Orange Cardamom Cake with Honey Glaze

So, it has been a few weeks since I last posted. I told myself I was not going to lag on this blog like I have done with others in the past. I am so sorry! There have been many changes going on in our lives and I really haven't been experimenting with recipes as much as I like to. 

Here's what's happened:
1. I took summer classes, which are a little more intense than regular semester classes.
2. We moved out of our apartment and into a rental house close by. It is old and had years of grime to scrub through, but it has hardwood floors and a good bit of charm.
3. We went on a couple of fun family trips, including St Simons, which we just got back from!
4. We adopted a DOG!! Her name is Olive. More on her later :)

As you can see, it's been a busy summer! I'm going to start the posts off again with a nice summer-to-fall transition recipe. It has a summery fruit, but with a spice that reminds me of the holidays. This orange cardamom cake is moist and thick, almost like a pound cake. It's wonderful at breakfast with a nice steamy cup of tea. 

Ingredients:

Cake
- 1.5 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cardamom
- 1-2 tbsp orange zest 
- 3/4 cup greek yogurt (I prefer 2% fat over no fat)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

Glaze
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1-2 tbsp orange juice from the orange you zested
- 1 tbsp raw honey

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a standard loaf pan with butter and dust with excess flour. You can line the pan with parchment paper if you prefer. It can sometimes make it easier to remove the bread from the pan if it's a little sticky. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. In a separate small bowl, combine sugar and orange zest, coating the zest with the sugar. Add yogurt, olive oil, eggs, and vanilla. Fold this mixture into your dry ingredients just until smooth. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake about 45-50 minutes, or until golden. Remove the cake and allow it to cool. In the meantime, whisk together more zest, orange juice, and honey. Once the cake cools, gently remove it from the pan. Brush the honey orange glaze onto the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. 

Now slice that brick of goodness. 

Saturday Brunch - Huevos Rancheros Hash

Hello there!

This morning, I was seriously craving some breakfast burritos. Eggs, beans, cheese, salsa, guac, and all that good stuff rolled into a tortilla with some sour cream. Heavens. Unfortunately, to my dismay, we were all out of tortillas! So I decided to improvise and go with a Mexican themed hash instead. 

It turned out so yummy. Like, so yummy that even being out of avocados and sour cream (sheesh - I forget everything!) could not put a damper on the great flavor. It was fresh, hearty, and had a little spice. We put a kick in just about everything, if you hadn't noticed ;)

I used this post as a guideline for the cooking times, but changed things up a lot based on what I wanted to add, which was different seasoning, peppers, potatoes, and sausage.  

It makes a great weekend brunch. Enjoy!

Huevos Rancheros Hash

Ingredients:

- 1/2 lb ground sausage (you could also use beef, carnitas, or whatever you like)
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups red or gold potatoes, chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced 
- 1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced 
- 1 can beans (black or pinto), drained
- 2 tomatoes, diced 
- 1/2 tsp salt
- ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- Optional toppings: cheese, sour cream, avocado, squeeze of lime, salsa

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Wash your potatoes, being sure to scrub the skin really well. Then chop them and put them in a pot of water on the stove, boiling until fork-tender - approximately 10 minutes. Drain them tators and set aside. 

As your potatoes are boiling, heat a skillet over the stove on medium heat and add your half pound of sausage (or other meat). Cook until done throughout. Remove sausage from skillet and put aside on top of paper towels to absorb the fat. Crumble if necessary. 

Into your leftover fat in the pan, add your diced onions, pepper, garlic, and 1/2 your jalepeno. You can use the whole thing if you like it spicy. Saute until tender and fragrant. 

Add your beans and 1/2 your tomatoes, reserving the rest as a topping. You can use any kind of bean, but black and pinto are the most traditional way to go for this kind of recipe. We would normally use black, but I wanted to change it up a bit this time and use pinto. I was glad I did. The pintos were amazing :)

Stir in your spices. Mhmm. Smells good. 

Lightly coat a cast iron or oven-safe skillet in olive oil. Find the potatoes you set aside earlier, and toss them with a good dash of salt and pepper. Spread them evenly across the surface of the cast iron, then pour your veggie/bean mix on top. Lastly, add your crumbled sausage. Then with a spoon, dig out four little hollows in your hash mix. Crack an egg into each of the hollows. Cozy.

Place your cast iron or other skillet into the oven and allow to bake until the eggs turn white and the yolk is at your desired doneness. Ours took around 10-12 minutes. 

Remove from oven and then top as you please. We went with lime, tomatoes, cheddar, and a delicious habenero chipotle salsa :) This would be fantastic with a mexican beer...if you don't mind mid-day drinking. It's the weekend!

Have a wonderful, wonderful Saturday!

Pumpkin Parmesan Scones and Goat Cheese Spread

Okay, I know. Pumpkin is usually an autumn thing. During the months of September through November, websites like Pinterest are bursting at the seams with all kinds of pumpkin crafts and recipes. Pumpkin muffins, pancakes, pound cakes, cookies, smores, or roasted pumpkin; pumpkin in a soup, pumpkin in a stew, pumpkin in the slow cooker, etc. Pumpkin is just so darn tasty, with a few sweet notes like yams or butternut squash, but only a little more savory. 

Why does pumpkin have to be reserved for autumn? I can see why it doesn't fit the mood of summer, but I think hearty pumpkin dishes are great for winter as well. Since we are on our way out of winter now and into Spring (hooray!), I wanted to make one last thing with the good ol' pumpkin.

I had been eyeing this recipe over at Drizzle and Dip for a while. She said it was "easy," but I was a little bit suspicious. Especially since I tend to have awful luck with scones. Baking in general is not my forte, but my scones are especially bad. I'm just being honest with you. They either turn out really ugly or very biscuit-like instead of the nice, crumbly scones I intend to make. Amazingly, these actually turned out sooooo good for me. The texture was right on par, and the flavor was delicious. They are not sweet breakfast scones, but rather a more savory addition for a brunch or to snack on in the afternoon. The goat cheese spread really makes them, too. They would be great with butter or plain cream cheese, but if you can get your hands on some goat cheese, I would definitely try to use it. 

I modified the recipe a small bit to make do with what I had at the house.

Pumpkin Parmesan Scone with Thyme

[Serves 9-10

Prep: 15 minutes

Bake: 20-25 minutes]

Ingredients: 

- 3/4 can of cooked pumpkin

- 1/2 cup buttermilk (Note: I never want to buy a whole carton of buttermilk when most recipes only call for a portion of a cup. You can purchase dried buttermilk and add water, or, you can make a pseudo buttermilk at home. That's what I did today. Just take a cup of milk and add a tbsp of either lemon juice, white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. I used apple cider vin. It doesn't have the same taste, but it accomplishes the same baking purposes)

- 2 1/2 cups self rising flour (Note: I only had all-purpose. So I used 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for each cup to essentially make it into "self rising" flour)

- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 2 tsp thyme - fresh chopped is best, but dried works too 

- 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp buttermilk

- Sunflower seeds or pepitas (optional)

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 400 F. 

- Mix your flour, parmesan, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large bowl. 

- Add buttermilk and pumpkin, and lightly stir until combined. 

- Put your dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for just a minute or two, until it is sticky but firm. 

- Flour your hands and press the dough down to about 3-4 cm in height. 

- Use a cookie cutter (or whatever you have - of all the crazy gadgets we put on our wedding registry, I totally forgot about cookie cutters! An old drinking glass works fine) to cut round scones approximately 1.5-2 inches across.

- Place scones onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

- Brush the tops with your egg yolk and extra buttermilk. Sprinkle sunflower seeds or pepitas. 

- Bake until golden brown, around 20 minutes. 

Goat Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

- 1/2 package of cream cheese

- Equal amount of goat cheese

- 2-3 tbsp milk

Directions:

- Put all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk with electric mixer until light and creamy. 

- Spread on your warm scones and enjoy! 

Please let me know what you think.

Love,

Madi

Nut-Free Granola With Chia, Flax, and Sunflower Seeds

This morning I was seriously craving some cereal or granola. Unfortunately, all I had on hand were some old-fashioned rolled oats. Then an idea came to mind - why don't I make my own? I had never made granola before, but I had seen some girls in my old dorm do it from time to time. It is cheaper and (usually) healthier to make it yourself than to use store-bought brands. 

My husband is mildly allergic to nuts, so I needed to add some other ingredients to give it that delicious crunch and nutty flavor. I also wanted to bring in some of the healthy fats and proteins that nuts provide. I ended up going with a blend of chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ. Alas, due to the wheat germ, this recipe is not gluten free. However, you can always emit it and use GF oats to make it friendly for those of you with sensitivities. 

Nut-Free Granola

Ingredients:

- 3 cups rolled oats

- 2 tbsp chia seeds

- 1/4 cup flax

- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

- 1/4 cup wheat germ

- 1/3 cup honey

- 1/3 cup coconut oil

- 1/4 cup butter

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: 

- Preheat oven to 350 F. 

- Mix the oats, seeds, and wheat germ in a large mixing bowl. Add cinnamon and salt. 

- In a separate, microwave-safe bowl, place your honey, oil, and butter. Heat in the microwave or on the stove top until the butter is melted. Whisk the mixture together until it is emulsified. 

- Pour wet ingredients over the dry and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. 

- Lightly grease a large baking pan with butter or oil. 

- Pour the granola mix onto the baking sheet in a thin layer. Slide into the oven and allow to bake for approximately 10 min. Open the oven and stir. Close and allow it to bake until golden brown, another 10-15 minutes. Watch it carefully to be sure it doesn't burn.

- Remove the pan from the oven and let your granola cool. As it cools, it will harden and get crunchy. You can stir it to break up the chunks.

- If you want to add dried fruit, you can stir it in at this point. Your choice. 

- Once cool, serve topped with your choice of milk and fresh fruit. Or mix it into some greek yogurt with honey. 

I personally do not care for dried fruit in my granola. I think it tends to get hard and chewy, and sometimes makes it too sweet. I like mixing in fresh fruit at the time of consumption instead. It gives you some freshness with the toasty granola flavor. 

Yum yum!

Madi

Whole Grain Chia Waffles & Blueberry-Vanilla Jam

This morning I was really craving waffles. My darling grandma gave me a waffle iron years ago, and I was ready to whip that baby out. I found a recipe for whole wheat waffle batter and then modified it to include chia seeds and protein powder. I am all about chia, let me tell you. It is loaded with fiber and healthy omega-3 fats. I seriously try to put it in all my breakfast items. 

Once I figured out what I was going to do for the waffles, I realized I needed some kind of topping. We have an old bottle of "maple" syrup, but by "maple," they mean high fructose corn syrup with some artificial flavoring. I. just. can't. do. it. Once upon a time, that sort of thing didn't bug me, but since I've learned more about nutrition and how my body works, I have a really hard time with refined sugars. No worries though! There is still a bit of sweetness in this recipe. I looked up easy compotes that I could make in less than half an hour, and came across this beauty. It is the simplest jam I have ever made. The only changes I instigated were to replace the syrup with honey, and I used frozen wild blueberries from Trader Joes instead of fresh ones (they're cheaper, and great for baking). 

Whole Wheat Chia Waffles

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour

- 1/3 cup chia seeds

- 1 tbsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tbsp protein powder (optional)

- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)

- 2 cups whole milk

- 2 large eggs

- 1/3 cup melted butter or coconut oil

Directions:

- Whisk dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

- Whisk wet ingredients seperately. 

- Combine wet and dry, carefully mixing. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes so the chia seeds can absorb moisture. 

This makes approximately 8-12 waffles depending on the size of your iron. Freeze the rest in a ziploc bag. You can reheat them in the toaster for breakfast just like store bought waffles. 

Blueberry Vanilla Jam

Ingredients:

- 3 cups frozen or fresh blueberries

- 3-4 tbsp honey

- 1/2 tsp grated ginger (optional)

- 2 tbsp chia seeds

- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Directions:

- Heat blueberries and honey in small stovepot until boiling. 

- Reduce to a simmer and add chia seeds. These are needed to thicken the jam. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches desired thickness. You can add ginger or lemon at this point if you want to "brighten" it up. 

- Mash the blueberries with your spoon, leaving some bits for texture.

- Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract. Once cool, put in jar. It will stay fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days. 

Seriously delicious. I devoured it. 

Bon appetite! 

Madi