German Pancakes

A great thing happened today, I made a German Pancake for the very first time! I can't believe with everything I've baked in my life that I've never made a German Pancake until now. I think I was just so in love with my traditional buttermilk pancakes that it was hard for me to want to step out of that comfort zone and try something different. I'm so glad I finally did!  German Pancakes are incredibly simple and they taste amazing to say the least. If you've never had one before, I'd say the best comparison would be french toast meets pancakes meets crepes. So really how could they not be good? I make breakfast a LOT in my home (probably more often for dinner than an actual breakfast meal) so I'm incredibly excited to have come across such a simple and delicious breakfast recipe. I can't wait to make my own versions and try so many different toppings. Endless possibilities. 

German Pancake
Yields about 2 servings

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter, chilled*

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs until well blended. Add in flour, sugar and salt and whisk until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla and whisk until combine. Place butter in a large cast-iron skillet and place skillet in oven and allow butter to melt completely. Working quickly, remove pan from oven and slightly tilt pan to evenly distribute butter across the bottom of the pan (not edges). Pour batter into hot skillet and return to oven. Bake 15 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cut into 4 - 6 pieces (I just used a pizza cutter) and serve warm with Vanilla Cream Syrup, maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, jam, fresh fruit, or fruit syrup (this blueberry syrup is excellent).

*I put chilled because I think an important part of making a German Pancake is pouring the batter right into a hot skillet and if your butter is chilled it should take it about 5 minutes to melt in the skillet in the oven allowing the skillet 5 minutes to become hot.

Recipe Source: adapted from Real Simple

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Chicken Posole

This is one of my all time favorite soup recipes! I got the recipe from my sister a few years ago. Thanks for the recipe sista =)! I changed it up quite a bit to add more flavor. Before it didn't have any spices or green onions, the chicken wasn't grilled and it wasn't served with avocados. Sometimes if I don't have fresh tomatoes I will also use canned but if you use canned I would say omit the sugar (I added sugar to tone down the acidity of the fresh tomatoes). This soup is hearty, healthy, loaded with fresh goodness and full of exciting flavors (and heat if you prefer). This soup isn't your traditional Posole. It's very similar to chicken tortilla soup but with added cabbage and hominy. If you like Mexican food you will love this soup!

Chicken Posole

Yields about 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and shredded*

1.25 lb Roma tomatoes (about 5)

1/2 large yellow onion

2 green onions

3 cloves garlic

1-5 jalapenos, to taste**

1/3 cup cilantro 

6 cups chicken broth (you can add an additional 2 cups if desired)

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 (29 oz) can Mexican Style hominy (don't drain)

Serve with:

chopped cabbage (cut to about 1/2"- 1" pieces)

lime wedges

shredded Monterrey or Cheddar cheese

sour cream

chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)

diced avocados (don't ask me why but I totally forgot to add these when I took the pics)

tortilla chips

Directions:

Dice tomtatoes, yellow onion, green onions, garlic and jalepenos into chunks then toss into food processor along with 1/3 cup cilantro. Pulse until everything is chopped into very small pieces (you may need to do this in batches depending on how much your food processor can fit, alternately you can chop these all up by hand which is what I would do before I got a processor). Pour mixture into a large saucepan, add in chicken broth, chili powder, sugar, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring mixture just to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes (or up to 1 hour). Add in hominy and grilled, shredded chicken and cook a few minutes until heated through. To serve: place a handful of chopped cabbage in serving bowl, squeeze juice of one lime wedge over cabbage, laddle soup over cabbage, top with grated cheese, diced avocados, sour cream, optional cilantro and serve warm with tortilla chips (I like to dip some chips and crush some into the soup).

*for the chicken I baste them lightly with extra virgin olive oil then season them lightly with taco seasoning (here is a good recipe, I omit the red pepper flakes and substitute cayenne pepper) before grilling. But do it however your prefer. 

**add these according to desired heat preference. To me these are the highlight of the soup and I love things HOT so I usually add about 5. If you don't like a lot of heat I'd recommend going with a lesser amount and maybe even removing the seeds from the jalapenos. So add with caution based on how much heat you like.


Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip (3 Ingredient 3 Minute Recipe)

Cheesecake, caramel, apples - love all the above so why not put them all together? I wanted a simple dip for my apple one day and caramel apples are one of my favorite desserts, as is cheesecake, so I thought I may as well combine them all into one quick and ridiculously easy dip. To say this dip is good is speaking much too lightly. I'm totally in love with it! It makes a great last minute treat for a party because, really it can be made in just a few minutes (and if you have an apple slicer things are almost too easy to be true). Serve it with your favorite kind of apples (I think it would also be delicious with bananas and maybe a drizzling of chocolate mmm) and enjoy! 

Caramel Cheesecake Apple Dip
Yields enough for a small crowd (half a recipe would be enough for about 5 people)

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, chilled
1 cup caramel ice cream topping, chilled (I used Hershey's in the glass jar)
1 store bought graham cracker pie crust, crumbled

Directions:
Place cream cheese in a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth and fluffy for about 1 minute. Stir in caramel ice cream topping. Break graham cracker pie crust into pieces and place pieces in a ziploc bag, then seal bag and using a rolling pin crush graham cracker crust pieces until finely broken (there should no longer be chunks). Serve with apple slices. Dip apple slices into caramel cheesecake dip then into broken graham cracker crust. Store cheesecake dip in refrigerator up to one week.

Note: this dip is also delicious with a bit of cinnamon (about 1/4 tsp) and a few dashes of nutmeg mixed in.

Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

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Baked Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets that are still perfectly golden, full of flavor and deliciously crisp without being fried, say what!? These chicken nuggets are utterly amazing. They are the best chicken nuggets I've ever had, and I couldn't believe they were healthy! I love how healthier things can actually taste better than their less healthy opponent. This recipe is true proof of that. This is another Pinterest find (I did change up a few things), it is one of my new favorite recipes. It's quick, it's incredibly easy and it's a crowd pleaser. Chicken nuggets aren't just for kids, adults and kids alike will immediately fall in love with these baked chicken nuggets after just one bite. Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Nuggets
Yields about 2 - 3 servings


Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 medium), diced into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs, white or wheat (I used white)
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
3 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese*
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Olive Oil Spray


Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a shallow 13 x 9 baking dish (I used a small cookie sheet) generously with olive oil spray. Pour 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil into a small mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl whisk together Italian seasoned bread crumbs, Panko bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Place chicken pieces into olive oil and toss chicken to evenly coat. Drop oil coated chicken, working with about 5 pieces at a time, into bread crumb mixture and coat each side (I kind of pressed the pieces into the bread crumbs to get more to stick). Place all of the coated chicken pieces onto oil coated baking sheet then sprinkle remaining bread crumb mixture over chicken pieces. Spray top of chicken pieces with olive oil spray. Bake in center of preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove from oven, rotate chicken pieces to opposite side and bake an additional 5 minutes (I moved the oven rack up a few and broiled mine during the last about 1.5 minutes to get a more golden crust, if doing this DO NOT walk away from the oven, keep a very close eye on it). Serve warm with ketchup, barbecue sauce or honey mustard for dipping, if desired. 


*this is one recipe I pulled out the Kraft pre-grated Parmesan cheese in the shaker bottle. Just be sure to break up any clumps before whisking it in. They add an ingredient to keep the cheese from caking but mine always ends up caking together into little clumps anyway. You could use freshly grated Parmesan as well. Update 6/7/12: someone mentioned in a comment below that the freshly grated Parmesan was better than the pre-grated Parmesan, I trust that opinion because fresh is always better but if you're in a rush the pre-grated powdered stuff works okay too.


Recipe Source: adapted from skinnytaste.com

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