baked goods – Page 2 – Rogue Woman Bakes

Faux Gregg’s Steak Bake

June 3, 2020June 5, 2020Leave a comment

Puff pastry cases filled with savory meat and vegetables are the thing of beautiful dreams. The way warm herby gravy coats the inside of the pastry case and combines with the abundance of butter in the crust and holds onto your perfectly cooked meat and veg filling allowing you the perfect bite every time. It’s glorious.

There is a bakery chain in the UK that I had never heard of till about five or so years ago called Gregg’s. They do a range of savory hand pies in roughly the shape of a pop tart and they look amazing. Unfortunately I would have to travel many miles and a whole ass ocean to get one. So I made one at home.

Ingredients

Puff Pastry
Thinly sliced steak, diced
1 cup beef stock
1 tsp. rosemary
1 yellow onion, diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
cornstarch slurry: 2 tsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water
salt/pepper
2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
egg wash: 1 egg and 1 tsp of water
1 tbsp neutral oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 395 degrees Fahrenheit.
Put oil in a pan on medium high heat until it shimmers in the pan. Sizzle your steak in the pan until it gets deeply browned.
Add onions and cook until they start to color which will take about 5 minutes.
Add onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add beef stock, cornstarch slurry and rosemary and cook until gravy reduces by about half. Salt and pepper to taste.
Roll out your puff pastry into a big enough square that you can cut at least 8 rectangles. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Lay two pastry rectangles on each sheet and spoon your filling into the center of the square. Leave room on the sides of the pastry.
Using a pastry brush egg wash around the edges of the rectangle. This will help seal your pockets together. Top each with your other pastry rectangles. Using a fork crimp the sides of your pastry. Then egg wash the top.
Score the tops of each pocket once to give them steam some place to escape. Not a hole big enough for your gravy to escape when you eat it though. That would be awful!
Cook for 20 minutes until pastry is golden brown and flaky.
Serve with chips(french fries) or roasted veggies like I did in the picture.

Mixed Fruit Crumble

June 2, 2020Leave a comment

When you need a dessert that comes together quickly and satisfies the need for something sweet without being too overpowering a crumble is your answer. You can use whatever fruit you have hanging around and it will always taste good.

Ingredients

1 pound of fruit ( I used peaches, nectarines and strawberries)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ground ginger
5 tbsp. Butter, melted
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup oats
1 tbsp. Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut up your larger fruit into smaller pieces. Place in whatever baking dish you have. Combine with 1 tablespoon sugar.
In a mixing bowl combine all your dry crumble ingredients. Whisk to combine.
Add your melted butter and stir until well combined. You should begin to see some of your ingredients kind of clump together. These little clumps will brown up into little pockets of buttery deliciousness.
Cover your fruit in your crumb topping and bake for 40 minutes.

You don’t want to add too much sugar to the fruit because you really want the flavor and natural sugar of the fruit to shine.

Blackcurrant shortbread bars

May 29, 2020May 29, 2020Leave a comment

Had you ever heard of a blackcurrant till right this minute? I had never heard of them until I started looking into flavors common to British food and desserts. It’s commonly used like Americans use grape.

I managed to come across a jar of blackcurrant jam at my local big box store and decided I wanted to add something with this flavor profile to our Tea Week. It came together very easily and was a hit even with my husband who doesn’t have that much of a sweet tooth.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup blackcurrant jam
1 egg
2 tbsp. Oil
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine 2 cups of the flour and the rest of your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Mix butter, eggs, oil and vanilla together in a separate bowl until well combined.
Combine your wet and dry ingredients together until you get a moist shortbread consistency.
Line a greased square cake pan with parchment paper and put half of your shortbread mixture in the pan. Smash it into the corners and make sure it’s even.
Spoon your jam over the shortbread and make sure it’s an even layer.
Using the other half of your shortbread mixture combine it with the last 1/2 cup of flour and combine until you get a mixture of large and small chunks of dough. This will be your topping.
Sprinkle your topping liberally over the top. It should cover most of the jam layer while still allowing some of it to peak out. (See the pics to see what I’m talking about)
Bake for 20 minutes until the topping gets brown and crisp.
Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting

British Cranberry Scones

May 27, 2020May 27, 2020Leave a comment

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 tbsp. Sugar
4tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
2/3 cup milk
3 tbsp. Unsalted cold butter
1/3 cup dried cranberry
Egg wash: 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp. Milk

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine all the dry ingredients (not the cranberries) and butter. Using your fingers combine the butter into the flour until you have a bread crumb like consistency.
Add your milk and whisk until all the lumps are gone.
Fold in your cranberries until well combined.
Onto a floured surface turn out your dough and knead your dough 2-3 times until flour has coated the whole surface.
Using a dough cutter cut your dough into 8 equal triangles.
Lay them onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and egg wash the tops of them all.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with jam and our amazing clotted cream for the traditional experience.

The Difference between American and British scones

The biggest difference between American and British scones that I have found is the amount of butter. American scones have upwards of a stick and a half of butter while the British variety have only 2-3 tablespoons.

The American scone recipes that I have seen also contain a lot more sugar in the form of mix ins and icing. They are more akin to a pastry then a biscuit. British scones tend to be plain so they can pile the sugar on with jam and clotted cream. A strategy I can definitely get behind.

Everything bagels

May 19, 2020May 19, 2020Leave a comment

Everything bagels are one of the only types of bagels that I buy from the supermarket. They have all the flavor zip that I need to start my day and the onion and sesame seed mix the best with the range of cream cheese.

So I decided to bake them at home. When that smell of the topping cooking on that delicious bagel crust filled my kitchen I knew I had success. You will not regret home made bagels.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 packet instant yeast
4 cups bread flour(all purpose flour also works)
1 tbsp. Light brown sugar
2 tsp. Salt
Everything bagel seasoning
2 tbsp. Oil( for greasing the bowl)
Egg wash: 1 egg and 1 tbsp water
For boiling: 2 qt. Water and 1/4 cup honey

Directions

Put warm water and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Whisk together and let sit for about 5 minutes till it gets frothy.
Add flour, brown sugar and sqlt. Beat for 2 minutes.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes until a smooth dough forms.
Put in a lightly greased bowl and slow to rise for 90 minutes.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Divide into 8 pieces. Shape into a ball and poke a hole in the center.
Let sit while you preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Boil water and honey in a heavy bottomed pot. Boil 1 minute on each side. Boil up to three at a time.
Place on baking sheet and egg wash tops. Sprinkle with topping.
Bake 25 minutes. Let cool on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes then move them to a cooling rack.

Buffalo Chicken Bierocks

May 8, 2020Leave a comment

On our trip through Germany on our culinary trek we found a recipe I’m quite fond of. I had never heard of Bierocks before this. It’s a fully contained sandwich that fits perfectly in a lunch box for adults or children. You don’t have to fill them with the spicy blue cheese chicken mixture. You could adapt them to be ham and cheese or cheese and tomato sauce with a little cubed pepperoni.

The traditional filling for these is ground beef and cabbage. I didn’t fill them this way mostly because my family doesn’t eat a lot of cabbage, but if yours does then going traditional might be a good option for you.

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 packet of active dry yeast
4 cups of all purpose flour
2 tbsp. cool melted butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 tsp. salt
1 can chicken
3 tbsp. hot sauce (franks red hot)
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. milk for brushing dough

Directions

Add warmed milk and sugar into the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook and mix until sugar dissolves. Add yeast and mix together. Wait till it starts to foam.
Add 2 cups flour and mix to combine.
Add butter, eggs and salt and mix.
Add remaining 2 cups of flour about a 1/4 cup at a time until dough comes together.
Knead dough either in the machine or by hand for about 10 minutes until a soft dough forms. You want in to spring back quickly when you poke it.
Put dough in a greased mixing bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 45 minutes.
In the last ten minutes or so of your first dough proof mix your filling together. Season to taste and set aside.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knock the air out. Divide into 8 equal pieces. Flatten it in the palm of your hand into about a 4 inch circle. Place 2 tbsp. of filling and roll into a bun shape. Continue until filling is gone.
Let these rise for 45 minutes.
During the last few minutes of this rise preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush bierocks with milk.
Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Rosemary Parmesan Foccacia

April 28, 2020Leave a comment

The smell of rosemary and garlic fills my house every time I bake this. The olive oil on top creates a moist garlic bread taste without all the shattering crumbs of a crusty french bread. I used cheap Walmart extra virgin olive oil and it tastes delicious. If you have a fancy olive oil try it out on this recipe. See what kind of flavor it brings to the bread.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup warm water
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. honey
1 pack active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 sprigs rosemary
2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil for drizzling

Directions

Add your water, honey and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Let sit for a couple of minutes to let the mixture get frothy.
Gradually add your flour, oil and salt and mix for five minutes. The dough should be fairly smooth.
Grease either this mixing bowl or a new one with oil and cover the dough. Let rise for 60-90 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle shape. Place it on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover it with a tea towel. Let it rise for about 20 minutes.
Use your fingers and poke holes all over the dough. Go all the way to the baking sheet!
Sprinkle garlic, olive oil, rosemary, cheese, and salt all over the top of the bread. The holes you’ve poked will catch all the oil.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Resist the urge to eat it all.

Potato Bacon Soup and Dinner Rolls

April 18, 2020Leave a comment

In our quest to explore the world of food through the origin of Disney stories we have found our way to germany next. The world of snow white, tangled and sleeping beauty. From what I have noticed of German food it is made of easily attainable ingredients and warm spices that fill the home and the bellies of the people that live there with happiness. This bacon potato soup and hot roll combo is my interpretation of snow white feeding supper to the dwarves.

Tip: you will need to start your hot rolls about two hours before you start your soup. Your rolls and soup take the same amount of time to cook so you want to get all the proofing and dough forming out of the way.

Ingredients

Soup

6 slices of bacon, chopped
bacon grease/butter
1 shallot, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
8 red potatoes, thick dice
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Bread

2 tsp yeast (active dry)
3/4 cup water (warm, 95 to 110 degrees F)
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
2 1/2 cups bread flour

Directions

Soup

Dice your bacon into small chunks and place in a large pot. Cook on medium high until crispy then remove the bacon and set aside. Leave the bacon grease in the pot.
Turn the heat down to about medium low and add a tablespoon of butter.
Add you shallot and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes until your shallots have some color on them.
Add your flour and stir continuously for about a minute until fully combined.
Add stock, milk and potatoes. Cook for about 15-20 minutes until potatoes are cooked through.
Add cheese, sour cream and bacon and cook until cheese is melted.

Bread

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment (You can also just do this in a medium bowl) add your yeast and water. Stir until the yeast dissolves.
Stir in the honey, salt, butter and egg. Add the flour and mix well. You want the dough to stick to the hook. If your mixing in a bowl you want the dough to follow the spoon around the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 8 minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic. If you poke it you want it to spring back slowly.
Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour till it doubles in size.
Punch dough down to knock the air out of it. Turn it back out onto your floured surface and knead for about five minutes.
Divide dough into about ten equal pieces. Take each piece and roll it into a ball. Tucking the edges in underneath the dough to make a nice round surface. Place in a round greased pan and over with a clean kitchen towel for about 45 minutes. Don’t let them rise too high or they will be hard to turn out once you cook them. (Speaking from experience)
Bake in a 375 degree over for about 20 minutes. Till the tops are golden brown. Turn them out onto a rack to cool.

If you do manage to let them rise a little long I ended up having to use a paring knife to cut them out. They were still warm and delicious. Just not nice and round.