APPLE PANCAKE

APPLE PANCAKES
(serves 4)
This was quite tasty. Before I had my dutch oven, I used a normal pan and the round stoneware. Next time I would either use my stainless steel pan or have the stoneware in the oven getting hot while the apple slices are cooking - then transfer them.

4 TBSP (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 c dark-brown sugar (I actually didn't notice it was brown, used white)
1 large McIntosh apples (about 8 ounces), cored and sliced 1/8"
5 large eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of course salt (used Kosher)
1/2 cup nuts,optional
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400. In a 10" cast-iron skillet, melt butter and 3 TBSP brown sugar. Add apple slices, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, milk, cinnamon, salt and remaining TBSP sugar. Pour batter slowly over cooked apple mixture. Transfer skillet to oven. Bake until dark golden brown, set in center, and puffed around the edges, about 15 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar; serve immediately.

GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP SKILLET COOKIE

GIANT DARK CHOCOLATE CHIP SKILLET COOKIE by NancyCreative, adapted from The Nourished Life  http://nancycreative.com/2014/05/13/giant-dark-chocolate-chip-skillet-cookie/ 

We loved, loved this. Used dutch oven pan.  I used semi-sweet because it was the easiest to get to, but dark would be so yummy or 1/2 1/2. I also thought peanut butter chips would be good with this recipe.

UPDATE: We made this again. I put parchament paper on the bottom and greased with coconut oil.  Worked perfect!  Also put in 1/2 of the dough and put some caramel (ice cream topping) and some dark chocolate chips then topped with rest of cookie dough.  Um yum!

Makes 1 giant cookie in a 10″ cast iron skillet

• 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I used Niielsen-Massey Vanilla)
• 1 (10-ounce) bag dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly grease a seasoned 10″ cast iron skillet with butter or coconut oil.

In medium size bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In large bowl, cream softened butter with granulated and light brown sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, blending well.

Add flour mixture from small bowl to butter-sugar mixture and mix all ingredients together just until blended–do not overmix!

Fold in chocolate chips and mix until the chocolate chips are evenly incorporated into the batter (the batter will be thick, so you’ll need a large sturdy spoon to mix!). Then spread or pat the batter evenly into your cast iron pan and bake at 350˚ degrees for 32 to 35 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes and cut into slices (as you would a pie) and serve while it’s still warm. A scoop of ice cream on top wouldn’t be a bad idea, either! :)

Just a note that it was a little hard getting the first slice of cookie out without a little crumbling and breaking, but after that it was smooth cookie sailing–the other pieces came out very nicely!

TORTILLAS

TORTILLAS
Patti Raney came and showed us how to make these at YW.  Need to use dutch oven pan (no oil).  Took about an hour+ start to finish.

Cut together:
4 cups sifted flour
6 T shortening or margarine

Mix until dough is soft:
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup warm water

Divide dough into 15 -18 egg size balls.  Let is stand for 5-10 minutes.  Heat griddle (medium high) - do not grease.  Dust board or countertop with a little flour.  Take one ball of dough press down & place on dusted board.  Take a rolling pin and place on he middle of dough.  Roll away from you and roll toward you (keep dough oval shape at all times).  Place tortilla on hot griddle for 1/2 minute (till bubbles appear), turn, leave for about 1/2 minute, turn & leave for about 1/2 minute, remove from griddle.  Tortilla should be bubbly and soft.

CHIPOTLE BOWL RECIPE

CHIPOTLE BOWL RECIPE
http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/chipotle-bowl-recipe
We all really liked these.  It was a fun change.  Had made homemade tortillas to go with it (see Made from Scratch folder).  Need to start beans 30 min before eating (or longer).  The tortillas took about an hour.

Chicken: (used a rotesserie (sp) from Costco)
2-3 breasts of chicken
2 limes
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tsp Minced Onion
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Oregano leaves
½ tsp cilantro leaves
½ tsp black pepper

Beans:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ cup yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic or 2 tsp minced garlic
2 cans black beans (15.5 ounce)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon pepper, fresh ground
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon lime juice

Rice:
2 cups water
1 cup white rice
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup lime juice
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Chicken:
Place chicken in crock pot and sprinkle with the juice of one lime and the spices listed. Cook on low for 4-6 hours until it reaches shred consistency. Shred chicken. Squeeze second lime over the chicken.

Beans:
Heat oil in a medium pot.
Saute onions and garlic.
Add remaining ingredients except lime. Simmer fro 30 minutes.
Stir in lime juice before serving.

Rice:
In a medium pan heat 2 cups of water and 1 T butter to boil. Add 1 cup of rice and salt.
Lower heat to low and cover. Cook for 20 minutes.
Stir in lime and cilantro after rice is cooked.
To make Bowl:
Combine all ingredients over a bed of lettuce layer, beans, rice, chicken, cheese, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.

Corn Salsa Recipe
Rating: 5
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Corn Salsa Recipe
Ingredients
1 Can of Yellow Corn or 1 pound of frozen corn
2-3 Sweet Mini Peppers
½ cup Red Onion, chopped
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Instructions
Combine all ingredients and stir together.

OVERNIGHT COFFEECAKE

Made this for Mother's 2014.  Was really yummy!  Didn't cook in the middle really well but could have been because I cooked it with egg casserole?

http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/overnight-sour-cream-coffeecake-recipe/

Overnight Coffeecake Recipe

Rating: 5

Yield: two 9-inch cakes

Ingredients

Streusel:
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 cup pecans, almonds, or walnuts, chopped
Cake:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Instructions

1. For the streusel: Use your fingers to mix together the sugars, flour, butter, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the nuts and set aside.
2. Coat two 9-inch cake pans with vegetable oil spray. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the sour cream, sugars, eggs, and melted butter together until smooth. Gently whisk the egg mixture into the flour mixture until smooth and well combined, but do not over mix.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of both cakes.
4. Wrap the pans tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 1 month.
5. To Serve: Preheat oven to 350. Unwrap the cakes and bake until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25-30 minutes if baking right away, 30-35 minutes if refrigerated, or 40-45 minutes from frozen (do not thaw first). Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

Do not try to put all of the batter into one large cake pan because it will not bake evenly.

- See more at: http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/overnight-sour-cream-coffeecake-recipe/#sthash.KEyFEm0T.dpuf

CINNAMON ICE CREAM - PIONEER WOMAN

PIONEER WOMAN CINNAMON ICE CREAM
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/04/cinnamon-ice-cream/
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/cinnamon-ice-cream-3/

This tasted pretty close to Roadhouse cinnamon ice cream.  We did like it better after it had sat in the freezer all night.  It was pretty soft when coming out of ice cream maker.  Have to 1/2 recipe for our ice cream maker!

Description
If you haven’t tried homemade cinnamon ice cream, you’ve missed out on a miraculous treat! Utterly divine.

Ingredients
3 cups Half-and-half
2 cups Sugar
3 whole Cinnamon Sticks (WinCo has in bulk)
1 whole Vanilla Bean (or 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract)
9 whole Egg Yolks
3 cups Heavy Cream (used heavy whipping cream)
1-½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Preparation
In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the half-and-half and sugar. Stir it to combine, then add the cinnamon sticks, the caviar from the vanilla bean, and the empty vanilla bean pod. Stir the mixture around and heat it up until it’s very hot but not boiling.

Meanwhile, add the egg yolks to a medium bow and whisk them vigorously for about 2 minutes, until the yolks are slightly lighter in color.

Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean pod from the saucepan. Grab a ladle of the hot half-and-half mixture and drizzle it very slowly into the yolks, whisking them constantly to temper the egg yolks. Repeat with another ladle of the hot liquid. When it’s mixed in, slowly pour the entire egg mixture into the pan with the half-and-half, stirring with a spoon. Once added, stir and cook it for 2 minutes or so, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spoon.

Set a fine mesh strainer over a clean glass bowl and strain the custard. Don’t worry if it’s a little lumpy!

Add the heavy cream to the bowl, add the ground cinnamon, and stir it all together. Chill the mixture for an hour or so, then pour it into the ice cream machine and process it according to your machine’s directions. When it’s finished churning, it will be in the soft-serve stage; transfer it to a freezer container and freeze for several hours or overnight until it’s frozen firm.

Delicious!