones shared in the September 2015 issue of Cook's Country. In case you are wondering, it leans much closer to the Royal Wedding Scone recipe. The idea of using less butter and heavy whipping cream versus more butter and whole milk was what swayed me. I am easily tempted by anything with heavy whipping cream in it. If anyone called me a whipping cream slut I would take it as a compliment.

Scones are rustic, crumbly, buttery, slightly on the dense side, and have a less discernible flaky layer. While sometimes referred to as a biscuit-like pastry,  they are quite different than a biscuit. At least the American version of a biscuit. Scones can be round, triangular, or square (there don't seem be any shape rules for them although some scone purists might tend to disagree). They can be eaten plain or slathered in butter, jam, preserves, lemon cured, or clotted cream. The origin of scones has been attributed to Scotland. Primarily due to a 1513 print reference. Ironically not in the form of a recipe, but in a poem penned by a Scottish poet. England and Ireland have also laid claim to being the ones to create the first scone. Considering there were very few culinary outlets back in the 16th century, it is quite possible any of the three could hold the title of Scone Creator. Over the past five centuries the scone has undergone various iterations. From shaped as round cakes to wedges, to being made with oats to being made with flour, to being cooked over an open fire to being baked in an oven. The scones originally eaten at the end of the Medieval Age are a little different than the ones we are eating today.

Well chilled butter and frozen fruit are key in the making of these scones. To minimize the bleeding of the frozen fruit into the dough, toss them with a tablespoon of confectionary sugar and return back to the freezer while you are measuring out your other ingredients.

The dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder) come together in the food processor with a few quick pulses. That very well chilled butter is added and pulsed (10-12 times) until it is transformed into pea sized pieces. If you over process the butter, your baked scones won't have those heavenly biscuit-like butter pockets. Transfer the dry ingredients to a large bowl, then toss and mix in the frozen fruit. Make a well in the center of the mixture before adding the liquid.

After whisking the heavy cream, egg, and vanilla together, pour into the well you have created.

Begin bringing the dough together with a large fork. Think folding rather than stirring here. When the dough begins to gather, use a plastic dough scraper or spatula to gently knead the dough into a ball. If by chance there is any flour remaining on the bottom of the bowl, drizzle in a tiny amount of heavy cream (a teaspoon at a time) until it all comes together. Don't panic if your dough takes on a pink or blue color, it will work itself out when the scones are baked in the oven.

On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough. Gently pat into a 12"x4" rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 4 equal rectangles. Then cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles. Alternately shape the dough into a 6" or 7" circle. Whether you make a rectangle or a circle, you want to end up with 8 scones.

Place on baking sheet, tightly cover with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer. Yes, I know, making you wait to bake them sounds like some Medieval form of cruelty. The freezing process doesn't sacrifice the flavor or texture of the scones. Instead it seems to enhance them. And just think, if you make the scones the night before, all you have to do in the morning is make some coffee or tea, preheat your oven to 425 degrees (F) and get the scones ready to go into the oven. And you won't have a mess in your kitchen to clean up!

The scones rise and expand during baking so place your frozen scoens at least one inch apart on your parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush each one with heavy cream (yes more cream) and liberally sprinkle with sanding or other coarse sugar. The scones bake for 20-26 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the baking process.

And as if by magic, you will end up with the most beautiful golden brown scones.

Transfer the baked scones to a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

These scones are buttery, have the most tender crumbs, are the right kind of firm, have a crisp sugary crust, and are perfectly moist. They are definitely not those dry, hard scones better used as door stops. No, these are 'shut the front door' amazing! These are substantially sized scones. Although the likelihood of you not being able to finish these 'leave no crumb behind' scones in one sitting isn't very high. 

Serve the scones with butter, jam, lemon curd or clotted cream. Or simply eat them plain. Everything about these Mixed Berry Scones is perfect. And yes, if there will be any scones at the next brunch it will only be THESE.

Recipe
Mixed Berry Scones (a bit of blending of the Royal Wedding Scones recipe from Scone Lady Mrs. Larkin shared on Food52 and the Mixed Berry Scones recipe from the September 2015 issue of Cook's Country) 
Makes 8 scones

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (320 grams or 11.25 ounces) all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder (See note)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 Tablespoons well-chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
6 to 8 ounces frozen mixed fruit (See note)
1 Tablespoon confectionary sugar
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the tops of scones
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons good quality vanilla
Sanding or other coarse sugar for finishing

Directions
1. Toss the frozen mixed fruit with the confectionary sugar and return to the freezer.
2. Place the dry ingredients in the bowl of food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine.
3. Add butter. Pulse 10-12 times until the butter is reduced to pea-sized pieces. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Stir in frozen berries.
4. Whisk the whipping cream, egg, and vanilla until well-blended. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in cream mixture. 
5. Using a large fork, fold the wet and dry ingredients together. When the dough begins to gather, use a plastic scraper (or spatula) to gently knead the dough into a ball shape. If there is any loose flour on the bottom of the bowl, drizzle in a little more cream, one teaspoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
6. Transfer the dough ball to a lightly floured board. Gently shape into into a 12" by 4" rectangle. Using a knife, cut the dough crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles for a total of 8 scones.
7. Transfer cut scones to a baking sheet. Cover tightly and place in the freezer until frozen.
8. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F). Place frozen scones about 1 inch apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush with cream. Liberally sprinkle tops of scones with sanding sugar.
9. Bake for 20-27 minutes, turning the pan halfway through. Scones are done when an inserted wooden skewer comes out clean. Transfer scones to a wire rack and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
10. Serve with butter, jam, lemon curd, or clotted cream. 

Notes: (1) When baking, King Arthur Flour and Kerrygold Unsalted Butter are my preferred favorites. (2) If using Rumford baking powder, the scones will not rise during the baking of the frozen scones. (3) If using mixed berries that include strawberries, cut the strawberries in half. (4) Instead of Mixed Berry Scones, make Blueberry Scones. Use 3/4 - 1 cup of frozen blueberries, preferably the smaller wild Maine blueberries. (5) Stored in a plastic freezer bag, the frozen unbaked scones can be stored in the freezer for several weeks. (6) The scones can be baked immediately and do not absolutely need to be frozen before baking, however, I would highly recommend the freeze and bake method. (7) Any leftovers can be rewarmed in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Baked scones can be frozen. Reheat in a 350 degree (F) oven until warm.

A walk through the woods on an early spring day in March, 2017 (Fullerburg Woods)

Fruit Trifle w/ Candied Almonds

As much as I like going out to eat in restaurants, I love even more the intimacy of a meal shared with family and/or friends at home. Sometimes after traveling and eating out at restaurants for several days in a row, I long for a home-cooked meal. Even if that home-cooked meal is simply a plate of scrambled eggs topped with some goat cheese, a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich on white bread with the crusts cut off, or a container of pineapple yogurt topped with almonds and dried cranberries. In other words, home-cooked doesn't have to mean a three or four course meal or one taking all day or even days to make. It definitely doesn't have to be 'fancy' or 'gourmet', it just has to be satisfyingly good or whatever my current version of comfort food might happen to be. Whenever my niece stays overnight during one of her breaks from school or friends are in from out of town, I like to make at least one homemade meal for them. Something a little more than my simple versions of homemade. I don't usually make these homemade meals 'easy' on myself, however, I recently had one of those moments of clarity. You know, the moment when you finally see the obvious and come to realize (or rather truly believe) simplicity can be a really good thing.

This long overdue epiphany came after making brunch for some friends recently. Everything about the meal was simple. The table was set simply with my favorite white dishes and the menu consisted of only three things. Okay, so there might have been linen napkins and fresh flowers on the table, but if you lived in my world you would understand this was 'simple'.

After going through and trying to sort a bin of saved recipes (not a simple endeavor), I rediscovered the recipe for a Fruit Trifle w/ Candied Almonds. It was one a friend gave to my friend who gave it to me. As soon as I looked at it, I immediately knew it would be one of the three things I would make for the brunch.

I had almost forgotten how beautiful and delicious this fruit trifle was. Fortunately I was able to have my memory jogged. Granted this trifle might be a little more decadent than the fruit platter you might normally serve at a brunch, but we all need a little decadence in our lives. Some of us more than others.

The trifle can be made with any number of fruits or fruit combinations. Although strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and/or blueberries lend themselves to be the best fruit options. Use all of them or use at least a couple of them. The trifle would lack flavor, texture and taste dimension if you used only one fruit. Personally I think this is one of those 'the more the merrier' kind of trifles, so I used all four 'berries' when I made it. Equal amounts of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries create the perfect trifecta: color, texture and flavor. This trifle needs at least 3 pints (or 6 cups) of fresh fruit, although depending on your preferred fruit to whipped cream cheese/whipped cream ratio, 7 cups may be more to your liking.

The luscious, creamy, decadent other layer is made with cream cheese, whipping cream whipped to beautiful stiff peaks, confectionary sugar, and some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

If you don't have a trifle bowl, use a clear bowl to alternately layer the whipped cream cheese/whipped cream mixture with the fresh fruit. The first and last layers will be the whipped cream cheese/whipped cream mixture. Try to create at least 3 layers of fruit between the filling so that the fruit is evenly distributed when spooned out. You can completely finish the trifle with a full layer of the whipped cream cheese/whipped cream mixture or pipe it along the edges of the bowl using a pastry bag fitted with the pastry tube of your choice.

The sugared slivered almonds are the trifle's proverbial finishing touch. In a pan of melted butter and sugar over medium-low heat, the almonds are sautéed until lightly golden. Once caramelized the sugared almonds are transferred to a piece of parchment paper and allowed to cool. You will have more than enough of the almonds for this trifle. Serve the 'extras' in a bowl on the side so everyone is sure to get some of the 'crunch'. They can be made the day before and stored in a sealed container.

You can make the Fruit Trifle w/ Candied Almonds several hours before serving. It comes together relatively easily and takes less than 30 minutes to assemble.

Make this trifle for your next Sunday brunch or bring it to your next office/friend breakfast potluck. Okay, so this Fruit Trifle might not win any healthy awards, but it will for taste and presentation. And I promise it will be incredibly well received and devoured. Scouts honor.

This Fruit Trifle w/ Candied Almonds paired incredibly well with freshly brewed coffee, a pitcher of orange juice, some roasted thick-cut bacon, and this Baked Praline French Toast Casserole. If there was a way to make this menu a little more festive, it would be to open up a bottle of champagne or prosecco and turn the pitcher of orange juice into mimosas. With Passover, Easter, graduation parties, birthdays, anniversary celebrations, Mother's Day, Father's Day or reunion gatherings coming in the weeks and months aheads, consider making this Fruit Trifle w/ Candied Almonds your 'fruit' dish.

Recipe 
Fruit Trifle w/ Candied Almonds
Serves 8-10 

Ingredients
6-7 cups (3-4 pints) fresh fruit (strawberries (cut into slices or wedges), raspberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries)
2 cups heavy whipping cream 
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup confectionary sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup slivered almonds
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions
Candied Almonds
1.  Sauté almonds in butter, adding sugar in after the almonds have sautéed for at least 2 minutes.
2. Continue sautéing until almonds are lightly browned.
3. Transfer to a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Very lightly sprinkle with some additional granulated sugar.
4. Allow almonds to cool completely. Note: Can be prepared a day ahead. Store in a sealed container until ready to use.)

Fruit Trifle
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Temporarily transfer mixture to a separate bowl.
2. In the bowl of standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy (approximately 2-3 minutes).
3. Add confectionary sugar and lemon juice into cream cheese. Beat until well blended.
4. Remove bowl from standing mixer and fold in whipped cream until well blended.
5. Beginning with the whipped cream cheese/cream, alternately layer the cream and fruit mixture, reserving enough of the cream mixture to pipe on top of the trifle. (Depending on the size of the trifle bowl, will have three to four layers of each.)
6. Using a pastry bag fitted with tip of choice, pipe reserved whipped cream cheese/cream along edges of the bowl.
7. Sprinkle candied almonds on top of whipped cream. Note: You will not use all of the candied almonds if you only pipe the whipped cream cheese/cream along the sides of the trifle bowl. Serve remaining almonds on the side when serving the trifle. 
8. Serve immediately or refrigerate several hours before serving.

Notes: (1) The original recipe also suggested the trifle could be made with green or red seedless grapes. It could, but I really think berries work so much better. (2) The trifle is best served to 'company' on the day it is made, but leftovers continue to be delicious the next day.