French Pancake (Pannekoeken)

Ever since I was a very little girl, I've loved to experiment in the kitchen.  One of the very first recipes I made came from a church cookbook (I’ll never forget…page 55) and it was for “French Pancake”.  Some of you might know this recipe better as a pannekoeken or puff pancake or possibly a Dutch pancake.  No matter what you call it or how you dress it up, it’s delicious and so easy to make.  I've modified the original recipe to make it a single serving size. 

French Pancake (Pannekoeken)

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup milk
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 425°. Put butter in a small saute pan; place in oven to allow butter to melt while preparing the rest of the recipe.  Mix all remaining ingredients together; blend well (I use a stick blender).  When the butter is fully melted, swirl the pan to allow butter to coat the sides.  Add egg mix, place in oven and bake for 15 minutes.  The pancake will puff up beautifully while it bakes but as soon as you remove it from the oven, it will fall.  That’s normal.  Slide it onto a plate and eat it plain, with syrup, fruit, jam, powdered sugar…be creative…I've thrown bacon on it and it’s delish.

Enjoy!
~Julie

Pumpkin Gingerbread

I’m so fortunate…..I have 3 wonderful sisters-in-law.  On the Anderson side, Troy’s sister Tracy is a foodie like me and Troy’s brother Todd is married to Kari who is an amazing cook!  On my side, my brother’s wife, Sue is both foodie and awesome cook!  Family gatherings on both sides are always loaded with DELICIOUS food!!!!

Sue gave me this recipe for Pumpkin Gingerbread years ago and I’m sure I've made hundreds of loaves.  My kids love it, I love it, it freezes well and since it has the word pumpkin in it you feel like it’s not that bad for you.  

  

You probably have most of the ingredients for this recipe in your cupboard already.  Heck, make a double batch and give one to a friend or neighbor! 

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Recipe from Sue Kloos

• 3 c. sugar
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 c. water
• 1 16oz. can pumpkin
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. cloves
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 ½ c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. baking powder

Mix sugar, oil and eggs together; add water, pumpkin and spices.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Pour into 2 large greased loaf pans.  Bake @350° for 1 hour. 

Enjoy!

~Julie

  

The Black Sea restaurant

 It's time for another restaurant review!  A year ago... or maybe it's been two years now, Julie and I decided that we didn't love the gift giving obligation that came with holidays (it makes it ten times harder to find a good gift when you're under pressure) so we changed it up.  Since we love food and trying new places to eat we figured we could each pick a restaurant and treat the other person to a meal, that way we got to experience new foods/restaurants and do something for the holiday too.  Oh... and there isn't really a time frame on using this gift except that it has to be done before that holiday comes up again the next year!  

A few weeks ago we finally made it out for what was going to be my Christmas pick, yep that's right... we waited until October to use it haha (it's harder than you'd think, don't judge!)  Anyway back to the good stuff, a buddy of mine had told me how he went to this awesome restaurant in St. Paul called The Black Sea and that he really had a good experience there.  That's all I needed to know to pick this place as my spot.  Everything was unplanned and totally last minute which made the experience even better!  We headed out that way having no clue really what to expect except that it was supposed to be good and realizing we have both probably driven by it a million times and never even knew it existed.

We walked into a small (really... it was tiny) hole in the wall restaurant with about 10 tables crammed in and the place was packed!  Not only were pretty much all of the tables occupied with happy, hungry (and full) people but there were more people standing who were either picking up food or waiting to order food to go!  That was a great sign to us and we managed to find a table that someone was just getting up from.  

One of the awesome things about this restaurant is you could order apps and meals for one person OR family style.  After reading through the whole menu we decided we wanted to try one of the appetizer combos that included dolmas, falafel, and hummus accompanied by olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, lemon, pepperoncini and pita bread.  We figured we should probably just get the single serving and split it so we could have room for our meal as well.  What a great appetizer and fun to try so many different things!  

Our meal consisted of another combo (we really wanted to try as much as possible and... we were having trouble deciding what we wanted) and this time we ordered it for 2 people.  It was delivered on a HUGE plate that contained... chicken and beef kebab, chicken, beef, and lamb doner, 2 kofte kebabs all topped with grilled onions and peppers, lettuce topped with tomatoes and onions, pita bread and two sides: french fries (random, huh?) and rice.  Sounds like lot of food? It WAS!!  It looked a little something like this... (sorry for the poor picture quality)

That plate of food was amazing.  We loved everything and even better was the awesome sauce they served with it which they made from homemade yogurt, cucumber, and garlic (we put it on EVERYTHING).  Besides the food being delicious the service was great as well.  Everyone was incredibly nice and I think they kind of got a kick out of our love for their food.  They were the real deal!  I'd totally recommend this place if you're ever in the St. Paul area close to the fair grounds.  It's worth the trip even if you're not in the area!  Head over there some evening with empty stomachs and close friends and enjoy rubbing elbows with each other over some amazing and authentic food.  You won't be disappointed!

~ Melissa

Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry

Good morning!  This week has (again) been crazy busy but I've managed to get a few new things made!  Yesterday was another day full of kitchen time wooohooo!!!  My cousin came over and we made Roasted Carrot soup, date balls (you know... those things Julie posted about earlier except without the peanut butter goodness), and a new one Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry with coconut rice (using cauliflower as the rice, I'll explain that more in a little bit).

I found this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, PaleOMG (and YES, this is another Paleo recipe!) and it sounded good, sort of easy, and a lot different than most of the stuff that we usually make.  You'll start to figure out that Julie and I have a habit of making Asian or Mexican food most of the time with a little Italian thrown in there as well.  We haven't tackled too much Indian cuisine so I decided to give this a try!  I've eaten Indian food before, not often but it's not completely foreign to me except I really haven't had much curry.  So... yesterday morning I visited the grocery for what seemed like the millionth time this week and got all my ingredients for this new recipe.  It went a little something like this...

Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry over Coconut Rice
Source: PaleOMG

Prep time:  10 mins         Cook time:  15 mins           Total time:  25 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

For the curry

• 1lb chicken, cut into cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• ⅔ cup canned coconut milk
• ½ cup pureed pumpkin
• ½ cup cashews
• 2-3 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• pinch of cinnamon
• salt and pepper, to taste
• cilantro, to garnish

 For the coconut rice

• 1 head cauliflower, stem removed, roughly chopped
• ½ cup canned coconut milk
• ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon raw honey
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. First add your chopped cauliflower to your food processor with the shredding attachment to “rice” the cauliflower or just chop it up with the blade in the food processor
2. Pull a large pot, place over medium heat, and add a tablespoon of coconut oil then add your cauliflower. Add a pinch of salt, then cover to help steam, mixing occasionally.
3. Now pull out a large skillet and place under medium heat. Then add your coconut oil.
4. Add your chicken stirring occasionally... when the outsides start to turn white, throw in your garlic and let that go for a min or two until the garlic becomes fragrant
5. Add your ⅔ cup coconut milk and pureed pumpkin to your chicken and mix until the pumpkin breaks down.
6. Now add your sliced onions and spices to cook down, you can turn the heat down just a little and cover it for a few minutes.
7. Then add your other ingredients for your coconut rice and cover to cook down. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn!
8. Let the rice cook for about 5-8 minutes until coconut milk has evaporated and you have sticky rice.
9. When chicken is done cooking and your curry has thickened a bit, remove from heat and add your cashews to the curry mixture.
10. Now place sticky rice in a bowl along with curry over top and cilantro to garnish!

This meal was warm and comforting, perfect for a fall day!  Enjoy!

Melissa

Crockpot Chili (Paleo)

Good morning!  Now that I've filled my belly with a delicious breakfast and got a little coffee in me to wake me up I'm ready to tackle the day.  Today is the day... the day Julie and I get to cook together and I can't be more excited!  More about that later... right now I want to tell you about the awesome crockpot chili I made last night... well I put it together yesterday morning and ate it last night!  It's paleo style which means no beans in this chili.  Wondering what the heck you put in chili if you don't have beans?  I'll tell you... veggies!  I know I know... you're probably thinking you don't want something like chili, which is delicious and hearty, to be ruined by more veggies but I dare you to try it.  You'll be shocked by how good it is!

I changed a few things in this chili to make it work with what I had.  I used ground turkey instead of grass fed beef (which I love by the way just had turkey I needed to use), I added carrots, and didn't use bacon fat... just Olive Oil. Contemplated adding zucchini but I decided I'd need it for those muffins I made yesterday too!  I'm pretty sure sweet potatoes would rock in this recipe too... next time?  We've found that chipotles and sweet potatoes are an awesome combination, just so you know!

Crockpot Chili (Paleo)
Adapted from Free Range Human

Ingredients

• 2lbs grass-fed ground beef
• 1 Tbsp bacon fat (or olive oil)
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes (28oz)
• 1 small can tomato paste
• ¼ C cocoa powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (from can – make sure they are wheat-free), sliced  (I used the whole can and it was pretty dang spicy, you could just use the adobo sauce or just use a few of the chipotles from the can to get the flavor without all the crazy heat)

Instructions

1. Heat bacon fat (or olive oil) in a large pan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and onion; saute until tender but do not burn.
3. Add the ground beef and cook until about medium (just long enough to brown most of the meat).
4. Once browned, add meat/garlic/onion mixture to the crock-pot.
5. In no particular order, add in the celery, bell pepper, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, cacao powder, chipotle peppers (if used) and spices.
6. Stir all ingredients well and set Crock-Pot to low and cook for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
7. Serve and enjoy!

 ~ Melissa

Almond Zucchini Muffins (Paleo)

Hey foodies!  Well I finally found some time today to make a few different and NEW things!  I was way stoked to be in the kitchen today... so much so that I couldn't sleep... ok, that's not really the reason I was up bright and early but it helped!  After a crazy busy week going to Fire Fighter classes, an ambulance driving class, and a 24 hour on call shift that ended at 8am this morning... I was ready to get the heck out of the fire station and into the kitchen.  As soon as my shift ended I headed to the grocery to get the supplies for the day.

I started out prepping this great paleo chili that needed 8 hours for the awesomeness to simmer and then headed to the gym for a quick workout.  After getting cleaned up I started the muffins which I was dying to make because I've never made any baked good (I don't bake that much anyway) without regular flour!  This was truly going to be an experiment in which I had not the slightest idea how it'd turn out!  Guess what... they turned out great!  I have a few ideas for some changes (trying to stick within the paleo rules still) that I'll try for next time but for the first time with these tasty bites I was pretty happy.

They were moist (isn't that a horrible word? I hate it but what can I do...) and the texture was more on the spongy side.  I love dense healthy muffins so these were a little different.  I just can't wrap my head around the idea that ALMONDS can create muffins with a texture pretty dang close to a normal muffin (not the so dense you know they're healthy muffins).  How the heck does that work?!  I guess I can deal with not understanding and just enjoy the fact that it works!

So... here's how it works....  Oh and by the way, this was actually supposed to be a bread but I wanted to be able to sample them and share them with more people so I decided to go with the mini muffins!  Ready?  Here we go...

Almond Zucchini Muffins (Paleo)
Recipe adapted from Running to the Kitchen
 

Ingredients

• 1½ cups almond flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup grated zucchini, water squeezed out
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease two mini bread loaf pans.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Combine wet ingredients besides zucchini in a stand mixer and beat on medium for about 2 minutes. Alternatively, combine in a large bowl and whisk together vigorously.
4. Add zucchini and mix until combined.
5. Pour dry ingredients into wet and mix until incorporated.
6. Pour batter into loaf pans.
7. Bake for 32-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
9. Transfer bread out of loaf pan and cool on wire rack.

ENJOY!!
- Melissa

 

So much food, so little time!

Well it's Minnesota which means it can go from sunny and 70 to cold and snowing overnight.  While the weather wasn't THAT nice yesterday it has gotten colder, as I sat at work today I watched the rain turn to snow in just seconds.  This weather makes me (and I think many others) want to curl up next to a fire and take a nap.  It also makes me want to go to town cooking!  Nothing sounds better than a big bowl of comfort food with family and/or friends.  So with the weather turning I've been busy looking for new recipes to experiment with but I haven't had any time to cook!  This fall is crazy busy and I'm just ready for a long day spent in the kitchen with my best friend.  I think we might get that chance on Sunday!!  Woohoo!! 

Anyway... just thought I'd throw out there some of the things I've been dying to make and will hopefully be posting about in the near future when I can manage to squeeze in some much needed cooking.  Recently I've been pretty interested in this whole Paleo thing so I figured I'd try and make some crazy paleo recipes.  I'm always entertained as I see all the Paleo versions of food that everyone loves but isn't necessarily the best for the body.  I've kind of always had the theory that if you're going to eat something that's bad (meaning delicious, probably high in fat and maybe sugar too) then you should just go all out and not try to make it healthy.  It's not a bad thing to indulge every now and then!  However, there are some pretty interesting Paleo things that represent some of these 'bad' foods we all love.  I'm fairly certain that these treats are still meant to be eaten in moderation but hey, if you can make something delicious and healthier than it's non-Paleo counterpart... I'm all in.

The other day I got a bunch of Almond flour and Coconut flour, these seem to be the base in most Paleo baked goods.  I'm excited to try my hand at this in the next few days so here are some of the things I'm looking to try out.

Baked Goods:

Pumpkin Spice Bread
Almond Zucchini Bread (Paleo)
Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes
Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

Can you tell I'm into the whole pumpkin thing right now?  It's fall... gotta go with the fall flavors!

Dinners:

Pumpkin Cashew Coconut Curry over Coconut Rice
Enchilada Chicken Stew
Brazillian Curry Chicken

Ok for real... that's barely a dent in the real amount of recipes that I want to make...not just at some point in my life but right NOW.  I think I have a lot of work to do in the kitchen... maybe I just need to quit my jobs and cook?  Ha!  Maybe one of these months (January? when fire classes are over??) I'll be able to have more time for some serious cooking but for now I'll just have to be content with whatever time I can actually get!

Time for some family and football.  Hopefully you'll be seeing a few of these recipes in the next week! 

Melissa