Roasted Sweet Potato Scones with Passion Fruit

I realize that it hasn't been all that long since I posted about scones.  But, you'll have to forgive me, we're doing trials here to find the all time best recipe.  In the not too distant past, I didn't bother making them at all, mostly because the ones I occasionally bought weren't ever something that knocked off my socks.  Just so you know, my socks are now off.  These have more than a hint of orange rind and fresh lillikoi (passion fruit - which are dropping off our vines), a touch of garam masala and the intensity of sweet potato when it is roasted, not to mention butter.  Kind of crunchy on the outside, tender inside.  Absolutely awesome.  You really should make these.
 

We had oven roasted sweet potatoes last night as a side, which left me some to play with.  And after buying the new cookbook put out by our Natural Foods Market (favorite Deli recipes), I wanted to give their scones recipe a try.  Though, these don't really retain much of the original.  Only the proportions of butter, liquid and amount of sugar (which could probably be reduced if you were so inclined).  Since I used kefir, which is a sour milk and some passion fruit juice (acid), the baking powder needed to be adjusted as well, and baking soda added.

We found that they were sweet enough, so you don't need to slather them with honey, or even butter.  They're lovely as is.  Of course, to be traditional, you could top your scone with a big dollop of clotted cream, or your kefir cream cheese.  But, totally icing on the cake.

Roasted Sweet Potato Scones with Passion Fruit

Adapted from the Island Naturals Cookbook

2 cups flour (I used 1/2 white unbleached and !/2 whole wheat spelt)
3/4 cup raw sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup kefir or buttermilk
1/4 cup passion fruit or orange juice
1/2 cup mashed roasted sweet potato
1 teaspoon orange zest

Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, garam masala and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Cut in the butter until a crumbly dough forms, resembling corn grits.  Grate in the orange zest.

In blender or food processor blend sweet potato, kefir, and passion fruit juice.  Slowly add into the dry ingredients, stirring until moistened and clumping together.  Turn out onto floured counter and pat into an 8 inch circle.  Cut into 8 wedges and place onto a buttered baking sheet, an inch apart.  Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Don't over bake.  I think you're going to love these babies.  Sending them off to Let's Do Brunch, hosted by Chaya.

Guava Portuguese Sweet Bread Pudding

You may be familiar with the fund-raising compulsion of various organizations, wherein the harassed members go about their work places and schools, even standing in front of supermarkets, etc. selling an item, say large chocolate bars, Krispy Cremes, or cookies.  Here in Hawaii a popular item is Portuguese Sweet Bread, very similar to Hallah.  We have a lovely lady who comes by with her own personal fund-raiser and sells the bread at our office (among others) once a month or so.  I don't as a rule eat that sort of fluffy white bread (though this does have potatoes and eggs in it) so would usually pass on the offer.  But things have changed, ever since discovering this fabulous use for it: French Toast and Bread Pudding.  Sometimes my mind takes awhile to see the obvious.  I am now ordering on a regular basis just for that purpose (you let her know ahead of time so the correct amount gets baked). 

 

So, a few days of French Toast if we're in a hurry, and this to die for version of Bread Pudding when a bit more time is available.  All from one loaf (unless you are baking for a larger number than two).  I cut a Bread Pudding recipe in half for our breakfast.

To make your pudding even more delectable, spread a bit of jam on the bread layers.  I used my Guava Jam, but marmalade would be marvelous, not to mention apricot, strawberry, raspberry, quince, etc. etc.  The possibilities are endless.  A dash of some liqueur or other to aid and abet is nice.  I used Jim Beam.

Sauerkraut with Kefir Whey, Juniper Berries, Cumin and Mustard Seeds

These days it almost seems as though I'm either posting about pumpkins, or something to do with kefir.  So, no exception here.  When you're thrilled about a subject what can you do but share the fun with the world at large.  I do realize that for some of you this is nothing new, still ...

When you have kefir in the fridge, a culture in process on your counter top, and some cream cheese draining right next to it, you have arrived in kefirland.  Also there's a lot going on in your kitchen.  Now with whey to utilize from the cheese, you can imagine my delight at discovering a recipe for making pickled veggies of various sorts, including sauerkraut.  Kefir whey shortens the fermentation period, so that hardly any salt is needed.  Though after fermenting at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, you do want to let it mature in the fridge.  Don't do as we did, eating it before the 2 to 3 recommended weeks were up.  Now it's almost all gone, just when the flavor's getting to the fabulous stage.  Please see if you can restrain yourselves.

Stuffed Mini-Pumpkins with Gorgonzola, Cream and Toasted Pine Nuts

Fall is the time of year I stuff the darling little pumpkins that seem to appear only then, like mushrooms after a rain.  There they are, calling out to me from the grocery bins.  Irresistible, and so cute on a plate, aside from being really delicious.

My favorite cheese for the stuffing is a blue, which goes beautifully with pumpkin.  These have Parmesan as well.  Basically you have a custard baked in the pumpkin.  They cook together.

Perfect for any vegetarians who may be visiting you at Thanksgiving.  Just stuff them a little pumpkin.  As you will note there is a bit of olive oil floating in the water I put in that cooking pan.  Bake them until the squash is tender and the custard set.  About a half hour.

Three Cheese Ravioli with Mushrooms and Caramelized Leek in Cream Sauce

That title could have been longer, with words like basil and nutmeg scented, fabulous, delicious and wonderful, but we have to be concise some of the time.  Limit ourselves occasionally.  My granddaughter helped me with stuffing the ravioli, which always makes things go faster (and with a certain entertainment value).

I used a mixture of kefir cream cheese, grated cheddar and parmesan Reggianito, with some minced basil, for the filling.  Half the stuffed pasta went into the freezer for another day and half were covered and reserved in the fridge for dinner.  Getting that done early made for a hassle free meal prep later.

Roasted Pumpkin Scones with Fresh Ginger and Cranberries

The aroma of roasted pumpkin is such an awesome thing to have perfuming your home.  Days later I was still smelling that delicious scent.  It seems to linger.  Since a little piece of that fabulous pumpkin was left, I thought how nice pumpkin scones would taste, with a bit of fresh minced ginger and some cranberries .  The sort of thing I wake up thinking about.  To go with my hot cocoa.

To tell you the honest truth, I will never boil or steam another pumpkin, which amounts to flavorless really, when compared to a roasted specimen.   An executive decision has been made in this kitchen.  I am only saddened to think of all those wasted years, of cooking pumpkin the wrong way, just the difference between diluting a flavor or concentrating it.

So, what you do with a little dab of left-over (aside from frying it up with an egg) is to mash and add to this lovely scones recipe from Alice Waters.  Which I did, with a few other adjustments.  Like adding some spices and cranberries, using  kefir instead of cream (but feel free to go with the cream) and a bit of soda to balance the acidity in kefir.

Guacamole with Tomatillos and Easy Baked Tortilla chips

Guacamole responds nicely to the tang of tomato, though that does seem to dull things out color wise.  Red being opposite on the color wheel, you could create some gray if you were dabbling.  Tomatillos, on the other hand, being green(ish) and also being on the tangy side are the bees' knees.  I think they used to say that way back in the day before the day.  Besides which my garden happens to be jumping with them at the moment.  Not that either substance here is a vivid green, but we don't want to muddy things up more than we have to.  Those few flecks of red chili pepper keep to themselves pretty much.

You only need one tiny Hawaiian chili pepper to get a good zap of hot.  A bit of Cuban oregano, just because it's from South of the Border, a plant that grows wild in the tropics, it's actually Plectranthus amboinicus,  a tender fleshy perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae with an oregano-like flavor and odor.  Some people call it Cuban Oregano or Mexican Mint.  Nothing like mint.  Don't be calling it that.

I add a little chopped onion, salt and lemon juice for overall yummyness.  Also, char broiling the tomatillos is a way of cooking them to bring out maximum flavor.  So, you do that first.  Then let them cool while you're mashing avos and chopping things.

Making Kefir Cheese or "Grandma you could die!!"

On a recent post about my experience with making kefir at home, I mentioned that my next experiment would be using that kefir to make cheese.  My granddaughter was here, so thinking she might like to be involved, I told her about my plans.  I said, for Brie or Blue Cheese, we can scrape a bit of the mold off some purchased cheese, and use it to inoculate ours. When she heard that I would be MAKING CHEESE AT HOME, it seemed to terrify her.  I hardly knew what to say, I was so shocked by the reaction.  Of course, being on the cusp of teendom, she has been lecturing me on various subjects, so I should have been prepared.   "Grandma, don't you know there are thousands of bacteria out there, how are you going to know the mold is safe???  You could die!  I'm not eating any."  Grandma is known to live dangerously; eating mushrooms growing out in the wild, making wine and yes, cheese.

Moo Shu Pork with Mandarin Pancakes for Daring Cooks

This is a tale of two dinners.  The first, due to major pancake error, was served on rice instead of the cute, authentic Chinese Pancakes.  And, just so you know, those pancakes do roll out very nicely.  The dough is easy to work with, the recipe simplicity itself.  Just don't stack your uncooked, painstakingly rolled out, darling little cakes, cover them with a damp towel, and then go have a wine and chips break.  It won't work.  You will come back to this:

A gooey, stuck together pile of unusable dough, which you will then have to throw out, muttering under your breath (we won't curse, will we?) and have another glass of that wine.

Also, I must confess, that whilst rolling out the pancakes, there was already some mental grumbling going on.  Like making a batch of crepes is so much easier, and you can use flour that isn't white refined, and said to be bad for you, plus which there are lovely eggs, butter and milk in them.  This is taking too long, I'll never do this again, blah blah blah.  So after all that work, to face actually doing it again, was God teaching me a lesson almost too much, but we persist with challenges around here.

The October Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by Shelley of C Mom Cook and her sister Ruth of The Crafts of Mommyhood. They challenged us to bring a taste of the East into our home kitchens by making our own Moo Shu, including thin pancakes, stir fry and sauce.  Deh-Ta Hsiung, a renowned authority on Chinese cuisine, published a beautiful book called The Chinese Kitchen, which was a source for our recipes.

For round two I used the alternate technique given - squished together double pancakes with sesame oil in between, which you pull apart, after cooking.  Just to vary my life. BUT NOT leaving them stacked, uncooked with a damp towel over.  We frequently learn our lessons the hard way.

For the pork stir fry section of the recipe, I used a precious, naturally raised, too expensive, pork butt.  On the plus side, it was slow roasted for our Sunday dinner of pulled pork tacos (which did taste fabulous), leaving plenty left over for both of my Moo Shu attempts.  So, we did get three dinners out of that yummy butt.  My personal opinion of canned bamboo shoots and dried black fungus, being what it is, (say no more) I substituted slivers of fresh carrot and shitake mushrooms.  I will give the recipes unchanged however.