Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

I decided to make these pancakes this morning for a lazy Saturday breakfast (well, it was almost lunch when we finally ate them. Ah well.). Adam took one bite of these, declared them "so good you don't need syrup" and then suggested to me that I should post these on the blog.

Ask, and ye shall receive.







I've spoken before about lemon pancakes. How I kind of felt them to be a little too tart for my taste. I tried making meyer lemon pancakes and found them to be much better, much more subtle. And then there were the lemon blueberry pancakes. I'm still not sure why lemons and blueberries match so well together, but yet, there they were, a perfect pair. Another thing that was great about it was that the blueberries were directly in the batter, something I've admittedly never tried. I've always put the blueberries in as they bake on the griddle. Never again.

This recipe calls for evaporated milk, and like an idiot, when I went to the store I bought sweetened condensed milk instead. Figuring that this might make the pancakes overly sweet, I decided to ditch the condensed milk and use up some leftover buttermilk I had in the fridge. It worked like a charm. We decided that they seemed crepe-like...but maybe a touch thicker. Next time I try these, I'd like to mix it up and try different things: evaporated milk, sour cream, maybe even yogurt!





I thought that maple syrup might overpower these pancakes and that it might make them too sweet. I thought that I might need my raspberry syrup to continue with the fruit theme. I don't know, maple syrup and lemon seemed weird to me. But it worked. I loved it. Let's be honest anyway: Maple syrup (REAL maple syrup, not that fake Aunt Jemima stuff) is the best thing known to man. Of course it would make these pancakes even more awesome.



We ate all of the pancakes in one sitting. Clearly a win-situation for us, and a first when it comes to pancakes. Though I might need to go outside for a run after doing that. :)

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes (recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
1-½ c. cake flour, plus one additional TBSP
¼ tsp. salt
1 T. baking powder
3 T. Sugar
1-½ cup Evaporated Milk (I didn't have it, so I substituted buttermilk instead)
1 lemon
1 large egg
1-½ tsp vanilla
2 T. melted butter
Zest From 1 lemon
1 heaping c. Blueberries

Heat heavy skillet or grill over medium low heat.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix evaporated milk, juice of 1 lemon, and lemon zest. Sit aside for five minutes, then add egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix to combine.
Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine. Stir in blueberries. Make sure mixture isn’t overly thick. If it is, add more milk, buttermilk, or whatever liquid you might be using.
Melt butter in heated skillet. Flick some water over the top to see if it's ready (water should dance across if it is). When the skillet is ready, ladle batter in 1/3-1/4 c. amounts, and fry for about 3 minutes a side, or until golden brown, whichever comes first. Add butter to the top and douse in copious amounts of maple syrup.

Berry Buttermilk Sherbet

It's now starting to be summer in New England, and summer for me equals ice cream.

There's a place about a mile down the road from us called Breakers. They serve Richardson's ice cream, and I will, without fail, order one of two things there: a black raspberry frozen yogurt with chocolate sprinkles or a chocolate peanut butter ice cream (for those who read this blog and know me very well, not to worry-my favorite ice cream ever, coffee oreo, isn't as good there as it is at JP Licks, so I don't get it.). Their sizes are gigantic-so gigantic that we typically order kiddie sizes, which in the real world are closer to mediums. It's a ton of ice cream for under $4. We love going there, especially in the summer.

A few years ago, I found a refurbished ice cream maker on Amazon for very little money. I was thrilled-I could make ice cream at home! I began making vanilla, chocolate, and yes, even coffee oreo. I made mint chip and an at-home version of Crantucket (vanilla with chocolate covered cranberries that my favorite ice cream place on Nantucket serves). I've done some sorbets and sherbets too-I made a mango sherbet for Adam's birthday this year and a mango-raspberry sorbet a few months ago. I found this recipe for a berry sherbet yesterday, and couldn't wait to try it.





The thing about this sherbet that makes it different for me is that it includes buttermilk-something that makes this dessert be a little more tangy and tart than I'm used to. It also has the option to strain the seeds or not-something I decided to do with it tonight. Though it made the sherbet more creamy, I don't know if I'll do that every time. It does take quite awhile to strain the mixture completely of seeds-I did it in roughly 25 minutes, so if you don't mind, keep it in-you'll get sherbet much faster.







This is a really good sherbet. I loved the tang, I especially loved the colors, and I loved that it was made with fresh berries. It made a really good weekend even better. If you have an ice cream maker, I'd suggest you get on this recipe right away-otherwise, come hang out with me before it disappears :)



Berry Buttermilk Sherbet (recipe obtained from Sass and Veracity)
6 oz. or 1 c. fresh raspberries
6 oz. or 1 c. fresh blackberries
6 oz. or 1 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 c. sugar (the original recipe calls for raw; I had no raw sugar so I used standard granulated sugar-I don't know that it made any difference but feel free to use whatever you'd like)
1-3/4 c. buttermilk
1 T. lime juice
1/2 tsp. cardamom (tip: cardamom is incredibly expensive-like $15 expensive. If you don't have it, substitute for 1/4 tsp. each of cinnamon and nutmeg, which is what I did)

Put all three types of berries into a blender and puree. If you decide to remove the seeds, take the berry mixture and force it through a fine mesh sieve to remove them, then add back to the blender. Add the sugar, buttermilk, lime juice, and cardamom (or cardamom substitute) to the blender and puree until smooth. Pour into the container of an electric ice cream maker and run until frozen, but soft enough to spread into a container to place in the freezer (approximately 25 minutes). Seal well in a freezer safe container and freeze for several hours before serving.

Baked Curried Sweet Potato Fries

Oh, curry and sweet potato. One of the greatest matches I never knew about.

Sweet potato fries are becoming quite popular at restaurants. I love that...now. What's bizarre is that I didn't always love them. They're something I grew into. I held onto my beloved potato for so long until I realized that sweet potatoes were just as good.

Curry was the same way. For a very long time, I hated curry. I hated anything with spice. It made my mouth go on fire, my face would turn purple, and it was pretty uncomfortable for me.

That being said, I've come a long way. I don't know where I decided that curry was good, or for that matter that sweet potatoes were awesome, but I'm really happy I did.

The first time I came across this recipe I was sitting at home, perusing the internet for something easy to have for dinner. I had one sweet potato in the house and a few burgers left over from my Christmas box o' meat. I knew I was going to have a burger and some fries but wasn't sure how to go about it...and then I found a recipe for baked curried sweet potato fries. Seemed awfully simple to me, and I could easily throw this one together while the burger was defrosting and even while on the grill.





And how.



These sweet potato fries had enough spice, enough crunch (even for being baked!) and some really, really good flavor. They were simple, natch. Spice in bowl. Check. egg white in bowl, check. Potato sliced, check. Mixture spread around fries. Check. Bake until you can't stand it anymore. Almost stupidly easy. After I made these for myself I made them for Adam and me for dinner another night, and I had to swat his hand away because he kept snacking at the pan before the rest of the meal was ready. I think he liked them too. :)



I also liked these because although there was oil involved, these fries weren't fried. I can't say they were totally healthy, but I felt somewhat better about eating these fries than ones that came from a deep fryer. Somewhat.

Baked Curried Sweet Potato Fries (recipe obtained from Joy The Baker)

1 medium to large sweet potato, peeled
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large egg white
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, which I've done a few times)
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Place a rack in the center of a preheated 400 degree oven.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Take the peeled sweet potato and slice into sticks or wedges.
Toss the potato slices with olive oil on the baking sheet. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk egg white until foamy and frothy. Add curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and crushed red pepper flakes and mix until fully combined. Pour the egg white mixture over the potato sticks and toss to coat the potatoes. Using your (clean) hands is likely the best way to do this.
Place in the oven and bake to desired doneness and crispiness, roughly about 40 minutes.
Remove fries from the oven and serve.

Key Lime Mousse

I have no words for this dessert. My mouth is too full of mousse right now to speak.




Key Lime Pie is one of my favorite desserts. I'm not sure where I decided it was full of awesome, but I'm sure as hell glad I did. It's so tart, yet really sweet, and I completely.love.it. There's also key lime meltaways I've made and loved, key lime cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, and key lime ice cream made by Ben & Jerry's that Adam found for me last summer and surprised me with. Key lime and me, it's pretty much my secret favorite guilty pleasure.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to help with Passover Seder. Not ever having attended a Seder before, and really not knowing what I had to do to prepare the food, I was (understandably) a little intimidated-I wanted to make sure I was following the rules! As it turns out, Key Lime Mousse was pretty easily kosher-eggs, cream, key limes, sugar. Completely stupendous.

Mousse, in general, isn't terribly difficult. But it does have a lot of steps. Zest the fruit. Make the custard. Strain the custard. Cool the custard. Whip the cream. Fold together. Refrigerate. Y'see? Step after step after step.











It is so worth it, though. It's Key lime pie, without the crust (though I imagine some graham cracker crumbles over the top would add some nice crunch). It is unbelievable. If I had more key limes, I'd make it tonight.



Key Lime Mousse (recipe from Epicurious)

*I doubled this recipe to feed 13-the original says it will feed 4. While I'm not certain that all had a lot of the mousse, we did come home with some leftover. I highly recommend leftovers.)

1/2 tbsp grated Key lime zest
1/2 c. fresh Key lime juice
1/2 c. sugar
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs
3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c. chilled heavy cream


Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, salt, and eggs in a medium-sized pot. Add butter and cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until thick enough to hold the marks of whisk, about 5 minutes or so. Gently force the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl before the eggs scramble, then quick-chill in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
Beat cream with an electric mixer until it holds stiff peaks, then fold into custard gently but thoroughly. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Philly-Style pretzels

Let's talk pretzels.

But first, I have a confession: I didn't want to post this recipe. I didn't want anyone to know where it came from, and for that matter, know how easy they actually are to make, but these were too much of a hit to not share. So, here it goes:

I got this recipe from Bobby Flay. From a Throwdown episode, no less.

This past December, I went to Philadelphia to celebrate Christmas with Adam's family. We had a lovely time, playing games, playing with the dogs (and having an unfortunate incident in which they found my Christmas candy, but that's another story for another time. Bottom line, they're none worse for the wear!) and keeping warm and dry from the blizzard going on outside. Before the snow hit though, I got my first taste of Philly pretzel.

It was the kind of pretzel that was chewy all throughout with a little bit of crunch (but only a little!). The Philly-style pretzel got rave reviews from friends (one even admitted that she would get a hot pretzel every morning before school when she lived there). I will go so far as to say that Philadelphia has the best pretzels I have ever eaten.

Fast forward to about a month later, when we were watching Throwdown one evening on the Food Network. We were trying to figure out what to serve for the upcoming superbowl party we were hosting, and it hit us like a ball in the face: we should make pretzels! I was a little wary: I hate making dough. Really, it's true. On the other hand, there was no way we'd get fresh pretzels from Philly that wouldn't taste stale by the time they arrived in Boston. So I thought of an idea that I wish I had thought of a long time ago.





I used my bread maker.





And made, quite possibly, the best pretzels this side of Philly.



It really wasn't that hard: combine the wet ingredients in the bottom of the pan, put the dry ingredients on top, make a well for the yeast, and start the machine. Voila! Dough!

I made these pretzels again this weekend for Adam's birthday dinner with friends. I made the dough, let it rise, formed the pretzels, and boiled and baked them. So. Good. I had Adam taste test one fresh from the oven, and then made him wait until people began arriving last night before he could have another. I had to do it myself. No lie, between the two of us we would have eaten the entire batch. And the next one I made. So to our friends, I say, that was a great exercise in self-restraint for the both of us.

I got to eat the last one today, and I'll be honest, I'm very sad they're gone. I guess that means I'll have to make more.

Soft Pretzels (recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay and the Food Network)

1 1/2 c. warm water
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast (I've used the jarred yeast too, and it just doesn't work as well. Learn from my mistakes, use the packaged yeast. If you must, though, 2 1/4 tsp of yeast from a jar equals one package)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp. salt
4 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

**If you choose to go the bread-maker route, try this method: Combine the wet ingredients (water, butter) in the bottom of the bread machine pan. Then add the flour, sugar, and salt on top. DO NOT MIX TOGETHER. Make a small well in the flour, then put the yeast in. Set your bread machine maker to the dough setting. Then follow the rest of the directions below.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil (I used olive oil), add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour. If you need to, the dough can also rise in the fridge overnight.

When you are ready to make the dough, Bring 3 quarts of water (12 cups) to a boil in a pot over high heat and add 3/4 c. baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8-16 equal pieces, depending on how big you'd like your pretzels. I did it in 16 pieces, and made pretzels that were about the size of my fist. Roll each piece into a long rope: make the rope into a "U" shape and then cross your hands over each other to pick up the ends, then fold down to the bottom of the "U". Boil the pretzels in the water solution for 30 seconds, splashing the tops with the warmed water using a spoon. Remove with a large flat slotted spatula or spoon. Place pretzels on a baking sheet, press together to make them bake into each other, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into a preheated 425 degree oven and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.

These are awesome all on their own, straight from the oven, or dipped in some cheese sauce or honey mustard. Yes, please, and thank you.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Bars

When I was in Dallas, there was a little place I loved to go to called Corner Bakery. It was perfect for breakfast or lunch, a little snack or some dessert. It was a place that never failed me. In the fall, they carried a mini bundt cake that had gingerbread and pumpkin-I think it was called a pumpkin spice bundt. Whatever it was, I have always thought about that particular cake, and tried to hunt down the recipe, but I never found it.

Several weeks ago, I was perusing recipe websites, as I am oft to do, and stumbled across this one from the Dallas Morning News (coincidence? I think not so much). THIS was the one I had been searching for. No, it wasn't Corner Bakery's recipe-but it was the closest one I had seen. Not only that, it looked superb. I kept it aside, thinking I might make it for holiday treats, but I never got to it until this weekend. Good thing, because had I made it for the holidays, it might have just never made it to anyone-I am pretty sure I would have eaten the pan by myself.





If it had been in a mini-bundt pan with some glaze over the top it would have been an exact replica. As it stands, a square with powdered sugar over the top will do just as well. These are things I can work on for next time.




I think the thing I liked most about this was how subtle these bars were. They weren't overly pumpkin-y, and not too gingerbread-y. They were very mild but still pretty sweet. I really thought it was great as a dessert-and hey, the recipe says that gingerbread is kind of good for you, so, bonus!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Bars (recipe obtained from The Dallas Morning News)

2 eggs
½ c. brown sugar
3/4 c. solid-pack pumpkin
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Butter a 9-inch square pan (I used an 8-inch-I think it worked even better. Next time I'm definitely trying mini bundts).

Beat the eggs with an electric mixer at high speed 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add the pumpkin, molasses and vanilla, and beat for several minutes using the mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Add to the pumpkin mixture and stir well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake approximately 20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into bars. Watch them disappear into your own belly.

Meyer Lemon Pancakes with Raspberry Syrup

What better way to start the new year than with something that reminds me of summer? I think there's no better way; with snow on the ground (albeit also at 50 degrees in January) the only thing I want to think about is warmth, sunshine, and summer. These pancakes accomplish that.



The weird thing is that I've made lemon pancakes before. When I made them, they were so tart that I spent more time with my mouth puckered than I did with a mouth full of pancake. I wanted to really like them but the best I could say was that they were just "okay". I'm still not totally certain I'd make that recipe again, but I will say they were really bright. Not just in color, but in taste. I'm still not so sure that real lemon pancakes were my favorite, but they weren't bad.

Yesterday, I saw this recipe on the food network for Meyer lemon pancakes. Every time I'd seen a recipe for Meyer lemons I just substituted regular lemons, thinking that there wasn't much of a difference.

For the record? Don't do that. Meyer lemons make SUCH a difference. I never knew! (I'd never even seen one until yesterday, either). I read up on them and found out they were more similar to an orange-they even look a little bit like them. Much more orange than yellow, much more circular than...well, whatever shape a lemon is...and much more subtle than a regular lemon.

Last night I threw together the batter (I totally recommend that by the way, if you're making a lazy breakfast), made the syrup (which I've made before and will touch on later) and this morning, clad in my new feety pajamas I got for Christmas (thanks to my brother in law for those!) I used my new pancake batter dispenser (thanks Christie!) and made a whole mess of Meyer lemon pancakes, which were then doused in fresh raspberry syrup.







These were so good that A and I both went back for seconds. I thought about going back for thirds until I remembered that the rest could work for breakfast tomorrow.



These had a very mild lemon flavor, and they were incredibly light. Although the batter isn't something that's that quick to do (whipping egg whites, what?), it's not hard-just has extra steps! It's worth it, in my opinion-having whipped egg whites in a pancake batter really changes the texture of the pancake. I loved them.

This pancake recipe came with a strawberry coulis recipe to go on top. I decided to scrap it and use a tried and true raspberry syrup that I loved (and, ironically, went with the earlier version of lemon pancakes that I wasn't the biggest fan of.). It's a pretty simple recipe-put frozen raspberries in a pot with some sugar and lime juice concentrate, and let it boil and thicken, then strain out the raspberries to get a nice smooth syrup.





As A so aptly declared: 'tis good. Yes, yes it is.



Meyer lemon pancakes (recipe from Anne Burrell and foodnetwork.com)
2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 heaping tsp. baking powder
4 eggs, separated
1 heaping c. ricotta cheese
3/4 c. milk
2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced

Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, ricotta, milk and lemon zest and juice, and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix well.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric mixer. Fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter. If you are making this for the next day, feel free to stop here and cover the bowl and refrigerate until the next morning. If not, continue forward.

Spray a griddle with nonstick spray or put a pat or two of butter down, and turn the heat to medium high. Test the readiness of the griddle by flicking a bit of water from your fingers; if it dances across the pan, it's hot enough. If it just sits there, wait! When the pan is ready, ladle the batter onto the griddle. Let it cook for about three minutes, or until bubbles pop through the batter. Once it bubbles, flip the pancake and cook for approximately three minutes or less on the other side. Drench pancakes in syrup and go to town. :)

Raspberry Syrup (recipe from Nantucket Recipes from the Fog Island Cafe, by Mark and Anne Dawson)

4 c. fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. frozen lime juice concentrate

Combine all ingredients in a pot and cook over a low heat, stirring often. Let the sauce cook until the berries are soft and the sauce is thick. This could take up to 20 minutes, but has for me sometimes taken a half hour.

Take the pot off the heat and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer. Then refrigerate until you are ready to use it. This should get you roughly 1.5 cups of syrup.