Recently in Breakfast / Brunch

If there is a more comforting scent than freshly baked cinnamon rolls during the holidays I've not yet discovered it.  This recipe makes about 45-50 individual rolls.  In my opinion they are the perfect size.. not massive and gooey like those "buns" you get at the mall.

Although this isn't her recipe, I like to follow Nancy Silverton's baking tip from her La Brea Bakery Cookbook and use disposable pie tins to bake the rolls.  One batch will fill about 7 tins. The square brownie tins would work too but I like the "wreath-like" shape of a pie tin.  You can freeze them and whip them out to serve on Christmas morning or bring a tin to friends as a gift during the holidays. However you choose to enjoy these... I promise that you will absolutely love their heavenly aroma and bakery quality flavors.  You can also use these to make a variety of sticky buns... more recipes variations with those possibilities will be added soon!

Update (12/13/10):  Apparently I've been living under a rock (or a pile of flour) and missed a very similar recipe that Pioneer Woman has mastered. Our dough almost identical except I'm a believer in a brown sugar/white sugar combo in the cinnamon filling and I don't use as much salt.  She also gives them as gifts in the pie tins.  You know the old saying... There is no such thing as a new idea.  Ree claims her recipe is the best of the best so I will try it soon to see who has the better rolls.  Are you ready for a throwdown, Ree?  Her famous rolls were even featured on The Today Show last week.  She has an interesting frosting using maple flavoring and coffee that sounds remarkable so I may be headed for a throwdown defeat. 

Ingredients

• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 8 cups (+ 1 cup) all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 (heaping) tsp baking powder
• just under 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup melted unsalted butter (possibly more if needed)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• LOTS of cinnamon (about 1/4-1/3 cup..ish-make sure it's fresh)
• 6 or 7 aluminum disposable pie tins
  

Frosting

(per pie tin)

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3+ tsp water (or more if needed) or juice from meyer lemon or orange (experiment w/ amount for consistency and citrus flavor.  You can also use milk but I prefer water/meyer lemon
  

To make the dough, mix whole milk, oil and sugar in a large soup or stock pan.  Heat to scald just before boiling.  Remove from heat and allow to cool in the pan for about an hour.  Once it's lukewarm, add both packages of yeast and allow to sit for a few minutes.  Then add 8 cups of flour.  Gently stir until just blended and allow to rise for at least an hour.

After rising for an hour, add the additional 1 cup of flour, baking powder and soda and the salt.  Gently fold mixture together until just blended. 

To make the rolls, generously sprinkle flour to your rolling surface. Using half the dough, shape it into a rectangle and roll into a long rectangular shape that is approximately 7 inches wide.  Pour about 1/2 cup of melted butter on the dough and use a pastry brush to spread it fairly evenly all over the surface.  Blend both sugars in a bowl and sprinkle evenly about 1 cup of the mixture on top of the butter.  Then sprinkle evenly with lots of cinnamon. (Now I like my rolls simple but at this stage you could also vary the recipe by adding finely chopped nuts like pecans or raisins.)

Using the same pastry brush, add a light layer of butter to the bottom of each pie tin.

Starting at one end, carefully roll the dough tightly until it resembles a snake or a long line of dough.  Try and keep it tight and once complete, pinch the end so it doesn't become loose or fall apart. Use a sharp chef's knife to cut 1 inch think rolls.

Lay each roll into the pie tins. I find that 7 fit perfectly in the tin so they aren't too crowded.  Allow the rolls to rise for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.  (Or, you may wrap the tins tightly in saran wrap and cover with foil and freeze before dough rises.)

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until the rolls are lightly golden brown.

There are lots of options with the frosting.  I like a simple powdered sugar glaze.  To make it just add a little bit of water (about a tsp at a time) and blend until it is thick but still pours. Drizzle on the rolls when they are warm. 

You can flavor the frosting with a touch of vanilla or maple extract, a bit of lemon or orange zest or orange juice in lieu of water ..... or just leave it plain. 

Enjoy!

Quaker Raises Fundraising Goal Another $25,000 - Create Your Day!

Guess what? We did it!! With your help, we raised $25,000 for Share Your Strength - an organization dedicated to stamping out hunger in America. In fact, Quaker had such an amazing result from their "Create Your Day" campaign to benefit Share Your Strength, they've upped the ante! Good Bite and Quaker came up with a fun way to raise funds for Share Your Strength. Quaker created an exclusive website QuakerOats.com/CreateYourDay where you can create your own oatmeal creation. For every bowl of oatmeal created on this site, GoodBite.com & Quaker will donate $1.00 to “Share Our Strength”, a charity dedicated to ending childhood hunger, up to ANOTHER $25,000. With your help we already raised $25,000 and that will go a long way to helping Share Our Strength continue their important work. But just imagine.... now we can do it again and raise an ADDITIONAL $25,000!

So, please just take a few minutes to visit this fun website and make your own oatmeal creation. Share the website with your friends and we'll be well on our way to raising another $25,000 for Share Your Strength!

My Video is Up! . . . Please Vote, Vote and Vote Again!

www.youtube.com/quakertalk

The wonderful recipe and collaborative blogging website www.goodbite.com has teamed up with Quaker Oats to create a fun and inventive new contest that will not only show you creative ways to spice up your oatmeal - but also donate a whopping $10,000 to a wonderful charity.  Twelve of the nation's top bloggers have been selected to share their favorite food memories.  Those memories become the inspiration for Good Bite Host and celebrity chef, David Lawrence to create unique oatmeal toppings.

Over the past several weeks, a new round of videos will be posted where you can vote for your favorite.  From each round, semi-finalists have be selected.  At the end of eight weeks, the bloggers video with the most votes wins!  The prize . .  $10,000 will be donated blogger's favorite charity! 

I'm very happy to announce that I was chosen as one of the 12 bloggers! I selected the wonderful charity "Food For The Poor" as the recipient of the $10,000 if my topping wins.  As a "foodie" myself, I can't shutter to think of all the people in this country and around the world who go hungry.  Now celebrating its 27th year of operation, Food For The Poor (FFP) is an interdenominational Christian relief and development organization working primarily in 17 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States, to assist children and the poorest of the poor.  As of TODAY, my video is up!  Please check it out and vote "thumbs up" for my topping and Food For the Poor!

Food For The Poor: By working together with pastors, missionaries and churches in these regions, they ensure that the aid is reaching those who need it most.  They provide whatever is needed on an emergency level, but they also focus on providing good housing and education that gives these families the tools to strive for a much better way of life.  Forbes Magazine reported that Food for the Poor has the most impressive financial commitment ratio compared to all other large charities . . . 97% of what is donated is actually used towards the charitable expenses instead of administrative costs and salaries.


My video is up and I want Food for the Poor to get that $10,000 so please visit the link below... get your friends and family to visit!.  Share this link with them and click on Laura's Best Recipes www.youtube.com/quakertalk - Vote "THUMB'S UP!"  I have some serious competition ... some of the most popular food bloggers online - so please click and vote

It's a wonderfully delicious cause!

And if you haven't already bookmarked www.goodbite.com as one of your very favorite recipe websites . . . what are you waiting for?  You can view easy to follow video recipes by Chef David Lawrence and your favorite food bloggers.  It's where blogging meets the professional culinary world in order for you to see the best recipes online!  Check it out . . .

Ole's Swedish Hot Cakes

Photos and Recipe Posted with Permission by the Little River Inn

On my list of "must do's" when I return home for a visit to the Mendocino coast in California is going to the Little River Inn for breakfast.  Simply put, they have the best breakfast on the coast.  It's not uncommon for us to be there two or three times during our stay.  One of my favorite dishes is their Ole's Swedish Hot Cakes.  A little dusting of powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon on these is heavenly. The thin crepe-like texture is so light compared to traditional thick pancakes.

The Little River Inn is rich with family tradition and history.  The inn opened in 1939 by Ole and Cora Coombs Hervilla.  It had been the Coombs family home during the early shipping years in the 1900's.  One day Ole asked his mother in law to turn her living room into a bar.  To quote the Inn's website, "Back in 1939 the bar was also the office, where he conducted business while bartending, smoking stogies and telling tall tales. Change was made from his cigar box, and the one key that worked in every lock was given to the occasional city slicker who insisted on locking their door at night. A 1939 photo of the bar reveals the exact same ocean view room so popular today as Ole’s Whale Watch Bar."

View from Ole's Whale Watch Bar

Today the Little River Inn is owned and managed by the fifth generation of the Hervilla family.  When you walk in the door, it's as if you are walking into their family home.  Many of the favorite menu items are family recipes including their famous hot cakes.

Ole was famous on the coast for grilling abalone and his recipe of Swedish hot cakes.  He had a special grill he adapted to make those cakes.  The recipe is still made on Ole's grill and many guests consider them the best they've ever had.  Please enjoy this recipe at home. . . but if you are ever on the Mendocino Coast in California, please dine or stay at the Little River Inn for the real thing!

This recipe serves four.

(For best results – pay attention to all four of the secret tips!)

Secret Tip #1: Make batter 12 to 24 hours before serving & refrigerate

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix the above ingredients together

• 1 ½ cups milk
• ½ cup half and half

Mix and combine with above ingredients

• 3 eggs

Separate whites from yolks and beat whites until stiff.

Beat yolks and add to batter.

Secret Tip #2: Gently fold in whites of eggs.

• ¾ cube of butter (or 6 tablespoons) butter, melted

Secret Tip #3: Gently stir butter into batter

Secret Tip #4: Refrigerate overnight and stir very gently before griddling.

For perfect-textured hotcakes, the batter should have tender pockets of butter throughout.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting board
• 5 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and very cold
• 1½ cups fresh blueberries
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops

• ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 lemon, zest finely grated
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or by pressing it between your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal and the butter is about the size of peas. Using your fingers, gently toss the blueberries with the flour mixture. At this point I usually place bowl back into the refrigerator to keep the butter cold while I whisk together the cream and the eggs.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the eggs and cream. Using the tines of the fork and working from the outside of the flour mixture, gently start incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined being careful not to mash the berries. The key is not to overwork the dough, but to just bring it together. It will be crumbly, but that’s exactly what makes a moist, tender scone in the end.
• Lightly dust your work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Gently knead the dough and pat it out into a 6-inch rectangle. Using a knife or a pastry bench scraper, cut the dough into 4 equal squares. Cut each square in half on the diagonal to make eight triangles. Carefully transfer the scones to the prepared sheet pans. Brush tops with remaining cream.
  
• Bake until lightly golden brown and firm to the touch, about 15 to 18 minutes.
• Meanwhile, to make the glaze, mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl (I use a Pyrex glass measuring cup). Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps. Cool the scones slightly on a wire rack then drizzle artfully over the top of the warm scones.

VARIATION: To make Cinnamon Chocolate Scones, substitute 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon in place of the lemon zest and 1½ cups chopped bittersweet chocolate chunks for the fresh blueberries.

Recipe and photos reprinted with permission by Chef David Lawrence

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks (organic, natural raised)
• 5-6 Tablespoons butter (3/4 stick) per egg yolk
• juice of about 2 big fresh lemons, plus add some zest, pinch sugar (dont ask why, it just tastes better)
• salt to taste
• Few drops of Tabasco
• Few drops of Worcester Sauce

In a bowl or top of a double broiler over simmering water (do not allow it to boil just hot and simmering), whisk all until very light and frothy, then start whisking in melted butter  until it comes up very thick and creamy, add a small splash of cold water and keep whisking, adjust seasonings, add some fresh cracked pepper and keep warm in bain marie.  It is best to serve it immediately upon making the sauce.  The following video is helpful to see the technique.  Also you can see how you can use a bowl and pan to create a make-shift double broiler.

Making Hollandaise by Epicurious.com

If the sauce "breaks" then just lightly blend with a hand held mixer.  Clarified butter isn't necessary unless you are making large quantities of the sauce.  

You may add fresh chopped parsley or tarragon to season.