Mini German Pancakes

Recipe from realmomkitchen.com

This is such a great way to make german pancakes, and for some reason my kids eat these better than if I were to make a pan of german pancakes.  The filling is so simple and can easily be changed to your preference.  Peach jam, triple berry filling, fresh berries and whip cream.  The options are endless!!

1 cup milk
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Blend first six ingredients (milk thru orange zest) in a blender.  Be careful to see that any flour clumps get well-blended.
2. Blend in butter a little at a time in order to temper the eggs.
3. Grease muffin tins well and distribute batter evenly between 24 tins (I did more like 18. Gimme Some Oven’s tins were slightly less than half-full.  I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup and filled it almost full.) Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top.
4. Served with your favorite toppings.

Indian Dahl

Recipe from steamykitchen.com

Very easy meal and very easy recipe…my two favorite combinations!  My kids even eat this up.  

ingredients:

1 cup dry lentils

6 ounces canned crushed tomato (or tomato puree, but not tomato paste)

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less depending on your spice preference)

1 cup water

4 tablespoons butter

1/8 teaspoon salt, more to taste

freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

directions:

In a large sauce pan, add the lentils and fill with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the lentils open and are tender. Drain the water from the lentils and return the lentils to the pot. Stir the lentils around in the pot mashing some of them against the pot to break open. Add the crushed tomato, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, water, butter, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 hour until the dal is thick. Make sure to check the pot periodically to make sure the water does not cook out.

Stir in cream, garnish with minced cilantro.

Butternut Squash Risotto

I’m not exactly sure where I got this recipe but it is SUPER yummy!  I LOVE squash so much I could literally eat this whole dish and it’s a recipe for 6 servings.  I love making this in the fall and winter.  It will warm your heart and warm the soul.  Happy eats!

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash cubed (approx. 4 to 5 cups raw)

½ medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

16 oz. arborio rice

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup + 2 tbsp half & half or cream

½ tsp dried sage

8-10 fresh sage leaves

salt & pepper to taste

3 oz. shaved or grated parmesan

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and dice your butternut squash (or you can substitute store bought diced butternut squash to save time).  In a bowl, coat squash in 1 tbsp olive oil and dried sage then layer on baking sheet.

Roast squash in the oven for 50 minutes (tossing once halfway through cooking time) until fully cooked.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

2.  In a large pot, soften diced onion on medium heat in 2 tbsp olive oil for 3 minutes, then add rice and chicken/vegetable broth and bring to a low boil.  Continue cooking on low heat, stirring frequently for 15 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, rough chop your fresh sage leaves and pan fry (yes, pan fry) them in 1 tbsp of butter for 1 minute then drain on paper towel.  You must experience in your lifetime the deliciousness of a sage leaf fried in butter, then you truly have lived.

4.  Before you are tempted to gobble it all down with your bare hands, puree your roasted butternut squash with 2 tbsp of half & half (or cream) in a food processor.

5.  After risotto has cooked for 15 minutes, add white wine, half & half (or cream), and the pureed butternut squash to your rice and continue stirring for 5 minutes, or until rice is al dente and all flavors are absorbed.

6.  If necessary add more broth until rice is fully cooked.  Add salt and/or pepper to taste.  Top with fried sage leaves and serve warm with grated or shaved parmesan.  Serves six

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the episode: Cookie Jar Classics

My friend made these the other day and brought them over.   These were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve had in a really, really, really long time.  She says the key is the melted butter.  Anyway, enjoy!!  I know I will 🙂

Makes 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies

These truly chewy chocolate chip cookies are delicious served warm from the oven or cooled. To ensure a chewy texture, leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool. You can substitute white, milk chocolate, or peanut butter chips for the semi- or bittersweet chips called for in the recipe. In addition to chips, you can flavor the dough with one cup of nuts, raisins, or shredded coconut.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), 7 ounces

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 – 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

3. Following illustrations below, form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch lipless cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet. Smaller cookie sheets can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and baking time may need to be adjusted. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month— shaped or not.)

4. Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

TECHNIQUE

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/print.php?docid=5769 Page 1 of 2Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies :: America’s Test Kitchen :: Recipes 7/16/11 10:10 AM

TECHNIQUE

SHAPING THICK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1. Creating a jagged surface on each dough ball gives the finished cookies an attractive appearance. Start by rolling a scant 1/4 cup of dough into a smooth ball.

2. Holding the dough ball in the fingertips of both hands, pull the dough apart into two equal halves.

3. Each half will have a jagged surface where it was ripped from the other. Rotate each piece 90 degrees so that the jagged edge faces up.

4. Jam the halves back together into one ball so that the top surface remains jagged.