German Pancakes

This is a really weird breakfast that is not actually a pancake. I'm not sure exactly what it is. It's pretty tasty, though. See pictures...it tasted a little like a giant fortune cookie.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. flour
2 tbsp melted butter


Toppings: lemon juice and confectioners sugar, maple syrup, butter, etc.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450.
Butter a large skillet or 4 small ovenproof pans.
Beat eggs in large bowl until well beaten.
Add milk and blend well.
Sift flour into the eggs and milk as you whisk or mix.
Add melted butter and mix until smooth.
Pour batter into pan and bake 15 minutes. If using one big pan, reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 more minutes.
Sprinkle lemon juice over pancake and top with sugar or maple syrup and eat immediately.
This was pretty strange, a bit stretchy, a bit sweet, a bit chewy, but tender. I thought it was good, but my son thought it tasted too eggy. It was an interesting breakfast experiment to make once, though.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Roasted Kale and Butternut Squash with Heirloom Jacob's Cattle Beans, Adobo Sauce and Feta Cheese

While researching the book I'm doing for NaNoWrimo, I looked for Puerto Rican recipes on Pinterest. This one, for kale salad, looked really interesting. However, I don't really like raw kale (I know, I know, I'm a freak of nature). I like the health benefits, though, so I thought I'd just cook the kale. The recipe was sort of strange, anyway, as it called for hot squash in a salad.

I have to say, making this was pretty time-consuming. I don't usually do 'fancy.' I do basic. So this made me feel quite accomplished. And it was sooo pretty (hence the photo overload) that I almost didn't want to eat it. It was really good though--and VERY filling. Even my husband couldn't finish a bowl full. It's a very fancy, filling vegetarian meal. The adobo sauce I made was good--I liked it heated up, although I guess it is supposed to be kind of the dressing for the salad. But it was a good seasoning for the dish, and I enjoyed it. I did sort of wing the adobo sauce, so if you're picky about that kind of thing, use canned stuff, or you can follow the link for my basic recipe.


Anyway, I adapted the recipe to make a vegetarian meal instead of a salad. Here's the full meal version.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (1/2-inch pieces)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tbsp adobo sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 cups cooked Jacob's cattle beans (any other kind would do just as well)
• 1 large bunch kale, stemmed and torn into small pieces
• 1/2 c. feta cheese

Instructions:

Wash, stem and tear up kale and place in a large casserole pan (mine was the big pyrex pan, about 9x14 I think.

Seed butternut squash, peel if desired, and cut into approx 1/2 inch cubes. Mine weren't too exact. Also, I don't peel mine because I grew them and they're organic. But if you're unsure, peel. The skins are very soft and edible, so feel free to skip this step. Spread over kale in the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the squash and kale, as evenly as possible.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, until squash is very tender. If you're like me and your pieces aren't uniform, test the largest pieces. When they're done, so is everything else.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together 1/2 tsp. salt, vinegar, mustard, honey, adobo sauce, garlic slices, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.

When squash is done, pour sauce over it and toss in the casserole pan. Some of the kale may be crispy, and that's fine!

Add beans and mix well. Return pan to the oven for a couple minutes until heated through.

Serve topped with feta or other crumbled goat cheese.

Adobo Sauce

This is a quick and easy recipe for Adobo sauce, which can be used in a ton of things. Instead of going out and buying it, I made up a batch myself which was very quick and easy. You can use it to can chili peppers or chipotle peppers in. But I used it in a salad dressing.

I did not put chipotle in mine, because I don't have any and because I wanted to make a marinade sort of sauce. I had found the recipe while looking for Puerto Rican food, so I made an adobo that, according to the site, was a Puerto Rican versian. It had crushed garlic, olive oil, salt, black pepper, oregano, vinegar and paprika. I wasn't sure about measurements, so I sort of winged it.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried oregano (powdered is best, but you can use the leaves, if that's what you have)
1 tbsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together in a small jar, shake and leave overnight to let the flavors mingle. It does not need to be refrigerated, as that will make the olive oil separate. Shake right before using.

Coconut Lime Zucchini Cake/Bread

I made this with my second-to-last zucchini on the counter, so it very well may be my last zucchini bread recipe of the year. By next year, I'll probably have a new obsession, but I have to say, it's been fun testing out many of the zucchini bread recipes (and eating them, of course) on this list of 50.  This one was for coconut lime zucchini bread, which I admit, sounded a little odd. But, I was getting lemons for the lemon bread, and I remembered there was one with lime, so I grabbed one. And I didn't want to let it go to waste, so....

Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 C coconut oil
3/4 C sugar
1 Tbsp lime zest
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp coconut extract
2 C shredded zucchini
1 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 C finely shredded coconut
GLAZE:
1/4 C sugar
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp coconut extract
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
In a large mixing bowl, with a hand mixer, mix eggs, oil, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, coconut extract
In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking powder and soda
Gently stir dry ingredients into wet mixture
Stir in the zucchini
Fold in the coconut
Pour into two bread pans, or bread pan and cake pan
Bake 45 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
While bread bakes, mix together glaze ingredients
When bread is done, let cool in pan ten minutes, then move to plate.
Pour or brush glaze over bread while still hot.
 
While I liked this bread, the coconut extract was a bit strong for me. I'd probably cut it in half next time. The glaze really made the cake so much better!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Okay, so these sounded so good in theory...not so much in practice. My son loves pumpkin pancakes, but unfortunately, my pumpkin crop was a big fat fail this year. So I thought I'd make sweet potato pancakes instead. You can imagine my excitement when I found a recipe that even said, "If you like pumpkin pancakes, you'll love these." WRONG!

Don't let these fool you...these are the 'after' pics. See below for the horror story.

While I don't blame the sweet potatoes for the failure, I will definitely NOT be making this recipe ever again. When I put all the ingredients together, the batter turned into a blob of frothy, foaming gelatinous goo. Every pancake, no matter how long I cooked it, was raw in the middle. Even when I left it in the pan so long it was burnt on the outside. It was very reminiscent of the snickerdoodle pancake fiasco I had last year. Remembering that particular pancake disaster, I added a lot of milk to these...about half a cup. And stirred it for quite a while, to get all the foaming bubbles out. Then, the batter was the right consistency (a bit thicker than cream) and the last few turned out okay. The buttermilk made them super sour, though. If I add buttermilk again, I'd probably only use 1/2 c. and 1 c. regular milk, which might make them less foamy and more liquid.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 sweet potato, cooked, peeled and mashed

creepy foamy batter cooking

Creepy foamy pancakes rising way too high while remaining raw inside.

This was the best looking of a dozen, most of which were burned on the outside and raw inside.

Creepy over-risen pancakes with butter and syrup...still creepy.

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
2. Add egg, buttermilk, and mashed sweet potato. Stir in but do not over mix; the batter should have small lumps.
3. Heat a cast iron skillet and drop a dallop of butter into it. 
4. When butter begins to bubble, pour in a bit of batter to the size pancake you want. 
5. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2½ minutes, flip over. 
6. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.
7. Serve warm with a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

After beating some of the foam away and adding more liquid, they approached normal.

Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread

This is yet another zucchini bread, this one from Married/Single Parent. She has a recipe for glaze as well, though I skipped that and didn't miss it a bit. This may be my favorite zucchini bread to date, though it's a tough competition with the lemon poppyseed zucchini bread. But this was the first one I've made that was cooked all the way through and not at all gummy. And those blueberries...soooo delicious.

Ingredients:
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour, as it's softer texture)
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 c. coconut oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini
1 c. blueberries (I used frozen, but fresh would be great too)


Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 35o ⁰F. 
2. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan, set aside. 
3. In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder.
4. In the mixer bowl beat 2 eggs well. 
5. Then add oil and sugar, and beat on low until well combined. Add the buttermilk, lemon juice and lemon zest and blend everything well. 
6. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture. 
7. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t over mix. 
8. Stir in blueberries.
9. Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I had to bake 1 hr and 15 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.
10. 

Beef and Corn Casserole

I made this beef and corn and black bean casserole, because I had some cooked black beans to use, and because it looked kind of plain with just beef and corn underneath. Even so, my husband sprinkled it liberally with spices, and even my son ate some seasoning salt on it. I don't think I'd make it again, but it was fine once. Quite edible, just not very exciting.

Ingredients:

•  2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 c. corn kernels (I used canned, bc I don't have fresh corn)
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• 1 c. bread crumbs
• salt 
• Optional: I added 2 c. cooked black beans and a lot of ground pepper, and, after it was cooked, some Tony Chachery's for seasoning.

 Directions:

Heat oil in large cast iron skillet. Add peppers and onions and cook until onion is translucent.

Add ground beef and cook until pink is gone.

Preheat oven to 350. Add black beans and corn, salt to taste, and heat through.

Pour into a casserole pan. Lay tomato slices over, sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake 25 minutes or until crumbs begin to brown.

Pumpkin Bread

I couldn't believe Fannie had a recipe for Pumpkin Bread, but she does. It turned out really well, too.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. white flour
• 1/2 c. organic sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. pumpkin puree
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 c. chopped  walnuts
• Optional: Fannie calls for 1/4 c. water, but I left this out as my batter was perfect without. If your batter is too thick, I'd use milk instead of water.

 Directions:
preheat oven to 350.

Sift together flour, sugar and baking soda. Mix pumpkin, oil, eggs, milk and spices, them combine with flour & mix lightly.

Stir in nuts and pour into a buttered loaf pan.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Ever

I've made a handful of oatmeal raisin cookies over the years, since that's my favorite kind, find recipes everywhere from cookbooks to the top of an oatmeal container. But these are my all-time favorite, adapted from bits here and bits there, and tested many times over.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. raisins
 


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Cream butter in a large mixing bowl.
Gradually add sugar and cream into butter.
Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix flours, baking soda and cinnamon.
Add to butter mixture and mix well.
Add oatmeal and raisins and mix well.
Form into cookies of desired size on a buttered or nonstick cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

This soup was not the most exciting bean soup I've had, but it was a fine meal and we ended up eating it all, so I guess I'd call it a success.

For this you will need,
4 c. cooked black beans (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In a cast iron skillet, melt butter.
Add onion and celery and cook until onion is translucent, stirring often.
Put black beans and onion and celery through a food processor.
Return to skillet and heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering.
Add mustard, lemon juice, salt & a lot of black pepper.

Serve in soup bowls with sour cream, cilantro, cheese, or whatever topping you like.

You could also add a ham bone and/or chopped ham to this.

Skillet Lamb Chops

These are super quick chops and really easy, too. Fannie suggests using chops less than 1 inch thick for pan broiling.

Ingredients:
4-8 thin lamb chops
salt & pepper

 Directions:
Heat a cast iron skillet until very hot
Rub with the fat of one of the chops
Brown the chops quickly on each side
Lower heat and cook each chop about 3 minutes on each side
Salt & pepper to taste & serve hot (I served them with green bean casserole).