Recipes of the week

We tried a few new recipes this week.

Blender wheat pancakes turned out very well. Perfect for "eat what you store and store what you eat". The guys really liked them.

It was hot this week, so we were looking for cool dishes. Chicken apple crunch salad was good, but not spectacular. The guys must have liked it though, because it was gone in no time. I would definitely make it again. I would add nuts next time. Orzo and spinach salad was very good. I would make this again, as well. I also made zucchini refrigerator pickles, but combined a bunch of recipes and, as usual, I could not reproduce them if I tried.

Blender Whole Wheat Pancakes
From: Wheat Foods Council

1-1/2 cup wheat kernels
2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
¼ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ Tablespoon baking soda

Combine wheat and milk in blender. Blend on high for 2 – 3 minutes. Add eggs, oil, salt and sugar. Blend well. Pour batter into a bowl, STIR in baking powder and baking soda.

Pour ¼ cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle and cook until bubbles appear on top. Flip (only once) and cook until lightly browned.

NOTE: This is the way I received the recipe at a wheat cooking class. No salt was listed. I added a few shakes of salt from the salt shaker. Unsure what the measurement should be.


Orzo and Spinach Salad with Lemon-Cranberry Vinaigrette

From CLBB adapted the recipe from What Can I Bring Cookbook by Anne Byrn

8 oz. orzo pasta
salt to taste -- I used sea salt
6 oz. Baby spinach
5 oz. or so feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup or so craisins
1 cup chopped sugared pecans or toasted pecans

Vinaigrette:
½ to 1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 Tablespoons or so fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

Boil orzo and salt for about 7-8 minutes, until just done. Drain in a fine sieve and shake off excess water. Set aside to cool. (While the orzo is cooling I put it in a flat container and pour a little of the vinaigrette on it to keep it from sticking.)

Meanwhile, mix spinach, feta, and craisins in large bowl. Set aside.

For vinaigrette, mix lemon zest and lemon juice and gradually whisk in olive oil, a little at a time, until it thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper.

Mix cooled orzo with spinach mixture. Pour vinaigrette over everything and mix. Cover and chill a few hours or up to overnight.

Just before serving add pecans and stir. Taste to see if it needs more lemon juice, salt, or anything else.

Sugared Pecans
Pour about 5 to 6 Tablespoons of sugar in the bottom of a skillet. Turn stove to low or medium/low. Scatter about a cup of pecan halves over the sugar. Stir occasionally as the sugar melts. Be careful not to burn them! Remove them from the skillet to cool once they are coated with sugar and toasted.

LION HOUSE ROLLS

These may be the best rolls ever. Certainly the best I've ever made. I used just over 5 cups of flour, dough was slightly sticky but cleaned sides of bowl. Also brushed tops with melted butter.

Lion House Rolls

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk
5-6 cups flour

Melted butter for brushing

In a large bowl, combine the yeast and water. Let stand 5 minutes (no need to do this if using instant yeast – just add the yeast and water together with the other ingredients). Add sugar, butter, salt, dry milk, 2 cups flour and egg. Beat together until very smooth. Add remaining flour gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) until a soft but not sticky dough is formed. Knead the dough for at least five minutes if using an electric mixer and for at least 10 minutes if mixing the dough by hand. When the dough is smooth, supple and elastic, place it in a lightly greased large bowl covered with greased plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled.

Separate the dough into two portions. Roll each section out to an 11X14-inch rectangle. Brush the top with melted butter. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into two pieces, the long way (see photos below). Then slice the dough into five or six strips across so you end up with 10 to 12 small rectangles. Roll each small rectangle up like a snail and place on a silpat-lined or lightly greased baking sheet with the roll resting on it’s open edge. Repeat with the second portion of dough.

Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap and let them rise until doubled.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-14 minutes until they are nicely browned.

Dawna's Favorite Fudge Brownies

I have tried so many brownie recipes over the years, and could never find one that was really "it" for us. I've finally found it. This is the brownie recipe to end the search.

Dawna’s Favorite Fudge Brownies

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2-1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½-teaspoon expresso powder
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
walnuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan.

Melt butter. Add sugar and stir together. Return to heat just until hot (110 to 120F) but not bubbling. **note** heating a second time dissolves more sugar, which gives a shiny top crust like “box” brownies.

Beat the eggs, then beat in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, expresso and vanilla. It takes awhile to incorporate.

Add the hot sugar/butter mixture to the egg mixture, and stir until smooth. Gently fold in the flour and fold in chocolate chips. Add walnuts if using. Don’t overmix when adding flour.

Pour into pan. Give Floyd Michael the bowl and spoon to lick. Bake for 30 minutes.

Cool on a rack. Cut. Hide some from the kids so Floyd Michael can have some.