Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

My obsession with this recipe began over two long years ago. I wanted something "special" waiting for our early risers at Casa Bella and I wanted it homemade. Inspired by a favorite donut shop in Louisiana, I set out to make my own "fritter-like" buns without the deep frying. Today I feel close to my goal. I baked the buns individually in a large muffin pan and and it seemed to add bit of tenderness that I was missing from previous attempts. I also added a bit of the sugar and cinnamon mixture to each well along with a few pecan halves before adding the dough rolled with dark and light brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. I swapped buttermilk for the whole milk and was really pleased with the added flavor compared to a typical glaze.  The results were really good. Now, just have to find someone to try them out on!

My updated modern trifle using yogurt and whipped cream with homemade blueberries and salted almonds was a perfect beginning for 2013! Out with the old, in with the new!

Salt and Sugar Cured Pork Belly Light Smoke Cane Syrup Glaze Pan-fried Biscuit, Glazed Bacon, Fresh Tomato and Wasabi Mayo   Spying some freshly-sliced pork belly at the Asian market I frequent,  I knew I was destined to try my hand at curing, smoking and glazing my own bacon.. Happy with my first attempt, I'm already making notes to improve the next batch. My first process was curing the pork belly with equal parts sugar and salt.  After three days of curing I soaked the thick slices in cool water; changing the salty water every ten minutes or so. The pork belly was then laid out on a wire rack to dry before placing it in a smoker with dry hickory chips for three hours. I was after a light smoking and opted not to soak the wood. Finally, I placed the bacon in a pan and lightly fried the strips with a glaze of cane syrup. That was it. The strips were stored in the fridge until today when I pan-fri...