Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Sweet Blueberry Biscuits

UPDATE: Welcome Pinterest people! this recipe has gotten my lil blog so much traffic and I'm so happy you are here! If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I'll do my best to get back to you! Thanks!

I cannot say enough about these biscuits. The first time I made them was a huge experiment, but they turned out so good and got rave reviews!!!

Sweet Blueberry Biscuits

Biscuits:
adjusted from the Buttermilk Biscuits post
2 cups All-Purpose Flour (I used White Lily, a flour available in most Southern stores)
1 Tb. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tb. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter (VERY cold)
3/4-ish cup buttermilk (use enough until the dough is just barely wet enough)
1 c. frozen blueberries (we used fresh blueberries that had been frozen overnight)
1/2 stick melted salted butter

Sauce:
1 c. powdered sugar
3 Tb. milk (or more if not thin enough)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cut butter into small pats and lay out on a cookie sheet lined in wax paper. Stick in the freezer for at least 10 minutes. Prepare cast iron skillet with a tiny amount of bacon grease, if available. Easiest thing: fry one piece of bacon, wipe out the pan, and you're good to go!

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Stir the sauce ingredients together (powdered sugar, milk, vanilla), and make sure the powdered sugar is completely dissolved.

Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar) together and then cut in the cold unsalted butter. Cut in until the butter is about pea sized, relatively well mixed in. Add buttermilk. Add slowly until you have just enough where the dough separates from the sides of the bowl. Stir until just combined and roll it out onto a well-floured surface.

Before kneading, prepare a large area for kneading. (I use a large cutting board for easy clean-up!) Sprinkle the area with some flour. Put the dough on the floured area and sprinkle some flour over the dough. Press the dough out (no need to roll with a pin) and flatten to about 1/2″ thickness. Put blueberries over dough. Knead a couple of times and flatten back out to about 1″ thickness. (Honestly, the thicker the better, because they rise so beautifully!) The berries will likely start to bleed onto the dough and you’ll start to see flecks of blue as the berries defrost.

Place biscuits in a cast-iron skillet and be sure biscuits are touching.

Bake at 500 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. Somewhere around 6 to 8 minutes, take the skillet out of the oven and brush the biscuits with melted salted butter. This is an integral part of the baking process. And be liberal with it, brush on the sides of the biscuits if they are showing. When you begin to see the tops lightly brown (and the blueberries burst), take them out. The temperature in the middle of the biscuits will remain very hot once out of the oven and will continue the cooking process.

NOTE: Some people have mentioned that they have to leave their biscuits in for longer than 10 or 12 minutes. I have never had to leave mine in for longer, but if you fear yours aren't getting done and want to leave them in for longer, be sure to watch them like a hawk! I promise, they will go from done to burnt in just a few seconds!

When you take the biscuits out of the oven, let the pan cool for about 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the biscuits after 10 minutes. Use as much or little of the sauce as desired.

Serve immediately!

Spinach & Sausage Quiche

I through this one together with whatever I had in the fridge--that always makes the best kind of quiche!

Spinach and Sausage Quiche
1 frozen pie crust
1 c. chopped, cooked spinach (if previously frozen, be sure to drain completely)
1/2 c. crumbled turkey sausage
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3 oz. softened cream cheese
4 eggs
1/8 c. chopped onion
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Poke holes in crust with a fork and pre-bake crust for 10 minutes.

Softened onions, either in a skillet or microwave.

In a bowl, mix eggs, crumbled sausage, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and softened onion. Mix until completely combined. Add salt and pepper.

Pour mix into pie crust and bake for 30 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, take the quiche out of the oven and with a fork, stir the egg mixture. This will help ensure a more even cooking process.

Put the quiche back into the oven for another 10 minutes, or until completely cooked through. The amount of time needed to finish will vary.

Summer Vegetable Alfredo Pasta

This recipe came together on a whim, based on stuff I had in the fridge that needed to be used! It ended up being super tasty, and I think you'll like it too!
Summer Vegetable Alfredo Pasta
1 box multi-colored rotini pasta
3 medium yellow squash
3 medium zucchini
2 Tb. canola oil
1 turkey sausage kielbasa
1 c. Alfredo sauce (I used Ragu's Light Parmesan Alfredo)

Cook pasta according to directions.

Chop yellow squash and zucchini. Saute in canola oil until soft.

Chop kielbasa into small slices. In a separate pan, saute kielbasa until browned. Add pasta and kielbasa in with vegetables. Add the Alfredo sauce and stir all together. Heat through and serve warm.

Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

This is my favorite pasta sauce! Its really easy to make and now that I've discovered this gem, I simply cannot accept jarred pasta sauces anymore!
Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce
adapted from Italian Food Forever
1 lb. ground mild Italian sausage
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tb. olive oil
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
3 Tb. dried basil (start off with 2 Tb. and add more to taste)
2 tsp. dried oregano (start off with 1 tsp. and add more to taste)
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
cooked pasta (your choice)

Saute the chopped onion and minced garlic in the olive oil until onions are translucent. Add Italian sausage, cook until just done. Drain any grease and add back into saute pan. Add in crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes on a low heat. **Adjust seasonings to taste**

Pour over pasta, and enjoy!