Granola Bars

I made Alton Brown's Granola to take on our Yellowstone vacation this summer. The granola was delicious but not clumpy enough for us. Since I've been home, I have had plenty of time to watch Food Network. Ina Garten's show featured Granola Bars which look very similar to Alton's Granola recipe, except these are bars.

Homemade Granola Bars
Adapted from Ina Garten

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup tosted wheat germ
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teapoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kisher salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 12 baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds and coconut on a sheet pan and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring often for even browning. Toss the mixture into a large mixing bowl, add the wheat germ and cinnamon. Mix well.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Place butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring for a minute. Pour over the oatmeal mixture. Add the fruit and mix well.

Pour into a prepared pan. Using a small piece of parchment or wax paper, lightly press the mixture into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares.

Store in an airtight container.



My notes on this recipe:

Ina's recipe called for dates and apricots, I didn't have these but had raisins, so I substituted them. Also, I added cinnamon for a little extra flavor. I also felt that these didn't stay together as much as I would like. I need to research what might hold them together a little better next time.

Rosemary Scones

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the rosemary is beautiful and plentiful. This is a recipe I watched Giada De Laurentis make last week. I've never been very good at breads, pie crusts and pastries but I've always made the dough "by hand". Giada claims this is an "easy" dough to make and made it in the food processor. They look wonderful, so I decided to give them a try.



Rosemary Scones
Adapted from Giada De Laurentis

Scones:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup jam

Glaze:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or silpat).

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, baking powder, rosemary, sea salt and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer the mixture to a medium bow. Gradually stir in the cream until the mixture forms a dough. On a lightly floured work surface, rool out the dough into 1/2 inch thick, 10 inch circle. Using a heart shaped cookie cuter, cut out heart shaped pieces of dough and place on the cookie sheet. Gently knead together any leftover pieces of dough and cut into heart shapes and add to the baking sheet. Using a small round measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each pastry heart. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of ham into the indentation. Bake for 18 to 2o minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

To make the glaze, mix together lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually add the water until the mixture is thin enough to spread. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the scones. Let the scones set for approximately 30 minutes. Can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days.

My notes on this recipe:

One of the keys a good dough is making sure the butter is very cold. In the summer I keep my flour in the refrigerator, to keep away those pesky summer bugs. If you keep your flour in the refrigerator, allow it to warm to room temperature before using (approximately an hour).

The glaze recipe made way too much glaze for the amount of scones, next time I will cut the recipe in half.

I followed Giada's recipe exactly with one exception. Her recipe called for Strawberry jam. I used my mother in law's homemade, Strawberry Rhubarb jam instead.

Rosemary Potato Frittata

My rosemary plant is beautiful this year. I love the scent and flavor of rosemary. Cooler weather is starting to creep into Nebraska and I am reminded that winter will be here ALL TOO SOON. I am looking for ways to use the rosemary before it's growing season is forced to come to an end.

I love breakfast and would love to enjoy a breakfast meal for dinner. For my husband, breakfast foods are only served for breakfast. So whenever I have the time, I like to make a new recipe for breakfast.

Rosemary Potato Frittata
Adapted from Rachael Ray

1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove of garlic, chopped.
3 medium to large yukon gold potatoes
3 to 4 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
1 tablespoon McCormick vegetable seasoning

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Thinly slice the potatoes. Add the potatoes to the skillet and season the layers with rosemary, salt and pepper. Raise the heat and cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Carefully turn the mixture and cook for 5 minutes longer.

In a large bowl, wisk the eggs and milk together. Wisk in the parmesean and vegetable seasoning. Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and lift the potatoes to allow the egg mixture to settle under them. Bake in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes. For the last couple of minutes, turn on the broiler to brown the top of the frittata. Watch carefully, so it does not burn. Remove from the oven and cut into slices and serve.



My notes on this recipe: The original recipe called for onion along with the potatoes, I am not a big fan of raw onions, so I omitted these. Next time, I think I will use them but sautee them first. I added the vegetable seasoning to the eggs to give them a little more flavor. I put the parmesean in with the egg mixture, the original recipe had it sprinkled on top for the last couple of minutes in the oven. I would like to try this recipe with another type of cheese, just to make it a little cheesier. Not sure what cheese will compliment the rosemary and potatoes, I think some type of savory cheese would be soooo good.

The recipe was a hit with my husband, although he couldn't resist telling me how good it would be with some MEAT in it, possibly some spicy sausage.

A Variation On An 'Ole Favorite

My family and friends all enjoy Nana's Quick Chocolate Cake. It's an often requested favorite. I've wondered about different variations of this easy and tasty treat. I am a big fan of Paula Deen. In her cookbook, The Lady & Sons Just Desserts, she has the recipe for Gooey Butter Cake and has lots of variations. Maybe I am on to something here with this cake.

Feeling a little restless, I decided to try and see if I could stand in the kitchen long enough to make this "quick" cake. I substituted a yellow cake mix for the chocolate cake mix, vanilla pudding for the chocolate pudding and butterscotch chips for the chocolate chips.

I am pleased with the results. The cake is just as moist and yummy. The vanilla version is a not quite as rich.





What version to try next?

Quinoa Stuffed Banana Peppers

I first tried quinoa over the Fourth of July holiday. My son, Justin, was here for a visit. Not even sure how to pronounce quinoa (keen-wah), I asked Justin if he'd had it and how to pronounce it. We found both red and white quinoa in bulk at Whole Foods. We decided to purchase some of both colors.

Since first trying quinoa last month, I've been reading and hearing about quinoa and it's health benefits. It is so much more nutritious than rice or pasta and is gluten free.

We have a great crop of banana peppers from our garden. We've been grilling them and using them in salads. I wanted to try and find another way to use them. In doing some searching yesterday, I found lots of recipes for stuffing them. We love stuffed peppers but always stuff the larger peppers. Most of the recipes I found used meat in the stuffing. I often make the green ones vegetarian and use rice for the stuffing. I decided to create my own recipe using quinoa for the stuffing.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

8 banana peppers
2 tablespoons butter
2 whole tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 egg
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 tespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS
Cut off tops of peppers, and remove ribs and seeds. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add peppers, reduce heat, and simmer until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Slit peppers for stuffing.

Cook 1 cup quinoa in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 20 minutes or until water is absorbed.

Heat butter in a medium skillet. Saute onion until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce and garlic. Season with basil, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and Parmesan. Mix in quinoa, bread crumbs and 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture.

Fill each pepper with the meat mixture. Place in a 3 quart casserole dish, and pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over peppers.

Bake uncovered for 30 - 45 minutes.




My notes on this recipe: We loved the flavor and texture. This makes a great vegetarian stuffing. I would like to try this recipe with a mozarella cheese topping. This recipe made more than enough stuffing for 8 banana peppers. A half recipe would be just about the right amount for 8 peppers or a whole recipe would be ample for 16 peppers. I froze my leftover stuffing.

Favorite Summer Cocktail

What's your favorite summer cocktail? We love Mojitos. Mojito's are so refreshing, clean and crisp on a hot summer day. Today is one of those hot midwestern summer days. The temperature is going to be close to the century mark and the heat index even higher.

The traditional mojito is made with mint but lately I've seen some recipes made with basil or a combination of basil and mint. My basil crop is abundant, so I think it's worth a try.

Although some recipes use granulated sugar, to me it doesn't disolve and create the same smooth sweetness that simple syrup does.

Basil Mojito

1/2 lime, cut into quarters
6 basil leaves
1/4 c. simple syrup
2 ozs. white rum
club soda

Muddle the lime and basil in a cocktail glass. Add simple syrup and rum. Stir to blend. Add ice cubes and top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge and sprig of basil.

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where have you been?

About 30 days ago, I was given some medical news that comsumed my life and my thoughts. In hindsight, maybe blogging would have been a good, theraputic thing. As it turns out, I am very lucky and my worst fears won't be realized. I will be home recovering from surgery for the next month , the perfect opportunity for blogging.

Summer fruits and vegetables are abundant. The tomatoes and peppers in my garden will be perfect for salsa. Hoping my one tomatillo plant spared by the rabbits produces the beautiful fruits. Did you know they are related to Chinese Lanterns?

I have a whole list of new recipes and I can't wait to try them!!!!!!!!!!!