The bakery up the street from my house makes a pretty mean biscuit filled with cheddar, pepper and onions that they call a "savory biscuit" and which I pick up whenever I happen to be walking by in the morning (if I'm not in a rush for the bus). When I was pondering making a bread of some variety for Easter dinner last weekend, these biscuits came to mind. So I've made my own version with what I had on hand.

Since I didn't make them round, you might call these a scone. But you would be wrong. ;)

Makes about 8

3/4 cup chilled buttermilk
3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper, divided
3/4 cup grated manchego cheese (because it's what I had)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix buttermilk and onions in small bowl. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 tsp pepper in stand mixer. Add chilled butter to mixer and cut in butter until fine meal forms. Add cheese and mix until just incorporated. Add buttermilk mixture and mix on low until dough forms. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and press out to six inch square, about 1/2 inch thick. With a sharp knife, cut the dough in half, then in quarters, then cutting those quarters diagonally to make triangles. Transfer triangles to baking sheet. Brush biscuit tops with some of egg glaze. Grind pepper over top of the biscuits. Bake biscuits until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

I'd eaten something similar to this a few years ago, so when trying to think of a good savory dish to take to Thanksgiving dinner tonight I cobbled this together.

Yams with Leeks and Goat Cheese

2 large leeks
1 1/2 pounds ruby yams (the tastiest, I think)
1/2 cup butter (melted)
4 oz goat cheese (separated into five portions)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.

Slice the leeks lengthwise and wash carefully to remove grit. Slice to 1/8 inch thickness. Heat small skillet over medium heat, add 1 T of butter to pan and add leeks. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until caramelized. Divide into five portions and set aside.

Peel the yams and slice to 1/8 inch thickness, divide into six portions. Completely coat the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Arrange 1/6 of the slices in an overlapping layer on the pan's bottom. Spread a portion of leeks over the yams, crumble a portion of goat cheese over the leeks and yams. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with another tablespoon of butter. Repeat until all ingredients are used, drizzle with any remaining butter. Cover pan with foil and push down on the yams to compress all the ingredients.

Bake on lowest rack of oven for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 30 - 45 minutes or until yams are brown and crisp on the top and edges. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Can be sliced and served as-is, or inverted onto a serving platter.

For my regular weekly dinner with pulzella_gaia, I made Smitten Kitchen's Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint. As written, the salad will feed an army. Below are my tweaks, I served it with her Thai Style Chicken Legs, which I wouldn't change at all. Everything was so pretty (Elaine brought summer rolls) that I took pictures, I'll pull them off camera later.

Because this made an insane quantities of slaw originally, I'm eating more of it today, and it's still very tasty second day. If not making this for an event of some kind--half the recipe below, as it will still make LOTS of slaw.

2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and julienned
1 head Napa cabbage (about 3/4 lb), halved and sliced very thinly
1 red pepper, julienned
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
6 T of fresh lime juice, from about two limes
1/4 C rice vinegar
2 T olive oil of your choice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 T chile paste (or more to taste)
1/4 C thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1/2 C toasted cashews, coarsely chopped

Toss mangoes, cabbage, pepper and onion in a large bowl. Whisk lime juice, vinegar, oil, salt and red pepper in a smaller bowl and pour over slaw. Before serving, toss with mint leaves and sprinkle with cashews.

For a coworker's birthday, and to celebrate her upcoming two month fellowship in Italy, we have a lovely Italian cake I first saw on an episode of "Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network. Finding a recipe for this in English was interesting, so this is really a "translation" of the recipes I've found. I also pulled together a quick strawberry sauce to go on the side.

Cake (Magnolia's Vanilla Cake)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling (crème pâtissière)
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups boiling milk
1 T butter
1½ T vanilla extract

Meringue (Italian Style)
1 lb sugar
4 oz water
8 oz egg whites

Cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and lightly flour two 9 inch round cake pans, then line the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flours and add in four parts, alternating with the milk and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. Divide batter among the cake pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.

Filling: In a 3-quart mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the egg yolks with a wire whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and forms a ribbon. Beat in the flour. While beating, pour the boiling milk onto the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and set over moderate heat, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil slowly while stirring well to avoid lumps. When it reaches the boil, stir for 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour well, being careful not to burn it in the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and beat in the butter followed by the vanilla extract. Cover the surface with a sheet of parchment paper to prevent a skin from forming and allow to cool.

Meringue: In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to a boil. Boil the syrup until it reaches 243ºF. While the syrup is boiling, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. While beating, pour the syrup into the egg whites in a steady stream. Continue beating until the meringue is completely cool and forms firm peaks.

Final assembly: When cake has cooled, slice each layer in two. Layer pastry cream with cake. Spread meringue over entire cake when complete.

For my friend Gabriela's birthday, I did a variation on my standard carrot cake recipe (that usually gets made as cupcakes) to bake up as a bundt cake, and also to use more local ingredients.

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup raisins
1 cup rum
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

One hour prior to baking, soak raisins in rum.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour 12-cup bundt pan.

Beat together the eggs, and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots, raisins and apple sauce. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Transfer to prepared pan.

Check cake after 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before serving.

I discovered this evening, that this is one recipe I make regularly that I've apparently never posted here.

Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Originally adapted from Gourmet, September 1992

4 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (minimum 65%, I prefer higher)
6 T unsalted butter
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.

In a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water melt the chocolate with the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth, remove the bowl from the heat, and let the mixture cool until it is lukewarm. Stir in the sugar and the vanilla and add the eggs, 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition until the mixture is glossy and smooth. Stir in the salt and the flour, stirring until the mixture is just combined, and stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Let the mixture cool completely in the pan on a rack and cut it into 16 bars.

Due to a random blog post from the Seattle Weekly food crew, I found myself craving pulled pork. During the week, I never really have the time for the proper slow cooking that real pulled pork requires—so it was time to give my evil crock pot another try. I looked at a few recipes, and below is what I came up with.

2 T cumin
1 T pepper
2 T oregano
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 T red pepper flakes
4 bay leaves
1 head garlic
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup tequila
2 T olive oil

3-4 lb boneless pork shoulder

2 small onions (sliced)
2 red bell peppers (cut in strips)

Mix cumin, pepper, oregano, allspice, salt and pepper flakes with a small amount of olive oil to make a paste. Then add to lime juice, tequila and remaining olive oil. Cut slits in the pork shoulder and insert garlic cloves.

Place pork roast in a plastic bag or container with marinade and let sit overnight, turning halfway through if you can't sleep. (Or in my case, put in around dinner time, turn over before bed.)

Before you leave for work for the day, put the pork shoulder fat side up (and marinade) in your crock pot, cover and set to low. Eight hours later (give or take) carefully remove the shoulder from the crock pot and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

While you're letting that rest, saute the onions and peppers in a skillet with some of the marinade/drippings from the crock pot over medium high heat until the onions just begin to turn golden brown.

Use two forks to shred the pork and serve mixed with the peppers and onions or layer in a lovely toasted brioche bun. Add hot sauce to taste.

Old friends from Corvallis might recall Jennie Dodd's Chocolate Pie. I've made it a number of times over the years, my mother even adapted the recipe so it could be prepared in a dorm room with nothing but a microwave and a blender! Very few ingredients, so simple and so delicious.

1 cup hot milk
12 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate (about 2 cups)
2 egg yolks

graham cracker crust (buy one, make your own, it all depends on the work you want to put in)

Place metal mixing bowl over boiling water (poor man's double boiler, and more useful in this case). Add chopped chocolate to bowl and melt. While melting chocolate, heat milk in saucepan until just boiling (at least 170° F).

Whisk eggs until smooth.

Once chocolate is melted, use stand mixer to blend melted chocolate with heated milk at high speed. Add eggs and when combined and mixture is smooth, immediately pour into prepared crust.

Chill until well set (I usually let it sit overnight).

She would serve with cool whip, I usually whip up some cream.

I blame mdhenry for the fact that I made chilaquiles for dinner tonight, he'd twittered and facebooked about it yesterday—so I could not resist dragging out my own recipe and making this trashy, hangover curing, cheesy casserole version for dinner tonight. Healthy? Well, when has that ever really stopped me? My kitchen binder doesn't tell me where the original recipe here came from, but I suspect I've modified it based on the scribbles on the original.

Standard disclaimer: I'm a pasty white girl from Oregon, so this isn't remotely authentic.

Chicken Chilaquiles Casserole

Ingredients
3 whole chicken breasts
2 cups chicken stock
24 oz salsa verde (make it yourself if you like, I buy it in a jar)
2 small tomato, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
1 onion, sliced paper-thin
3 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 bag of white corn tortilla chips (most recipes want you to cut up tortillas and pan fry them, whatever)
2 cups grated Manchego, Anejo and Jack cheeses (I usually end up with one of those mexican shredded mixes, because I'm lazy)
1 cup crumbled queso fresco

Directions
Bring the chicken stock to a boil, place the breasts in the stock, reduce the heat, cover and cook about 15 minutes, until the breasts are tender. Remove from stock and cool. When cool, shred the meat into bite size pieces.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, combine the salsa verde, tomato, sour cream, onion, spices and shredded chicken. Combine the cheeses in a mixing bowl.

In a 9 x 13 baking dish, spread a thin layer of the cheese mixture, then a layer of tortilla chips in a single even layer. Spread half the chicken mixture over the chips, sprinkle with half of the remaining cheese, another layer of tortilla chips, then repeat with the remaining chicken and cheese.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

My department director is fond of yeast breads, and I generally avoid making them—I generally just don't have the patience for it, or I don't work in enough flour when kneading the dough, etc. etc. etc. Pretty much the only thing I make regularly are sticky buns that I let proof overnight.

Anyhow, this year he requested a cinnamon swirl yeast bread, I stole my recipe from Two Fat Als (recipe here), who in turn stole their recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

It came out very well, and so perhaps it is time for me to try making yeast breads more regularly. This is fantastic toasted and slathered in butter, and would be lovely turned into french toast (if the loaf lasted long enough to get a bit stale).

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients:
(dough)
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra

(filling and glaze)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tsp ground cinnamon
milk for brushing
1 large egg
2 tsp milk

Instructions:
Heat milk and butter together in a small saucepan until butter melts. Cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, stir slowly in a circular motion while adding sugar, eggs, salt and lukewarm milk mixture. Continue stirring a bit more quickly, and add 2 cups of flour until mixed thoroughly, then add remaining 1 1/4 cups flour until mixed through. Add more flour if dough seems extremely sticky. At this point, they did boring kneading related activities and I threw it in my stand mixer until it looked smooth and elastic.

Place in covered, greased bowl to rise for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until doubled in size. Once risen, punch dough down once in the center, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Mix cinnamon and sugar together for filling, and grease 9x5 inch loaf pan. Roll dough into an 8x18 inch rectangle. Brush with milk and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over it, leaving a 1/2 inch edge on the side farthest away. Beginning with the short side, roll dough into a log shape, pressing ends together to make sure that it does not become more than 8 inches. Place the dough seam-side down into the loaf pan, and press down evenly. Let the dough rise more until it is about 1 inch above the edge of the pan (30-60 minutes).

Preheat oven to 350, and combine milk with egg. Brush this mixture over the top of the loaf. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown, and let cool for 45 minutes before serving.