Re: Cheddar Bay Biscuits - WBB #20 Balanced Breakfast

My husband's birthday could only fall on a saint's day, but now we're talking about another saint... the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick! So, if March 17th is the date for many Irish and non-Irish to wear green, enjoy a parade, drink a lot of Guinness beer and wish good luck, why can't we celebrate it with food?

The garlic butter brushed on top added a special flavor and to me they seem to taste like the ones sold at Red Lobster.

I made these Red Lobster-inspired biscuits recipe because I feel homesick for the US and also this is my contribution for Mansi's Balanced Breakfast event at Fun and Food.

Did you know that Red Lobster alone sells over one million biscuits a day?

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

(Adapted from Diana's Kitchen and Kraft)

1 cup skim milk

1/3 cup Mayonnaise

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

1/4 cup shredded American cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons melted butter

10 fresh flat leaf parsley leaves

Muffin paper liners

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

2) In a mixing bowl combine the milk, mayo, sugar, and flour until completely combined. Add cheese to the dough and combine. Drop batter into 10 paper-lined muffin tins. Batter should "drop" from spoon.

3) Melt butter; mix in garlic, and brush tops of dough. Place one parsley leaf on top of each biscuit; lightly brush again.

4) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden. Serve freshly baked and hot.

Substitute self-rising flour: use 2 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon baking powder.

Kabocha (or Pumpkin) Spice Bread

Kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin is very popular in the Japanese cuisine. I use kabocha to cook everything pumpkin, like pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, soup, muffins etc. And... Tis the season for pumpkin spice bread!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup kabocha puree (or canned unsweetened pumpkin)
1 large egg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour an 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch (21 x 11 x 6 cm) loafpan. Sift together first 6 ingredients; stir in salt.

2. Combine sugar, oil, and kabocha puree/canned pumpkin in a large bowl; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg, beating until well blended. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating at low speed until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour 5 minutes or until loaf is golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From our home to yours:
- The dark green skin is very hard and not easy to carve but the pulp is lightly sweet. So, you need to be careful when handling the knife to cut up a kabocha.

- I cooked the kabocha without strings and seeds in the microwave for 20 minutes, an easy and fast way to make a pumpkin puree from scratch.

- This recipe works both with canned pumpkin and kabocha squash puree.

- A different twist to this cake is the cocoa powder added to the batter.

Thank you Kelli for this wonderful Giving thanks week!

If you want to share and visit other blogs with recipes, menus, pictures, poems, and stories, please go to Kelli's blog for more details.

This recipe was adapted from Cottage Living magazine - November 2006

Persimmon Muffins

Portuguese version: click here

It is fun: to go to the farmer's market, pick out fresh fruits in season and then make up a recipe that will go with them. I bought persimmons on impulse and wanted to give them a happy ending. I had not done muffins for quite a while, and decided to take the chance with this recipe. My second son, who's a picky eater, said it was one of the best muffins he ever had. He was the first one to try it and even took it to school.

Persimmon Muffins

1/2 cup pureed persimmons
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 cup margarine -- softened
1 cup sugar
2 ggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 oz (100 g) honey-flavored yogurt or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (lime)
1 tablespoon Bourbon (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease 12 muffin cups or use paper baking cups.

2. Put the pureed persimmons in a small bowl and stir in the baking soda. Set aside.

3. Mix margarine and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and beat well. Add flour, salt and cinnamon; beat until blended. Add vanilla, lemon juice, yogurt and bourbon. Stir in the pureed persimmons. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from muffin pans and let cool. Serve warm.