Aunt Kim's Chocolate Chip Scones

Original Recipe is at: http://rotnerramblings.blogspot.com/2013/03/chocolate-chip-scones-and-big-panties.html

Ingredients:

• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 c. mini chocolate chips
• 1 T. butter, melted

Instructions:

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. 

Add cream and chocolate chips (don't even think about the regular sized morsels, mini is the way to go). 

Combine with a fork then knead by hand. 

Roll out on a floured surface in a 10 inch circle. Cut into wedges. 

Melt butter and brush on scones, sprinkle lightly with sugar. 

Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes.

Hot Mama Notes: I went shopping for this recipe and for some reason, I was thinking it called for buttermilk instead of whipping cream... Oops.  So, I ended up using this substitution for heavy whipping cream:

http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeyourowningredients/r/Heavy_Cream_Sub.htm

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter

Preparation:

1. Melt the butter.

2. Pour it into the milk, and stir.

3. Use in place of one cup of heavy cream.

There were lots of different choices for whipping cream substitutions, but this was the easiest by far, and it made a lot of sense given what this person said:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080511202432AAIA4l9

If you have BUTTER (not margarine, but regular non-salted butter), add 1/3 cup butter per every cup of whole milk. Heavy cream must, by law, contain no less than 36% butterfat, and the addition of the butter to whole milk (4% butterfat) will give you the desired fat content. A side benefit: if you're making butterscotch, the addition of the butter will help develop the flavor of the recipe.

Source(s):

Lived on a dairy farm, had to know our products... :)

About how by law whipping cream must have 36% fat to be labeled as such.  Anyway, it's kind of funny that I started out right off the bat with not the correct ingredients!! :P   This being said, the scones turned out *wonderfully*!

I ended up using a scant cup of whole milk together with a full 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 full stick) to equal the 1.25 cups of heavy whipping cream called for in the recipe.  I melted the butter in the microwave, and whisked it together with the milk before adding it to the dry ingredients.

Maybe because I changed the recipe with respect to the whipping cream substitution, but I also needed to add a bit more flour to get the dough to be less sticky.  It wasn't more than a 1/4 cup more, though, so not too much.

I had to bake my scones a good 15 minutes more than the 9-11 minutes listed, as the center was still gooey (and not in a good way) when I sampled a piece.  I did use a baking stone, though, and they say for short baking times that oftentimes you need to add time since it takes a little while for the stone to heat up.  Still, I have made scones before and they turned out so nicely baking on the stone that I wanted to use it again.

This time I used turbinado sugar to sprinkle on the scones after brushing them with melted butter.  I think next time I would use regular sugar with a little bit of turbinado for texture.  ;)

My grade: A

We will definitely make these again, and I am curious as to see how they differ with the heavy whipping cream! :)

Chicken Curry in a Hurry

Originally from the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook called Slow Cooker Revolution.

Also, a google search showed the recipe here: http://aspiringkitchenadventures.blogspot.com/2012/04/chicken-curry-in-hurry.html

Note that the above picture is from the blog listed above.

2 onions, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons grated or minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
3 lb chicken thighs
12 ounces plum tomatoes, chopped 
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 c fresh cilantro
lime, cut into wedges

Add oil, onion, jalapenos, garlic, ginger and curry powder to a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave 5 minutes or until onions are soft.

Transfer to mixture to slow cooker.

To slow cooker, add chickpeas, water and coconut milk. Stir and nestle the chicken in the mixture.

Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board and shred. Return chicken to cooker. Stir in tomatoes, raisins and peas. Cook about 15 more minutes.

Serve over brown rice or quinoa. Garnish with cilantro and lime.

Hot Mama Notes: Note that this is not a quick and easy crock pot recipe.  It's not unreasonable or anything, but it did take me an hour to get everything ready to put in the crock pot this morning.  I was hoping to decrease that slightly by having everything out and ready last night, but I didn't chop since I wanted everything fresh.  

I used regular raisins as the grocery store was out of golden.  I used chicken breasts instead of thighs.  I did not put in the lime or cilantro.  I meant to put in the cilantro, but forgot at the end.  I have decided that grating ginger sucks, and that from now on I will only mince it using the chopper - SO much easier.

Okay, dinner is over and our review is.... eh.  This curry is good but not great.  And with the amount of work it takes to make, my husband and I concur that the mediocre result is not worth replicating in the future.  Alas! 

Grade: B


A scan of the original recipe from the cookbook:

Healthy Pancakes with Oats & Cottage Cheese

Ingredients:
6  egg whites
1c Cottage Cheese
1c Oats

Optional:
1t  Vanilla
Maple Syrup
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
Chocolate Chips
Cinnamon

Directions:
Put all required ingredients and any optional ingredients into the blender and mix well.  Cook on griddle as you would any pancake.

HotMama Notes: I used my Blendtec blender with the "batter" cycle.  For options, I chose to use 1t vanilla, 1T maple syrup and 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder (Jay Robb brand).  I added some chocolate chips after the first round of four cooked.  I wanted to see what they tasted like plain.  They were good, and the kids liked them, but they do not have the loft that you would normally get from a flour/egg/baking soda or powder pancake recipe.  Grade: B+