Saturday, November 19, 2011

Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes

Some days the best dinner is breakfast.  Today was one of those days.  I've had this recipe on my mind since a co-worker gave it to me on Friday and I just couldn't wait until morning.  I changed the recipe a bit because I wanted to save time and I have to say they are wonderful.

This recipe made 18 3-4 inch pancakes:

Lemon Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
2-3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg + 2 egg whites
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 pint blueberries


Method:
Wash blueberries and set aside.
Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.
Whisk wet ingredients in another then add to bowl with dry ingredients and stir well.  The batter will be thick and airy.

Heat a griddle on medium heat.  Spoon batter onto griddle and top with blueberries.  Turn once they are brown and flatten a little with the spatula.  Cook until brown on both sides and cooked all the way through.

Enjoy warm and top with a little maple syrup.

I wish you enough!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Shrimp and Grits

I started a "Meet the Masters" cooking class this week focusing on Bobby Flay and Patrick O'Connell.  We are cooking their recipes and learning techniques as we go along.

This week we made:
Amuse Buche Ham and Chive biscuits with Marscarpone Pepper Jelly
Cojito Crusted Quesadillas with Red Pepper Sauce    AND
Sauteed Shrimp with Sweet Potato and Smoked Chile Grits (Bobby Flay Mesa Grill Cookbook)

These might sound fancy but it didn't take more than 45 minutes to make any of them and all three were wonderful.  The one caveat is that the sweet potato was roasted before hand so we didn't have to do that in class.  I am looking forward to the next two classes and all the yummy food we get to try.

I made the shrimp and grits at home and they turned out equally as wonderful.


The sauces are a cilantro based vinaigrette and a pureed chipotle pepper with adobo sauce.



The pureed peppers add a smoky hot flavor that is reminiscent of a shrimp and chorizo dish I had once...

I followed the recipe pretty close and am not sure about typing out someone else's copyrighted material so if you'd like the recipe you could google the title, check out the book, or let me know and I'll share mine with you.  There are plenty of bloggers that have posted this to their sites but many of them have changed things that may or may not make this the best dish ever....

Is there a cooking technique you would like to know about?  I learned how to stir biscuit dough the other night, something I thought I already did correctly...but this other way was noticeably better, who knew?  So if you have something you've been wondering about I'd love to share my thoughts.



I wish you enough!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Monsters

I've started making a monster that will eventually be able to eat things....  like toys and clothes...


Aiming to give this guy some arms, legs and back tonight.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Early Thanksgiving

We are having an early Thanksgiving this year since our family is in town early.  We are blessed that we are surrounded by the most wonderful people.  Our fun meals started Wednesday and will end on Sunday for brunch.  So far we've had the following:

Barley, Lentil, Swiss Chard Soup: used this recipe from Epicurious


Roasted Butternut and Kale Pizza




Pumpkin Coconut Soup: I added a can of coconut soup, 2 Tbs. Lime juice, 4 c. of broth, and 2 extra cups of pumpkin to this recipe.


Shredded Carrot and Beet Salad


Still on the menu for the next several days:

Friday Lunch:
Sushi

Friday Dinner:
Pumpkin Galette
Raw Kale Salad
Apple Cabbage Slaw
Plum Pandowdy

Saturday Dinner:

Honey apple brie bites
Cranberry sauce
Stuffing and gravy
Greens
Pumpkin Pie
Halibut  

Sunday Brunch:
Spinach, cheddar potato frittata

Pecan Sticky buns
Homemade granola bars
Applesauce
Hot cider and cold orange juice

I wish you enough!