Orange Breakfast Muffins

Another fabulous recipe from the white recipe book. This one was submitted by Jeff & Julia Enns.

1/3 cup unsalted butter
zest of 1 orange
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar

100 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
100 ml full-fat milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups.

Melt butter and set aside.

Combine flour, ground almonds, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and orange zest.

Measure orange juice and milk into a 2 cup measuring cup or similar sized bowl. Whisk in the egg, then add the cooled, melted butter. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing with a fork. Barely combine ingredients; batter should be lumpy. Mixture should not be overworked.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.

Notes:
In the recipe book, Jeff & Julia noted that using skim milk instead of the full-fat milk worked just fine.

One large orange gave me the 100 ml orange juice when using a citrus press.

Carrot Cake Ice Cream

You know that fancy little Ciao! magazine you get in the mail every couple of months? The one with all the seemingly overpriced shops and restaurants? This recipe comes from one of those, back from August/September of '09.

Candied Carrots
2 cups diced carrots
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
2 cups water

Spiced Pecans
1 cup pecan halves
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Crown Royal Cranberries
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp Crown Royal

Base
1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
1/2 8oz package light cream cheese, softened
zest of 1 lemon

Candied Carrots
In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine all ingredients. Bring to a slow boil and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes until carrots are translucent and syrup reduces.

Spiced Pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, combine all ingredients and spread onto an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until toasted. Cool completely and chop roughly.

Crown Royal Cranberries
In a bowl, combine all ingredients and set aside.

Base
In a stand mixer, combine ice cream, cream cheese, and lemon zest. Whip until blended.

Drain cranberries and add to mixture.

Add pecans and carrots and beat gently.

Yield: 6 servings

Notes:
I've never had cranberries in carrot cake, so that needs to go. I don't use Crown Royal or the cranberries in this recipe.

I've made this once with diced carrots and today I made it with shredded. I didn't prefer the chunks from having them diced. I'm much happier with it today having used shredded because it becomes almost like a paste when it's cooked down.

When you cook it down, be sure to keep going right to the end when there's no liquid left at the bottom of the pot. When I made it the first time, I thought it would thicken as it cooled. It didn't.

Instead of chopping the pecans after they're baked, I like to chop them, then toss them in the coating, then bake them. More surface area for the coating to stick to.

I didn't double anything other than the amount of ice cream. I used two pints instead of one. I'll keep you posted how it turns out.

Onion Rings

I took this directly off the Rachael Ray website. She calls them "Todd Wilbur's Onion Rings".

6 to 10 cups vegetable shortening
1 medium white onion
2 cups milk
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups plain Progresso bread crumbs
salt

In a fryer, heat shortening or oil to 350 degrees.

Cut the onion into 1/4 inch thick slices, then separate the slices into rings.

Pour the milk into a large shallow bowl, dump flour into another large shallow bowl and pour bread crumbs into a third large shallow bowl. The large shallow bowls will make breading easier.

While the shortening is heating up, bread all the onion rings first dip an onion ring into the milk, then into the flour. Dip it back into the milk then into the bread crumbs and once more into the milk and in to the bread crumbs. This will give each of the rings a nice thick breading.

When the oil is hot, fry the rings, a handful at a time, in the oil for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the rings from the oil to a rack or paper towels to drain. Lightly salt the rings and serve em up hot.

Notes:
I don't know what "Progresso" bread crumbs are, maybe it's an American brand, so I just used regular crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper.

By the way, good kitchen tip: I don't like to eat the last little end piece of the loaf of bread. So I put them on the counter to dry. When I have a bunch of pieces that are dry, I throw them in the blender and make crumbs. I keep them in the freezer in a Tupperware container. Always handy to have them available.

These really did get very crunchy so it makes me wonder what else I could dip and fry like an onion ring. Cheese sticks? Broccoli? Peppers? Mmm.

Pancake Mix

I found this at www.creativehomemaking.com. It seems like a huge recipe, but we go through a lot of pancakes. Believe it or not, this fits into a Tupperware Oval 4 Modular Mate. Makes about 13 cups of dry mix.

10 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
2 Tbsp salt

To make pancakes:
2 cups mix
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups milk or water

Rice Krispies Squares (plain)

I need a simple snack for piano recital tomorrow, and what's easier than Rice Krispies Squares. (I'm talking about the plain ones, NOT the caramel ones.) I went to the Kellogg's website to get the original recipe.

3 Tbsp butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

So many people on the website commented that they don't like to use the microwave because the marshmallows end up tasting like burned plastic. How long do they leave it in there? If I had to do this on the stove, I might never make it again. What a pain. Here's what I've discovered.

Melt the butter in a large, microwave safe bowl. Add the marshmallows and toss them until thoroughly coated in butter. This is the key to not having a bowl completely gummed up and sticky. It's also easiest to use a silicone spatula for mixing. I microwaved the marshmallows for one minute, maybe a minute-and-a-half. Stir until it's smooth. Add a teaspoon of vanilla at this point, if you like the taste.

Stir in the cereal. When it's mixed, dump it into a 9x13 pan (I prefer glass) and press down with wet hands. People on the website were saying they used buttered wax paper and would re-butter if necessary. Again, what a pain!

I'd say even with washing the bowl, I must have done this whole process in about five minutes. That would never happen if I melted the marshmallows on the stove.

Taco Seasoning

Allrecipes.com under the heading of "Taco Seasoning I".

Recipe Yield 1 ounce

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

Notes:

I'm not exactly sure how much I'd use per pound of meat... maybe start at a tablespoon and judge by taste after that.

Caramel Sauce

Once again, this is from the white recipe book, contributed by Daphne Thiessen. I love it for waffles. Here are her thoughts: I like this recipe because the creaminess comes from adding cornstarch instead of using lots of cream. Serve this with ice cream and bananas.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup half-and-half
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp corn syrup

1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir sugar and cornstarch together. Add cream, water, and syrup. Stir until smooth.

Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:
I had to cook it for a little longer than 2 minutes, although I may have been a little hasty in deciding when it was boiling. I also wanted it to be quite thick for the layer in the Frozen Peanut Butter Turtle Pie I was making.

Frozen Peanut Butter Turtle Pie

Inspired by the Summer 2010 Kraft What's Cooking magazine. You can find this at www.kraftcanada.com

1 1/4 cups Oreo baking crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tub (250g) Philadelphia Cream Cheese spread
1/3 cup Kraft Extra Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup thawed Cool Whip

1/4 cup butterscotch flavored topping

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

2 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Mix baking crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Beat cream cheese spread, peanut butter, and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer until well blended. Add Cool Whip; mix well.

Spread butterscotch topping onto bottom of crust; cover with cream cheese mixture. Freeze for 4 hours.

Top with nuts just before serving. Melt chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over pie.

Notes:
Just in case you don't know, pretty much every item can be bought as No Name or store brand. You don't have to buy the brand it says.

To make the crust, melt the butter in the pie plate, then add the crumbs and mix. Don't get extra bowls dirty. It's too much like work then.

I actually used Cool Whip this time, and didn't make real whipped cream. I know that when I taste it, I'll wish I had, but oh well. I was going for simple and fewer steps.

I did, however, make the caramel from scratch. Is there a difference between caramel and butterscotch? To get the caramel into the crust, load up a spoon and drizzle over the crust. I tried to dump a blob into the crust and spread it. DOES NOT WORK. Messy!

I haven't topped the pie yet, but I'll be doing peanuts instead of pecans.