Heavenly Scones

I fell in love with scones at Harborview. Thursday mornings are remarkable simply because they are Scone Days in the cafeteria. Fresh, huge scones dotted with blueberries smeared with berry jam. Yum!

The scone recipe below is freezable! Each batch makes 2 scone rounds (a total of 12 scones), so you can bake one immediately to enjoy and freeze one for a scrumptious, fuss-free breakfast on a lazy day.

Heavenly Scones (from Don't Panic-- More Dinner's in the Freezer)
Makes 2 scone rounds (12 scones)

2 c. flour
2 tbsp. white sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. butter, cold
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c. milk

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, white sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut cold butter into small chunks, then cut into flour mixture with pastry knife or 2 knives until mixture is coarse and size of small peas. 
2. Make a small well in middle of the flour mixture, and add egg and milk. Gently mix until dough just comes together. (Do NOT over mix!)
3. On a floured work surface, shape dough into 2 rounds. Cut each round into 6 pie-shaped wedges. Wrap each round with plastic wrap, and freeze in large freezer bag. 
4. Serving Day: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Separate scones along pre-cut lines, place frozen scones about 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. Serve with jam.

Tilapia Ideas

I love fish and seafood, but don't get to eat it often since I live by myself. It's impractical to bake a salmon or cook a whole fish for one person. I might have to eat salmon for the rest of the week! That's why I love tilapia fillets- it's the perfect size for one! Costco sells frozen individually wrapped tilapia fillets, which is convenient. Or you can buy fresh tilapia, wrap individual fillets with plastic wrap, and freeze them yourself. I usually take out 2 tilapia fillets from the freezer to defrost overnight in the fridge, cook them for dinner, eat one and save one for lunch the next day!

In the past, I only knew how to bake tilapia fillets. Pan searing is quicker and a great alternative when you don't want to turn on the oven. Plus, I think it's just as delicious! Feel free to experiment and change things up by mixing other seasonings in with the flour before coating the fish. Some ideas: Old Bay seasoning, cayenne powder, onion powder, garlic salt, paprika, etc.

Pan Seared Tilapia (from allrecipes.com)

2 tilapia fillets
Salt and pepper
1/4 c. flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. melted butter

Directions:

1. Rinse tilapia filets under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Season both sides of each fillet with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish, and gently coat tilapia fillets by pressing each side in flour and shaking off excess. 
2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then cook tilapia in hot oil for about 4 minutes per side, until fish is flaky. Remove fish from skillet and brush with melted butter.

Sweet Potato Casserole

For our annual (it's becoming a yearly tradition, yay!) pre-Thanksgiving potluck, I tried out a sweet potato casserole that turned out to be a hit! This side dish is deliciously creamy with a crunchy topping. Don't be fooled, while it highlights the natural sweetness of yams and sweet potatoes, don't wait till dessert to bring out this dish!

A few tips: I used a mixture of yams and sweet potatoes in making this dish, mainly because yams are cheaper and gives the dish a gorgeous orange hue. I used 2.5 lbs Beauregard yams and 1.5 lbs sweet potato. I popped the yams and sweet potato into the oven to roast along with the turkey at whatever temperature the turkey was baking at for about an hour. When I took out the yams and sweet potato, they were soft and easily popped out of their skins. Also, I ended up using almond slices instead of pecans in the topping, because it was what I had on hand. The casserole turned out fine, but I'm sure pecans would supply even more crunchiness.

Sweet Potato Casserole (modified from Allrecipes.com)

4 lbs. yams and sweet potato
1/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap sweet potatoes and yams in aluminum foil and roast in oven until soft (about 45 minutes).  
2. Decrease oven temperature to 325 degrees. Scoop out flesh of sweet potatoes and yams and mix with white sugar, eggs, salt, 4 tbsp. butter, milk, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Transfer mixture to a casserole dish (or equivalent 8x8 baking dish). 
3. Topping: Combine brown sugar and flour. Cut in butter until mixture is coarse. Mix in pecans. Sprinkle topping over sweet potato/yam mixture. 
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned. 

A Few of My Favorite Things...

As I bunker down in my room, kicking off my Thanksgiving break by watching my favorite movie and reading a new cookbook, I thought it might be interesting five or ten years from now to look back and see what a few of my passions were! It's most likely that these "favorites" will be superseded by then! Actually, I have a pretty poor track record in maintaining favorites, so I never liked those icebreaker questions asking about "favorite song" or "favorite movie" because I can never fully decide upon just ONE favorite! 

The List

Favorite movie right now: Tangled! Watching it right now makes me just... happy! 

Favorite song: "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry. A few other songs that are currently played on repeat on Spotify: I See the Light (Tangled), I'm Not That Girl/Defying Gravity (Wicked), The One That Got Away (Katy Perry), We Found Love (Rihanna). 

Favorite after-school snack food: Trader Joe's dried unsweetened mangoes. Or ice cream... (see below)

Favorite book: Any cookbook! Especially anything by America's Test Kitchen. 

Favorite ice cream: Tillamook's Oregon Wild Cherry.

S.A.D.

Two words: rough morning. And it's not even noon yet. Why is it that when one bad thing happens, everything else seems to go awry as well?

Midterm comes back today, and I have a sinking feeling (and I haven't even seen my score yet). I can't enjoy someone else's happiness, because (selfishly) that means I didn't do the best on this particular test. Compounding factors that turned one bad event into a bad mood: another cloudy, gray day; burnt my green onion pancake; discovered jeans were too tight this morning; brain not working as I try (distracted by my imminent midterm score) to finish a paper.

Currently feeling all alone. And where is God in my life? I had expected to do well on this specific test, because I had put God first the weekend before taking the test. In my mind, I was good- I attended the Fall Conference messages rather than skipping out like all the other students. I had felt peace after my test and thought I had done well. Why do I feel so scared to get my grade back now?

Randomly, turned to 2 Samuel 8 in my Bible this morning. It details David's triumphs and how God was with him in all this battles. Opportune reminder to me that David was someone who put the Lord first, and God rewarded him. I need that promise right now in my life.

Well, hopefully Tillamook black cherry ice cream for lunch cheers me up a little...

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

A easy and delicious main course for a big crowd or potluck! I'm sure you can also substitute Yoshida sauce for the homemade sauce if you're in a time crunch or don't have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Last time I made this, I doubled the sauce (you can't go wrong with extra sauce, right?). I froze the extra sauce in little containers; a week later I brushed some of the teriyaki sauce over salmon, baked it, and that made for a delicious and no-fuss dinner on a busy school night! I also didn't have cider vinegar (I broke the glass bottle in my garage while taking groceries out of my car- my garage smelled vinegar-y for weeks!). So, I did some research on vinegars- cider vinegar has a fruity smell/taste, so straight white diluted vinegar won't be a good substitute. Red wine vinegar diluted with equal amounts of water seemed to be the consensus on how to sub for cider vinegar, which is what I did and the sauce tasted fine. 

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

from Allrecipes.com

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. cold water

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. cider vinegar

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. ginger, minced

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

6 skinless chicken thighs 

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine cornstarch, cold water, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. 
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
3. Place chicken thighs on a lightly greasted 9x13 baking dish. Pour sauce over chicken pieces. 
4. Cover pan lightly with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Flip chicken pieces over and bake for another 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Chicken Fingers, Anyone?

Stumbled upon this recipe yesterday on Yahoo. It reminds me of the chicken katsu recipe that I use. A slight difference- this recipe adds another step with breading the chicken in flour first. Also, a Canadian shout-out, since the recipe originated from a Chinese (!) restaurant in Winnepeg. I can't wait to try making the dipping sauce! Honey mustard is definitely my favorite :). 

Mitzi's Chicken Fingers
SERVES 6

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:

1½ cups mayonnaise

¼ cup honey

2 tbsp. roughly chopped dill

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. dry mustard powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE CHICKEN FINGERS:

2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3"-long-by-1"-wide strips

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

1½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. dry mustard powder

1 cup flour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups finely ground fresh breadcrumbs or panko

Canola oil, for frying

1. Make the dipping sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with the honey, dill, mustard powder, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and stir together until smooth; set honey-dill dipping sauce aside.

2. Make the chicken fingers: In a medium bowl, toss together chicken, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard; set aside. Place flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes; set aside. Pour oil to a depth of 2″ into a 6-qt. Dutch oven; heat over medium-high heat until deep-fry thermometer reads 325°. Working in batches, coat chicken in flour, shake off excess, and dip in eggs; coat in breadcrumbs. Fry chicken until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining chicken. Serve with dipping sauce.