Miniature Scottish Scones with Lemon, Candied Ginger and White Chocolate

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This recipe, sans the white chocolate chips, first appeared in Molly Wizenberg's book A Homemade Life. It's had a great run on the internet, but for one reason, I never actually made the scones. Several weeks ago, I saw a version of it on Pinterest and I decided it was time to make, rather than drool over them. I have a weakness for all types of scones and I assume the world shares my passion. I usually tote them to morning meetings, and because I make them so often, I've become a self-proclaimed expert at their construction. These, with the addition of white chocolate, sounded unbearably delicious. I had one small problem, however. While I can buy squares or wafers, but I've never seen white chocolate in chip, much less miniature chip, form. I solved the problem by taking my chef's knife to a couple of squares of what was available and fashioned small chips of my own. And while I was creating miniatures, I also decided to make petite scones. For the past several years, I've seen the calorie conscious cut single pastries into smaller portions for their plates, so I decided to eliminate the middle man and help them by making my scones pint sized to begin with. I know you will like these. The combination of lemon and candied ginger is one of those matches made in heaven. It is further enhanced by the addition of white chocolate to the mix. The scones have a lovely crumb and when they are served still warm, paradise comes suddenly near. Here is how they are made. 

Mid-Week Musings

Molly Wizenberg - Delancey

Long term readers of One Perfect Bite know I think highly of Molly Wizenberg. I became familiar with her work through her blog Orangette. When her fist book, A Homemade Life, was published, I snatched it up and I've been a fan ever since. Molly's second book, Delancey, was published last year and has recently been released as a paperback. Delancey, like A Homemade Life, is part memoir and part cookbook. It details the travails of opening a new restaurant with a new husband as partner. It is beautifully written and is a must read for all who love the kitchen. Several years ago, I featured one of Molly's recipes and I'm reprising that tonight. it will give you a feel for her skill in the kitchen, but you must actually read Molly to see why her blog received the Saveur Award for best written blog in 2015.

Braised Kale with Pasta

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I have in my lifetime been called many things. Au courant has never been has never been one of them. That probably explains how it happened I "discovered" Gojee months after the rest of the blogging community had been seduced by its photography and hand-curated recipes. The site houses a really special collection of dishes that I found while doing a search for recipes that use kale. Gojee pointed me back to a recipe that had been developed by Molly Wizenberg for Bon Appetit Magazine. As it happened, I didn't have all the ingredients I need to make her dish, but I had enough of them to fashion a pasta that was close to it. Bob is still recovering from surgery, so a trip to the store was out of the question and I had to go with what I had on hand. Similar would have to be good enough. Molly's pasta sounds delicious and you can see her original recipe, here. My version of the dish appears below, but before you skim through it I want to issue a warning regarding the use of salt. Proceed with caution. The pancetta and Parmesan are both salty. Do no additional salting until you taste the completed sauce. Remember you can always put more in, but once it's there you're stuck. Nuff said! Here's the recipe.

Braised Kale with Pasta...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Molly Wizenburg via Gojee.com

Ingredients:
1 bunch lacinato kale,washed, large center ribs and stems removed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4-oz. diced pancetta
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 pound spaghetti

Directions:
1) Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot set over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Add sliced garlic and diced pancetta and cook for 5 minutes longer. Add kale. Drizzle with reserved tablespoon olive oil and cook until leaves wilt. Add water and cover pot. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat until kale is tender, about 20 minutes. Add lemon juice. Sprinkle with cheese and toss well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
2) Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add cooked spaghetti to kale mixture in pot. Moisten with 2 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid; toss to combine, adding more liquid by tablespoonfuls if dry. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.








One Year Ago Today: Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

50 Women Game Changers in Food - #20 Molly Wizenberg - French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Molly Wizenberg has degrees in biology, French and cultural anthropology, but several years ago she left academia to become a freelance food writer and creator of the enormously popular blog, Orangette. She was raised in a family of food lovers and she learned to cook because "the kitchen was where things happened." Her intended career path changed after a period of introspection that followed the unsettling death of her father. A friend suggested she write a food blog as an outlet for her intense interest in food and in 2004 Orangette was born. Orangette's audience grew steadily and in 2009 it was named the world's top food blog by the Times of London. For a time she was also a columnist for Bon Appetit magazine and her memoir, A Homemade Life, was on the New York Times bestseller list. She and her husband, whom she met through a correspondence that began on her blog, operate a restaurant, called Delancey, in Seattle. She holds position 20 on the Gourmet Live list of Women Game Changers in food. I've chosen her recipe for French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon to share with you today. This is the recipe that inspired her husband to introduce himself to her. It is simple, delicious and quite easy to prepare. I like to use Meyer lemons for the cake and glaze. Here's her recipe.

Gâteau au Citron - French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Molly Wizenberg

"This type of cake is an old classic in France, the sort of humble treat that a grandmother would make. Traditionally, the ingredients are measured in a yogurt jar, a small glass cylinder that holds about 125 ml. Because most American yogurts don't come in such smart packaging, you'll want to know that 1 jar equals about 1/2 cup."

Ingredients
For the cake:
1 jar plain yogurt
2 jars granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 jars unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 jar canola oil

For the glaze:
Juice from 2 lemons
1/2 jar powdered sugar

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, and zest, mixing to just combine. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. Pour and scrape the batter into a buttered 9-inch round cake pan (after buttering, I sometimes line the bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and then I butter that too).
3) Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.
4) Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.
5) When the cake is thoroughly cooled, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and spoon it gently over the cake. The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.
Serve.

Variations: This type of yogurt-based cake is a terrific base for many improvisations. For a basic yogurt cake, simply leave out the lemon zest, and do not use the lemon juice glaze. For an almond version, try replacing 1 jar of flour with 1 jar of finely ground almonds. You can also play with adding various fruits (if frozen, do NOT thaw before adding) or nuts, if you like. When I add fruit, I generally pour half the cake batter into the prepared pan, top it with a layer of fruit, and then pour in the other half of the batter, sometimes adding more fruit on the very top.

The following bloggers are also featuring the recipes of Molly Wizenberg today. I hope you'll visit all of them. They are great cooks who have wonderful blogs.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey, Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets, Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen, Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts, Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green,Jeanette - Healthy Living
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda, Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof, Nancy - Picadillo
Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Next week we will highlight the career and recipes of Ree Drummond. It will be really interesting to see what everyone comes up with. If you'd like to join us please email me for additional information no later than Monday, October 24th.