So, how’s it taste?

Unlike any biscuit I’ve ever had. They were little and hard and flavorless. I ended up adding back any calorie I’d saved by slathering them with jam (more on that later). Of course they are lighter in calories because they are teeny tiny. I could make a regular biscuit and cut them that small and save on calories, duh. I fully admit that I might have over mixed the dough. I have a hard time figuring out when “mix just until moistened” happens, so that possibly contributed to my downfall as well. The small size and non-fluffy texture I might have gotten over, but they tasted like nothing. No buttery, yummy, carby goodness. Just nothing. Lesson learned that buttermilk biscuits were not meant to be anything else than calorie-laden awesomeness. Next time I’ll just have a splurge and not bother changing a good thing.

I’m happy to report not all was lost on the biscuit mishap. That jam I slathered them with was Bathtub Gin, made right here in Nashville, Tennessee. I had the Rum Raisin Mission Fig and Limoncello Strawberry. Both were spectacular, even atop my pitiful biscuits. The Rum Raisin was thick and rich. It has that little crunch from the fig, too. My favorite (and I licked that little sample jar clean) was the Limoncello Strawberry. It’s tart, it’s sweet and you distinctly taste both flavors. I’ll be seeking out a big jar of that one, and I’ll be sure to eat it with a real biscuit this time.

Lightened Buttermilk Biscuits

Southern Living, September 2011
makes 1 1/2 dozen
per biscuit: 79 calories, 2.7g fat, 11.6g carbs, 0.4g fiber, 2.1g protein

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups non-fat buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Chill 10 minutes.

2. Add buttermilk to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 3 or 4 times.

3. With floured hands, pat dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches); dust top with flour. Fold dough over itself in 3 sections, starting with short end (as if folding a letter-size piece of paper). Repeat once, beginning with patting dough into a rectangle.

4. Pat dough to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a 2-inch round cutter, and place 1 inch apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

5. Bake at 400° for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks; cool 2 minutes. Serve warm.

Copyright © 2009-2020 Leah Claire - Leah Claire

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So, how’s it taste?

It’s so pretty, but look closely. The middle was a big ol’ soupy, raw mess. I baked it 10 minutes longer than suggested since it was jiggly in the middle when I first pulled it out. I knew better when I pulled it out the second time and it was still jiggly. But I convinced myself that the recipe has to be right and maybe it sets up as it cools. WRONG! I’m kicking myself that I didn’t go with my instinct. I’m no super chef in the kitchen, but I’ve baked enough to know better and I knew that cake wasn’t going to be done in the middle. I’m also kicking myself that I didn’t read the reviews before making the recipe. Every single one complains about the baking time. I don’t know what’s going on at Cooking Light, but they need to revisit this one. It’s a good lesson though to go with what you know and not trust a recipe word for word. I’ve been “recipe burned” plenty of times to know that’s true.

Moving on to the taste. I’m not sure I’d love this cake even if it baked properly. Before adding the cherries to the pan, it’s covered in butter and brown sugar. Doesn’t sound bad right? But it’s 1/3 cup of sugar and it’s way too much. I have an insane sweet tooth and it was too much for me. The cake isn’t very sweet, but the overkill of brown sugar on top ruins it. It’s mushy brown sugar goo coating those precious cherries. I can’t decide how I feel about the cake. It’s got good flavor, but in a weird way. It tastes like custard to me, and I’m not a big fan of custard. Too eggy. One bite and I like it, one bite and I hate it. I salvaged the edges of the cake and I’m not ashamed to admit that I picked out every single cherry in the middle and saved them before I threw it out. I’ve eaten two pieces of the cake that was rescued and I still can’t make up my mind. The brown sugar really spoils it. It’s so sickeningly sweet that I’m nauseated after. That never happens.

What I did discover is how much I love cooked cherries. I will eat fresh Rainier cherries all day long, but I find other cherries to be quite tasteless. Definitely not the case when cooked. The darker cherries (can’t remember which kind I bought) had such a concentrated cherry flavor and were a bit sour. That helped a little with the oversweet cake, but not enough. The Rainier cherries reminded me of baked apples. Sweet and tender and incredible! Now you see why I saved them from the disaster. I think I’ll pick out the rest of my beloved cherries and send the cake edges to the trash. I’m not sure this recipe is worth revisiting. Although one comment on the Cooking Light web site mentioned adding an extra 1/2 cup flour and that did the trick. I think I’ll put my cherry pitter to good use, make a pie next, and forget this cherry cake business.

Double Cherry Upside Down Cake

Cooking Light, July 2012
makes 12 servings
per serving: 283 calories, 12.3g fat, 4.1g protein, 1.5g fiber, 40.3g carbs

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups pitted fresh Rainier cherries
2 cups pitted fresh Bing cherries
6 3/4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp. butter, softened
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup fat-free buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Coat a 9-inch springform pan or cake pan with 3-inch sides with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Coat paper with cooking spray. If using a springform pan, wrap outside and bottom of pan tightly with a double layer of heavy-duty foil.

3. Drizzle melted butter over parchment in bottom of pan; sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange cherries in a single layer over brown sugar. Place pan on a baking sheet lined with foil.

4. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, stirring with a whisk; set aside. Place granulated sugar, softened butter, and oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to oil mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter will be thick). Spread batter evenly over cherries in pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 325° (do not remove cake from oven). Bake at 325° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Loosen cake from edges of pan with a knife; invert onto wire rack.

Copyright © 2009-2020 Leah Claire - Leah Claire

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So, how’s it taste?

It’s horrible. So, so bad. The cake turned out thick, not light and moist like I wanted. I halved the recipe and followed it to a T and it just didn’t taste good. Part of the problem is my fault. I needed very ripe bananas and it’s hard to find them when they aren’t green. So my bananas weren’t ripe enough. The cake has that slight gross taste from unripe bananas. Some folks eat green bananas, I like mine with tons of black spots, that’s when you know they’re going to be sweet and delicious. So strike one there. There’s Butterfinger chunks throughout but not enough. I almost added some mini chocolate chips and after, I wish I had.

You can probably guess strike two. The “surprise” part was the filling inside. I picked a filling from a Butterfinger Pie recipe that I’ve made before. The pie was fantastic, but as you can see, it didn’t set up enough to hold its own once the cake was cut. Oozing Butterfinger filling everywhere. But on the plus side, it tasted fantastic! It’s peanut buttery and also has chunks of crunchy Butterfinger. I’m not sure what I did wrong here. I needed about 1/8 of the regular recipe and recipe math is a big ol’ pain in the butt, so I’m sure I’m to blame for this one. I remember the pie filling being thicker, but it’s really difficult to fourth an egg yolk and even a bigger pain to figure out 1/16 of a teaspoon.

I frosted the cake with chocolate tub frosting. Don’t judge…it’s my birthday and I freakin’ love that stuff. So at least the frosting and bits of Butterfinger tasted good. I decided not to give you the recipe because I think the cake part is just gross and not a good recipe. I’d like to revisit this flavor combination some day and see if I can make it taste good. I like the idea, but it needs some work.

Copyright © 2009-2020 Leah Claire - Leah Claire

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So, how’s it taste?

The picture above, although truly horrid, isn’t showing how fugly this dish turned out. Let’s start from the beginning. This was supposed to be Christmas lunch, so no pressure, you know. The oops! started when I was grocery shopping. The original recipe calls for short ribs and they could not be found anywhere in the booming metropolis of Clarksville, Tennessee. After having a meltdown in Kroger (and let me tell you this only child is still really good at them), I settled on country-style ribs. Fast-forward to the next day. Everything went fine preparing the filling. The house smelled fantastic and I was starting to realize that the change in meat wasn’t going to be a problem. Braising in Guinness is pure genius. I don’t drink the stuff, but paired with onions and rosemary, it’s fantastic.

Those damn potatoes. First, I don’t know what Martha was thinking calling for 6 potatoes. There’s no way all those slices of potatoes would fit on top of this dish. So I stopped at three and that was plenty. Forgetting that potatoes start to turn brown the second they’re peeled, I prepped my potatoes way too far in advance. I peeled and sliced them when the filling still had 30 minutes to cook. Big mistake. Sitting on the counter, they turned darker and darker. Was I worried? No. “Oh, they’ll be fine when they cook and get crispy and golden on top.” Um, yeah, it doesn’t work that way. Browning potatoes get purple and keep turning darker and darker until they’re almost black when you cook them. And they taste like ass, like fishy ass. But thanks, mom, for eating it anyway. She’s the best.

I scraped my fishy, black potatoes off and found the filling underneath was to die for. Country-style ribs or short ribs, Guinness is the way to go. The meat was tender, full of flavor and I liked the two kinds of onions. Both are on the sweet side, but not so much so that it ruins the meat. After cooking that long, the yellow onion sort of dissolves into the filling and the cipollinis keep their shape, but are soft and delicious. Imagine how tasty the whole thing would’ve been had I not screwed up the potato topping!

I made sandwiches with the leftover filling and it knocked my socks off! Three lessons learned: #1 potatoes brown quickly when peeled, so prep them right before you need them or submerge in water; #2 Guinness as your braising liquid is the best thing since sliced bread; #3 meltdowns over meat selections in Clarksville aren’t really necessary, and it scares small children.

Braised Ribs, Stout, and Potato Pot Pie

adapted from Martha Stewart Living, October 2011
serves 8

Ingredients:

Filling
4 lbs. country-style ribs (or boneless short ribs)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. oil
1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 (12 oz.) bottles stout (preferably Guinness), room temperature
2 rosemary sprigs
1 lb. cipollini onions, peeled

Topping
3 medium baking potatoes
olive oil for brushing
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Dredge ribs in flour, coating all sides. Transfer to a large plate. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides. Transfer to a large plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to Dutch oven and cook until golden, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Return meat to Dutch oven. Add Guinness and rosemary. Bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to oven. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.

3. Remove Dutch oven from oven. Add cipollini onions. Braise until meat is tender and onions are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Shred meat using two forks and discard bones. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling to a 12-inch (8-cup) gratin dish.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 375F. For the topping, peel the potatoes and very thinly slice (preferably on a mandoline). Arrange potatoes over meat to form tight concentric circles, working around the edge and overlapping each potato by three-quarters. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until topping is golden and filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Copyright © 2009-2020 Leah Claire - Leah Claire

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