Trisha Yearwood's Apple Dumplings

Did you know that Trisha Yearwood has a cookbook out? I did. And I know this because I’ve been seeing a lot of bloggers talking about it. But you know what? I really wasn’t excited about it. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know if I can honestly say I read a single post all the way through.

Why? I don’t know. Its not that I don’t like Trisha Yearwood. I do. She has a wonderful voice and she is a great musical talent. I just never thought of her as a cook, apparently, because I have been dismissing her new book without cause. And you know what? That’s not like me. I am a very open minded person, and I am always trying new things, so I don’t know what my problem was.

That is, until my friend Kim posted Trisha’s apple dumplings. Oh MAN, did they look good. I admit, I skulked around the internet until I found the recipe. (Hey, don’t look at me in that tone of face, when you buy a car, you give it a test drive first, right?)

It really doesn’t get much easier than this. And inexpensive, too. I mean, a can of biscuits, two apples and some staples like butter and cinnamon. I whipped these bad boys up Sunday morning and took them with me to the weekly family breakfast at the motherinlaw’s house. You could say they went over well. You know, considering that the average person at the table had 2-3 dumplings and I swear someone almost licked the pan clean. These were TASTY. Health food, this is not, but really, if you think about it, there are a lot of breakfast foods that are worse for you.

Trisha has achieved a new level of respect in my book, and I just might have to put her book on my list. I’ll definitely be making these again.

Apple Dumplings

2 Granny Smith apples

1 cup water

1 cup sugar *divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

8 canned biscuits (buttermilk)

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel, core and slice apples vertically into 8 slices each. Cover with water to keep them from getting brown.

In a medium saucepan, mix the water, 3/4 cup sugar, butter and vanilla over heat and bring mixture to a boil.

Separate each biscuit into 2 layers. Wrap a biscuit layer around a slice of apple, stretching it to slightly overlap and seal the bottom. (I used my mini Silpin to roll them out since stretching them wasn't working too well for me.)

Place the wrapped slices sealed side down in a 9 X 13 baking pan. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the apple slices.

Mix the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over the tops of the wrapped apples.

Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 8

I smell BACON!!! Better with Bacon for I Heart Cooking Clubs

It is true what they say... everything IS better with bacon... but what I want to know is...

WHY THE HELL DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS???

Mark Bittman continues to make me smack my head in a “Coulda had a V8” kind of motion.

I mean, come on....

Bacon.... waffles....

bacon. waffles.

BACON WAFFLES!!!

Seriously, people. I love bacon and I love waffles. I love bacon WITH my waffles... why wouldn’t I have thought of having bacon IN my waffles?? The version of this that I ran across on the internet used a belgian waffle maker, pouring the batter onto the grates, and laying a couple of slices of cooked bacon across the batter before closing the lid.

The recipe originates from Bittman’s How to Cook Everything as a variation on his Quick and Easy Waffles. He offers a basic waffle recipe with eleven, count ‘em, ELEVEN options for variations. I decided to employ two of those variations in the same waffle.

The first of which was to add cheese. I know what you’re thinking, cheese in a waffle? Well, really, when you go through the McDonald’s drive through (and I know you do, you don’t even have to admit it here, I’ll keep your greasy little secret) don’t you ask for your McGriddle with cheese? Or your McMuffin? I know I do. So the combination didn’t seem at all strange to me. Although the hubs did look at me a little funny. I chose to let him stew with it instead of trying to explain my logic to him.

SO, I added about a half a cup of shredded sharp cheddar directly in the batter.

In his suggestion for a bacon waffle, he says (as in the internet version I found) to lay a couple of slices of bacon across the uncooked batter before closing the lid on the waffle iron. He also says the bacon cooks along with the batter, implying that it would be raw bacon I am putting on the waffle batter. Not that I have a problem with raw bacon, I don’t, but in the other version I saw, the writer specifically stated that it was cooked bacon she added. Hmmm...confused.

In either case, I decided that I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of whole slices of bacon seared to the side of a waffle. I’m envisioning a whole strip breaking loose and hitting me in the chin with a maple syrup coated “thwack!” and frankly, that doesn’t strike me as an appealing scenario. Plus, how do you guarantee that you get bacon in every bite? Or waffle? I was thinking the bacon should complement the waffle, instead of either playing second fiddle, or overshadowing it.

You know what I did? I cooked my bacon up all nice and crispy. Then I crushed it up into yummy little bacon bits. Then I sprinkled the bits over the batter so they would end up in every little crevice of the waffle. The result? Well, you’re just going to have to try it yourself and find out, because you can’t have mine... don’t even try... I WILL stab you with my fork... Its friggin’ genius, is what it is. I’m tempted not to even show you these pictures. But, because I’m a sick, sadistic kind of bitch... I’m going to anyway. Go ahead.... drool.....

Quick and Easy Waffles

from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

canola or other neutral oil for brushing the iron

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 TB sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs

4 TB butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract, optional

Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it.

Combine the dry ingredients. Mix together the milk and eggs. Stir in the butter (and vanilla, if using).

Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. If the mixture seems a little too thick to pour, add a little more milk.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your iron.Variations:Add grated mild cheese, such as Cheddar or Jack, about one cup per batch of batter.

Lay 2 or 3 strips of bacon across the batter after spreading onto the waffle iron and before closing the lid. Bacon will cook along with the waffles; cooking time may be a minute or two longer.

This is my submission for this week's "Better with Bacon" theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs.

Dining with Dad (I Heart Cooking Clubs)

Months ago, I planned a special post in honor of my Dad for Father’s Day. It involved a little retrospective about my dad when he was younger, and some special sandwiches he used to eat. But that post ended up being a horrifying culinary experience that I simply could not associate with the wonderful part of my life that is my Dad.

And so, when I saw that this week’s theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs, very appropriately, was Dining with Dad, it really struck a chord. My first instinct was, “what would I cook for my Dad?” but that thought was quickly eradicated by another.

One of my fondest memories of my Dad involves breakfast. Over countless weekends when my sister and I were growing up, Dad would make breakfast. Almost always pancakes or waffles, but sometimes a fried egg sandwich. To this day, I don’t know if he and Mom had some kind of agreement that since she cooked throughout the week, that was his turn to cook; whether he looked forward to spending this time with his family, or if my sister and I just drove him to distraction by whining for pancakes until we got our way.

I can still picture those mornings very clearly. Dad in his robe and us in our nightgowns. The same skillet and spatula, and the same plastic batter bowl and whisk. I can close my eyes and see him whisking up the batter, holding the bowl at an angle. Then using a butter knife to drop a little bit of oleo in the pan, spreading it across the whole surface with the spatula. And he only buttered the pan between every other batch of pancakes. Dad had pancakes down to a science. Knew exactly how much batter to pour into the pan and how long to let them cook before flipping them.

I have a lot of great memories of my Dad, but when I think of food and my Dad at the same time, this is what I remember.

In any case, this tradition stuck with me my whole life, though college and beyond, to the point that when I came home for a visit, I would request waffles. (Dad’s waffles were always my favorite) Then, when I had my son, and he finally reached the age where we could sit down and have a hot breakfast together, waffles were the first thing I made for him.

On that note (that of becoming a parent in my own right) even though my preference would be to have waffles (love those little crevices filled with butter and syrup), I can’t help but think of my Little Man. He does love patty-cakes (that’s ‘pancakes’ to those of you who can’t translate my 5 year-old’s vocabulary), and even more so if there are chocolate chips on them.

So, making this a three-generation breakfast, we are dining with Dad, and Grandpa, depending on which one of us you ask. If it were my Dad cooking, it would be a strict Bisquick mix, but since we are having breakfast a la Mark Bittman, I have used a recipe from his How To Cook Everything that was a real winner for me and my Little Man. Not to mention that he was very excited to be getting chocolate chip pattycakes for supper! I wasn't complaining, either. Sometimes its fun to have breakfast for supper. (Do you think its okay to have red wine with pancakes? Yeah, so do I...)

Here’s to you, Dad. Wish we could have had you here to enjoy them with us. I only hope Ty will have as many great memories of me as I will always have of you. We love you so much and we can't wait to see you in JulyChocolate Chip Pancakes
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups milk
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 TB sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 TB oil or belted butter

Warm butter in a skillet over medium heat. Mix all ingredients together (can still be a little lumpy) and pour batter into the pan.Sprinkle chocolate chips over each pancake.When the edges of the pancakes begin to bubble, flip them over. Cook until done and serve to one very happy little boy. (Okay, so I added that part on my own.)Here's to you, Dad.

Flapjacks - its not what you're thinking....

One of the bittersweet moments in life here in small town America (and I imagine, anywhere else) is when your 16 year old niece comes to you with her magazine order form from school that will raise funds for her after prom party. How am I supposed to look into that smiling face and say no?

Yeah, well, you know I didn't say no. Besides, I was overdue for a change in my subscriptions. I was getting a bit tired of Rachael and Paula. The newest additions to my coffee table are La Cucina Italiana and Bon Appetit.

I took both of these issues along with me on the plane to Baltimore to keep me occupied while Ty hammered away at his Nintendo, and came up with a few new recipes that I've just got to try for myself. The first of which, was Flapjacks.

Did you know that Flapjacks means something entirely different in the U.K.? I didn't. But, I do now! What I discovered, however, is that although the picture in my magazine was deceptive, the truth of the matter is that these little babies are really nothing more than granola bars. Very tasty little granola bars, but granola nonetheless.

Uber easy to throw together (the one sticking point would be the availability of Golden Syrup in your area. I found mine at Meijer.) With only a handful of ingredients, this goes together in a flash and they keep well for several days afterward without getting overly hard to bite into. Great with coffee or milk, I had mine for breakfast, although I have a feeling my British friends might tell me that is a foodie faux pas.

British Flapjacks
Makes 16

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup*
2 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant or old fashioned)
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350. Butter 8x8x2 inch metal baking pan. Combine first three ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Add oats and salt; stir until coated. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and spread out in even layer.
Bake until top is golden (edges will be darker), about 25 minutes.Cool in pan on rack 5 minutes. Cut into 4 squares; cut each square into 4 triangles (mixture will still be soft).Cool completely in pan before serving.*A type of syrup popular in Great Britain; availableat some supermarkets, specialty food stores, and British import shops.