Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine eggs, flour, milk, sugar and nutmeg in a blender jar and blend until smooth. Batter may also be mixed by hand. Place butter in a heavy 10-inch skillet or baking dish and place in the oven. As soon as the butter has melted (watch it so it does not burn) add the batter to the pan, return pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the pancake is puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five minutes longer. Remove pancake from oven, cut into wedges and serve at once topped with syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar.

New York Times

Ingredients

for the glaze

• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces powdered sugar, about 2 cups

for the bonut

• 2 quarts peanut oil
• 12 ounces all-purpose flour, plus an additional 1/2 cup for dusting
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ounce unsalted butter, chilled
• 2 ounces shortening, chilled
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk, chilled

Preparation

Heat the peanut oil over high heat in a large Dutch oven fitted with a fry/candy thermometer. Bring the oil to 350 degrees F while you prepare the biscuit dough. Keep an eye on it though as it’s easy to shoot through the target temp. When I get to about 300 degrees F, I back off on the flame a bit.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the dry goods until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. You don’t want the fat to melt so work fast and only with your fingertips.

Make a well in the middle of this mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a large spoon or rubber spatula until the dough just comes together. Then hand-knead in the bowl until all the flour has been taken up.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently flatten it then fold over book-style, repeating 8-10 times, until the dough is soft and smooth.

Press the dough into a 1-inch-thick round. Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch doughnut cutter or pastry ring and using a 1-inch ring for the center whole. Make your cuts as close together as possible to limit waste. Re-roll and cut as many donuts as possible. Whatever scrap is left should be cut and formed to match the “holes,” which is why in the end you’ll have more holes than bonuts.

Fry the donuts 3 to 4 at a time, for 1-2 minutes per side. When the cold dough hits the fat, the temperature is going to fall quickly so you’ll want to boost the heat and keep an eye on the thermometer.

Remove the golden brown rings-of-wonder to a cooling rack inverted over a paper towel lined half sheet pan and cool for 2 minutes.

Microwave the milk in a large heat-proof bowl for 15 seconds. Whisk in the vanilla and the powdered sugar until smooth.

Gently dip one side of each “bonut” into the glaze, give it a twist then lift straight out. Allow the excess to drain off then flip glaze side up on the cooling rig. To glaze the holes (that little center thing you cut out and would never waste), I usually drop them in then lift them out with a dinner fork. Or…just go bobbing for them.

Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 2 oz. gin
• ¼ oz. dry vermouth
• ¼ oz. créme de violette
• ¼ oz. absinthe or absinthe substitute
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• Lemon twist

Preparation

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass, fill with cracked ice, stir briskly for 30 seconds, strain into a chilled glass and garnish.

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 oz Gin
• 1⁄2 oz Triple sec, Cointreau
• 1⁄2 oz Crème de Violette
• 1⁄2 oz Lime juice

Preparation

Shake ingredients over ice, strain into a cocktail glass.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces gin
• 1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur (preferably Luxardo)
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice
• 1/4 ounce crème de violette (or 1/4 ounce simple syrup)
• Garnish: brandied cherry (preferably Luxardo)

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker, shake with ice. Strain into cocktail or coupe glass, garnish with cherry.

Ingredients

• 2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz creme de violette
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• lemon twist

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake, strain into a coupe or martini glass, garnish with lemon twist.

Ingredients

• 7/6 c. butter
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. light corn syrup
• 1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/4 c. dark chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together sugar, flour, and 2/3 c. of the butter until evenly crumbly. Press into a 9" square baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. In a saucepan, combine remaining 1/2 c. butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and condensed milk. Bring to a boil, and continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for about 3 minutes. Pour over crust (warm or cool). Cool until it begins to firm. Melt chocolate chips, pour over the top of the caramel, and spread. Chill and cut into squares.

Facebook

Ingredients

• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/3 c. light brown sugar
• 1/4 c. fish sauce
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 4 1/4"-1/2" thick bone-in pork chops
• 3 firm red plums, cut into 1/2" wedges
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 small chile (pref. red), thinly sliced
• 2 c. mixed herbs (basil, cilantro, mint, etc.)
• 1/2 c. bean sprouts
• 2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• lime wedges

Preparation

Blend shallots, garlic, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, oil, and pepper in a blender. Pour into a ziploc bag with the pork. Toss and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 12 hours. Prepare a grill for medium-high heat. Remove pork chops, season both sides with salt, and grill until lightly charred (about 2 min. per side). Meanwhile, toss plums, scallions, chile, herbs, bean sprouts, and vinegar in a bowl. Season with salt. Serve pork with salad and lime wedges.

Bon Appetit, June 2016

Ingredients

• 500 mL lukewarm milk
• 16 g yeast
• 180 g granulated sugar
• 1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp ground cardamom (preferably freshly ground)
• 1 egg
• about 1 kg bread flour
• 170 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 150 g soft butter
• 6 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp + 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• pearl sugar, to sprinkle

Preparation

Combine the yeast with some flour and add to the warm milk mixture. Stir with a spoon until the yeast is completely dissolved. Add sugar, salt, cardamom, and egg and mix until combined. Gradually add about two thirds of the flour and knead. Add butter and knead until well combined. Continue to knead the dough, and gradually add just enough flour so the dough comes clean off the sides of the bowl and doesn’t stick to your hand.

Don’t overwork the dough or you’ll end up with hard rolls. Shape into a ball and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until double in size.

Meanwhile, mix together the butter, sugar, and cinnamon for the filling. Set aside.

Line four baking sheets with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough and divide into two equally sized portions. Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll out the first portion of dough into a large, about 60-by-40-centimeter / 23-by-16-inch rectangle. Spread half of the filling evenly on top. Beginning with the long side, roll the dough into a tight tube shape, seam side down. Cut into 15 cylinders and press each point tightly into the center with your index finger.

Place the shaped cinnamon rolls on the baking sheets, spacing them about 5 cm / 2" apart. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for further 30 minutes, or until they’re double in size. Repeat with the second batch.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 225°C (435°F).

For the egg wash, lightly whisk the egg. Before baking, brush each roll with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with pearl sugar. Bake the rolls on the middle rack for 10 – 15 minutes, or until golden to dark brown in color. When the rolls are done, the bottoms will most probably be dark brown in color; this is totally normal and typical for Nordic cardamom-spiced sweetbread. Repeat with the other sheets of rolls.

The cinnamon rolls are best eaten while still slightly warm or on the same day. However, you can freeze them once baked and warm them up when ready to serve.

My Blue & White Kitchen

Ingredients

• 3 cups vanilla cookie crumbs
• ¾ cup melted butter
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 rounded tsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 9 extra large egg yolks
• ⅓ cup sugar
• Two 10 ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup lemon juice
• zest of 2 lemons finely minced

Preparation

Grease a 10 inch deep dish pie plate or line the bottom of a 10 inch spring-form pan and lightly grease the sides. Mix together the cookie crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom and sides of the pie plate or to about ¾ of the height of a spring form pan if you are using one. Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees F. Set aside to cool. Whip the cream, icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place, add the egg yolks and ⅓ cup sugar. Whisk at high speed until light, foamy and pale yellow in color, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the sweetened condensed milk lemon zest and lemon juice. Gently fold in the previously whipped cream. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Freeze overnight. Garnish with whipped cream, additional Nilla cookies and lemon zest before serving.

Barry Parsons