Cornmeal Pancakes

Scott and I are celebrating finals weekend at the French Open. Because of the time delay, the matches are on in the morning. What better way to celebrate than with a championship breakfast?

Notes: These pancakes are drier and heartier than you might be used to, so just be prepared for that. As you might recall, Scott and I disagree about the roll of fruit in pancakes. As such, my pancakes had blueberries in them and his were plain. They were both delicious.

Normally, I am terrible at flipping pancakes, but for some reason I was able to get through the whole batch without messing up any. This is a first in my cooking career!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons of finely ground cornmeal
1/2 cup of "instant" pancake mix (recipe here)
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter (plus more for the skillet)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Fruit of your choice (optional)

Directions:

Start by melting the two tablespoons of butter. I just zap mine for about 25 seconds in the microwave.

Add the cornmeal, cinnamon, and pancake mix to the bowl and stir to combine. Crack the egg into another bowl and beat it slightly. Add both the egg and the milk to the dry ingredients. Stir to combine and then stir in the melted butter.

Heat your skillet or griddle on medium-high. Once it's hot, add a tablespoon of butter and swirl it around to coat the bottom of the skillet. When it finishes bubbling, wipe the butter out of the skillet. Use a ladle or a measuring cup to add the batter to the pan. If you're adding fruit, drop it on top of the pancake now.

When the batter starts to look dry around the edge of the pancake and bubbles start to form and burst on the top, flip the pancake over. Let it brown on the other side for about 30-45 seconds.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Eggplant Lasagna

Vegetable lasagna is one of my favorite things to make and to eat. I have made many versions of it and I will make boatloads more in the future.

Notes: It's that glorious time of year again when summer vegetables start to come in season. The co-op got its first round of eggplant in, so I decided it belonged in my lasagna. Eggplant can sometimes taste bitter. Salting it before you use it will help draw out some of the liquid that contributes to the bitter flavor (I've included that step in the directions).

Lasagna is labor intensive, but not difficult. The hardest part it getting everything ready to assemble.

Here's a good tip: take your ricotta out of the fridge a few minutes before you need it. If it's closer to room temperature, it will spread more evenly.

When it comes to no-boil noodles, remember you need liquid at the edges or else they will stay crunchy. Just be sure to give them a nice coating of sauce before you put everything in the oven.


Ingredients:
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (no less than 26 oz., but more is better)
1 eggplant
1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups of washed baby spinach
12-15 oz. of ricotta cheese
1 large or 2 small fresh mozzarella balls
1 tablespoon herbs de provence
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat oven to 375.

Slice your eggplant into rounds and lay them on a cooling rack. Sprinkle them with salt and let them sit while you assemble the rest of your ingredients.

Chop the spinach and add it to a bowl with the ricotta cheese. Season well with salt, pepper, red pepper, and herbs de provence. Stir to combine and set aside.

Slice the mozzarella balls into small, thin rounds and set aside.

Take a paper towel and pat dry the eggplant rounds.

Add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish. Then, layer everything as follows:
4 noodles
1/3 ricotta mixture
Eggplant rounds
1 cup sauce

Repeat the layers until you use up the ricotta mixture. On the last layer, add the remaining noodles and sauce. Lay the mozzarella rounds on top. Cover with foil and bake for 40-45 minutes until bubbly and hot. Take the foil off and bake for another 5-7 minutes until the cheese on top starts to bubble.

Let stand for 5-10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Spelt Blueberry Banana Muffins

The impulse baker strikes again.

I bought blueberries at the store this morning because they were on sale. I figured they'd be great in my museli. There were a few too many for them to all fit in my container. Extra blueberries? The impulse baker knows just what to do with those!

Notes: These muffins aren't too sweet, so they're great for breakfast.

I've read in various places that you can use chia seeds as an egg substitute. I tried it for these and it worked great. You don't even know the chia seeds are in there.

This recipe can admit of lots of substitutions. Don't have yogurt? Use sour cream. Don't want dairy? Swap the regular milk for almond or coconut. I know people think baking has to be perfectly exact, but think of it this way: people have been baking long before there were measuring cups and conversion charts. It can't be that fussy!

Ingredients:
2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon chai seeds
3 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 banana
1 cup blueberries

Directions: Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Start by adding the chia seeds and water to a small bowl. Stir them together and set aside so that the seeds become sticky.

Add the brown sugar and butter to a bowl. Whisk them together until the brown sugar is mostly dissolved. Add in the chia mixture, yogurt, milk, and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Mash your banana and add it to your wet ingredients. Add flour, salt, spices, and baking soda to the bowl and stir everything to combine. Fold the blueberries into the mix.

Spoon the mix into your muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Enjoy!

Mexican Fried Rice

Aaaaaand, we're back!

Remind me never to combine graduation, moving, driving half way across the country, and food poisoning ever again. Needless to say, I'm glad the trip is over! But it's so nice to have Scott and Sassy home with us for good.

Sassy is always ready for dinner. 

Now that we're all here, it's time to get back in the kitchen. I wish I could take credit for this new dish, but it was all Scott's idea. We were planning dinner for my parents and had decided on fried rice. Scott stared off into space and said, "Could you make fried rice but with Mexican flavors?" Hmm. Well, why not? We decided to try it and this is the tasty result.

Notes: A homemade enchilada sauce would have been so much better, but it takes time and lots of ingredients. I tried to jazz up the canned version I bought, but I think I would have added even more spices. Green peppers would have been good, too, but Scott isn't a fan of bell pepper. I'm not sure what veggies might work in this dish, so if you decide to experiment let me know what you use. I would also add some toppers like maybe some sour cream or avocado. This is both a budget and pantry friendly meal.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 small onion
1 small bunch cilantro
1-2 ears of corn
1 15 oz. can small red beans (I used aduki)
1/4 cup of enchilada sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cumin
A splash of water (to thin out the sauce)
Olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

You'll want to do all your prep before you start heating up your pan. Start by removing the corn from the ear. It helps to stand the ear up on its end in a large bowl. Run your knife from top to bottom to strip the ear. The bowl will catch all the kernels. Dice your onion and chop your cilantro. Drain and rinse your beans. Set everything aside.

Pour the enchilada sauce in a small bowl or measuring cup. Whisk in the brown sugar, water, and cumin. Set aside.

Assemble all your ingredients next to the stove. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of oil to a high-sided skillet (I don't have a wok). Heat it on high. When the oil starts to ripple, smoke, and disappear a bit, add your onion. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the onion for about 2 minutes until it's tender and starting to brown. Make a space in the middle and then add the corn. Stir it together with the onion for about 1 minute. Again, make a space in the middle and add the beans. Stir them together with the onion and corn for about 1 minute. Make another space in the middle and add the rice. Stir the rice with everything and season with salt and pepper. Then pour the sauce over the all the ingredients. Stir everything together for about 2 more minutes. If the dish starts to look too dry, add just a splash of water.

When it's all done, remove the dish from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Enjoy!

Summer Adventure

I just wanted to let everyone know that at the end of the week I'll be leaving for my big road trip. I'm heading to Louisiana to see Scott graduate and to move his stuff up here to PA with me. I'm not sure that I'll get to do much cooking while I'm there, so if you see dust collecting on the blog, you know why! I'll be back at the beginning of June with more recipes.

Roasted Broccoli and Chickpea Stew over Couscous

The semester is finally winding down. It's hard to believe I've been here nearly a year already! Time flies. I'll soon be driving down to Louisiana to pack Scott up and move him here. I'm so excited!

Since I'll be leaving town for several weeks, I'm making an effort to use up the things I have in my pantry. I had a can of chickpeas, a can of roasted tomatoes, and some couscous. Enter chickpea stew!

Notes: If you're trying to expand your palate, here's a good tip: the next time you make a dish add one new ingredient you've never tried before. It's much easier to meal plan if you build a dish around one or two ingredients rather than a long list of them. Plus, if you end up not liking the new ingredient, you won't waste as much time or money.

My new ingredient was anchovies. I've only cooked with anchovies once before and it was years ago. I know, I know -- everyone thinks they're gross. They really aren't. They don't taste fishy and they only smell fishy for a few minutes right when you take them out of the jar. Once you get them in the pan with your other ingredients, you won't even know they're there. But you will surely taste the difference in your tomato sauce! I couldn't believe the depth of flavor they added. I'll definitely be adding them to my tomato sauce in the future.


Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can chickpeas
2 small broccoli crowns
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 cloves garlic
2 shallots
4 anchovy filets
1 15 oz. can tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup couscous
1 1/2 cups water
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Olive Oil

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400. Cut the broccoli crowns into florets. Toss the florets in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Spread them out in one layer on a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Add butter or oil to a skillet and heat over medium high. Chop the shallots and mince the garlic. Add them to the pan along with the anchovy filets. Smash the anchovies so that they break down in the pan. Saute until the shallot and garlic are tender and the anchovies have melted. Add the tomato paste, the tomatoes, and thyme. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and add them to the pan. Season everything with salt and pepper and let simmer while the broccoli roasts.

Bring the water to a boil in a 2-quart sauce pan. When it boils, stir in the couscous, turn off the heat, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Melt two tablespoons of butter into the chickpea stew and add the roasted broccoli when it's done. To serve, put some couscous in the bottom of a bowl and ladle the stew on top. Enjoy!

White Baked Ziti

You've heard of white pizza. Now try white baked ziti!

Notes: I used fontina cheese for this, but you could use fresh mozzarella if you wanted. You could also substitute the kale for spinach. You could heat the milk up first and make a white sauce if you wanted, but I like mine a little on the dry side, so I just added milk and cheese.

Ingredients:
1 16 oz. box ziti or other short cut pasta
1 1/2 cups of milk
5-8 oz. (1 1/2-2 cups grated) of fontina cheese
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch of kale leaves, stemmed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Butter or olive oil

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 and put a stock pot of water on to boil.

Thinly slice your kale leaves, mince your garlic, and chop your rosemary. Add a tablespoon of butter to small skillet and turn it to medium-low. Once the butter melts, add the garlic and rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Let the herbs and garlic soften while you cook your pasta.

Once the water boils, add a small handful of salt. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. While the pasta is cooking, grate your cheese. Butter or oil a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Once the pasta is finished, add it to the baking dish. Pour in the milk, add the cheese, garlic, herbs, and kale. Mix everything together and bake for 25-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Let stand 5 minutes, serve and enjoy!