teacher by day - chef by night
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Cupcakes = Good Banana Bread = Comfort ‘healthy’ Dessert Peanut Butter & Jelly = Childhood Classic Banana Cupcakes filled with Jelly & topped with Peanut Butter Frosting… oh yeah! As I was getting ready to make cupcakes for my “kids” & co-workers at Big Boulder …
“Sweet and Spicy” – that explains me pretty well. I try to be sweet and do things for others, but I’m stubborn and don’t take garbage from anyone so I guess that I can be called pretty spicy usually too, and we wonder why I love those two flavors, haha! Enough about me – prepare to get into the kitchen for the best of both worlds!
Now you wait just one minute before you stop reading (actually – you need to start reading in order to start, but don’t stop before you even start… if that even makes any sense). These are not pancakes like you would eat for breakfast… think instead pancakes like potato pancakes, or chick pea patties, or something like that! Yeah – that kind of pancake!
I am continuing my healthy green kick tonight with these Green Spinach Pancakes (which yes – once again are pretty gosh darn healthy for you!). After finding these on another wonderful WordPress Blog (thanks Five & Spice – these are awesome, and the photos are a lot better – I plan on visiting the blog of this ‘down to earth’ nutritionist a lot more often!), I decided to make these for dinner. But keep in mind that these would make a great side dish or appetizer or part of a “tasting” dinner menu!
Spinach pancakes (with ‘yogurt’ sauce)
Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the yogurt [sour cream], lime juice, lime zest, and mint leaves. Put in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve the pancakes. Stir once again before serving… just to be safe
Wash the spinach, then put the spinach in a large sautee pan with a sprinkling of water, cover, and cook over medium heat (stirring a few times) until the spinach is wilted. This will only take a couple of minutes. Put cooked spinach into a colander and let it cool down so you can handle it. Once cool, use your hands and squeeze out as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible. Then chop the spinach up well and set aside. [a box of frozen spinach would probably work well here too)
Heat your tablespoon of butter in a sautee pan over medium-high until it is foaming. Stir in the chopped onion and cook until it has gotten nicely browned. Turn the heat down very low and allow to cook for about 3-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, to get them a bit caramelized.
In a bowl: whisk together the flour, eggs, milk, 2 Tbs. olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Stir in the spinach and onion until all combined. You will have a very thick ‘batter’
Pour enough olive oil into a large sautee pan to coat the bottom. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into the pan & try to make them circular and even thickness (with spoon OR pressing down on it with the spatula). Cook until the bottom sides have turned golden brown, then flip and cook another couple minutes (no more than 5 minutes total for each batch). Transfer the pancakes to a serving platter (if needed, keep warm in a 200F oven) and continue frying – using more olive oil as needed- until all the batter is used up. Serve the pancakes accompanied with the mint-yogurt sauce for generously smearing them with. These reheat well too! 🙂
… with all these green recipes: you should be all set for St. Patrick’s Day this year!
Day #2 of trying to play Dr. Chef. Last night’s Green Cream of Spinach Soup went over well and was comforting on his throat. He was coughing most of the night and miserable at work all day, SO – I did what I was brought …
Yes – another GREEN recipe! Now that I am over being sick (and just have an occasional gross cough) Rich’s body decided he wanted to catch what I had. He is pushing through it (and not taking it easy like he tried to force me …
Happy Valentines Day (weekend)
Oh, the things we do for love! I had off on Friday to go to the dentist so knew I would have some kitchen time if I wanted and earlier in the week had come across this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (and then found a whole bunch more that were exactly the same and all got rave reviews!). Rich is a HUGE fan of cookie dough (remember when he got accepted to Lehigh!?), so I knew that this was what I was doing for him for Valentines Day!
Warning: these cupcakes are not low calorie OR quick and easy – but Rich’s reaction to them made it all worth it! Feel free to take some time and do these over two days or even substitute your favorite cupcake recipe (Rich loved these cakes – I like a less dense cake – so try as written first or just wing it… up to you)
For the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350° degrees. Line cupckae pan with 24 liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the filling:
To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about a half hour.
To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
For the frosting:
To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk (I used at least an extra tablespoon compared to this recipe) and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
Frost the filled cupcakes as desired and sprinkle with mini-chocolate chips. Store on the counter or in the fridge (fresher if kept in the fridge) and then you decide if you like them cold or room temperature!