Maple Bacon Pan-Cake

So many great things about this dish…. It’s easy, it’s fast, it’s cheap, it’s something different and it’s good! It’s got the sweet/salty thing going on and what’s better than that?

This hot and tasty breakfast dish came to me from allrecipes.com about two months ago. I clipped it together with all the other recipes I’ve printed off myriad recipe sites that I one day mean to make – but this one called to me way more than any of the others. I mean, the thought of bacon and maple syrup together was enough to make me print it in the first place, but those things nestled in a hot, oven baked pan-cake – with cheese no less…finally this past Sunday I could ignore it no longer!

I must admit – I changed things up just a titch…I had ‘Hormel Real Bacon Pieces’ on hand so I used those instead of cooking up actual, raw bacon – which I didn’t have. I don’t think it made one bit of difference with the exception of it being faster and easier than if I’d had fried up the bacon myself. Also, the original recipe calls for cheese in it as well as on it – but I didn’t want my daughter to freak out about the se cheese before she had a chance to like this dish, so I left it off the top. She never knew it was inside and even though I figured I’d tell her afterward, I thought, “why?” Because I want her to continue to like it! Matter of fact, she asked me to use sausage next time in place of the bacon……done ;-)

Mapley-Bacony Pan-Cake

Ingredients:
8 oz/ 1 cup bacon (REAL bacon ‘bits’ NOT ‘Bacos! Or actual cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces) - divided
1 cup baking mix – like Bisquik
¾ cup cheddar cheese – shredded
½ cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 T white sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Additional maple syrup for drizzling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees and spray a 9” pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Cook and crumble/chop bacon if necessary. Mix all ingredients – save for 1/3 of the bacon – in nixing bowl until combined. Pour into pie dish and bake on middle rack of oven for 12 minutes. Sprinkle top of pancake with remaining 1/3 cup bacon and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until puffed and very light golden brown. Meanwhile, warm the additional maple syrup. Serve ‘pan-cake’ hot drizzled with hot maple syrup.

Simple-Ly Perfect Sunday Mornings

(*Note* - the font is all screwy today! Can't get it all the same! I know it probably doesn;t mater to you...but this is me we're talking about! ;-) - okay...on with the show...

Don’t you love Sunday mornings? With the exception of peeping through heavy lids and realizing, “Ahhhhh….it’s Saturday”, Sunday mornings are very hard to beat. From the moment I open my eyes, I know that a quiet house, a hot pot of coffee and the Sunday paper will soon be all mine as I curl up in my favorite corner or the couch donning fuzzy slipper socks with a cozy blanket draped across my lap.

The other nice thing about Sunday mornings….breakfast. Saturday’s don’t get much breakfast, if any ‘cuz there’s stuff to do – gotta get ready for the day and head out on those errands or dig into the house cleaning. But Sundays cal for something extra….something hot and savory, maybe a special sweet from time to time - even it’s as simple as a couple of egg whites and toast, there IS breakfast that MUST be had.

This past Sunday I cut up and cooked 6 slices of thick-sliced bacon and tossed it’s chewy, smoky goodness into fluffy, barely creamy, scrambled eggs. I added a little sliced green onion for a bit freshness and an extra crisp, English muffin toasted just-so. Simple, hot, full of flavor and delicious.

A perfect, cozy breakfast to crown my perfect, cozy, Sunday morning,

Thoroughly enjoy each and every one of your mornings :-)

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For......Scones!

OMG….this is my new favorite scone – orange-cranberry. The flavor of these scones is so incredible….delightfully orange, but not over-powering and the slight tartness/chewiness of the cranberries….OMG…just let me say, Yum!

These orange-cranberry scones are SO DAMN GOOD and truly look and taste like they came from a first class bakery. I originally got the recipe from a poster on the Tasty Kitchen blog site (Godchild of The Pioneer Woman blog). The only change I made was to totally cover the top of the scones with large-granule decorating sugar. I mean encrusted them! I adore a crunchy, sweet top on a scone plus...it’s makes them so pretty! They actually sparkle!

I made these scones for the first time for Father’s Day this past June. But because the hubs isn’t 100% a ‘sweets’ kinda guy, I also made these….

Bacon-Cheddar-Onion Scones!

These were also super good…and especially nice with coffee if you happen to drink your java kinda sweet (I use ½ packet of Spenda and a little fat free hazelnut creamer). I’ve come to find that I’m not a huge fan of the ‘sweet food/sweet coffee combo’. I once had a pumpkin scone with a pumpkin latte from Starbucks and afterward I thought I’d die – like, for reals! Anyway….

This recipe originally came from Ina Garten – her Cheddar Dill scones. But I changed it up by omitting the dill (I like dill, but wasn’t nuts about it being in a breakfast scone) and adding cooked, chopped bacon and sliced green onions. These were savory and bacony – really good. But where I could eat one after another of the orange-cranberry (not that I did!)…these scones…no way. They’re more like a little meal in one flaky – yet slightly heavy and very filling – triangle. Eating two of these would be like eating two omelets – and that’d be crazy! ;-)

Both of these scones are super easy to make. And they’re so warm and homey…they’re perfect for a cozy, fall, weekend morning. Store leftovers in an airtight container or freezer-type bag so you can eat them throughout the week or take one to work each day for your morning break! They are Deeeeee-licious!

Orange-Cranberry Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups All-purpose Flour

7 teaspoons Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

½ teaspoons Salt

⅓ teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon Grated Orange Peel

⅓ cups Cold Butter

1 cup Dried Cranberries

¼ cups Orange Juice

¼ cup Half-and-Half Cream

1 whole Egg

1 Tablespoon Milk

¼ cup large-granule, decorator sugar

Glaze:

½ cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Orange Juice

Directions:

Sift together flour, 7 teaspoons sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in grated orange peel. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs; set aside. In a small bowl, combine dried cranberries, orange juice, cream and egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. On a floured surface, gently knead 6-8 times. Pat dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 10 wedges. Separate wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with milk; sprinkle with decorator sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Glaze:

Combine powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon orange juice. Brush glaze over scones and give one more dousing of decorator sugar if desired.

Bacon-Cheddar-Onion Scones

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/2 pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

6 - 8 slices cooked, chopped bacon

1/3 cup sliced green onions

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk, for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine 4 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and, using a pastry blender or two forks, incorporate butter into flour mixture until butter is the size of small peas. Mix the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss together the cheddar, bacon and onions, and 1 tablespoon of flour and add them to the dough.. Mix until they are just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute, until the cheese, bacon and onion are well distributed. Roll or pat the dough into a 3/4-inch thick disc. Cut into 6 or 8 ‘pie-wedge’ triangles. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.

Double the Pleasure – Double the Fun!

My very beautiful, smart and talented niece, Samantha turned 21 last week. We had her birthday with family on her special day. This is the ‘ice bucket I painted for her in some of her fave colors and it was filled with 6 different fun-n-fruity wine coolers and a bunch of silver, tinsel ‘ice’. Niece was nice enough to snap this pic a few days after her b-day…the wine coolers are gone – although I’m SURE their in the fridge and not all consumed…..right Darlin’??
Then, on the weekend, a few of us ‘already-21ers’ (or should I say over 21ers…WAY over 21ers!) family members went out to have a few drinks with her to ring in this new phase of her life the right way ;-)

About mid-drink #2, we learned that my big bro and his girlfriend of many years were going to get married…..the day after next (Sunday)! They’d been talking about it a lot lately and finally decided to ‘do the deed’ and make it official. It was another fun thing to drink to that night.

The next day (Saturday), I had a free afternoon/evening and wanted to do something fun for the soon-to-be-married couple. Since they’d planned a very private affair between just the two of them, I assumed they had no wedding cake or special sweet to conclude their happy day, so I thought….mini wedding cake? And this is what I made, start to finish in my kitchen Saturday evening (and secretly left on their doorstep at 7:30 Sunday morning) ….a 6’ 1/2 inch, 4-tier wedding cake that was white with lemon curd filling and creamy vanilla icing! I scrolled their initials on the top along with a tiny heart. The cake was simple, pretty and small – a heartfelt gift from me to them to put a literal sweet ending to their wedding day.

Now – as I’ve stated before, my phone stopped sending pics a month+ ago – but with a little extra effort, I found that if I send a pic over and over (read: one million times), it WILL eventually send! Had I know that ahead of time, I’dve had more than these two pics – which are essentially the same.

Here’s one of the inside of the cake (thanks for sending me the pic, new sis-in-law!) – and it’s taught me a lesson……sliver-shave the golden brown flat bottom off the cake! How much prettier it would‘ve been if only the light, yellow of the lemon curd was showing. Oh well….best part is that my bro and now-sis-in-law said it was “soooo good!” That means everything –‘cuz if it looks good but tastes like doodoo – then, what’s the point?!

Anyhoo….I had a fun weekend celebrating my wonderful niece and baking up a very special treat.

Ice Cream Bombe is DA BOMB!

My birthday was last Wednesday. Because my little family of three lives a little ways away from everyone else in our family, we usually wait to celebrate our birthday’s on a weekend so folks don’t have to get stuck in weekday, rush hour traffic and so that when they do arrive, they can stay a while rather than having to do everything in a rushed manner in order to get back on the road towards home.

Anyhoo…..so we had about 20 people out to our house and it was a really fun time. I usually have a hard time relinquishing food items that need to be made as I like to do so much of it myself – but this year I wanted to make several fun dessert items so I turned over most every side dish to others - the hubs and I still did the meat dish (chicken wings! I could LIVE on them!) and it was great to have everyone pitch in – it was all delicious!

My original plan was to make a pavlova, a fruit pizza on a huge sugar cookie crust, an ice cream bombe and a tray of brownies. Then I got to thinking that I was really trying to spread myself – as well as my time – a little thin. And really…did we need all those things? So…I decided on the ice cream bombe. It’s something I’d never made before but had been wanting to try – then, the balance out the cold of the ice cream, I decided to make brownies. I adore my homemade stand-by, cocoa brownies but because they’re chocolate and the bombe would have ample chocolate, I made my first ever Blondies too. I don’t have pics of either…shoulda snapped one- but let me say that everyone LOVED the blondies – I made have with walnuts, have without and the whole pan had white chocolate chips. The brownies were classic, and folks liked them lot as well – and I did half walnuts with chocolate chips throughout.

So…onto the ice cream bombe! Making a bombe is easy and you can get as creative as you want or can keep it really simple. I used a large, stainless steel bowl, sprayed the inside with non-stick coking spray, then lined it with plastic wrap, leaving plenty to overhang the rim all the way around. You need your ice cream to be softened, but still super cold and not melted at all. So, put the ice cream you’re using first, I the fridge for about 15 minutes before using it while al the other ice cream flavors are still in the freezer.

Meringue Shell Crowns and Lemon Curd Recipes!

So – if you get the itch to make the meringue shells pictured yesterday – here’s all you have to do – super easy!

6 Individual Meringue Shell Crowns

Ingredients:
3 large room temp egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275-degrees and line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a silpat. Dust the surface with a little corn starch.

Begin beating egg whites until frothy then add cream of tartar and continue beating on high speed. Begin adding sugar by the tablespoon full allowing mixture to beat well between each addition until all sugar is added. Pour in vanilla extract and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. When whites appear to be stiff, stop mixer and feel a pinch of the mixture between your thumb and forefinger. If it’s still a little grainy, continue beating until whites are smooth. All that sugar need to be completely dissolved. Once whites are no longer grainy – it’s ready to pipe.

Load the egg whites into a pastry/piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe crowns by piping swirled circles (begin in the center of the circle and swirl around itself working its way outward) to form a 4 to 5 inch circle. Pipe 6 crown/circle bases this way, then come back to each and pipe stars atop the outer edge of each. When done, place tray in oven and bake for 45 minutes. When timer goes off, turn the oven off and open the door, leaving it ajar for an additional 45 minutes allowing the crowns to cool completely and slowly in inside the oven. You may then move them to an airtight container or rack to set until ready to fill. See? EASY!

Ina Garten’s Lemon Curd
(this is Ina’s recipe but my own comments are noted with a * *)

Ingredients:
3 lemons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature 4 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar. * * I used a microplane to zest my lemon, creating very fine shards of lemon peel – but I still combined the zest with the sugar in the food processor to blend it together well.
Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined. (* * will be voluminous and light ‘whipped butter yellow’)
Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly (* * It’ll take WAY longer than 10 minutes if you do this on low. I have my temp at a notch and a half below medium and stir the entire time – it takes a good 15 minutes or so. The mixture will go from that ‘creamy whipped butter appearance to a silky, more liquid form to finally a thicker form, say close to a pancake batter…never will it be like a super thick gel). The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate. Use as desired…..as in…EAT IT WITH A SPOON!!!!! YUM!!!!!

Meringue Shells with Lemon Curd

Hi! Nice to see you again! No – I didn’t get my phone fixed but I realized that all this time I coulda been borrowing my daughter’s phone to snap my pics! Yes, I would’ve had to endure the ‘eye rolling’ that comes along with asking “Okay, Min...I need your phone again” – but hey, at age 16, what doesn’t included eye rolling, eh?

So….I made a really fun dessert this past weekend – Meringues with lemon curd (my fave!) and fresh whipped cream and strawberries. I wish I’d have thought to take pics al the way through – but the idea didn’t come to me until these little beauties came out of the oven. Besides…my daughter might have had to miss/wait for the 300 missed calls during that time – for shame!

Anyhoo, I made a simple meringue (recipe to come tomorrow as I don’t have it in my head and I wnana make it exact, of course), and whipped the room-temperature egg whites and everything together until I had absolute stiff, snow white peaks, then put it all in a pastry bag with a big star tip and piped out individual meringues that once done, just begged to be filled with sweet scrumptiousness!Check it out…

Doesn’t that just look like a lovely, delicate yet delectable crown?! These fully baked and cooled meringues look exactly the way they did when they went into the oven –‘cept slightly off-white rather than snow. They baked for 45 minutes at 275-degrees then cooled in the oven – door ajar – for another 45. Truth be told, I thought the length of time was a it much for the temp. I might try 250 next time….and maybe 5 minutes less – just because it’d be so pretty to have these shells remain pure white.

Okay – so…I’d piped, baked and cooled – and while all this was happening, I made the filling. Lemon curd! OMG I love it so! I could live off it – it’s just that damn good. I follow Ina’s Garten’s recipe and it comes out ‘perfection each time’ (again, recipe tomorrow…promise. I just HAD to post without it today ‘cuz it’d just been too long!). I let the lemon curd chill out in the fridge for a few hours to thicken up a but more, but once I was ready to assemble….here’s what I did….

I put a couple of heaping tablespoons – maybe even 3..I said I loved it remember?! – in each meringue shell….

Then topped that with freshly whipped cream – sorry Cool Whip – you got kicked to the curb on this recipe!

Then…..I made sorta the wrong decision on this next part – but hey…live and learn, eh?

I ladled strawberries in syrup over the top. It was delicious, yes….but not nearly as pretty as it would’ve been had I just spooned on a few fresh slices of berries and maybe kiwi.....just like Mom said! Listen to your mother…at least SOME of the time!

All in all it was a fun undertaking – and really….quite easy. It’s nice to know that an elegant, eye-catching dessert can be made without tons of effort or money….just takes a little time.
Give these a try next time you wanna bump up ‘good ol’ dessert’ into something fancy-schmancy!

Recipes tomorrow!

P.S. – it’s nice to be back and thanks to all who said you missed me – right back at’cha ;-)