Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes with Orange Maple Butter
You need to make these NOW.
Make them for dinner if you have to! They are fantastic! And that orange maple butter is OFF THE HOOK! You will seriously find every excuse to eat the leftovers all week long. And please do, because the recipe makes a good amount! I'll totally kick your ass if any goes to waste! So how are the pancakes? Scrumptious! They taste like a cross between breakfast polenta, a blueberry muffin, and a pancake with a fancy high noon tea vibe (thanks to that butter!) Every now and then you get a little crunch from the cornmeal. It pleases me and I bet you will be pleased too. By the way--your taste buds called and they said their sick of plain old regular pancakes. Throw them a bone and make them something new and different! Do it!
Come on! Look at that BUTTER!!!
Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits
I am not going to get wordy on this post. Just let the pictures speak for themselves.
Biscuits this good should be illegal. The addition of cheddar to the dough makes them utterly amazing.
The flavor? All I can say that it reminds me of a Cheez-It crossed with a buttery flaky biscuit.
Tangy, flaky, buttery goodness marbled with shreds of cheddar. Best when served hot!
I can't wait until you taste the bottom edge. You will thank me & Ina Garten for bringing this to your attention.
Take a look at the three stars of this recipe! Buttermilk, sharp cheddar and butter! Continue reading→
Corn Fritters
Flashback!!
Three years ago, I spied this recipe in an issue of a Rachael Ray magazine.
Dick Clark's Corn Fritters.
Whoa! He made them for his family every year on NYE before he went to the Times-Square Studio.
Isn't that super sweet and cute?
Salted Pistachio Brittle
Have you met Kristen from The Kitchen Sink? Well you should!! Her website is food porn to the core! Her writing is absolutely lovely too. She recently did a guest post over at thekitchn.com about her Salted Pistachio Brittle. The pictures alone will find you instantly at the grocery store gathering ingredients.
I made some this weekend and they are fab!
Fleur De Sel Caramels
Did I mention to you that I am dieting? Yeah well I am. I made these the other night and my neighbor was like "Aren't you on a diet? I can't believe you made those."
I really don't know what came over me.... Jenny over at Frecklewonder posted a link to the recipe on Facebook and all of sudden I am putting HEAVY CREAM on my shopping list.
Let me start off by saying that these are TOTALLY worth cheating on your diet for. I also want to tell you that I have been soooooooo good and I've only had one. Aren't you proud?! There's a bunch of them sitting in my fridge now and I am not doing it. I AM NOT DOING IT. I am actually in a zone right now and have lost all the baby weight and then some- so I am not gonna let that caramel be my gateway drug...God knows I could seriously do some damage.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way.....Let me just tell you that you should stash this recipe for the future when it's the holidays and we all don't give a crap because we are sooo smitten with baggy holiday sweaters & loose fitting clothes that we MUST MUST MUST make some caramel. Not only is it fun to do, but it's a GREAT gift to give. I imagine wrapping them up all festive like....Maybe make them for Halloween? Hostess gift? A gift for your husband who had a rough day at work? A going away present for a friend? How about to celebrate the day your cat puked on your rug & your son had a blowout diaper that went up to his neck? (that would be today)
anywho...the salty sweet combo will make your knees weak....and the butter- OH MY GOD. crushworthy.
It is an Ina recipe after all...
look at that action!!!
Make sure you have a candy thermometer!!!!
And some parchment paper- because they looks so pretty all wrapped up!
These ones are for Jenny!!!
Btw- you can use other Salts. It's best if they are thick crystals! That's really the only requisite!
Sarah over at The Small Object made some awhile back! Look at how cute her loot was!
Fleur De Sel Caramels
(recipe Ina Garten)
-1 1/2 cup sugar
-1/4 cup light corn syrup
-1 cup heavy cream
-5 tablespoons unsalted butter (i really thought there would be more!)
-1 teaspoon fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling
-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan (or loaf pan) with parchment paper, then brush the paper lightly with oil (I sprayed it with PAM), allowing the paper to drape over 2 sides.
In a deep saucepan (6 inches diameter by 4 1/2 inches deep) combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to boil until the caramel is a warm golden brown color. Don't stir - just swirl the pan to mix. Watch carefully, as it will burn quickly at the end!
In the meantime, bring the cream, butter, and 1 teaspoon fleur de sel to a simmer in a small pan over medium heat. Remove from the heat, set aside and keep warm.
When the caramelized sugar is the right color, slowly add the cream mixture to the caramel - it will boil up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture reaches 248 degrees F (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully (it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate until firm.
When the caramels are cool, use the parchment paper to pry the sheet from the pan onto a cutting board. Starting at 1 end, roll the caramel up tightly until you've rolled up half of the sheet. Cut the sheet across and then roll the second half tightly. You will have 2 (1 by 8-inch) logs. Sprinkle both logs lightly with fleur de sel, cut each log in 8 pieces. Cut parchment papers in 6 by 4 1/2-inch squares and wrap each caramel in a paper, twisting the ends. Store in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
(I skipped the whole rolling it up thing. I just cut logs and made little rectangles! It produced well over 20 pieces! Also the ingredient list above was taken off the directions of her show. Apparently there is a discrepancy between the recipe on the Food Network site & the one she used for her show. The show one works and that's what I followed. The End. Did I mention MAKE THESE?!)
Roasted Acorn Squash with Cinnamon Butter
It was 53 degrees here last night! Awesome! I thought it was time to crack into the latest issue of EVERYDAY FOOD and find something Fall-like to make.
I settled for one of the side dishes because I did a lot of snacking yesterday afternoon.
Believe me when I say A LOT of snacking ;)
Roasted Acorn Squash with Cinnamon Butter
(recipe from Everyday Food)
-2 acorn squash (1 1/2 lbs each) unpeeled, quartered lengthwise and seeded
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-coarse salt & pepper
-4 tablespoons butter
-1/8 ground teaspoon cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 450. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss squash with oil; season with salt and pepper. Arrange on sheet cut side down, and roast until easily pierced with a paring knife. It takes 35-45 minutes.
***Make sure you flip them half way through for even browning. This wasn't in the recipe!!! I had half browny squash!!! ***
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, stirring until golden brown. This takes 4-6 mins. Immediately pour into a small bowl. Stir in cinnamon. Place squash on a serving platter; top with cinnamon butter and sprinkle more salt on top.
This recipe was really easy & very tasty. Casey and I enjoyed it...but we wished there was more cinnamon butter! SOO GOOD.
Garlic Ginger Buttered Toast
One of my biggest gripes in the kitchen is garlic skin & onion skin. I hate how it gets stuck to everything. It's soooo hard to remove!!! I know it's worth the effort..... but gaaaaaaahhhhh! Get it off my cutting board & fingers. And why is it stuck to my knife??? Total pet peeve of mine. Fret no more!
Drum roll please....
Favorite Trader Joe's Item #2: Premium Pealed Garlic
One of the newest additions to my Trader Joe's cart has been their pre-wrapped garlic. This trio of garlic is tightly sealed and shares a little bag with at least 4 other trios. I wonder how they come up with three..... What if I only needed two or one? Either way, I find something else to put garlic in that day. When I made butternut squash soup the recipe called for only two cloves. I used three and it tasted great. How could one extra clove really ruin something? Maybe if you are a raw garlic eater?
So here's a recipe a good friend shared with me. It's called garlic-ginger spread. It will cure your cold/ailment with the fighting power of garlic and ginger. You might also have the taste of garlic in your mouth for awhile, but believe me it's worth it.
How to make it:
- Melt 1 stick of salted butter
- Grate a large knob of ginger (at least 3 inches)
- Chop & mince 6 cloves of garlic (just 2 packages of the tjs kind!)
- Stir in some Sriracha sauce (about 2-3 heaping squirts- depending on how spicy you like your food)
- mix all together!
You can use it when the butter is melted, or when it hardens up! Works both ways.
What it Looks Like:
Many Uses:
-Spread liberally on toast- devour (this is the main way I consume it)
-Smear on top roasted chicken & let the butter melt
-Mix with eggplant & put that on top of toast!
-Toss in steamed broccoli
-Rub it inside your favorite sandwich
-Mix it in some mashed potatoes or rice
-Throw some in while you're stir frying.....
***I made some last night because of my horrendous cough, and I'm already starting to feel better. It's not something I feel guilty about eating because I know it will do more good than harm. ***
