Strawberry-Pistachio Rolls

I'll start by saying sorry for the pictures as they were taken with my iPhone. But, the exciting part of that is that I FINALLY HAVE AN iPHONE! Yayyy! I made these rolls in Florida where I didn't have my amazing photographer there to help me out.

I love experimenting with different sweet rolls (like these Meyer Lemon Sweet Rolls), so when I saw these on Kaitlin's blog, Whisk Kid, I knew I had to give them a try. If you're wondering, they are just as good as they look. The sweet strawberry and pistachio fillings play off each other, creating an amazing harmony of salty/sweet-fresh/rich flavors that make it quite easy to down an entire roll (which are about the size of your entire hand) all by yourself (not to mention the fact that the red and green look beautiful together).

While these are still amazing cooled, I find them to be at their peak enjoyment state when they are nice and warm out of the oven. I mean a) who doesn't love warm bread in any situation? and b) the fillings are all gooey and oozing about in the most delicious way.

I think it would be a wonderful idea to add a whole vanilla bean in there somewhere, perhaps in the strawberry filling, just to really put these babies over the top. Someone try it and report back?

pre-bake obviously:

Strawberry-Pistachio Rolls

recipe slightly adapted from here

Dough:

ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 66g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/2 milk, warmed
• 78g (1/3 cup) butter, unsalted, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 large egg, at room temperature, beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• more or less 500g (4 cups) flour
• extra sugar for sprinkling

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast, water, and sugar. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast is activated (the top should be foamy).
2. Add in the milk, butter, egg, and salt, and mix to combine. Add in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl. Switch to the bread hook attachment and mix, on high, for 15 minutes.
3. Dump the dough into a buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm area for about an hour, until doubled in size.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10 x 24 inch rectangle. Spread with the two fillings (recipes below), leaving a 1 inch border on each side. Tightly roll the rectangle up, and slice into 10+ rolls.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie dish (or individual ramekins, etc.) and place the rolls in, leaving a bit of space between each (DO NOT stuff your pan as the rolls will rise again and overflow the pan.... I'm speaking from experience here people).
6. Allow to rise again for about an hour. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden-brown and baked through. (You can drizzle the tops with a simple glaze made from confectioners' sugar and milk if you desire, which you should, because it looks nice :).)

Strawberry Filling:

ingredients:

• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the berries have slightly broken down and the mixture is thickened.
2. Cool and set aside.

Pistachio Filling:

ingredients:

• 128g (1 cup) pistachios, roasted and salted
• 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1/2-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 28g (2 tbsp) butter, unsalted, at room temperature
• 1 large egg, at room temperature

1. Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture is a thick paste.
2. Set aside.

Roasted Strawberry Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

Closet Cooking has become one of my very favorite blogs to go to for recipes. Kevin's blog entries are always creative and inspired and it helps that I seem to have very similar taste buds to him! I saw this Roasted Strawberry Salad with Baked Goat Cheese and I instantly knew I had to make it.

The balsamic vinegar complements the strawberries so nicely and the creamy goat cheese is a great contrast to the tartness.

Roasted Strawberry Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

• 8 ounces goat cheese
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)
• 4 cups strawberries, stemmed and halved
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 15 ounces Romaine lettuce, cut or torn onto bite-sized pieces (I used baby romaine and romaine hearts)
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2/3 cup pecans, toasted
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp whole-grain mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and freeze the goat cheese for 20 minutes.
2. Slice the goat cheese into discs and dredge them in the bread crumbs. (I rolled mine into small balls and then flattened them out for smaller discs) Bake for 5 minutes, or until golden brown (since I used Panko it didn't really brown). Set aside.
3. Toss the strawberries in the honey and balsamic vinegar to coat and place in a single-layer baking dish. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until slightly caramelized.
4. Pour the juices from the strawberries into a bowl and mix with the olive oil, mustard, salt, and pepper.
5. Toss the lettuce, strawberries, and dressing together and place goat cheese on top. Serve immediately.

Blogging- A whole new world! Plus- Wheatberry Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

For the past eight months, food blogs have been enticing me daily- filing up my free time and inspiring me to cook and bake more than ever before. I've wrestled with the idea of starting my own blog for a couple of months now, but I wasn't sure I was up for it. Well, I guess I'll find out!

In this blog I hope to keep track of my day-to-day meals in my ongoing quest to eat (mostly) healthy, while trying to balance my insane love of all things buttery, creamy, and delicious!

So, without further ado, I present my breakfast...

Wheatberry Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

wheatberry pancake recipe adapted from here

These pancakes were quite yummy. The pancake base would be a really good jumping off point for mix-ins! I was thinking the strawberry syrup would have been nice with some toasted pecans added into the pancake batter. The syrup smelled like heaven while it was cooking and the lemon zest really brought out the strawberry flavor. Though, in the end I thought the syrup turned out a bit too sweet for my tastes so I was thankful that the pancakes weren't really sweet at all themselves.

pancake ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheatberries
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Add wheatberries and milk to blender and blend on highest setting for four (4) minutes.
2. Add in the eggs, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder and continue blending for one (1) more minute.
3. Rub a stick of butter on a hot griddle (you will know it is perfectly sizzling hot when a drop of water dances across the surface) and carefully use a paper towel to rub the butter around until you barely see any.
4. Using a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop the batter onto the hot griddle (I used two scoop-fuls per pancake). You can flip the pancakes when the bubbles along their tops remain open (You can see in the picture below that the pancake on the right is ready to flip, while the pancake in the middle was just put on. The pancake on the left is almost ready.).
5. Store pancakes in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve!

strawberry syrup ingredients:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp butter

1. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for around three (3) minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy (you're really just making a simple syrup here- 2 parts sugar to one part liquid).
2. Add the strawberries, lemon zest and butter and bring to a simmer. Simmer for around six (6) minutes stirring occasionally.
3. With a fork, mash up the berries into the syrup until desired consistency (you could also pour the mixture into a blender if you wanted it really smooth).
4. Serve the syrup over the pancakes.

Makes enough for two very hungry individuals (about 10 little pancakes)!

I put four of the pancakes on a plate for myself but only ended up eating three and I'm stuffed! I paired my pancakes with a nice big glass of nonfat milk. The milk helped distract from a bit of the sweetness. I think I wouldn't have noticed the overt sweet flavor of the strawberry syrup as much if I had used less. I will definitely make the pancake batter again and I can't wait to try different combinations of flavors. Some that had crossed my mind are:

• walnut and banana
• dark chocolate and coconut flakes
• dried cherries and pine nuts
• blueberry and lime zest

The options are seriously endless!