Oatmeal Scones

This is another gem from Cook's Illustrated. They did a really good article about oatmeal scones in September of 2003 that I used as a base recipe here. You can add up to a cup of just about any dry ingredient that you want to the base. Just add it at the same time as the cooled oats.

One warning though... this recipe results in a very different scone that you tend to find in America. They are not the crusty, dry scones; instead, it is a fluffy yet rather dense cake. However, I did follow the American style of slicing them into wedges. You can cut them the same way that you would make biscuits or drop them onto a sheet like drop cookies too.

7 1/2 ounce	All-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 1/2 ounce	Rolled oats (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup	Whole milk
1/4 cup	Heavy cream
1	Egg
2 1/4 ounce	Sugar (about 1/3 cup)
2 teaspoon	Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon	Salt
10 tablespoon	Unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tablespoon	Raw sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F
2. Spread oats evenly on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant - about 8 minutes. Reserve two tablespoons of the toasted oats.
3. Increase oven temperature to 450° F.
4. Whisk the milk, cream, and egg together in a small bowl.
5. Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined.
6. Add the chilled butter to the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles corse cornmeal - about 10 to 15 one-second pulses
7. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the cooled oats. This is when you will want to add any other fillers.
8. Fold in the liquid ingredients with a rubber spatula until large clumps form.
9. Continue mixing the dough until it forms a cohesive ball. Try not to over mix the dough.
10. Dusk a clean working surface with about half of the reserved oats.
11. Turn the dough onto the working surface and form it into a 7-inch circle about an inch thick.
12. Cut the circle into eight wedges with a chef's knife.
13. Place the wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
14. Brush the surfaces with the reserved eggwash and sprinkle with the raw sugar.
15. Bake until evenly done and golden brown - about 12 minutes.
16. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

Roasted Pork Loin with Apple Stuffing

I can't remember where I found this one at but I made it for a special occasion dinner and it turned out perfect. This is a really tasty pork loin especially if you like the taste of roasted pork and apples together.

Pork Loin
2 tablespoon	Flour
1½ teaspoon	Salt
1 teaspoon	Dry Mustard
1 teaspoon	Caraway Seed
½ teaspoon	Granulated Sugar
¼ teaspoon	Black Pepper
¼ teaspoon	Ground sage
4 pound	Bone-in Pork Loin

Apple Topping
1½ cup	Diced apples (or apple sauce)
1 cup	Packed Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoon	Cinnamon
¼ teaspoon	Mace (or ground nutmeg)
¼ teaspoon	Salt

1. Mix together the Loin ingredients except the pork
2. Rub the mixture over the surface of the pork avoiding the fat back
3. Bake the roast at 325° for 1½ hours
4. Mix the topping ingredients until well combined
5. Spread over the roast
6. Bake for an additional hour adding water to the pan as necessary

Slow Cooked BBQ Pulled Pork

This is my first post on a blog dedicated to my recipes. I'm going to try to record recipes here as I cook them with some commentary as well. I have a lot of recipes available on my .Mac web pages as well. In fact, that is where I keep both the HTML and PDF versions. I'm going to try plopping them here as well.

This is a nice amalgam of a BBQ sauce that I can up with a while ago and a tasty Italian Pulled Pork recipe. Danielle doesn't like really spicy foods or BBQ sauce for that matter so it took me a while to really get the right sauce. This one isn't spicy but it has a really nice taste. You might notice that there is no vinegar in the sauce... there is enough vinegar in the catsup once you mix in the lemon juice to give this that nice "puckering" quality. Add in the sugar and molasses and you end up with a really nice and sweet sauce.

The only thing that you might want to do is cut out the lemon zest if you don't like a lemon taste to the BBQ sauce. I happen to like it this way, but I can see where some people wouldn't.

Pulled Pork
4	pound	Boneless Pork Shoulder
2		Medium Onions, thinly sliced
1½	cup	Water
2	cup	BBQ sauce (recipe included)
1		Medium onion, chopped

BBQ Sauce
2	cup	Catsup/Ketchup
½	cup	Packed Brown Sugar
½	cup	Lemon Juice (juice of 2)
8	tablespoon	Lemon Zest, grated
2	tablespoon	Molasses
1	tablespoon	Worcestershire sauce
1½	teaspoon	Liquid Smoke
2	teaspoon	Dried Mustard
1	teaspoon	Onion powder
½	teaspoon	Fresh ground Black pepper

Pulled Pork

1. Place 1/2 of the sliced onions in a slow cooker
2. Add the pork and the water
3. Add the rest of the sliced onions
4. Cover and cook over low heat overnight (8 to 10 hours)
5. Remove the meat and onions from the slow cooker and place into a large bowl
6. Drain the liquid and reserve any onion or pork bits
7. Place the meat, reserved onions, BBQ sauce, and chopped onions back into the slow cooker
8. Cook for four to six hours over low heat stirring occasionally
9. Serve warm on kaiser rolls

BBQ Sauce

You can use any BBQ sauce that you like with this recipe. This is just a suggestion since I really like the taste of it on pork sandwiches. This recipe makes a little over the two cups required for the pork. You can use the rest to top sandwiches or save it in the fridge for a while.

1. Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan, stir until well combined.
2. Simmer over medium heat stirring occasionally until thick and flavorful. This will take about 10 minutes.