spiced apple pancakes [New Favorites challenge, week 5]

10/18/2011 by · Leave a Comment

Does anyone else have a new-found aversion to the Joy of Cooking books because of Julie & Julia?

Or is it just me??

I guess I should do some research on the truth of that matter, but it really bugged me when Irma Rombauer’s character in the movie said that she didn’t test all of her recipes.

ARGH! Recipes must be tested! How can someone just make something up out of thin air and not try it to see if it works before sharing it with the world?!

Well, I have some of these Joy of Cooking books (from the “All About…” series) and after ignoring them and glaring at them on the bookshelf for months now, I decided to give one of them a try.

That’s the real point of this challenge, isn’t it? To take myself out of my comfort zone and try things I normally wouldn’t?

Ok then. Our weekend-mornings chef (a.k.a. the husband) decided he wanted to make some spiced apple pancakes for breakfast. So, I went to my bookshelf and grabbed this book:

I found the pancakes section and we decided to use the Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes recipe as our starting point. Lots of changes made, but it was a good starting point and I might even use this cookbook again!

Spiced Apple Pancakes Recipe
adapted from All About Breakfast & Brunch

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 large apple (or 2 mediums ones!), finely chopped

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided (1 teaspoon + 1 teaspoon)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs, separated (2 yolks + 2 whites)
caramel sauce

Directions:
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat in a skillet. Dump in the apples, brown sugar & 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and sauté until soft. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda & salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, 4 tablespoons melted butter & the egg yolks.

Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk them gently together until just combined (lumps are ok!).

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until stiff, but not dry. Gently fold the egg whites (in 2 batches) into the batter.

With a slotted spoon, scoop the sauteed apples out of their sauce and gently fold them into the batter. Reserve the sauce for drizzling!

Cook the pancakes as you normally would. Serve with the leftover apple caramel sauce, more caramel sauce if desired, maple syrup, cinnamon & sugar or whipped cream!

Filed Under: new favorites challenge, recipes, recipes - breads, recipes - breakfast, recipes - made by my man ·

a salmon cook-off…

09/03/2011 by · Leave a Comment

This week we were gifted with a huge beautiful fresh-out-of-the-river-just-hours-before wild salmon from one of the kids on my husband’s soccer team!

(One of the many reasons I love living in the Pacific Northwest…)

Seriously though… seafood doesn’t get much better than this!

Of course, we couldn’t completely agree on how we wanted to prep the salmon for grilling, so we decided to have a little cook-off!

We took two big filets and we each prepped one. They both were cooked on the grill on a cedar plank for the same amount of time…

Andrew’s was topped with seasoning salt, lots of fresh-cracked black pepper, thinly sliced onions, and lemon slices (and a drizzle of olive oil).

Mine was spread with a layer of mayo (yep!), seasoning salt, garlic pepper, and also had lemon slices!

They were both amazing!

My mayo version (a recipe I learned from some friends… a Norwegian fishing family!) was a bit more moist, but they were both so full of flavor… and I loved the onions on Andrew’s version! And actually a bit more olive oil on Andrew’s version would have balanced out the moistness of both.

Bottom line… It really doesn’t matter much what you put on a salmon, if it is as fresh as this one was!

YUMMM!!!

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - dinner, recipes - made by my man, recipes - seafood ·

slow cooker buffalo chicken chili

08/02/2011 by · 11 Comments

This is actually a meal Made By My Man! Last night he decided it was his turn to throw something together in the crockpot, and I must say… he did a great job!

In our house, Daddy is the weekend breakfast cook. Like a short-order chef, he thrives on making whatever you could possibly want… fun for us, and fun for him!!

He doesn’t usually get to make dinner though (ummm… that’s my department!) so this was a fun treat!

We had some chicken leftover in the fridge, so that’s what he used and you can use. Or you can use raw chicken… either way will work and taste great!

(Our leftover chicken was actually some thighs I had cooked in the slow cooker with a bottle of Franks Buffalo Sauce. We had half the chicken left, so about 2 breasts worth and 1/2 a bottle of sauce for this chili. Use however much you’d like though!)

slow cooker buffalo chicken chili

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts (cooked & shredded or raw & whole)
  • 1/2 bottle Frank's Buffalo Sauce
  • 1 (15.5oz) can beans (garbanzo, black, pinto, whatever!)
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 (15oz) cans tomato sauce
  • 1 can cream-style corn
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 2 jalapeños, chopped (seeds left in if you like the heat!)

Directions

Dump everything into the crockpot & stir well. Cook on low 8-10 hours. If your chicken is raw when you put it in, take it out after about 8 hours, shred it up and then stir it back in to the chili.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream if you'd like, and lots of crackers and celery!

http://sweetannas.com/2011/08/slow-cooker-buffalo-chicken-chili.html

Filed Under: recipes, recipes - crockpot, recipes - dinner, recipes - made by my man, recipes - make ahead, recipes - slow cooker ·
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