Pancakes with Bluberry Sauce

I made these last weekend, when my camera was in Nova Scotia with my daughter. So there is no picture of what I made. However, there is one on the food network page. In watching Ricardo make these I thought I would give them a try. The recipe can be found here. I did find this batter to be very thick, so they took longer to cook. The pancake was good when first made, though I left some in the oven to keep warm for Dan and they we not as good then. The blueberry sauce was really good. I would make it again for my pancakes as well as a sauce for ice cream.

Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Pancake Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions:


1. In a bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.

2. In another bowl, mix the egg yolks, buttermilk, maple syrup and vanilla for one minute with a beater. Add the dry ingredients and beat until the mixture is well mixed.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until the formation of soft peaks. Use a spatula to fold the egg whites into the batter.

4. Heat a non-adhesive skillet on medium heat. Brush with butter. Pour 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake. Spread the batter in the shape of a disk of about 6 inches. Cook each side for 1 to 2 minutes or until they are nicely browned. Set aside in a warm oven.

Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup Ameratto
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a pot, mix all the ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes.
3. Let cool to a lukewarm temperature.

Triple White Chocolate Brownies

Dan decided to try a recipe we saw on American Test Kitchen. Triple-Chocolate Cookies he decided to use white chocolate in the recipe. When he made the cookies they spread over the entire cookie sheet both time he tried them. He decided to make the rest of the dough as a brownie, put the dough in a 6" X 10" baking dish. Baked it for about 45 minutes at 350F. You want it to be still a bit gooey when you take it out. When he was telling me what he changed in the recipe, we figured out what he did, added too much Amaretto it should likely have been 2 ounces or 4 tbsp and likely the flour should be reduced as well to 1/2 cup. If you wish to try this recipe as the cookies these are the changes we think you will need to make. Macadamia nuts would be good in this brownie.

Triple White Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

3 ounces unsweetened white chocolate bar , chop into chunks
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
7 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into pieces
4 ounces of Amaretto
3 large eggs , at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Melt unsweetened white chocolate bar, white chocolate chips, and butter in heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water, stirring frequently, until completely smooth and glossy. Remove bowl from pan and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add Amaretto and beat until incorporated, 20 seconds. Reduce speed to low, add melted white chocolate mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Using large rubber spatula, fold flour mixture and white chocolate chips into batter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes until batter firms up (it will more closely resemble thick brownie batter than cookie dough).

4. Meanwhile, adjust two oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. The brownie should still be gooey in the centre. Cool and cut into bars or squares.

August Click Event

This months CLICK event is Citrus. Click it is a monthly food photography event hosted by Jugalbandi. Here is my entry.

Sweet & Sour

Dan has a new post you should check out.

As you may know Dan is my son. He has started a blog about his veggie garden. He has a new post with a recipe you should check out.

Urban Veggie Garden

I have not done much in the kitchen as I have been on midnights. Seems this shift is all working and sleeping, and we are working 6 days a week which is also not helping the creating part of my life. Anyway, I hope to do something this week. Although Dan was trying a cookie recipe which did not turn out as cookies but turned into amazing brownies. So when I get my camera back from my daughter that is on holidays in Nova Scotia I will put up the recipe for you to see and try.

Nicole's Famous Crackers

I made these today. I found them on Our Sweet Life's blog. Well they are delicious, easy to prepare and you will not be able to eat just one.

Nicole's Famous Crackers

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
a package of saltine crackers
chocolate chips
any nuts chopped or crushed (I used slivered almonds)

Preheat the oven to 400. Get a cookie sheet out, cover with foil and lay crackers out all over the cookie sheet. Take the stick of butter and brown sugar and melt together in a small pot over medium heat don't stir until it is all melted!!, now wait for the sugar/butter to caramelize (you will notice big bubbles)- once that happens, remove the pan from the heat and use a spoon to drizzle the caramelly goodness all over the crackers. Then sprinkle the crushed nuts on top.
Bake for 5-7 minutes. Take the crackers out and IMMEDIATELY sprinkle the chocolate chips over them, then transfer off the cookie sheet to cool before the chocolate chips re-harden.

Urban Veggie Garden

Dan has a new post on his blog about his garden and raspberry picking.

http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/

Minted Blackberry Cheesecake

I bought the Gourmet August 2008 issue. On the cover was a cheesecake with black berries. We went to Taylor Farm in Dundas, Ontario, to buy wild blue berries and they had black berries so we decided to try the cheesecake. Dan found a recipe for a light as a cloud cheesecake, it was ok. I think if you made the cheesecake in the gourmet recipe it would be much better. I will put up the light as a cloud recipe as well for you if you would like to try it. We did not use the mint as I do not like it. Also added 4 tbsp. sugar to the berries.

For Crust

3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped

For Filling

3 (8oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. flour
1/4 cup half and half
3 large eggs

Make Crust:

Preheat oven to 350ºF with rack in middle. We used a 8" high top spring form pan with the removable buttom.

Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add flour and almonds, mixing until combined and dough begins to clump together.

Press onto bottom of baking pan with floured fingers.

Bake just until a shade darker and edges begin to pull away from pan, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool crust completely in pan.

Make filling and bake:
Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF.

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and flour with cleaned beaters at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add half-and-half, then eggs 1 at a time, mixing until incorporated. Pour filling into crust.

Bake in a hot water bath until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center is still wobbly, 40 to 45 minutes. (Center will set as it cools.) Transfer pan to a rack and cool completely, about 2 hours. Chill, uncovered, at least 2 hours.

Cheesecake can be chilled (loosely covered once cold) up to 3 days.

Minted Blackberries

3 cups blackberries
4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp chopped mint
2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Stir together all ingredients in a bowl or airtight container and let macerate at room temperature 30 minutes.

Blackberries can be chilled (after macerating) up to 2 hours.

Once cheesecake is cooled remove from pan and slice, place on plate and add the blackberries on top and drizzle the blackberry juice over the top.

This is the recipe we used for the cheesecake

Light as a cloud Cheesecake

(8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese until soft. Add sugar and flour and beat until thoroughly blended. Stir in egg yolks, sour cream, cream, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites until frothy, then add powdered sugar and beat to form stiff peaks. Fold the whites into cheese mixture and pour into crust. Bake for 45 minutes, or until center is set.
Cool, then chill before serving.