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If you’re anything like me, you always make too many mashed potatoes. Always. Most often, they end up just hanging out in the fridge until they grow fuzz and turn colors, and then they meet the garbage disposal.
Not this time.
I’m afraid I don’t have a real recipe, just some steps, and I also don’t have a photo because all that was left last night was an empty dish. But this was so good, it might just be worth making mashed potatoes to have the leftovers for this one. Use whatever you want for the herb blend- and if you happen to have fresh on hand, by all means use them. That would give the potatoes a nice springy flavor. In that case, I might be tempted to top the potatoes with Swiss instead of Cheddar…
Start with about a quart of leftover mashed potatoes. In my case, mine were red-skinned potatoes, but they should be leftovers so that they already have some milk and butter and seasoning blended into them.
Warm them up in a microwave for a minute or two- just so that they are pliable and you can mash them up again.
Add an egg, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of milk (or more if you need it), and two strips of really good bacon that you’ve crumbled up. (Fresh scallions would also be wonderful here- but I was out.) Mix well with a beater or a wooden spoon. If you’ve just cooked the bacon, go ahead and add a teaspoon or so of the grease. Now dig into your spice drawer and pull out some garlic powder, black pepper, and a lighter herb blend that has onions or shallots in it. (I used Penzey’s Sunny Paris.) Give a few shakes of the herb blend, a light dash of the garlic, and a good grind of pepper. Beat it up again, adding milk if it’s still pretty chunky, but not too much milk.
Now spread the potatoes in a baking dish and top them with about 1/2 a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 1 tablespoon of butter cut up into pieces.
Bake in a 350ºF oven for 30 minutes. Serve piping hot and enjoy!
This last week I heard some of the most wonderful words from my son… “Mommy, could you make some oatmeal for breakfast today? With red raisins?”
Be still my heart. Was he actually asking for something extremely nutritious for him- and something that I absolutely love? I love a good bowl of oatmeal, and I don’t make it nearly often enough. Which is silly, because it’s a ridiculously affordable breakfast, and the variety you can make is as limited as your imagination.
I guess I have an affinity for porridge in general, be it oatmeal, grits, or a bowl of Cream of wheat, they all make a very satisfying breakfast for me, but just how does one make a really good bowl of oatmeal?
You need a pot and about 15 minutes of time total. You also need old-fashioned rolled oats. Please- do yourself a favor, and if the only oatmeal you’ve ever had has been of the instant variety, then try this super easy method for cooking real oatmeal. The straight up old-fashioned oats will take a few more minutes to cook- but they are so much better than they quick cooking or instant varieties. Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats- that’s what you want. And since you have that on hand anyway from making Homemade Granola, let’s make some breakfast.
Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepot. Add a pinch of salt, and then stir in 1/2 cup of old-fashioned rolled oats. Return the pot to a boil, and then turn the heat down to simmer. Set the timer for 5 minutes. You can stir occasionally if you’d like, but it’s not necessary as long as you’ve turned down the heat.
At the five minute mark, you should not have that much liquid left in your pot. This is good- it means the oatmeal is absorbing it. I take the time at this time to add in whatever I’m adding in. 2 Tablespoons of craisins or raisins are perfect. You can add any chopped fruit like apples or pears- a handful of blueberries, some peaches, pineapple chunks, and any nuts as well. What? Never had nuts in your oatmeal? You’re missing out. If you want to add a banana to your oatmeal, use a really ripe one, mash it up, and stir it in with some walnuts for an amazing banana-walnut oatmeal.
I also add, at this point 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon if I’m using it.
Let the oatmeal cook for another 5 minutes. Do stir once or twice this time. After this five minutes is up- your oatmeal is ready for service. You should have one generous serving of oatmeal- which can be multiplied up as many times as you need. When I serve oatmeal, I like to eat it with a sprinkling of sugar, and a drizzle of milk. But again, that can change up too. In this instance, we added a healthy scoop of some sugared strawberries we had leftover from pancakes this week. Holy cow- was that tasty!
In the past I have also made a big pot of oatmeal up and then put the leftovers in the fridge- warming it up in the mornings for breakfast. This works pretty well too- although it’s not quite as good as fresh.
There’s nothing like a hearty bowl of oatmeal to kick off your day. When you make your own instead of relying on the pre-made packets, you’re also controlling the amount of sugars you take in. I would much rather be eating a teaspoon of sugar that I know I added- instead of the 15 teaspoons hiding in a bowl of Lucky Charms.
Okay, maybe not that much… well, actually, just for kicks. Let’s say you pour yourself a bowl of Lucky Charms. A serving is only 3/4 of a cup, so realistically, let’s say you double that when you pour your bowl ( I know I do!). Then you add 1/2 a cup of milk to the bowl. The Lucky Charms have 11 grams of sugar per serving, your milk 5 grams for half a cup. You are up to 27 grams of sugar. In teaspoons that comes out to… 6 3/4 teaspoons of sugar for breakfast.
Care for some oatmeal instead?
Easy, Homemade Oatmeal
2 cups water
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
pinch of salt
1/2 cup raisins, craisins, or other diced fruit
1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional, but adds layer of flavor)
Directions:
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the oats and the pinch of salt. Return to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes have passed, add the desired fruit and brown sugar. Stir to combine. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve piping hot with your choice of additions.
Makes oatmeal for 2 adults or 1 adult and 2 children.
Last week at the library I picked up a copy of Rick Bayless’s cookbooks, Mexico, One Plate At A Time. I just adore Rick Bayless- his recipes, while they may seem long and daunting sometimes, are worth every second of effort. The great thing about his recipes is that after you’ve managed to follow a recipe the first time, subsequent times are much easier. Eventually, they become effortless, and you become your own master at Mexican cuisine. I do believe that’s what Mr. Bayless is aiming for in the first place.
It’s no secret here that I love beans, but I’m always on the lookout for a new way to prepare them. We had company last weekend, and while we were planning BBQ ribs, I really wanted some beans to go with. Baked beans were on Andy’s mind, but I thought BBQ beans with BBQ meat was too much BBQ- so to Mexico I headed, and a very simple method from the king of authentic Mexican himself.
I followed the directions to the letter. My bean of choice this time was one labelled “Small Pink Beans”- although I wished I’d had pintos on hand at the time. I rinsed them, put them in the pot, and added my required water. I added two small yellow onions that I chopped up, and then rummaged around in the fridge for my good bacon fat. When we make bacon, I always drain the grease and store it in a jar in the fridge. It keeps indefinitely and adds such a wonderful punch of flavor when I use it- plus it’s using something that would otherwise be discarded! In this case, I had a jar of ultra-premium bacon grease from a pound of Nueske brand bacon we received for Christmas. Rick called for real pork lard, vegetable oil, or bacon drippings- so I was sure my fancy grease would work well.
He also calls for epazote. This is an herb that I’ve decided I need to order some seeds and try growing. I’ve never seen it available here as a fresh herb- but have purchased it dried from Penzey’s. And I hate it. Ugh- it’s not a tasty herb at all, and is reminiscent to me of, well, grass or straw or hay or something. But reading in this book, Rick says that the dried stuff is terrible- to only use fresh or not use it at all. So I didn’t use it- but have made a note to track down some seeds.
Anyway. My beans, water, bacon fat and onion were in the pot and I simmered them for two hours. I scooped out some beans to take a taste (because they smelled amazing!) and was so disappointed! But then I remembered that I hadn’t added the salt yet. So I added 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt, and let them cook for another 15 minutes. Ah, the magic of seasoning with salt. My beans were delicious! Perfectly cooked- creamy on the inside, salty, smokey, and ready to eat just as they were.
So we did. We had delicious brothy beans to go with our ribs, and I’ve been eating them for lunch ever since. They are great on their own with a small dollop of sour cream and a tortilla for soaking up the broth. Today I’m thinking I might mash some up and make them into refried beans for dinner.
Because this was so easy, this may very well become my preferred method of cooking up dried beans. Not only was it easy- but the end result was spectacular. I always want to eat more beans- and this was so cost effective- a pound of beans, onion, and some fat and you have a big pot of delicious to eat in any way you see fit. That’s a fantastic way to stretch a budget.
from Rick Bayless’s Mexico, One Plate At A Time
1 pound dried beans (any color you wish)
2 tablespoons rich tasting pork lard or vegetable oil (or bacon drippings)
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 large fresh sprig epazote (optional- do not use dried)
Salt
Directions:
Pour the beans out onto a baking sheet and go through them, looking for stones or bad beans. Then place them in a colander and rinse them off.
Pour the beans into a deep medium- large pot (preferably a heavy Dutch oven). Measure in 2 1/2 quarts water, then remove any beans that float (they’re not fully formed). Add the fat or oil, onion, and optional epazote. Bring to a strong rolling boil, then reduce the heat to low to medium-low. Keep the liquid at a very gentle simmer- any more than a slight rolling movement will cause the beans to break some during cooking. Set a cover slightly askew and gently simmer, adding water as needed to keep the liquid roughly the same, until the beans are thoroughly tender, about 2 hours.
Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and simmer for 15 minutes longer to allow the salt to be absorbed, then taste and season with additional salt if necessary.
Discard the epazote, and the beans are ready to eat as brothy beans, or are ready to become refritos.
The other day I spent some time visiting some of the blogs in my sidebar. I don’t do that near often enough, and I had some spare time, so I puttered about checking out how some of my favorite bloggers are doing. When I saw this great big photo of this great big bar pop up over at Rah Cha Chow, I swear my heart skipped a beat.
What was this thing staring at me on the computer screen? I wanted to know more about it- and even more- I needed to know what it tasted like. I quickly scanned Tracy’s write-up, saw the words “shortbread” and “magic cookie bars” and “sweetened condensed milk” and I had no choice whatsoever. These bars were going in my oven ASAP.
My printer spat out a printed form of the recipe, and away to the kitchen I flew, mentally checking off the things I had on hand- I suspected I had everything I needed if I made a few substitutions. While Tracy recommended dark chocolate, an assessment of my pantry indicated that I had a selection of white, milk, and semi-sweet. Not one to favor one particular type of chip, I threw a few handfuls of each into a bowl and mixed them up. Voila- three chips instead of one. When I looked in on the nut situation, I had to pause. I had whole almonds, macadamia nuts and peanuts. The peanuts I immediately discarded the notion of using. But I went back and forth between the almonds and the macadamias. I had picked up the macadamias to make some cookies specifically for someone, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I thought the almonds would be good- but I really like snacking on those out of hand… Macadamia nuts won, so I dumped some out onto a cutting board and chopped them up.
These bars came together so easy! I combined flour, brown sugar and a pinch of salt (not in the recipe, but it felt right) and then cut in my butter. When I had no discernible chunks of butter left, I added the egg. The texture remained loose and I puzzled over whether or not the recipe was missing anything- but I proceeded ahead full steam anyway. I added my chips and nuts, gave it all a toss, and then removed 1 1/2 cups for later on. The remainder was dumped into a 13 x 9 pan which had been well- sprayed with cooking spray. (Important. Don’t skip the greasing of the pan part.) I pressed the mixture evenly with my hands so I had a shortbread crust and popped it in the oven.
After just ten minutes, the crust came out where it received a bath from 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. (Well, maybe a teaspoon or two less than a full can. Mmm.) Toffee bits followed the condensed milk, and then the remaining crumbly mixture was sprinkled over the top before the whole thing went back in the oven. Where it then proceeded to taunt and tantalize for the next 35 minutes, until it was golden brown and pronounced done.
Then the long, excruciating wait began for it to cool down enough to sample. And sample, we did. Delicious. Slightly chewy, slightly shortbready (is that a word) and full of chocolaty nibbles and buttery macadamia nut goodness. Company loved it, we loved it, and two days later they are still delicious. I doubt we’ll find out if they’re still good the third day out, but I can imagine they might be.
Make these. You won’t be sorry. The recipe is compliments of Hershey.com.
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) dark or bittersweet chocolate chips, divided
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1-1/3 cups (8 oz. pkg.) toffee bits, divided
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13×9x2-inch baking pan.
Combine flour and brown sugar in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; mix well. Stir in 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips and nuts; set aside 1-1/2 cups mixture.
Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes.
Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over hot crust; set aside 1/4 cup toffee bits. Sprinkle remaining toffee bits over sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture and remaining 1/2 cup chips over top.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Top with reserved toffee bits. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 48 bars.
I should preface this by saying that I am not normally a coffee cake type of person. I’ve really just never been a big fun- unless they are loaded with things like a fruity-jammy filling and plenty of frosting. So what drew me to try this recipe- well, I honestly don’t know that either. But yesterday morning as the kids were preparing for math, I assembled this Sour Cream Coffee Cake from the newest issue of Cooking Light magazine.
It took a little longer to assemble- due to the fact that the oats are toasted and then some of them are ground up. But overall, it was fairly simple to pull together. Now, I have to confess freely that the recipe I made and the one I’m sharing are not exactly the same. First of all, when it came time to cream the butter with the sugar, I looked at putting in 1/3 cup of butter- but then I’d have this little nub of butter floating around. I decided to just put the whole stick in (Not realizing that I could have used that nub for the topping). So my coffee cake had a 1/2 cup of butter instead of a 1/3. Then, when it came to the sour cream, I did not use the low-fat version called for. A subject for another day, I simply don’t use anything other than full-fat sour cream anymore. So I used 1 cup of regular sour cream instead of reduced fat.
Obviously, this coffee cake is not exactly the lightened version that Cooking Light intended it to be. I’m okay with that.
I made a few more changes yet. When it came time to add the nuts to the topping, the only walnuts I had on hand were in the shell. I didn’t feel like going through that process, so I decided to eliminate the nuts completely.
And finally, I did not use my spring-form pan to bake it in. I used a plain old Pyrex 11 x 7 baking dish that I sprayed with cooking spray, and we’ve been lopping hunks out of it instead of removing it from the pan after baking.
The coffee cake turned out spectacularly well. It’s got enough sweetness to tickle my tongue, and enough…not sweetness?…to qualify as coffee cake. The texture is moist and buttery and the topping particularly delicious. It was delicious warm out of the oven, room temperature while watching the Olympics late last night, and made a great breakfast just a few minutes ago the next day. This one’s a winner! Is it great without my changes? Hard to say… make it as is if you’d like, but if you’d like to make my adjustments, it’s spectacular with them.
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (about 2.5 ounces), divided
Cooking spray
4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1 ounce whole-wheat flour (about 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) carton light sour cream (such as Daisy)
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon chilled butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350°.
Spread oats in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 6 minutes or until oats are barely fragrant and light brown.
Coat a 9-inch spring-form pan with cooking spray; set aside.
Reserve 1/4 cup oats; set aside. Place remaining oats in a food processor; process 4 seconds or until finely ground. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine processed oats, flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir with a whisk.
Place granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/3 cup butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. (Batter will be slightly lumpy because of oats.) Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly.
Combine remaining 1/4 cup oats, remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, nuts, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until well blended. Sprinkle top of batter evenly with nut mixture. Bake at 350° for 38 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, top is golden, and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan.
This week I was really stumped when it came to a menu plan. I had no clue what I was in the mood for or felt like making. Fortunately for me, Andy is around this week, so I handed him some paper and told him to write some things down that he felt like eating. He wrote down a number of things that we haven’t had in a while, and totally saved me when it came to planning this week.
Unintentionally, I have to say that three nights in a row, our meals are using ground beef. We’re okay with that since they are so completely different. And since they are all delicious, that’s even better.
We kicked off Monday with a soup I have not made yet this year. Cheeseburger Soup never disappoints. It’s one of Abigail’s favorites, and one of the few reasons I buy blocks of Velveeta. You just can’t duplicate the creamy texture found in Velveeta- and it totally makes this soup stellar. We had some simple bread and peanut butter to go with it, and were in cheeseburger heaven.
But it was last night’s dinner that I really hopped on here to talk about. For a while there, last night’s dinner made regular appearances – partly due to our Sunday Company Dinners that we hosted for years. Since our group stopped gathering, I stopped cooking for a crowd so often- and many of those crowd pleaser recipes have sat on the shelf collecting dust.
But last night, as that simple, basic Lazy Lasagna bubbled away in the stove, the whole family was tantalized by the aromas wafting out of the oven. Oh my, it smelled divine- a sure sign that it had been far too long since a lasagna had graced our dinner table. One of the reasons I hadn’t made it very much is because the kids just don’t seem to crazy for it. Well, lately they’ve been getting into the return of Garfield in cartoon form- and we all know what Garfield’s favorite food is. Thanks to that lazy cat, my Lazy Lasagna was a hit- both kids ate quite a bit of it.
This recipe does seem a little different, but yesterday as I mixed the cheese and sour cream together, it occurred to me that the sour cream mixture was simply replacing a bechamel- used in a truly traditional lasagna. I’ve never made a lasagna with bechamel, since that seems like such a lot of extra work for this layered casserole. But this version is really my favorite because it’s easy. I’ve made many lasagnas, and this one never disappoints. Last night I added a small twist though too- I swapped out half of the cottage cheese for ricotta. I am so glad I did, because the ricotta added something.
At first glance, it may seem strange to pour water in the lasagna pan- but this way, you can use good lasagna noodles- only you don’t have to boil them up ahead of time. Don’t use the no-boil noodles for this- definitely use the regular old noodles that you would boil up. It works fantastically and saves a step that is particularly tedious.
1 pound ground beef
1 (32 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (16 oz) carton cottage cheese (Or half cottage cheese, half ricotta)
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
12 uncooked lasagna noodles (not no-boil noodles)
18 ozs. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup water
Brown the beef in a skillet, drain the grease. Add the spaghetti sauce to the beef, and then set aside.
Combine cottage cheese and sour cream in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
Spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Place half of the uncooked noodles over the sauce, and then spread half of the cottage cheese mixture on the noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on next, followed by half of the remaining meat mixture. Finally, sprinkle with 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese.
Repeat the layers starting with the noodles, and top with the last 1/3 of the Mozzarella cheese.
Very carefully then, pour the water into the pan around the edges of the lasagna. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for 1 hour. Uncover; bake an additional 20 minutes, or until nice and bubbly. Let stand for 15-20 minutes before serving.
I need to stop making addictive baked goods.
Much like those pancakes I’ve been swooning over- these breadsticks did the exact same thing to me. I had to keep going back into the kitchen for “just one more” because they really weren’t that good- were they?
This recipe came about because I wanted something different, but bread-like to accompany dinner. I didn’t have time to whip up a batch of bread, we just had corn muffins, and I wasn’t in the mood for biscuits. Dinner this night was a simple salad night, and breadsticks would be the perfect accompaniment while sitting in front of the TV watching the Olympians compete. My usual breadstick is my Pizza Dough recipe, but that requires kneading time and rising time. Surely I can come up with something that does without extensive kneading, and without extensive rising and shaping.
What do you know? I came up with just the thing. Sprinkle the top of these sticks with whatever you have on hand. I used a combination of Garlic Salt, Penzey’s Brady Street Cheese blend, and Parmesan Cheese, and it was lip-smackingly good. I used a light hand on all of them, and it was just enough to flavor the light sticks. Well, that and the butter I suppose.
This is very budget friendly, and you can control the texture depending on how thick or thin you end up cutting the sticks. For a thick and bready stick, cut the strips a bit wider, for a more crispy treat, cut them slimmer. Either way- delicious.
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons melted butter
Garlic Salt, Parmesan Cheese, Pizza Spice, Sesame seeds, etc. for topping sticks.
Add the yeast to a mixing bowl and add the water. Stir to combine, and let it rest for five minutes.
Add the flour, salt and oil to the yeast/water mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until well-combined, and then turn out onto a counter that has been dusted lightly with flour.
Knead the dough just until it comes together and isn’t sticky. Add more flour if necessary- but I didn’t knead for any more than a minute.
Sprinkle your counter with flour, set the doughball onto the flour, and then cover the ball with an inverted mixing bowl. (Or use plastic wrap.) Walk away for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375ºF and spray an 18 x 10 baking sheet with cooking spray. Also, gather your melted butter and sprinkling supplies.
When 20 minutes is up, gently stretch and shape the dough into a rectangle approximately 8 inches wide by about 15 inches long. Use a pizza wheel to cut your dough into about 15 strips. Gently lift the strips one by one and set them on the baking sheet. The strips will stretch a bit during the moving process- this is good, you want this.
Brush the tops of the sticks well with the melted butter and add whatever sprinklin’s your heart desires.
Bake in a 375ºF oven for 20 minutes.
It’s Pancake Day! I wasn’t sure if I was going to have something to post about this morning, but then I saw those words- Pancake Day and I just knew I would have to pop on here for just a second to tell you that if you haven’t tried my Easy Fluffy Pancakes, you are missing out! I have made them three times since sharing them, and I just cannot believe how delicious and light and fluffy they are.
The last time I made them I added blueberries. Since the batter is so airy and light, you don’t want to mix fruit right in, but it took no time at all to add a sprinkling of delicious berries to each pancake as it sat on the griddle.
They were like blueberry muffins in pancake form.
So do yourself a favor, and try these pancakes. You will be so happy you did. Oh, and the optional vanilla? I’ve decided it’s not optional, and if you have fake vanilla, you might want to bump it up to a full teaspoon.
Easy Fluffy Pancakes
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Cooking spray for cooking pancakes
Directions:
Combine the milk and the vinegar. Stir, and set aside for five minutes.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk togetherto fully incorporate.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat your eggs, and then add in the sour milk, melted butter and the vanilla if using. Whisk until fully blended.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just a few times to mix the two together. Use a light hand, and don’t stir down all the air bubbles- these are good- they’ll make the pancakes light and fluffy. Set the mixture aside for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare your griddle or cast iron pan by heating to 350ºF. Spray the surface with cooking spray. Using a gentle hand, scoop out the batter onto your griddle- using approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. (Don’t be tempted to stir the batter before scooping it out- just go ahead and scoop your pancakes out- it will seem way too thick, but trust me, it works.) Cook until bubbles start to appear on the surface, and then gently flip the pancakes and cook the second side for another minute or two. Remove to a plate and keep warm until serving.
One of the soups that I generally avoid like the plague is split pea soup. I’ve never liked it- not the texture, and not the flavor. Yet every once in a while, I think I need to try again, and every single time I am reminded that I just don’t care for split pea soup.
I really, really wanted this soup to be the exception.
But it’s not. It’s still a split pea soup. But maybe one of my readers actually has a fondness for split pea soup, and in that case, I bet you would love this recipe. It uses golden split peas and leeks- which always add a wonderful flavor when used. Unfortunately for me, I wished later that I’d used my leeks in a potato-leek soup instead. I tweaked the original recipe, found in A Year In A Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop.
Split Pea Soup with Carrots, Leeks and Tarragon
2 cups dried yellow split peas, rinsed and picked over
9 cups water
2 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
3 medium leeks, white and very light green parts only. Well washed and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons vegetable soup base
Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
Directions:
Place the split peas, water, celery, parsley, tarragon and bay leaf in a large pot or soup kettle. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until the split peas become quite soft and start to dissolve in the liquid, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots and the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf from the soup and add the vegetable soup base. Stir well to combine. Carefully transfer the soup in batches to a blender and puree, or use an immersion blender to blend the soup to a creamy smooth texture. Add the carrots and leeks to the soup. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with parsley.
Serves 6 as a main course.
Yesterday’s soup came about simply because of the random supply of ingredients I had in the fridge. Well, it wasn’t exactly random, but I found myself with an ample supply of vegetables and leftover beef that would have been ideal in a stir fry. Only, I really wasn’t in the mood for a stir fry, what I was really in the mood for, was a soup.
I thought about this for some time. I wondered if anyone had taken the flavors of a basic stir fry and transformed them into a delicious bowl of soup. I did a few searches, but literally turned up with nothing. That made me wonder… does this combination of ingredients simply not make for a good soup? Why has no one made a simple stir-fry soup? I thought about it and thought about it, and when I finally decided I would simply make the stir fry for dinner, I just couldn’t help it. I had to try and make a soup.
This really is pretty straightforward as far as a soup goes, and comes together rather quickly once you have your vegetables prepared. Really, you could probably use any combination of vegetables- but I would be cautious about using too many brassica vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage could conceivable overpower the delicate flavors of the soup if you use too much of it. As it is, the only brassica I used was a bit of bok choy, and that worked beautifully, because it provided some vegetable bulk from the stalk, and some tender greens from the leaves. If I didn’t have bok choy on hand, I would add some baby spinach or chard, simply because the greens added a lot.
After I had my soup made up, I decided that I wanted to serve it over lo mein noodles. I cooked up a half a package of lo mein, and then when it came time to serve the soup, I started by putting some of the noodles in the bottom of the bowls. The soup was ladled over the top of the noodles, and for the grown ups, a healthy dose of sriracha sauce really fit the bill perfectly. This soup was spicy, sweet, and full of delicious stir fry flavor. The noodles were fun to slurp up, and Andy honestly told me that I could make this soup over and over again- he would never tire of it. That’s really high praise!
One thing I want to comment on about the soup before I give you the recipe- and that is the sweetness of it. I found the broth to be a touch on the sweet side, but that was tamed greatly by the cider vinegar and the sriracha. The sweetness really came from the oyster sauce- and if you happen to have an oyster sauce that you love, but is excessively sweet, maybe start with less of it and add more to taste. If you don’t have any oyster sauce, I think a black bean sauce would also work well. Overall, this was such a delightfully different soup, I really don’t know why no one else has done this… maybe they have and I missed it. It was so tasty, it was almost addictive and I kept digging back into the bowl for just one more bite, and when it was gone, I had to ladle in a little more, just to make sure it was that good. The whole family enjoyed the combination of veggies, and it was a great way to use up a bit of leftover madness going on in the fridge.
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and bias cut
1 celery stalk, sliced thin on the bias
2 portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed, sliced thin
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2-3 stalks bok choy, stems diced, leaves chopped and set aside
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups beef broth
1 cup water
1/4 cup oyster sauce
3 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
black pepper
3 scallions, chopped
1 can baby cut corn, drained and cut into bite sized pieces
3 cups leftover roast beef, diced
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 ounces cooked lo mein noodles
sesame seeds and sriracha sauce for garnish (optional)
Directions:
In a soup pot, heat the peanut oil over medium heat. Add the onion slices, carrots, celery and portobello mushrooms. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the zucchini, bell pepper and bok choy stems. Cook and stir for another 3 minutes.
Add the ginger and garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the broth, water, oyster sauce, soy sauce and black pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the bok choy leaves, scallions, baby corn and beef. Cook until heated through- about 5 more minutes. Stir in the apple cider vinegar.
Divide the cooked noodles among six bowls. Ladle soup over the top of the noodles. Add sriracha and sesame seeds to taste.
Makes about 6 servings.
I always forget how much I enjoy making cake from scratch until I make cake from scratch. We were having a birthday in the family, and I was in charge of making a cake. The request had been for marble- so I hunted and flipped through cookbooks looking for a really good recipe for a marble type of cake. I found one in Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I should have known that Dorie would come through on a cake for me, but it wasn’t until I actually slid my fork into a slice that I remembered just how wonderful homemade cake is. I have made many a homemade cake over the years, but in the last few months, my cake-bakery has been little to none. In fact, for Zander’s birthday, he requested cake flavors from a mix, so I let him choose mixes and just used that. And of course, I regretted the boxy flavor later on, but it was what he wanted.
But as I took the first bite of Mocha-Walnut Marble Bundt Cake I regretted all the cakes I’ve made recently from a box. Those boxed versions can’t hold a candle to how delicious a homemade cake is. I especially love the texture of homemade cake. It’s much more dense than boxed cake- yet still moist (if done right) and so packed full of flavor.
This particular cake did something a little different. At first, I discarded the idea of a walnut cake- It sounded homey to me- but not quite what I was looking for, but when I further read the recipe and saw that the walnuts were actually ground up, I was intrigued. Walnut flavor without large chunks of nut just begging to get caught in your teeth? It had promise, and I decided I had found my marble cake. When I started to make my shopping list, I realized that I had almost everything on hand- except walnuts and chocolate. Well, for the walnuts, I remembered the whole nuts we had floating around and determined that I would have more than enough if I took the time to crack my own nuts. And for the chocolate, I went back and forth on whether it would be worth a trip for just 3 ounces of bittersweet chocolate. I determined that it wasn’t and settled on using 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead.
The batter came together very easily. I used my hand mixer and it wasn’t long before I was pouring the white batter into my pan, followed by the chocolate batter. I baked it for 65 minutes, but I’ll suggest to you that if you make this cake- check it around 62 minutes or so. I think it was just a slight touch overbaked, and so I would check it just a minute or two early next time. In the end, I also opted for a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The frosting was good, but I think next time I will use a fudge glaze instead. There will most definitely be a next time. The mocha and the walnut played together so wonderfully- I would take a bite of the walnut cake and then a bite of the mocha cake. So tasty, so easy, and once again I am reminded of the delight of homemade cake.
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground walnuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup coffee
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk, room temperature
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan, dust inside with flour, and tap out the excess.
Whisk flour, ground walnuts, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Combine 2 tablespoons butter, chocolate, coffee, and espresso powder in a metal bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and stir until melted and combined. Remove from heat.
Combine remaining 2 sticks of butter and sugar in a stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment on medium speed for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add in vanilla extract.
Add in flour mixture and milk in five alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix on low speed after each addition just until combined.
Scrape just under half of the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and fold gently to combine.
Pour the vanilla batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Pour the chocolate batter on top. Use a knife to lightly marble the batter.
Bake for 65-70 minutes until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes before un-molding.
I knew this recipe was going to be quick to make, but really didn’t realize just how quick it was going to be. The other day I pulled down my copy of A Year In A Vegetarian Kitchen, thinking that it had been a while since Jack Bishop made a guest appearance on my dinner plate. I’ve had fairly good success with this book, and eagerly turned to the winter section where I found recipe after recipe that just sounded good to me. I bookmarked a few of them at first glance and then went back to look closer at the ones where I had all the ingredients on hand- of which, happily, there are a few.
This one called for a noodle that I don’t always have on hand, but this time I did. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour and can be found in the Asian section of a grocery store. They are brown in color and fairly short as far as a noodle goes. If you couldn’t find Soba noodles, you could get away with just about any kind of noodle- as long as it is a bit toothsome- I would hesitate to use plain old pasta, but in a pinch, maybe linguine could fill in. Soba Noodles with Chard and Raisins piqued my interest right away because it features one of my all-time favorite vegetables- Swiss Chard. I have a few packages in the freezer yet from last year’s garden, and any opportunity to pull on out and load up on delicious greens is welcome in my book. The recipe is very straightforward- and my noodles cooked in just 3 minutes, so if you can boil a pot of water quickly, you too can make this dish in just ten minutes time. **Of course, I also used pre-blanched and frozen chard, so if you are using fresh chard, it may take you as much as 15 minutes to account for the wilting.
The chard was wilted in a pan of hot oil, and then hot red pepper flakes and garlic were added for a quick saute. Another minute or so later, I added in my raisins and chopped olives, and then once the Soba noodles were cooked and drained, I added those as well. My sole omission to the recipe was for the pine nuts called for. I didn’t have any, and figured I could use walnuts or toasted almonds instead. As it is, I forgot about the nuts completely- but the recipe didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects from it. I made this dish for myself for a quick lunch- and quick it was. In no time at all I was sitting down to a delicious bowl of Soba Noodles with Chard and Raisins. I just loved the combination of flavors here- sweet, earthy, spicy, briny, salty all in one. I did think that a pinch of lemon zest at the end would have added an even greater layer of flavor, and I also thought that I ended up using too many olives. When it says 6 olives- use 6 olives, not the random handful I tossed in. It just got to be too much brine towards the end for me.
Otherwise, at ten minutes or less for a satisfying lunch for a veg-head, this one is a keeper. Oh! About that oil… I am listing the 1/4 cup called for in the cookbook- but golly if that isn’t a lot of oil! I ended up using about 2 teaspoons in a non-stick pot- and I halved the recipe for just myself. So use what you like, but don’t feel like you need to use the whole 1/4 cup of oil.
Soba Noodles with Chard and Raisins
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (or use less)
1 1/4 pound chard, stems cut into 1/2-inch dice, leaves washed, shaken dry and coarsely chopped
4 medium cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt
12 ounces Soba noodles
1/4 cup dark raisins
6 large green olives, pitted and chopped
Directions:
Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in a large pot for cooking the noodles.
Toast the nuts in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally to turn the nuts, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a small plate. Add the oil and chard stems to the empty pot. Cook until the stems have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant- about 1 minute. Add the damp chard leaves and salt to taste, cover, and cook until wilted, about 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon salt and noodles to the boiling water and cook until al dente. (Follow package directions!) Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the noodles. Rinse the noodles under warm water to remove excess starch.
Add the raisins, olives, and soba noodles to the pot with the chard. Toss over low heat, adding cooking water as necessary to moisten the noodles, until the noodles are warmed, about 1 minute. Add the toasted nuts and toss. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 as a main course.
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