It's Wednesday of Week 8
On today's breakfast menu is biscuits with jelly and hot chocolate - which makes me very happy! It's seriously one of the very best combinations ever! I love cold mornings started out with flaky slightly salty very buttery biscuits with blackberry jelly or sweet honey in the middle washed down with creamy hot chocolate. Mmmm....
For dinner is a Beef and Barley with Rosemary and Orange. This is easy to make but has so many different flavors that develop into something unique and tangy. There's sweet and tangy orange, rich grape, fragrant rosemary, garlic, tender chunks of beef, vegetables, hearty barley and a herb & balsamic vinegar topping. This dish is unbelievably tasty. YUM!
For dessert is Pineapple Delight. This is an easy recipe that uses lemon cake mix as a base. The buttery lemon crust is topped with a semi-cheesecake filling with crushed pineapple . We all love cheesecake - so everyone is going to love this!
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| Biscuits with Jelly and Hot Chocolate |
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| Beef and Barley with Rosemary and Orange, Salad, Whole Grain Rolls and Pineapple Delight |
BREAKFAST:
BISCUITS
1. I always bring my eggs to room temperature, so the first thing I do is put the 2 eggs in a bowl of warm water. The recipe also calls for buttermilk and since I use soured milk instead, I warm a cup of milk in the microwave and then pour a Tablespoon of vinegar in it. I preheat the oven to 425 degrees and let both the eggs and milk sit.
2. I put one cube (1/2 cup) of margarine, 2 cups four, 1 Tbsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and a teaspoon of salt in the bowl of my stand mixer.
3. Mix it on low, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula until it is a crumbly, uniform mixture.
4. With the mixer still set on low, add the soured milk and eggs.
5. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour until the dough pulls away from the sides but not so much that it isn't very soft (it should never feel stiff or firm, just not sticky).
6. Grease a cookie sheet. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and if it's sticky, sprinkle it with flour. Then pat it into a rectangular shape about 1 - 2 inches thick.
7. I don't have a biscuit cutter so I just use the mouth of a cup, that is the size I like, to cut out circles and place them on a greased baking sheet.
8. When you can't cut out any more circles, gently gather the dough into a ball and re-pat it into a 1-2 inch thickness again and continue making more until you've used all the dough.
9. Bake at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Serve hot with butter and jelly or honey with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. ENJOY!
1. Cut the beef into cubes. I used a 3 1/2 pound roast I found on sale.
2. Place in crockpot, sprinkle with olive oil and turn crock pot on LOW.
3. Add sliced mushrooms on top of meat.
4. Chop the onions, carrots and celery.
5. Place the onions, celery and carrots on top of beef.
6. Add garlic.
7. Add rosemary and peppercorns.
8. Add orange zest - I used orange marmalade instead this time. I just thought it might give a stronger orange flavor with more depth.
9. Add broth. I used beefy onion soup mix instead of beef broth.
10. Add grape juice (or wine).
11. Mix well. Put on lid and cook for 7 hours or more on LOW.
12. Add barley. Because I used quick cook barley, I didn't add it until about 30 minutes before serving.
13. While the beef is cooking, make the persillade. Chop up the parsley and put it in a bowl.
14. Add garlic and balsamic vinegar.
15. Mix well. Then put in blender and mix well. Put back in bowl and let sit so flavors can blend.
16. The dish is ready when the beef is tender and the barley is cooked.
17. When
Dish some of the beef and barley into a shallow dish or bowl. Top with a little of the parsillade.
18. This dish has such amazing flavors. Everyone loved it. ENJOY!
DESSERT:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt a cube of butter.
2. Add a package of lemon cake mix and the melted butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix well.
3. Remove 1 cup of the dough and set aside. Press the remaining dough into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
4. Clean the bowl. Then add a package of cream cheese to the bowl and beat until creamy.
5. Strain a can of crushed pineapple. Let it sit straining while you mix the cream cheese layer.
6. Add 4 eggs to cream cheese. Beat well after adding each egg. Mix well - until creamy.
7. Add the 1 cup of dough that was set aside earlier.
8. Add 2 cups of milk slowly and mix well until a creamy uniform mixture.
9. Spread the strained crushed pineapple over the crust in the 9x13 inch pan.
10. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the pineapple.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. (It will be puffy but will settle as it cools.)
12. Let cool completely and then refrigerate until firm. ENJOY!
