zucchini and chipotle cheese scones

I'm obsessed with making the perfect scone. I've probably had three scones in my life, and once was seventh-grade home economics, and let me assure you, they were all gross. Until this recipe, I wasn't even really sure what a good scone is supposed to taste like.

The zucchini-chipotle cheese scones were inspired by a recipe on Ciao Chow Linda's recipe blog  and was my second attempt at scones.

My first try was not quite disastarous but took a toll on my cooking mentality. The recipe I found was on was on The Foreign Kitchen blog for cheese scones, and looked really promising. The only problem was I didn't read down to the commentary to see that the recipe called for four teaspoons and not four TABLESPOONS of baking powder. Fully expecting the scones to explode, I literally ran to the oven to check on them. Surprisingly, even with the mess up, they were edible. But apparently too much baking soda can cause a little bitterness and they were extremely dry.

With a lot of butter, the Mister dubbed them digestible. But I definitely felt dejected. (The blogger from The Foreign Kitchen was kind enough to apologize for the mistake and it's been fixed.) The photos look so good, I will definitely try them again.

Zucchini and Chipotle-Cheese Scones

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 1/2 cup flour

3 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (I used mostly chives and a little oregano)

1 stick butter, room temperature

2 eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup cheese (I used chipotle-cheddar, but I think anything potent will work)

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, herbs. Cut and add butter, stop mixing when the butter is in small chunks. Add eggs, buttermilk, zucchini and 3/4 of the cheese. Pat into 12-inch round circle. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and cut into 8 slices. Preheat oven to 400, bake 30 minutes.

Serve hot!

The scone is a very tasty meal and compliments a nice soup or salad. The Mister really loved these and I think he was truly shocked at how well they turned out. (The first batch was sort of atrocious in comparison to this one.) After inhaling two for dinner, he packed up some more for lunch today and just called me saying someone on his staff wants the recipe!

mexican bake

I found this great recipe for mexican bake in 2003. It was in Parade Magazine. I'm probably the only person in the world who still reads (or ever read) Parade Magazine. I like the celebrity question section on the first page and the cartoons about the big dog in the last page. As such, I do flip through the whole magazine to reach the end. I happened across this recipe and it looked easy enough. It's actually a DASH diet (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) recipe, but I'm pretty sure after my taste enhancements, it's no longer going to qualify as such.

My adaptation involves Morning Star meat crumbles instead of chicken and I also add enchilada sauce. Since I'm obsessed with cheese, I actually use a whole packet on top of the bake instead of the measly one cup that the DASH recipe suggests. If you are indeed looking for something healthy (blech) then here's the original DASH mexican bake recipe.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cooked rice

1 bag Morning Star faux meat crumbles

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 15-ounce can frozen corn

1 15-ounce can black beans

1-tablespoon chili powder

1 can enchilada sauce (I prefer hot, but go with your comfort-level)

1 jalapeno, sliced

1 packet shredded monterey jack cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread rice in casserole dish. Mix all remaining ingredients in bowl, then add to rice. Mix all together. Top with cheese and bake for 45-minutes covered.

Serve plain or with low-fat sour cream.

I did all the preparation during the Bebe's 30-minute nap. I love when everything comes out of a can! 

easy asparagus

I am a big fan of easy. A complex preparation is just not up my alley.

Usually a side of vegetables for our dinners comes out of a frozen bag. It's not romantic or interesting and doesn't taste great. I was at Trader Joe's the other day and, feeling like a walk on the wild side, I picked up some fresh asparagus. I wanted to incorporate some leftover parmigiano romano and almond slivers. 

Ingredients

15 shoots of asparagus

parmigiano romano cheese

olive oil

almond slivers (optional)

Preparation

Coat the asparagus with olive oil, cover with cheese. Bake at 400 degrees in a traditional oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with almond slivers and serve.

The preparation was so easy it was almost embarrassing to post the recipe. But it tastes so good, I wanted to share. The Mister was impressed and asked what I used to season the asparagus. Of course, I would not divulge any information that would detract from his rave reviews. 

Next time I'm going to try this recipe with cauliflower, minus the almonds.