to try

Savory Zucchini Asiago Tomato Scones

Light and biscuit-like savory scones made with a blend of whole wheat and white flour, shredded zucchini, sun dried tomato, Asiago cheese and fresh rosemary. Almost smells like pizza when it comes out of the oven!

I was at the farmer's market in Long Beach this past weekend and bought lots of zucchini and tomatoes. I also came across a stand selling savory scones, a concept I fell in love with. Rather than my usual scones that I make with fruit, these are made with seasonal summer ingredients – perfect for brunch, lunch or with dinner. Today I had a scone for lunch with a beautiful heirloom tomato salad from the tomatoes I bought over the weekend. I'm thinking the leftovers would be perfect for dinner tonight with my homemade tomato bisque using the rest of the tomatoes I have.

Scones are usually made with double the amount of butter, to lighten them I have been having great success replacing butter with whipped butter in my baked recipes which is a lighter since it's whipped. I also use half the amount of butter used in traditional scones, and adding the zucchini really helps give the scones lots of moisture. The scones come out tender and soft with lots of wonderful flavor.


Savory Zucchini Asiago Tomato Scones
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 12  • Size: 1 scone  • Old Points: 3 pts • Weight Watcher Points+: 4 pt
Calories: 141.5 • Fat: 5 g • Carb: 18.5 g • Fiber: 2 g • Protein: 6 g • Sugar: 2.5 g
Sodium: 380 mg • Cholest: 27 mg

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (recommend: King Arthur)
• 1 cup all purpose flour (recommend: King Arthur)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup chilled whipped butter (must be cold), cut into small pieces
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed of all moisture
• 2.5 oz Asiago cheese, shredded
• 2.75 oz (just under 2/3 cup) sun dried tomatoes, minced
• 1-1/2 tbsp rosemary, chopped
• cooking spray
• 1 large egg white, beaten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the buttermilk and egg in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine the flours with the baking powder and salt, in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Squeeze all the excess moisture from the zucchini with a paper towel, you should wind up with 1 cup after it's all squeezed. In a bowl combine the zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, cheese and rosemary.

Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender, or you could use 2 knives, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently fold in the cheese, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes and rosemary. Add milk mixture, stirring just until moist, without overworking the dough.

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly four times with floured hands. Form dough into an 10-inch circle onto the baking sheet, about 3/4" thick, you may need to sprinkle a little more flour on top if it's too sticky. Using a knife, cut dough into 12 wedges all the way through.

Brush egg white over dough. Bake until golden, about 20 - 22 minutes, depending on your oven. Serve warm.

menu for the week

sunday: pizza monkey bread and cookies :) (yup super healthy.......)

monday: 3 minute french dips (recipe below), salads, chips, green beans

tuesday: tacos, cilantro lime rice, guacomole

wednesday: kielbasa, rice, fruit (tb appt)

thursday:  ham (oven), mashed or baked potatoes, salad or broccoli

friday: burgers, fries, fruit

saturday: ???? :) out??

sunday: easter at farm (i am in charge of bread--see new recipe below)


italian easter bread
Italian Easter Bread (adapted from Taste of Home)
*The original recipe calls for raisins, but I used mixed dried fruit with cherries and blueberries*
2 pkgs active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
3 Tbsp warm water
1 1/3 cup warm milk
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3 tsp anise extract
6 1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup raisins or dried mixed fruit
1 egg white, beaten
1 Tbsp water
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add milk, sugar, butter, and salt.  Mix well.  Let set for 5 minutes.
2. Add eggs, extract, and 2 cups of flour.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in remaining flour slowly to form a soft dough.
3. Use dough hook to knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Place in a greased bowl, turning the dough to also grease the top.  Cover with towel and let rise for 1 hour, until doubled. 
4. Punch down dough and turn on to a lightly floured surface.Sprinkle with raisins or dried fruit and knead in.  Divide dough in half to make 2 loaves.  Cut each loaf in to 3 pieces and roll in to 12-14 inch ropes.  Braid and seal edges.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Cover and let rise 45 minutes.
5. Whisk egg white and water, brush over dough.  Bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.
Enjoy!

Easy French Dip Sandwiches

Rated: Submitted By: writergirl Photo By: DIZ♥ Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 15 Minutes Servings: 4

"This sandwich made with sliced roast beef and provolone cheese is a crowd pleaser. The flavor is so rich, no one will know it only took 15 minutes to put together."

Ingredients:

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef consomme 1 cup water 1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef

8 slices provolone cheese 4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Open the hoagie rolls and lay out on a baking sheet.
2.	Heat beef consomme and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to make a rich beef broth. Place the roast beef in the broth and warm for 3 minutes. Arrange the meat on the hoagie rolls and top each roll with 2 slices of provolone.
3.	Bake the sandwiches in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese just begins to melt. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the warm broth for dipping.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2013 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 3/24/2013

egg bread buns

I want to try THESE: 

they look amazing and wonderful.......... and perfect for pulled pork! 

so i took the recipe 

Egg Bread Buns

Adapted from a recipe for Egg Bread in The Bread Bible
makes 6 large buns
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 large egg
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 cups bread flour
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/4 tsp. yeast

Directions

Place all ingredients in a bread machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Program for the Dough cycle and press Start.
Lightly dust a pizza stone with cornmeal (if you don’t have a pizza stone, you may line a baking sheet with parchment paper instead).  After the bread machine finishes, remove the dough and place on a lightly floured surface.  Divide into 6 equal portions for hamburger/sandwich buns or 7 equal portions for hot dog buns.  Form the hamburger/sandwich buns into tight rounds.  If making hot dog buns, roll into tight rounds and then flatten into ovals by rolling up each portion tightly to make a cylinder.  Place the buns on the pizza stone (or baking sheet) at least 1 inch apart.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let stand for 40-50 minutes.  If buns have not risen to desired size, allow to rise for an additional 15-25 minutes, depending on desired size.
Twenty minutes prior to baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place the pizza stone in the center of the oven and bake until lightly browned, 15-22 minutes, depending on the size of the roll.  Start checking the buns at 11 minutes to be safe.  Remove immediately to a cooling rack and cool thoroughly before slicing.
 
Enjoy!

and realized i don't have a bread machine......... so i read farther down in the blog for further directions.............

To make the dough by hand, combine 2/3 of the flour along with the other dry ingredients in a large bowl, form a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet with a wooden spoon, whisk, fork or your hand. Your goal at this point is to create a smooth and creamy mixture. Once this is accomplished, try not to over-mix. Mix in the remaining flour, bit by bit, until the dough is sturdy enough for kneading. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for approximately 5-10 minutes, until the dough bounces back when lightly pressed. Lightly cover the dough at this point with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let sit until doubled in size. Once doubled in size, follow the directions above and form the buns.
I hope this helps you make the dough by hand. I’d really appreciate it if you can share how these instructions worked for this dough. Good luck and enjoy!

http://www.asweetpeachef.com/bread/egg-bread-buns/ 

and now i hope to make these soon :) MMMMMMM