Cranberry Sausage Frittata

Cranberry Sausage FrittataYield: one 12-inch skillet, about 6-8 servings.Frittata method and proportions come from this very helpful post on Cookie and Kate. Ingredient combination is a blend of various recipes from a "cranberry quiche" Google search.

Ingredients
12 eggs
3 Tbsp. full-fat dairy (I used 2% plain Greek yogurt)
4 oz. pepper jack cheese, grated
1 lb. ground pork sage sausage (I used this one from HEB)
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (generous 2 cups; about a 1/2-inch dice)
1 cup fresh cranberries, halved

Directions
Prep the butternut squash first since that takes the longest. Grate the cheese.* Preheat oven to 475.

Crack your eggs into a bowl or 4-cup measuring cup; whisk well. Add dairy and whisk again. Add about half the grated cheese. Set aside.

Heat a cast iron skillet over high to medium-high heat. Brown the sausage, breaking it up into fairly small clumps as it browns. When the sausage is almost done, add the butternut squash to the skillet, and continue cooking until the squash is tender. Add the cranberries and cook for about another minute. Remove pan from the heat for a few minutes.**

Return pan to high heat; give it a minute or two to heat up, especially if you're using cast iron. Give your egg mixture another whisk and pour it in. Stir/jiggle everything just enough to get the egg mixture well distributed throughout the sausage-butternut mixture. Then let it cook for about a minute, undisturbed, until the edges start to lighten in color. During this minute(ish) sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Transfer skillet to oven and cook 7-14 minutes, until egg is puffed and the center jiggles just a little when you jiggle the pan. (I would just like to point out that I've now used the word jiggle three times in two paragraphs.) Check it after 6-7 minutes. Then keep checking regularly. Mine took 9 minutes, and my oven was a little overly ambitious at 450 rather than 425.

Remove to a wire rack to cool. Optionally, drive through the snow to your friend's house. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Notes

*You get a better texture if you buy a block of cheese and grate it, since the pre-shredded stuff coated with anti-clumping stuff which can make for a slightly gritty texture.

**I don't know if this step is crucial. It was in the Cookie and Kate recipe. And I did it because it gave me a good chance to hurriedly get dressed.

If the sausage release quite a bit of fat or water while you brown it, drain some of it off before adding the butternut squash.

An alternate flavor profile I think would be yummy: use swiss, gruyere, or gouda cheese instead of pepper jack, and add some fresh thyme to the mix. I love cranberry and thyme together but wasn't sure how it would play with the pepper jack.

Finnish Pulla Bread with Apricots and Pistachios

Have you had the pleasure of watching The Great British Baking Show (a.k.a., Bake-Off)? If you like baked goods and you like seeing a more positive side of humanity, I absolutely recommend it. Unlike U.S. American food competition shows, the contestants and judges are actually genuinely nice to each other, and they genuinely seem to care more about having fun with their creative outlet than with winning.

Well, several months ago I watched all the seasons of Bake-Off that Netflix would allow, and though I was thoroughly wowed by every episode, I found myself most inspired by the enriched breads, as these bakers kept creating succulent doughs studded with fruit and spices and shaped into intricate braids and knots that shimmered with sticky sweet glazes. This past weekend I finally went for it!

Based on the numerous pulla recipes I read during the last 48 hours, pulla is a traditional Finnish bread. It's a yeasty cousin to brioche and challah; flavored with cardamom; generally shaped into a braid, a wreath, or buns; and traditionally served with coffee. Some recipes included fruit or nuts, while others were more basic. So I wound up making a more plain, traditional loaf and a more jazzed up loaf.

Finnish Pulla Bread with Apricots and Pistachios
Yield: 2 loaves/braids*
Source: I referenced many recipes but mostly followed the ingredients from Around the World in 80 Bakes and the process from All Recipes

Ingredients
6 Tbsp. butter, melted, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups milk (at least 2%; I used part 2%, part half-and-half)
4-1/2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 2 packets, 7 g each)
2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. sugar (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp.)
3/4 to 1 tsp. ground cardamom**
700 g all-purpose flour (for me this ended up being about 4-2/3 cups)

Zest of 2 oranges
16 dried apricots, finely diced
40 g pistachios, finely chopped

1 egg

Directions
Melt the butter and allow it to cool to room temperature. Warm the milk to 110 degrees.*** Go ahead and measure out your flour into a smallish bowl. You'll add it in increments, so it's easy to measure once and then eyeball it throughout the different steps in the recipe.

To a large bowl add the milk, yeast, salt, sugar, cardamom, and about 1 cup of flour--enough to make a runny batter. Beat the batter until it's really nice and smooth. (For me, this was a couple of minutes on medium speed with my little handheld five-speed mixer.)

Add some more flour (1-2 cups) and continue beating until it's again smooth and elastic. If you're using a hand mixer like mine, aim for more like 1 to 1-1/2 cups flour. I added close to 2 cups, and it made the dough too thick--it just kept climbing up the beaters!--so I had to switch to beating by hand.

Now add the melted butter. Beat the dough some more, until the butter is fully incorporated and the dough looks smooth and glossy. Add the rest of the flour and keep on mixing until it's fully incorporated. If you have a good quality stand mixer, rejoice! If you don't, you'll get a good arm workout!

Now, lightly flour a clean countertop, and turn the dough out onto it. Invert your mixing bowl over the dough, and let the dough (and your arms) rest for 15 minutes. When those 15 minutes are up, knead the dough for a good 10-15 minutes, until it's nice and smooth.****

Remember your mixing bowl? Spritz it with a bit of cooking spray, put your ball of dough inside, turn the dough so all of it gets lightly coated with oil, and cover the bowl with a damp, clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, undrafty place until it's doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough. If jazzing up your bread, add your orange zest, apricots, and pistachios now. Knead them into the dough. Let it rest for another 5-10 minutes (on the counter is fine, covered with that damp kitchen towel you used earlier).

Divide your dough into 6 portions, as equal as you can get them. Roll each portion into a long rope, about an inch in diameter.

Gather up 3 ropes, and pinch them together on one end. Gently braid the 3 ropes together, and when you get to the end, pinch those ends together as well. Tuck both ends (top and bottom) under the braid, so you have a nice, tidy-looking loaf braid. Repeat this process with the other 3 ropes to make your second loaf braid.

Place braids on a greased baking sheet. Spray the tops with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Beat an egg really well, until it's super smooth. Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf braids and very gently brush some beaten egg over the loaves. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through the baking time, until the loaves are browned, glistening, and look like they should be in a bakery display case!

Notes
*Initially I planned to make just one braid, but one recipe I read made an excellent point: if you're going to go to the trouble of making a homemade yeast bread--including all the kneading and rise time, you might as well make two or more loaves and have plenty to share. Your friends and coworkers will thank you.

**I saw widely varying cardamom measurements and settled on 3/4 tsp. When I nibbled some dough (I'm weird like that) the cardamom flavor was pretty subtle. So I added another 1/8 tsp. or so to the loaf I made with apricots, and kneaded it in along with the apricots, pistachios, and orange zest. That was still a nice amount of cardamom without feeling overwhelming.

***Some recipes I read said to scald the milk by bringing it to a near boil on the stove and then letting it cool to 110 degrees. I simply warmed mine in the microwave until it felt warm but not uncomfortably hot.

****I was expecting mine to reach a super smooth, satiny texture like I get with cinnamon roll dough ... but my pulla dough never got to that stage, even after 15 minutes. It was smooth, but the dough felt denser and heavier than I'm used to. I don't know if it's supposed to be that way, or if it got thrown off by some combination of my technique, the temperature and humidity of my kitchen, the flour measurement in the recipe I followed, or the general mood of the bread gods that day.

Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew (Lesco)

Have you ever had stew for breakfast? As of a few weeks ago, I have!

When my brother came to visit last month, I basically forced him to join in my international cuisine challenge. We settled on breakfast and decided to go with a European country we're less familiar with. 20 minutes of Googling recipes later, and we settled on Hungarian breakfast stew, served over creamy polenta (which is, apparently, a common breakfast element in Romania), with a fried duck egg on top (because I'd just bought duck eggs from some friends, and we were excited to try them).

I'm seriously slacking in the photography department lately, mostly because I've been sharing meals with friends instead of eating alone. Which is an excellent thing for me, but it means I don't have a lovely photo to share with you. Sorrynotsorry.

Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew (Lesco)
From The Spruce
Yield: 4 servings (see notes)

Ingredients
1-2 slices bacon
1 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 pound of peppers, sliced into 1/4" strips - use Hungarian wax peppers if you can find them, or banana, Italian, or green bell peppers, or some combination thereof
4 medium or 3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1-1/2 tsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sweet Hungarian paprika

Directions
In a large skillet, cook bacon according to package directions. Remove bacon to a plate to cool, but leave all that tasty grease in the skillet.

Add in the oil and onion, and cook for about 5 minutes on low heat. Add pepper(s) and continue cooking for 15 more minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, and paprika to the skillet, and let it cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it looks and feels like a chunky tomato sauce.

Meanwhile, crumble the bacon after it has cooled; stir it into the dish when it's close to being done.

Notes

• This made 4 moderate to generous servings if served with polenta and a fried egg. If you're not making accompaniments, then this recipe may only give you 2-3 servings.
• I went to the store fully expecting to be stuck with green bell peppers, but they actually had Hungarian wax peppers! The sign said they're medium-hot, so I decided to get one green bell pepper to bring down the heat level, and used wax peppers to make up the rest of the pound. The dish didn't taste super spicy, but I was coughing something awful while Josh was cutting the wax peppers.

Two-Potato Hash with Poblano and Bacon (Or, Yummy Things in a Skillet)

Have you ever made a breakfast hash that seemed so promising, only to be disappointed when the potatoes seem nicely cooked on the outside but are still crunchy on the inside? Me too! Thankfully, I recently learned a few tips from a gloriously nerdy article on Serious Eats. My three takeaways: 1) boil the potatoes first, 2) add a bit of vinegar to the potatoes' cooking water, which helps them hold their shape when you saute them later, and 3) fry your hash ingredients in smaller batches so that everything can brown nicely instead of steam evenly and brown unevenly.

Two Potato Hash with Poblano and Bacon
Yield: 4-6 servings if this is the main thing you're eating, or 6-8 servings if it's part of a larger spread
Inspired by Serious Eats

Ingredients
2 medium-large sweet potatoes
1 russet potato
1-2 Tbsp. white vinegar
4-6 strips center cut bacon
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
Spices to taste - I used salt, pepper, cumin, and a bit of dried thyme and smoked paprika

Directions
Wash the potatoes (no need to peel) and cut into bite-sized pieces. Put them in a pot and cover with water. Add some vinegar--1 Tbsp. for every quart of water. Bring water to a boil, then boil for just 4-5 minutes, until the potatoes are softened but by no means fully cooked. Drain them well.

Meanwhile, cook the strips of bacon in a large skillet according to package directions. Remove cooked bacon to a plate to cool. Leave the bacon grease in the skillet. :)

When the potatoes are drained, return your skillet to high or medium-high heat. Add about half of the potatoes to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until they're nicely browned. While they're cooking, sprinkle in some spices. Mine took maybe 10 minutes, but I probably should have let them go longer. Transfer sauteed potatoes to a heat-resistant bowl and toss the rest of the boiled potatoes into the skillet. Again, cook until they're nicely browned, adding spices and stirring occasionally. Add these potatoes to your other sauteed potatoes.

While potatoes are cooking, crumble the cooked bacon and cut your poblano if you haven't already.

Return skillet to the stovetop; add the poblano. If needed, add a splash of oil. Cook until they're starting to soften and brown. Add the corn (straight from the freezer is fine, if using frozen) and continue to cook until the veggies are softened and browned. If you get some charred bits, that'll add a lovely extra layer of flavor!

Now, add your cooked potatoes and crumbled bacon back into the skillet, and saute for a few more minutes to get the potatoes nice and hot again and to let all the flavors get to know each other. Serve straight from the skillet or from the heat-resistant bowl you used earlier.

Add-ins

• Onion or bell pepper(s) - saute with the poblano.
• Green onion - add to the skillet with the corn.
• Garlic or fresh herbs  - add to the skillet at the very end, right before adding the bacon and cooked potatoes back into the pan. Or reserve the herbs to sprinkle on top to serve.
• Cheese - stir in at the end or sprinkle on top.
• Eggs - fry or scramble separately, or crack them into the hash and bake them, as in this recipe.

Autumn Recipe Roundup

It's no secret that autumn is my favorite season. And fall foods are my favorite of all the seasonal foods. So with October 1 just around the corner, here are some yummies to enjoy this season!

Pumpkin Apple Cider - Take the classic spiced hot apple cider and inject some pumpkin into the mix.

Pumpkin Coconut Pancakes - Coconut and pumpkin may not be obvious friends, but their flavors go together so beautifully.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Bourbon Glaze - A labor of love, but oh is it lovely to eat these!

Harvest Galette with Gruyere, Acorn Squash, and Caramelized Onions - Don't let the poor quality of my photo scare you off. (Seriously, what is happening with that onion situation?) This galette is one of my favorite dinners I've ever made.

Pumpquinoa - Pumpkin stuffed with quinoa, sausage, cheese, herbs, and veggies . . . what's not to love? See also version 2.0.

Sausage- and Apple-Stuffed Acorn Squash - Again, not a great photo, but these squash boats are super tasty and not very hard to make. And although I make a big deal about pumpkin, acorn squash is secretly my favorite.

Balsamic Roasted Pumpkin and Friends - A simple roasted side dish. Chopping everything does take some time, but the end result is worth it!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies - Easy and delicious!

Pumpkin Monkey Bread - Need I say more? Really?

And a few from around the interwebs:

• Balsamic Onions, Ricotta, and Butternut Squash Galette - Do yourself a favor and make this. It's a bit time intensive due to the different components, but it's well worth it. I've gotten rave reviews from friends both times I've made this galette.
• Pumpkin Poblano Casserole - I saw this recipe recently in a Cooking Light magazine and am SO excited to try it out!
• Pear Cranberry Crisp - Pears and cranberries, warming spices, and an oatmeal crisp topping. Yes, please! 

What are you looking forward to making this season?

Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Do you ever get on a kick with a certain food or ingredient? I seem to get a bit obsessed with cranberries every winter. Even though cranberries are in season in the fall, I always associate them with winter. Maybe because they're red, which I associate with Christmas, which goes with snow, which goes with winter. Or maybe it's because their tart flavor is perfect for brightening even the dreariest of winter days. Besides, pumpkin keeps me plenty busy all fall, so a girl's gotta have something to obsess over when it becomes less acceptable to put pumpkin in everything.

So when my mom and I were discussing cinnamon rolls the other day while plotting to make some in our respective homes, and when I started thinking about what kind of twist I could put on them, cranberries sprang to mind. (I had just made pumpkin oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies the previous weekend so didn't think I could get away with making pumpkin cinnamon rolls that weekend.)

I poked around on Google to get a feel for good ratios of cranberries:sugar:dough. By far, Smitten Kitchen was the best version and most informative I came across, though I added some embellishments of my own. For the cranberry filling, I added a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, with inspiration from the cranberry crostini from a couple years ago. I also used butter and cream cheese in the filling, since I think cream cheese adds a delightful extra gooeyness factor to cinnamon rolls. And I sprinkled in some almonds as well.  I was also tempted to add a bit of fresh thyme, since the cranberry thyme scones recipe I found a few weeks ago was superb. That may still happen the next time I make these rolls.

For the dough, I wanted to let my bread machine do the mixing and kneading, so I used the cinnamon roll dough recipe from the little book that came with the bread machine, but added some orange zest per Smitten Kitchen's recipe.

My other adjustment to the dough was to leave out the yeast. No, this was not intentional. No, the dough did not rise very well at all without it (funny how that works). An hour into the rising time, the dough didn't seem any larger, but I attributed it to the cold weather. After a couple more hours, I started thinking through what could be wrong, and it finally hit me: I had no recollection of getting the yeast out of my fridge and measuring any into the dough. So I worked some yeast into the dough, and after another 2-3 hours of rising time, it finally puffed up a bit. So if you make these rolls, do yourself a favor and add the yeast at the beginning like a normal person.

Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and my bread machine's recipe book
Yield: 12 rolls (more if you cut them a bit thinner)

Note: Plan to prepare the dough and shape the rolls the night before, then let them rise overnight in the fridge, then bake the next morning

Dough
Zest from 1 orange or 1-1/2 clementines - use about 3/4 in the dough and 1/4 in the filling
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. oil
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

Filling
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
2-3 Tbsp. cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
1 to 1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries (thawed, if frozen)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 of the orange zest from above
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/16 tsp. nutmeg
A couple handfuls of sliced or chopped almonds (optional)

Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
About 1/4 to 1/3 cup water (or orange juice)
Smidge of maple extract (or vanilla)

Directions
Make the dough and let it rise: Following your bread machine's directions, measure all dough ingredients into the bread machine, then use the dough cycle. (Alternatively, if you don't have a bread machine, just use your preferred yeast dough making method. Smitten Kitchen's recipe and instructions are great and include directions for those who have a stand mixer and those who don't.) Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise until doubled in size. Punch down before rolling out and shaping into rolls. (Note: many bread machines include this rise time as part of the dough cycle. If yours does, you don't need to let it rise twice before shaping.)

Make the filling: If they're not already out on your counter, get out the butter and cream cheese to let them soften. When they're soft, stir them together in a small bowl; set aside. Pick through your cranberries and discard any suspicious ones. Use a food processor to pulse the cranberries until they're pretty finely chopped but aren't a puree (or just chop them finely by hand). Scrape out into a small to medium bowl. Then add the brown sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Stir to combine well. Set aside.

Go ahead and spray a baking pan. I think the pan we used was an 11 x 7 glass baking dish.

Roll and shape the dough: When the dough has risen, punch it down and work out any large air bubbles. At this point, you may need to let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes before rolling out. On a well-floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about 18 inches wide by 12 inches deep. Spread the butter and cream cheese mixture evenly over the dough. Then spread the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough. For both the butter/cream cheese and the cranberry mixture, I used a basic soup spoon to scatter dollops of filling around the dough, then used the back of the spoon to spread it around. It doesn't have to be perfect. Sprinkle in the almonds, if using.

Now, use a knife or pastry cutter to cut your rectangle in half, into two 9 x 12-inch rectangles (this will make it easier to roll. Starting with one of the 9-inch edges near you, roll the dough up and away from yourself, rolling as tightly as possible. There will be some cranberry juice leaking out. Embrace it. Using your knife or pastry cutter, cut the log into 6 or 7 slices, each about 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick. Carefully transfer each slice/roll to the prepared baking pan. Repeat the process with your other 9 x 12 rectangle.

Rise again, then bake: Cover your baking dish with plastic wrap, then place in your fridge overnight. The next morning, remove rolls from the fridge about 30 minutes before you want them to go into the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Make the icing: While the rolls bake, measure powdered sugar, water, and maple extract into a medium bowl. Use an electric mixer to mix until well combined and smooth. Start with less water; add more as needed to reach your desired consistency. When the rolls come out of the oven, drizzle with the icing.

Notes

• If you have a favorite cinnamon roll dough recipe, just use that but add orange zest.
• I was a little worried that the fresh cranberries would release too much juice and result in soggy rolls. But that wasn't the case at all! To quote from Smitten Kitchen, "that puddle of cranberry juice run-off jams into a gooey brown sugar cranberry caramel and winds around and through the buttery, tender yeast-raised spirals." Yes, please!
• These rolls were quite sweet, but not quite too sweet for my taste. I think they would have been equally good with about 1/4 cup less brown sugar in the filling. 
• For the almonds, I used a very light hand. So they were barely there but didn't add a whole lot of taste or texture. I think walnuts or pecans would also be good.
• I made my icing with water, but orange juice would have been lovely. Also, the quantities above yielded more icing than we used; you may prefer to use more icing than we did.

Browned Butter Banana Bread

If you're like me, you never manage to use up all your bananas before they turn brown and mushy. I think it's just a rule for life: no matter how few bananas one purchases, at least one of them will be destined for banana bread (or for the freezer for banana bread later). And you know what? I'm okay with it . . . because who doesn't love a good loaf of banana bread?

This recipe is particularly lovable. The browned butter adds a warm, cozy depth of flavor. It tastes sufficiently banana-y, and has just the right amount of sweetness for my taste. The topping adds a nice crunch and lets you alternate sweeter bites (with topping) and less sweet bites (without topping).

This banana bread uses only one banana, and thus less of the rest of the ingredients. So it yields a slightly shorter loaf than most quick breads, which also means it's easier to cook it all the way through without the outside being overly cooked and dry.

Also, happy Christmas!

Browned Butter Banana Bread
Adapted from The Faux Martha
Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour*
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup milk**
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ripe banana

Topping
1 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
2-4 Tbsp. chopped pecans and/or walnuts

Directions
Brown the butter: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue to cook until it's golden brown and smells like heaven, swirling the pan periodically.*** Allow to cool completely.

While the butter cools, make the crumb topping: In a small bowl (I used a cereal bowl), combine 1 Tbsp. softened butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Use a fork or knives to combine the ingredients until they're crumbly. Add the chopped pecans and walnuts and stir to combine well. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 300. Spray a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the bread: flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: cooled browned butter, milk, egg, and vanilla until well combined. Add banana, mash, and whisk well. At this point, my butter decided to solidify again because my milk was pretty cold, but my bread still turned out just fine. Just whisk it well so you have small clumps of butter instead of giant globs.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, and stir just until combined. Don't work it too much. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with the crumb topping. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack, and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan. Then loosen the loaf from the pan, and turn out onto a cutting board to cut and serve.

Notes
*The original recipe called for 1/2 cup all-purpose and 1/2 white whole wheat. Use whatever combination strikes your fancy and fits with what you have on hand.

**Original recipe called for 1/3 cup liquid comprised of 1 part milk and 1 part plain yogurt. I didn't have yogurt on hand so went with all milk, and it was fine. If I'd added a bit of lemon juice or vinegar, I may have gotten a slightly fluffier loaf, but I'm completely happy with how mine turned out.

***If you're tight on time, you can simply melt the butter in the microwave. But do try it at least once with the browned butter--it tastes wonderful! Also, it'll splatter quite a bit. I recommend using a pan that's bigger than what you need, so the taller sides will help contain the splatter. Or use a splatter screen if you have one.

Lemon-Orange Pancakes with Prickly Pear Syrup

As you saw in my last post, I recently got the chance to harvest and process a whole lot of prickly pears. Which means I now have the exciting challenge of figuring out how to use up 3-1/2 gallons of prickly pear juice! To kick things off, I whipped up a simple but stunning syrup to adorn some citrusy pancakes. The flavors paired beautifully together, creating a sweet, bright, fluffy, sticky breakfast. And aren't the colors just so inviting and energetic?

If you don't have access to prickly pears (or the inclination to process them yourself for juice), I would recommend using raspberries or blackberries for the syrup. Raspberries are probably the closest in flavor (and color) to the prickly pear. For suggested directions, see my notes in the syrup recipe.

I admit I was a little weirded out by the ricotta in these pancakes. I associate ricotta with lasagna, and I definitely don't associate lasagna with pancakes. But ricotta is actually pretty neutral-flavored, so it added some substance to the pancakes, and they turned out fluffy and delightful.

Lemon-Orange Ricotta Pancakes
Adapted slightly from Prevention RD
Yield: 4 servings (3 pancakes each)

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
3/4 cup low-fat ricotta
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest of 1 navel orange (about 1 Tbsp.)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions
Whisk together all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl--flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, ricotta, eggs, vanilla, orange zest, and lemon juice. Add the melted butter, whisking as you add it. It may curdle a little as bits of the butter re-solidify. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk to combine, being careful not to overmix.

Toward the end of measuring and adding ingredients, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. If desired, spray lightly with a neutral-flavored cooking spray.

Scoop a scant 1/3 cup of batter onto the skillet for each pancake. Cook 2-3 minutes or until bubbles develop on the surface of the pancakes. Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes until cooked through and nicely browned.

Tip: As you finish each skillet of pancakes, stick your plate of finished pancakes in the microwave to keep them warm. Don't turn on the microwave or anything--but the small enclosed space will keep the pancakes nice and warm.


Prickly Pear Syrup
Yield: About 2/3 cup syrup

Ingredients
1/3 cup prickly pear juice
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cornstarch

Directions
Whisk all ingredients together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium to medium-high heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes at a relatively low boil (my burner was probably on medium), whisking fairly often. The goal is for the syrup to reduce in volume and thicken without scorching. The flavors will develop as it it thickens and reduces. Remove from heat and serve.

Notes
This syrup would also be great on waffles or french toast. The prickly pear and lemon make this a very brightly flavored syrup, and I could see it pairing beautifully with the kinds of flavors that would go well with raspberries. Perhaps with some slight modification, this could be lovely as a glaze on blueberry or lemon poppy seed muffins.

If you don't have access to prickly pears, try this syrup with raspberries or blackberries. I'd suggest starting with 2/3 to a full 1 cup of fruit. Puree it well, then strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds and pulp from the juice. Then use 1/3 cup of that juice in the recipe above.

Smoked Paprika Potato Breakfast Bowl

I don't have a whole lot to say, but here's a yummy breakfast recipe! This could be easily adapted--use a whole grain other than bulgur, throw in some black beans or bacon, add some onion before roasting, change up the cheese, leave out the eggs . . . you get the idea. Enjoy!

Smoked Paprika Potato Breakfast Bowl

Adapted from Naturally Ella
Yield: 1-2 servings

Ingredients
1/2 to 1 lb. red potatoes
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1-1/2 Tbsp. half and half
1 cup cooked bulgur
1-2 eggs
1 oz. feta cheese crumbles
2 Tbsp. sliced green onions

Directions
Preheat oven to 400. Wash the potatoes and cut into bite-sized cubes. Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray (or line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper). Combine the potatoes, garlic, paprika, sugar, turmeric, salt, and half and half; toss to coat well. Spread the potatoes evenly in the baking dish or cookie sheet, and bake until tender, about 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway. When the potatoes are done, toss them with the cooked bulgur so it all gets nicely coated with the spices.

Toward the end of the potatoes' baking time, boil your eggs: Place eggs in a pan and submerge with cold water. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat. Remove the pan from the burner, cover it snugly, and set a timer

• 4 minutes for slightly runny yolks, 
• 6 minutes for firmer yolks but still soft boiled, 
• 10 minutes for hard boiled. 

Then submerge the eggs in ice water to stop the cooking process (you can do this by either pulling them out with a slotted spoon and sticking them in a bowl of ice water, or by draining the hot water out of the pot and filling the pot with cold tap water and ice). Let them chill out for at least a minute. Peel the eggs.

To serve, dish some potato and bulgur mixture into each bowl. Top with an egg, cheese, and green onions.

Breakfast Quinoa with Spinach and Egg

When it snows in west Texas, the world shuts down. We don't have fancy things like snow plows and tire chains (is that even what they're called?) and people who know how to drive in snow and ice. So an inch or two of snow is enough to close schools and businesses, giving us all the blessed gift of an unexpected day off to burrow under the covers and stay in our jammies all day.

I'm making the best of my day off, which will probably still entail some work and will certainly include some homework . . . but first it included a quick, easy, and wholesome breakfast of egg, quinoa, and spinach. The flavors were simple but hit the spot. I left my egg yolk runny, which added a nice creaminess to the dish. The recipe I was following called for hummus on top; I didn't have any on hand, but it sounded like a good idea so I kept it in the recipe below.

Breakfast Quinoa with Spinach and Egg
Adapted from Naturally Ella
Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 shallot or 1 clove garlic, minced
2 handfuls baby spinach
2 Tbsp. feta cheese crumbles
1-2 eggs
2-3 Tbsp. hummus (optional)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil or butter
Optional garnish(es): chives or green onions

Directions
Heat a small pot over medium heat and pour in the dry quinoa. Toast it for a couple minutes, stirring often. Then add water and salt, and cook according to package directions.*

While the quinoa cooks, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallot and cook until tender and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the spinach, and cover the skillet. Let sit for a few minutes until spinach is wilted. Stir in the cooked quinoa and feta, then transfer to your serving plate.

In the same skillet, cook egg(s) however you like them. Slide egg on top of quinoa mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Top with hummus and garnishes, if using.

*Note: I buy pre-rinsed quinoa, which makes this toasting step possible. However, if you have non-pre-rinsed quinoa, skip the toasting, rinse the quinoa, and cook according to package directions.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Bourbon Glaze

I'm not going to write much about these because a) the recipe is really long with several notes at the end, and b) I think the title speaks for itself. But I will say this: these cinnamon rolls took a boatload of time, and they were worth EVERY second. They turned out sweet, gooey, super soft, and basically the same thing as happiness on a plate.

One quick matter of business before we get to the recipe. I opted to mix and knead the dough in my bread maker. So the dough-making directions below are taken almost word-for-word from The Pioneer Woman, and I cannot personally vouch for how the process works. This was a little too much dough for my bread machine (most of its recipes call for 3 cups flour, and this recipe has 4-1/2) so it overflowed a bit but thankfully didn't make too big a mess. If you go the bread machine route, make sure your machine can handle this much volume, or cut the recipe in half.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Bourbon Glaze

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman 
Glaze adapted from my Pumpkin Monkey Bread recipe
Yield: 24 rolls

Dough 
1-1/2 cups milk (I used 2%; original recipe was for whole milk)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1 cup pumpkin puree
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 cup additional all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Additional flour for kneading and rolling

Filling
3/4 cup butter, melted, divided
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used dark)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
8 oz. cream cheese, very soft (I used reduced fat)
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Glaze
6 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 Tbsp. brown sugar (I used dark)
2 Tbsp. rum or bourbon

Directions
Make the dough:* In a large saucepan, combine milk, vegetable oil, and sugar. Heat until hot but not boiling; remove from the stove and allow it to cool until it's warm to the touch but not too hot. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the liquid and allow it to sit for 5 minutes. Stir in pumpkin puree.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Sprinkle it into the saucepan and stir until it just comes together. Cover with a dish towel and set in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour.

After an hour, the mixture should be very puffy and at least doubled in size. Whisk together the additional 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into the dough until fully combined.

Roll out the dough: Dust your countertop and hands with flour. Turn dough out onto the counter and form into a rectangle. If it's too sticky, work in additional flour until it's handleable, but don't work in too much extra flour.** Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a large rectangle, roughly 30 inches wide by 10 inches deep.

Add the fillings: Melt 3/4 cup butter and set aside to cool slightly. In a small bowl, combine sugar and filling spices. Dot the dough with globs of softened cream cheese, then use a dull butter knife (or the back of a spoon) to carefully spread it.*** It will not spread perfectly; that's okay. Pour about 1/4 cup of the melted butter over the dough and cream cheese, and use your fingers to spread it around evenly. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over the surface of the dough, followed by the pecans. Pour the remaining butter into two 9 x 13 x 2 inch pans, and swirl it around so it evenly coats the pans.

Roll, cut, and bake: For a more manageable rolling process, cut the dough in half, so you're left with two rectangles that are 15 inches wide by 10 inches deep. Starting at the top, roll each rectangle toward you into a large log, rolling as tightly as possible as you go. I frequently had to use a floured rubber spatula with a sharp edge to gently loosen the dough from the counter. End the rolling process the with seam down on the counter.

Use a sharp (floured) knife or dental floss to cut each of the two logs into 12 rolls (I find it's helpful to make hash marks before cutting). Nestle the rolls into the buttered pans. Cover each pan with a damp towel (one that's okay if it gets stained) and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 20 minutes. (Tip: Heat oven to 200, turn OFF, and place rolls in the warmed oven to rise.)

If rolls are rising in the oven, remove them. Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges, rotating the pans halfway through. Mine took exactly 20 minutes.

Make the glaze: Combine butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, and bourbon in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 3-5 minutes, until sugar is dissolved and browned, butter is nice and foamy, and some of the alcohol has cooked out. Drizzle glaze evenly over the cinnamon rolls. Let them cool for a few minutes before serving.

Notes
*Alternatively, if you have a bread machine that's big enough, put all dough ingredients into a bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Use the dough cycle to make the dough, knead it, and let it rise.

**At this point Ree said the dough should be really sticky, and you should work in just enough flour so you can handle the dough. At this point, mine was more like batter than dough, so I ended up working in at least another cup of flour before I could actually handle the dough. Perhaps I mis-measured the flour initially, or maybe the bread machine method made for a wetter dough.

***On all the fillings, leave a 1/2 inch edge along the bottom of the rectangle with no filling. This will help it seal better when you roll everything up.

Maple Flavored Syrup

Here's a quick, easy way to make your own maple syrup at home. Four ingredients. Five to ten minutes. Done. I haven't crunched numbers, but I suspect it's significantly more cost-effective to make your own syrup. It tastes good and is super easy. And it's fun to say you made your own!

Here's the recipe directly from All Recipes. Some of the reviewers added butter and/or used vanilla extract or rum extract for part or all of the maple extract measurement. If you try any of those variations, I'd love to hear how they turn out!

My syrup was pretty thin/runny, which was fine for eating but slightly less photogenic since it soaked right into the pancakes instead of glistening and oozing down the sides. For a thicker syrup, you might add some honey or use less water.

Maple Syrup

From allrecipes.com
Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. maple flavored extract

Directions
Bring the water and sugars to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and stir in the maple extract. Simmer 3 minutes longer.

Pumpkin Coconut Pancakes

I'm officially declaring it fall in my household! I was going to try to hold off until either October 1 or until it was cool for several days in a row. But it was cool two days in a row, I was forced (using the term loosely) to order a pumpkin latte, Kelly brought molasses cookies to house church, and there were cute little pumpkins for sale in the produce section.

So I caved. Each sink in my house is adorned with autumn-scented hand soap. My table will soon have a centerpiece comprised of the aforementioned cute little pumpkins. And I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.

Pumpkin Coconut Pancakes

Adapted from Naturally Ella
Yield: 6 pancakes (2-3 servings)

Ingredients
1/3 cup pecan pieces (plus a couple pinches for garnish)
1/2 cup flaked coconut
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 cup milk

Directions
In a dry skillet over medium to medium-low heat, toast pecans just until lightly toasted and fragrant. Shake the pan frequently to keep them from burning. Remove from skillet to cool. Return the same skillet to the stove and toast the coconut, again shaking to help the coconut toast evenly and keep from burning. Remove from skillet and cool.

Reserve a few pinches of coconut and pecans for garnish.

When pecans are cool, chop until pretty fine. (Or, for more of a flour texture, pulse in a small food processor until the pecans resemble a coarse flour. Don't process too much, or it will start to turn into pecan butter.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: pecans, coconut, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. In a small bowl or 2-cup measuring cup, whisk together the wet ingredients: pumpkin, egg, oil, syrup, and milk. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir just until combined. If the batter seems too thick, add a bit more milk.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, scoop out 1/4 cup batter and pour onto the skillet. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear around the edges. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until nicely browned.

Topping ideas:
Maple syrup and/or honey
Butter
Toasted coconut
Toasted pecans
Sliced bananas and/or apples
Sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice

Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones

There are two things I'd like to leave you with today.

First, make these Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones from Naturally Ella. I took these to work not too long ago, and my friend described them as triumphant. This may be my favorite food compliment I've ever received.

Second, try out a time-saving tip I learned from Cooking Light. Instead of cutting the butter into the dry ingredients, melt the butter and pour it into very cold buttermilk while stirring constantly. The butter will start to solidify as you stir it around in the cold buttermilk. When it's fairly lumpy, dump it into your combined dry ingredients and mix up your dough. That way, you still end up with tiny bits of butter incorporated throughout the dough, but it takes much less time than using a pastry blender or knives, and doesn't require getting the food processor dirty.

Cooking Light also indicated that using this method allowed them to cut the butter measurement in half (!) for the buttermilk biscuits they were making over. I wanted to test the method and the scones recipe before doing something as drastic as cutting the butter in half. But next time I think I'll give it a shot, saving a whole lot of calories and sat fat!

Happy baking!

photo from naturallyella.com

What's Cookin'?

Despite my obsession with photographing my food, I do sometimes leave the camera out of the picture (pun fully intended), usually just for the sake of time. Or because I just want to eat the food without waiting! Or because I just moved and haven't found my camera yet.

So here are some recipes I tried recently and liked, but didn't take the time to photograph and therefore am not going to spend a whole blog post on. I'm borrowing photos from the site where I got each recipe.

Avocado Tuna Salad from Prevention RD - This salad is simple, cool, refreshing, and perfect for a quick summer meal. AND it uses avocado, rather than tons of mayo, to make it creamy and full of good nutrients. I followed the recipe pretty exactly, except I omitted the red onion and using garlic salt (sometimes I'm weird about raw onion and garlic). This was great on Wheat Thins, and I imagine it would also be good on a sandwich, in a wrap (maybe with some spinach?), or with pita chips.

Hummus "Cheesesteak" Hoagies from Cooking Light - These were pretty good! I used a homemade hummus rather than store-bought, but otherwise followed the recipe fairly closely. If you're like me and don't have a gas stove, you can roast your poblano pepper in the oven. Just beware that if your smoke detector is anything like mine, it will go a little crazy with the poblano-roasting process.

Banana Chocolate Chip French Toast Casserole from Foodie Crush - This was a tasty treat, but not as amazing as I had anticipated. To Foodie Crush's credit, I think the modifications I made (using honey oat bread instead of cinnamon swirl, and using coconut milk instead of cow's milk) were not great choices.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples from Cooking Light - This dish was absolutely amazing! I seem to remember that I used red onion instead of shallots, and added a splash of cider vinegar and a splash of red wine. The spice combination on the pork was pure heaven, and went perfectly with the sweet apples, tangy vinegar, and red onions. Do yourself a favor and make this!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Upside Down Cake from the Green Mango Cafe & Bakery Cookbook, as seen on Pinch of Yum - If we didn't have enough pure heaven from the spiced pork tenderloin, here's an extra dose from this dessert. I made this for house church, substituting a brownie mix for the chocolate cake layer, and it was out of this world. Whatever you do, don't skip out on the sauce that you drizzle on at the very end.

Green Eggs and Potatoes

I feel like it's been weeks since I actually cooked something, and even longer since I cooked something that was my own creation. So it felt good to get back in the kitchen this morning. It felt good to work at the stove again instead of zap something in the microwave, and to envision each element of this dish, playing around with the spices and flavors to create something that I thought would be good.

Green Eggs and Potatoes
Yield: 1 serving (with enough chimichurri for 2-3 servings)

5-6 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, stems removed
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1/8 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 red potato, sliced thick
Spices and herbs of choice
2 eggs
Black pepper
Dried chives

First, make the chimichurri: Put green onions, parsley, garlic, oil, vinegar, and salt in a mini food processor. Pulse and process until smooth.

Preheat a skillet over medium heat; spray with olive oil. Slice the potatoes and season on both sides with whatever herbs and spices strike your fancy. I used Mural of Flavor and a hint of chipotle powder. Cook several minutes on each side, until potatoes are tender and nicely browned.

Whisk together the eggs, pepper, and chives. Scramble the eggs in a preheated skillet over medium heat.

To serve, stir some chimichurri into the scrambled eggs. If desired, spread some chimichurri over the potatoes as well.

Notes: The chimichurri is adapted from A Couple Cooks and Naturally Ella. Though the pictures don't reflect this, I highly recommend spreading chimichurri over the potatoes as well as the eggs.