Half Assed Kitchen

Pancakes

We are lucky enough to be staying on Bainbridge Island this weekend with good friends, good wine and fantastic pancakes. Our host made these fluffy, old-fashioned delicacies for us and we had to share the recipe.

Since we were late to the party and actually missed breakfast the first day, we reheated ours in a toaster oven this morning and smothered them in butter and maple syrup and they tasted like they'd just been flipped off the griddle.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1-1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the milk, egg and melted butter until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Scoop batter onto griddle. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Molasses cookies

We are thrilled to present our favorite cookie recipe on the face of the earth. It is our mother's recipe and before that, her mother's recipe. Which probably means it's from an old Betty Crocker cookbook, but we don't know for sure, so we're going to pretend it's very exclusive and very family.

As part of our Half Assed family, we're giving it to you. These melty little pieces of heaven cookies are chewy and rich and meant to be eaten five at a time. At least that's how we do it.

One caveat: Do not over bake these guys. Not unless you prefer molasses snaps.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 cups brown sugar, packed

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 eggs

1/2 cup molasses

4-1/2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cloves (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the brown sugar, shortening, eggs and molasses. Blend in remaining ingredients.

Spoon cookie dough into round balls and dip into granulated sugar. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (tops!). Immediately remove from cookie sheet.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Spicy soba noodles with chicken and cabbage

 
 
Okay, one more recipe we've adapted from Everyday Food, and then we'll give it a rest. This one feeds right into our Asian food fetish, and was tasty and easy to boot. 

We wanted a little more spark than the recipe called for, so we trickled in some chili oil and extra rice vinegar. We hope you'll agree that this makes a smooth/crunchy, comforting/kicky dinner.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed (minimal chopping, because you know how we hate to chop)

Here's what you need and how you do it

3/4 pound soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced

6 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup soy or tamari sauce

3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled, grated

Few drops chili oil, to taste (or pinch red pepper flakes)

In a pot of boiling water, cook soba until just done. Meanwhile, combine soy sauce, vinegar, oil, sugar, garlic, ginger and chili oil.

Drain soba. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking.

Warm a skillet and toss all ingredients, except scallions, together. Cook until heated through. Top with scallions.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Pan-fried cauliflower with herbs and breadcrumbs

 

First off, some business. We have ourselves a winner of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food subscription. Carol H., come on down. You've got a year's worth of Martha coming your way. We've sent you an email.

To celebrate Carol's good luck, we're giving you a recipe for pan-fried cauliflower, which is an adaptation of Roasted Cauliflower with Herbed Breadcrumbs from Everyday Food. But we're pretty sure ours is better because, Hello Fried.

In reality, it's kind of sauteéd, if you will, in olive oil, so it's not all that bad. The panko crumbs add a lovely golden crunch and the herbs balance all that fried goodness with a fresh lift.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

1/2 to whole head cauliflower, cut into florets

Lots of olive oil

Salt, pepper to taste

1/2-1 cup Panko (or other bread crumbs)

1 teaspoon garlic (or one clove)

Fresh parsley

Fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Over medium heat, in a skillet, sauté cauliflower, bread crumbs, garlic, salt and pepper in olive oil. When cauliflower and bread crumbs start turning golden, add parsley, thyme, lemon zest and lemon juice. Heat through and serve piping hot.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Giveaway: Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

The Martha Stewart Magazine Everyday Food has been appearing in our mailbox for a few months now. A gift from our mom. And we love it. It's tiny and easy to stuff into a bag for perusing while on the go. 

The magazine's tagline is great food fast. And we concur. In every issue we find useful tips, ideas and recipes like Cozy, delicious baked pastas and 5 nights of hearty dinners.

We're passing the inspiration on to one of you. For a free one-year subscription to Everyday Food, leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite, fallback week night meal is. You know, when you're in a hurry and need something fast that everyone likes. Comment before Tuesday, October 20th at 11pm. We'll choose a winner at random and announce it Wednesday the 21st.

Garlic mashed potatoes

Fall = Mashed Potatoes. At least in our book. We started making them in September and we're not letting up until June. Mashed potatoes are such an inexpensive, comforting and, if you leave the skins on, somewhat nutritious food.

We like to mix in garlic, thyme and a few other ingredients to make our mashed potatoes noteworthy*. And, as we mentioned, we like the skins. They taste good and keeping them in place cuts your prep time by 80%.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how do it

2 to 3 LARGE russet potatoes (or 5 to 6 smaller Yukon Golds)

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1/2 cup cream, half-and-half or milk

2-3 cloves garlic

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup cream cheese (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Wrap garlic cloves in aluminum foil and place in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cut potatoes into small pieces and boil in large pot 20 to 25 minutes. Drain. Mix with butter, cream, thyme, nutmeg, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Squeeze roasted garlic from their skins and mix into potatoes.

Serve piping hot with extra butter, salt and pepper.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

*Adapted from Real Simple.

Vegan Zucchini Cake

Don't be afraid of the vegan. All it means, in this case, is no eggs. And you won't miss them a bit. We got this recipe from Post Punk Kitchen. We heart Post Punk Kitchen for their combination of irreverence and good recipes that don't require animal products.

This fantabulous cake is moist and layered with cacophony of flavor. Like a small, sweet symphony in your mouth.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

2-1/2 cups fresh zucchini, grated, peeled

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup canola oil (or use our favorite trick and mix 1/2 cup applesauce with 1/2 cup oil)

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine zucchini, bananas, oil and vanilla. Stir well. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips. Add wet ingredients to dry, stir thoroughly and fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into lightly greased and floured bundt pan. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool before enjoying.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Pumpkin bread

One of our favorite things about fall is pumpkin everything. Doughnuts, muffins, cookies, soup and, of course, quick pumpkin bread. Pumpkin bread is easy and rich and we've been eating it for breakfast, snacks and everything in between.

We started with a classic pumpkin bread recipe, then added a few of our own ingredients to spice it up.

Rating: Truly 1/2 assed

Here's what you need and how you do it

3-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1-1/2 cup pumpkin purée

2 eggs

1/8 cup molasses (optional)

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce (or another 1/2 cup vegetable oil)

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another. Then combine.

Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Chicken noodle soup with sourdough croutons

People have been catching colds here at Casa Half Assed. To counteract the sniffles we've been making vats of chicken noodle soup. And last week we stumbled upon a happy discovery. That is, sourdough croutons, when plunked into chicken noodle soup, add a whole new gastronomical dimension to the blandish (but delicious) medley.

It's your healing carbs and broth and poultry and veggies all wrapped up in one really good and really easy soup.

Rating: 3/4 assed (chopping)

Here's what you need and how you do it

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

6-8 cups chicken broth

1 cup dry pasta

Salt to taste

Lots of ground black pepper

Fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Several slices sourdough bread, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut bread into cubes, scatter over a cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes, or until cubes are crisp.

Cook chicken breasts until no longer pink in the middle. In a stock pot, add olive oil, onion, carrot and celery and cook until vegetables are soft.

Add broth and bring to a low simmer. Chop or shred chicken. Add pasta, salt, pepper and chicken to broth and heat until pasta is done.

Garnish with croutons and parsley.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Chocolate panna cotta

Up until this week, we'd never made panna cotta before. And now, well, we're not exactly panna cotta experts, but we know a thing or two about this dessert.

It's considered easy to make. Nothing more than heating cream and sugar and adding gelatin. 

Maybe it's just that we tried to make ours lower fat or because we added chocolate, but, while our panna cotta wasn't difficult, it wasn't a complete snap either.

There were a few bowls dirtied, a strainer involved and more than a couple steps to making this rich little concoction. Still, we think it was worth it and no harder than baking cake or pie.

We modified this recipe from one we found in Sunset. It's sweet, sophisticatedly tangy and, as we mentioned before, insanely rich.

Rating: 3/4 assed (maybe a little less, but we can't, in good conscience, give this a half assed rating either).

Here's what you need and how you do it

4 teaspoons gelatin (we used Knox)

2 cups milk or half-and-half, divided (traditionally heavy cream is used, you can go this route if you so desire)

3/4 cup sugar

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate shavings (optional)

In a small bowl or measuring cup, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup milk. Let sit about 10 minutes until softened.

In a saucepan, mix remaining milk, sugar and chocolate and heat, stirring often, until it starts steaming. Pour in milk and gelatin and whisk to dissolve gelatin.

Mix yogurt and vanilla in a large bowl (that's three big dishes to wash already. I know!!). Pour chocolate mixture through a fine strainer into yogurt and vanilla and stir.

Lightly oil a muffin tin and divide chocolate/yogurt mixture evenly. Chill for at least 2 hours. Top with chocolate shavings (if desired) and serve.

If you don't have time to chill thoroughly, serve in wine glasses or other decorative bowl and they'll still be pretty and tasty.

Serves about 8.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.