Buttermilk Pancakes

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in medium bowl. In second medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and melted butter. Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy with few streaks of flour). Do not over mix. Allow batter to sit 10 minutes before cooking.

2. Grease pan. Using 1/4 - 1/2 cup measuring cup (depending on how big you want your pancakes), pour batter into pan. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes. Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve pancakes immediately. Repeat with remaining batter.

Chicken Marsala

We love mushrooms at our house so I decided to make Chicken Marsala for Martin and Traves. This chicken turned out a lot sweeter than I expected, so if you like sweet chicken and mushrooms you'll love this!



Chicken Marsala

Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, patted dry with paper towels
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2-4 slices of pancetta (or 2-3 slices of bacon) cut into 1" pieces
4 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1 small clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp tomato paste
3/4 cup marsala wine (sweet)
2 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened, cut into 2 pieces
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, set large heatproof plate on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees. Place flour in shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper; working one piece at a time, coat both sides with flour.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy-bottomed, 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook chicken until golden brown on first side, 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining oil and using tongs, flip chicken; continue to cook until meat feels firm when pressed gently and second side is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to heated plate and return plate to oven.

3. Return skillet to low heat and add pancetta; cook, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits, until pancetta is brown and crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towel-lined plate. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until liquid released by mushrooms evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, and cooked pancetta; cook while stirring until tomato paste begins to brown, about 1 minute.

4. Off heat, add Marsala; return pan to medium heat and simmer vigorously, scraping browned bits from pan bottom, until mushroom sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Off heat, add lemon juice and any accumulated juices from chicken; whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

If there was a list of my top favorite chocolate chip cookies, this would definitely, hands down be on it ... most likely at the top! They are super delicious and my husband goes crazy whenever I make them. He's a major chocolate fanatic. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!



Super Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies:

3/4 cup butter flavored crisco
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp vanilla (the cheap kind. If you use the 100% vanilla use a lot less)
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine the crisco, sugar, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed until blended. Beat in egg.
3. Combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a separate bowl. Beat into mixture at low speed. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet
5. Bake 8-9 min. for chewy cookies, 11-13 min. for crisp.

Let cool and enjoy!

Marinated Steaks

Marinated Steaks:

Steak (whatever cut you prefer)
Worcestershire Sauce
Fresh garlic, minced
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Poke the steaks with a fork all over the top and bottom and put in a bowl, ziplock bag or a small pan. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. Pour some worcestershire sauce over the top. (A few tablespoons will work, just enough to coat them) and add a spoonful or two of minced garlic. Toss the steaks to coat and let them sit in the refrigerator for 1-4 hours. Pull them out and bring them to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Heat an oven safe skillet/frying pan until crazy hot. Add steaks and brown on both sides. Once browned, move into the oven to finish cooking. (You can transfer to a different pan if you need to). Cook as long as you like your steaks cooked. (Remember they need to rest before you can cut them so don't overcook them in the oven! They will continue to cook as they rest so pull them out a few degrees early).

Classic Granola

I love granola and have been looking for a good recipe to make myself. This one is very tasty!



Classic Granola
(Thanks Cooks Illustrated)

1 cup walnuts, chopped
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup blanched almonds, slivered (or halved)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup raisins or craisins (optional)

Kelsie's Extra:
Brown sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix first 6 ingredients together in a large bowl.

Heat syrup and honey together with oil in a small saucepan, whisking occasionally until warm. Pour mixture over dry ingredients. Stir with spatula until mixture is thoroughly coated. Put mixture onto a cookie sheet and spread into an even layer.

Bake, stirring and respreading mixture into an even layer every 5 minutes until granola is light brown, about 15 minutes. Immediately turn granola onto another cookie sheet to stop the cooking process. Stir in raisins, then spread granola evenly in pan. Set on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Loosen granola with a spatula. Store in an airtight container.

**Optional: If you like it a little sweeter, toss the finished mixture in a little bit of brown sugar. It is delicious both ways!**

Beef and Shrimp Fajitas

Beef Fajitas

2 oz (4 Tbsp) vegetable oil
3 oz (6 Tbsp) lime juice
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 lb beef skirt steak, flank steak or london broil
1-2 bell peppers (assorted colors) cut into strips
1 onion, cut into thick strips
Mushrooms, sliced
Pepper jack cheese, grated
Tortillas
*Optional ingredients: Guacamole, sour cream, salsa, extra lime*


Mix together 3 Tbsp of the vegetable oil, the lime juice, cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt and pepper. Place the meat in a ziplock bag or a bowl and cover with the marinade. Turn the meat so it is coated on all sides. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Remove meat from the marinade. Grill the meat on both sides on a grill or under a broiler until it is lightly charred and rare to medium done.

While the beef is grilling, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the peppers and saute briefly, keeping them slightly crisp. Remove peppers from the pan and saute the mushrooms and onions the same way.

When the beef is finished, remove it from the grill and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice the meat across the grain into thin slices.


Warm the tortillas and top with the veggies and sliced beef, cheese and any optional ingredients.



For the shrimp fajitas, I just used a garlic & lime shrimp marinade that I have. It is delicious!




Garlic & Lime Shrimp

1 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp onion powder

Mix the salt, pepper, cayenne, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, thyme and onion powder together in a small bowl.

Preheat a skillet. Add butter and stir in garlic. Let the garlic cook for about 30 seconds to a minute on medium heat. Add shrimp. Cut lime in half, squeeze over shrimp. Sprinkle seasoning mixture over and stir. Cook until shrimp turns pink. Taste your shrimp and check to see if your seasonings are right.

Spinach Enchiladas

These enchiladas are so delicious! They are a little time consuming, but by doing a couple things different, I was able to cut down the time a little bit. I will post my revisions instead. This is not the most beautiful plate, but enchiladas really aren't that pretty. :)




Spinach Enchiladas
(Thanks Emeril Lagasse!)

4 Poblano chile peppers (Last time I went to the store they didn't have any, so I looked on the heat scale they had and ended up buying anaheim peppers instead and got 2 extra because they were smaller and they tasted good as well. Poblano are still my favorite, but you can substitute if you can't find them)
2 pounds frozen spinach
A couple handfuls of mushrooms, chopped up
8 Tbsp unsalted butter (split)
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
pinch cayenne
1/2 cup all purpose flour (split)
2 cups half and half
1 cup cubed queso fresco (I used this the first time, and couldn't find it the second time so I used mozzarella. Both tasted really similar)
1 cup cubed pepper jack (Plus a little extra grated for the top)
Parmesan (or I used asiago or just straight pepper jack for the top)
6-12 flour tortillas (this will depend on how big you want your enchiladas. We make huge ones and get 6 out of it)
1 cup vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Thaw out your spinach and let drain in a colander. When you are ready for the spinach, squeeze out all the excess water. (There will be a ton!)

Roast the peppers and then place them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, a ziplock bag or a paper bag and let them rest until cool enough to handle. Peel the peppers, split in half lenghtwise and discard the seeds, veins and stems. Roughly chop and set aside.

In a large saucepan or a large tall sided frying pan, melt 4 Tbsp of the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the onions are very soft. Add the garlic, chili powder, salt, pepper and cayenne and cook stirring for about a minute. Add 1/4 cup of the flour and cook stirring to make a light roux (about 2 minutes). Gradually add the half and half and cook until thick. Add the spinach and stir incorporate. Remove from the heat and fold in half of the chopped chiles, adjust the seasoning to taste. Fold in the cubed cheeses and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter of medium heat. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour and cook, stirring constantly to make a light roux. Slowly add the stock and cook until thickened. Add the cream and cook until thick. Add the remaining roasted peppers and cook for 1 minute.

Fill your tortillas with the spinach mixture and put into a 13 x 9 pan (or bigger if you have more) and pour the sauce over the top. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover evenly with the grated pepper jack and either parmesan or asiago (or neither if you don't want them) and return to the oven and bake until the cheeses are melted and the enchiladas are completely warmed through. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.