Honey + Cornmeal muffins

Muffins are easy to make. There are just two really important things to remember: Don't over-mix the batter. And make sure your oven is at the right temperature. 

Baking powder makes things lovely and puffy in two ways. First, when it hits liquid, the powder causes a sort of Alkaseltzer reaction. Youll notice your batter becomes thick with big airholes in it as it is stirred. Secondly, baking powder reacts with the heat of your oven. To maximize the ultimate puffyness of your muffins, be sure you pop them in the oven as soon as you've got them in the pan. So be sure to prepare your pan before you mix the ingredients.

Baking at a high temperature helps the muffins get nice and tall in the oven, as soon as you put them in, because the baking powder reacts with the heat and makes things go UP. You'll also get that pretty dome top we love.

When you lower the heat, the muffin finishes cooking in the middle, but the lower heat keeps the outside from getting too tough.

This method works with most quick-breads, including biscuits, and helps ensure you get the best rise and still remain nice and soft. 

And always use real butter, so I guess that's three. 

Based on the recipe from KitchMe.

Makes 1 dozen muffins (or about 2 dozen minis)

1 cup cornmeal (i used white cornmeal. you can use yellow too.)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

2 large egg

1⁄2 stick butter, melted

1⁄4 cup honey

3 or 4 TB honey, melted in the microwave about 10 seconds, until liquid-y. 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place muffin paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin, spray with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. 

In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. 

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. (Gently fold the batter together with a spatula, just until you don't see big dry spots)

Fill each muffin cup most of the way to the top.

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 F, then lower the heat to 375 F for another 5 minutes.

Optional but highly recommended: Remove pan from oven, gently brush tops of muffins with melted honey, bake again about 2 or 3 more minutes. Tops should be shiny and slightly sticky, even when cooled.

Snow Day Breakfast

With work and school, it can be hard to find the time to make a nice breakfast every day for my little fellows. Snow days are a great opportunity to spend time with my boys and make them something yummy to eat.  And I think cold weather might makes things taste better.




dutch baby
Previous attempts at Dutch Baby have been wildly unsuccessful. Today's turned out perfectly. It's a bit like a crepe batter [more eggs, less flour than pancake batter]. Also known as a German Pancake, I believe they are exactly the same as popovers, only without the special pan. These are crispy on the edges and creamy inside with a hollow center.

makes a 9" loaf pan size, which serves 3-4
 2 eggs
1/4c sugar
1/4c flour
1/2 TB sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TB butter

Preheat oven to 375. Melt the 1 TB butter and pour into pan. Mix remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into pan and bake 15-20 min until golden brown. Batter will go from laying in the bottom of the pan to puffing up along the sides.




buttermilk molasses  syrup
I've made pancake syrup with corn syrup before and its hit or miss. Sometimes it tastes nice, other times its just too corn syrup-y. This kind of syrup is really more of a caramel sauce, which is a decadent way to dress up your pancakes, waffles or even toast. Amazing on ice cream too.
The molasses comes from the use of dark brown sugar, but if you dont have it, you could probably substitute the 1/4c water for molasses and get a similar flavor.

Makes about 1/2 cup of syrup.
1/2c dark brown sugar
1/4c water
1TB butter
1tsp maple extract
1 TB buttermilk
pinch of salt

Stir sugar and water together in a saucepan, bring to boil. Boil 2-3 mins. Take off heat, add in butter in pieces and buttermilk. Stir in maple extract and salt, mix till smooth and combined.
Keeps for a few weeks in an airtight container.

soft boiled eggs 
I learned how to make these from a book called Japanese Soul Cooking. They are often used in ramen, bento and make a damn tasty snack. The trick is the exact cooking time and starting the eggs in cold water, not dropping them into boiling water. Do it once and you'll be amazed how easy it is.

makes 4 eggs
4 eggs
pinch of salt

Poke a tiny hole in the bottom of each egg [the round part, not the pointy end] with a pushpin or needle. Place eggs in a saucepan, cover eggs completely with water. Bring to boil. Once it reaches a boil, let cook exactly 5 minutes. Drain the hot water and shock in cold water. Will keep in the 'fridge for several days. Peel and slice right at service time. Serve with a pinch of salt on each yolk.

Steamy coffee action shot! 

Spicy Bacon Brittle

To make the Candied Bacon:

1/2 lb Thick Cut Applewood Smoked Bacon
1 c dark brown sugar
2 TB Turbinado sugar [or sugar in the raw]
1 TB J&D's Bacon Rub [or J&D's Bacon Salt or cayenne pepper and salt}

Preheat oven to 350.
Line a sheet pan with foil, top with a baking rack.
Mix sugar and spices on a large plate.
Pat each bacon strip into the sugar mixture, on each side. Really smush it on in there, get each strip coated completely.
Lay strips on the baking rack, bake 20-30 minutes until just crisp, but not burnt. Bacon will crisp more as it cools.
Remove bacon strips from rack as soon as they are cool enough to handle, or they will stick to rack as they harden.

Chop each piece of bacon by slicing long-ways into 3 thin strips, then short-ways to create lots of little squares, about 1/4" wide.

• Make sure you have all your ingredients measured and laid out before you start the candy. When the sugar mixture comes to temperature, it needs to be finished very quickly, it will start to harden immediately after coming off the heat.

For the candy:

1 cup brown sugar [use leftovers from the candied bacon]
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter [about 4oz or 1/2c]
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp J&D's Bacon Rub
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 lb chopped, candied bacon [see above]
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Line a small baking sheet with parchment.
In a large saucepan [be sure you use a large pan, it will double and triple as it boils], combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil.
Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is light brown and registers 300° on a candy thermometer, 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the bacon and baking soda. The mixture will bubble.
Immediately scrape the brittle onto the baking sheet.
Using the back of a large spoon (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer.
Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.

recipes altered from: About Food and Food and Wine

Smoked Sausage and Onion Stuffed Chicken Breast

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

The Stuffing

1/2 an onion, chopped sauteed with a kielbasa smoked sausage piece about the size of your hand, chopped small. 
1 c bread crumbs
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Trader Joe's 21 seasoning (or other all-purpose mixed seasoning)
1/2 tsp (or about two quick shakes) cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup water


Sautee onion and sausage together in a medium/hot pan till onion is nicely browned and sausage has those crispy dark bits on the sides, about 5 minutes. 





In a small bowl, mix together onion mixture, bread crumbs, seasoning and melted butter. If necessary, add water, a little bit at a time, until mixture comes together enough that you can squeeze a ball in your hand. If it gets too 'goopy', add a little more bread crumbs and try again. 

The Rolls

2 whole chicken breasts or 4 halves
Pound chicken out thinly. You can use a mallet or a hammer. I like my heavy Chinese cleaver for the job. 

To assemble:
Lay a piece of thinly pounded chicken onto your cutting board. Grab a small handful of stuffing and squeeze it into a ball (or enough to make a ball that sits in the middle of your chicken, see picture below).
Roll firmly, from end to end (I tend to roll Right to Left, but it's not a science). Repeat until you've used up all your chicken.
Optionally, you can secure the rolls with a toothpick. But if you roll them tightly enough and handle gently, you really don't need them. 

The Breading
Now you're gonna need two bowls...

In one bowl:
1 cup panko
1 tsp (or a pinch) of salt

In the other bowl:
2 eggs, whisked together

This is where you multi-task. You don't want to bread your chicken until you're putting it right into the hot pan. This way, your breading doesn't get soggy. Also use one hand for Wet ingredients and one for Dry. That way you don't get HULK HANDS. If you don't know what I'm talking about it... you'll see for yourself if you do it wrong. 
So get your pan going, about medium/high heat. Pour in about a tablespoon of oil and I also like to put in a tablespoon of butter (yum).
Assembly line - with one hand, carefully place the chicken rolls into the egg and roll gently to cover.
With the other hand, roll the chicken into the panko until its completely covered.
Drop the chicken into the hot pan, Seam Side Down! This way, your seam will sear together and you don't have to worry about your rolls falling apart (See? Told you you don't need toothpicks). 
Repeat with each piece.


Cook them until the crust on the outside gets a nice brown color, about 5 minutes per side. You aren't fully cooking the chicken yet, just getting some color and sealing your seams.

Carefully scoop them out of your pan with a couple of forks or a spatula. Place them into an oven safe dish and bake about 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. You can poke in a thermometer to see if they are about 165 degrees inside, OR, just slice into one - it should be totally white, with no pink. 

Take them out of the dish and place on a cutting board. Let rest/cool for 5-10 minutes, then slice them (diagonally, if you wanna be fancy). 

Serve with corn on the cobb and green beans, or what have you.

Tip: Bake your corn, still in its husk, on the oven rack while the chicken is cooking. They should both be done about the same time. To check corn, peel the husk back and squeeze one of the kernels, if its soft, its done, if its crunchy let it cook a bit longer.

Roasted Banana, Pineapple, and Brown Rice Muffins with Fresh Ginger Streusel

Well that's literally and figuratively a mouthful. These muffins are dense but soft, with a lovely chewiness from the rice, sweetness from the pineapple and a pop of spice from the ginger struesel.

Roasted Bananas:

3 or more Bananas

1 foil covered sheet pan

Heat oven to 375, F. Place bananas on foil covered pan (foil makes for easy cleanup!). Roast for 12-15 minutes until blackened all over and starting to bubble out juice. Let cool before handling.
Snip off the top with a pair of scissors and squeeze from the end like toothpaste.

For the Streusel:

1c flour
1/4c butter
2 TB freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix everything together until the flour is all incorporated. It should look sandy and clumpy. Drop onto tops of muffins before baking, about 1 tablespoon per muffin.

For the Muffins:

1.5 c self-rising flour
3 TB Korean Alday nut tea mix (or 1/2 tsp salt)
3 Roasted Bananas
3/4 c white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c butter, melted
2 TB sour cream

Solid Garnish:
1 8oz can pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 c brown rice (cooked)

Stir dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat wet ingredients together. Stir dry into wet ingredients until combined. Fold in solid garnish. Fill muffins most of the way full. Top with struesel. 

Bake at 375, F, for 25-30 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Freezer Meals: Teriyaki Baked Chicken

Freezer cooking 101: Buy meat in bulk, portion into bags with marinades and freeze.

You can fit 3-4 chicken leg/thigh combos in 1 gallon size ziplock bag, depending on how big the chicken is (or how good you are at Tetris). Probably 4-6 chicken breasts, easily. Whatever you use, you can fit a lot into a gallon size bag. Pour over the marinade and freeze until ready to use.

/\ My freezer looks like this /\

Thaw in the 'fridge for about a day (if you use a lot of chicken, it may take longer to thaw). You can, in a pinch, use a microwave on defrost setting. Just be careful not to actually cook the chicken in the process!

To bake: Place chicken into foil lined pan (for easy cleanup! teriyaki tends to get sticky), dump marinade over top. Optionally pour over a can of pineapple.
Bake at 375 F, for about an hour, until chicken is done and skin is nicely brown and crispy.


You know chicken is done when it starts coming off the bone like this ->

Serve over brown or white rice, with a bit of kimchi or spicy pickle on the side.

Tips:

• In the morning, dump everything into a slow cooker and set to low. Ready by dinner, in about 8 hours.
• Serve with fried rice or chow mein.

When life gives you Bud Light...

When life gives you an excess of nasty beer nobody wants to drink... make pizza crust. 

You don't even need yeast.The beer in this recipe gives a yeasty flavor and the carbonation makes the crust light and soft.
From start to finish, you could have a freshly made pizza in about 30 minutes. Plus get rid of that beer that's laying around. Win win. 

Step 1
Place 2 cups of self-rising flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp. of salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp. of olive oil and 6 oz. of beer. Stir until the dough forms into a ball. Add additional flour if needed.

Step 2
Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a baking pan with olive oil. Spread the dough to 1/2-inch thickness and place it in the oven.

Step 3
Bake the dough for five to 10 minutes or until a crust has formed on the top. Remove the crust from the oven and cover it with sauce and your favorite toppings. Return the dish to the oven and bake it until the edges are brown and the cheese is melted, 15 to 20 more minutes.

Tips:
Make this with whatever beer you like to drink or have on hand.
Add 1 tablespoon of your favorite spices to the crust with the flour. Garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano are a good combo.