I found the recipe on Group Recipes, but used melted butter instead of the oil originally called for in the recipe. Here is the link to the original recipe. The oil would probably make them more moist, so I might try that the next time I make these…and there will be a next time.

These are great when enjoyed warm, but also great at room temperature.  I warmed mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds each morning as I enjoyed them all week.  That’s just one of those things you must deal with while living with only one other person, leftovers always last a long time.  Sometimes this is a good thing, like with these muffins.  Other times I wish I had more people to eat the last couple servings of a dish.  Our family is growing, but Baby won’t be enjoying these muffins for a while!

Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon shopping list
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup, 1 stick, melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Mix first 5 ingredients together, then add egg, milk and butter.
2. Mix until almost blended, adding pecans. Do not over mix batter.
3. Fill greased and sugared muffin pans two-thirds full.
4. Bake muffins at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

There are a few components to this dessert.  You must make ice cream, brown butter pound cake and some kind of glaze for the petit fours.  I chose a strawberry ice cream and used the pound cake and chocolate glaze recipes from the challenge.  The ice cream recipe makes quite a bit.  I had to freeze it in two batches in the ice cream maker since it wouldn’t fit in all at once.

The pound cake is easy and so very delicious.  The petit fours require two even, flat, level cakes so I had a nice top layer to snack on.  Ginger also tried a bit from the kitchen floor and continued to give me those big puppy eyes the rest of the night in search of more little bits…which I gave her.  If I give in this quickly to a dog, there’s no telling what a pushover I’ll be with our baby.  The cake is dense, sweet and buttery.  There is nothing quite like brown butter.  It might be one of my favorite things.

Since you have to layer the ice cream between the cake layers, give yourself enough time in between all the freezing.  All the layering, cutting and glazing will be easier if the ice cream and cake are frozen solid.  I froze the cut up petit fours for about 6 hours, and even when I was covering the cakes in chocolate glaze I had to stop after half of the them were done because the ice cream started to get too soft.  Time and the freezer are your friends.  The heat of August, however, is not.

Now to the fun part.  Time to eat these lovely little treats.  The chocolate was not quite solid after 2 hours in the freezer, but it was hard enough to photograph and soft enough to eat.  My layer of ice cream was thicker than it should have been, so it kind of oozed out the sides when I cut into the petit four, but it still tasted spectacular.  I liked the combination of bitter-sweet chocolate, fruity ice cream, and rich, buttery cake.  The cake tastes best when it’s not frozen solid, but the ice cream melts pretty quickly.  So, let these sit for a few minutes out of the freezer before enjoying them, but don’t leave them for too long.

Here is the brown butter pound cake recipe, the recipe for the chocolate glaze, and the strawberry ice cream recipe which is pretty great.  If you have any strawberries that need to be put to good use I highly recommend you try this one out.

Brown Butter Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
• 2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
• 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
• 1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

• 9 ounces (250g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract

Directions

1. Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate.
3. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.

Very Berry Strawberry Ice Cream

Courtesy of The Food Network

Ingredients

• 3 pounds fresh strawberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 eggs, or 1 cup egg substitute (recommended: Egg Beaters)
• 2 cans condensed milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
• 1 quart heavy whipping cream
• 1 quart half-and-half
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions

Assembly Instructions – Ice Cream Petit Fours

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.

2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.

3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make the chocolate glaze.

5. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

6. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.

7. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.

One of my favorite restaurants in Amarillo is Fire Slice Pizzeria.  It is a little hard to find, tucked behind a shopping center, but your efforts in finding it will be rewarded.  The last time Ben and I were there they had some really great live music, which is not something you find very much of in Amarillo.  The pizzas here have a great thin crust, and unique and tasty toppings.  They do have a wonderfully simple Margherita pizza, but they also have a green chile cheeseburger pizza that Ben really likes.  My favorite is The Rudy.  The Rudy is a white pizza topped with bacon, spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.  It is delicious.  I love it.  I want a slice right now.

I tried to recreate this pizza with my new pizza crust recipe.  While it didn’t turn out quite like Fire Slice, the flavors were good and I’d definitely make it again.

The first thing I needed to do was find a white sauce to use.  The sauce I found was OK, but pretty thick.  I added about an extra 1/2 cup of 2% milk to thin it out.  The flavor was good, and I liked it as the base of the pizza.  The real Rudy may not have any sauce under the toppings, but I liked it this way.

Now to the toppings!  These amounts made enough for 2 pizzas, so double them if you intend to make all your pizzas with these toppings.

Bacon: 6 slices of bacon cooked in a skillet, drained and cooled, then chopped up.

Mushrooms: 8 ounces of mushrooms, roasted with olive oil and garlic cloves for 30 minutes at 375°F.

Spinach: 12 ounces of fresh spinach, sauteed in a little olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper.

Assembling the Pizzas

1. Divide your dough into 4 pieces, roll each one out to 10-12 inches in diameter.  The dough will be thin.  Transfer the dough to a pizza peel (or unrimmed cookie sheet) dusted with corn meal.
2. Spread some of the white sauce on to the pizza, leaving a thin border which you can brush with olive oil is desired.
3. Top evenly with spinach, mushrooms and bacon.  Sprinkle a little shredded cheese (mozzarella or provolone).
4. Bake on a preheated pizza stone at 400°F for 15-20 minutes.

California Pizza Kitchen Pizza Dough

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients

• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp warm water
• 3 cups bread/all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Dissolve the yeast in the 105-110 degree water and set aside for 5-10 min. Water temperature should feel like bath water.

2. Combine all ingredients together, if using upright mixer or bread maker. Avoid adding the yeast mixture straight onto the salt since salt will kill some of the yeast. Mix on lowest 2 speeds for 2-3 minutes. (If mixing by hand, start with dry ingredients; when mixed, make a well and add wet ingredients, then knead dough for 5 minutes, until dough is barely beyond sticking to your hands.)

3. Lightly oil dough ball and set inside a lightly oiled bowl; seal bowl with clear wrap and set at room temperature to rise until doubled (1½-2 hours).

4. The dough could be used at this point; or for a more chewy dough, punch it down again and reform the ball, cover airtight in bowl in the refrigerator overnight.

For Chewy Dough

5. About 2 hours before use, remove dough from refrigerator. Divide dough into 8 balls (6 inch pizzas)or 4 balls (9 inch pizzas).

6. Once divided, roll balls out on smooth, clean surface.

7. Place 8 balls in glass casserole dish, leaving space enough to double in size, seal top airtight with clear wrap. Set aside to double. They should now be puffy and ready to use.

White Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 3/4 cup evaporated skim milk
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced sodium Swiss cheese
• 2 tbsp Chablis or other dry white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Directions:

1. Combine cornstarch and milk in a small saucepan, stirring until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  This happens fast!
2. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in Swiss cheese, dry white wine, garlic and ground white pepper. Spread sauce evenly over pizza crust.

It was OK, but Ben agreed that I have a better white lasagna recipe that I’ll probably stick to for now.  This artichoke and mushroom lasagna is pretty spectacular.  You can add chicken to it if you want to, but it doesn’t need it.  It is a great vegetarian dinner option.  I’ve made it for a few guests before and everyone seems to like it…or they’re just being nice!

Anyway, there were some great things about this lasagna.  Melted in to the béchamel sauce is a creamy herb cheese that gives a great lively flavor.  I made the mistake of trying to use 2% milk instead of whole milk in the béchamel, leaving it pretty runny even after baking.  I’m not entirely sure it was just a milk problem, though.  When I’ve made béchamel sauce in the past I’ve always made a butter and flour paste before adding the milk.  This recipe didn’t call for any flour.  I ended up adding some when I saw how thin the sauce was, but it didn’t solve the problem.  So, I made some changes to the recipe below to help others avoid the runny béchamel.

Another change I would make it to cut the chicken into smaller pieces.  I might even suggest shredding it.  The pieces were just a little too big to get a good combination of noodle, mushroom, spinach, chicken and sauce in one bite.

The flavors are wonderful, and I like the combination of ingredients.  I skimped on some of the cheese since I have often found lasagnas a bit too heavy on the cheese, but I might have skimped too much since the layers didn’t hold together well.  It’s hard to tell what this would have been like if the béchamel had been thicker.  It may not need more cheese…but then again it may.  I don’t know for sure.  I would guess that a thicker sauce would mean the same amount of cheese listed would be fine.  But if you like cheese or you just don’t trust me, add more.

Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Adapted from New Italian Recipes

Ingredients

Lasagna Filling

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
• 1 pound button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 shallot, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon each dried thyme, oregano, basil and onion powder
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 8-12 ounces mozzarella cheese (sliced or shredded)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions

Béchamel sauce

• 1 cup onion, finely minced
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups whole  milk (or 2%)
• pinch of cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8-10 ounces Boursin cheese (or similar soft, herb cheese)
• 12 ounces spinach, wilted down or sauted
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions

Béchamel

1. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Saute onions in butter until soft.
2. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
3. Whisk in cheese until melted. Stir in spinach and egg.  Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Filling

1. Sauté shallots over medium heat in olive oil until softened.
2. Add the mushrooms, then add the garlic and seasonings and cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 4-5 minutes.
3. Stir in the wine, chicken broth, and lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer about 8-10 minutes over medium heat until liquid is reduced by half. Take off heat and add the chicken.
4. Assemble in oiled 9×13 baking dish as follows: Layer of lasagna noodles. Layer of bechamel, layer of sauce, layer of mozzarella. Follow with the same layering technique for two more layers. (You do not need to cover completely with béchamel or cheese each time, as these will spread during baking.) Over the top layer, spread the parmesan cheese and a little extra mozzarella.

This is a beautiful book with lovely photos of every single recipe.  After making these muffins I have a newly rekindled love for this book and for Martha.  I need to take a break from online recipes and get back to my huge collection of cookbooks.  Why have them if I’m not going to use them?  You might know what I’m talking about if you have at least 30 cookbooks, many of which are just sittin’ pretty on a bookshelf, and yet you find yourself searching on the internet when you want to make something.  What a shame!  Let’s get back to loving our cookbooks.

Every recipe in this cookbook is great.  The cinnamon raisin bread is especially delicious and I’ve made it more than just a few times.  It was the first yeast bread I tried that worked!  It has a great cinnamon swirl and lots of juicy raisins.  I am making myself crave it right now, so I might have to go make a loaf or two…

The blueberry muffins were easy to prepare and made my house smell delicious while they baked.  The generous amount of blueberries guarantees at least a few juicy berries in every bite.  I ate these at room temperature and also halved and toasted with a nice spread of butter.  Either way they are wonderful.  Watch the muffins after about 20 minutes, because mine were done after 25.  I did not sprinkle the sugar/nutmeg mixture on the muffins, but think they would be extra yummy with the nice crunch.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Generously grease and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined.
6. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix.
7. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries.
8. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.
9. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.
10. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes.
11. Remove from pan and let cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

So, is this quick, simple and clean-up free meal any good?  I thought so.  The recipe is from Eating Well and is full of vegetables.  I love when a meal is heavy on warm cooked veggies.  Having a salad can be a good way to get your daily amount of vegetables, but it can often become monotonous.  This is a good way to actually incorporate vegetables into your main course instead of having a separate salad with your meal.

I used more tomatoes than called for in the recipe, replaced the cubanelle pepper with an anaheim, and only used one shallot since the ones at the grocery store were monsters!  These guys were huge.  I also made the great error of leaving out the mustard.  This came to my attention as they were coming out of the oven…not the best timing.  So, I just spread some mustard onto the chicken after it was cooked, and all was well.  I am sure it would have been better had I remembered the mustard earlier, but it didn’t ruin dinner.  I served the chicken with white rice, and so the liquid that remained in the packets was a good sauce despite its thin consistency.  Since I had it on hand I used dried thyme, but I think that fresh would give this a much better flavor.

Overall, a good, tasty meal that can be scaled down to make a quick dinner for 2. If you’re like me, finding recipes and cooking for 2 is often a challenge, unless you want leftovers for the rest of the week.  A reviewer on eatingwell.com said she doubled the ingredients and cooked everything in a Dutch oven, so that is another way to go to serve a larger crowd.  Enjoy!

Chicken, Tomato & Zucchini Packets

From Eatingwell.com

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (1 1/4-1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• 2 sweet banana peppers, or cubanelle peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used 1 anaheim)
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced (I used 1)
• 1 1/2 cups halved grape or cherry tomatoes
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. For the foil packets you will need 4 pieces of foil, about 18 inches in length.
3. Place a chicken breast in the center of one piece of foil and spread with mustard.
4. Toss zucchini, peppers, shallots, tomatoes, oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place about 1 1/4 cups of the vegetable mixture on top of each piece of chicken.
5. Close the packet to cover the ingredients. Starting at the top, seal the packet by folding the edges together in a series of small, tight folds. Twist the tip of the packet and tuck it underneath to help keep the packet closed. Place the packets on a large rimmed baking sheet (packets may overlap slightly). Bake until the vegetables are tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers 165°F, about 25 minutes. (Carefully open one package to check for doneness and be cautious of the steam.) Let the packets rest unopened for 5 minutes before serving.

If these are not what you think of when you think of Swedish pancakes, well, I’m sorry!  These are more crepe-like than American pancakes, and much better…in my opinion.  They don’t fill you up to the point that they sit in the pit of your stomach for hours after breakfast.  There is no right way to eat these light and delicious pancakes, but I will recommend a few things that have never let me down.

Toppings:

• Butter
• Maple syrup
• Nutella spread
• Powdered sugar
• Fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, etc.)

Serving and Prep:

• Spray your skillet lightly with oil every 2nd or 3rd pancake.
• Keep heat at medium.
• Serve ASAP for best and tastiest results!
• If you can’t serve them as you make them, keep pancakes warm in a 200°F oven in a pie plate, covered with foil.

To Eat:

• Spread butter down the center of the pancake, then drizzle some syrup if desired.
• Take the tines of your fork and grab the edge of the pancake, then roll your fork towards the other end of the pancake to make a nice rolled pancake. (See step-by-step photos below)
• Top the rolled pancake with more syrup, a sprinkle of powdered sugar and fruit.  Enjoy!

Swedish Pancakes

Ingredients

Directions

1. Beat all ingredients until smooth.
2. Spread thinly in greased skillet.  (A 1/4 cup measure is a good measurement for a 9-inch skillet.)
3. Cook until small bubbles appear on pancake, flip and cook other side for 30 seconds.
4. Serve with butter and syrup, jam, or berries. Then roll, and dust with powdered sugar.