Friday, January 29, 2010

Scrambled Egg Muffins


I thought these were so cute and anything tastes better in a muffin cup right? Very easy to do, the ingredient combinations are endless, be creative! I used ham, but you could use chopped bacon or cooked sausage, actually anything you would put in an omelette would be good in these.

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) bulk pork sausage or any kind of breakfast meat
12 eggs
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped green bell pepper
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
Spray liberally a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the onion, green pepper, and seasonings. Stir in the sausage and cheddar cheese. Spoon by 1/3 cupfuls into greased muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Best if eaten immediately while hot!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Tortilla Soup in the Slow Cooker


I love this recipe because it is so good and so easy! I usually have most of these ingredients on hand. Serve with avocados, sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips! Thanks Stefany for the corn and bean idea!

2 cans diced tomatoes (plain or with garlic and onion)
2 cans chicken broth
1 c. salsa (I use Pace, medium heat)
4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbs. cumin
2 Tbs butter
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder if you're in a hurry!)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 can drained sweet corn
1 can rinsed and drained black beans

Add tomatoes through salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Cook on low 6 hours or on high 4 hours, remove chicken and shred, add back into soup. Add cilantro, corn, and beans and ready to serve!

Blueberry Muffins


This is a new blueberry muffin recipe that I found in a Fine Cooking magazine. They are really delicious, especially with the glaze on top. It's really important with this recipe to not overmix the batter, that's why you add the fruit before the batter is fully mixed. I love that the batter overflows onto the pan and forms a big muffin top (Seinfield anyone?) I take out the room temp ingredients and melt the butter an hour before I make these.

Blueberry Muffins

Cooking spray for the pan
3 1/2 c. all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
10 tbs. butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 c. whole milk, at room temp
1 c. sour cream, at room temp
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 large egg yolk, at room temp
2 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (save lemon for glaze)
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw if frozen)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray the top of a 12 cup muffin tin and then line the cups with paper or foil baking cups. (Spraying the pan keeps the muffin tops from sticking)

In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well.
In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk, and zest until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together gently with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are mostly moistened, there should still be quite a few streaks of flour. It will be lumpy, that is okay. Sprinkle the blueberries on the top of the batter and fold them in until just combined. (The batter will still be lumpy, do not try to smooth it out)
Fill the muffin cups, the batter should mound higher than the rim of the cups by 3/4".
Bake until the muffins are golden brown and spring back lightly when you press on the middle, about 35 minutes. The muffin tops will meld together. Let the pan cool for 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to separate the tops, invert the pan and pop out the muffins.
Let muffins cool for 30 minutes before drizzling glaze.

For Glaze:

2 c. powdered sugar
fresh lemon juice (from lemon that you zested)

Whisk together powdered sugar and enough fresh lemon juice to make a runny glaze. Drizzly liberally over muffins, let set to harden.

Blueberry Sauce and Buttermilk Pancakes


I'm back! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, my family has been going through a two month relocation process! Not fun, I'm so glad it's over! We are now settled and here are some of my favorite new recipes...

This blueberry sauce is so yummy! I served it on pancakes, but it would be delicious on ice cream too. I'm tempted to can it so I have it on hand all of the time! It's a cinch to put together. I'm posting my buttermilk pancake recipe again, I started adding vanilla and I think it really puts them over the top! Ignore the styrofoam plates, I was tired of doing dishes :)


Blueberry Sauce

2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbs water
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1/8 tsp salt
2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Whisk together cornstarch and water in a saucepan. Add in sugar, 1/3 c. water, and salt. Turn heat on to medium and cook until slightly thickened. Add blueberries, boil for 3-4 minutes. Serve warm over ice cream, pancakes, etc. Makes 2-3 cups and enough for my pancake recipe below.

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 c. all purpose flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. canola oil (or vegetable oil)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
stick of cold butter

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup, level with knife, add to large bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of mixture, set aside.
In separate bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add to dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
Heat skillet to medium low heat. With cold stick of butter, unpeel end and rub a thin layer of butter over pan. Drop about a 1/4 c. batter onto skillet. Flip pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Remove from pan, and re-butter, then add more batter, continue this way with the rest of the batter.
Yields 9 4 inch pancakes.