Thursday, January 27, 2011

Snow Days and Baking





There is something about snow on the ground that creates an insatiable urge in me to bake.  We have had 2-3 snow days as of late, and I am debating not even trying to get to work tomorrow where I am positive there will be no parking.  Here are some of my baking projects over the last few snow days...


Vegan French Toast Doughnuts (taste a bit more like a muffin in donut form)


Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Bread


Dutch Pear Pancke

Forgive me, I have no recollection of where exactly this recipe came from.  I discovered it a bit back in my recipe tin while I was cleaning it out to put all of my recipes into a three-ring binder.  Such a marvelous thing to do.  Perhaps more on that later as well.  

Dutch Pear Pancake  (i used pear, recipe calls for apple)
1/3 c maple syrup
1/4 c brown sugar
3 T butter
2 pears, thinly sliced
1 egg
3/4 c milk
1 T butter (butter)
1 1/4 c flour
4 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/3 c applesauce

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine first 3 ingredients in a cast iron skillet or 9" cake pan.  Melt in oven for 5 minutes then stir to dissolve sugar.  Arrange pear slices over mix and set aside.

Whisk together egg, milk, applesauce, and melted butter.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour into milk mixture and stir until smooth.  Pour batter over pears. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and invert onto large plate.

My new toy

I got a few new kitchen gadgets for Christmas, duplicates of many of them actually.  I have had a great time using each one, but this one so far I think is one of the niftiest for what it does.  

This baby has been on my mind for quite some time, though I must admit I was always hesitant to get one because the blade is so menacing.  On cooking contests someone always manages to slice off a piece of their finger on that sucker.  But it's products seem so worth it at times.

French fries. Gratin with evenly sliced potatoes.  Homemade chips. French fries. I have only used it thus far for a gratin and french fries (twice...but we bake them so it is ok).  I am looking forward to this summer making evenly sliced zucchini for the tarts as well as beet and parsnip baked chips.  Wowee.  Look out for those! 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Lentils are a wonderful source of protein and are so quick to cook, they are one of our favorite pantry staples. I also had some lightlife sausage to use the rest of, and TastyKitchen had recently posted a spicy lentil sausage soup. While this soup is not spicy in the least (the hubs and I have had to tone down the acid and spice as of late), it is hearty and flavorful.

This soup was wonderful for a pre-snow storm evening. And hearty enough to even satisfy the hubs while being vegan.

Sausage and Lentil Soup (Printable Version)