cranberry scones.

greetings darling lasses. only one week until our second official recipe. super exciting!! our first foray into our cooking club was gads of fun and i cannot wait to see what we are making next. while we wait i thought i would share a yummy recipe that the mister and i love. cranberry scones. yummmmmmeeee! we found this recipe in parade magazine, made a couple of adjustments, and voila....super easy and super delish breakfast treats. happy baking.

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp cold butter, cut into bits
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tsp raw sugar (optional)
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Whisk the egg and milk together in one bowl and the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in another.

Drop the butter into the flour and, using your fingers (I use a pastry cutter), cut and rub until the mixture is pebbly. Pour in the milk and egg. Mix with a fork until the dough is evenly moist. Add the cranberries and give the very sticky dough a few more stirs.

Turn the sticky dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough comes together into a ball. Gently pat the dough down and/or roll until a squarish shape that is about 1/2" thick (you can make this up to 3/4" thick depending on your preferences). With a sharp knife cut the dough square into 2" or 3" strips.

Cut these strips into rectangles and then cut the rectangles diagonally to make triangles (if the edges of your "square" are slightly rounded, do the best you can to come up with pieces resembling triangles). The recipe yields about 24 triangle scone bites.

Transfer the triangles onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (I use a  silicon baking mat instead of the paper). These little ladies will rise up, but will not spread out so you can  put a bunch on one sheet (I put 12 on each sheet). Sprinkle the top of each scone with some raw sugar to create a crunchy top. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown. Cool for a few minutes. Serve warm and ENJOY!!!

*recipe is a variation of the Raisin Scones recipe from Parade Magazine
*inspiration for triangle shape came from watching Paula Deen make Sour Cream Scones on Food Network

Empanada Night at Chez Brooklyn

So sometime last fall, Mr T and I went to Williams-Sonoma to use some of the gift cards we had gotten for our wedding. We had a few dollars left on one of the cards, and Mr T spied this lovely little heart-shaped pie mold:

Clearly, this was a kitchen item we could not live without! Okay, so maybe we could mostly live without it -- after we got it home, it stayed, sadly unused, in its little box.

That is, until... empanada night!

The verdict: Yum!

In retrospect, it probably would have been a good idea if Mr. T & I had made a salad or something otherwise healthy and green to go along with these cheesy little wonders.

Ahh well.

Ginkochef, we did have a lot of filling left over, too:

We're thinking quesadillas later this week. How did you use your leftover filling?

We also have quite a few that we made but didn't cook-- we are going to try freezing these, uncooked, so we can just pop them in the oven for a tasty little treat when the fancy strikes.

Thanks, Pickel, for a delightful kitchen adventure!

chicken empanadas.

since this is our first go-round with our grub club, i thought i would stick with a single dish. the mister and i watched paula deen make these on the food network last week. they looked yummy and i wanted to try them...so here goes nothing.

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
• 1 (8-ounce) package shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
• Water

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chicken and next 7 ingredients. Unroll 1 piecrust onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12 to 15 circles total. Arrange 1 round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month). Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

recipe and photo from Paula Deen on Food Network