Oatmeal Bread

Well, it certainly is crazy out there. Covid-19 has people panic buying, so I am going to go over how to make a couple of staple, in my opinion, products that seem to be flying off the shelves, starting with a loaf of my favorite oatmeal bread.

Ingredients:

Bread

365 gr bread flour
1 cup rolled oats (old fashioned oats)
2 tbsp butter or oil
1.5 tsp salt
4 tbsp honey
3 tsp instant yeast
1.25 cup warm milk*

Topping:

1 egg white**
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp rolled oats (old fashioned)

Directions:

I recommend using a stand mixer for this, it's a pretty loose dough that is hard to manipulate by hand.

Using the bread dough hook of your stand mixer, gently bring all of the bread ingredients together in the bowl of your stand mixer. Once everything is incorporated and a sticky, gluten-y mass has formed, knead on medium high speed for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth.

Place the dough ball in a greased bowl and allow to rise for 1 hour. It should nearly double in size.

After an hour remove the dough and press it out into small (6"x8") sheet before rolling it into a log. The easiest way is to fold the upper corners in and then roll it into a log. Place in a greased loaf tin and allow to rise for 1.5 hrs or until it rises about an inch above the tin.

When the loaf is nearly ready, preheat the oven to 350.

Before placing your loaf in the oven, whip the egg white with the water and brush over the top before sprinkling on the rolled oats.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the internal temp reads 190. If the top browns too quickly, cover with tin foil to prevent burning.

Turn it out on to a rack and cool completely before slicing.

*Putting the milk in warm helps the dough rise faster, a slower rise will yield more flavor, but you might need to adjust the amount of time you let it rest.

**I know that separating eggs is a bit of a pain, but a whole egg will brown quicker than just an egg white. This might fool you into thinking the bread is done too soon, which might ruin the loaf.

Cheddar Bicuits

Well, I gave you a recipe for biscuit mix, I guess I should give you something to make with it too! These cheesy cheddar biscuits are great by themselves or as a side with some good BBQ. This is a really simple recipe that is quick to whip up if you just need to add something to dinner.
Feel free to add other things to the dough like chives or green onion or even cooked bacon bits. This is really just a jumping off point.

Ingredients:

2 cups biscuit mix
½ lb cheddar cheese
½ c milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.
Mix together the biscuit mix and the cheese before pouring in the milk and kneading to form a stiff dough. Feel free to hold back some of the milk to keep the dough from getting too wet and sticky, you want to be able to work it without adding extra mix.
Roll out into ½ inch thick sheet and punch out 2 inch rounds and place "shoulder to shoulder" or gently touching each other on a lightly greased or lined baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for 10 minutes before enjoying with butter or with pork belly or your favorite BBQ

Chickpea Curry

I was looking around for a quick vegan curry because I have discovered that cream sauces aren't agreeing with me right now (something that makes me incredibly sad every day) and I wanted a curry that was made to not have meat or dairy in it so I did not have to figure out weird substitutes. I came across a recipe for a chickpea curry that made some odd choices so I took the chance to refine it and came up with this tasty concoction.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 large white onion
½ tsp salt
2 medium tomatoes
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cardamom

½ tsp cinnamon
13.5 oz can full fat coconut milk
1 16oz can of chickpeas

¼ C chopped cilantro

Directions:

Finely dice the garlic and the onion and roughly chop the tomatoes. Heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and saute until lightly browned, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and the salt and saute, stirring frequently, until translucent before adding the tomatoes and cooking until the tomatoes start to break apart. Sprinkle in all the spices and fry them, stirring constantly, until they are super fragrant.
Reduce the heat to low and pour in the coconut milk and chickpeas, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick and creamy. Add the chopped cilantro and serve, preferably over basmati rice.

Scrambled Egg Curry

When it is time to go grocery shopping and all you have is a few random ingredients around your house, it is a great time to throw together a curry.
I had leftover pieces from some of the things I had made last week, and somethings I had planned on making but didn't have time, and a curry is usually a tasty way to use up a few odds and ends.
Since this one is made with scrambled egg, it is very quick, no stewing or simmering. Just saute some veggies, fry some spices, throw in your eggs and serve. It is great by itself or on a bed of greens.
I also recently discovered that one of my little sisters tried curry for the first time recently. She is scared of trying to make it at home because she does not want to smell up her house too much. This one is a bit more mild, so I hope she will give it a try.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, sliced
1 tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
6 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and toss in the tomatoes, onions, and salt. Saute until they are nicely softened but are still bright and colorful, about 2-5 minutes. Stir in the spices and let them fry and hydrate for a few minutes. Once they are nice and fragrant, pour on the beaten eggs and stir constantly until just cooked. Remove from the heat and serve.

For Rebecca

One of my sisters is undertaking the "No Meat November" challenge and I am here to support her. She asked me to put together some great recipes that are either vegetarian or pescaterian. Here are some of my favorites:

Vegetarian:

Quinoa Salad with Candied Walnuts:
A great dish that I love to throw together. It features quinoa, which is a high protein grain that works
great in cold salads.

Mushroom Risotto:
This was really intimidating to make, but it is actually really simple. A lot of recipes have really confusing descriptions and instructions and I tried to make sure mine were very clear and user friendly. I served this with some seared tofu to make a good full meal.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa:
This dip is really good, but I slightly over complicated the recipe. It is pretty easy to make this recipe in a skillet as I described or can just be stirred together cold.

Guacamole:
Guacamole is actually one of my favorite things to make in the winter because I love to make it with pomegranate and you can only really get a good price on those around this time of year.

Not Beef Stroganoff:
This one takes advantage of the fact that mushrooms are really meaty. It is pretty simple to take a traditional and replace the meat with mushrooms. While this is a great recipe, I do need to take a new picture for it.

Here is a link to the rest of my vegetarian recipes, which, given how much I like meat, I have a surprising amount of.

Seafood:

Shrimp Bisque:
Dear God this stuff is good. As the weather gets cold, this is a perfect thing to warm you up with a little spice and a little alcohol.

Cream of Crab Soup:

Another fantastic soup for this time of year. This one is made that traditional way, only white ingredients, but it is easy to make it Maryland style, just add Old Bay!

Maryland Crab Cake:

I have nothing else to say about this one, just make it. It's amazing.

Miso Soup:

While I provided a traditional set of ingredients for this one, it really is fridge velcro. You can put pretty much anything into it that you want.

Crispy Skin Salmon:

This is a easy and simple application of my new favorite way to make salmon. This recipe includes detailed instructions on how to make this amazing dish. 

Bourbon Maple Pepper Salmon:

Ok, the title is a bit of a mouthful, but this is really good stuff. If you have not made crispy skin salmon before, I would recommend taking a look at the previous recipe to get a really good idea of how to do it.

Steamed Mussels:

Pretty much the best mussels I have ever had. It is spicy, but amazing. It is not strictly speaking pescatarian, since it includes sausage, but it is easy to leave that out and still have a great dish.

Irish Redhead

My wife, Laura, had been going through some stressful times and she needed a drink. She tends to drink very slowly, so it had to be strong, but not taste strong. I searched my kitchen for some inspiration, and came up with this. All the ingredients in this recipe are by volume (the imperial system is confusing).

Ingredients:

2 strawberries washed and trimmed
.5 oz of demerara sugar
1 oz of Ribena* or blackcurrant juice concentrate
2 oz of Irish whiskey**

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, muddle together the strawberries and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add the Ribena and whiskey. Fill the shaker with ice and shake thoroughly to combine and aerate. Pour through a cocktail or hawthorn strainer into a lowball or rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a strawberry and enjoy!

*Ribena is a British blackcurrant juice concentrate and is pretty much the only brand of the stuff I have been able to find in stores. I was first exposed to it when my family went on vacation to the UK and I fell in love with it, and I was so glad when I saw it in my local grocery store. If you can find a different variation, I am sure it will work just as well.

**If you replace the Irish whiskey with American rye, you have a cocktail I call a Strawberry Blonde, also named for my wife.

Mexican Risotto

In recognition of Hunger Awareness Month, I wanted to make a dish out of cheap, shelf stable ingredients. This is a slight modification of a dish I've made many times now and that I have dubbed Mexican Risotto. You can either serve this dish as a main dish, it's got plenty of protein, or a great side dish.

Ingredients:

1.5 tbsp taco seasoning
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
¼ C canned pickled jalapenos
¾ C arborio rice

Directions:

In a large skillet over medium heat, pour in all the ingredients and stir to combine. Don't drain the beans and corn, you are going to need that liquid to cook the rice. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered, or until the rice is cooked and tender. Serve.

If you can, some great additions are: chopped onion, chorizo, monterey jack cheese, sour cream, and/or crema. Alternatively, you could always stir in some chopped or shredded chicken and a dash of your favorite hot sauce.

Pancakes

Everyone loves buttermilk pancakes, but I don't know many people that just keep buttermilk around all the time. Sometimes your wife wakes you up in the morning and is having bad week and wants pancakes and you don't want her to wait while you go shopping. In such cases, it's a good idea to have a simple recipe in your pocket that relies on more basic kitchen essentials. Well, I am here to provide!

Ingredients:

2 C flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1.5 C milk
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs

Directions:

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt before adding in the milk, melted butter, and eggs. Whisk it all together until it is mostly smooth but there are still a few lumps. If you work it until it is completely smooth, the pancakes won't rise as well.

Let the batter sit while you heat up and grease up a cast iron skillet until water droplets splashed on it skitter before evaporating entirely.

Ladle on a ladle full of batter and cook until the edges are done and bubbles in the middle burst without filling immediately. Flip and brown for an additional 30 seconds to a minute.

Store in a warm oven until ready to serve to a grateful world.

Makes 6-7 big pancakes

Note: In the picture above are whole wheat pancakes which use the same parts list just with whole wheat and an additional .25 cup of milk. I accidentally bought whole wheat flour for my second go around and just had to wing it a little.

Layer Dip

No Super Bowl party is complete without good dips! Layer dips are a classic part of any party for the big game, and they are quick and cheap to make if you need a last minute addition to your game day menu.

Ingredients:

1.5 C guacamole (you're in a hurry, store bought will work fine)
1 16 oz can refried black or pinto beans
½ C sour cream

¾ C shredded cheddar cheese

¾ C shredded monterey jack cheese

¼ tsp cumin

Directions:

In a 1.5 qt casserole, if you have a clear one this will look much more impressive, layer the guacamole, the refried beans, and the sour cream. In a separate bowl, mix the 2 cheeses together with the cumin (this can be substituted with a store bought taco cheese blend) before adding as the final layer. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy! (Told you that was fast!)

Salted Caramel Sauce

We are almost to my second favorite season, fall, which means it is time for apples, apple cider, and by extension, caramel! Many people are a little intimidated by the thought of cooking sugar, but you shouldn't be. Real caramel is pretty easy to make and tastes way better than store bought.

There are two ways to make caramel: the slow way (wet method), which is a lot safer, and the quick way (dry method), which poses a few more challenges. I recommend trying the slow way until you know what you are looking before trying the quicker way. I'll go over both ways in this post.

Ingredients:

1 c sugar
½ water (wet method only)
1 c heavy cream
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Wet Method:

In a heavy-bottom saucepan with a lid, over low heat combine the sugar and water and stir until the sugar is totally dissolved. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. (Letting it boil with the lid on helps wash any stray sugar off the side of the pot that might lead to unwanted crystals that can make your caramel grainy.) Once the syrup has been boiling for a minute, remove the lid.

Now, leave it alone. At this point, before heat has changed the sugar into the delicious thing called caramel, if you agitate it too much, the sugar crystals can start to re-combine. This will create a chain reaction that would mean you have to start the whole thing over again. So be extra careful not to jostle the pot in any way.

Keep an eye on your boiling syrup, and when you see it start to turn amber, it is safe to give it a stir. At this point, the sugars are damaged to the point that they won't combine easily. Stir gently to even out any heat pockets.

Continue keeping sharp watch on the sugar syrup and watch the surface for any smoke. As soon as you see it smoking, remove it from the heat and pour in the heavy cream while stirring constantly. The cream is going to come to a rolling boil since the syrup is well over 300 degrees. Some of the sugar will harden instantly upon contact with the cool cream, but don't worry, if you keep stirring, all of that will work itself back in.

When the mixture is smooth and creamy, stir in the salt. You can store your caramel in the fridge for up to a month, but it tastes so good that I doubt it will last that long.

Dry Method:

Pour the sugar into a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Once the sugar starts to liquify and brown at the edges, you can use a spatula to gently pull the liquid bits toward the middle to even out the heat. If it burns, the caramel is ruined and you'll have to start over from scratch.

On the other hand, you have to be extremely careful to not over-stir, because if you do and it clumps up, you can ruin the whole batch. If it starts to form clumps, reduce the heat and keep stirring until it is all liquid, and when you're done you'll have to strain out the grainy bits.

If all goes well, keep stirring gently until you get a clear, deep amber before removing from the heat and stirring in the cream and salt and storing as described above.

Korean Spicy Pickles

When Evan and I went for bulgogi a few weeks ago, he introduced me to his favorite topping, spicy pickles. I used to not like pickles, and I still am not a fan of just eating pickles, but I love a good bread and butter pickle on a sandwich or a pit of relish on a good hot dog, and I especially love Korean spicy pickles on my bulgogi.

Ingredients:

2 mini cucumbers or pickling cucumbers
1 tsp salt
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp gochugaru
1 clove of garlic

Directions:

Slice the cucumbers as evenly and thinly as you can. Place in a bowl and sprinkle on the salt before tossing to make sure you have even coverage. Let the cucumber slices sit for 20 minutes to let the salt draw out excess water.

Pour off the water and then add the rest of the ingredients, stir well to combine. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 10 minutes and up to a week. The pickles will get less crisp but spicier the longer they are allowed to marinate.

Enjoy as a surprisingly refreshing snack or as a perfect compliment to some bulgogi.

As always, if you enjoy my work and want would like to support me and my blog, please consider subscribing to me on Patreon. My subscribers have already helped me get rid of ads and get some snazzy business cards!

Mango Lassi

Never let it be said that I don't love my wife. At the very start of this I made it clear that there were certain foods I don't like cooking with, but when your wife asks for a yogurt smoothie, you make her a yogurt smoothie.

A Lassi is a Indian spiced yogurt smoothie. It is something that is typically a savory drink, but it can be blended with fruit, like mango, to make it sweet. In India this drink is made with dahi, but that isn't readily available in the States, so plain full fat or whole milk yogurt is a good substitute.

Ingredients:

2 C frozen mango
½ C milk
½ C plain whole milk yogurt
¼ C honey
¼ tsp ground cardamom

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to the carafe of your blender and blend until smooth. Poor into a glass and enjoy. Optionally, garnish with mint and a cinnamon stick.

Whipped Cream

This is my go-to recipe for whipped cream. It's not too sweet, so the freshness of the cream shines through. A hint of vanilla adds a little depth to one of the staples of the dessert topping world.

This recipe calls for powdered sugar because powdered sugar has cornstarch in it, and that helps the whipped cream hold its stiffness over time.

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Pour all of the ingredients into a chilled mixing bowl with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Chill and enjoy.

If you plan on storing your whipped cream for any length of time, be sure to seal it in an airtight container with cling film pressed directly on the whipped cream. Since there is so much fat in whipped cream, it can attract bad fridge smells and tastes if not properly sealed.

Video:

Here is a quick video I made to take you through the process

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

About a week ago, I woke up with a hankering for some lemon poppy seed bread. So, I decided to make some. I looked around, couldn't find a recipe I liked, so I made my own. This goes really great with a citrusy black tea like Earl Grey.

Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1hr 20 min

Ingredients:

Bread

400 grams AP flour (aprx 14 oz or 3 cups)
1.5 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 cup butter or shortening

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs
¾ cup milk

2 tbsp lemon juice*

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon zest

3 tbsp poppy seeds

Syrup:

⅔ cup sugar

⅓ cup lemon juice*

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a nine inch loaf pan.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and pour in the sugar. Beat on medium for 2 to 3 minutes or until the butter has lightened in color. This is called the creaming method, and the holes that the sugar punch in the butter help it to rise once it starts baking.

Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Once the eggs are all in, pour in the milk then the lemon juice and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Now slowly add the dry mix, in 3 batches, making sure each installment is mixed in before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed between batches. Once the dry team is all in, turn your mixer to low and add the lemon zest and poppy seeds. Mix until the batter is smooth.

Pour into your loaf pan and bake for 1hr 15-20 min until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean or the bread reaches an internal temp of 190 degrees. Remove from the oven and let cool, in the pan, on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling on the rack for another 20 minutes.

While the bread is cooling, it's time to make the syrup. Pour the sugar and lemon juice into a small saucepan over medium low heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Keep the syrup warm until the bread is finished cooling. Once the bread is cool, use a basting brush to brush the syrup on all sides, except the bottom.

When the bread has absorbed all the syrup it can, let it rest for a couple minutes and then serve. Drizzle the slices with any excess syrup. Enjoy!

*Before I made this bread, I would have sworn that fresh lemon juice vs bottled made no difference. I was wrong. My wife and I did a quick taste test, and I now have an almost-full bottle of lemon juice that I am not using. So, if you have the patience, I would highly recommend squeezing your own lemon juice for this. It only took me 4 small lemons to get all the juice I needed for this.

Curry Flavored Roasted Almonds

Almonds are a great source of fiber, protein, and vitamins. These are oil roasted almonds which makes them slightly less healthy than raw almonds, but this is my meal plan and I need some flavor. Whether eating raw or roasted almonds, serving size is key; only ¼ cup is about 170 calories, mostly from fat. If you're roasting your own almonds, the sky's the limit on flavors, so feel free use this recipe as a base or jumping off point to your own combinations.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

1 lb raw almonds

½ tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
In a non-stick skillet pour in the olive and sesame oil and heat until shimmering. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Pour your almonds into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle on the salt, curry powder, ginger, and garlic. Stir to thoroughly coat the almonds. Lay your almonds out on a baking sheet, making sure they are in a single layer.

Bake the almonds for 10 minutes, until toasted. Put the pan on a cooling rack and let them cool for 30 minutes before moving into air-tight containment. Enjoy my first Healthy Living recipe in moderation!

Roasted Garlic Tomato Spread

A friend of mine gave me a really great tip about roasting garlic for garlic bread a while ago, and I recently found myself wanting to make something else with roasted garlic since it has a such a complex set of flavors. I came up with this delicious spread that is a little sweet and a lot savory, with a hint of spice. It goes great on crusty bread like a baguette or ciabatta loaf. I'll also be suggesting it with a couple recipes coming up that I think it pairs well with.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes–1 hour

Ingredients:

3 bulbs of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
½ oz of sundried tomatoes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Crusty bread

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. (Hint: this is a great recipe for a toaster oven since it uses such small amounts.)

Cut off the top of each bulb of garlic so that each clove is exposed. Pour one third of the olive oil on each bulb and gently work into the bulb. Wrap each bulb in tinfoil and roast for 45 min–1 hour.

I like my garlic to be pretty roasted, since it gets sweeter as the existing sugars caramelize. I recommend cooking for 45 minutes and then checking every 5 minutes till it is as dark as you would like. Once the garlic is cooked to your liking, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool.

Put the sundried tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil into the carafe of your blender. Once the garlic is cool enough to be handled, simply squeeze each bulb into your blender. Blend until a smooth paste is formed. Feel free to add more extra virgin olive oil if you need to make it a little more spreadable.

Toast or grill some slices of your bread of choice, spread, and serve. This is pretty powerful stuff so a little goes a long way!

Honey Butter

So when I was looking for cornbread recipes to use as references, I saw a lot of people serving cornbread with honey, which is something I had never thought of. I tried it, and it was amazing. I thought to myself, "butter is great on cornbread, honey is great on cornbread, why not cut out the middleman and combine them!"

Don't get me wrong, I love my cornbread, but this really cranks it up to 11. While I made this butter for cornbread, it also goes brilliantly on pancakes, waffles, and as a finishing butter for salmon.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 stick or ½ cup of softened unsalted butter*
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp salt

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and combine thoroughly. (That was easy!)

*I only have unsalted butter at home since I find it to be better for cooking and my wife likes it better generally. However, feel free to use salted butter and just add the honey, not the extra salt.

Skillet Cornbread

Growing up we didn't get much cornbread, because for some unfathomable reason, my mom doesn't like corn. So it was always a treat when we ever we did have it.

I like my cornbread sweet, moist, and with whole kernels of corn. This one also has a little bit of kick to it, which I really enjoy. I accidently made this a low fat cornbread by leaving out the butter. When I realized my mistake, I gave that batch up for lost, but to my surprise it still turned out great! Using honey instead of sugar or brown sugar helps keep it from drying out.

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups coarsely ground cornmeal
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp cayenne pepper powder
½ cup whole kernel corn
⅓ cup honey
¼ cup whole milk
¾ cup lowfat buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp butter

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 and place a 10-inch skillet inside to heat up while you prep the batter.

Combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Separately, combine the corn, honey, milk, buttermilk, and eggs. Once the wet team is thoroughly combined, add it to the dry team and mix together until smooth (well, not too smooth... there are pieces of corn in there).

Remove your heated skillet and put in the pat of butter, then use a basting brush or paper towel to thoroughly grease the whole inside with melted butter. Pour in the batter and place in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes, and then serve fresh and warm!

Buttermilk Pancakes

I love pancakes. I can't think of a time of day that isn't perfect for pancakes. In the pantheon of pancakes the buttermilk pancake is the gold standard of fluffy, sweet, yet tangy, pillowy perfection. A few weeks ago my wife and I had a rather negative experience with some pancakes, and this poor confection was calling out for redemption. When I went online for a good recipe, most of them seemed pretty poorly written, or just had ingredients that didn't make much sense. So, after a little experimenting, I put this together and I made some of the best buttermilk pancakes I have ever had. Warning: I'm going to get pretty indepth with my directions here, so the block of text might seem intimidating but I assure you it is very simple, I just want to explain why I'm having you do what I'm having you do.

Ingredients:

3 C AP flour

1 T baking powder

1.5 t baking soda

½ t salt

3 C lowfat buttermilk

3 eggs

¼ C sugar

⅓ C shortening or butter, melted*

Directions

These pancakes are assembled using the muffin method which means you combine all your dry ingredients first, then all your wet ingredients (yes, sugar counts as a wet ingredient when making cakes, which these are, just fried cakes) and then the two mixtures are added together. Making sure both sets are mixed thoroughly before combining means the final mixture will come together with less stirring, and less stirring means softer pancakes. So, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl then mix the buttermilk, eggs, sugar, and shortening or butter in another bowl.

While the wet and dry teams are separate, then can be held that way for a little while, but once they are combined, chemical reactions start taking place and you are committed. When you are ready for pancake making, mix the wet into the dry team using a whisk, stir only 12-15 times. Yes, there will be lumps, but that is ok, they will work themselves out. Besides, if you work the batter till it is completely smooth you will have a chewier, bread-like pancake. Now let the batter sit for 10 minutes. This will allow the flour to hydrate without agitation, and this is a pretty thick batter that will trap the air bubbles that the baking powder and soda are busily making.

While your batter is resting, heat up your favorite liberally oiled griddle. You'll know the griddle is ready when a few drops of water sprayed on the surface skitter before boiling off instead of instantly disappearing. Once the 10 minutes is up and your griddle is nice and hot, it's time to start cooking pancakes

Pour on a ladle of batter and, using the back of the ladle, spread the batter out into a roughly 5-6 inch circle. You'll know you are ready to flip when bubbles in the center of the pancake break without filling back in. Flip with a wide turning spatula, and cook until the side that is now down is golden brown. Keep finished pancakes warm in a low oven until ready to serve to a grateful world.

*I recommend shortening for this recipe because, with its lower water content, it creates a fluffier pancake. I know that shortening is worse for you than butter, but come on, we are making pancakes here, not health food.

Chocolate Covered Peppermint Popcorn

Chocolate covered popcorn is a great host or hostess gift for all the holiday parties going on this time of year. The only problem is that it is outrageously expensive to buy in store. Luckily for us, it is incredibly simple and easy to make, and really quick too. My second time making it took me just 20 minutes from walking through the door to a tray of delicious popcorn.

The directions I include are for making stove-top popcorn. If you have a popcorn popper, or another method you like better, please do whatever is most comfortable for you, this is just the method I like best since I don't have to store a unitasker and can just use the pots and pans I own.

Ingredients:

2 T oil

⅓ C popcorn kernels

Salt

1 C dark candy making chocolate

¼ C peppermints, crushed

Directions:

Popping the popcorn:

In your widest pan with a lid, pour in the oil and add a couple kernels of popcorn. When those kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn and place on the lid, making sure to keep it slightly ajar so the steam doesn't make the popcorn soggy. Shake the pan gently to make sure all of the kernels get coated with oil. Once the popcorn starts popping, make sure to shake the pan occasionally so that the unpopped kernels get even heat.

When the popping slows to 2 or 3 seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, but don't take the lid off until the popping stops entirely or you will be picking up a shower of popcorn from the kitchen floor. Once the popping has stopped, pour the popcorn onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper, parchment paper, or my favorite, a silicone baking mat. Make sure to get the popcorn into 1 layer. Lightly salt the popcorn and then let it cool while you melt the chocolate.

Chocolate and peppermint:

Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 15 second intervals, stirring very thoroughly each time, until nice and liquid, about 90 degrees. With a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn, making sure to get a bit on every piece. Before the chocolate cools, sprinkle on the crushed peppermints. Let the chocolate cool (I stick mine in the freezer to speed this up) and then break the popcorn pieces apart and store in airtight containment, or just eat it right away!