Baked Yam Medallions

From the Looneyspoons cookbook

4 medium yams/sweet potatoes scrubbed, unpeeled
2 egg whites
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried rosemary

Preheat oven to 425 F

Slice yams into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Combine egg whites and garlic in a large bowl. Combine other ingredients and place on a plate or shallow dish.

Add yams to egg mixture, toss to coat. Then coat both sides of yams in the bread crumb mixture. Place on a single layer on a cookie sheet that was sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 15 minutes, flip yams, then bake 15 mins more.

Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup

Italian sausage was on sale today so I dragged out this old favorite with every intention of making it for dinner. I quickly learned that I was missing a bunch of ingredients and ate KD instead. Oops?

Time: about an hour to prep and cook
Makes about 10 1-Cup servings.

Ingredients
• 1 lb hot or mild Italian sausage
• 3 medium carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped (works with shallots or leeks, too)
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped or crushed
• 8 C lowfat or fat free chicken broth
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 T dried basil
• 1 ½ C large shell pasta
• 6 oz spinach leaves, rinsed and slightly chopped (I use bagged baby spinach)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Squeeze sausages from their casings into a 5-6 qt pan over high heat and stir often, breaking up sausages with a spoon. Cook until brown and crumbly. Spoon out and discard all but 1 T fat from pan.
2. Add carrots, onion and garlic; stir often until onion is limp, 5-7 mins.
3. Add broth, basil, tomatoes (including juice), and beans and bring to a boil.
4. Add pasta, reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally until pasta is just enter to the bite about 10 mins. Skim and discard any fat.
5. Stir in spinach and cook just until it is wilted, about 30 seconds.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with parmesan.

Flourless chocolate cake

Source : Gourmet magazine via epicurious

An easy and fast and delicious recipe. The cake is moist and fudgey. Good quality chocolate is key!

• 4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper. (I use parchment)

Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes (if you can wait that long) and invert onto a serving plate. (I just leave it in the pan and let the family pick at it every time they walk by)

Dust cake with additional cocoa powder and serve with sorbet if desired. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week. But it won't last that long)

Blueberry buttermilk pancakes

My quest for the perfect buttermilk pancake ended with this recipe. The batter and resulting pancakes are thick and fluffy. I've substituted strawberries or chocolate chips for the blueberries and also make them plain for my kid. I use some metal cookie cutters from Ikea to make pancake hearts and stars for her (remember to butter the edges of the cutter) or if I'm feeling ambitious, a free-form pancake turtle.

Also, because they're so thick, I find I have to play with the heat a little to make sure the outsides aren't burnt and the insides are cooked. I turn the heat down a bit after flipping to avoid the dreaded "sashimi pancake".

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar (I reduce this to 1 tbsp)
  
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (sometimes a bit more if the batter is really thick)
  
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• Pure maple syrup (Ha, like Canadians would use anything else)
  

Preheat oven to 250°F. Place baking sheet in oven. Whisk first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, and 2 tablespoons butter in medium bowl; stir into dry ingredients. Fold in berries.

Heat large nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat; brush with butter. Drop batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle. Cook pancakes until brown, brushing griddle with more butter as needed, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to sheet in oven to keep warm. Serve pancakes with maple syrup.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Source: My Kitchen Cafe which she adapted Slight from the Dec. Issue of Martha Stewart Living.

In her post she stated "Like most Martha Stewart recipes, the instructions are a tad fussy and it takes some time to chill/freeze all the different components of the dough, but in the end, it was worth it."

Makes 6 dozen (um, not so much - I barely got 3 dozen out of the recipe)

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 ounces (5 tablespoons) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
8 large candy canes or 30 peppermint candies, crushed
2 pounds white chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used about 8 ounces white chocolate and the rest white almond bark, since that is what I had on hand - it worked great)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add egg, then yolk, beating well after each addition. Beat in peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).

Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Using a 2-inch round cutter, cut out circles, and place 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Roll and cut scraps once. Freeze cookies until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining disk.

Bake until cookies are dry to the touch, about 12 minutes. Transfer parchment, with cookies, to wire racks, and let cool. (Undecorated cookies will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.)

Sift crushed candy, and separate larger pieces from dust, reserving both. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave (don't overheat or the chocolate/almond bark will sieze!). Dunk cookies into melted chocolate. Using a fork, press lightly on the cookie until completely submerged in the chocolate. Pick up the cookie with the fork, let excess chocolate drip off, and gently scrape bottom against edge of bowl. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of either candy pieces or dust on top. Repeat, sprinkling half the cookies with pieces and the rest with dust. Refrigerate until set, up to 3 hours.

***I've not tried making these yet, I'm hoping to try them out tomorrow during Natasha's nap.

Holiday Morning Buns

I made these tonight when I got home from work at 5pm. So simple and fast! I popped them in the freezer and am going to bake them in the morning so that Tash and I can have nice warm buns for breakfast! As the recipe says, it's perfect for Christmas morning.

Holiday Morning Buns
Source: My Kitchen Cafe

3 1/2 cups (14 3/4 ounces) all-purpose Flour + 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) sugar
2 to 2 1/4 cups heavy cream

Coating
7 tablespoons butter, melted, OR 2 5/8 ounces milk
Cinnamon and sugar for rolling (I just mixed my own together)

Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, line with parchment, and grease the parchment. Parchment isn't absolutely necessary, but it makes it easier to get the bubbly, sugary buns out of the pan once they're baked.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add 2 cups of the cream all at once, then toss and stir the mixture till the dough comes together. If necessary, add additional cream to make the dough cohesive. Gather the dough in your hands and knead it a few times to make sure there are no dry spots.

Place the cinnamon sugar in a small, shallow bowl or pan; or in a plastic zip-top bag. Break off pieces of dough about the size of a ping pong ball, or about 1 1/8 ounces. Dip each piece in melted butter or milk, then roll or shake in the cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place the cinnamon-coated dough balls into the pan of your choice in a single layer; they'll be touching one another, which is just fine.

Cover the pan with plastic, and place in the freezer overnight, or for up to a week or so. If freezing longer than overnight wrap the entire pan in plastic wrap, then in foil. Next day, remove the pan from the freezer, and let the buns rest at room temperature while you preheat your oven to 350°F. The buns don't need to thaw.

If you're baking the buns immediately (not frozen), bake them for 45 to 50 minutes, till the buns in the center are cooked through. You can assess this by taking a toothpick and actually digging into the center bun to take a look; it should look totally baked, not doughy. If the buns have been frozen, bake them for 65 to 70 minutes, testing for done-ness as instructed above. Tent them with aluminum foil after 45 minutes of baking. (I actually forgot the "tenting" step and the buns didn't get burned - phew!)

Remove from the oven, and serve immediately. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired, right before serving.

Turkey or Veggie Chili

This is the best chili recipe I have found yet! Simmers in the slow cooker all day, or on the stovetop at the last minute. Easily turns into fabulous veggie chili by simply omitting the turkey and increasing the beans. Add veggies you like, or omit ones you don't like. There is lots of flavour, but its not very hot (my 3yo and 10mth old love it).

1lb ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1c carrots, chopped
1c mushrooms, sliced
1c frozen corn
2 lg cans mixed beans (drained and rinsed)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 can chopped chilis
4Tb chili powder
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp oregano
1tsp cumin
1tsp paprika
1tsp pepper
1tsp salt
1c water (start out with much less, use more if needed depending on how runny or chunky you like your chili)

1. Brown turkey and onions.
2. Add to crockpot. Add rest of ingredients. Simmer on low all day.

or

1. Brown turkey, onions and green pepper in large pot
2. Add rest of ingredients and simmer 45min