Apple Buttermilk Pancakes with Streusel Topping

I saw Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes on this website http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/cinnamon-streusel-pancakes/  and had to try them.  Excellent, but very sweet. A little too sweet for me.   I decided to put a spin on that recipe and this was sooo  good.  Maybe my favorite pancake ever.  I could not cook them fast enough for my family and I will be making these time and time again!

APPLE BUTTERMILK PANCAKE WITH STREUSEL TOPPING

INGREDIENTS:

This is the apple side, or bottom.

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 apples- peeled, sliced very thin and sprinkled with cinnamon

STREUSEL TOPPING

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 TBSP butter (1/2 stick)

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare streusel topping first.  Mix dry ingredients with a whisk and add butter and mix with fingers until coarse crumb.  Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients for pancakes.  Add wet and whisk until combined and no more.  Heat griddle over med low heat.  Meanwhile, peel and slice apple very thin.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Lightly butter surface and ladle spoonful of batter.  Use back of ladle to spread batter evenly into nice circle.  Carefully arrange the apple slices in a sunburst onto batter.

Flip and sprinkle a few TBSP's of topping on top of cooked portion of pancake.  Give time for apples to cook some.  The batter will ooze around apples some to lock them in the pancake.  Flip back over briefly (about 30 seconds) to let all butter melt and give a little crunch to the streusel.  Top with more butter if desired and maple syrup.

Buttercream Icing (the best ever)

I love icing...  When I was little I used to eat the cake first and save my icing for last (delayed gratification).  Now, I have figured out, who needs the cake? Eat a little cake with icing and throw the cake away.  That is because most cakes are dry.  The older and wiser I have gotten I realized that not all icing is created equal.
I do not like most stores frosting.  They are way too sweet, or too crisco laden and have no flavor.  It took me awhile to find a buttercream recipe worth repeating, but since I made this one, I have not looked back.  This is the best icing.  But don't take my word for it.  Try it!

BUTTERCREAM ICING

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup crisco
• 2 lb. confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp clear butter flavor
• 1 tsp clear vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• scant 1/2 cup milk
• dash salt

DIRECTIONS:

Working with a mixer whisk attachment, beat butter and crisco until well combined.  Add  extracts and 10x sugar beating on low.  Add  a bit of milk slowly and increase mixer speed.  Add milk a bit at a time until it is the consistency you desire (I used little less than 1/2 cup for soft icing).   Beat until fluffy.

Strawberry Pie

This is a wonderful summer pie and is my husbands most requested pie.  He has me make it every year for his birthday instead of cake.  It is a light and wonderful dessert!

STRAWBERRY PIE

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 lbs. strawberries cleaned and quartered or whole
• 2 TBSP strawberry jello
• 3 TBSP cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 baked pie shell

DIRECTIONS:

Bake pie shell and let cool.  Arrange berries in pie shell. Mix jello, cornstarch, tepid water and sugar in a saucepan.  Mix until cornstarch is dissolved.  Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes until thickened, stirring constantly to prevent burning.  Remove from heat and let sit for 2-3 minutes.  Pour glaze over pie shell and chill for several hours, until firm, before serving.  Serve with whipped cream.

Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Bars

This may be my new favorite dessert,(candy).  I saw on a friends blog, Millionaires Grey Salt Shortbread,  which looked amazing and I bookmarked it awhile ago.  I just didn't have the grey salt.  Turns out grey salt is just a variation of sea salt.  But I got it anyway. 


I went to make it today and say that in the shortbread alone there was 3/4 lb of butter.  Yes, 3 sticks.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Plus, as I have said before, I am not a huge shortbread fan. 
So, I did some research and found Espresso Caramel Bars from Giada De Laurentiis, and printed it off.  I have made some changes.  First, I did pure chocolate on top.  The ganache might be nice to cut the sweetness.  Will try next time. (posted recipe below)  Second, I made the caramel salted caramel!  Anyway, this has a few steps, but is really easy.  Just follow the directions!  No stirring the caramel!
These are SUPER SWEET!  Really a candy.  They are wonderful frozen.  An inch square will do you.  Seriously, one pan will serve at least 30 people.  Cut them small and have some milk standing by!

CHOCOLATE SEA SALT CARAMEL BARS

INGREDIENTS:

For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the Caramel :

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 TBSP water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (I used my grey)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

For the Chocolate: *

• 2 cups good chocolate (semi-sweet)
• 1/2 TBSP butter
• (can add 1 tsp of espresso powder if desired)

Sea salt for top.

DIRECTIONS:

For the crust:  Preheat oven to 350.  Line 9' pan with foil or spring form with parchment.  Spray with cooking spray.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon.  Pour in melted butter and mix well.  Put into prepared pan and use the bottom of measuring cup to press into pan.  Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven, until golden.

For the caramel:  Put all ingredients, except vanilla, into saucepan over med high heat.  Stir until butter is melted and mix is smooth.  Put in candy thermometer and DO NOT STIR ANY MORE!  Bring to 240 degrees (5-7 minutes).  When reaches 240, pour in vanilla and give fast stir and pour hot caramel over graham cracker crust.  Leave for 20 minutes to cool, then freeze for 10 minutes.

For chocolate:

Melt chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in double boiler or microwave in 30 second intervals with cream, until smooth.  Carefully spread over caramel topping.  Sprinkle top with sea salt.  Chill for an hour.  This will possibly be the longest hour of your life.  Cut and serve (with milk).

*Giada's recipe calls for 1/2 cup cream with chocolate chips and 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder, over double boiler. Mix until smooth.*

Chicken Parmesan

I love chicken parmesan!  I realized I had not posted my recipe, so here it is.  You may find it strange that I add lemon zest and juice to the chicken, but it is so subtle and just brightens the flavor.  It is a background taste that would make you say, "what is that?"  Anyway, pretty easy, involves some pots and pans, but that prep clean up is done by the time the chicken is out of the oven, so it is minimal clean-up after dinner.  Enjoy!

CHICKEN PARMESAN

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large chicken breast (about 2 lbs.), halved and pounded thin
• 2 eggs beaten well
• 2/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup pecorino romano (parm) cheese (the real stuff, no green can!)
• zest of half a lemon
• juice half lemon
• couple TBSP white wine for deglazing
• 1 TBSP good olive oil
• 1 TBSp butter
• 1 cup prepared spaghetti sauce (homemade or jarred)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup coarsely shredded parmesan

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. In a shallow bowl, whisk eggs.  In another shallow bowl, mix 1/3 cup pecorino cheese, bread crumbs and zest of lemon.  Cut chicken in half, by thickness (should be about same size, just thinner).  Put in between plastic wrap and take out some aggression, pounding it thin.  Dredge in eggs, then in bread crumb mixture.  Place on plate. 
Place large nonstick skillet on stove over med.-high heat and drizzle live oil and about 1 TBSP butter.  Place chicken in skillet and let sit for about 5-7 minutes.  You want a nice crust, don't pick at it too much.  Turn chicken over when browned and cook on other side until browned (It does not need to be cooked through, it will finish cooking in the oven.)  Squeeze half of a lemon over chicken and deglaze pan with a little wine to loosen the chicken.

You want that nice brown color.  The bread crumbs will be crisp.

Spray large baking pan with cooking spray or grease with olive oil and place chicken on pan.  Spread sauce over each piece of chicken then top with about a TBSP of parmesan and some mozzarella. Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted and chicken cooked through.  Serve with pasta.

Banana Crumb Muffins

These muffins are wonderful and will be my new go to banana muffin!  They are so full of banana flavor and moist and just so good.  My kids had barely finished one before asking for another.  They will be gone by this afternoon no doubt.  Got this recipe off Allrecipes.com- 5 star recipe for sure!  I did make a few minor changes, like adding vanilla, but not much!  Enjoy!

BANANA CRUMB MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour (I sub. 1/2 c. whole wheat)
• 1 tsp. baking soda   
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/3 cup melted butter (some people sub. canola oil)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

CRUMB TOPPING:

•  1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 TBSP. flour
• 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 TBSP butter

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375.  Prepare muffins tins with liners or cooking spray.  Whisk dry ingredients together.  In a separate large bowl, mash bananas, and mix in all wet ingredients.  Whisk dry ingredients into wet.  In a small bowl, mix crumb topping together with fingers until a course crumb.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.   Enjoy!

Chicken Divan

Simple dish.  A little time consuming, with preparing the broccoli and rice, but easy as far as complexity.  And it was a meal I had to stop myself from gorging myself.  The kids all chowed it down, even my picky eater, and it was just plain yummy.   Sorry about the poor photo's.   No good way to photograph casseroles. 

I had some leftover chicken and lots of broccoli, and realized when we move that I have an abundance of grains/rice.  So, it screamed Chicken Divan!  Seriously, I did not want to stop eating it.  But I did. ;-) This served our family of 6 with enough leftovers for tomorrow.  Maybe 6-8 adults.

CHICKEN DIVAN

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2-3/4 roaster chicken cut up
• 1 cup dry rice, cooked (I used brown jasmine)
• 2.5 cups broccoli, steamed al dente
• 1 can healthy request cream soup (chicken or mushroom)
• 1/3 cup light sour cream
• 1/2 cup light mayo
• juice half a lemon
• 1.5 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 cup white wine or broth to thin
• milk to thin more if needed
• 1 cup(ish) shredded cheese (cheddar or swiss)
• handful of bread crumbs or crushed croutons

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Cut up chicken, cook rice and steam broccoli.  Spray 9x13 with cooking spray.  Put rice evenly in the bottom.  Top evenly with cut up chicken.  Top with steamed broccoli.  Mix soup, sour cream, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder.  Whisk in wine or broth and some milk until still thick, but spreadable (not gloppy).  Pour over broccoli.  Sprinkle cheese over top and bread crumbs.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until bubbling.