corn, cheddar & bacon pancakes

Hearty, rich, thick, cheesy and all around delish. I've wanted to make a corn pancake for a while now. I love corn muffins, but I have to have them with some cheese or heat in them, I just can't eat a plain old corn muffin. So I guess the same is true with these pancakes; I had to make them with a bit of stuff in them.
They are very rich, filling and heavy, so eating one or two just maybe enough.
The next time I make these I will add in some corn kernels, I just think it was begging for that extra texture. I didn't have any fresh scallions on hand, but you should put them in here if you plan on making them.
The best topping for these pancakes are sour cream and/or salsa. I didn't have either, so the pics look a little naked without them. But if you make these make sure to top them with sour cream and/or some salsa at room temp. Maple syrup will be a no no here. If had corn relish on hand, oh yeah, I would have totally put some of that on here.
Thank you Marisa over at Slashfood, for that little ditty on these pancakes.



corn, cheddar & bacon pancakes
from vanillasugarblog.com
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2 cups cornmeal
1 ts salt
2 ts baking powder (don't use this if you have self rising cornmeal)
1 ¾ cups buttermilk
4 TB butter, melted/cooled (or 3 TB bacon fat)
1 egg
¼ cup mild cheddar cheese, shredded (I have used Monterey jack too)
½ cup +/- of cooked bacon, chopped up
Couple dashes of hot sauce
A couple good dashes of onion powder
A good handful of freshly chopped scallions

Some butter or bacon fat for frying pancakes
chopped scallions or decorating

Toppings:
serve with butter, sour cream, salsa, fresh guacamole, corn relish, etc..

In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, salt and baking powder. (I’ve also just used self-rising cornmeal; if you do use this then don’t add in the baking powder).
In a small bowl crack open the egg, add in the hot sauce and the onion powder and whisk. Next whisk in the buttermilk and melted butter or bacon fat until fully combined. Add in the dry ingredients, then fold in the bacon bits, shredded cheese, and scallions.
Melt about 1/2 teaspoon butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once completely melted, pour about ¼ +/- cup batter in pan. These pancakes don’t really spread like normal pancakes so you will have to mold them with your spatula to form them into circles. Cook till golden brown then flip over. Maybe 4-5 minutes each side? They take a bit longer to cook than normal pancakes.
Keep in mind when pouring these onto the griddle, don’t make them too thick as they are heavier than normal pancakes and will take longer to bake; you don’t want a gooey middle.

Should make about 6-8 (depending on size).

cranberry bliss bars

If you're a regular to Starbucks then you've surely come across these cranberry bliss bars. I never bought one at Starbucks because they are so overpriced. Why not try and recreate them at home? Obviously we see something we love in a store, cafe, or mostly on one of our favorite food blogs, vowing to make them ASAP. Of course ASAP never happens. And then after the holidays have come and gone, that's when I decide to make them. I didn't know those bars were seasonal, oh well.
They were OK. They tasted really good without the frosting, at least I thought, but then I can be fussy. The next time I make these I am going to try Shelby's version; those look much tastier. These photos were too pretty to not post.





starbucks cranberry bliss bars (copycat recipe)
recipe from mrbreakfast.com

For shortbread base:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 t ground ginger
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup minced dried cranberries
1/4 cup white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup minced candied ginger

For frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T butter, softened
1 t vanilla

For garnish:
2 T dried cranberries, minced
1/3 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
Beat butter and sugar together for the cake base, and add eggs/vanilla beating until fluffy.
In separate bowl, sift together flour, ginger, and salt and then add to the butter/sugar mixture beating well.
Fold in the cranberries, chocolate and ginger. Spread thick batter in pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden.
When cake is cooled, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread a thin layer over the cake. Immediately sprinkle with the minced cranberries.
Next use a sandwich bag with a small corner cut (as your homemade pastry bag) add melted white chocolate and drizzle the chocolate over the cake. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, cut into triangles and serve

sauerkraut relish

I wasn't going to post this one, I mean it's just a sausage sandwich, BUT when I tasted that sauerkraut relish I was over-the-moon speechless. This sauerkraut relish is amazing people, amazing. It is quite literally the perfect accompaniment for any type of grilled sausage or hot dog. I swear I want to bottle this stuff up and sell it. If you like sweet, tangy, vinegary, and a bit of heat then this is it for you. I even ate this relish on a sandwich with some hummus. So for my vegan friends, you can totally eat this up with a good veggie burger, hummus or you know what would be good? Falafel! Oh yeah, that good. But then again, I crave the uncraveable!

The whole reason I made this sandwich creation? Not for the relish really, but because I was inspired by an episode of that show Diners, Drive In's & Dives on Food TV. Guy Fieri has the best job in the world and an even better personality as a host. Well, on one of his many ventures they visited Primanti Bros. in Pittsburg, PA. If you're not familiar with Primanti Bros., they are famous for their mile high sandwiches filled with whatever meat be it hamburger, corned beef, roast beef, etc.., then a thick layer of coleslaw, and then a huge layer of french fries, and tomatoes. Crazy sandwich, I totally love it. When I set out to create this sandwich I didn't have any coleslaw, but I has sauerkraut and thus came the sauerkraut relish. Did anyone see that episode or better yet ever go to Primanti's?

sauerkraut relish
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1 1/2 to 2 cups Sauerkraut, (from package or jar, not canned), drained really well (I used whole foods brand)
4-5 TB ketchup
3 TB dark brown sugar
Couple dashes of hot sauce (about 5 to 7)
1 TB Worcheshire sauce
A couple pinches of celery seeds
1 package (16 ounces) kielbasa, grilled or fried

Cooked french fries
Warmed crusty rolls or hearty sandwich rolls.

In a medium saucepan combine the drained sauerkraut, ketchup, hot sauce, dark brown sugar, worcheshire sauce, and celery seeds. Heat through.
The sauce should thicken up, if not just let it reduce for a while on low heat.
Meanwhile, grilled or fry your kielbasa.
To assemble, place cooked kielbasa on roll, then a layer of the sauerkraut relish, then the French fries.
I've also used this relish on: hummus roll ups, veggie burger, hot dogs. I will try this with falafel.

peanut butter & pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie? Now? What the....?

Oh yeah--it has peanut butter in it people! And you know what's even better? It has safe peanut butter in it. There are no recalls on this peanut butter.
This was not my own recipe, but I was inspired to make it simply by the sheer fact that I love Peanut Butter & Co. products. I think The Peanut Butter Boy made something kind of similiar to this? The Peanut Butter Company have stellar peanut butters, great sandwich stores and really out-of-the-norm recipes; I like that, a lot. Have any of you ever been to one of their sandwich shops? Crazy good. I think the guy behind this company is a genius. I keep emailing him (his company rather) and telling him he must, must, create a bacon & banana peanut butter. I told him I would come over and help.... he never emails me back. lol
I did make one addition to the crust. I did everything it said to do, but I added in about 1/2 cup of crushed graham crackers to the pie dough. I just felt it needed that extra "umff". I also used the maple peanut butter instead of the plain peanut butter, but you know, I think you could literally any type of their flavor peanut butter in this. This was really good. I'm not a huge pumpkin pie person, but I loved it once I made it this way.

peanut butter pumpkin pie
adapted from Peanut Butter Co.

Crust ingredients:
1 ¼ cups AP flour
½ cup graham cracker, crushed
1 ts sugar
1 ts salt
1 and ¼ sticks unsalted butter, diced & chilled
1 large egg, beaten & chilled

Filling ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
1 ts cinnamon
½ ts nutmeg
½ ts ground ginger
½ ts salt
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) unsweetened pumpkin puree
½ cup Smooth Operator peanut butter (I used Mighty Maple)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

To make crust, sift together the flour, crushed graham, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the egg and mix gently. If the dough is too dry, add ice water, ½ ts at a time, until it become workable. Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a disk. Cover it with another sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or more.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan. Use your fingers to flute the edges, trimming any excess. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling.
For the filling: Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs, then add the pumpkin and peanut butter, mixing until smooth. Continue to mix while you add the dry ingredients, then add the evaporated milk and mix until well combined.
Oven must be preheated to 420 degrees. Gently pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie shell and bake on top rack of oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees and bake for an add’l 40 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.
Cool for at least 2 hours before serving.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (obviously I didn't in the photo, but you must).

cinnamon-espresso cake

I love espresso. Do you know I would always spell it as expresso? For years I was doing this. I mean when you say it out loud it sounds like there is an X in there. Right? But if you are living in Italy then there are no X's expressed...it's all one lovely flowing beautiful language. uno scorre bella lingua. My Italian is good, no? That's when you say "sì, è in sospeso" (yes, it's outstanding).
Onto the latest creation of mine. I love my morning espresso. I drink about 1 or 2 cups per morning, depending on the day ahead of me. I love Illy coffee. It's so darn expensive, but it's really the only kind I can take. I need to feel like I am drinking real coffee, real coffee beans. Those mountainous cans of ground of coffee and powders in the grocery store are horrid and bitter. I do put a little bit of milk in my espresso so it's mostly a latte. With my love of espresso comes my love of creating baked goods using espresso. This cinnamon & espresso cake did not dissappoint at all. It was wonderful.
I think you could get away without using a glaze, but in all honesty, the espresso in the middle really went well with the glaze/frosting.
A note on the frosting: I tried my best to remember all the ingredients. It may be off a bit here and there, so taste it before using. I need to get one of those handheld recorders to speak into as I throw my ingredients in the bowl.



cinnamon & espresso cake
print recipe

cake:
1 ¼ cups + 2 TB sugar
1 TB + 2 ts cinnamon
1 ½ ts espresso powder (such as medaglia D'oro)
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 ts baking powder
a big pinch of sea salt
3/4 cup half & half or light cream
2 large eggs
1 ts pure vanilla extract
9 TB unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup mini chocolate chips (no substitutions, as the mini's work best here)

glaze:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate morsel or block, chopped
2 TB unsalted butter, soft
Less than half a block of cream cheese, room temp
A tiny pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or spray an 8-inch square cake pan. You can line with parchment paper, but I didn’t need to. In a small bowl, combine 2 TB of sugar, 2 ts of cinnamon, and the espresso powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, remaining cinnamon and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk the half & half, eggs, and vanilla.
Pour the wet mixture over the flour mixture and gently whisk until almost combined. Don’t overmix! Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, fold in the melted butter, just until the butter is absorbed.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly.
Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the batter and then top with the cinnamon expresso sugar mixture. Top with the remaining batter, spreading it evenly and slowly. Spreading the top half is a bit tricky as you don’t want to spread the middle filling around, so just go slow; working inside to the outside in small little circles.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350F, just until a toothpick comes out clean. Please turn pan around halfway, during the middle of cooking. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and remove the parchment. Turn it out again onto another rack so it is right side up.
(The cake will look dark, very dark while it cooks, that’s the cinnamon—it’s not burning.)
For the frosting, put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a pan of simmering (not boiling!) water. Stir until the chocolate and butter have completely melted and it is super shiny and smooth. Add in the cream cheese. Remove from heat and combine well. (If it gets too thin, let it stand for about 10 minutes and it will eventually thicken up). Spread on the top of the cake and allow the frosting to set up before serving. If it does not set, put it in the fridge for an hour or more, and it will harden up.