Cinnamon Buns

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Ari

 

Good things come to those who wait…
I’ve waited for 20+ years to reach the point in my education where I could start to understand how the human body works. I’ll wait patiently through a 8 hour surgery for the 10 minutes during which I get the opportunity to show off my mad suturing skills (mind you, those sutures should really take me 2 minutes…). So why not wait 2 hours for some delicious fresh-from-the-oven homemade cinnamon buns? The 500+ calories of sugary goodness make it totally worth it.

(Adapted from Clone of a Cinnabon)

What you need:

  • 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 4 1/2 cups bread flour (bread flour makes the bus fluffier)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 1/2 tbs ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 tbs milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1/8 tsp salt
What you need to do:
  1. Place the warm milk, eggs, 1/3 cup melted butter, bread flour, 1 tsp salt, white sugar, and yeast in a bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (I just added everything in the order listed above). Set the machine to “dough cycle” and press start.
  2. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.
  4. Roll the dough out into a 16 by 21 inch rectangle.
  5. Take the 1/3 cup softened butter and spread it evenly over the rolled out dough.
  6. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter covered dough.
  7. Roll the dough into a long tube, and cut it into 12 pieces.
  8. Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan, cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
  9. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  10. Bake the rolls in the oven until golden brown (about 15 minutes).
  11. While the rolls are in the oven, combine the cream cheese, milk, vanilla extract, confectioner’s sugar, and 1/8 tsp salt.
  12. When the rolls are done baking, coat them with frosting and get ready to enter a food coma.
Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint This BA Recipe
Posted in Bread, Dessert | 5 Comments

Mint-Tea Chocolate Frappuccino

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Anita!
I was finally able to blend something in a mason jar!  This is supposed to create a mini-blender; just find a jar with a mouth the same size as the back end of your blender, drop some stuff you like into it, attach it to the blender motor, blade, and sealing ring, and go for it.  You might get a little leaking so make sure you give it a trial.  Afterward, find a cap and leave with it.

Ingredients

  • Mint tea ice cubes.  Heat enough milk to fill 7/12 cubes in a ice cube tray, then add a bag of mint tea to the milk and let it steep for at least 10 minutes.  Afterward, pour the milk into the ice cube tray.
  • Use cold black coffee, or make instant coffee to your liking and fill the remaining 5 ice cubes.  Put the tray in the freezer.
  • The day of the making, put it all in the blender with a little milk and 2-3 tsp of brown sugar.  If it’s not blending well, wait a little bit for the ice cubes to thaw.  Blend.
  • Top with chopped chocolate.  I actually used some previously melted chocolate that I had frozen in a ziplock bag and then broke up with my hands.  Easy.  This is almost too thick for a straw, so thin as necessary.
Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint This BA Recipe
Posted in Drinks | 1 Comment

Gingery Peas and Spinach

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Ari
Warning: this post has nothing to do with the recipe I’m about to present, but I feel like the dish is tasty enough to speak for itself, so I’m gonna use this post as an opportunity to talk about my favorite part of the human body…
You will often hear med students describe the first time they see a beating heart as this quintessential moment in their medical education, and in many ways this makes sense. The heart is recognized as being the epicenter of all living creatures. We need oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood to live, so therefore we need the heart to deliver that blood to all the things that make us human, right? Well what about the lungs that allow us to capture that oxygen? What about the gut that delivers the nutrients to the blood? What about the kidneys that filters said nutrients? When do they get their 15 minutes of fame? Maybe the reason I don’t like the heart is because it steals the limelight from all the other organs in the body (or maybe it’s because I can’t ever remember the stupid coronary arteries). Seriously, heart, maybe you need to be taken down a few pegs. I’ll admit that you’re pretty important, but quite honestly, I’d rather spend my time focusing on my favorite part of the human body – the GI tract.
I’ll admit that seeing a beating heart for the first time was pretty cool, but it was nothing comparing to bowel. I’m obviously biased when it comes to my interest (obsession?) with the digestive system (food is my passion after all!), but is that really an issue? Life is all about finding your passion…and I’ve certainly found mine. For me, there are few things as fascinating as watching the peristaltic motions of the gut. I find the rhythmic wave almost soothing. I love the consistency with which it functions in a “healthy” individual as well as the problems that can arise when something goes wrong. The (stupid) heart has multiple chambers with which to confuse the frustrated medical student, whereas the gut is just one long, glorious, food digesting tube. Yes, each segment of this tube has it’s designated function, anatomy, digestive enzymes, etc., but the transitions between each make sense – they all work in succession to breakdown the nutrients into gradually smaller, more “useable” pieces….
To be honest, I’m not totally sure where I’m going with all of this, but after spending the majority of my last two weeks staring at this magnificent structure, I’m not totally surprised that I can think of nothing else (you wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve spelled “bowl” as “bowel”). Oh well. At least I’m enjoying myself! Now, on to the food…
(Adapted from Journey Kitchen’s Utterly Butterly Gingery Peas)
What you need:
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 10 oz frozen chopped spinach
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 4 tbs minced ginger
  • 3 tsp chili powder
  • 3 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbs lemon juice
What you need to do:
  1. In a wok, melt 2 tbs butter at medium heat. 
  2. Add the peas and defrosted spinach and turn the heat up to high. Let cook for about 1 minute.
  3. Remove the peas and spinach from the wok and set aside for later.
  4. Melt the remaining 1 tbs butter in the wok and add the ginger.
  5. Once the ginger is fried, add the chili powder and salt. Stir to combine.
  6. Add the peas and spinach back to the wok along with the garam masala. Stir to combine.
  7. Turn off the heat then add the lemon juice.
  8. Eat as is or serve on the side of some other dish.
Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint This BA Recipe
Posted in Indian, Snacks, Vegetarian | Leave a comment

Eggs Manchurian

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Anita!
Congrats to Omri, the winner of the IKEA “guess that gadget” contest!  Here are the answers:  a) napkin holder  b) water bottle ice cube tray  c) tagine  d) lemon zester  e) cheese grater  f) egg cup  g) whisk  h) lemon slice squeezer (for tea)  i) milk frother

I’m not the egg maven in this household.  But I bought a dozen on Friday without realizing that Ari’s high-efficiency breakfast has totally supplanted her usually ovumatory morning ritual.  Faced with 24 hapless eggs in the fridge, I decided to share this spicy Indo-Chinese dish with you.
I don’t have much else to say, except to share with you the fool-proof method to avoid the stinky, grey rim around the egg yolk (caused by a reaction between iron in the yolk and sulfur in the white).  Put a pot of water over high flame, put the eggs inside (make sure they’re submerged), then bring to a boil.  Let boil for about 4 minutes.  Afterward, turn the heat off and let the eggs sit for another 15-20 minutes (don’t let them sit around forever, or you’ll get the grey ring of death!).  Dump the hot water and pour cold water over the eggs a few times to make them easier to peel.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 onion, chopped fine
  • 2 Tbsp garlic, minced fine
  • 1 Tbsp ginger, minced fine
  • 1-2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1-2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1-2 Tbsp ketchup
  • 1-2 Tbsp garlic chili sauce
  • 6 eggs, hardboiled and split in half
  • salt to taste
Heat oil in a medium-large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and saute until translucent.  Add the garlic and ginger, saute for 30 sec to 1 minute.  Add the chili sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and ketchup in that order.  Reduce the heat to medium and stir gently for 5-10 minutes, then add the eggs and fold the sauce over them gently.  Add salt to taste.  Serve with rice.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint This BA Recipe
Posted in Eggs, Indian, Vegetarian | 1 Comment