Baking and cooking my way through the cold Alaska winters keeps me from getting cabin fever. With the help of my husband and our three dogs, we manage to maintain our sanity through adventures in our kitchen and our hometown, Fairbanks.
Showing posts with label Crazy Cooking Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crazy Cooking Challenge. Show all posts
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Blueberry Muffins - Crazy Cooking Challenge
This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge was Blueberry Muffins, and not a month too soon. I had just enough blueberries from last fall's berry picking to make one batch, so it had to be a good recipe. I chose one from Brown Eyed Baker. I have never gone wrong with one of her recipes. In the fall I do Muffin Mondays and bake muffins every Monday morning, I figure we need a sweet way to start the workweek. This recipe is definitely going to be added to the Muffin Monday rotation. The muffins are wonderful. I like that slightly crunchy topping on my muffins, so I added a topping to these.
These were the perfect snack after Dave spent an afternoon shoveling snow. We keep getting more snow and it has to be moved. Our backdoor neighbor moved here from California and this is his first winter in Alaska. He asked if the snow would all be gone by fall! I think he is worried he will never see green grass again. The snow is so high my dog Lilly and the neighbor's dog can visit over the fence, no big deal until you realize our fence is 6 feet tall!
Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Brown Eyed Baker(find her recipe here)
Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 25 to 30 minutes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1¼ cups sour cream
1½ cups frozen or fresh blueberries (if frozen leave them frozen to add to the batter)
Topping:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F*. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin (or line with paper liners) and set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Whisk the egg in a separate medium bowl until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thick, about 30 seconds. Add the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition. Add the sour cream in 2 additions, whisking just to combine.
3. Add the berries to the dry ingredients and gently toss just to combine. Add the sour cream mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until the batter comes together and the berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds. Small spots of flour may remain and the batter will be very thick. Do not over-mix.
4. Using a large spoon or a cookie scoop sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, divide the batter amount the muffin cups. Generously sprinkle topping on batter. Bake until the muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick or thin knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Immediately remove muffins to a wire rack and cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.
April 7, 2012 Daylight 14 hours, 21 minutes, 49 seconds Current Temp. 30ºF
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Saturday, January 7, 2012
Chicken Soup - Crazy Cooking Challenge
So, along with Daring Bakers, I signed up for the Crazy Cooking Challenge. Each month a featured food item is named. Challengers find that item on another blog, make it and blog about it and highlight the blog they found the item on. The food item this month is Chicken Soup. Perfect for January and out 40 below and colder temperatures. I also knew the blog I wanted to high light: Picture Perfect Meals pictureperfectmeals.com/ .
This blog is lovely. The pictures are spectacular, the recipes are always delicious and the stories Cheryl writes are amazing, she has a way of making you feel like you are right in the moment with her. I read a post about her saving a dog from a crevice by a waterfall and I was hooked. If you are only going to read one blog, read mine, but if you are going to read two watch Picture Perfect Meals. I made her pumpkin donuts for work on Halloween this year, and then about 6 batches of the cheese crackers, I think I ate two batches by myself and served the crackers with our Christmas Dinner Salad course. I appreciate the suggestions for food photography from Adam and someday I'll take a good picture because of his help.
So, I used her recipe for Chicken Soup. We did the whole thing, made our own stock one day, then roasted a chicken and made the soup on the next. Dave decided he wasn't too excited about my cooking and baking challenges as it just makes a lot more dishes for him to wash. I now have 7 quarts of homemade chicken stock in my freezer and we had a lovely, warm dinner of chicken soup and cheddar cheese toast.
Oven-Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup
From Picture Perfect Meals: http://picture-perfectmeals.blogspot.com
serves 6
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped leeks (about 2), tender, light green and white parts only
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1 small potato, peeled and small-diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded*
- 2 cups wide egg noodles
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- In a large pot, heat the butter and olive oil. Add the leeks, celery, carrots, mushrooms, potato, garlic and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 7 minutes. Add the stock and poultry seasoning and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and noodles and simmer until noodles are cooked, 10 minutes more.
- Season to taste; add parsley before serving.
January 7, 2012 Daylight 4 hours, 22 minutes, 17 seconds Current Temp. -24 º F
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