Man I can't say I didn't post last year! I hope this year is better than last! I had some problems with passwords and old emails etc over the last year and for the first time was able to access my blog since that last post! Well here is to a new year!

I promise, I am still alive

I know. This blogging thing. It's not as easy as it looks. But I promise a post on pancakes will come very soon. Fair? Probably not, but you have waited two (2) whole months for a much anticipated post from the Dad! Your wait will come to an end, when? I do not know. Soon? Yes. Dad's the cook will return!

Ryan

Easy Egg McMuffin

Some may say it's McMuffin for McDonald's, but I say it's McMuffin for McHone. This has always been one of my favorite breakfast sandwiches, but it isn't cost effective for me to stop and get one in the morning from the other Mc place so McHone makes one. Here is how...and it is SUPER easy. Here is what you will need...

English Muffin
Slice of Cheese
Slice of Canadian Bacon
1 Egg

I start off by cracking the egg into a large ramekin that I have sprayed with non stick spray.
Then I poke the yoke lightly with a fork.
Then place it in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute.
If you can try to flip the egg over and cook for another 30 seconds.
If you don't flip it, it can pop and spray egg all over...I have experienced this first hand.
You will want to also pop the english muffin into the toaster at this time.

After that place the canadian bacon and the cheese on the egg and put it in
microwave for another 20-30 seconds...really you just want to melt the cheese
and warm the bacon.

And here is what it looks like. I like to butter my muffin before putting
it all together. I actually have one of the ramekins on my desk so if I want
I can bring in the fixins and make it in the morning when I get to work.
The final cost on this is less that .65 cents. A LOT cheaper than
the kind from the other Mc Place!!!

Mixed Berry Trifle with Lemon Cream

If cobbler is my favorite dessert this is a close second. I love the berries and the way it pairs with the lemon in the cream. It's another really easy dessert that can be made ahead of time...in fact it's almost better if it does sit for a little bit. I actually made this for my work for a dessert contest and it was a huge hit. They forgot to have us vote...but I think it would have won. I of course was biased. You will need...
1 Angel food cake
2 pounds of strawberries
2 pints of blueberries
1 pint of heavy cream
2 lemon yogurts (I use Yoplaits lemon burst)
4 T sugar
1/2 t Lemon Extract

I start by trimming and slicing my berries. I like to do it all in steps...I trim the leaves off of all of them then slice them all. It makes it faster for me. Add them all to a bowl with blueberries and add about 2 T sugar to get some of the juices flowing. I leave some of the blueberries and 1 strawberry or so to decorate the top of the trifle...this is optional. I like to let mine sit for a while.

I then slice the angel food cake across to make about 3 or 4 layers.

Whip the cream, lemon extract and about 2 T sugar until you get medium stiff peaks. It takes some time, but this give the berries more time to sit. About half way through add the yogurt to the cream to blend together.

I like to start with a little bit of a base of the cream and then add a layer of angel food cake and more cream then berries, then angel food cake, cream and then berries until you get to the top. I then decorate the top of it with some berries and then when I am going to serve it I put a strawberry in the middle of all of the blueberries. I like to let mine sit over night if I can to let it all blend together. It's a great summer treat...especially for grilling! It serves a ton of people too.

Bacon Cheddar and Jalapeño Biscuits

These are nice biscuits with a nice crust and fluffy interior. The first time I tried making them I over worked them and looked like cookies more than biscuits. The second time was MUCH better and they were nice and fluffy on the inside. They are not tall biscuits, but have great flavor. After I started I decided on adding bacon, jalapeno and cheese to them and it was a great choice. You will need...
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C cake flour
2 t baking power
1/2 t baking soad
1 t salt
3 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter cut into cubes
3/4 C buttermilk, may not need all of it


I forgot to take pictures of what it looked like before I rolled it out. But this is a fairly sticky dough when you bring it all together. Start preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Then add both flours, baking powder and soda and salt in a bowl and mix together to combine. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients...I used a fork but a pastry blender would have bend better. Stir in enough buttermilk to make it a soft sticky dough. Kneed it until it comes together on a floured surface. Be careful not to over kneed. If you want to add things like I did you want to do it before you kneed. I added about 3 pieces of crumbled bacon, a T or so of fine minced jalapenos and 1/2 C of grated cheese...I used extra sharp. Roll our until it is about 1/2 an inch think. Use whatever size biscuit cutter you want. Something to remeber is do not twist your biscuit cutter or that will prevent them from rising as well in the oven. I could really tell on the ones I twisted even a little to get them cut. Lightly kneed back together and roll out until they are all cut. Place about an inch apart on a non-greased baking sheet and bake about 18 minutes until golden brown.

Remove and place on a wire rack to cool a bit before opening up. Here is what mine looked like with the bacon, cheese and jalapeno's! Hope you like!

Blueberry and Peach Cobbler

Cobbler is by far my favorite dessert. Since my mom owns a bakery that has the best cakes in the world :)...Cake wasn't on our list of things we wanted for our birthday. My brother always wanted the big cookie, but for me it was cobbler. This is a pretty simple recipe for a blueberry peach cobbler. For this cobbler you will need...

about 3 pounds of peaches
1 cup of blueberries
2/3 C granulated sugar and some extra to sprinkle on top
3 T cornstarch
2 T packed brown-sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t ground cinnamon
salt
2 C all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1 t vanilla
1 C plus 2 T heavy cream...I used half and half plus some to brush

Start by preheating your oven to 375. Peel and cut your peaches into segments. I stuck mine in some boiling water and then cold water to help peel them easier...be careful because they get slippery. Stir together peaches, blueberries, 1/3 C sugar, cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and combine. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish and set aside while you make the crust.

Add flour, baking powder, chilled butter, 1/2 t salt and remaining 1/3 C sugar into a food processor and pulse to get pea sized pieces. Add vanilla and cream or half and half to bowl and then add dry ingredients and stir to combine. This will make a very sticky dough.

Spoon dough onto the peaches and berries in about 10 spoonfuls or so it covers the peaches.

Bake cobbler for about 60-70 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Take out and cool for at least and hour and then serve!

Lime ginger and soy Flank steak

This was a really easy dish we tried last week that was awesome. It will be something we do often now. It uses a few ingredients that bring a lot of flavor. I forgot to include the soy sauce in the picture...but I used the low sodium kind with the green cap. You will need...

1 to 1.5 # flank steak
1/2 C soy sauce
4-5 gloves garlic
3 T shallots
2 T fresh or ground ginger
zest and juice from a lime
1/3 c oil
salt and pepper

Start by mincing garlic and shallots, I used a garlic press for the garlic and zest the lime.


Combine soy, ginger, oil, zest, garlic, shallots and salt and pepper to taste in a ziplock bag with the flank steak. If you think your steak needs trimmed you can, mine was already trimmed.


Marinate for at least an hour... I did 5 and would have loved to do over night.

I washed off some of the marinade...I wish I wouldn't have now...and put it on the grill. I was also cooking some chicken this night. I cooked it over direct heat flipping once after about 5 minutes. Make sure your grill is nice and clean with a grill brush and then oil the grates with a paper towel before placing the meat on the grill. I turned my meat after the first couple of minutes to get some nice grill marks.

Let the meat rest tented with foil for at least 5 minutes before slicing a crossed the grain. I cooked mine to medium rare and then put a few slices back on the grill to cook it to beef jerky...that's how my wife likes her meat cooked.


I served this with my famous garlic cheddar mashed potatos (post to come) and peas.


I hope you enjoy my first post!