Ted Lasso’s Spectacular Shortbread Biscuits

In late August, 2021, I finally sat down to binge watch the first season of Ted Lasso, which several good friends had been recommending to me for months. And, just as they promised it would be, it was pretty life-changing. I definitely believe in BELIEVE… and we seem to need it more than ever these days!

In early September, I was thinking about trying to recreate some version of Biscuits with the Boss, complete with the pink boxes and all. So, I was on the hunt for a good shortbread recipe. I ended up trying out two (and using a ton of butter… mmmm), and both were excellent.

But as one friend who participated in a secret taste test said, these shortbread cookies (on the left) were like the ones you could get in a tin. But these Ted Lasso Copycat Biscuits (on the right)… were something really special.

Homemade shortbread… resembling cookies in a tin

Ted Lasso biscuit goodness

I’ve reposted those copycat biscuits below, with my very minor tweaks and suggestions. Give them a try – you won’t regret it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, unsalted – I used Vital Farms, 85% fat butter (it’s worth it); otherwise, Land O’Lakes
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes and allow them to soften at room temperature.
2. Heat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×13-inch metal baking pan, and definitely line it with parchment paper.
3. Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, mix the flour, sugar, and salt.
4. Add the butter cubes and vanilla, and mix until the dough comes together and forms a coarse meal.
5. Transfer coarse meal to the metal pan with parchment paper. Press the dough into the prepared baking pan, preferably using a spatula, and prick it all over with a fork.
6. Bake the biscuit dough for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Do not overcook or biscuits will be too crispy.
7. Allow the biscuits to cool completely (this is super important) before slicing and serving (or perhaps arranging them in pink boxes, or even on your Christmas cookie tray).

Enjoy these… they smell like potential!

Optimus Prime Chicken (Soup to) Pot Pie

Do you ever have those meals that leave such an impression on you that you spend, like, literally years trying to recreate it (and then most of the time you come pretty close but it’s never as good)? Well, one of those meals for me was the Chicken Pot Pie at the Great Dane Pub and Brewery in Madison, WI. No matter how hot it was, if we were at the Dane, I was most likely going to get that pot pie. It was amazing!

Of course, it’s been many long years since I lived in Madison, so I’m happy to report that – at long last – I think we might have a winner. The great thing too is that this pot pie recipe uses up the leftovers from my long time favorite recipe for chicken soup, which is delicious but makes way too much for us to get through. It may be that we loved the pot pie because we love the soup… who knows? But this Wisconsin-connected recipe for the Great Dane’s pot pie certainly informed our work!

So I’ll put the entire process, start to finish, here, starting with the soup and then *transforming, a la Optimus Prime* it into pot pie. Then I’ll try to think through some easier hacks if you don’t want to start from scratch below.

Ingredients

For the soup (make at least a day ahead):

• 8 cups (2 quarts) water
• 4-5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
• 3-4 medium celery stalks, large dice
• 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 (3- to 4-pound) whole chicken, neck and giblets removed from the cavity
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley

For the pot pie

• ~2-3 cups cooked, diced chicken, from above
• ~5-6 cups broth+veggies, from above
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 cup milk (plus a little extra if needed to achieve desired consistency)
• 1/2 frozen peas (optional)
• ~2 cups cooked, diced potatoes
• ~1.5 cups frozen corn, or 2 ears roasted corn cut off the cob
• 1 tube of crescent dough sheet (or just one tube of crescent rolls)

Directions

Starting with the soup:

1. Place carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, and water in a large slow cooker (at least 6 quart).
2. Mix salt, pepper, and thyme together. Set aside.
3. Pat chicken dry with paper towels, be sure to remove all giblets and extra stuff. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle salt/pepper/thyme mixture all around, and inside the cavity.
4. Place chicken in slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
5. When done, remove chicken, let cool, then remove from bones. Dice the cooked chicken and keep separate from broth/veggies. Reserve ~2-3 cups chicken and ~5-6 cups broth+veggies for pot pie.
6. Serve remaining soup with noodles or rice and enjoy.

Moving to the pot pie:

1. Heat the oven to 375.
2. In a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, and stir/cook until all one color and consistency.
3. Add salt, thyme, pepper, and garlic powder. Gradually add broth+veggies, stirring to keep smooth and not have lumps. Add milk and stir.
4. Add peas and corn. Cook and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
5. Add chicken and potatoes. Cook and stir occasionally for 5 minutes until combined.
6. Place pot pie filling into 9×13 baking dish. Top with crescent roll dough sheet (may need to be stretched a bit to cover all). If using regular crescent rolls, pinch triangle perforations together.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until crescent roll dough is golden brown all over.

Neglected Cherry Tomato Sauce

So as many loyal readers may know, I start out very excited about gardening in May, keep up the tending and watering in early/mid June, and then because we run intense summer programs for teachers in late June/July, I tend to neglect plants once that time rolls around. This year was no exception; the kids were great about watering every day once we set up their deck boxes, but then once they headed out of town while I was in the thick of teaching, the plants pretty much relied on the local rainfall for hydration.

While Sonia’s box focused on strawberries this year, Oscar’s had one cherry tomato plant and some herbs. Once mid July rolled around, his tomato plant was doing great, and I pulled one significant harvest in, assuming the plant would give up the ghost (so to speak) after that, given we weren’t watering it. But, it held on and produced a second significant crop, which I just picked yesterday. There were probably at least 5-6 cups of cherry tomatoes when all was said and done… and there are a number of green ones still there!

A brief internet search yielded this recipe from fork-knife-swoon, and I only added two small modifications below. After dusting off the immersion blender, this very easy sauce was delicious – and on the sweet side!

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Ingredients

~5-6 cups (about 2-3 lbs) cherry tomatoes, cleaned and rinsed (no stems!)

olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 large carrot, small dice

3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

3–4 sprigs, fresh thyme, stems removed; leaves chopped

small handful, fresh basil leaves, chiffonade or chopped

3-4 sprigs, fresh oregano, stems removed, leaves chopped

1-2 tbsp sugar, optional, and to taste

kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large, rimmed sheet pan, baking dish, or cake pan, place tomatoes and lightly coat/toss with olive oil. Try to spread tomatoes out into one layer. You’ll need something bigger than 9×13, likely – and make sure your pan can hold juices! You probably want one with at least 2″ sides. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, until tomatoes burst open and a bit shriveled.
   
2. In a large dutch oven/pot (at least 6 quart) over medium/medium high heat, add about 2 tbsp olive oil and saute onion and carrot. Sprinkle lightly with salt to extract some liquid. Be careful not to burn. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add basil, oregano, and thyme. Lower heat to low until tomatoes are done.
   
3. Once tomatoes are finished roasting, carefully transfer them – and any juices in the pan – to the dutch oven with the vegetables/herbs. Stir to deglaze if necessary. If you want a sweeter sauce (the cherry tomatoes are already sweet, so beware!) add a tablespoon or two (at most) of sugar). Add 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Simmer for at least 30 min, up to 1 hour. Stir about 2-3 times over that period.
   
4. Remove from heat and let stand for 10-15 minutes. Use immersion blender or carefully transfer to blender/food processor to blend to uniform consistency. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve over pasta and enjoy!
   
5. Apparently this freezes well. This yields about… 2 quarts. Cheers!
   

Too Many Tortillas Taquitos

So I placed a Costco delivery order and I realized I needed to buy some tortillas for the week. We don’t usually get these from Costco, so I knew it was a risk, but I found a 2×15 pack of flour tortillas and thought, “go big or go home!” I mean, we usually get packs of 20, so how different would 30 be?

Well, the difference wasn’t only in the number, but also the size! These tortillas were the full burrito size, not the smaller fajita size we typically get. I figured I’d better use some up quick, before they get stale, since we wouldn’t go through them as fast as usual.

I had about half a rotisserie chicken left from last night’s dinner, so I googled and found this great Baked Chicken Taquitos recipe from bellyful.net. Below is my version, just slightly modified. The kids really enjoyed these – and we hope you do to!

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Ingredients

• 1 block cream cheese, well softened
• 1/4 cup medium red salsa (I used Fresh Thyme salsa)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about half a medium sized lime)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I used Penzey’s medium hot)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3-4 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
• about 4 cups cooked chicken, diced small (I used about half a Costco rotisserie chicken)
• 2 cups shredded cheese – whatever mix of Mexican shredded, colby jack, mild cheddar you like
• 12-13 burrito size flour tortillas
• cooking spray
• kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet or half sheet cake pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and cilantro until well combined.
3. Add chicken and shredded cheese to cream cheese mixture; fold to combine well.
4. Spoon a little less than 1/4 cup filling onto the lower third of a tortilla. Pat filling into a narrow log, and then tightly roll the tortilla.
5. Place rolled tortilla, seam side down, on the baking sheet. Repeat with additional tortillas until filling is used up. Make sure the tortillas are NOT touching each other on the baking sheet.
6. Spray the rolled tortillas lightly – but evenly and thoroughly – with cooking spray. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt – this is key, and made a big difference.
7. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until crisp and slightly browned on the edges.
8. Enjoy with sour cream, additional salsa, and/or guac!

One Year One Pot Chicken Zucchini Pasta

Apparently a year of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic will slow down blog posting. LOL. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do here, as there has been a lot of home cookin’ these past 13+ months – just not a lot of posting! So, without further ado, here is a new one for you: One Year, One Pot Chicken Zucchini Pasta.

This recipe is based on The Ultimate Mix and Match One Pot Pasta Guide, which I just discovered a few weeks ago. It is awesome and I highly recommend experimenting!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 2 medium zucchini, large dice
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 16 oz dry whole wheat penne
• 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning (I used Tuscan Sunset from Penzeys)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 jar (23 oz or so) of your favorite pasta sauce (I like a good Tomato Basil variety)
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 cup cottage cheese (add more if you like more)
• 1/2 cup shredded Italian blend cheese or mozzarella

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, saute 2-3 min until starting to be translucent. Add garlic, saute for about 1-2 min, being careful not to burn it.
2. Add ground chicken and brown/break up until cooked through.
3. Add diced zucchini. Saute for 1-2 min.
4. Add chicken broth and penne. Stir to combine.
5. Add Italian seasoning, pepper, and salt. Stir to combine. Bring to boil, cover, lower heat to simmer. Cook for ~12 minutes (depending on recommended cook time of pasta; I added 2 min to my recommended time), stirring once or twice and replacing cover each time.
6. Lower heat. Add pasta sauce and tomato sauce. Stir to combine.
7. Remove from heat. Add cottage cheese and shredded cheese. Stir to combine. Serve and enjoy!

Leia’s Royal Milk Bubble Tea

Posting this one from my phone – how times have changed! During this Pandemic craziness I’ve been trying out a few new techniques and recipes. This one – for royal milk boba/bubble tea – is a keeper, so I wanted to make sure I remember it for the future!

Princess Leia’s Royal Milk Bubble Tea

Ingredients

– 5 black tea (e.g. Lipton or Luzianne) bags

– 4 cups boiling water

– 1/4 cup sugar

– 1 cup black tapioca pearls, separated into 1/4th cup portions of desired

1 tbsp honey (optional)

– almond milk

Directions

1. Make the sweet tea base. Boil the 4 cups of water, add the tea bags, steep for 5 minutes (Set a timer! Too long and the tea will be too bitter). Remove tea bags. Add 1/4 cup sugar, stir until dissolved. Let cool to room temp, then put in airtight container and store in fridge.

2. Prepare the boba. Bring a small saucepan of water to boil. If you are making all four servings, cook the entire cup of pearls according to directions on the package. If not, cook only as many servings as you will need immediately (1/4 cup pearls per serving). Cooked boba do not do well overnight! So yeah,just cooking what you need to serve immediately is the best. (If it helps as a point of reference, I found a black tapioca/brown sugar pearl that cooks in 5 minutes at my local Filipino store.)

3. When the boba is cooked, remove from boiling water and put into bowl or portion directly into your serving glasses. Add a drizzle of honey if desired for a little extra goodness.

4. Assemble the drink. With the boba at the bottom of the glass, add equal parts of the sweet tea base and the almond milk (I started with about 1 cup of each). Increase tea or milk as desired. I’m also assuming the tea and milk are chilled, so I didn’t add ice. Feel free to do so if you like!

Tuna Casserole

Ingredients

1 pkg egg noodles

1 pkg frozen peas

2 cans of tuna, drained

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

1 to 1.5ish cups shredded cheese (colby jack, mild cheddar work well)

1/4 or so cup milk (add more if the casserole looks too… ‘bound up’ – meaning it doesn’t have sort a “lightly sauced” consistency)

1/4 (?) tsp garlic powder (add more to taste)

1/4 (?) tsp black pepper (add more to taste)

1 tsp dried cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Cook the egg noodles. During the last two minutes of cooking, add package of frozen peas. Drain all and return to pot.

2. Add all of the other ingredients. Mix and adjust milk, cheese, and spices to achieve desired texture and flavor. Enjoy!

Teriyaki salmon

Borrowed from NatashasKitchen.com with only one modification …

Teriyaki Salmon Recipe

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This teriyaki salmon recipe is a winner! Simple ingredients and no lengthy marinating needed. A flaky, juicy and delicious teriyaki glazed salmon recipe.

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com

Skill Level: Easy

Cost to Make: Varies by Salmon Size and Cost

Calories: 276 kcal

Servings: 8 Servings

Ingredients

For the Teriyaki Salmon:

• 2 1/2 lbs salmon filet sliced into 2″ wide slices *

For the Teriyaki Sauce:

• 3 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large or 3 medium garlic cloves minced
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger (we used 2 tsp sweet ginger bits)

To serve:

• Sesame seeds to garnish optional
• Green onion chopped, optional

Instructions

Prep:

1. Grease a large rimmed baking sheet (cover with foil and then grease for easier clean-up). Preheat oven to 400˚F.

How to Make Easy Teriyaki Salmon:

1. Combine sauce ingredients and stir until brown sugar is dissolved.
2. Place individual salmon slices in a mixing bowl. Pour the sauce over the salmon, cover with plastic wrap and let marinate 20 minutes (at room temp or refrigerated).

3. Transfer salmon to prepared baking sheet (keep the marinade). Bake at 400 for 12-16 min or until salmon is flaky and cooked through, bake times may vary by thickness of salmon.

4. While salmon is baking, transfer remaining marinade to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened (3-4 min) then remove from heat.
5. Once salmon is out of the oven, brush with teriyaki syrup, then sprinkle with chopped green onion and sesame seeds as desired.

Recipe Notes

*This recipe will work for  2 to 3 lbs salmon. You can easily scale this recipe up or down. For 1 lb of salmon, cut all of the marinade ingredients in half.

The Pioneer Woman’s Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I just wanted to share this AWESOME recipe for caramel apple sweet rolls from the The Pioneer Woman, who is quickly becoming one of my go-tos in terms of delicious and straightforward recipes. I’ve now made these a few times, including for Christmas 2018. I always double the recipe, because they are so easy to do and they make wonderful treats to share (especially around the holidays when everyone is cookied-out).

Below is the double recipe version, just for convenience. Typically these can make six 8×8 aluminum foil pans worth of rolls, with 9 rolls (about 3/4 inch wide when slicing before baking) in each pan. Unless, of course, you are making these with my husband, who slices his rolls a bit thicker than I do – so we ended up with 5 pans and a mini loaf pan with two cute rolls in there. Hahahaha!

The Pioneer Woman’s Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls – Double Batch
(makes approximately 54 rolls)

Ingredients (recopied and edited from the original webpage):

Dough

• 4 cups Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 8 cups + 1 cup + a little extra All-purpose Flour
• 2 package Active Dry Yeast (about 2 1/4 Teaspoons)
• 1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3 teaspoons Salt

Filling

• 8 whole medium (not giant) Granny Smith Apples, Finely Diced
• 2 sticks Butter (1 total cup)
• 2 cups Lightly Packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Caramel Icing

• 2 sticks Butter (1 total cup)
• 2 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 4 cups + 1.5-2 cups Powdered Sugar (up To 4 Cups Depending On Consistency You Want)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Directions (recopied and edited from the original webpage):

DOUGH

To make the dough, combine the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a large saucepan or large dutch oven or stockpot. Heat it until just about to boil, but don’t allow it to boil. Turn off the heat and let it cool until warm. Test it by sticking your clean finger in the liquid; if it’s warm but tolerable to the touch, you’re good.

Add 8 cups (in a 2-3 batches, probably) of the flour and the yeast, and stir to combine. The dough will be very sticky at this point. Cover the pot and let it rise for an hour.

Add the remaining flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Stir to combine. Then you can proceed with the rolls OR refrigerate the dough, covered, until you need it.

FILLING

To make the filling, saute the apples in a large skillet over medium-high heat until slightly softened – but not TOO mushy or you will have apple sauce. No oil needed here, for real. Remove them to a plate and set aside.

In the same skillet over medium heat, add 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of brown sugar. Stir it around until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, then pour in the cream. Stir it around and let it bubble up and thicken for about a minute or two. Or five. You want it to be coating the back of a wooden spoon like a mildly viscous syrup – but not so thick that it starts to require more than minimal effort to stir.  Turn the heat to low and add the apples back to the skillet. Sprinkle in the cinnamon, stir the mixture, and let it thicken for another 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon it into a bowl to cool.

ROLLS

When you’re ready to make the rolls, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and roll out the dough on a floured surface to a rectangle about 20 x 30 inches. Then cut in half lengthwise, so you have two 10 x 30 “dough panels”. Spoon the caramel apples all over both dough panels and spread it out evenly. Roll the dough toward you into a long, tight roll. Pinch the seam when you get to the end, then turn the roll over so that it’s seam side down… If you can. Sometimes, you just have to pull the end of the dough up, and pinch the seam closed.

Slice the dough into rolls approximately 3/4 inch thick and place them into disposable roil cake pans with a little melted butter spread into the bottom of each pan (the rolls will fill about 5-6 8×8 square pans.) Set the rolls aside and let them rise for 20 to 25 minutes, then bake them for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they’re nice and golden.

ICING

While the rolls are rising or baking, make the icing: Melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and let it dissolve and start to bubble. Add the cream, then cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Turn off the heat and add the 4 cups of powdered sugar in stages, and whisk together each time. Add up to 2 more cups of powdered sugar to get to the consistency you want.

The second the rolls come out of the oven top with the icing and spread to coat all the rolls generously!

Serve warm. You can also make these ahead by a few days, including icing them, and then reheat 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. They also freeze well at any stage – for some great tips, check out The Pioneer Woman’s Notes on Cinnamon Rolls. 

Roasted Pork Loin on the Bone with Potatoes and Carrots

What happens when you pick up about 5 lbs of pork to make Dutch Oven Pulled Pork… and then you realize that you actually got pork loin roast on the bone instead of bone-in pork shoulder?

You google and adapt, that’s what. And then awesomeness can occur!

For this recipe, I adapted this one found on Epicurious, which looked pretty good. I changed the seasoning a bit, but liked a lot of the techniques used in the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

5 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoon Penzeys poultry seasoning

2 – 2.5-pound center-cut bone-in pork loin (rib) roast (or one big 5lb one is fine)

4 more tablespoons olive oil

2 or so pounds of red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

10-15 baby carrots (or 3-4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces)

 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F. With a spoon, combine 2 TB oil, garlic, butter, poultry seasoning in small bowl to form a loose herb butter. Place pork in large roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub herb butter over pork. Cover pork loosely with foil (tent the foil) and roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Place other portion of oil in a large heavy bottomed skillet or dutch oven. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until potatoes are golden but not tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer potatoes to roasting pan with pork. Also throw in carrots. Carefully oss vegetables with pan juices. Continue roasting, uncovered, until pork browns, potatoes are tender and juices are slightly reduced, about 30 – 40 minutes. A slightly longer roasting time will probably be needed if you have one large roast instead of two small ones.

Take out roasting pan out of the oven, and let pork sit under foil tent for 10 minutes for juices to redistribute. Carve into pork chop portions. Serve with vegetables tossed in pan juices and crusty bread. Enjoy!