Nancy’s Pancakes April 24, 2009

The most coveted recipe in my family household, one particular family member demanded these everyday for about 2 years which made me sick of them for about 3 years after but I keep coming back. For years I couldn’t make these properly even with the recipe so if it doesn’t work out for you the first time please try again, you will get it. I add blueberries but you can definitely omit them and top it with anything you like. This recipe makes enough for 3- 4 people on average.

Pancakes

Pancakes

1 cup of flour (I have done half each whole wheat and white and it works out great)
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1.2 tsp of salt
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of oil

In a medium sized bowl combine all dry ingredients. In a large measuring cup combine all wet.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and combine well with fork. Let sit untouched while your griddle or large fry pan heats up, you should see bubbles rise to the top. Ladle small amounts into pan and cook on one side until you see air bubbles and sides look set, flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Both sides should be a medium brown and firm in the centre.

Optional….. Add 1/2 cup of blueberries, serve with fresh fruit, whipped cream and real maple syrup. Yum yum.

Easy Roasted Potatoes March 31, 2009

I make these potatoes all the time, they are a Sunday Brunch  or a night after shenanigans must have. Adjust the seasonings to taste but I gave you my two favorites. Happy munching!

Roasted potatoes made with the original seasoning

Roasted Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400F.

Oil a large baking sheet with 1-2 tsp of olive oil.

Wash 3-5  medium sized potatoes making sure to remove any imperfections.

Leave skin on and cut into 1 inch pieces or wedges if you like, bigger sizes require longer cooking time.

Place in a medium to large sized bowl and coat with 2 tbspn olive oil and toss well.

Add spices to potatoes making sure they are well coated then turn onto oiled pan.

Bake in the oven for 15 minuted then turn and cook for about 10-20 minutes longer. They should be golden brown, crispy on the outside but soft on the inside of when pierced with a fork.

Seasoning

• a liberal amount of freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt to taste

Cajun Seasoning

• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of paprika (smoked paprika is nice if you have it)
• 1/8 tsp cayanne
• 1 tsp of chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Ginger Apple Cake January 23, 2009

This dense cake is full of ginger flavor, not too sweet and great with tea. This recipe is a modification of the “Gingerbread” recipe in Making Fresh Bread part of the Love Food series printed by Parragon Books Ltd.

Ginger Apple Cake

2/3 cup of butter
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
3 tbsp molasses
2 apple grated or diced finely
2 inch piece of ginger grated
2 tsp of lemon juice
2 cups of flour
2 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2/3 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 325 F.

In a saucepan melt butter, sugar and molasses over medium low heat. Once melted and well combines set aside to cool.

Peel, core and grate or dice dice apple.Add lemon juice and grated ginger, stirring well and set aside.

In a large bowl sift flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder. Make a well in the center and add the egg and milk, cooled butter mixture and combine with a wooden spoon. When it is mixed well add apples and ginger. Place in a cake tin or 2 loaf pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Multigrain Brown Bread October 24, 2008

There is nothing like a good brown bread to accompany homemade beans or warm winter soups.  I altered this recipe to include more fiber and grains. Hope you enjoy.

1+1/3 cups warm water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

2- 4 of cups white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup multigrain cereal such as Red River cereal

1/4 cup of bran

1/4 cup of flax, optional

2 tsp dried yeast

Turn oven on lowest setting, for about 15 minutes.

Put warm water in large mixing bowl and add to it the sugar, yeast and salt. Stir until well dissolved.

When mixture froths, add 2 beaten eggs, oil and gradually add in flour, starting with bran, cereal, flax (if using),whole wheat flour then one cup at a time, the white flour. Mix well,l until combined. I usually start off with a wooden spoon then gradually start using my hands. Kneed for about 5 minutes until dough is uniform and still a little sticky. Depending on the dough ad even weather you need at least 2 cups of white flour but I generally use 3 cups.

When you have formed it into a ball, coat bowl and dough with oil and cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Place in the warm oven, by this time the heat should be off. If it seems hot enough to cook somehting just open the oven door a crack. Let dough rise about two hours or until it’s doubled it’s size.

Punch down dough and divide into two equal balls. Grease two loaf pans and place one round of dough in each pan. Cover with towel and leave to rise for an additional hour, while you preheat your oven to 375°F.

Bake for about 25 minutes, brushing with eggwash or milk about 1/2 way through the cooking time. Loaves should be brown and semi firm to the touch.  Remove from oven, let rest about 5 minutes before remiving form loaf pan, after that let it cool on a wire rack.

Homemade Goodforyou Granola September 9, 2008

Shannon my old roommate showed me this recipe 2 years ago and ever since I’ve been a homemade granola  type of girl. I really like  that you can thrown any nuts, dried fruit, seeds and cereal grains in it as you want. I like to use spice and this recipe doesn’t use sugar (unless u want it sweeter) or any oil. The recipe that follows is just my favorite combo of flavors. It’s a bit of effort but it’s well worth it and  it stores dry for up to 2 weeks.

Granola

1 can of frozen orange juice

6 cups of large flake oats (this is approximate, you might need to add more if the mix seems too wet)

1 generous cup of dried cranberries (of equivalent amount of dried fruit)

1/4 cup of flax seed

1/4 cup wheat germ (or bran)

2/3 cup unsalted sliced almonds ( or any other unsalted nuts)

1 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds

2 generous tsp of any combination of spices such as all spice, cinnamon, cardamon

******Coconut is also good mixed in just limit the amounts cause it can burn, and if you want to use other nut/seed combos just measure out approximately 2 cups

1-2 tbsp honey or maple syrup optional (if you like sweeter granola, I usually do without)

Preheat oven for 350F.

Place frozen OJ in a large mixing bowl, and let melt. Add dried fruit, spice(s) and coconut (if usuing) and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

Add nuts, bran, oats and honey/maple syrup (if using). Mix  until everything is coated well in OJ.

Spray a large cookie sheet and spread  mixture on pan sparsely. You want to be able to turn it and move it around so it toasts on all sides. Bake about 5 minutes then turn and bake about 5 more minutes, you want it to be dried out and light-medium brown.

As you cook the granola in small batches cool on wax paper or in a lage shallow dish before storing in an air tight contain, make sure it is totally cooled otherwise it will hold moisture and go bad sooner.

Enjoy with yoghurt/soy yogurt, milk/soy milk or as a snack with fruit.

Cornbread August 8, 2008

Mmmmm … in the words of Chris Rock (which Josh quotes every time I even speak of making cornbread) “Cornbread, ain’t nothing wrong with that”. It’s very true and I like my cornbread 2 ways, the old fashion way, not to sweet made with coarse ground cornmeal this one is good made into muffins or small loaves, or add a jalapeno and cheddar cheese to make a spicy savory loaf good served with chili or just eaten on it’s own, but isn’t so good as a muffin. I will give you both options, because when making cornbread everyone should be happy and screw those tittle corn kernels, I m not a fan but if you are go ahead and add them. I should add this is a large recipe, approximately 36 muffins or 2 large loaves, so half it or freeze it, your choice.

Cornbread…ain’t nothing wrong with that

4 cups all purpose flour

3 cups of uncooked polenta (coarse ground cornmeal, I use Bob’s Organic Corn Grits.. in the organic section)
4 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

1 Tablespoon Sea Salt

3/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup if you like it sweeter

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter melted

3 cups milk

Preheat oven for 350.

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a separate smaller bowl whisk melted butter with eggs and milk. Add to dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

There are two variations to do with this bread I suggest, if you want sweeter cornbread add about 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn kernels to the dry mix before adding the wet.

If you want spicier/ savory add about 1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese and 1-2 minced jalapenos.

Bake about 15 mins, or until brown and serve warm with butter …yum!

Spiced Raisin Bread July 28, 2008

Feel free to cut this recipe in half, this will make a good sized 2 loaves. Add more or less raisins or use dried apricots, cranberries or cherries if you want, You could also add nuts or seeds to make it more like a granola bread. You can substitute margarine for the butter if you are vegan just make sure it’s not the low fat stuff, half of that is water. You can use this to make French toast the next day but I love to toast it and smother in peanut butter.

Spiced Raisin Bread

1 cup of raisins

1/4 butter melted

1 cup of boiling water

1 cup of cold water (not ice cold this is to bring down the temperature)

1 tsp salt

3 tbspn Molasses

2 generous tsp of yeast

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp Chinese five spice (if you have it) if you don’t just add the same amount of allspice

1 cup of whole wheat flour

4 cups of all purpose flour

Boil water

In a large ceramic or metal bowl add raisins and 1 cup of boiling water (you do this to rehydrate the raisins). Add butter/margarine, molasses, and salt. Test water temperature with finger and add 1 more cup of water. If the water is still very hot add cold water, if it has cooled down to almost body temperature add approximately the same temperature water.

Once mixture is at a good temperature add yeast and stir to dissolve completely.

Add spices to the water.

Mix in one cup of whole wheat flour, until there is no lumps then proceed to add white flour one cup at a time. At about the third cup of white flour you will need to use you hands. Start kneeding the bread as you add the last cup of flour. Dough should be well formed but still a bit sticky, if you add too much flour the raisins start to be pushed out of the dough.

Clean bowl, dose in oil and toss dough in the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and/or a towel and let rest until it has doubled it’s size.

Pre-heat oven to 375F.

Separate dough into 2 loaves, it’s a good idea to use a loaf pans for this recipe but it’s pretty when it’s shaped round too if you don’t have to loaf pans. Let rise in loaf pans, or after being shaped for about 30 mins.

Bake in oven for around 35-60 minutes depending on oven heat, size of loaf pans or shaped bread.

Traditional Banana Bread July 24, 2008

Ok, I am still having bananas ripening at lightening speed. There doesn’t seem to be too many good banana bread recipes, esp ones that require only a couple of banana’s. So here is a version I just made today.

Traditional Banana Bread

1/3 cup of butter melted

3 ripe bananas mashed with a fork

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain yoghurt

2-3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp all spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups of flour

3/4 cup white sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Melt butter and peel and mash bananas. Combine in a medium bowl adding eggs, vanilla, spices, milk and yoghurt. Mix well.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and mix well. Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients until you have an even consistency. It is ok if you have little chunks of banana, most people don’t mind the texture, so unless you have kids or picky texture eaters you don’t have to ensure total smoothness.

Grease a loaf pan or prepare muffin tins with oil/spray/butter or paper.

Bake in oven, loaf usually take 30-60 minutes depending on loaf pan size, muffins take about 25 minutes.

Focaccia July 17, 2008

This recipe I wear out, it good as a side to soups, pastas, stews or just plain with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I also use this recipe as my primary pizza crust. You can carmelize onions and bake them on top, add olives, different fresh herbs or cheeses, but anyway you top it or cut it, it’s awesome. You don’t need a loaf pan for this one, but you do need a loaf pan or cookie sheet. The bread is suppose to be flat(ish) mine usually ends up about 2 inches high but some like it thinner.

Focaccia (or Pizza Crust)

1 cup water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon yeast

1 tbspn of honey (raw sugar if vegan)

1 teaspoon salt

2-3 cups all-purpose flour

1 large clove of garlic minced

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tsp oregeno

1 tsp thyme

a couple of twists of fresh ground pepper

2 tbsp s Parmesan (optional)

Pre heat oven to 425.

Using warm to the touch water, a little hotter than body temperature, disslove yeast and honey in a large bowl. Add salt and 1 cup of flour. Add spices, 1 tbsp cheese and fresh garlic once well combines, slowly add flour until you need to knead it by hand. Keep adding flour until dough is well formed and is still SLIGHTY sticky, you don’t want a dry dough. This kneading process should be about 5-8 minutes to get the right consistency.

Remove dough from bowl and wash bowl. Dose bowl with olive oil and coat dough well with it. Cover wiht plastic wrap and towel and place in a warm place to rise.

You should let it rise until it doubles it size, about 40-60 minutes.

Once dough has risen, grease pan and with fingers spread out dough unto pa. It should shrink and pull back, that is a sign you made a good dough. Form it best you can leaving finger dents in it. At this time you can top with remaining cheese, more pepper, carmelized onions, olives of more fresh herbs, or turn it into a pizza.

Cook until golden brown, usually about 30 minutes.

Lemon Loaf July 9, 2008

I wanted to make this so badly today but I cannot turn the oven on. It’s a simple lemon cake recipe you make in a loaf pan and top with a sour syrup. YUm, you must love citris! This is a old recipe we used to make around Christmas, thanks to Mom for cataloging it.

Lemon Loaf

1 1/2 sifted flour

1 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of vegetable shortening

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

rind of 1 lemon

1/2 milk

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Cream sugar and shortening and add eggs. Sift Flour, adding baking powder and salt. Add half of the milk to the sugar mix, then half of the flour mix to the creamed sugar. Repeat until all milk and flour mix are used and combined. Add lemon rind.

Bake in a loaf pan and about 10 minutes before it’s done increase the oven’s heat to brown the loaf.

Mix the juice of one lemon, and 1/4 cup of white sugar. When the loaf pan comes out of the oven pour the syryp mix directly over the hot cake. Cool for about 5 minutes before removing form the pan.