Best Buttermilk Biscuits Ever

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen, the only buttermilk biscuits recipe you will ever need. It's so delicious, I can eat a dozen of these and not have any room left for the mashed potatoes. It's great with gravy and sweet too! The texture is so wonderfully soft, one bite and you will understand :) So go ahead, give these a try. I baked these darlings in a dark cupcake pan. I felt it was the only way I could get them to hold their shapes. Spray with some oil to give it a light-golden coating! (And yes, I've got this baby memorized)

Buttermilk Biscuits

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp white sugar
  
• 1 cup buttermilk
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, white sugar
   
2. Use pastry blender, fork+knife, or food processor to mix butter and flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
   
3. Incorporate buttermilk and mix just until dough comes together.
   
4. Shape and bake for ~12 minutes!

Strawberry Granola Parfait

Bought a tub of non-fat yogurt, one pound of salad greens, two pounds of strawberries and a box of honey granola from Costco and Albertsons. Looks like it's going to be a healthy month at San Diego starting tomorrow! I also got a large bottle of House Italian dressing for my salad and pasta. Sounds so great, I can't wait! :)

I'm going back to San Diego tomorrow. It was a good weekend to stock up on fresh produce. I have a paper due tomorrow, oh I guess I'll get to that now...

Cheese Crust Avocado Pizza

I went to Ralphs at 11pm with the intention of making pizza. A cheese-pepperoni pizza was all I intended to make, but I thought why not make the pizza healthy? I saw that the avocados were 2 for $1 so I bought two and incorporated that into my pizza. I made the dough from scratch with the following pizza dough recipe and included all the veggies that I thought were healthy and delicious on my pizza. I made avocado pesto with half of my fruit and thinly sliced the other half to garnish. I also included some thinly sliced red onion and hokkaido mushrooms (the only type available in my fridge) and some pepperoni bits. Leave out the bits of meat if you're vegetarian, but I assure you that this is delicious!

* PS: No SLR with me right now. Just using a regular Canon Powershot.

Pizza Dough

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the water to around 110 degrees (I use my finger to test the temperature-- just make sure it's warm but not hot enough to burn your skin) and proof the yeast if it is active dry. If it is "rapid rise" you may skip the proofing step and add yeast directly to dry ingredients.
2. The process is the same as usual: knead the dough, proof the dough, flatten and roll out into flat circle. (See dough-kneading process)
3. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning onto the dough. Roll sides out thinly and add a border of mozzarella cheese. Then fold the dough over the cheese and pinch down.
4. Spread out pizza sauce OR avocado pesto. Then add other ingredients and brush crust lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

Avocado Pesto

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 avocado, mashed into paste
• salt + pepper to taste

Avocado Pizza

• 1 pizza crust
• Avocado pesto
• 1 handful of coarsely chopped spinach
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tomato, thinly sliced or cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup bacon bits/ sausage bits/ pepperoni bits

* Note: avocado will turn brown without acid, so drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice on sliced avocado.