Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Sticky Buns

We've all had them, whether we liked or not, but who wouldn't like stick buns? Anyways there are wonderful canned sticky buns but why make something that's canned when you can make something homemade, that's my motto. Here's the best part they're easy to make and every time I make these people go crazy for them.

8 tablespoons of butter ( 1 stick ) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup of brown sugar ( I like light brown sugar, but either works. )
1/2 cup of pecans, chopped
1 package of frozen puff pastry, defrosted.

For the Filling

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, meted and cooled
2/3 cup of brown sugar
3 teaspoons of cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the 8 tablespoons of butter and 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Mix until well incorporated, a couple of minutes. Place an even amount of the mixture in side the muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the butter sugar mixture. ( I buy the small bag of pecans that are already chopped ).

Lightly flour a counter top. Unfold one puff pastry onto the floured board. Make sure the folds are going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter, leaving a 1-inch border around the entire sheet. Sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon. Starting with the end nearest to you, roll the pastry up, snugly, finishing with the seam side down. Cut off about 1/2 inch off each end and discard. Slice the roll into 6 equal parts each about 1.5 inches wide. Place 6 into the butter sugar mixture inside the muffin tin. Repeat with second puff pastry until all 12 sticky buns are complete.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool for around 5 minutes ( don't wait to long because they will begin to stick to the pan ) and put onto the parchment paper that you baked them on. The pecans will likely stick to the bottom, ease them out with spoon and put on top of the stick buns.


Serve warm

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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Scrambled Eggs 3 different ways.

Most people love scrambled eggs and I've never quite had eggs turn out how I want them to. So one day I tried several different variations of them, and several different ways just to make them and I figured out the best ways. I found that using a wood spoon during the cooking process fluffs them up the most, and I read once that chemically the less milk you use the more moist the eggs will be in the end, and that's true.


- Ingredients
- 6 eggs ( I like extra-large eggs, I think that their a better value )
- 3 tablespoons of milk ( whole milk is best )
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1/2 a teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
- Butter


- Egg recipe #1
- Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk together until combined. In a medium pan melt one tablespoon of butter, and add the egg mixture. Cook until desired doneness. Turn of heat and add another tablespoon of butter. ( this keeps them moist )
- Serve hot


- Egg recipe #2
- Ingredients above plus:
- 1/4 cup of sharp cheese ( you can use any cheese you want, but make sure it's really good )
- 3 thick cut slices of bacon ( I really like Hormel's Black Label )
- Combine eggs,milk, salt ( depedning on how salty your bacon is you may want to add less ), pepper, and half the cheese in a medium bowl and whisk together. Cook bacon until crispy, and set aside. In that same pan add the egg mixture and cook until desired doneness. Add the bacon that you've crumbled , and turn off the heat. Add the cheese on top of the eggs, and wait until the cheese is melted some and serve.
- Serve hot



- Egg recipe #3
- Ingredients above plus:
- 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoon of fresh dill
-Combine eggs, milk, salt, pepper and whisk together. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium pan, and add egg mixture. Cook until desired doneness. Turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter, and the 2 tablespoons of parsley, and dill.
- Serve hot