CARAMEL PEAR CRISP

We had this with the missionaries tonight and it was a big hit.  My pears weren't even totally ripe, but they softened right up and tasted great.  This includes a fabulous caramel recipe too - nice and thick, instead of runny!

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/caramel-pear-crisp/print/

CARAMEL PEAR CRISP

EASY CARAMEL SAUCE:

·         8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter

·         1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1 cup heavy whipping cream

·         1 tablespoon vanilla

PEAR FILLING:

·         4 pounds (about 8 medium) ripe pears, peeled, cored and diced (see note)

·         3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

·         3 tablespoons flour

·         1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

TOPPING:

·         1 cup packed light brown sugar

·         1 cup all-purpose flour

·         1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

·         1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS:

1.       For the caramel sauce, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, salt and cream. Melt over low heat. Once all ingredients are melted and combined, increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. There’s no need to stir but watch the heat – if it seems as though the mixture might be burning on the bottom (which can often happen if you are using a pan that isn’t heavy-bottomed), reduce the heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly (the caramel sauce can be made up to a week in advance – if using it in the recipe, warm slightly before adding to the pears).

2.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 8 1/2-inch by 12-inch pan with cooking spray (I know that’s a random size that I happen to have – if you don’t have that size, use something close like a 9X13-inch pan).

3.      Toss the pears in a large bowl with the lemon juice, flour and cinnamon. Pour 1 cup of the caramel sauce over the pears and stir to combine well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.

4.      For the topping, in a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt. Toss the pieces of butter in with the ingredients and use a pastry blender, two knives, your fingers, or anything else to cut the butter in until the mixture is crumbly. Spread the topping evenly over the pears.

5.       Bake the crisp until the edges are bubbling and the top has deepened in color, 45-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes. The crisp can be served warm or at room temperature.

6.      Serve with vanilla ice cream and remaining caramel sauce.

NOTES:

Don’t dice the pears too small or they’ll turn to mush in the oven. I loved the larger chunks of pears – they’ll soften just right while baking. Also, the crisp can be made and baked up to a day in advance and warmed in the oven on low heat (about 200 degrees F) for 15-20 minutes before serving.

All images and text ©Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Skinny Lemon Muffins

I don't like the name "skinny" in recipe names... it just makes it sound so unappealing.  Hence, these are now simply Lemon Muffins.  And, holy cow, are they good (and very moist)!  You'll want to double these.

P.S.  When I was making them, the batter was really dry (as in, lots of flour still totally untouched), so I ended up just pouring some more milk in the bowl and mixing it up.  Kinda odd, but it worked.  I just guessed as to how much I needed.  I also couldn't find lemon Greek yogurt, so I went with lime and it was delish.

Lemon Muffins

Author: Trish - Mom On Timeout

Serves: 12 muffins

Ingredients

·        1⅔ cup flour (half white, half whole wheat)

·        ⅔ cup granulated sugar

·        2 tsp baking powder

·        ½ tsp salt

·        ⅓ cup coconut oil

·        ⅔ cup vanilla, lime, or lemon Greek yogurt

·        ⅓ cup milk

·        1 egg, room temperature

·        1 - 2 tbsp lemon zest

Glaze:

·        2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

·        1 cup powdered sugar

·        1 tbsp lemon zest

Instructions

1.   Preheat oven to 350F.

2.   Line muffin pan with baking cups or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

3.   Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

4.   Whisk together coconut oil, Greek yogurt, milk, egg and one to two tablespoons of lemon zest together in a medium bowl.

5.   Stir in flour mixture just until moistened (you might need to add more milk if batter is too dry).

6.   Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin cups.

7.   Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for several minutes before removing. Place on a cooling rack.

Optional Glaze

1.   Combine lemon juice, powdered sugar, and lemon zest in small bowl. Mix until smooth.

2.   Drizzle over muffins a few minutes after removing from pan.

Super Easy Toasted Muesli

I tend to think of this like a simplified granola. It's pretty flexible with the dry ingredients, as long as you keep the total amount to about 7 cups. For example, I usually double this and I don't always have or want to use 3 c. of nuts or coconut, so I will just sub out some more oats for part of that measurement. It's good with yogurt and fruit, or milk and fruit. Bananas, chocolate, coconut, almonds - yum!

Toasted Muesli

4 c. rolled oats
1 1/2 c. sliced almonds, or other chopped nut of choice
1 1/2 c. coconut
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T. maple syrup
2 T. coconut oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
chocolate chips of choice, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a rimmed cookie sheet with oil or line with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a small saucepan, combine the coconut oil and syrup over low heat to warm together. (Or you can zap it in the microwave). Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, and coconut.

Once the coconut oil is melted, stir in the salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir well. Spread the mixture on the cookie sheet and bake about 15 minutes or until it looks and smells lightly toasted, stirring once halfway through.

Let the muesli cool completely before adding chocolate chips. (To cool more quickly, transfer it to a cool cookie sheet).

You can store this in the freezer for longer periods of time if you don't have a houseful of people that snarf it up in 1-2 days.

Recipe adapted from https://cookieandkate.com/2015/toasted-muesli-recipe/

Spiced Maple Pumpkin Butter

This is so good! I only did a half recipe because I didn't want to make tons in case we didn't like it, but it is delicious! If you only have part of a can of pumpkin left, this is a great way to use it up. I used about 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree for a half recipe. I also only did half of the ginger because I knew I wouldn't like it with lots of ginger. (I added my change in the recipe.) I'm thinking you could probably freeze a bigger batch, but I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure.

Spiced Maple Pumpkin Butter

29-ounce can of pureed pumpkin, about 3½ cups puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, optional
pinch ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In a medium saucepan, combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and salt. Bring to a slow simmer. The mixture is so thick, you will see only an occasional large bubble.
2. Simmer, stirring occasionally at first, and then more frequently during the final 15 minutes, until reduced and thickened (but still moist), 20-30 minutes. The puree should reduce to 2½-3 cups and have a silky, spreadable consistency.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Cool, and then refrigerate until needed.
5. If Pumpkin Butter is too thick after chilling, thin with a little warm water or apple juice.

Makes about 2½ cups.

Altered a teensy bit from: http://thelunacafe.com/spiced-pumpkin-butter/

Mediterranean Kale, Cannellini and Farrow Soup

This is an easy and tasty soup.  It originally called for vegetable broth but I chose to use chicken broth instead.  You could use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian.  I didn’t have any fresh parsley so I just added some dried parsley in with the broth and tomatoes and such.  We also had some Feta that had Mediterranean herbs in it so we used that and it was yummy. 

Mediterranean Kale, Cannellini and Farro Soup

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup carrots diced (about 2 medium)

1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 small)

1 cup chopped celery (about 2)

4 cloves garlic , minced

5 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 cup farro , rinsed

1 tsp dried oregano

1 bay leaf

Salt , to taste

1/2 cup slightly packed parsley sprigs (stems included)

4 cups slightly packed chopped kale , thick ribs removed

1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Feta cheese , crumbled, for serving

Instructions

1.    Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onion and celery and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Stir in broth, tomatoes, farro, oregano, bay leaf and season with salt to taste. Lay parsley in a mound on top of soup and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat just below medium. Cover and cook 20 minutes, then remove parsley, stir in kale and cook 10 - 15 minutes longer, adding in cannellini beans during last few minutes of cooking, until both farro and kale are tender.

2.    Remove bay leaf, stir in lemon juice and add additional broth to thin soup as desired (the farro will absorb more liquid as the soup rests). Serve warm and top each serving with feta cheese.

Altered slightly from www.cookingclassy.com  

Oven Baked Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce

Oven Baked Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 14 mins

Total time: 24 mins

This oven baked salmon is drizzled generously in a simple and delicious lemon cream sauce (classically known as lemon beurre blanc).

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com

Serving: 4 to 6 slices

Ingredients

For Oven Baked Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce:

·         2 to 3 lb salmon fillet

·         salt and black pepper to taste

·         1 Tbsp olive oil for drizzling salmon

·         1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

For the Lemon Cream Sauce:

·         1 small onion or 2 medium shallots, super finely diced (about ¼ cup diced)

·         ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 medium or 1 large lemons)

·         ¼ cup chicken broth

·         ½ cup heavy cream

·         ½ cup (8 Tbsp) cold unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces

Instructions

1.    Line baking sheet with foil or parchment. Arrange salmon skin-side-down, season with salt and pepper and drizzle the tops with oil. Bake uncovered at 425 for 10-15 min (depending on thickness of salmon) or until salmon is cooked through. My thick wild caught salmon took 14 min.

2.    In a small sauce pan, combine ¼ cup finely diced onion, ¼ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup chicken broth and simmer over medium heat until reduced to a thick mixture (7-8 min).

3.    Whisk in ½ cup cream and as soon as it comes to a simmer, reduce to low heat and slowly whisk in the 8 Tbsp butter, one tablespoon at a time (whisking constantly). Add ¼ tsp salt or to taste and remove from heat. Cover with a lid to keep warm until ready to serve.

4.    Plate salmon and drizzle generously with the lemon sauce, garnish with freshly chopped parsley then serve.

Notes

We recommend reheating over low heat, stirring frequently, just until hot and ready.
A 2 lb salmon serves 4 to 6 and a 3 lb salmon serves 6 to 8

Recipe altered slightly from Natashaskitchen.com 

Copyright © 2015 Natasha's Kitchen

Overnight Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal

This is the best recipe for slow cooker steel cut oats that I've tried. It turned out creamy and flavorful and there weren't any burned edges. I actually made it with some of our winter squash (like Butternut), so I can't claim to trying it with actual pumpkin, but they're very similar so I'm sure it's good too.
You cook this in a water bath in a separate dish inside the crock pot. I made a 1/2 recipe because I only had 1 dish that would fit in my crock pot and that's how much it would hold. My dish wasn't on the bottom of the crock pot either. It was suspended by the sides, but the water still came up high enough to reach it.

Overnight Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal
4 1/2 c. milk
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin, or about 2 c. pumpkin/winter squash puree
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 T. vanilla extract
1 T. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. steel cut oats

Find an oven-safe baking dish (like Pyrex or Conrningware) that will fit in your slow cooker, but still allow the slow cooker lid to fit on securely.
In the baking dish, whisk all the ingredients but the oats. Once they're combined, stir in the oats. Carefully place the baking dish in the slow cooker and slowly pour water into the bottom of the slow cooker until it reaches about 1 inch below the top of the baking dish. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Remove the dish and stir before serving.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Adapted slightly from fivehearthome.com

Oven Cupcake S'mores

We made these as part of our science class today (learning about heat energy with a fun treat) and they were yummy! I think next time we make them we'll put more chocolate in them. You could also use pieces of chocolate bars or whatever you want in place of the chocolate chips. We had extra graham cracker crumb mixture, so I froze it for another time, but you could easily just make more as well.
Ha! As I'm typing this I realized that we didn't even add the powdered sugar to the graham crackers. Oops! But they were still good, so I guess you can try it either way.

Oven Cupcake S'mores
15 graham crackers (whole rectangles)
3/4 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. powdered sugar, optional
1 c. (or more) chocolate chips, chocolate pieces, etc.
12 large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Place graham crackers in a zip top bag and crush with a rolling pin. Pour into a medium bowl and add butter and powdered sugar. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Scoop the graham mixture into the cupcake liners, filling about halfway. Using your fingers, press the crumbs on the sides and bottom of the cups, forming a well in each one.

Bake the graham cracker crusts for 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and place 20 (or more) chocolate chips in the center of each cup. Place a large marshmallow on top.

Return to the oven and bake for 3 minutes.

Remove from the oven and gently press the marshmallows with the back of a spoon so that they spread out and cover the chocolate completely. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before eating.

Yield: 12+ cupcake s'mores

Adapted from Jenny Phillips