Dark Chocolate Chip and Walnut Scones

I love scones.

I remember when my mom first started making them. She a got a recipe for them from someone at our church, I believe. I was in elementary school, and I’d never heard of nor had scones before. But from that very first scone I was in love. Fresh scones are hard to beat.

Growing up, whenever my mom made fish chowder, she would make plain scones to go with it. This may seem like an odd combination, but trust me, it’s lovely. We would slather them with butter and honey and eat them with our chowder. Ah, memories.

I still make plain scones whenever I  make fish chowder. It’s one of those comfort foods that makes me feel warm and fuzzy because it reminds me of my childhood (and because it tastes really good of course too). Sometimes, however, I like to make scones for breakfast too. They’re great, because you can make just about any kind you want, just like muffins.

This time around, I found myself wanting scones for breakfast one Saturday morning. And not just any scones, but chocolate chip scones with walnuts. And not just any chocolate, but dark chocolate. Whenever I eat or make anything with chocolate, I always use dark chocolate. I figure, if I’m going to go all out and eat chocolate, than it better be good chocolate, and my favorite kind of chocolate on earth is dark chocolate (the darker, the better).

These are a wonderful treat for a weekend morning (or a special weekday morning even). Crumbly on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside with warm gooey chocolate and crispy walnuts. Heaven my friends. In the form of a breakfast quick bread.

Dark Chocolate and Walnut Scones

(makes 8 scones)

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 c. cold un-salted butter (half a stick), cut into cubes
• 1/2 – 3/4 bag of dark chocolate chips (5 – 8 oz.)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 2/3 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg

1. Pre-heat oven to 425° F. Grease a baking sheet.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
3. With a pastry blender (or two forks), cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add chocolate chips and chopped walnuts and mix in.
5. Beat buttermilk and egg together in a small bowl. Pour over the flour mixture and stir just until the mixture comes together. Try not to over mix it.
6. Pour out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 4 or 5 times. Transfer to the prepared cookie sheet. With floured hands pat dough into an 8-inch circle. Using a floured knife, cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate the pieces.
7. Bake 15 – 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

Egg, Ham, & Spinach Hashbrown Casserole

I know I’ve mentioned I like egg dishes before. But really, they never get old! And there’s so many variations!

Quiches! Stratas! Frittatas!

Let us not forget, though, the mighty breakfast casserole!
So many things you can add, and all delicious.

I made mine a hashbrown casserole with onion, spinach, and ham added with the hashbrowns, cheese sprinkled over the top, and then beaten eggs and milk poured over everything and baked. Lovely.

Don’t think you can only serve this for breakfast/brunch. Like all those lovely egg dishes, I strongly believe they’re good for any meal. I served mine for dinner with a tossed salad. I say, go for it.

Egg, Ham, & Spinach Hashbrown Casserole

(serves 4)

• 3 large russet potatoes (or frozen hash browns)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 – 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 c. diced ham
• 1/2 bag (6 – 7 oz.) fresh spinach
• 1 c. shredded colby jack cheese (or the shredded cheese of your choice)
• 4 – 5 large eggs
• 1 c. milk or cream
• salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat oven to 360° F.
2. If using frozen hash browns, cook according to package instructions. If using fresh potatoes, peel, wash, and grate potatoes. Add olive oil to a large skillet over med-high heat. Place grated potatoes in an even layer in skillet. Cook until browned on one side, then flip and cook on the remaining side until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Place hashbrowns in a sprayed 3 quart, rectangle baking dish. Return skillet to heat.
3. Turn heat down to medium. Add onion and garlic, and saute for 3 minutes. Add spinach and ham, and continue cooking until spinach wilts. Remove from heat.
4. Sprinkle half the cheese on top of the hashbrowns. On top of that, spread the onion spinach mixture in an even layer, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
5. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk (or cream) together. Season with salt and pepper, then slowly pour the egg mixture over the casserole so that everything is evenly covered.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown, and the egg is completely cooked. Let cool 5 – 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

 

Stuffed Buns aka Kolache

Have you ever had kolache?

For that matter, do you know what they are?

I didn’t until we moved to Texas, and suddenly there are all these kolache places everywhere.

Kolache, pronounced ko-lah-chee, are a stuffed bun of sorts. From what I understand, they originate in Central Europe (namely the Czech Republic/Slovakia area), but they’re also similar to Russian piroshki.

Like I said, they’re basically stuffed buns, and here, you can get just about any filling in them. There’s spinach cheese, sausage egg, potato cheese, apple cinnamon, cream cheese, etc.

They’re also really yummy.

You can have these any meal of the day, depending on what you stuff them with. They can also be dessert too. They’re really great for picnics and packed lunches though!

If you’ve been to or lived in Japan, you’ll know that stuffed buns are nothing new there. You can find a lot of different stuffed buns in bakeries. Some of the more common fillings are curry, anko (sweet azuki bean paste), custard, jam, etc. They’re yummy too. Except the anko filled onces, I am not a fan of sweet bean paste. But that’s just me…

Hisa stuffing those buns!

Anyway, Hisa and I thought it would be fun to actually make our own stuffed buns/kolache, so last Sunday, we did just that. I made my standard bread dough, but really any yeast bread dough will do I think. You could even buy pre-made frozen bread dough to use if you want. We made five different fillings, stuffed them, baked them, and had a kolache feast. And it was good.

I’ve included the recipes for the fillings we made, but feel free to try out your own fillings! There’s so many options with these! Next time I want to try making pumpkin spice, custard, curry, and sausage & egg fillings. Oh, the possibilities!

Tip: Use a topping or mark your buns in some way, so you can distinguish which bun has which filling. We topped ours with a walnuts, almonds, and sesame seeds to distinguish them.

 

General Stuffing/Baking Instructions:

1. Pinch off a piece of dough. I would say larger than a ping pong ball, but smaller than a tennis ball. But really, make them whatever size you want [note that a larger size bun might need to bake longer].
2. Roll out the dough piece into a circle. You want it fairly thin. Place about 1/4 c. of the filling in the center, fold the sides up over the filling, and pinch them closed. Place on a greased baking sheet, pinched side down, and cover and let rise for 10 – 15 minutes.
3. Beat an egg in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush and brush the top of each bun with the egg.
4. Baking the buns at 375° F for about 20 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown. Place on a cooling rack to cool.

One of the meat filled and spinach and cheese filled buns. Ooh, they were so good.

 

Russian Style Meat Filling

• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 diced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. dry dill weed
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 boiled egg, crumbled
• 1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
• salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and onion, and cook until beef browned. Add garlic, dill weed, and tomato paste, and cook another 2 – 3 minutes.
2. Remove from heat. Add boiled egg and yogurt, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Allow to cool to room temperature before stuffing dough for buns.

Potato, Ham, & Cheese Filling

• 3 medium-large russet potatoes
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 c. diced ham
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 c. milk or cream
• 1 c. shredded colby jack cheese (or whatever cheese you’d prefer)
• salt and pepper

1. Put a pot of water on to boil.
2. In a small skillet over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil for 3 – 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Peel, wash, and cut potatoes into cubes. Boil until tender, then drain, and return to the pot.
4. Add butter and milk to pot. Mash potatoes until the desired consistency. Add onion/garlic, ham, and cheese, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Let mixture cool to room temperature before stuffing dough for buns.

Spinach Ricotta Filling

• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 5 – 7 oz. fresh spinach (a little over half a bag)
• 1 1/2 c. ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
• 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute for 3 – 4 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted.
2. Add spinach mixture, ricotta cheese, and parmesan cheese to a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Let mixture cool to room temperature before stuffing dough for buns.

These were like bread stuffed with apple pie. Delicious. And yummy for breakfast too!

Apple Spice Filling

[note: everyone had their own preference for how strong they like the spices for this type of apple filling. Add more or less than the recipe says according to your preference.]

• 2 large sweet apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small cubes
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/3 – 1/2 c. brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ginger powder

1. Add cubed apples and lemon juice to a pot over medium high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add sugar and spices, reduce heat to medium, and continue cooking until apples tender, another 5 – 10 minutes. Adjust spices/sweetness to taste.
2. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature before stuffing dough for buns.

Sweet Potato Filling

[note: everyone had their own preference for how strong they like the spices for this type of apple filling. Add more or less than the recipe says according to your preference.]

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1/3 – 1/2 c. brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ginger powder

1. Boil, steam, or bake sweet potato cubes, according to your preference, until tender. Add to a bowl, and mash until smooth.
2. Mix in the brown sugar and spices. Adjust spices/sweetness to taste.
3. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature before stuffing dough for buns.

 

Breakfast Pizza

If you’re like me, then the idea of cold, leftover pizza is a horrifying thing.

But we all know people who’ve done it. Even more terrible, people who ate it, and enjoyed it. *collective gasp*

Do not fear the title of this post, fair readers, as I would never suggest you commit such a vile act against our lovely delicious friend, the pizza, such as eat it when it’s a day old and cold.

Instead, I’m suggesting you make a special pizza, just for breakfast (or brunch, or whenever the heck you want), using common breakfast foods: scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese etc.

Yes, my friends. Enter, The Breakfast Pizza.

I wasn’t a believe either until recently, when I tried this delicious bit of breakfast-y pizza heaven, but oh, it’s good. Like, really good.

The key to breakfast pizza, however, is to have pre-made pizza dough, ready to go. I usually make extra whenever I make a batch of pizza dough, and then freeze the extra in personal pizza size. That way, I can just get out a de-frosted (take it out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge the night before you need it) ball of dough whenever I want a quick pizza, roll it out, throw on some toppings, bake it, and have me some pizza. Good times guys, good times.

For this pizza, I spread a little sun-dried tomato pesto on the dough instead of sauce, but if that’s a bit too much in the morning for you, you can just brush a little olive oil on the dough instead. Do whatever sounds tasty to you.
Also, I used ground turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, mini tomatoes, and spinach as toppings for this pizza, but again, don’t limit yourself to just those. Try additional or different toppings. Crumbled bacon or diced ham would be great too, and even hash browns or sauteed mushrooms would be yummy. Let loose and add whatever floats your boat. That’s the great thing about pizza.

Breakfast Pizza

(makes 1 large pizza)

• 1/2 batch of pizza dough
• 3 Tbsp. sun-dried tomato pesto (or 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 lb. ground breakfast turkey sausage
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. mini tomatoes, sliced in half
• 5 oz. fresh spinach (or a couple large handfuls)

1. Pre-heat oven to 425° F (220° C). Spray a large pizza pan/stone or baking sheet.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and cook until browned and crumbly. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add eggs and cook until scrambled. Add tomatoes, season everything with salt and pepper to taste, and remove from heat.
3. Roll out dough to desired size, and place on pan. Spread pesto (or olive oil if using) evenly over dough, leaving 1/2″ – 1″ along the edge.
4. Spread mozzarella cheese over dough, add the toppings, then sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of everything.
5. Bake pizza 20 minutes, or until the crust edges are golden brown. Cut into slices and serve immediately.

 

Waffles with Roasted Sweet Potato, Ham, and Gorgonzola Cheese

It’s a long name, I know.

Actually, the full name today’s recipe is “Savory Waffles with Roasted Sweet Potato, Ham, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Browned Sage Butter”. That seemed a bit excessive though, so I left out the browned sage butter and savory part.
Trust me though, the long name is worth it. These waffles rock.

It all started at Starbucks. Hisa and I somehow started discussing waffles (go figure), and then we started talking about what make good savory toppings for waffles. This is one that I came up with, and it sounded so good, I ended up making it for dinner later that week.

These waffles exceeded my expectations in the best way. They’re really, really good. They’re regular waffles topped with roasted sweet potato, green onions, diced smoked ham, crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, topped with a fried egg (although a poached egg would be great as well), and then lightly drizzled with browned sage butter.

The flavors complement each other wonderfully. The sweetness of the roasted sweet potato is fantastic paired with the tangy Gorgonzola cheese. The smoked ham adds a wonderful depth to it, and the browned sage butter pulls it all together in the best way possible. Hisa and I were both surprised at just how good these were.

These waffles would be great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, but I think they would be particularly great for an elegant brunch.
If you’re tired of the same old waffles with syrup, and want to try something different, give these a try.

First, peeled and cut one regular sweet potato into cubes. Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Mix it up a bit so everything is well coated, then bake in a 350° F oven for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

Dice several green onions (or chives) and ham. Cook them in a skillet together over medium heat for 3 – 4 minutes. You don’t need to add any salt, as ham has enough salt in it.

Mix up your favorite waffle batter, and make your waffles like normal. I don’t add any sugar to my waffle batter, but if you do, you should probably leave it out for these.
While your making your waffles in your waffle maker, fry or poach an egg for each person.
Also while your making the waffles, melt some butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add fresh sage leaves, if you have any, or dried sage if you don’t. Gently cook the butter until it turns brown (don’t cook it on too high heat or it will burn!). Remove from heat and remove the fresh sage leaves if you used them (leave in the dried sage if you used that).

To assemble, put two waffles on each plate. Spread some of the roasted sweet potato onto to the waffles, and then some of the ham and green onions. Sprinkle the crumbled Gorgonzola cheese on top.

Place the fried or poached egg on top of everything, and then drizzle a small amount of the browned sage butter over everything. Sprinkle a little bit of dried parsley on top (optional), and serve.

Yum.

Savory Waffles with Roasted Sweet Potato, Ham, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Browned Sage Butter

(serves 4)

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1/2 c. diced green onions (or chives)
• 2/3 c. diced smoked ham
• waffle batter (enough to make 8 regular waffles or 4 Belgium waffles)
• crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c. (half a stick) butter
• 8 fresh sage leaves (or 1/2 tsp. dried sage)
• dried parsley for garnish (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Place cubed sweet potato into a baking pan, drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Stir around so sweet potato is well coated. Bake about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until sweet potato is tender.
2. Add green onions and ham to a skillet over medium heat. Saute for 3 – 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
3. Make waffles in waffle maker like normal.
4. While waffles are cooking, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When melted, add the sage leaves (or dried sage). Continue to cook gently until butter turns brown in color (don’t cook on too high a temperature or for too long or butter will burn). Remove from heat, and remove the whole sage leaves (dried sage can be left in). Set aside.
5. Fry the eggs sunny-side up or poach them.
6. To assemble: Place 2 waffles (or 1 Belgium waffle) on each plate. Spread some of the roasted sweet potato onto to the waffles, and then some of the ham and green onions. Sprinkle crumbled Gorgonzola cheese on top. Place one fried or poached egg on top of everything, and then drizzle a small amount of browned sage butter over everything. Garnish with a little dried parsley (optional), and serve.