Sky High Biscuits

Let's face it guys, the best part of eating fried chicken is the bread! Don't lie, you know you love the biscuit that comes in your bucket of fried chicken. And do you know why you love that biscuit? Because there's something about the richness of that buttery biscuit that makes the meal uber indulgent! But ladies and gentlemen, I'm telling that after one taste of these Ah-mazing biscuits, you will be tossing those fast food ones to the side and declaring that biscuits made at home are not only tastier, but super easy!


I mean seriously, just look at that biscuit! You know what lies in there is a world of fluffy, buttery, layers that you simply cannot resist. Eat it with your fried chicken, eat it with an egg, or with your favorite gravy, the point is... just eat it!

Biscuits:
Ingredients:

• 1 cup pastry flour
• 1 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 sticks butter (cubed and chilled)
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1tbsp heavy cream or milk

Note: Having all of your ingredients cold will ensure a very fluffy biscuit

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place your pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter to the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles a course meal. Transfer to a large bowl and add the All Purpose Flour.
3. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and mix in the bowl until just combined. Turn out onto a floured surface and work until the dough just comes together (do not over work). Pat the dough out to 1 and 1/2 inches thick and cut out 8 biscuits, rerolling scraps if necessary. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.
4. In a small bowl, combine the heavy cream or milk with the egg and whisk. Brush this mixture on top of each biscuit.
5. Bake the biscuits at 425° F for the first five minutes, then lower the temperature of your oven to 400° F and continue to bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
6. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before serving. Enjoy!

BROWNIES!

Is there anything better than a fudgy, rich, chocolatey brownie?! If you said yes, then might a suggest getting some help! No seriously, chocolate is one medicine in which no prescription is needed! Think about it, on happy days, having chocolate is just a treat that accentuates your good day. On unhappy days, chocolate is a little ray of sunshine that gives you the hope that tomorrow will be better day (don't lie, you know it does). It can bring a little extra joy to the day or help ease our pains and sorrows away! And, there is no better way to enjoy chocolate than in a brownie and these brownies are AWESOME! They have a few secret ingredients that will bring life to your chocolate and little extra flavor to your brownie. Add some whipped cream and your favorite fruit and you have the perfect chocolatey dessert!



Brownies (adapted from Martha Stewart Baking):
Ingredients:

• 8 oz semi-sweet good quality chocolate, roughly chopped - I like Valrhona
• 8 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp coffee
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
2. Grease and prepare your baking dish. Tip: Instead of using flour for the bottom of your baking dish, use unsweetened cocoa so that your brownies don't come out with white bottoms.
3. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter and coffee. Once chocolate mixture is smooth and melted completely, take off the heat to cool for 10 minutes.
4. In the meantime, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a seperate bowl. Add sugar to the chocolate and mix to combine.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing to combine. Add the vanilla.
6. Gently fold the dry ingredients into your chocolate, stirring until just combined.
7. Pour batter into your greased baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Watermelon!

I absolutely love it in the summer months. Sweet and juicy, you know you're in for a real treat when there's watermelon on the table! If you really want to add a twist to your watermelon, add something salty. As a child, I can remember sitting with my grandfather and eating sweet watermelon with salty white cheese, it was beyond delicious! So, I decided that the best way to encorporate my two favorite things would be with a Watermelon, Mint, and Feta salad. If you think you won't like the combination, I suggest you give it a try and you might be pleasantly surprised; in fact, it might become a favorite of yours. I would also like to add that not only is it super simple to make, but it's so pretty on the plate!


Now for the Ingredients:
Mint Simple Syrup:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 sprigs of mint

For the Salad:

• 5 cups watermelon cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup of feta cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint

Instructions:

1. Make the simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a saucepan. On a medium heat, bring the sugar mixture to a boil, then cut the heat and add the mint. Set aside and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
2. In a bowl, add the watermelon and 3 tablespoons of the simple syrup. Mix to coat all of the watermelon with the simple syrup.
3. Add the mint and feta to your watermelon. Chill or enjoy right away!

SUMMER IS HERE...

and there is nothing that reminds more of summer than iced tea and lemonade. Yummy and refreshing, they are the perfect thing when the temperature starts to rise. Now, while I love these two items seperately and sometimes mixed together (Arnold Palmer, anyone?!) the fact is, drinking them the same way day in and day out throughout the summer can get a little boring. So, I set out to find new ways to make these refreshing drinks new and delicious. While flipping through my June issue of Food Network Magazine (yes, I read Food Network Magazine, don't judge!) I came across Aarti Sequeira's recipe for Kuwaiti Cinnamon-Orange Iced Tea and since I'm a Middle Easterner myself, this definitely seemed like my cup of tea, literally! Let me tell you, it was worth the try! The mix of spices and flavors that goes into this iced tea is not only delicious and refreshing, but it also makes your tummy feel all warm and fuzzy at the same time, and boy is it pretty!



Now, how to change up lemonade? That was easy. Berries are so plentiful this time of year and so easy to find in your freezer section, so as you can imagine Raspberry Mint Lemonade was a natural choice for summer. This lemonade is tart and sweet and so delicious, you're not going to want to go back to plain old lemonade. You can also make this fun by adding a little fizz to your drink with some seltzer. Whether you like it flat or fizzy, you're going to fall in love and seriously, look at that color!!!



Now for the recipes:
Kuwaiti Cinnamon-Orange Iced Tea by Aarti Sequeira

For the Tea:

• 2 large pieces of Orange Peel
• 1 cinnamon stick, plus more for garnish (optional)
• 8 black tea bags

For the Syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 quarter size coins peeled ginger, chopped
• 6 sprigs fresh mint

Directions:

1. Make the tea by combining 8 cups of water, the cinnamon stick, and the orange peel in a saucepan over low heat and bring to a boil. Add the tea bags, turn off the heat, and let it steep for 5 minutes (don't keep too long or it will get bitter). Remove the tea bags and chill, don't remove the orange peel or cinnamon stick yet.
2. Meanwhile make the syrup by combining the water, sugar, and ginger to a saucepan over low heat and bring to a boil without stirring. Once the sugar has dissolved, cut the heat, and add your mint, tearing up the leaves and stems. Let it cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes) and strain discarding the mint and ginger.
3. Strain the tea into your pitcher and add the ginger-mint syrup to your liking. Server over ice and enjoy!

Rasbperry-Mint Lemonade:

Raspberry Mint Syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 bag frozen raspberries
• 6 sprigs of mint

For the Lemonade:

• 1 cup of lemon juice (approximately 6 lemons)
• 4 cups of water for flat lemonade, 3 cups water and 1 cup seltzer for sparkling lemonade

Directions:

1. Make the syrup by combining your water, sugar, and raspberries and bring to a boil over low heat. Once the berries have released their juices and popped, turn off the heat and add your mint. Allow to cool for at least a 1/2 hour.
2. Strain your raspberry-mint syrup through a fine mesh sieve, making sure you squeeze all the juice out of the berries. Discard the pulp, seeds, and mint leaves.
3. In your pitcher, add the lemon juice, the raspberry mint syrup, and your water. Pour over ice and enjoy!

Here's one more picture of both drinks side by side. I love the colors!