In an effort to impress you all with the lengths to which we will go here in the Circle B Kitchen to provide the highest in culinary excellence, I give you the bagel dog.  Oh, scoff if you will, but these are no ordinary bagel dogs.  I have no patience with ordinary bagel dogs.  OK, that’s not entirely true, but I’m pretty stoked about these.

Not long ago, my Google+ Circle spent a fair amount of time lamenting the lack of good bagel dogs in our lives.  It took me about a nanosecond to decide to remedy this situation and make it a personal quest to create not just a good bagel dog, but a really great one.  I would not be deterred.

A few days of research later, I stood in the kitchen with 3 different bagel dough recipes and two different techniques for making them into bagel dogs and more than a little pessimism about combining them into one coherently delicious recipe.  I certainly didn’t expect to nail it on the first try, but as luck would have it, that’s exactly what happened.  Nailed it.  I mean, like beyond what I had been hoping for.  These, people, are incredibly awesome dogs.  The bagel part is light, yet chewy, and has this wondrous little crunch on the outside, creating what I now believe is the perfect complement to a lusciously good hot dog.  Fluffy, chewy, crispy... the culinary trifecta for a good bagel, and thusly, a very incredible bagel dog.

Now, just a moment to mention that these are turkey bagel dogs.  It's been incredibly difficult, as you can well imagine, to find a decent turkey dog, but I believe I've finally found it.  These are Bar S jumbo turkey franks and they're awesome.  Recently, the San Francisco Chronicle did their own research on the best turkey dogs and decided they liked Foster Farms the best.  I haven't been able to find those, but they didn't try the Bar S in their research and we liked them a lot.  Second place in the study is the Welshire Farms brand found at Whole Foods and most health food stores.  So there you have it, people, it is actually possible to find a decent, if not wondrous turkey dog out there!!

So here’s how you make them…

Just throw your dough ingredients together, let them rise for an hour and then divide it into 8ths (hopefully your favorite hot dogs come 8 to a pack).

Roll each piece out to about 3 x 6 and stick your hot dog in the middle.

Fold the ends in and then wrap the dough around and pinch the seam to seal it up and set aside.

When they’re all done, put a pot of water on to boil and boil them for a couple of minutes.

Place them on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes and that’s it!!  Voila!   You will not believe.  You will just not believe how good these are.  Eat them while they’re warm or let em cool and freeze them.  They reheat beautifully.  We dipped ours in mustard and we topped em with chili and we ate em plain and they were all incredibly wonderful.

My work here is done; the world is now a better place for those of us who crave a good bagel dog now and then.  Here’s the recipe…

Homemade Bagel Dogs

4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp (1 pkg) active dry yeast
1 3/4 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
1 beaten egg white for finishing
8-10 good quality hot dogs

The past week has been a bit of a blur for us, what with the packing, and shipping boxes home and the leave-taking and teary good-byes and hours spent in airplanes and airports and finally the homecoming and unpacking and organizing and settling back in.   Yes, we’ve traded in the 70-degree sun-soaked California beaches of the Circle B Kitchen West for our -4 degree, snow-covered homestead here in the Midwest.  Say what you will, but it’s home.  And really, there’s just no place like it.

But even with all that, somewhere towards the end of our stay in sunny CA, I got around to making this Tuscan herb salt that’s been on my to-do list for ages.  It did not disappoint.  Amazingly flavorful and easy to make, I can't imagine not having a jar of this around from now on.

So far I’ve used it to season some salmon I made the other night (I've included a link to the recipe below), sprinkled it over some fresh mozzarella drizzled with olive oil to marinate (yum), stirred some into yogurt cheese, and sprinkled it into our eggs this morning.  It lent a lovely herbaceousness to each of those dishes without being overpowering, and the aromas of this mixture are such that I can barely walk by the jar without sticking my nose in it. 

The recipe comes from Lynn Rosetto Kasper’s “The Splendid Table”, and she describes it as an essential seasoning in Tuscan kitchens.  No big mystery there… this is amazing stuff.  The basic recipe calls for fresh rosemary and sage.  I had some parsley and thyme on hand, so added those too (yes… parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme).  You can substitute your favorite herbs, but the rosemary and sage are traditional and fragrantly wonderful.  In Tuscany, it is mostly used to season pork, chicken and beef.  I will be sprinkling it on my focaccia too.

If you have a food processor, it’s a cinch to throw this together.  If you don’t, a sharp knife will be essential, and definitely still very do-able.   And really, once you get a whiff of this herb/garlic/salt mixture, you’re going to want it on everything.  OK, not everything, but definitely keep it close by for a bit of Tuscan aromatherapy.

Tuscan Herb Salt

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe courtesy of Sally Schneider via The Splendid Table

This is a classic herb salt used in Northern Italy.  It is good on just about anything. Use it as an essential seasoning for roasts of all kinds, but it’s also great on vegetables, beans, popcorn, potatoes, bread or eggs.  It's truly wonderful on fish... here's my salmon recipe which uses the herb salt to season the fish and also to create a creamy sauce for it.

The recipe calls for kosher salt, which I thought worked really well.  Diamond Crystal kosher salt is very good.  You can use other favorite salts for this, but do not use regular table salt (too salty), and I would stay away from grey salt because of its moisture content.

Hand chopping gives a slightly less-uniform salt and is surprisingly easy, but a food processor will get the job done in no time.

Ingredients:

4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled
Between 1/3 and 1/2 cup kosher salt (I used close to 1/2 cup)
About 2 cups loosely-packed, pungent fresh herbs such as sage, rosemary, thyme (the traditional Tuscan version uses 50/50 sage and rosemary)

Hand-Chopped Method

1. Cut each garlic clove lengthwise through the center and remove the sprout (if any) in the center and discard.

2. Mound the salt and garlic on a cutting board. Use a chef's knife to mince the garlic, blending it with the salt as you work.

3. Place herbs in a mound and coarsely chop them. Add the herbs to the garlic salt and chop them together to the texture of coarse sand.

4. Can use this immediately, or spread the salt on a baking sheet or in wide flat bowls and leave them near an open window for a couple of days to dry. Store in clean, dry jars, or for gifts, pack into cello bags and tie with a ribbon.

Food Processor Method

1. Cut each garlic clove lengthwise through the center and remove the sprout (if any) in the center and discard.

2. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine the garlic and 2 tablespoons of the salt. Pulse until the garlic is chopped medium-coarse. Add the herbs and continue pulsing until the mixture is the texture of very coarse sand. Transfer to a sheet pan and toss with the remaining salt.

3.  Can use this immediately, or spread the salt on a baking sheet or in wide flat bowls and leave them near an open window for a couple of days to dry. Store in clean, dry jars, or for gifts, pack into cello bags and tie with a ribbon.

 

I’ve had this recipe sitting in queue to be posted for over a month now, and several times came very close to eliminating it altogether.  And it’s not because it isn’t delicious, because it’s way good, but I must admit to being just a little embarrassed at how many pasta dishes and how many pesto recipes I’ve posted over the course of the past 2 ½ years. 

But I have to believe I’m not the only person out there who will never tire of a good, toothsome pasta coated with a lovely pesto sauce.  And it doesn’t really matter what combination of flavors or ingredients are involved, really, in my world, pesto rocks!

So when I saw this particular recipe published in our newspaper, I was somewhat surprised that I hadn’t yet thought of making a spinach pesto.  It’s genius, really.  Admittedly, many pesto sauces, especially the ones you buy in the store, are pretty oily and not all that health-conscious.  But this one, people, this one is not only good for you, it tastes awesome.

If you own a blender or a food processor, this is one of the quickest meals you can possibly throw together.  Of course, you can make the sauce ahead of time, but even if you don’t, you can have dinner on the table in the time it takes you to boil your pasta.  And I’m guessing that even if your kids are averse to eating anything green, they’re going to love this one.

So instead of apologizing for what might seem like culinary redundancy, I have instead added another pesto recipe to my collection and prefer to think of it as an embarrassment of riches.  Here’s the recipe…

PASTA WITH SPINACH PESTO 

click here for a printable recipe

1 lb pasta (spaghetti, penne, fettuccine or linguini)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 10-oz pkg of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (plus more for serving)
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts, plus more for serving
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon grated zest plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
¼ cup olive oil

Optional, 4 oz soft goat cheese

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until al dente (I usually cook it 1 minute less than the package directs).  Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.  Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

While the pasta is cooking, place the spinach, parmesan, 2 tablespoons pine nuts, garlic, lemon zest and juice in a food processor or blender.  Process until a paste forms.  With the motor running, add oil and ¼ cup cold water, and process until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add to the pasta and toss, adding reserved pasta water a little at a time until the sauce is thinned slightly and coats the pasta. 

If desired, stir in the goat cheese when you add the pesto to the pasta.

Serve, sprinkled with additional Parmesan and nuts.

As I mentioned here, the last couple of weeks we’ve been enjoying beautiful summer weather at the Western Headquarters of the Circle B Kitchen on the California Central Coast. I think it’s a fairly well-kept secret that if you come to the Central or Northern coast of California in the summertime, you’re going to pretty much need a jacket. The seasons are so confusing here. Wintertime is definitely when you’re going to get summer and we’re lovin it!

But it really doesn’t matter what the season, New England clam chowder is one of our favorites here, and this is my all-time favorite recipe. I’ve actually made this 4 times in the last couple of months and I may even make it again before we head back to the Midwest to finish out winter.

 But for this weekend, we’ve driven up the coast a little ways to Santa Cruz to visit the old home town. Our room has a beautiful view of the Santa Cruz wharf, which just happens to have one of the best spots on earth for clam chowder. If you’re a clam chowder kind of person and you find yourself in Santa Cruz, you really have to get out to Stagnaro’s Seafood on the wharf. They’ll give you a nice little sourdough bread bowl full of the stuff. It’s awesome, and I promise that if you eat the whole thing you won’t need another meal for a week.

But for those of you unable to get to Stagnaro’s any time soon, this here recipe should take care of your chowder needs quite nicely.

New England Clam Chowder

Click here for a printable recipe

Adapted from a recipe from Epicurious

6 cans (6.5 oz) of minced clams (like Snow's), juices reserved
2 bacon slices, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, diced
1 or 2 stalks of celery, diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled, diced
2 cups whole milk
1 cup half and half
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper

Drain the clam juice from the minced clams. You should have about 3 cups. Set aside

Cook the bacon in a soup pot over medium heat until lightly crisp, about 8 minutes.

Add the butter to the pan and the onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes.

Whisk in the clam juice, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The liquid should be the consistency of heavy cream. Add the bay leaf and fresh thyme.

Add the potatoes and the salt and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the clams and the milk mixture in a saucepan and simmer together about 5-8 minutes.

When the potatoes are tender, add the milk and clams and pepper. Simmer on very low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, remove from the heat for a few minutes to let the soup thicken.

Serve in bowls with a fresh, crunchy baguette to dip in that scrumptious broth.

Last fall, for some inexplicable reason, I got it in my head that I needed to make some carrot bread.  Not having a recipe in my repertoire, I did a little research and tried several recipes that I thought might work, many of which turned out to be nothing more than carrot cake baked in a loaf pan.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I was going for.  I really wanted something sort of healthier, delicious, yet not too calorie-laden.  Sadly, I never found that perfect carrot bread recipe, and was in the process of developing one when Thanksgiving hit, then Christmas, and my need for carrot bread got put on the back burner.

But then a couple weeks ago, as I was browsing through some of Mark Bittman’s recent recipes, I came across this gem.  Well, you can imagine my glee, and you can bet I had this carrot bread baking in my oven within the hour.

While it turned out to be quite scrumptious, there were still a few things I needed to tweak to create the carrot bread I’d been imagining.  I’ve noted those changes on the recipe, but perhaps the most notable was the dominance of the orange zest.  The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, which didn’t seem like that much, but in the end, it sort of turned this into carrot-orange bread or orange-carrot bread.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but again, not what I was going for.  If that meets your carrot bread requirements, by all means, add it in, but next time I’ll either greatly reduce the amount or leave it out altogether.  OR I might swap it out for a little lemon zest which might even turn out to exceed my carrot bread fantasies.  Here’s the recipe…

Brown Sugar Carrot Bread

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe courtesy Mark Bittman

This is a deliciously moist, dense quick bread, but there are a few things I will do differently next time.  First I think I might lighten up the texture of the bread a little.  Mark used a combination of 1 ¼ cups all-purpose, ½ cup whole wheat, and ¼ cup course wheat bran, and I used a cup each of all purpose flour and white whole wheat flour.  Next time I think I might cut the whole wheat flour back to 1/2 cup.  I thought the orange zest was a little too dominant, so I suggest you eliminate it altogether.  Lastly, 1 teaspoon of salt seemed a bit much; 1/2 tsp is perfect.   The recipe didn't include them, but I added 1 cup raisins to the batter.

Makes: 1 loaf

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold butter, plus butter for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 cup brown sugar (golden or dark)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (I recommend 1/2 tsp)
¾ cup almond milk
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (I recommend you eliminate this)
1 egg
1 cup grated carrots
½ cup sliced almonds
1 cup raisins

1. Heat the oven to 350d F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter or spray with cooking spray. (I suggest you use a smaller loaf pan...the bread comes out much nicer and cooks up perfectly).

2. Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into bits, then use a fork, 2 knives, or your fingers to cut or rub it into the dry ingredients until there are no pieces bigger than a small pea. (You can use a food processor for this step, which makes it quite easy, but you should not use a food processor for the remaining steps or the bread will be tough.)

3. Beat together the milk, zest and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients, mixing just enough to moisten; do not beat and do not mix until the batter is smooth. Fold in the grated carrots, raisins and the nuts, then pour and spoon the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

You know how when you board an airplane and the seat next to you is empty and the doors are closing and you get all excited because you're going to have all this extra room and space and quiet and then this large-ish guy from another row scoots into the seat and your hopes and dreams of extra space are completely dashed and then he carries on a very loud conversation with the guy across the aisle, and even though you've put in earplugs, it's almost impossible to collect your thoughts and write coherently about some incredibly luscious, lemon-studded muffins?  I just hate it when that happens.  And all this after sitting on the runway for over an hour while we de-ice and wait for runways to open and whatever other delays they can dream up because they know you have an impossibly tight connecting flight.

So here I am jammed into a middle seat, earplugs stuffed in my ears drowning out only the sound of the engines and making this conversation next to me seem even louder.  But as soon as the flight attendant stops screeching through the intercom, I'm going to do my best to gather my thoughts and tell you about these lovely lemon muffins.

And luscious they are... moist, super lemon-y, and just the perfect little muffin for those of us who profess undying allegiance to all things lemon.  I'm pretty much a charter member of that club and lemon curd is our iconic celebrity.

I have only one little procedural complaint regarding this recipe, and that's that as much as I was looking forward to little swirls of lemon curd in these, apparently, either I totally sucked at the marbling step, or the lemon curd just naturally gets absorbed by the batter, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  But since the name suggests otherwise, I think we should be able to find little pockets of lemon curd inside. 

To remedy this possible eventuality, I suggest that you simply spoon a little of the lemon curd onto half of the batter in the muffin tin and top that with more of the batter and bake as directed.  Or you could try your hand at marbling the curd a la the original recipe.  And to make things even more wondrous, I think you should also add a little dollop of the curd on top of the finished muffin.  Sigh.

And in case you were wondering (maybe you're not), the aforementioned flight was (in its own special way) whisking us off to the sunny shores of the central coast of California, more specifically, the Western Headquarters of the Circle B Kitchen.  We've left the chickens in the capable hands of our neighbor, who happens to also be our daughter, and for the next few weeks they will be working on their yoga postures and we will be trading 19 degrees for 60. 

Sounds pretty nice, no?  Almost as good as a lovely little muffin filled with lemon curd.  Here's the recipe...

Lemon Curd Marbled Muffins

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe adapted from River Cottage Every Day

These are wonderfully moist, lemon-y muffins, but it seems that the lemon curd doesn't actually marble that well.  So if you're looking for more of a lemon curd presence in your muffin, I would suggest that you place ½ the batter in the muffin cups and place a dollop of curd in the center of each and then top with the rest of the muffin batter and bake as directed.   I used panettone muffin papers that I ordered from Cupcakes and Swirls.  If you use this kind of paper mold, you will only get 6 instead of 12 muffins from the recipe.

Makes about 12 muffins

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup lemon curd, divided

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and whisk lightly to aerate and combine.

2.  Mix the egg, yogurt, milk, and melted butter together in a pitcher. Pour them into the dry ingredients and mix lightly, stopping as soon as everything is combined – it's essential not to overmix or you'll get dense, cakey muffins.

3.  Add 2/3 of the lemon curd in 6 or 7 dollops and quickly "marble" it lightly through the mixture (a couple of light stirs is really add that's needed). If your lemon curd is a bit stiff, just add it in little blobs.

4.  Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups, to three-quarters fill them. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Eat on the day you bake them, ideally while still slightly warm, topped with another dollop of lemon curd.

Once again, I’m just a little late to the party.  It seems that Revel Bars have been around for a very long time, and sadly, I had no idea.  Not one person in all my days has mentioned these to me.  It seems that there are lucky people all over this country who grew up eating them… their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and I’m sure even a few uncles made them, and all the while, I had none.  Sigh.  You’d think someone somewhere, sometime might have pointed this out to me.

 But better late than never, they say.  And happily, just before Christmas I came across a couple different recipes for these lovely confections, and no one had to twist my arm to get them made and sampled.  Wow.  Are they ever good.

Basically, revel bars are just the easiest thing in the world to make and remind me of so many cookie bars that were invented in the 50’s and 60’s.  They consist of a chocolate-y layer of deliciousness sandwiched between two layers of an oatmeal/brown sugar mixture that gets just slightly crispy and ultimately creates a cookie bar that is incredibly tasty and way too addicting.  There are many versions of the Chocolate Revel Bar out there; this happens to be the no-nut version, but it would be perfectly acceptable to add some chopped walnuts to the oatmeal mixture.  Equally scrumptious. 

 So pretty much whatever it is you’re doing there, I highly recommend that you put it down and go make yourself some of these.   Unless, of course, you’re one of those fortunate people who grew up eating them, in which case, well, you can just keep on doing whatever.  You probably already have some in your cookie jar right now, and that’s OK with me.  Really.  I’m fine with that.  Really.

Chocolate Revel Bars

Click here for a printable recipe

1 cup butter 
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk 
1 12-oz. package chocolate chips 
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Add flour, soda and salt. Stir in oatmeal and mix to combine.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of butter, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate chips. Heat on high in microwave for a minute, remove and stir. Heat again, for 30 seconds at a time, until completely melted. (This step could also be done over low heat on the stove). Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Press two-thirds of the oat mixture into the bottom of a greased and floured 15 x 10 jelly roll pan. My pan wasn't quite that big and they still came out great.  Spread chocolate mixture over the oat mixture. Using your fingers, dot remaining oat mixture over the chocolate.  

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 20-25 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

I’m not really sure what’s happened since Februaryof 2010, but it seems that was the last time I made polenta.  Very bothersome.  I happen to really love polenta.  A lot.   I have no easy explanation for why or how it has been thusly neglected for almost 2 years, but that’s the thing about polenta.  It’s just not a show-y extrovert kind of food.  It doesn’t jump up and down and squeal “oh, make me! Make me!”  Rather, polenta is a bit of an introvert in the food world.  It’s a reserved, simmer slowly, take its time, quietly delicious sort of thing that is easy to miss when you’re busy making this and that.  And now I feel really bad.

But to make amends, I decided to make this beautiful recipe I found in my Cucina Italiana magazine.  I love Italians.  They would never forget to make polenta.  And not only would they remember to make it, this is what they would do to it… they would simmer and reduce a delicious tomato sauce to spread on top with chunks of Italian sausage, and then they would top that with fresh mozzarella, bake it until it gets all melty and luscious and then drizzle it with olive oil and cracked pepper.  In my next life I will be Italian.

Oh, man is this good.  Mostly in the past (when I’ve remembered), I’ve made the creamy, spoon-able kind of polenta, but this is the kind of polenta that you let set up and thicken and become a delectable vehicle for any number of sauces or toppings.  I did have to alter the recipe a bit because that’s what I do, and I’ve noted those changes in the recipe below.  I have also included a few ways to get this on the table a little quicker.  But good polenta takes time.  It’s not difficult or complicated, but like most introverts, it will require time, patience and a bit of your attention now and then.  In the end, you will be magnificently rewarded.  Lovely stuff.

Here’s the recipe…

Polenta with Italian Sausage and Fresh Mozzarella

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe adapted from La Cucina Italiana

4 cups of water
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups coarse polenta

Happy new year, everyone! Yes, people, I have returned from my self-imposed blogging exile just in time to catch you when you're probably still in the throes of your post-holiday food coma and not the least bit interested in cooking, eating or planning the next meal. Great. But someday soon I promise you will return to the kitchen, and when you do, you will thank me for insisting that you make these ethereal little biscuits.

But before I tell you about them, how have you been? I really have missed you these past couple of months. Remember how I told you in my last post that I was going to spend my little hiatus getting my camera and computer equipment cleaned and researching new recipes and stuff like that? Nah. Didn't do any of that. I had such great intentions, but mostly what I did was barely manage to keep up with my crazy life and all the holiday shopping, cooking and partying. So now I need a vacation. But so do you, right?

Seeing as how neither of us is going to get one, I thought it might be nice to just cook you something super delicious. These little angel biscuits are so dang good that if you’ve been avoiding your kitchen since the holidays, these should send you running back there like your hair’s on fire. I mean it. These are the lightest, airiest, fluffiest and easiest biscuits ever. OK, the box of Bisquick is way easier, but no way are they this fluffy. I heart fluffy biscuits.

There have been several recipes for angel biscuits floating around the past few months and I really meant to make them during the holidays. I won’t bore you with all the reasons I never got around to it, but I must say they made a pretty great post-holiday treat.

And when I say they’re easy, I really do mean it. I know because I made them 3 times in one afternoon. If that seems excessive, it’s just that evidently I needed to practice being stupid. I forgot to put the baking soda in the first batch (I must tell you about these later); I accidentally set the oven to convection on the second batch and they got a might too toasty; and then (thank goodness) the third batch was just right.

About those first biscuits that didn’t get the baking soda… they were so good. They didn’t rise much, so no fluffiness, but they came out like a heavy, sort of doughy dinner roll, but kind’ve flat, and I honestly could have eaten 5 or 11 of them. So if you forget the baking soda, do not despair.

Happy New Year! I wish you lots of good eats in 2012 starting with Buttermilk Angel Biscuits! And as if they weren’t enough to jump start the year, it seems that angel biscuit sliders are pretty dang amazing too…

Here's the recipe...

BUTTERMILK ANGEL BISCUITS

click here for printable recipe

Recipe adapated from Favorite Recipes Press via Relish magazine

I made a few changes from the original recipe to make it even easier. If you have a food processor, you can throw these together in no time. The original recipe said it would make 18 to 24 biscuits, but that really depends on how thick you cut them. If you like your biscuits tall (which I do), roll the dough out to about an inch thick and you will get about 12 biscuits. If you want more than that, just roll the dough out a little thinner. These are good no matter how big they are.

Ingredients

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablesppons sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup shortening, cut into pieces

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.2. *To the bowl of a food processor, add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to mix3. Add the shortening and pulse a few more times until it forms little pebbles in the flour.4. Add the buttermilk and yeast mixture and pulse until it forms a sort of sticky ball. 5. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead two or three times, just to form a ball and roll out to about ¾ to an inch thick.6. Using a 2-inch cutter, cut out the biscuits and place them in a greased pan.7. While the oven preheats, let the biscuits rise slightly (about 20 minutes). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 400F. Eat while warm.

*If you don’t have a food processor, no worries. Just mix your dry ingredients in a large bowl and “cut in” the shortening using a pastry cutter or two knives. I used the two-knife method to cut shortening and butter into my pie crusts for years before I had a food processor. Just angle the knives towards each other like scissors, sort of chopping through the flour until the shortening is the size of little pebbles and then continue with the recipe, adding in the buttermilk, etc.

The Circle B Kitchen has been cooking and blogging for a couple of years now, and I’ve decided that it’s time for a little hiatus.  It seems a natural, even necessary part of any creative endeavor to pause once in a while and gather some new productive energy and seek renewed inspiration for the work.  

The Circle B Kitchen blog has been incredibly fun for me to produce, and I anticipate many more years of cooking, writing and photography ahead.   But for the next two months or so, I plan on getting the computer and photography equipment cleaned and serviced, and spend some unhurried time researching and creating new recipes to share with you.  And if you have a minute to check out the recipe index, you’ll maybe agree with me that the list is pretty long for 2-years’ work, and I’d really like to spend some time going back and cooking some of these amazing dishes again.

But before I take my leave, I want to be sure you have something lovely to keep you warm over the next couple of months.  And this chowder really is just the ticket.  It’s such an easy recipe (once you get everything chopped up) because it all just gets thrown into the pot and baked for an hour.  Add your milk and you’re done.

Well, almost.  It really just depends on how thick you like your chowders.  Personally, I like a medium to light chowder that isn’t too rich and heavy, but it must have enough body to actually qualify as a chowder in my world.  The original recipe (which is awesome, btw), turns out a fairly thin chowder, so I’ve amended the recipe to give you some options for thickening it up if you like.

But in the end, this is one of the best chowders I’ve had in recent memory, and I’m pretty sure you’ll be hooked too.  It’s just the thing to warm those chilly winter evenings and keep you snug and comfy til I get back in January.  Here’s the recipe…

Oven-Baked Fish Chowder

Click here for a printable recipe

Recipe adapted from Cooking.com

This recipe turns out a little thinner than a traditional chowder (more soup than chowder), so if you’d like yours a little thicker, see my notes at the end of the recipe.  I used whole milk, but I’m pretty sure that using half and half or even cream would make this a little thicker.  I used cod and it was really wonderful.  I also added 12 oz of chopped clams, which I highly recommend.

2 pounds cod, haddock or any firm white fish, bones removed
3 cups cubed russet potatoes
(I added 12 oz of chopped clams)
2 cups hot fish stock or water (I used Snow's bottled clam juice)
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or 2)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (and more for finishing)
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup milk or light cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients except milk and parsley in a heavy, 4-quart ovenproof soup pot.  Cover and bake until fish flakes into pieces and potatoes are tender, about 1 hour.

Transfer soup pot to stovetop. Slowly stir in milk. Simmer gently over low heat until rewarmed, about 5 minutes. Add parsley.  Finish with a healthy grinding of cracked black pepper and serve with fresh, crusty bread.

Note: to thicken the chowder, do not add the butter with the rest of the ingredients.  After you take the pot out of the oven, melt the butter and mix it with 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour (depending on how thick you would like it) and 1 ¼ cups of milk.  Whisk this into the soup and use the whisk to mash a few of the potatoes.  Bring the soup back to a boil and let it simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes.  Remove it from the heat and let it sit for another 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then stir in your parsley.  Taste for salt and pepper. The longer it sits, the thicker it will get. And it's even better the next day.