Oatmeal Pancakes

Here's another breakfast recipe I made this weekend. My son didn't like these quite as much, and I didn't either, mostly because they were very hard to flip. They kind of fell apart, even though I added twice the flour in the recipe. I'm guessing it's because I didn't use quick-oats, but regular oatmeal. While it did soften as it soaked, I don't think it soaked up as much milk as the quick cooking variety would. They tasted okay, but not special enough to make these instead of regular or buttermilk pancakes.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. oatmeal (quick cooking or rolled...rolled will be a bit chewier)
1 egg
2 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. baking powder

1. Heat the milk, then add the oatmeal and let sit 10 mins for quick oats, 20 for rolled
2. Add the beaten egg, flour, and baking powder and mix batter. I had to add a bit more flour at this point because my batter was too thin.
3. Cook in hot buttered skillet until golden on each side.
4. Serve with butter and syrup or honey.

Sausage-Stuffed Apples

This recipe is from my mom's old Boston Cooking School Cookbook, and is not found in my updated Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It's a shame, too, because this was a very interesting dish. It didn't really seem like dinner, but it had sausage, so I wouldn't call it dessert. It would kind of fit in the breakfast category, but it didn't taste at all like a breakfast food! I made it for dinner, so I guess it's a dinner dish.

For this, I used:

• 1 lb. ground sausage
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. onion, chopped fine
• 8 apples
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• (optional: 8 strips bacon...I didn't have any or I'd have used it)

Instructions:

Cook onions, garlic and sausage in a skillet for about 10 minutes or until sausage is completely cooked.

I used drops from my mom's tree, so if they look a little scrubby, that's why!

Core the apples meanwhile.

Stuff the cavity in each apple with sausage (I really had to pack it in and still ended up with a bit extra)
Sprinkle sugar over the tops
If using bacon, drape a strip over the top of each apple
Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until apples are soft.

These turned out well. The first night, the apples were a little crisp still, but we reheated the leftovers the next day and the apples cooked until soft, as they are supposed to be. It was good both nights. The sugar made a crispy sheen on top of the apples, and the sausage and apples complemented each other nicely. This is a good apple dish that can be a main course, and it was nice to find a use for apples that wasn't a dessert. This was a little different than a usual dinner course, but not bad for a change of pace.

 

 

Rice Pancakes (griddlecakes)

 

When I was a kid, my mom made rice pancakes and I remember loving them. So when I found this recipe, and I had some cooked rice that needed using, the choice was obvious. My son adamantly proclaimed that he hated rice and would not eat them, but I went ahead with them anyway. I'm pretty sure this isn't the recipe my mom made, as she'd never make something so fancy as pancakes that call for meringue folded in.

The batter.

I did this one by the book.

Here's how Fannie does it.

Mix 1 c. milk
1 c. cooked rice
1/2 tsp. salt (of course I left this out)

Stir in 2 egg yolks, beaten until thick
1 tbsp. melted butter
7/8 c. flour

Fold in 2 egg whites, beaten stiff.

Cook in butter until edges are firm, then turn and cook until lightly browned. 

Look, it's almost heart shaped!

Top with butter, syrup, apple sauce, or anything else...

We used apple sauce and syrup because that's what we had. And guess what? My son ate his whole pancake with not a complaint to be heard, and later admitted they were "pretty good."

Baked Peaches

I had grilled peaches once at a cookout, and they were just about the best things ever. So when I saw that Fannie Farmer had a recipe for baked peaches, I couldn't wait to try it.

Her recipe is a bit vague. It just says to peel, cut in half, and pit the peaches, fill with fruit, nuts, butter, sugar, spices, or lemon juice.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with sherry or brandy, or serve with hard sauce, whipped cream, or sour cream.

Here's what I did.

Cut 4 peaches in half and remove pits. I didn't peel them.

  Fill the center of each half with blueberries.

 Place a sliver of butter atop the blueberries.

 Sprinkle with sugar.

...And nutmeg.

Bake as directed above.

 Eat while warm.

These were as beautiful as they were delicious. I would absolutely make these again, many times over, with all kinds of fillings. They were yumtastic.

Parsley Rice, aka Green Rice

 

This was a simple side dish which went well with the creamed chicken recipe I posted yesterday. I paired them because the Boston Cooking School Cookbook said to make this in a ring mold and fill with creamed chicken. I don't have a ring mold, but I paired them together and they went pretty well. The only complaint I had was that this was a bit overpowered by the creamed chicken, and I couldn't enjoy the parsley flavor very much. But, rice is not the main attraction, so it usually doesn't stand out on its own.

parsley.

Onwards to the recipe:
Mix and put in a buttered casserole dish:
1 c. steamed rice
1 c. milk
1/4-1 c. chopped parsley
4 tbsp. melted butter or olive oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 c. grated cheese
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. salt

Mixed up and ready to cook.

1/4 tsp. paprika
optional: chopped pimiento

Bake at 350 until firm, about 45 minutes. I had to cook mine about an hour, but it worked out so I put it in the oven and then did the creamed chicken, and everything was done at the same time.

This is a goodish recipe, but I don't know if I'd make it as a side dish again, or serve it under something else. It's a bit more complicated than just using plain rice, and since it didn't have a strong flavor that stood out, I don't know if I'd bother again. But, it was a success overall, since it turned out well.

For a simple, parsley-free baked rice, see this recipe.

Creamed Chicken (with Peas)

This recipe was both simple and time consuming. We had some chicken to use up, so I looked through The Fannie Farmer Cookbook until I found a recipe that only used a little chicken. Vegetables were optional, so I used about a half cup of peas we had thawed the day before and hadn't used.

Creamed chicken:
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. cooked chicken (I only had 1 c. shredded, so that's what I used)
1 c. chicken broth
1/3 c. cream (I used whole milk)
salt and pepper


I actually used a double boiler, possibly for the first time ever. We've had one for years, but I usually just use it as a pan or for storing leftovers. So I thought I'd used it as it is supposed to be used.

Melt butter in double boiler.
Mix in flour until completely blended.
Gradually add chicken broth (or 1 c. milk) stirring constantly
Stir over low heat until thick.
Bring to boiling for 2 minutes.
Add cream, chicken, and salt and pepper to taste
Heat at least 1/2 hr in double boiler so chicken absorbs moisture and sauce.
If it gets too thick, add more liquid. I had to add more chicken broth and more milk.
Serve on biscuits, waffles, or rice.
Decorate with bacon, parsley, watercress, pimiento, or paprika.

Optional add-ins: mushrooms, peas, ham, celery, or hard-boiled egg (weird, right?)

I added peas into it. It tasted much like the inside of a chicken pot pie. The sauce was thick but not too thick, and it tasted very good. I served it with Parsley Rice (recipe tomorrow), so I didn't garnish the chicken with parsley. I sprinkled paprika over it, and it was pretty okay. My son, the picky eater, loved it and asked for more (instead of the parsley rice, which I thought he would love) even though it was not the most photogenic, beautiful food I've ever made.

Overall, this is an okay recipe that is a good way to use up leftover chicken, but I don't know that I would go out of my way to make it again. Maybe if I have some chicken on hand again, I'll try one of the other creamed chicken recipes Fannie Farmer offers.

Best Brownies Ever

This is a recipe I have made many, many times. When I stayed home with my son after he was born, I made dessert almost every night, and this was one of the regulars in my rotation. I have made it both with baking chocolate and with cocoa powder. I've also had some other brownie recipes that are very good, and they are all basically the same as this one, with perhaps a tiny tweak or two. The key is not to overcook them, to leave the brownies slightly soft in the center (toothpick will come out clean before they feel completely solid) and to avoid using any leavening except eggs. Otherwise, they are too cakey.

Fannie Farmer's recipe:
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, unbeaten
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. walnut pieces (I didn't have these, so I skipped them)
1 tsp. vanilla

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Butter a 9x9 baking pan. 
• Mix chocolate and butter in a pan over low heat until melted (I used 1/4 c. cocoa powder and added 2 tbsp. extra butter to moisten it. If you use baking squares, stick with the 1/4 c. butter)
• Remove pan from heat, stir in the remaining ingredients.
• Spread in pan and bake until almost firm to touch (25-35 mins).

I love this recipe, esp. using Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder. It's chewy and delicious, with a slightly crisp skin on top. Never had better!

Baked Rice

I made this for my son when he was recovering and was supposed to be eating a bland diet. Otherwise, I probably would have made the cheesy rice version, which is still on my list of recipes to try. This one was very simple, though, so I made it one day while we were playing chess, and it didn't take long to mix up or to bake.

Cooked brown rice.

I had already cooked the rice, or it would have taken longer. Total cooking time is over an hour, if you're using brown rice, which I always use. It takes about 40 minutes to cook.

Ready to bake.

The Baked Rice recipe:
2 c. cooked rice
1 egg
1 c. milk
butter
salt, pepper, and paprika

optional add-ins: crumbled bacon, parsley, pimiento, mushrooms, or cheese.

• Preheat oven to 350
• Butter a baking dish.
• Add the rice.
• Beat egg & milk and add.
• Dot with butter
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika
• Bake 20 minutes or until browning on top/solid. 

After baking.

 I added some dried parsley, since that was all I had in terms of add-ins. My son didn't want cheese and doesn't like mushrooms, so it was a bit plain. But it was still good. My sister liked it a lot, and I thought it would go good beside chicken. My son didn't like it at all, unfortunately. But it sufficed for plain food when he was recovering.

Butterscotch Pudding

Today I bring to you another pudding recipe, courtesy of my son's soft-foods-only diet. The chocolate was such a success (in my eyes if no one else's) that I would have just made that again, but my son really wanted butterscotch pudding. I'm not sure he's ever actually had butterscotch pudding before, but he heard of it somewhere and insisted that's what he wanted. Since it was for his benefit that I was making the pudding at all, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Brown Sugar

Here's Fannie Farmer's recipe:
Scald in double boiler (or sauce pan) 2 c. milk
Melt 1 tbsp. butter in separate pan.
Add 1 c. brown sugar to butter and stir until the sugar melts.
Add to scalded milk and stir until well blended.
Mix 3 tbsp. cornstarch, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 c. cold milk until cornstarch dissolves
Add cold milk mix to scalded milk mix.
Cook 15 minutes, stirring constantly until it thickens, then occasionally
Cool and add 1 tsp. vanilla

Melted sugar.

This recipe was truly one for the Disaster Chef blog. First of all, I didn't have dark brown sugar, so I used regular sugar (only 1/2 c) and about 1/2 tsp. of molasses. The sugar took a long time to melt. When it finally did, I got super excited. It looked really cool. So then, when I went to spoon it into the scalded milk, I was shocked by how it sizzled and instantly turned into rock candy. It looked like a scary forest gremlin (of a dark golden color) clinging to my spoon as I tried to swirl it in milk until it drowned. It took about 10 minutes of stirring to dissolve it into submission.

Stirring, stirring, stirring....

Then another 15 minutes of stirring the pudding makes this perhaps the most tedious recipe I've ever made. Usually when I'm in the kitchen for 30 minutes, I'm frantically chopping six kinds of vegetables and stirring things and tasting things and boiling other things all at once. This definitely got boring. But in the end, it was super delicious. Maybe not 30 minutes of stirring time delicious, but delicious nonetheless. And maybe even a little *too* sweet, despite cutting the sugar in half. I can't imagine using the full cup of sugar. It would be sickeningly sweet for me.

Chinese Cabbage and Tomatoes

This is a simple vegetable recipe that would be good with pretty much anything, especially beef. I've eaten Chinese cabbage a lot, both in stir-fry and by itself. But I've never really done much with it. If you don't like the flavor of cabbage, this has a completely different flavor and texture. It's very tender and delicious.

This recipe is not in my updated Fannie Farmer Cookbook, sadly. But it is in my mom's old version, The Boston Cooking School Cookbook. Fannie doesn't give much detail on the cooking technique, so I'll add my own.

Recipe:
4 c. shredded Chinese cabbage (I sliced it thin, since I'm not even sure how you could shred this stuff)
1/2 c. cooked or canned tomatoes (I didn't have this, so I just chopped a fresh tomato and threw it in the pan with everything else and it cooked very well).
1 small chopped onion

Cook until tender, adding water if necessary to keep cabbage from sticking.

The recipe doesn't give instructions on cooking or seasoning. So, I wasn't sure how to cook it. I threw it in the cast iron frying pan, like always, with a tbsp. or two of olive oil. It cooked really well, so everything was done at once. I seasoned with salt and pepper.

It definitely did not need any water added. It was kind of juicy, maybe because I cooked it with a lid on. It was pretty plain, but for a side dish, it would be fine. It was nice to use all veggies from the garden, but next time, I'll probably just steam the Chinese cabbage. This wasn't all that special.