Maple and cinnamon flavors make this latte so fun with all the flavors of french toast – no pan required. Continue reading
Maple and cinnamon flavors make this latte so fun with all the flavors of french toast – no pan required. Continue reading
These pancakes are what summer Sunday mornings are made of. Mr. J and the little one went to a bike path nearby and I had some time to myself! With my four legged sous-chefs, of course. These pancakes are fluffy and have a cornmeal texture and flavor with juicy peach. I made a whole batch, despite eating breakfast by myself. I popped some into the fridge for later this week and the rest went into the freezer.

1 1/4 cups cornmeal
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1/4 cup half & half or whole milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 peach or nectarine
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Mix together the dry ingredients: cornmeal; flour; sugar; baking powder; and salt. Mix together the wet: milk; cream; eggs; and vanilla.

Then mix together the wet and dry – gently, and add in the melted butter and stir.
Chop the peach/nectarine into thin slices then diced. Half goes into a small pot with water, sugar, and syrup to boil and thicken for about 5 minutes.

Heat a large pan or griddle to medium heat and spray generously with non-stick spray.
Ladle small scoops onto the hot griddle. Let cook for a minute or two and add in a few pieces of peach onto each pancake. Wait patiently for the pancake to bubble, puff, and get golden brown before flipping.

Serve with peach topping and extra syrup.

Enjoy!
My first two were crumbly messes. I didn’t let them cook long enough. Be patient. Do a yoga position and some breathing before trying to flip. They get delightfully golden and crispy…if allowed to cook enough. If regular pancakes take 2 minutes, these take 5.
Yes to breaded eggplant. Yes to Parmesan. Yes to puff pastry. I love all these things so I was secretly psyched for a cooler drizzly day to whip up this dinner. Ohh so good. I liked how quick these were and all the flavors I wanted while still feeling different. Puff pastry is so foolproof. Fill it with anything and you’ll have a happy dinner.

Also, let’s discuss my sous chefs: note how they flank where I stand at that neon-green cutting board. It is so nice they want to be a part of everything, but sometimes I just need some room. I fear the babe will think their names are Bailee Move and Windsor Move. They are cute though, aren’t they?

Ingredients:
(for 1 sheet of puff pastry making 4 pockets)
~12 slices of breaded eggplant (3 slices per pocket)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup ricotta
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 grated Parmesan
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the eggplant until crisped, flipping once. (I cooked mine the night before to speed it up).
Roll out the puff pastry until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut into 4.
Top with a slice of eggplant, a few small dollops of ricotta, some shredded mozzarella, and a slight drizzle of tomato sauce (not too much! it’ll get soggy!) Add another eggplant slice and keep the layers going…3 slices per pocket. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Pinch together opposite corners and keep tucking the puff pastry underneath. Cut a few slits into the sides to vent.

Bake 25-35 minutes. Check at 25 minutes – mine needed a few more minutes to get golden brown.

Enjoy! Serve with some tomato sauce for dipping if desired.

I really loved this. The crispy, buttery, flakey outside with the eggplant and all the cheese inside – ohh so great. The little one likes the breaded eggplant and gobbled it up a dinner and lunch in a row. Yes! Winning all around!
Have a happy Memorial Day weekend!
I was thinking about what convenience items are worth the spurge. I especially was thinking about it while trying to get the knife through some butternut squashes. Those suckers are definitely tough to cut so it can be your call if you want to save some dollars and halve the squash yourself, orrrr if you want to pay to get it all skinned and chopped. I cut through them but didn’t peal before roasting. It was super easy to scoop it out once they were cooked.

2 small butternut squash
2 large apples, pealed & chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups veggie stock
3 tbs half and half
Preheat the oven to 400-degrees.
Cut the squash in half and roast for 45-60 minutes.

In a large pot, heat to medium high heat and add in the apples and onion with butter. Cook for 10 minutes until the onions are translucent and the apples are soft. The butter will get all bubbly and brown.

Scoop out the squash seeds and spoon the squash pulp into the pot with the apples and onion.

Add in the stock and cook for 5 minutes or so.
Transfer into a blender or blend with an immersion blender then return to the pot.
Season with salt and pepper. Add more stock if it is too thick for your liking.
Add in the cream and stir well.
I loved this. It was so good with a touch of sweetness from the apple and I toasted some sourdough for dunking. I froze the rest and will be so glad to pull it out of the freezer some day when I’m not into making dinner. I know, the apples just keep appearing…that’ll be over soon.

Bailee oversaw the whole operation. She likes to know what is happening in the kitchen if there’s food around and she wanted to say hi.

Have you heard of Food Fighters on NBC? They pair a home chef in a few rounds against pros. Each round is a different food against a different chef. We saw this one guy make chorizo tacos with sweet potatoes and it had me thinking, “I can make those.” I hadn’t made chorizo before but I tried my hand at it. I tweaked what the contestant made but I was into the idea of tacos with sweet potato.

1 sweet potato
1/3 pound ground pork
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
2-3 tsp brown sugar
soft tacos
1 slice red onion, chopped
optional: Mexican crema or sour cream mixed with salsa/lime juice/etc for a sauce on top.
Peel the sweet potato and cut into quarters. Boil until cooked most of the way through…about 8 minutes.
Mix together the pork, vinegar, and seasonings.

Cook over medium heat until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Taste it. Add some tomato paste or tomato sauce if too spicy.

When the potatoes are cooked, slice in thick slices and then in half by diameter.
Add the potatoes to a hot pan with a drizzle of oil and the brown sugar. Cook for 5 minutes, flipping once caramelizing on both size.
Serve the tacos on the flour tortilla with chopped red onion, and sweet potato.

My chorizo was spicy and I wanted some sort of creamy, cooling sauce. I mixed some peppercorn dressing with a touch of salsa.

I liked these, but I went overboard on the chili powder and the cayenne. It was a bit too spicy. The candied sweet potatoes were so amazing. We both loved them and need to make them more often. I tossed some crisp red peppers with lime dressing on the side.
Windsor was sniffing around nearby. It’s nice to have a sous-chef when he is laying down and not underfoot. Look how mature he’s getting!
