Just a Little Bit Patriotic...

Hey everybody, I know I'm a day late, but I still have a special 4th of July treat for you to make. So, you can wait until next year, or make it with all the strawberries and blueberries you have left over from your flag cakes.

This is a little patriotic, a little healthy, and very tasty! You can substitute frozen berries for fresh ones but make sure they're 100 percent still frozen when mixing them in, or you'll get colored batter. The cake will still be a small bit doughy around the strawberries because of the moisture, but its not too bad and it's barely noticable. If you want to fix this, maybe leave the cake in a little longer than suggested but keep checking the consistancy after every few minutes so you don't overbake.



Red, White, and Blue Breakfast Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 generous cup fresh blueberries
1 generous cup fresh strawberries, sliced or halved
1/2 cup milk

Topping:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter or margarine



1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.
2) Cream softened butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg.
3) Place blueberries and strawberries in an additional small bowl and dust with a small amount of flour mixture. Toss to coat.
4) Add remaining flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed butter mixture, mixing after each addition. Gently fold berries into batter.
5) For topping, mix flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly.
6) Spread batter into a greased and floured 8 in. square baking dish. Sprinkle topping over batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until topping is golden brown and toothpick comes out rather clean. Cut into squares and serve warm.

Serves 9

Yes I know the Muffin Man...

Hello all, ready for some more delayed and belated recipes? I love muffins, and always like experimenting. Several weeks ago I was browsing through my recipes as I always love to do, and found a lemon poppy seed bread recipe. I had just bought some poppy seeds and decided to give it a go, but I wanted personal sized servings, so I instead turned the bread into muffins. Because I used the same recipe, the muffin was more dense and less moist and fluffy than regular muffins, but they still were very good. I got inspired by another food blog to put half a strawberry in each before baking but wasn't prepared for the surprise explosion that resulted in holes through the top. They were still tasty and I look forward to modifying the recipe someday.



The next muffin is now famous throughout the food blog circles. It is called the Snickerdoodle Muffin but now affectionately renamed The Refund Muffin. Peabody, being the most amazing baker she is, originally posted these delectable muffins. To everyone's shock, someone had the audacity to write Peabody saying that it was a horrible recipe and they wanted a check for the money they spent making it!! I am now submitting my official approval that these muffins are THE BEST and that person was completely out of their mind! Peabody deserves all the credit for these muffins so please visit her site for the recipe. They were moist, cakey, and tasted exactly like the beloved Snickerdoodle cookie. My whole family adored them!



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I must post another recipe on here that fits the "breakfast" theme. It is a great recipe of a dish I see popping up in every cooking magazine, Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes. These are made with a chunky blueberry sauce and are very healthy, not to mention delish! The ricotta taste didn't stand out but kept the dish soft with almost a creamy texture inside, and the blueberry sauce had just enough sweetness.


Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons canola oil divided (I used extra virgin olive oil)
3/4 cup fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries

1) Whisk whole wheat flour, AP flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg in a small bowl. Whisk ricotta, egg, egg white, buttermilk, lemon zest and juice in a large bowl until smooth. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
2) Brush a large nonstick skillet with 1/2 tespoon oil and place over medium heat until hot. Using a generous 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake, pour the batter for two pancakes into the pan, sprinkle blueberries on top of each pancake, and cook until the edges are dry and bubbles begin to form, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining oil, batter, and berries, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent burning. Keep finished pancakes warm in a 200 degrees F oven if desired, while cooking the rest.

Makes 4 servings, 2 pancakes each

Chunky Blueberry Sauce
(good on yogurt, ice cream, or cottage cheese)
2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Stir together blueberries, honey, lemon zest, and juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, at least 15 min. Let cool for 10 minutes; serve warm.

A Quick Recap of April Recipes...

I am so behind in this thing its not even funny. I'm afraid though, that if I post something new, nobody will read the older posts...so don't forget about them. There are some lovely other posts in this blog, including a GREAT one about CHEF MAVRO.

I am just going to post some pictures of some great recipes I tried towards the end of April. And as you can see, I changed layouts...hope you folks don't mind...I wanted more room for pictures and with the other layout I had to squash them significantly.
This is a photo of Apple Cider Stuffed Pork Chops with Apple and Cinnamon Raisin (the homemade bread I made) Stuffing. The plate on the left shows the inside of the pork chop and the plate on the right shows it smothered in that saucy dressing. This was really an outstanding recipe and the apple cinnamon raisin stuffing was just sweet and savory and perfect with the flavor of the chops. I only made two pork chops that night which is why my gravy was so chunky; I made the full amount of stuffing.

Pork Chops with Apple Stuffing
4 Boneless pork chops
6 Tblspn butter or margarine, divided
1 medium onion, chopped
3 slices cinnamon raisin bread, crumbled in large bread crumbs
1/2 a lagre apple, peeled and chopped (can use pears too...that might be good)
3/4 tspn salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup water
2 Tblspn all purpose flour
1 cup apple cider

1) Cut pockets in chops, set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium heat; add 3 tablespoons butter. Add onion; saute until tender. Remove from heat. Add raisin bread, apple, salt, pepper, and egg; mix.

2) Spoon stuffing into pockets, reserving 1/4 cup. (If your pockets cut all the way through, secure unwanted holes with toothpicks.) Secure pockets with toothpicks or kitchen twine. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat; add remaining butter.

3) Add chops to skillet and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Add water. Cover and simmer, turning once, over low heat for 30 minutes or until chops are tender. Remove chops, keep warm.

4)Blend flour into skillet drippings. Stir in cider and reserved stuffing. Cooking, stirring continuously, until thickened. Serve over chops.

Serves 4


These were my birthday pancakes. Regular pancake batter with shredded apple and pear in the batter. With a little bit of Spiced Apple Butter on top, these were heavenly!



This was another amazing dinner (I'm always still surprised when something I cook turns out great). It is Apricot Chicken and next to it is the Double Corn Cornbread Muffins from Peabody's site. This meal was another one both sweet and savory and the slow cooker made the chicken just fall apart on my tongue; heavenly!

"Super-Easy" Apricot Chicken
Adapted from the Magazine "All You"
Ingredients:
12 or more (I probably used 16) dried apricots
8 medium chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 lbs)
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbspn unsalted butter
2 Tablspn vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
1 cup chicken broth

1)Rinse apricots and scatter them in a slow cooker. Pat chicken dry; season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook thighs until golden brown (3-5 minutes per side). Brown in batches to avoid crowding skillet. Arrange over apricots in slow cooker.
2) Pour off all but 1 Tbspn of fat in skillet. Add onion and cook until just soft, 2 to 4 minutes.
3) Add broth to skillet; turn heat to high. Bring to a boil, loosening browned bits stuck to pan from chicken.
4) Pour contents of skillet over apricots and chicken. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours (or high heat for 2).
5) Carefully transfer thighs to a serving dish (they'll tend to fall apart easily); cover with foil to keep warm. Pour remaining contents into a saucepan. Boil, stirring often until reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes. Pour over chicken.

Serves 4
Per serving: 380 cals, 23g fat



I also did a half recipe of the famous Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes for a bunch of birthdays (not mine) that were around the middle/end of April. These are great, not too sweet and the Nutella makes a great frosting. I'm assuming everyone loved them, but I only heard from Randy who managed to eat the first one. Almost every food blog recipe site has this recipe posted, but you can find a version of the recipe here: BakingBites

Good Morning Star-Shine...

The Earth Says Hello!

50 monopoly dollars to anyone who can tell me where the above quote comes from! This post is all about breakfasts...that get you out of bed and into the dining room.


The first breakfast on our list is something I made on Easter morning. It's called a Boca Sausage Skillet, made with soy protein boca sausages. This is really good and before you get all scared over using a meatless product, try it. In this skillet it tastes like real sausage because its mixed in with so many things. You can find the recipe here. It is supposed to serve 6 but it only served 4 people at my house because some of the guys HAD to have seconds. I made a few modifications to the recipe. Instead of using egg product, I used actual eggs, I added chopped plum tomatos, and I stupidly forgot to add the cheese at the end. This is almost like a breakfast pizza and it tasted really good with ketchup on it!


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The other breakfast food I made can also be eaten as part of a light spring/summery lunch. It is a chilled fruit soup that I saw Paula Deen making on the Food Network. The recipe is simple and the presentation is adorable, you can even add a little strawberry on top of the cour cream dollop for a bigger "cuteness factor".


Paula's Fruit Soup
Ingredients:
2 cups coarsely ground cantaloupe
2 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
1/4 cup seedless green grapes
3 cups coarsely chopped apple
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice S
our cream, for garnish
Orange rind strips, for garnish

Directions:
Combine cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, apple, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Pour half of fruit mixture into blender. Blend until smooth. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Add orange juice to fruit mixture, stir and chill.
Spoon into bowls, garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream.

Flavor/Taste Notes: It tastes almost like a smoothie but not as cold, and with a more complex flavor, considerably more texture, and less of a creamy/milky feel. It also reminds me of other cold soups I’ve had like vichyssoise, but a fruit version. I could taste and feel the apple’s texture, and the flavors of the strawberry and grape really came out. Randy’s comment was that “it tastes kinda like applesauce”. The lite sour cream gave a cool creaminess to whatever bite it seeped into.