Pimms Cup

In 2009, I spent a week in London visiting my older brother.  My brother was working as a banker there for an entire year and living in South Kensington.  This means that I was able to stay in one of the best neighborhoods in London for FREE.  During my visit, I saw the sights, ate the food, experienced the culture and most importantly I drank the drinks.  My favorite was a refreshing cocktail called, The Pimms Cup.

The Pimms Cup is everywhere during the Summer in London.  Pimms is a British citrus liqueur.  A Pimms Cup is this liqueur with some "lemonade" (we call it Sprite) and garnish.  It  is served in pitchers or in a pint glass.  The garnish usually includes mint, cucumber, lemon and sometime strawberries.  

Since getting back to the States I have found Pimms to be somewhat difficult to find but definitely worth the search.  Below is a recipe for what should be your new favorite Summer cocktail.  Cheers!

Pimms Cup

Mix 1 part PIMM'S* No.1
with 3 parts chilled "lemonade" (Sprite or Gingerale)add some mint, cucumber, orange and strawberry

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

This post could also be titled, "what to do with leftover buttermilk."  Buttermilk is such a rare ingredient that I was somewhat at a loss for how to use it up.  Then I recalled that when I was growing up the presence of buttermilk in the fridge usually meant my Mom was baking Irish Soda Bread.  I chose to give this recipe a try because it maintains the same great flavor without having to make an entire loaf of bread.  In fact, I baked this recipe, allowed it to cool and then put the most of the muffins in the freezer.  They will be a great treat to warm up one by one.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup salted butter
1 cup buttermilk (low fat is fine)
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup raisins (I used golden raisins because that's what my mom always uses)
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray small muffin tins or large muffin tins with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With pastry cutter or two knives used scissors fashion, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (You can also do this part in a food processor and let the blades mix the flour & butter together or just use your fingers). In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk and egg until blended. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine but do not over stir. Stir in raisins.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.  Then, take a brush and lightly brush the top of each muffin with a little egg. Bake 20 to 25 minutes (longer for the larger muffins), or until cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.

4. Remove muffin tin or tins to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack. Serve warm or cool completely and store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature.

Flappers

Last weekend, JQ, Lukey and I had breakfast at Colossal Cafe in St. Anthony Park (website found here).  It is the cutest place owned by one of our former high school classmates.  My review of her place, "oh. my. gawd!"

If you are in the tri-state area you need to make your way to Colossal!  Everything was amazing.  The space is cute, the people are friendly, the coffee is strong (and there are self-serve refills!), all the food is homemade delicious and the menu is filled with great cafe/diner comfort foods.  There was one item in particular that I have seriously been thinking about ever since we left.  That item is the Flapper.

A Flapper is a yeasted pancake.  It is lighter than a normal pancake and has much more flavor.  I also thought the texture was far superior.  Instead of being soggy like a normal pancake, this held its form and had something like a crust on it.  I consider myself somewhat of a pancake connoisseur and will rate these Flappers as the best darn pancake EVER.

Here is a recipe I came across for yeasted pancakes.  I am going to attempt to make these at home but will definitely also return to Colossal very soon.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

• 
  

• 1 1/2 cups milk

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 package active dry yeast

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 3 large egg yolks

Directions

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until lukewarm ( or microwave for about 20-30 seconds). Transfer milk to a large bowl, and stir in sugar and yeast. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes.


Whisk in flour, salt, butter, and egg yolks until batter is smooth (don't overstir). Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Transfer bowl to a warm place (I always use my unheated oven); let dough rise until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours)


Heat griddle to 375 degrees. Using a 2-ounce (1/4-cup) ladle, pour batter onto griddle, creating several pools, 2 inches apart. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on the top and the edges are slightly dry, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, flip pancakes; cook until golden on bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve warm.

Cinco de Mayo Recipes

Hola!

Saturday is Cinco de Mayo! That is the fifth of May for those of you who are not bilingual....
I will be spending the day brewing cerveza with my hermano Lukey and attending a few fiestas.

Here are some great recipe recommendations to celebrate the day:

Margarita Spritzer: from Skinny Taste, this is a lower calorie adult beverage.  It looks very refreshing and a little strong.  If you make these, remind your guests to sip.

Bobby Flay Guacamole: this recipe makes a lot of Guac' and yet I still have never left a party without the bowl licked clean.

Carnitas: if you are cooking for a crowd try this recipe from Pioneer Woman.  The spicy pulled pork is so good in a tortilla with some crunch napa cabbage and salsa on top.  This is also a very low maintenance recipe.

Margarita Cookie Bars: a very festive baked good!

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos: I originally posted this recipe for a lenten Friday option but it is good year round.

Chicken Salsa Chili: another great make ahead option.  Serve this with some tortilla chips and cilantro.

¡Salud!

Rhubarb Lemon Buttermilk Bundt

Hello Friends, I must apologize for the long absence.  The month of April just slipped away from me.  However, I am back at it so please continue to check back regularly for some recipes worth sharing.

Rhubarb Lemon Buttermilk Bundt

March was unusually balmy here in Minnesota and with that came a flourishing crop of Rhubarb.  Rhubarb is a Midwest staple but not readily available everywhere in the country.  However, at my parents house we have more Rhubarb than we know what to do with.  So, last weekend I took about a pound of Rhubarb stalks out of their garden and decided I would work this into a brunch baked good for my upcoming Book Club gathering.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Cake cooling before adding the lemon soak & glaze

Recipe adapted from honey & jam

The rhubarb, lemon and buttermilk blend in this recipe to make a very delicious sweet and tart cake.  The buttermilk also made the texture of this cake pretty dense without feeling heavy.  I will definitely be making this again.

For the Bundt Cake
2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour1 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon fine sea salt1 cup unsalted butter1 3/4 cups granulated sugarzest of 1 lemon3 eggs1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (i used lemon extract)3/4 cup buttermilk1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and very thinly sliced (3 cups prepped)


For the Lemon Soak
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon sugar

For the Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, more as neededJuice of 1 lemon1 tablespoon nearly melted butter
Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-cup bundt pan.
To make the cake, sift the 2 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in the lemon oil. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. The batter will be very thick.
Toss the rhubarb with the 2 tablespoons of flour and fold half into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining rhubarb on top.


Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate the pan and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly touched (Mine took about 1 hour and 15 minutes total). Cool the cake in its pan on the wire rack for 30 minutes before inverting and removing the pan.


To make the lemon soak juice 1/2 of a lemon into a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of sugar. Throw this in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then whisk with a fork until sugar is dissolved.  Ladle this over the cooled bundt cake and let it soak in.

To make the lemon glaze, whisk the confectioners sugar, lemon juice and butter together. The mixture should be thick. If it’s not, whisk in another tablespoon or two of the sugar. Spread the glaze over the cake as soon as you remove it from the pan.

The finished product.

Note: If you want to make this a day ahead bake the cake, let it cool, and then wrap and cover over night. Then, the next day add the lemon soak and the lemon glaze.


Another note: if you cannot find Rhubarb, try blueberries, raspberries, or cherries.

Sloppy Janes

I cannot recall the last time I had a Sloppy Joe.  But this weekend I had a mean craving for one (update: I'm an omnivore again).  I decided to look for a veggie-filled, somewhat lighter version of this comfort food classic and found a recipe by Ellie Krieger.  I made a few changes to the recipe to make it even lighter and by the time I was done this sandwich was not really a "manwich" sloppy joe.  So, I'm deeming this creation the Sloppy Jane. (cute, I know.)


Here's the recipe.  Originally adapted from Ellie Krieger (original found here)

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced (remove seeds)
• 1 red/green pepper, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, diced
• 1 can small red beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed
• 1 small can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 small can or 1 cup Spicy V8 juice
• 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce (whatever you have on hand) 
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon Sriacha (or hot sauce)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 8 whole-wheat burger buns

Directions

 

 

Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks.

Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes more until you get your desired consistency. 

Place a half-cup scoop of the mixture onto each bun and serve.

This recipe makes 8 servings so I froze half for later.

Butterscotch Blondies

Here is an excellent recipe for Blondies.  We originally came across this on one of my favorite blogs, Annie Eats.  She uses the recipe to make a decadent two layered cake with butterscotch AND chocolate ganache poured over it.  It looks delicious but a little rich for my taste so I made a few adaption.


Here is the recipe for Butterscotch Blondies adapted from Annie Eats:

Butterscotch Blondies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 (11 oz.) package butterscotch chips, divided

NOTE: you can really use whatever kind of chips you want with this recipe.  It would be delicious with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, m&ms, white chocolate chips, dried fruit, etc.  I just used butterscotch because my Mother gave up chocolate for lent.

For the butterscotch ganache (Optional):
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
6 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a 9X13 glass brownie pan. 

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed until creamy.  Scrape down the bowl and mix in the eggs until well incorporated.  Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed just until combined.  

 Stir in 1 cup of butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter into your pan.  Sprinkle the top with some remaining butterscotch chips.

 Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

To make the butterscotch ganache, combine the cream and the butter in a small saucepan.  Warm over medium-high heat until the mixture is almost boiling.  Place the butterscotch chips in a small, heatproof bowl.  Pour the cream mixture over the butterscotch chips and allow to sit for 30 seconds.  Stir until smooth.

Then, I simply cut a blondie and poured the ganache over to serve.  It was really, really good!