Ebelskivers (Danish Pancake)

A few years ago I bought this pan at William Sonoma and just pulled it out of storage. Apparently ebelskivers (also known as aebleskivers) made a comeback because you can buy this pan again and there's even a recipe book at William Sonoma now! I'm on my way sometime this week to purchase it because THESE ARE THE BEST BREAKFAST we've ever made at home!

Filling:

- Nutella

- Finely cut bananas

*You can use anything, chocolate chips, jam, pie filling chopped, pudding, cream cheese- it's your preference! We LOVED the banana/Nutella mix

Batter:

• 7/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 Tbs. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3 egg whites
  
• 3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
• Use a hand mixer or Kitchenaid and whip the egg whites until white and stiff (looks like foam). Remove and set in a separate bowl. (You can clean out your bowl or just use it with the residue from the egg whites, it won't make a difference)
• Mix together egg yolks, milk, sour cream and butter in the mixer. Add all the dry ingredients and mix again.
• Get the egg white mixture and slowly spoon into your batter mixture. Fold in with a rubber spatula (it will be chunky and the egg whites won't blend perfectly- you want this, it makes the pancakes fluffy being just mostly mixed).
• Put the ebelskiver pan on the stove on medium heat. Spray the bottoms of the cups with a non-stick spray.

Place about 1 tsp. of batter in the bottom of the pan. Place half a spoonful of Nutella and about half a spoonful of chopped bananas on the this batter. Get another spoonful of batter and cover the topping with batter. See images below.

Let the batter cook for about 3-5 minutes, until you see some bubbles foaming or the sides turning a nice brown (like normal pancakes. It's then time to flip!

Lots of people use two chopsticks, but I like to use a small fork. Grab one side and turn it quickly. Gravity will do its job and make them round on the other side and look nice, don't panic, you're doing it right if they look like this.

Wait about 2-3 minutes and then take them off and set them on a plate. We covered them with tin foil to keep warm while we cooked the rest.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, syrup, Nutella, or eat plain.

Low Fat Chimichangas

Ingredients:

10 small tortilla shells

2 chicken breasts

Montreal Chicken Seasoning

1 1/2-2 cups of Cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cup of Pace Picante salsa

Spreadable butter

Sprinkle Montreal Chicken Seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts. Grill chicken breast on a gas, charcoal, or George Foreman grill. When fully cooked shred chicken. Add the salsa to the shredded chicken.

Heat up a griddle to medium high and warm tortilla shells on both sides.

Place about 4 TBSP of chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla. Sprinkle about a TBSP of cheese on top. Grab two sides and fold over the chicken mixture, then roll shells the opposite direction (like your traditional fast-food burrito wrap) so that all the mixture stays tucked neatly in the shells.

Lightly butter the side with the burrito shell seam. Place on the griddle so the shell "fries" and lightly butter the top. Turn after about a minute when the seam side in golden brown and cook the other side.

Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Olive and Jalepeno Stuffed Pork Loin

This one is truly a winner!

1-1.5 lb pork loin (a small loin roast from Costco or Wal-mart works great)

1/3 cup black olives

1/2 cup of sliced jalapeno chile peppers

Handful of parsley

8-10 slices of bacon

Preheat the oven to 400. Place olives and jalapenos in a food processor or blender (or you can finely chop) and chop until the pieces are finely grated, but not still a little chunky.

Slice the pork lengthwise about 3/4 of the way so you can open it up like a book. Spread the olive/jalapeno/parsley mixture onto one half of the pork opened like a book. Then fold over the top piece. Wrap bacon around the pork tightly and evenly and place in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes on 400.

*If you buy a thinner roast reduce time to 20-30 minutes)

Turn the oven up to broil- choose a low broil not the high. Broil for 5-10 minutes until bacon is crisp.

To serve: cut the pork into thick slices.

We added spaghetti squash and chicken flavored rice as a side.

*If you have a sensitive palate and jalapenos scare you, trade the 1/3 olives and 1/2 jalapenos to 1/2 olives and 1/3 jalapenos. It will tone down the little kick but still add flavor

Cheesecake

Contributed by Milicent Matheson

Make a day ahead or at least 8 hours

Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs very finely crushed

2 TBSP sugar

4 TBSP melted butter

Pat crush into 9 inch spring form pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the following together until smooth and then pour over crust

24 oz cream cheese softened

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Bake 35 minutes. Immediately refrigerate for 30 minutes to stop cooking process

Mix together until smooth:

1 pint sour cream

3 TBSP sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Carefully spread over cake and return to oven (350 degrees) and bake 5 minutes. Immediately return cake to refrigerator.

Serve plain or with fruit or favorite topping

Sister Matheson's Favorite Rolls

Combine and let stand in a mixing bowl for 20 minutes:

1/2 cup warm water

1 TBSP dry yeast

1 TBSP sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

Scald: 1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

dash of salt

Add: 2 beaten eggs- mix continually while adding eggs

Combine yeast with milk-egg mixture (make certain the milk mixture has cooled enough so it doesn't' kill the yeast)

Combine all with at least 4 1/2 cup flour (add enough flour to make dough workable) not too much flour or it makes the dough dry

Let rise until double- about 1 hour- roll dough out on a lightly floured cloth

Cut into wedges and roll into crescent shape (or whatever shape desired)

Let rise on lightly greased pans- about 1 hour

Bake at 390 for about 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned

Thin Mints

Don't worry that Girl Scout cookie season is going to end soon- you can make your own thin-mints! Follow this recipe:

http://bakingbites.com/2005/10/thin-minties/

"Secret" Cinnamon Roll Recipe

I had two friends combine Cinnabon, Betty Crocker, and a few others until they felt their recipe was perfected. This was once a secret, but I begged, and alas, now the world has the greatest cinnamon roll recipe!

DOUGH:
2.5 teaspoons yeast (1 pkg.)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons wheat gluten
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla (double if "imitation")

1. Mix 1 cup flour with yeast and wheat gluten in a mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan and then add milk. Add sugar and salt until just dissolved. Heat through until warm and add to mixing bowl (the flour mixture).
3. Mix on high for 3 minutes. Add eggs and mix until blended. Add vanilla. Add flour gradually until dough is pliable and can be kneaded (you may need to add another cup or so of flour).
4. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 6-8 minutes, or until dough is elastic. Put into a large, greased plastic bowl and let rise until double, about 1 1/2-2 hours. Once dough has risen, roll out to the size (about) of a cookie sheet and about 1/8-1/4 inch thick (aim for 1/8 inch thickness).

MIDDLE STUFF:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 Tablespoons cinnamon

1. Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl and set aside. Spread butter evenly on dough and then sprinkle with sugar mixture. (You can leave one end plain--about 1/2 inch edge--to make the log stick together.) Roll dough into a log and cut every 2-3 inches. You can use a serrated knife or dental floss to avoid smashing the log.
2. Place on cookie sheets 1-2 inches apart (they will grow a lot in the oven!) Let rise on cookie sheets for about 1 hour. Bake at 335 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove when tops begin to brown (to avoid dryness).

FROSTING:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon lemon flavor

1. Cream butter and cream cheese together at low speed for 6 minutes. Switch to whisk attachment and whisk on high for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar on low speed, and then go back to high speed for another 3 minutes. Add vanilla, lemon, and remaining sugar on low and then return to high speed for another 3 minutes, or until creamy.
2. Keep leftover frosting in fridge. Store extra rolls at room temperature, covered. Don't ice the rolls until just before serving.

(*note: when I made these, I kept my oven at a low temperature (around 150 degrees) while the dough was rising. Then I put the bowls (when the dough ball was rising) and the cookie sheets (when the rolls were rising) on top of the oven to make sure they were warm enough to rise properly. It worked like a charm!)