cardamom olive oil cookies with pistachio

Don't be too impressed, this is another amazing Bittman recipe and surprisingly simple despite how fancy it sounds. Olive oil replaces butter in the usual cookie formula, but the cookies don't taste overly savory. I guess you can thank ample sugar for that one.

I decided to make these last Saturday (yes this is what I was doing on my Saturday night) because I *thought* I had all the ingredients at home. It wasn't until I had cracked open a few and was looking mystified at the size of my measuring spoon, that I discovered cardamom pods contain very little actual spice. Luckily my friend Kevin was there to convince me not to scratch the whole thing-- and so began the neighborhood quest for cardamom. Did you know cardamom is sort of a rare spice? I did not. After 3 bodegas and two groceries stores we were almost ready to give up, but of course the very last bodega we went to had it sitting in the back by the refrigerators. I'm not going to lie, Kevin and I shouted and high fived in the middle of the store like we'd just won some sort of sports game (possibly frightening the dudes behind us picking out beer). It was worth it though, because the cookies taste amazing. Besides did I really think I could get though a baking project without a small disaster? Impossible.

ingredients:

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1tb cardamom
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
2 tbs orange zest
2 tbs orange juice
1/2 cup ground pistachios

I had regular pistachios in their shells, so my first step was to crack a bunch and then wash the nuts under water to remove the salt. Set them aside to dry before you crush them. A plastic bag and heavy object works well if you don't feel like using a food processor.

Preheat the oven to 350

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom

Add olive oil and sugar, blending well

Add eggs and whisk until smooth. Bittman says the batter should be creamy at this point, but that didn't happen for me. Maybe I need stronger arm muscles or something, but the batter was pretty thick and almost doughy until I added the orange juice in the next step. Truthfully I probably added more then 2tb to get the batter to thin out.

Whisk in orange juice and zest. By now the batter should be regular cookie dough consistency (or maybe it was for you before...show off).

Roll into small balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Use the wet bottom of a cup to flatten the cookies a little and stick on the crushed pistachios.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly brown on the bottom

arancini

Did you like that food cliff-hanger?

Well by now you've probably guessed I was going to use the leftover risotto to make arancini (aka "little oranges" aka "risotto balls"). This recipie is kind of genius. It's like some food mastermind (or evil mad scientist if you're on a diet, I suppose) took a look at risotto and thought, "How can I make this cheesey rice even better. Of course! I'll stuff it with more cheese and deep-fry it!" Anonymous inventor of the arancini, I salute you.

Side tangent: I have an ongoing debate with my friend Denise about whether or not recipes are invented or evolve. Denise does not believe that for instance, one person came up with the sandwich. Nevermind that Earl of Sandwich story, she thinks he just got the credit for what lots of people over the globe were doing for years. The conversation original started over Nutella and whether or not one person (a person I'd like to give a very big hug to) figured out how amazing melted chocolate and hazelnut is together before spreading the word around. She thinks recipes just happen instinctively and therefore the same recipie must happen in lots of kitchens all the time. I do agree with her on things that are very basic, like baking potatoes, and I also think there should be a category for accidents (popcorn!), but I think someone invented arancini. Denise says this makes me a food-creationist.

ingredients:

leftover cold risotto (I had about 2 cups)
2 eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (plus more for the crust)
mozzarella cheese
vegetable oil

Cut about 10 cubes of mozzarella 1in in size

Beat eggs in mixing bowl. Stir in risotto and breadcrumbs. Mix well with your hands.

Roll risotto mixture into balls about the size of a small clementine. Poke cheese cubes into center and roll again until the outside is smooth

Roll risotto balls in a plate or small bowl of breadcrumbs until sides are completely coated

Heat vegetable oil in large frying pan

Fry until golden brown on all sides. Depending on how deep your pan is, you will probably have to roll them around a lot to get the crust to cook evenly.

Drain on paper towel for a few minutes to absorb excess oil. Just try to wait until they cool.

saffron mushroom risotto

I recently came into a large bag of spices from Egypt thanks to my coworker, who got them from a friend and thought I would get more use out of it since I, "make a lot of that vegetarian stuff". I'm not exactly sure what everything is (guesses in comments are welcome, as is coming over to my house and sniffing for yourself). Saffron is something I never buy because it's expensive, so I was excited to try out my usual risotto recipe with a new spice. Since the vegetables get stirred in at the very last few minutes of cooking the dish, its easy to make a couple different versions at once. James had his with green peas, which is why I'm tagging this as 'james approved' when my version has *gasp* mushrooms. I also like to make a version using sweet potatoes and lots of rosemary. Risotto is just cheesy rice, so the possibilities of what you can add are endless. Keep in mind this takes awhile to make, so its not a good rush dinner choice.

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
4 cups vegetable stock
one small onion chopped
2tb butter or olive oil
pinch of saffron (about 1/4 tsp)
mushrooms or other vegetables (for my half portion I used about 5-6 cooking mushrooms and 1 cup of green peas for the other half)
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Heat vegetable stock in saucepan on low heat until simmering.

In a large frying pan or saucepan melt butter (or add olive oil) and cook onion on low heat until clear

Add arborio and saffron stirring so butter coats all the rice. Allow to cook for a few minutes.

Add about 1/2 cup of vegetable stock and stir until the liquid is totally absorbed by the rice. Repeat process until you've used up your vegetable stock and rice is soft but not mushy. I taste it before every new addition of stock just to keep track. If at the very end you run out of stock and the rice is not quite done, you can always use hot water.

This process will take about 20-30 minutes so now is a good time to call you Mom, put on some record you haven't listen to in a long time, or master the art of reading and stirring (not recommended if it's a library book and you are a messy chef).

While rice is busy absorbing you can cook your vegetables in a separate frying pan. I sauteed the mushrooms with a couple cloves of chopped garlic and a little olive oil.

Once rice is finished cooking, stir in your vegetables and cheese. You may want to add some salt or pepper to taste depending on which vegetable stock you buy.

If you end up with leftovers, consider yourself lucky. You'll see why in the next post...

sweet potato and black bean hash

This recipe came from a kind of food version of the telephone game. On nights where I'm eating something horribly green and full of produce James sometimes makes a hash he altered from an Emeril recipie his mom had. After seeing it a few times and being jealous of his meal, I decided to make a vegetarian version subbing black beans for the meat. My other changes include a sweet potato along with the regular baking potato, another pepper, and some extra spices (since the sausage in the original recipie probably adds most of the flavor to the dish, right?). This makes a lot of servings so I've been eating it with hard boiled eggs (in place of the baked) for lunches. Also the leftovers would make a great bottom level to baked eggs or in a breakfast burrito.


ingredients:

1 16 oz can black beans
1 baking potato
1 sweet potato
1 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1/2 onion
1tb olive oil
2tbs spicy mustard
cayenne pepper, chili powder, and adobe seasoning to taste (about 1/4 tb of each)
2 eggs (per dish)

preheat oven to 450 degrees

In large skillet (non stick or cast iron would be best) fry chopped onions and pepper in oil until peppers are soft

Stir in black beans and spices

Grate both potatoes and drain as much water as possible before adding to the frying mixture. Stir in mustard.

Pat down with your spatula and cook until bottom starts to brown. Flip sections and repeat until potatoes starts to get crispy.

Spoon serving of hash into oven safe bowl. Crack eggs on top and bake until thoroughly cooked.

lunch box: pasta frittata

contents:

pasta frittata with peas
cannellini and spinach salad
olives

I can never make the right amount of salad or pasta. I know there are tricks (like a handful of spaghetti for each person), but every time I start portioning things out I either under or over estimate how many people are eating and how hungry we are. So I was really excited when I saw this pasta frittata recipe in my new Bittman cookbook, because it gave me somewhere to use the extra spaghetti that would otherwise just be staring at me pathetically from the strainer. He recommends using long pasta, but I think you could probably use any kind and it wouldn't kill the dish. Obviously this is an excuse to dump in whatever veggies you happen to have in the fridge. Tomatoes are definitely needed in future versions.

ingredients:

2 tb butter
5 eggs
1 cup green peas
leftover long pasta (I think I had somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of a box)
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

If you have the right sized frying pan this couldn't get simpler. Cook eggs (whisked first) and pasta in butter over medium heat. Stir in peas, cheese, and spices making sure pasta is evenly distributed in the pan.

Continue cooking until bottom sets, then place whole pan in the oven until top has cooked through.

Now the problem is...I own two frying pans, one too big and one too small for this to work. I ended up letting the eggs cook for awhile in the larger frying pan and then transferring the mixture to a casserole dish. So if you also suffer from lack of a 'mama bear' sized frying pan, any baking dish should work out fine. You'll just need to cook it a little longer in the oven.

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For the bean salad I sauteed a few handfuls of fresh spinach in 3 cloves of garlic and olive oil. Let spinach cool, then toss with 1 can of cannellini beans, 1/2 of a small red onion (chopped finely), and a little pepper.

potato latkes

A search for 'latke recipe' online results in an infinite number of different options, all of which claim to be the only way to make real pancakes. Do you shred the potatoes or mash them? Do you use flour, matzo meal, or bread crumbs to stick them together? What is the onion to potato ratio? I decided to consult the expert, my Grandmother.


The problem with getting the recipe for a traditional dish from someone who can make it on auto-pilot, is that its impossible for them to tell you any kind of measurements. Our chat was a little like what you would expect if you asked a bird how to fly. Grate "some" potatoes. Add onion, but not too much onion. Add flour but not too much flour. Eventually she turned to the Settlement Cookbook for measurement reference, which helped clarify things a lot. As for technique, here are some rules to latke by...

1. Grating the potatoes is the only way to go if you want them crispy (and who doesn't?)
2. Drain as much water as possible from the potatoes and onions
3. Remember you can always add more onion, but you can't take any out
4. Do not fuss/potchki with the latkes while cooking. Flip them once, that's it.

ingredients:

2 baking potatoes peeled and grated
1/2 medium onion grated
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
pinch baking powder
salt and pepper to taste

Grate potatoes and onion either by hand or with a food processor, depending on your kitchen tools/laziness

Using a colander, follow rule 2 above. I've always skipped this step before and it's a big reason why my latkes fell apart in the frying process. I promise, it's important.

In large mixing bowl combine drained potatoes and onion with other ingredients. Use your hands to shape into pancakes. These portions made 8 medium sized latkes (about the circumference of a clementine).

Fry in vegetable oil until golden. Follow rule number 4. I know how tempting it is to keep checking the pancakes every two seconds, but keep your spatula away from the pan! You're only going to crumble your pancakes.

Drain on a paper towel covered plate before serving to absorb some of the oil.

Eat with sour cream, applesauce, or both.

Oh and let me know if you tried the recipe and liked it. All fan mail will be forwarded to Grandma Frieda. Happy Hanukkah!

baking party 2: the return of baking party

John hosted another wonderful baking party this past weekend. I'm going to go ahead and start calling this a Bake Club, since we are all committed to keeping this up on a regular basis. There were some more savory items this time around. John made lasagna and Gigi tried this interesting muffin recipe I found online with some very delicious substitutions. Instead of photographing each batch individually, I just have one plate for you with examples. I'm pretty sure you won't have any trouble figuring out which is which.

Me: Chocolate Earl Grey Cookies. I've been a little obsessed with the Chocolate + Earl Grey flavor combination after I had an ice cream version a couple years ago. Since then I've been settling for occasionally putting half a hot coco mix in with my tea (which is really not that bad), so I was pretty excited to find this recipe online.

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Gigi: Savory Muffins. I know the idea of a savory muffin sounds weird, but they really are delicious. You're just going to have to trust me. Gigi substituted broccoli and sharp cheddar for the green beans and parmesan in the original recipe. They would be the perfect accompaniment to soup or as part of a brunch.

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Christopher: Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake. Christopher can't remember the name of the book this recipe came from. Considering the taste, it may have been handed to him directly by roman gods. At the risk of angering them, I'll post it out for you here.

(Makes two 9” round cakes)

3 large navel oranges
3 large eggs
2 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups olive oil
1 ½ cups milk
2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350

Grate the zest from the oranges and place in a large mixing bowl.

Add the eggs and whisk well. Whisk in 1 cup of the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture lightens, about 1 minute. Whisk in the oil followed by the milk.

In another bowl, stir together the remaining 1 ½ cups of sugar with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk the dry mixture into the egg mixture in three separate additions, whisking smooth after each addition.

Divide the batter equally between the 2 prepared pans (Two 9 inch round pans, 2 inches deep, well oiled, and the bottoms lined with parchment paper cut to fit.)

Bake the cakes until they are well risen, deep golden, and firm in the center when pressed with a fingertip, 50 to 55 minutes.

Cool the cakes on racks for 5 minutes, then unmold, turn right side up again, and cool completely on racks.

*You'll also see on the plate some very simple and tasty tea cookies Christopher's friend Sarah made. If I can get the recipe from here, I'll post it for you later in the comments.



John: Spinach Lasagna. This is a combination of John's mother's recipe and one he found online. I was very skeptical of these no boil noodles, but they totally worked. It's magic!

Ingredients

1lb of "no boil" lasagna noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (try artichoke hearts, squash, or zucchini if you aren't a mushroom fan)
1 cup chopped onion (same as one medium onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (same as 2 or 3 cloves)
Two 10 oz. chopped frozen spinach packages (Just pop them in the microwave and drain them before mixing them in)
3 cups ricotta cheese (part skim if you prefer)
2/3 cup grated Romano cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 egg
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (part skim if you prefer)
3 cups tomato pasta sauce
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

If you do not have the "no boil" lasagna noodles bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook mushrooms, onions, and garlic in olive oil until onions are tender. Drain excess liquid and cool.

Microwave spinach for 12 minutes. Drain, then squeeze out excess liquid.

Combine ricotta cheese, Romano cheese, spinach, salt, oregano, basil, pepper, and egg in a bowl. Add cooled mushroom mixture. Mix well.

Lay 5 lasagna noodles in bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread one third of the cheese/spinach mixture over noodles. Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese on top. Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce over cheese. Repeat layering 2 times.

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

minestrone soup

James got a cold this week, which called for some made to order soup. I used to dislike celery in soup and always replaced it with zucchini, but I think I'm starting to come around to it as a flavor. There is something really nice about a simple ingredient comfort food soup. Especially in this weather. We had enough for about two nights of leftovers, but I did need to add some extra stock later in the week. You can see on the side we also had corn muffins (with butter and maple syrup).

ingredients:

1 small onion
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
1 potato cubed
1 can stewed tomatoes with juice
3/4 cup cannellini beans
1 cup mini wheels
3 cups veggie stock (I prefer bouillon cubes to pre-made stock)
fresh dill and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot fry chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until clear.

Add carrot, celery, and potato. Keep stirring to avoid burning the veggies

You will probably want to chop the stewed tomatoes a bit before you add them into the soup. The brand I buy always seems to have very large slices. Pour in your tomato juice first and then you can easily get the tomatoes out with a fork. I know that seems like it would be the obvious thing to do, but I've spent lots of time fishing around trying to find the last tomato at the bottom of the sauce.

Stir in cannolini and dill. Add veggie stock. Cover and reduce heat to low.

Once your potatoes are almost cooked through, add pasta and boil again for 8 minutes (or whatever is recommended for your pasta).

Taste your soup and see if it wants more spices. I don't add any extra salt since the bouillon cubes I buy are salty enough, but pepper and more dill can be nice (especially for a cold).

Serve with grated Parmesan.

basil pesto

Making fresh pesto is one of the quickest post-work dinners I've found. I almost always use walnuts instead of the traditional pine nuts to save on money (who do pine nuts think they are anyway?). I've also had some good experiments with almonds, or an almond walnut combo. Most recipes will call for 2 cloves of garlic, but I like to use at least 3 depending on the size. Garlic is great for you, delicious, and I say anyone who won't kiss you with garlic breath is not worth kissing at all.

ingredients:

1 bunch of basil (about 2 cups of leaves)
3 cloves garlic chopped
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese

Remove leaves and rinse well. Depending on the freshness of your produce store they can have lots of dirt/sand on them.

I pre-chop my garlic even though its all going in the food processor, just to make sure.

Blend ingredients in food processor. I prefer to leave a little walnut texture and not have totally smooth pesto, but that's up to you of course.

Serve on pasta, sandwiches, dressing for veggies...

mac and cheese

I have to come clean about something-- this is actually a photo of reheated mac and cheese. I got so excited about eating the night I made it, that I completely forgot to take a picture. I'm surprised that hasn't happened more often.

This recipe uses half of the proportions of the one I found online. If you make the full recipe you end up with one of those extra large 8x16 pans. The half version makes a smaller 8x8 pan, which is still enough for dinner and leftovers.

ingredients:

1/2 box of pasta (I like whole wheat rotini or penne)
4 tbs butter or futter
1/8 cup flour
2 cups milk
I tsp spicy mustard
cayenne, salt, pepper, to taste
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook your pasta. I wont insult you with pasta boiling directions.

In a heavy saucepan melt butter or futter on low heat

Add flour and whisk. Let this cook for about 5 minutes to get out the floury taste. Congratulations, you just made a roux!. Now it's time to make up some roux puns. Your freebie is, 'I roux the day I ever bought mac and cheese in a box'.

Ok fine, moving on...

Start adding your milk in small sections (about a 1/2 cup or less). Keep whisking to avoid letting the milk burn. Your milk will start to thicken up and turn into more of a cream sauce. Each time it thickens you can add another portion of milk. Continue this until all the milk is added.

Season your cream sauce with mustard and spices, tasting as you go. The recipie I use says 'mustard seeds', which I never remember to buy and keep using spicy mustard every time. I don't see any intensive to change over now.

Add your cooked pasta to the cream sauce pot if there's room (or use a large bowl). Mix in chedder and parmesian.

Pour mac and cheese into casserole dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top and a few more slabs of butter or futter (yes, more butter).

Bake until breadcrumbs get brown and the sauce is bubbling.

gingerbread cookies

As a rule I try to stay clear of baking because I always seem to mess it up, and failing at baking is the worst since you can never salvage it like something stove top. But this blog feels like a push to try some harder recipes -- and also, I just finished reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle and if you've ever read it you will understand why it was imperative that I start cooking gingersnaps on a Tuesday after work. I'm not really sure what the difference is between gingerbread and gingersnaps. The recipe I followed from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food said 'gingersnaps,' but they turned out very fluffy and cake-like even in cookie form.

So I'll give you a brief walk through of my baking "process" (if you can call it that), and you'll see why I try to avoid it at all costs.

The first problem started before I even took out ingredients, when I decided to half the recipe (the original yielding 30 cookies seemed like more than James and I were up for eating, even on a good week). This resulted in some shoddy math, and having to do things like make 3/4 of a teaspoon by using the 1/2 and the 1/4. Then my mind started wandering -- "wow, it's amazing how bad I am at simple fractions. You'd think this would come up more often . . ." -- and I accidentally mixed up the teaspoons and tablespoons. I had to start over on the dry ingredients.

I did a similar thing with the butter trying to convert 3/4 of a stick and a tub of Smart Balance into the recipe's required 'stick and 3 tablespoons' , only to remember after measuring it all out that the amount needed to be halved. Oops.

After finally winning the battle against batter, I got to the step where you wrap the dough in plastic to chill. Realizing I had no plastic wrap, I was forced to cut up a large ziplock bag instead. It worked...kind of.

Three hours later, when the batter was supposed to be cooled, it turned out to still be too soft. Something I only discovered after it stuck to my countertop.

Here's the thing though: after all that I still ended up with light, fluffy cookies that weren't burnt (not even a little!) on the bottom. This is a first. Did I actually manage the right ingredient proportions in spite of myself? Was it the magic of Alice Waters? Who knows. What I can tell you is that the opening to 'Darjeeling Limited, Hotel Chevalier, is exactly the length of time it takes to bake gingersnaps. Just in case that ever comes up for you too.


ingredients (original proportions):

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 stick and 3 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg

Combine flour, baking soda, and spices (ie: all your dry ingredients) in a mixing bowl.

In another large mixing bowl whisk butter (softened) with sugar until the mixture gets light and fluffy. The idea is to get air bubbles into the butter which will help the cookies rise in the oven.

Add egg, molasses, and vanilla to butter and sugar mixture.

Add your dry ingredients to the bowl and mix just enough that everything is combined evenly. Don't overdo the whisking or you will get rid of all those nice air bubbles you just put into the butter.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap (or apparently a large cut-up ziplock bag will work too) and chill for at least 2 hours.

When dough is ready, roll it into small balls (1 inch or so in size) and place on greased cookie sheet. Pour some more sugar (I used demerara sugar for this step) into a small plate. Wet the bottom of a glass and dip into sugar before flattening each dough ball on the pan.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

breakfast burrito

It is still a Breakfast Burrito if you make it for dinner? I'll leave this question to you. Breakfast Burritos (or maybe Dinner Burritos Featuring Egg) are one of those recipes that can get kind of expensive if you need to buy all the ingredients at once, especially since you only use a little bit of each. I generally wait until I have a few of them leftover from other meals. For speed I buy the Goya black bean and rice mix (be careful the other ones have pork or other meat flavoring in them) and salsa in a jar, but if you have some extra time making your own salsa or beans and rice mix is really nice.

ingredients:

tortillas
rice and beans mix
scrambled eggs (flavored with adobo seasoning)
fakin' bacon
salsa
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
sliced avocado

Cook, build, wrap, and eat. That's really all the instructions you need, right? If you're curious about burrito wrapping technique, it looks like someone set up a site just for you: http://howtowrapaburrito.com/

Elvis Pancakes

It's always a small personal tragedy when you think you've invented something amazing, and then find out later that its actually completely unoriginal. On the subway to work last week I thought I came up with the idea for Elvis Pancakes, only to discover through some googling that many many people have liked both Elvis and pancakes before me. Oh well. The most important thing is that they taste good, and let me tell you- I may never go back to regular pancakes again. For those of you not familiar with The King's (yeah that's right, I just capitalized it) culinary tastes, Elvis' favorite sandwich was peanut butter, banana, and bacon. So for my veggie version Elvis Pancakes are: peanut butter pancakes topped with caramelized bananas and a side of fakin' bacon just to stay true to form.

1-1/4 cups flour
2 tbs sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1-1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup peanut butter (I strongly recommend chunky)
3 tbs butter melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 bananas
brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk egg, butter, milk, and vanilla. Then add peanut butter making sure it gets evenly mixed throughout.

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Whisk until smooth.

Cut up bananas into large slices and place on greased baking tray. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cook for about 5 minutes until the sugar melts and starts to crisp slightly.

Fry pancakes until golden. Top with caramelized bananas, butter, and maple syrup (plus fakin' if you're making it). Also I'm not going to say you HAVE to listen to Elvis, but it certainly wouldn't hurt the experience...

http://www.last.fm/music/Elvis+Presley/_/It%27s+Now+Or+Never?autostart

baked eggs with sour cream biscuits

For some reason biscuits are one of the few baked goods I can't seem to mess up. Maybe because they are basically just flour and butter with no yeast or anything like that involved. The recipe bellow originally called for 3/4cup of heavy cream, but I usually substitute whole milk or this sour cream/milk mixture. To make the measuring of the sour cream and milk easier (and spare on dishes) I use a 3/4 cup measuring cup, eyeball about 2/3 of it with sour cream, and then top it off with milk.

ingredients:

2 cups flour
3/4 stick of butter
1 tb baking soda
2/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk

Take the butter out of the fridge a little while before you start baking so that it gets a chance to soften up.

Grease a cookie sheet and put it aside (you will appreciate this pre-planning when you hands are covered in dough)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Add flour and baking soda in large bowl

Mix in butter with your hands until it has been broken into tiny pieces and disbursed evenly through the flour.

Add sour cream and milk and mix well with your hands. It will feel as if you have more dough on your fingers then in the bowl. This is probably true.

Separate dough into 6 sections and roll lightly into balls. I think they taste better when they are not too tightly rolled and still have lumpy parts that can get extra crispy in the oven. Place on baking sheet.

If you have a pastry brush you can brush a little melted butter on top of each biscuit. Also there's no shame in doing a more sloppy job of this with your fingers. I think it works fine.

Cook for 20 minutes or until the tops start to get slightly brown.

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For the Baked Eggs you will need some ceramic ramekins or a small cup or bowl that can go in the oven. This is a real improvisation friendly dish. First add a pat of butter and a teaspoon of milk to the bottom of each ramekin. If you have any leftover greens from the night before, tomatoes, etc, you can put them into the bottom of the ramekin too. Then crack in two eggs and sprinkle the top with cheese and/or spices of your choice. In this case I made just eggs with no bottom filling and added parmesan, rosemary, basil, salt, and pepper to the top. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. If you like your eggs more on the runny side you can take them out at 15 minutes or less.

Also individual cups means that everyone can make their own choice of eggs. On the same morning as the above picture, James had this cup with cheddar and adobo seasoning

black bean and corn enchiladas

This recipe is based on one featured in a pbs cooking show I caught one afternoon (unfortunately I can't remember the name), but the filling was chicken. James likes this meal so much that he carries around the list of ingredients in his wallet on the off chance that I'm in the mood to make it. How about that for a recommendation?

ingredients:

1 can black beans
1 can corn
1onion chopped small
1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 cups veggie stock
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 Tb butter (or "futter" aka fake butter)
corn or flour tortillas (medium sized)
1/2 block of grated chedder cheese
cumin, chili powder, chopped cilantro, and lime juice

In a large frying pan saute chopped onion until clear. Add black beans, corn, and any other veggies you might want. Personally I'm convinced that the juice canned veggies come in tastes like can, so I always drain them in the sink and rinse with water a few times. If you are one of the people that think this is crazy then obviously feel free to enjoy your metallic enchiladas, but I would still drain a little of the juice out to keep the mixture from getting too wet

Add your spices, cilantro, and lime juice to taste. I like to go heavy on the cumin, but keep in mind the sauce is going to be very spicy so you might want to keep the filling on the mild side.

At this point you can can go ahead and turn off the pan so you can focus on the sauce. Also you don't really want scolding hot filling when you're wrapping up the enchiladas.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized pot melt the butter or futter on low heat then add flour, whisking to make sure there is no loose flour left. Let this cook for a couple minutes to get the floury taste out of it (for the record this is not like the can thing, it's universally accepted).

Add about a 1/2 cup of your veggie stock and whisk well. Once the sauce has thickened up to a more gravy like consistency add another 1/2 cup, and so on until all the broth has been used. Try to resist the temptation to add more stock until it really needs it.

Finely chop 2 medium sized chipotle peppers. Of course this is up to your own spice threshold, but don't be a show off, taste them first please. Add peppers to the sauce pot along with a spoonful of the adobo sauce in the can and whisk.

(a warning about these peppers. The spice will linger on everything and tends to stain a little, so you might want to wash your cutting board, knife, and hands right away.)

Set up a little assembly line next to the stove with your tortillas and a large baking pan. Fill your tortilla with two large serving spoon sized spoonfuls of the filling then roll up and place seam down in your baking pan. Don't overfill them or it will be impossible to roll the tortilla up neatly. Keep going with this until you are out of filling and have a nice row of sardine-like tortillas. I usually end up with around 6 or 7 enchiladas.

Pour sauce evenly over the whole pan then add your cheese. I know I said a half block above, but this will vary so just make sure all the tortillas are covered. Besides, is there such a thing as too much cheese? I thought not.

Bake at 350 until the cheese is completely melted and starts bubbling. Honestly I've never timed this part and I usually end up checking it impatiently at least 3 times. If someone wants to tell me what the actual time is I'd be curious to know.