This is my favorite potato dish. More than mashed or smashed or scalloped or baked or any other way to make potatoes, this simple little hash is my first choice. It is a mixture of perfectly tender, but not mushy, potatoes, sweet and soft bell peppers, delicious onions and just enough Worcestershire sauce to make you wonder what that great seasoning is over it all. It may seem like a lot of chopping at first, but I promise that is the hardest part of making it. And there is no peeling required, which is good because peeling potatoes ranks at the bottom of my list of cooking tasks I like to do. The hash works great as a breakfast or lunch dish, but equally well as a dinner or side dish. Try it once and you'll be looking for excuses to make it again and again and again.

Potatoes O'Brien

By Heat Oven To 350 Published 10/27/2014

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds red potatoes chopped in 1/2 inch pieces (No substitutions here. Other potato varieties will break down and get mushy during cooking in this recipe)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, your color choice, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper
• 4 green onions, sliced thin

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and peppers and toss to coat with the oil.
2. Stir in the broth, Worcestershire sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Cover the skillet and let cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Remove the lid from the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and potatoes are starting to brown, 12-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with green onions before serving.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time:10 mins.

Cook time: 35 mins.
Total time: 45 mins.
Recipe Source: Cook's Country

It's a good thing I'm a morning person, since mornings at our house got a lot crazier last week. My husband started an 8:00 class, which means all of us have to be out of the house by 6:40 AM. I'm already remembering forlornly the days a few weeks ago when I could just get up and go without worrying about anyone else in the family. Such is life, right? I'm starting to notice that things never slow down. They just seem to speed up. 

I usually prefer plain oatmeal or cold cereal in the morning for breakfast because I never feel like putting the time in to mix things up and bake. It  seems like such a hassle when there is Life cereal in the pantry. I love oatmeal, though, and this recipe is perfect for busy mornings because it is made up the night before so all you need to do the next day is to throw it in the oven and bake it. Even with our new hectic schedule that is something that I can handle. It's healthy but still delicious, and it's easily changed to use whatever fruit is in season or on sale. Since I'm one of those people who likes my oatmeal thick instead of runny, I love that this bakes up moist but still dense enough to slice. Topping a warm slice with some vanilla yogurt and more fresh fruit makes mornings something to look forward to. Even with a crazy schedule

Baked Oatmeal with Fruit and Yogurt

By Heat Oven To 350 Published 07/15/2013

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fat free or reduced fat plain yogurt (Or use vanilla yogurt and reduce vanilla extract to 1/4 teaspoon)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup fresh or dried fruit
• vanilla yogurt and fruit for topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Spray a 8 or 9 inch square glass pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine milk, sugar, plain yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix well and fold in fruit.
3. Spread the mixture in the bottom of prepared baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm topped with yogurt and fruit.

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min

Recipe Source: Carmen Rivers via Penzey's spice catalog

I've been on a big losing streak when it comes to new recipes lately. So much so that my husband has started pouring himself cereal even before I get dinner on the table. Given the overly chewy, incredibly bland veggie pasta bake I served a few days ago, I don't blame him one bit.

That's why, when he saw me editing pictures of these breakfast wraps this weekend, he acted like I had betrayed him. "What are those? Seriously, why didn't you give those to me?" he asked, acting like we were marooned on a desert island and I had been holding out on sharing some candy I had stashed in my pocket. 

Well folks, I didn't share because I ate his serving as well as mine. Then I cleaned up the kitchen to hide the evidence before he woke up. Of course, this doesn't work so well if you have photographic proof of the great breakfast you had that you didn't share with your spouse. I just told him it was my fee for getting up with the baby.

Fortunately for all involved, I'll be making these wraps again in the near future. They're a fun twist on regular breakfast food. They're like a cross between a crepe and french toast. You dip tortillas in a french toast batter, cook them in a skillet, then fill them with a yogurt/berry/granola mixture. You'd think for someone who makes french toast out of angel food cake that I'd have french-toasted pretty much everything by now, but trying it with tortillas was new to me. The cinnamon and nutmeg in the batter give it a great flavor that I loved with the fruit and yogurt. It was a nice, lighter change from other traditional breakfast foods, and easy to make. 

I'm calling the recipe losing streak officially over.  

French Toast Breakfast Wraps

By HeatOvenTo350 Published 04/15/2013

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 flour tortillas (can be whole wheat)
• 2/3 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 2/3 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 ripe banana, sliced
• 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup granola
• powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In a shallow bowl, whisk the egg, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Working one at a time, dip both sides of tortillas in egg mixture. Cook tortillas for 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
2. In a small bowl, combine the berries, banana, yogurt and granola.
3. Spoon yogurt mixture down the center of tortillas. Roll up; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Recipe Source: adapted from Taste of Home

Five points if you can name what the pastry in these cream cheese rollups is made of.

If you guessed flattened white bread, you are the winner. If you didn't, don't feel bad. I ate one of these and still didn't know.

This recipe is about as easy and foolproof as it comes. I'm a fan of making things from scratch, but I also think every recipe box should have a few recipes like this one. They aren't glamorous, they aren't healthy, but we give them a pass because they taste so good. They are the kind of recipes we pull out when we are entertaining or have house guests because they get us in and out of the kitchen quickly. They are great to make with kids (if you don't mind a little mess) and don't require a long list of ingredients. 

The ingenuous thing about this one is the bread. Who knew bread could be so easily transformed? Taking off the crusts and flattening it with a rolling pin makes it a more solid layer that is perfect to roll around some sweetened cream cheese. It puffs up slightly in the oven and gets crispy on the outside. 

This recipe is also easily adapted. I found a few versions of it online and some had very sweet fillings, where others were hardly sweetened. I went with the middle route on my sugar amount, ending up with something that tasted like cheesecake to me. You can always add more sugar if you prefer. Middle of the road is probably want you want for white bread, too. Too cheap and it flattens too much and doesn't puff much in the oven. Too hearty and it won't flatten well or might overpower the cream cheese flavor.

Stash this recipe somewhere safe and the next time you have weekend guests or throw a baby shower, pull it out, whip these up and pat yourself on the back for getting out of the kitchen quickly. 

Cream Cheese Rollups with Cinnamon Sugar

By HeatOvenTo350 Published 02/27/2013

Ingredients

• 20 slices homemade style white bread, crusts removed
• 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350. Roll out bread slices with a rolling pin until flattened; arrange on work surface.
2. Beat together cream cheese, egg and 1/4 cup sugar. Combine remaining 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl or pie plate
3. Divide cream cheese mixture onto bread, spreading about 1 level tablespoon on each. Roll up bread to enclose filling. 
4. Brush rolls all over with butter and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Arrange on prepared baking sheets. (To make ahead, prepare to this step and cover baking sheets with aluminum foil. Freeze for up to a week. Do not thaw rollups before baking.)  Bake until the rollups begin to puff, 15 to 18 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield: 10 servings
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook time: 18 min

Recipe Source: adapted from food.com and allrecipes.com

We've been a sick crew over at our house for the past week+. Amelia got her first cold and was nice enough to share it with both me and my husband. You really can't explain to a 7 month old not to cough in your face or wipe her little nose on your shirt, hands, neck, or anything else in her reach. Since it was a doozy of a cold, it seems like it has been forever since we've all been able to breathe comfortably. Luckily we're pulling out of it, and we're counting our lucky stars that it wasn't the flu that has been been hitting most of the country pretty hard right now. Hallelujah for flu shots and our boring lifestyle. 

I'm usually a cereal- or oatmeal-for-breakfast person, but for some reason when I have a cold I feel like making waffles or pancakes. I think in my mind, waffles and pancakes are for the lazy mornings when you sleep in and don't get out of your pajamas until noon. Since that is my favorite way to deal with being sick, making waffles is my way of pampering myself when I start to feel a cold coming on. These malted blueberry waffles were on the menu this week since I felt like trying something a little different from the norm. If you haven't experimented much with malt powder, let me encourage you to try it some time. Malted milk powder is usually sold by the ice cream toppings (at least in the stores around me) and adds great flavor to shakes, cookies and other foods. Rice Krispies has malt flavoring, if that helps you picture the flavor. In my mind, it is what takes these waffles from good to special. The blueberries that give explosions of flavor don't hurt, either. The waffles aren't overly sweet themselves, so you really can top them however you like. I used maple syrup on mine, but a fruit syrup or a sweetened whipped cream would have been wonderful, too. 

Malted Blueberry Waffles

By HeatOvenTo350 Published 01/14/2013

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup malted milk powder
• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups 2 percent milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, oil, milk, egg, malted milk powder, and baking powder and mix with a whisk until well combined. Do not over mix. It’s OK if the batter is slightly lumpy. Gently fold in the blueberries, using caution not to break them.
2. Heat a waffle iron and liberally coat it with cooking spray.
3. Ladle the batter onto waffle iron and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. To keep the waffles warm and crisp, keep them covered in a 250-degree oven and then just before serving uncover to expose waffles to the dry heat for a few minutes, then plate.

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Recipe Source: adapted from The Art of Breakfast

Does your family argue over what to serve for Christmas dinner?

Mine has the great "should we have turkey or ham?" debate every year it seems. This year both sides won because there were enough of us to justify cooking and eating both. Just don't get us started on what kind of desserts we should serve.

If you're in a ham-serving family, this is one recipe you'll want to keep handy because it is a fast, easy way to make use of leftover ham. It is a simple pasta dish with the delicious combination of ham and peas covered with a very easy sauce. It's creamy and rich and tastes great. No, it's not low on calories, so you probably want to eat it before your New Year's resolutions kick in, but it is quick and universally appealing.

For those keeping score, mark down one more point for ham.

Creamy Pasta with Peas and Ham

By HeatOvenTo350 Published 12/26/2012

Ingredients

• 14 oz farfalle pasta
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups diced ham
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions in plenty of salted boiling water, and then after 5 minutes add the peas to the pasta water.
2. When the pasta is cooked, drain with the peas.
3. Put the dry pan back on the heat with the cream, ham and Parmesan and warm it through.
4. Add the pasta and peas back to the pan, tossing everything together well. Add salt and pepper to taste

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 2 min
Cook time: 10 min

Recipe Source: adapted from Nigella Lawson

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

Do you rate recipes that you try? I can't remember when I started it, but every time I make a new recipe I give the end result a star rating so I can remember if it was a winner or not. 5 stars means it was excellent and I will make it again and again, 4 stars means very good, but maybe I will only make it again occasionally, 3 stars means it was okay but not worth the effort. 2 stars and 1 star recipes I normally don't have to rate since they were so bad that it would be impossible to forget them. When I lived with my sister and we'd try recipes together, she'd write her own ratings on top of the recipes, too. They weren't in star form, but they still got their point across. I still laugh when I run across a page of a cookbook I used occasionally and see a 2 star rating from me and a big "YUCKY" from her.

The rating system works pretty well for me, but every once in a while I come across a recipe that I like so much that 5 stars isn't enough for it. It's the kind of recipe that is perfection for me, and these few recipes get 6 stars. They often get an exclamation point after the stars, too, since I'm usually in food bliss when I write the rating down. This biscuit recipe is one of them. It makes buttery, fluffy biscuits that aren't dense or floury. They have a deep, rich flavor from the buttermilk and a lovely, soft texture. They are a slight modification of a drop biscuit recipe so they are less work than rolled biscuits, but they still look beautiful when they are baked. I only make them when I know other people will be around to eat them because I am likely to eat the whole pan in one sitting. The recipe isn't difficult, but do make sure that you move quickly once you add the buttermilk because the faster you get them in the oven, the fluffier they will be. Don't worry, though. Once you know what they taste like, you'll have no problem rushing to get them in the oven.

 

Mile High Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cups cold low-fat buttermilk

To form and finish the dough:

• 1 cup flour distributed in a rimmed baking sheet
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Spray the inside of a 1/4 cup measuring cup with non-stick spray. Spray a 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Pulse a few times to mix. Distribute the butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture and pulse until the consistency of somewhat pebbly, coarse cornmeal, about 8-10 pulses. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add buttermilk. Mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. (Dough will be wet and sticky and slightly lumpy)
3. Working quickly and using the sprayed 1/4 measuring cup, scoop level 1/4 cup of dough and drop onto baking sheet with the 1 cup flour. (You may need to use a small spoon to help you drop the dough onto the sheet.) Repeat with remaining dough until you have 12 even mounds on the baking sheet. Using floured hands, scoop up a ball of dough and gently roll it in the excess flour. Shape gently into a ball, shake off excess flour, and place in prepared cake pan. Repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. (You should be able to fit 9 dough balls around the outside of the pan and three in the middle.)
4. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter, taking care not to flatten them. Bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 450 degrees and bake an additional 12-15 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from the oven, let sit in the pan for 2 minutes, then invert the pan on a clean kitchen towel and carefully break apart biscuits. Cool 5 minutes longer and serve.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20 min Serves: 6

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated July/August 2004 

Asparagus Ricotta Tart

Aren't there some foods that seem naturally fancy? That no matter what you do to them, they lend a certain elegance to the final meal? A friend told me a little while ago about a time when she was going to a dinner and her 9 year old daughter told her to bring back a chocolate covered strawberry. My friend said she didn't know if there would even be chocolate covered strawberries there, and her daughter answered, "Isn't Jana doing the dinner? She's fancy. Of course there will be chocolate covered strawberries." Case closed. I love the way kids draw conclusions.

I do agree with the idea that some foods just naturally seem elegant. Two of these for me are puff pastry and asparagus, so put them both together and this tart is in the realm of parasols and tea time with William and Kate in my mind. The fact that these tarts are easy to make doesn't detract from their fanciness at all to me. It just makes me love them more. Puff pastry, if you haven't had an opportunity to use it yet, is just about the most magical thing in the world. This sheet of dough that you can buy in the freezer section of a regular grocery store bakes into the prettiest, puffiest layers of flaky crust and buttery goodness. It makes the perfect, easy crust for the ricotta mixture and asparagus. With very little hands-on time you can have an impressive-looking, impressive-tasting tart that would be perfect for Easter brunch, an appetizer, or a side dish with a soup.

All elegant, of course. 

Asparagus Ricotta Tart

Ingredients

• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed according to package directions (There are two sheets in one package. You can find puff pastry in the freezer section, usually near the pies.)
• 1 large egg, beaten, for crust
• 1 large egg, for filling
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower position and hear oven to 375 degrees. Unfold each pastry sheet one at a time and, using a rolling pin, roll each pastry slightly to smooth out the seams and increase the size.
2. Lay each pastry sheet onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush each pastry with the beaten egg. Fold the edges on opposite sites of the tart over by about 1/2 inch and brush with beaten egg. Repeat with remaining two edges and brush with egg. Fold the first two sides over once more and brush with beaten egg. Use a paring knife to cut through the folded edges and corners. (See photos below) Prick the inside of the tart shell repeatedly with a fork. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack. (If the middle of the pastry has puffed up at all during cooking, push it back down. It's easier to do this before it cools.)
3. Turn oven down to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat together egg, ricotta, cream, milk, salt and pepper. Pour half of the mixture into each baked tart. Lay half the asparagus on top of the ricotta mixture in each tart. Bake another 15-20 minutes or until golden and set. Serve hot or cold.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 30-40 min Serves: 6-8

Recipe souece: adapted from America's Test Kitchen and Sweet Paul magazine

Cherry Almond Poppyseed Muffins

Those of you familiar with Costco probably know about their muffins. They're roughly three times the size of a regular muffin and contain about a week's worth of fat and calories. They're pretty much round pound cakes. My husband had told me multiple times before we got married how much he loved this one particular flavor of muffin from Costco, and when the family dog got into the batch a few days before the wedding he was pretty disappointed.

Soon after my husband and I were settled into our new place I had the itch to bake something one Saturday and decided to make some muffins for my husband. I asked him what flavor it was that was his favorite and he said, "Poppyseed"

"Lemon poppyseed?" I asked.

"Yes, that sounds right. Lemon poppyseed." He answered.

So I set off to find a recipe for lemon poppyseed muffins. I baked up a batch and they had a lukewarm reception. Something wasn't quite right with the taste, he said. Not to be deterred, I tried another batch, but they weren't much better. Throughout the week I tried a couple more recipes and none of them quite measured up to what my husband was looking for in a muffin. I finally gave up.

Fast forward a few months and my husband is at Costco with me. We end up in the bakery section and I ask him if he wants to buy some muffins. He walks over and picks out a dozen almond poppyseed muffins and brings them back to the cart. Apparently Costco doesn't even make lemon poppyseed muffins. The reason all those lemon poppyseed muffin recipes never passed the taste test with my husband is that lemon just doesn't taste like almond.

Since that discovery I've avoided making muffins altogether, but when I found an almond cherry muffin recipe I decided it sounded too good to pass up. I added poppyseeds for my husband and made half the batch without cherries in case he didn't like them. It turned out that he liked them both ways and the recipe was a definite keeper. I love the combination of cherries with the almond flavoring and the poppyseeds give it just a bit of crunch. It's not a healthy recipe by far, but they are very moist and worth the splurge every once in a while. I have to say, finally having a muffin recipe be approved by my husband did give me a feeling of satisfaction. It didn't hurt to finally know the right flavor to make them.

Cherry Almond Poppyseed Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T poppyseeds
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 2 muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and poppyseeds. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, sour cream and extracts. Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Do not overbeat. Fold in the cherries.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full of batter and bake 20-25 minutes or until tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 20-25 min Yield: 24 muffins

Recipe Source: adapted from Penzey's Spice Catalog, Winter 2012

Vermont Maple Apple Rings

The nesting phase hit.

And it's Spring Cleaning time.

And we get to have my mom come and stay with us for two whole weeks after the baby is born.

It's what I call a cleaning perfect storm.

I'm normally a compulsive cleaner to begin with, but add those extra factors on and I'm a one woman, waddling, cleaning machine. My husband looks on with fear when he sees me eyeing anything of his for too long. He's justified, I think. He might never see those old issues of Wired magazine again. How can he expect me to bring a baby back to this house with 2 year-old magazines filling the bookshelves? Seriously.

One of the latest victims of my re-organization efforts was my recipe binder. Maybe you have one - that binder full of your favorite recipes in some semblance of order, with clippings, copies and printouts from several dozen magazines, blogs and cookbooks stuffed in the front? Mine could hardly shut for all the extra pages stuffed in it. It got a much-needed makeover this past weekend as I tossed recipes I will never make again or even attempt at all, hole-punched the ones I will, and re-prioritized the recipes that I still need to try.

These apple rings came out of the re-prioritizing. They originate from a little pamphlet-type cookbook of maple syrup recipes that I bought years and years ago when living in Vermont. I'm sad to say I had never used a single recipe from this book until now, mostly because Vermont maple syrup is like gold out here in Utah, and I didn't want to waste any of it cooking something that might only turn out to be mediocre. I kept the book around since a lot of the recipes still look good and I think it's cute that all of them are named "Vermont Maple Something."

It turns out that the apple rings are a little gem of a recipe that I should have tried a long time ago. They're simple and fast, and they're a fun alternative to pancakes. Thin slices of apple are coated with a pancake-like batter and cooked on a skillet until they are a warm, soft cooked apple layer inside of a fluffy dough. Delicious sounding, right? I love that since the entire middle layer is apple, the apple flavor really shines through. I was also pleasantly surprised with how light and fluffy the dough layers turned out. Top it off with some maple syrup, and you've got one tasty breakfast. 

Now, somebody please distract my husband while I "relocate" some old magazines.

Vermont Maple Apple Rings

Ingredients

• 2 medium apples, pared and cored
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (see note) plus more to adjust for consistency
• Vermont maple syrup

Directions

1. Slice apples crosswise into 1/8" thick rings. (a mandolin slicer works great for this)
2. Whisk together flour, baking power, baking soda and salt. Beat in eggs and buttermilk (or sour milk), mixing just until incorporated.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat and grease lightly. Dip apple rings into batter and allow excess batter to drip off. If the batter is too thick, add more buttermilk, one tablespoon at a time, until it is thick enough to stick to the apple ring, but thin enough to have excess drip off. You might want to cook a test apple ring to make sure the batter is to your liking before adding too much milk.
4. Cook apple rings on skillet until golden brown, turning once. Skillet temperature is important here because if the skillet is too hot, the outside dough will burn before the apple inside starts to soften. Once again, you'll probably want to try a test apple ring and adjust the skillet temperature before cooking a bunch of rings at once.
5. Serve immediately with maple syrup.

Note: To make sour milk, add 1 1/2 tsp vinegar to 1/2 cup regular milk

Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 10 min Serves: 2-3

Recipe Source: The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook, 2nd edition. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

Three things about myself that make me feel old:

1. I go to bed at 10:30 every night. Granted, I get up at 4:40, but I still feel pretty ancient when I turn in a few hours before my husband.

2. I actually like nylons. I'm not-so-secretly hoping that Mad Men and Princess Kate will bring them back in style. And I just barely found out that they were "out" only because I read an article criticizing Kate for wearing them. Until then I was blissfully enjoying how smooth they make my legs look. I still wear them. High fashion be darned.

3. I like to eat breakfast for dinner. It's pretty much the only time I'm in the mood for foods like pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs or french toast. I still haven't succumbed to 4:00 breakfast dinners at Denny's but there are days when that doesn't sound too bad.

That's why I like to think that combining a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with french toast makes it a bit more youthful, even if I am eating it for dinner. It's probably the least elegant stuffed french toast that I know of, but don't let the simplicity make you think less of it. It combines the awesomeness of french toast with the winning sweet/salty combination of peanut butter and jelly. It tastes great with maple syrup or on its own with some fruit. It's easy and quick to make but it appeals to little kids and big kids alike.

Now, if you'l excuse me, I have some coupons I need to redeem.

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 slices brioche (or other soft bread)
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup fruit preserves
• 1 T Butter, for coating pan

Directions

1. In a wide shallow dish combine milk, cream, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and scraped vanilla bean. Spread the bread slices evenly with the peanut butter and jelly and form sandwiches.

2. Dip assembled sandwiches in batter, coating each side evenly. Heat a large cast iron or non-stick griddle over medium heat.

3. Grease pan with butter. When butter starts to sizzle, turn heat up a notch. Place sandwiches on the griddle and cook, 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

4. Cut into strips and serve with maple syrup.

Recipe Source: Marc Meyer, Co-Owner of Five Points, Cookshop and Hundred Acres, and ABC News

Cheese Blintzes

As you're reading this post, I'm currently on vacation in New York City. If you're feeling jealous, I'd have to say you're justified. New York is an awesome place and I'm so excited to spend a few days seeing the sites, watching some shows and shopping the stores with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law as part of our annual Moss women trip. (In case you are wondering, it's not like we feel the need to escape the Moss men. It's just that they can't handle shopping the way we can. Few can, actually.)

To give you a little taste of what I'm enjoying out there, I thought I'd finish up crepe week with these cheese blintzes. The first time I tried them on our Moss women trip last summer and I've been talking about them ever since. Our hotel was across the street from a well known New York diner and we ate there for breakfast most mornings. On the menu at this diner were cheese blintzes. I had no idea what they were, but, feeling adventurous, I ordered them anyway. As my sister-in-law said, "Go big or go home." and I decided to go big. (Although when you apply that rule to food, it usually also means "Go home big.") It turns out that cheese blintzes are a crepe filled with a sweetened cream cheese/cottage cheese mixture that is fried and topped with fruit. It was like a crepe cheesecake for breakfast, and was one of the best things I ate in New York. Let's just say I ordered them again the next day, but this time I made sure to split it with someone. 

Once home I tried to replicate the blintz, but without luck. I all but gave up on the idea when I found a cookbook put out by the New York diner where we had eaten. Sure enough, it had the recipe for cheese blintzes in it and it wasn't long before I was making my own blintzes at home. I've made a couple changes to the recipe, such as using a different crepe recipe that I prefer and baking the blintzes instead of frying them for ease of preparation and less mess. The end result still tastes like the wonderful blintzes I had in New York, though, and even won over my skeptical husband with them. If you want something delicious and out of the ordinary for your breakfast, this is the perfect choice.

Cheese Blintzes

12 6-8 inch crepes

2 8 oz packages cream cheese (sorry, low-fat will not work here)

1 cup large-curd cottage cheese

2/3 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 T melted butter

Toppings:

Applesauce

Fruit

Sour cream

Syrup

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and brush a 9x13 pan with melted butter. Stir cream cheese, cottage cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla extra in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until blended. 

2. To fill each crepe, spoon 3 T of filling cream cheese mixture in the center of once crepe, then fold the bottom part of the crepe up over the filling, followed by folding both sides in, and finally folding the top down. Place seam side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

3. Brush the tops of each blintz with melted butter and place in oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until they are puffed and turning golden in color. Remove from oven.

4. To serve, top blintzes with your choice of applesauce, fruit, sour cream or syrup.

Recipe Source: adapted from Welcome to Junior's! Remembering Brooklyn with Recipes and Memories from its Favorite Restaurant. 

Foolproof Crepes

When my husband and I moved away from Minnesota a couple years ago, we thought we were in pretty good shape a few days before the move. We had been packing and selling stuff on Craigslist for almost a month. My husband had taken several trips to Goodwill with his truck, and then more trips to the recycling/waste management location once Goodwill rejected my 23 year-old TV as being too old. (Which only reinforced my husband's hatred for that TV. Since I grew up with the thing I couldn't be objective about it. He tells me that TVs aren't supposed to come in wooden boxes like furniture.) 

The moving day came and my husband drove to U-Haul, picked up our trailer, and we started to pack our stuff in it. And pack some more. And then realize that not everything was fitting, so we'd take some stuff out and pack some more. Eventually I left him to this important jigsaw puzzle while I tried to clean and get all the miscellaneous stuff thrown in my car. (Literally thrown.) Our noon departure time turned into afternoon, and then early evening, and finally we realized we'd be lucky to be done packing that day. My wonderful mother-in-law came down from work and helped us clean and finish everything up and suggested we stay one more night at their place and head out the next morning. It was music to our ears.

It got even better when my father-in-law made us dinner and my sister and our good friend Brian came over. After a day of stressful packing, it was just a nice night of good company, relaxed good-byes and some amazing crepes. My father-in-law made batch after batch of perfect crepes, each one the size of a dinner plate. They were delicate, eggy perfection with powdered sugar, whipped cream and sliced strawberries. I have to say, none of us really held back and we thoroughly gorged ourselves. To this day I think of that night whenever I make crepes.

I can't say that I have the art of making crepes down to perfection like my father-in-law, but this recipe has really helped me get closer. It's the easiest method I found to make crepes that aren't too thin, aren't too thick, and don't contain weird lumps. They lend themselves to all kinds of toppings, both sweet and savory. If you get this recipe down, you are in luck because the rest of the recipes I'm posting this week are other favorite ways to use them. I have to say, though, I have to plan ahead when I want some left over for other purposes. It's just to easy to gorge yourself on something so delicious as freshly made crepes, powdered sugar, whipped cream and some fruit.

 

Foolproof crepes

Notes from America's Test Kitchen:
We determined that the success of our crêpe recipe relied on some crucial crêpe-cooking tricks. Heating the pan properly was essential to our recipe. If too hot, the batter set up before it evenly coated the surface. If too cool, the crêpe was pale (read: bland) and too flimsy to flip without tearing. Using just enough of our crêpe recipe’s batter to coat the bottom of the pan was also important, as was the tilt-and-shake method that we employed to distribute it. To avoid singed fingertips, we loosened the crêpe with a rubber spatula before grasping its edge and nimbly turning it to the flip side to cook until spotty brown.

Ingredients:1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 cup (5 ounces) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk (2% worked just fine for me, too.)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Sugar

Directions:

1. Place oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet and heat over low heat for at least 10 minutes.

2. While skillet is heating, whisk together flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt in medium bowl. In separate bowl, whisk together milk and eggs. Add half of milk mixture to dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add butter and whisk until incorporated. Whisk in remaining milk mixture until smooth.

3. Using paper towel, wipe out skillet, leaving thin film of oil on bottom and sides. Increase heat to medium and let skillet heat for 1 minute. After 1 minute, test heat of skillet by placing 1 teaspoon batter in center and cook for 20 seconds. If mini crêpe is golden brown on bottom, skillet is properly heated; if it is too light or too dark, adjust heat accordingly and retest.

4. Pour ¼ cup batter into far side of pan and tilt and shake gently until batter evenly covers bottom of pan. Cook crêpe without moving it until top surface is dry and crêpe starts to brown at edges, loosening crêpe from side of pan with rubber spatula, about 25 seconds. Gently slide spatula underneath edge of crêpe, grasp edge with fingertips, and flip crêpe. Cook until second side is lightly spotted, about 20 seconds. Transfer cooked crêpe to wire rack, inverting so spotted side is facing up. Return pan to heat and heat for 10 seconds before repeating with remaining batter. As crêpes are done, stack on wire rack.

5. Transfer stack of crêpes to large microwave-safe plate and invert second plate over crêpes. Microwave on high power until crêpes are warm, 30 to 45 seconds (45 to 60 seconds if crêpes have cooled completely). Remove top plate and wipe dry with paper towel. Sprinkle each crepe with about a teaspoon of sugar, fold and arrange on a plate for serving.

Recipe source: America's Test Kitchen