Strawberry Shortcake Scones

I have a real thing for berries.

I do.  I swear.  Every year when berry season hits in Southern California I go hog wild.  Buying berries every week from the farmer's markets until I'm blue in the face....almost literally!  I buy them all, blackberries, raspberries (red and white), strawberries, blueberries...you name it.  I just LOVE them!

So with all these berries around I have to find new ways to use them.  Which often means searching for new twists on standards like scones.  I love a good scone, don't you? Since they are a little more involved than a quick throw together meal I usually save this type of item for my weekend breakfasts.  Perfect for sitting on the patio eating them with a nice cup of hot tea.  

So I've found myself with an excess of strawberries a while back and we've been eating them in desserts such as parfaits and strawberry shortcakes.  Our strawberries have been to DIE FOR this year.  So sweet they don't need any sugar!  

So I hit the Internet and came across the best recipe for a strawberry shortcake style scone.  Wow!  I knew that this would be right up my alley.  What makes these different from regular scones is the addition of ricotta cheese and whipping cream to the mixture.  These ingredients elevate your scones to a different level and make them so tender and moist.

Hands down, this is an excellent recipe for scones.  The strawberries are the highlight but the tender but moist biscuits make it heaven on a plate.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake Scones 

slightly adapted from BHG.com

Yield: 12 scones

1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup whipping cream
Whipping cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   In a small bowl, toss together strawberries and 1 tablespoon flour. In a large bowl combine the 2 1/2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in center of the flour mixture; set aside. 

In a medium bowl combine the egg, ricotta, and 1/4 cup whipping cream. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Add strawberries. Using a fork, stir just until moistened. 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it for 10 to 12 strokes or until dough is nearly smooth. Pat dough into a 10x4-inch rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise and in sixths crosswise to make 12 rectangles. 

Place rectangles 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with additional whipping cream.  Bake about 16 minutes or until golden brown. Remove scones from baking sheet. Serve warm. 

Mongolian Beef

Everyone loves Chinese food don't they?  I know we do, and by the popularity of the stir fry dishes I've posted I'm going to take a leap and say that you do too.  Even better is that it's a great take-out dish. It's easy to order and pick up on the way home.  Well let's just say that making your own "take-out" is just easy.  Don't believe that?  Well just read on.

Mongolian Beef is a favorite dish of mine to order when we go to a certain Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood.  I just love the spicy and deep flavors the brown sauce lends to it.

I've been craving some lately and we just haven't had time to stop by the restaurant to pick some up, so I set out on a mission to recreate my own version of this dish. Let's forget the take-out and have take-in instead!

If you plan on making Chinese stir frys at home it is best to invest in some pantry items that you have on hand whenever the craving strikes.  Items such as soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and sriracha sauce are some of the ingredients I use regularly and try to always keep on hand.  These items are easily picked up at your local grocery store in the Asian section and I've even seen them at Trader Joes.   Tip:  make sure to keep the sesame oil in the refrigerator as it WILL go rancid if left out (speaking from experience...) yuk!!! You don't want to ruin your dish.

Mongolian Beef is our quest today.  It's a classic Chinese-American dish that has no reference to Mongolia except for the name. But who cares!  When you put a gingery-garlicky brown sauce together with strips of beef and vegetables I'm in heaven.  You will be too!

I took a nice sirloin steak and sliced it thinly and added some vegetables (onion and mini bell pepper mix) for some texture and crunch.  Make the wonderful sauce first so that you are ready to add it at the end when it's almost done.  Stir frys cook very quickly in a hot skillet or wok.  Having your items all ready to go prior to cooking is very helpful in these fast paced dishes.  No one wants to be frantic when cooking, and you've forgot to make the sauce!

Serve this mildly spiced dish over rice or wide rice noodles to catch all the sauce. I served it with rice and my Asian Cucumber Salad.  Great for a summer evening.  

Enjoy!



Mongolian Beef

serves 4

2 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp dry sherry
2 tsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sriracha sauce
2 tsp oil
1 T minced ginger, fresh
1 T garlic, minced
1 pound sirloin steak, cut across grain into thin slices
1/2 yellow onion sliced thinly
2 bell peppers, julienne sliced (mixed colors, red, yellow, and orange)

To make the sauce,  combine the soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, sherry, hoisin sauce, vinegar, sriracha sauce in a small bowl.  Whisk until smooth. 

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic, and beef and cook about 4 minutes or until beef is browned. Remove beef from the skillet to a plate. Set aside.  

Add the onion and peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring often about 3 minutes until crisp tender.   Add your meat and any collected juices back to the skillet and stir. Add the sauce mixture to pan. cook 1 minute stirring constantly, or until thickened. Serve over rice or noodles.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Waffles

Hope everyone had a perfect 4th of July yesterday!

One of my favorite holidays for sure.  We had a great time at the pool with friends, and then on to a delicious grill fest for dinner followed by magnificent fireworks.

Boy, I'm tired today.  I did all the prep work ahead so that my day was open to enjoy party.  Today is my day to relax, and catch up before heading back to work.  My lazy Sunday as I call it.

To start the day off right I whipped up MGG and I some wonderfully delicious waffles.  Something a little sweet to get us going.  Plus I get to break our my new waffle maker!  It's so much fun to get a new kitchen item.  I have this old beat up waffle maker for 100 year and it was on it's last leg.  It was huffing and puffing and I knew it was time to retire.  So I believe that a "test taste" is due, don't you?  

Oh my this recipe!  You will just love the addition of decadent chocolate chips and crunchy pecans.   They give it a hint of sweet along with a nice bit of crunch.  You can splurge every once in a while. Keeps you motivated, I say.  

I hope you enjoy these.  Give them a try for your next weekend breakfast and tell me what you think.

Kitchen Tip:  Freeze leftover waffles and toast them in the toaster for a quick weekday breakfast or snack.  




Chocolate Chip Pecan Waffles

serves 4-6

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
¼ cup sugar
⅔ cup finely chopped pecans
⅔ cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
1 cup butter, melted 
2 ½ cups milk 
2 tsp vanilla 
Additional coarsely chopped pecans and miniature semisweet chocolate chips, if desired 

Heat your waffle maker according to manufacturer's directions. 

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, pecans and chocolate chips.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs, butter, milk and vanilla with whisk. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until moistened. 

Pour batter onto waffle maker and bake about 5 minutes until steaming stops and waffles are deep golden brown. Remove to a tray and keep warm under foil or in a low temp oven. Repeat with remaining batter.  

Serve immediately with syrup and topped with additional pecans and chocolate chips if desired. Repeat with remaining batter.