Pancake Apple Rings

I saw a picture of apple rings on Pinterest a few weeks ago and it sounded like a really good idea, but unfortunately there was no link connected to it. So I just tried to make something that looked similar. This turned out to be like a pancake with an apple slice in the middle. It was something extra than just apple flavored pancakes or cut up apple chunks inside, because it had a little bit of apple texture and crunch inside the pancake.

Ingredients:

-pancake mix + eggs or milk that are required by the mix

-about 4 apples would use all the pancake batter, my pancake batter said it would make 14 pancakes

Cut through the apple into slices.

Cut out the center to make rings.

Make the pancake batter according to package directions.
Dip the apples so they are coated in batter.

Make the pancake rings like you would pancakes, with a little
bit of oil. Cook until browned, then flip.

I just picked these up and ate them plain and they were really good that way. I also ate some with a fork and syrup, which were also good. I thought this was a successful recipe overall.

I tried to do this at first with just apple slices, but those did not turn out as well. The pancake part turned out thicker and was harder to cook, a lot of the inside was not cooked, and the pancake part slipped off the apple because it didn't make a sealed pancake like the rings did. The apple slices were a little too thick to eat easily too, but the rings turned out much better.

Skillet Spaghetti with Spring Vegetables

This recipe comes from BHG's magazine April 2013.

Becky and I went to the Relish Cooking Show in Akron last night, check below the recipe to see how it went!

Ingredients: 

-4 oz. dried spaghetti
-2 Tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
-12 oz. asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces (2 ½ cups; 14 spears)
-6 cloves garlic, sliced
-3 cups red cherry tomatoes
-¾ tsp. salt
-¾ cup chopped fresh basil
-¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper
-½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
-Lemon wedges

Cook the pasta according to package directions. You'll want to reserve about half a cup of pasta water. Drain and rinse.

In a small skillet caramelize some lemons. I sprayed a small amount of cooking spray into a pan, then cooked the lemon slices one to two minutes on each size, until carmalized. 

In a large skillet fry the garlic for 30 seconds.

Add the asparagus and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, salt and basil, stir fry for 30 seconds.
Add the spaghetti and mix well.
Add the pasta water until the desired consistency is reached.

Serve with Parmesan cheese and the lemon slices.

You could add additional lemon juice if desired.

My mom asked me to make this recipe because she saw it in Better Home and Garden's magazine. I thought it was good, plus J. and my dad enjoyed it. However, my mom hated it. She didn't like the basil in the pasta especially. I thought it was a nice summery pasta recipe, because of the citrus flavor. I will use less tomatoes next time though. Overall, I think this recipe was fine, my dad liked it so much that he took it to lunch the next day.

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Relish Cooking Show Akron, Ohio 2013

There were so many samples at the Expo from local Akron-area resturants.

These cupcakes were our favorite, the one on the right was Mexican vanilla and it was delicious!
These were from Cupcake Binge. 

We got to hang-out back stage at the VIP party, with wine complementary of  Breitenbach (we loved the  Frost Fire wine, it was a sweet white.)

Then we sat down to for the show.

We had awesome third row seats with a great view of the stage.

We had such a great time last night! We enjoyed meeting Chef Brian Morris and we learned a lot of great techniques from his show. With our VIP tickets we were able to enjoy a special VIP party where we got our Relish cookbooks signed by him and with those VIP tickets we also got some great gifts such as coupons for local restaurants and some sauces to try in our dishes compliments of More Than Gourmet. This was the second time Relish came to Akron and we will be going back!

After the show we went to the Brickhouse Tavern for some post-show appetizers and cocktails. The Blood Orange Whiskey sour was delicious, I would highly recommend it!

Sliced Frittata Salad

This recipe is unique because it isn't really a regular frittata, and it isn't really pasta, and isn't traditional salad, but still it is sort of a combination of all three. This is good for either a light meal, or a side dish. It is a good summer dish, you can use fresh tomatoes and herbs if you have them.

This recipe comes from the cookbook 320 Italian Recipes.

Ingredients:
-6 eggs
-2 Tbsp fresh basil or parsley
-1/4 cups Parmesan
-3 Tbsp olive oil
-salt and pepper

Sauce
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-1 onion
-14 oz can chopped tomatoes
-1 clove garlic
-4 Tbsp water
-salt and pepper

I've been growing fresh herbs, they are looking pretty good.
Everything I've made has tasted better from using fresh.

Start by making the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil, and cook the onion. Add the garlic, water, tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes while the frittata cooks.

Beat the eggs, and add Parmesan, chopped herbs, salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil on medium and pour in the mixture.

Once the bottom gets browned, it should slide out of the pan.
flip it over onto a plate, and slide it back into the plan.

I was skeptical, but it worked pretty well flipping with the plate.

Cook for 3-4 more minutes on the other side.

Take off the heat to cool a bit.

Slice into thin strips.

Top the slices with the tomato sauce.

This was something different, but really good. The strips of frittata came out a lot thicker than I thought they would, they were almost like the consistency of bread I thought. The egg went well with the tomato sauce, and would be good as an appetizer to a lot of Italian meals.

Pizza Foundue

J. and I love eating at the Melting Pot (a fondue chain restaurant near us). Here's a cheap way to bring fondue home. This recipe made a large pot of fondue and would have been a good meal for about four people. You could serve this with a variety of pizza toppings, we served it as an appetizer and just used bread for dipping.

More fondue recipes: Mozzarella Pesto Fondue, Melting Pot's Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue and Baked Italian Fontina.

This recipe comes from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body.

Ingredients:
-1 tsp olive oil
-2 garlic cloves
-1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce
-3 cups mozzarella
-1 cup cheddar
-1 cup parmesan
-1 tbsp cornstarch
-1/4 cup white wine
-2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

In a medium-large sized pot saute the garlic and olive oil over medium heat for about 30 seconds.

Add the white wine and marinara sauce, bring to a boil (watch carefully though because it will start to really bubble, mine made a little bit of a mess), then reduce the heat to medium.

In a large bowl mix the cheese and cornstarch (this will help the cheese melt better). Slowly add the cheese to the marinara mix, stirring each time until melted. Add the fresh basil if desired.

If you have a fondue pot you can then pour it into the fondue pot, we served it right in the pot I used to make the fondue in.

   

This made so much fondue! If you're serving it just as an appetizer and you're not serving a lot of people, I recommend cutting the recipe in half. I think if the recipe would have been cut in half we probably would have finished all of it. We had probably about a cup leftover, which I ate for a few days as a snack so it will keep well, when you reheat it just make sure to stir it well. 

Garlic Thyme Pita Chips

I think pita chips are a perfect snack, because they are not too heavy but still taste good. These are great to make for a last minute party because it only took about 15 minutes to make, didn't have a lot of ingredients, and is something everyone will like. It also gave me a chance to use the thyme I'm growing.

I got the original recipe from Let's Feast,

Ingredients:
-2 cloves crushed garlic
-6 Tbsp. olive oil
-5 pita bread pieces
-2 tsp. fresh thyme

-salt

Cut up the pita bread into slices.

Mix the olive oil and garlic, and spread on the pita.
Sprinkle with the thyme and salt.
Bake on cookie sheets for about 8 minutes at 350.

I served mine with just plain hummus because the
chips had flavor.

These were really easy. The original directions said to pull the pieces of pita in half, but I had trouble doing that, so I just baked them as whole slices, and they didn't seem too thick. They were a pretty good crispiness for me, but you could always bake them a little longer if you wanted them crunchier.

Maple Balsamic Burger with White Cheddar

Happy Grilling Wednesday!! This is the second post for Grilling Wednesday and I hope you're ready for some great grilling recipes from now until the end of August. We have a variety of grilling recipes planned from main dishes to side dishes to desserts.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe from Adventures in Cooking.

Grilling Wednesday Recipes: Grilled Pineapple with Honey, Lime and Cinnamon.


Ingredients:
Burgers and Fixings
-1 Small Onion, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
-5 Pretzel Buns
-5 Leaves of Romaine Lettuce
-5 Slices White Cheddar Cheese
-5 Veggie Burgers (I used pre-made, or you can make your own)

Maple Balsamic Sauce
-1/2 Teaspoon Salt
-1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
-1/2 Cup Ketchup
-6 Teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar
-4 Teaspoons Maple Syrup

To make the sauce, whisk together all of the listed ingredients, adjusting the seasoning, maple syrup and balsamic vinegar to your preference. 

Grill your veggie burger, adding the sliced white cheddar during the final minutes in order to get it melted.
Grill the onion slices until nice grill marks appear. This should be done while the cheese is melting.

Build your burger, romaine lettuce, then the veggie burger, cheese and sauce.

Add the grilled onion. 

This burger was fantastic. I've been raving about it to anyone who will listen, this is about to become my favorite set of burger toppings. The maple balsamic ketchup was the right about of sweet and tangy (the maple gave a subtle sweetness, but the tangy bite of the balsamic was much more prevalent). The pretzel bun was also a nice touch, it was a lot denser than a typical burger bun. If you're looking for a way to jazz up a burger, this is it.

Potstickers with Radish Salad

This is adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe. My mom saw this recipe online and wanted me to make it, the original recipe called for pork so I adapted it to make it vegetarian! The results were fantastic.

Ingredients: 
-2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
-1/4 head of broccoli
-1/2 pound cabbage, finely chopped
-1 package of Uncle Ben's ready rice, cooked
-1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
-1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more for serving
-20 square wonton wrappers
-6 large radishes, cut into matchsticks (about 2 cups)
-1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Heat the vegetable oil in the skillet.
Saute the rice, broccoli and cabbage until heated.
Add the garlic, red pepper and soy sauce.

Place 1-2 tablespoons in a wonton wrapper.

Roll the wrapper into a cylinder, seal with water.
Fold over the ends and seal with water.

Fry the wontons in a hot pan, flipping once until both sides are golden brown.

Drain on a paper towel. 

Serve with the radishes tossed in lemon juice, you can add cilantro if you want, but I don't like it so I left it out.

You can also serve with soy sauce or Hibachi Yum Yum Sauce for dipping.

These potstickers were fantastic! The filling tasted great and the outsides turned out nice and crispy. These were a hit with my entire family and were gone in minutes. There was a little bit of filling leftover, but not too much. You could probably use about 3/4 of the rice packet. You could use this as an appetizer or as a meal, I had three or four wontons, they were pretty filling.