10 October

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October 12, 2018

Queen Elizabeth’s Drop Scones

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Queen Elizabeth’s Drop Scones

October 12, 2018: The Royal Wedding Day of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank

Those who live on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean and are planning to follow the second British royal wedding of the year must wake up really early to watch any news reports due to time differences. A simple British-inspired breakfast with tea and scones would make still-sleepy fans rise and shine for the celebration of marriage between Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank (a low-key event compared to her cousin Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding on May 19).

We have made many royal recipes for our blog before and are now including Queen Elizabeth’s own drop scones for this occasion. Also known as Scotch pancakes (which are basically like American-style “silver dollars”), Her Majesty served these to U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower when he visited her at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1959. Her old family recipe is included in the National Archives.

Drop scones/Scotch pancakes/silver dollars are a perfect option for celebrating the royal wedding early in the morning or for a tea time breakfast or brunch. Congratulations to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on their wedding day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Town and Country magazine)

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons sugar (superfine preferred)
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted (we used European/Irish style unsalted butter)

Directions

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar. Add half the milk. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients.

Mix in the remaining milk and melted butter. Drop by tablespoonsful on a greased griddle/skillet/pan on medium high heat. Do not overcrowd the pan if cooking in batches. Use a spatula to flip the scone on the other side when bubbles appear. Cook until golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve warm with jam, jelly, clotted cream, butter or syrup.

Notes

  • Queen Elizabeth’s original recipe uses teacups for measurements. We have converted them to modern cup measurements above.
  • Search our blog for other royal recipes filed under the British/English/Tea Time section of our Theme Menus.
 

October 28, 2017

Homemade Chocolate Candy Bars

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Homemade Chocolate Candy Bars

chocolatecandybars

October 28: National Chocolate Day

Giving out free candy on Halloween isn’t exactly cheap. So it is quite understandable that some people opt to buy the generic brands or bulk variety packages of assorted candies to distribute to trick-or-treaters on Fright Night. Yet somehow the neighborhood children still seem to know which homes hand out their favorite candies! We were thought to be the one of the houses that gives out the good stuff! But there is an ulterior motive—if we still have candies left over, we eat them ourselves! So we buy what we like and they are usually the miniature chocolate candy bars (Hershey’s Special Dark, Mr. Goodbar and Krackel*).

With special candy molds, chocolate bars can be made at home very easily. Just melt the chocolate in a bowl, stir in rice cereal or nuts, place in the molds and let set. We replicated the recipes for Nestle Crunch and Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar for a homemade treat that is terrific on National Chocolate Day, on Halloween and whenever one wants to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Recipe

For the Crunch chocolate bar

  • Chocolate chips or wafers (we used Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers)
  • Rice cereal

Directions

Melt the chocolate in a bowl (in a microwave or over a double boiler), according to the directions on the package. Stir in the rice cereal and coat with chocolate.

crunchbarstep1

Spoon the mixture into the wells of a chocolate bar mold. Tap the mold on the counter to even out the surface. Place in the refrigerator until firm. Unmold onto a paper towel. Serve the rice cereal chocolate bar at a cool temperature.

crunchbarsteps2

For the Mr. Goodbar chocolate candy

  • Chocolate chips or wafers (we used Nestle Toll House milk chocolate chip morsels)
  • Roasted peanuts, chopped

Directions

Melt the chocolate in a bowl (in a microwave or over a double boiler), according to the directions on the package. Stir in the chopped peanuts and coat with chocolate.

mrgoodbarsteps1

Spoon the mixture into the wells of a chocolate bar mold. Tap the mold on the counter to even out the surface. Place in the refrigerator until firm. Unmold onto a paper towel. Serve the peanut-covered chocolate bar at a cool temperature.

mrgoodbarsteps2

Notes

  • The equivalent of Hershey’s Krackel is Nestle’s Crunch chocolate bar.
  • We also like M&Ms, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, KitKat bars and other candies that do not stick to our teeth (sorry, caramel, gummies and chewy nougat).
  • We make homemade chocolate candy bars for ourselves and do not give open/unwrapped candies out on Halloween to trick-or-treaters for safety and sanitary reasons.
  • Purchase candy bar molds from a local hobby and craft shop or cake decorating supply store.
  • Substitute real chocolate for chocolate-flavored confectioner’s wafers, like Wilton’s Candy Melts.
  • There are several “chocolate holidays” throughout the year. Search our blog for other chocolate recipes.

 

 

October 3, 2017

Brisket Soft Tacos

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Brisket Soft Tacos

October 3: National Soft Taco Day

Just one day before National Taco Day, National SOFT Taco Day is observed as a food holiday. Highlander prefers the latter but Islander likes her tacos crispy. Tacos are a versatile dish. The filling could be beef, pork, chicken or seafood and the shells could be soft (flour or corn tortilla) or crispy. Toppings could include cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, avocados, jalapenos, sour cream and salsa.

For this particular post, we used soft low-carb flour tortilla shells in which to wrap the meat filling and toppings. We used leftover shredded beef brisket made from our slow cooker (it yielded a lot of meat for just the two of us). And we filled it with toppings as colorful as the Mexican blanket in the final food photo above.

Switch up the tortillas for tacos today and go specifically for the soft shells on National Soft Taco Day.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • SOFT tortillas (flour, corn or a combination of both)
  • Shredded beef brisket (or other meat or seafood of your choice)
  • Shredded cheese (we used a Mexican blend of cheeses)
  • Shredded lettuce
  • Diced tomatoes
  • Chopped onions
  • Chopped cilantro leaves
  • Salsa or taco sauce
  • Lime wedges or slices (optional)

Directions

Warm the soft tortillas in a skillet or microwave according to the package directions to make them warm and more pliable. Lay a soft tortilla on a plate. Place hot shredded beef brisket on top. Layer with cheese on the hot brisket (it will melt slightly to bind the meat together).

Sprinkle with shredded lettuce. Top with tomatoes, onions, cilantro leaves and salsa or taco sauce. Roll and secure with toothpicks. Serve with lime wedges or slice to squeeze the juice to flavor the filling in the soft tacos (optional).

Notes

  • National Soft Taco Day on October 2 falls near the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month.  This month is a great opportunity to try some of the Latin American recipes posted under the Theme Menus on our blog.
  • Cook crispy tacos tomorrow for National Taco Day on October 3.

 

 

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