English Cheddar Scones

It’s quarantine o’clock, so PhD Kitchen is back! Yesterday I made these English cheddar scones—a crowd favorite in our house, which I share with a bona fide English husband—and I thought they’d make the perfect comeback recipe. My mother-in-law’s cheese scones are pretty similar, but this is the way James and I make them at home in the US.

You can use any hard cheese you like, but I prefer a strong and sweet red cheddar. I added fresh rosemary from a plant I’m trying to keep alive, but you can skip the herbs or substitute another type (fresh or dried) if you like. My recipe is based on this one by Irmgard on Food.com, but I’ve edited it to make a double batch and substitute for the complete dearth of baking powder currently plaguing my city. I also had to make do with fat-free buttermilk… yikes. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Here we go!

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Raspberry-Lemon Clafouti

Clafouti(s) is a French baked custard with fruit that rises to the top during baking. It’s traditionally made with cherries, but I much prefer raspberries, and raspberries go oh so well together with lemon. I’m using Martha Stewart’s Cranberry Clafouti recipe as a base for my own, but I’ve cut out most of the lactose (and also used gluten-free flour, which you can ignore if you’re a wheat-eater). Where Martha uses whole milk and heavy cream, I use soy milk and yogurt. Feel free to sub in your own dairy or non-dairy elements for the ones she and I use!

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Serious Addiction Muffins

I’ve had to dial down the title on this one. My friend Sue, on whose recipe I’ve based my own, used to call them “crack muffins.” Well, they certainly are addictive! And they’ll use up some of the root veggies I know many of my friends are inundated with from our market-share. You can use different vegetables if you want, as well as different nuts and dried fruit. These are also vegan, so, hurrah! Thanks, Sue!

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Next-Level Delicata Squash Casserole

And I really mean next level. I had actually never cooked a delicata squash before, but I received one in my farm-share this week, and I figured that I should take the opportunity to create a new dish rather than follow someone else’s recipe. So I combined it with several of my favorite foods–obviously we’re talking garlic, cheese, and almonds–and put the temperamental oven in my new apartment to good use. This is the first PhD Kitchen recipe I’m posting from our new home. It’s fantastic. It will make you want to make casseroles out of all of the squashes ever.

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Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

I used to love breadcrumb-crusted fish way back before I went gluten-free. A few weeks ago I decided to try substituting cornmeal for breadcrumbs, and this is the result. It is, I think, the best fish I have ever cooked. It takes about five minutes to prepare and fifteen minutes to bake. Your bread-eating friends will have no idea what’s hit them.

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Kulfi Cookies

Kulfi is a traditional Indian frozen dessert. Today I visited Three Sisters Ice Cream in Providence, RI, where I tasted this treat for the first time. It was so unique–heavy on the cardamom, but very light–and so delicious that I went straight home to try and make the cookie version of it. I upped the spice a bit with some cayenne pepper. Here it is, worked just great on the first try!

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Triple Ginger Cookies

Thrice the ginger, thrice as nice! Hefty thanks are in order to my friend Sam and his mom for this exceptional recipe. These cookies are a perfect fall treat, especially with a cup of chai tea or apple cider!

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Gluten-Free Almond Cookies

Thanks to my friend Jess for this great recipe, which she’s altered from one she read on NPR. These cookies are always a big hit, with gluten-free and gluten-friendly eaters alike!

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Gluten-Optional, Dairy-Optional Rich Chocolate Tart

An incredible dessert recipe, courtesy of my better half!

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Avocado Chocolate Cake

Here it is, in all its glory. A creamy, super-moist, bittersweet, gluten-free (if you want) Cake of Wonder. I based this on a bread recipe from The Mad Food Scientist… but this is so much better, and involves chocolate!

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