Peach Cinnamon Pancakes

Hey all!  I had a craving for some pancakes the other night and these turned out great.  I found a basic recipe then added a few things to make it my own and a little sweeter. Hope you enjoy them!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter 
• dash of vanilla
• 1 large peach cut and sliced very thin

Preparation:

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk- and a dash of vanilla; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. If the batter seems too thick to pour, add a little more milk. Then add the peaches. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbly, a little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom; turn and brown the other side. Recipe for pancakes serves 4.
*I noticed that if the peaches were cut too thick it was hard to cook the pancakes all the way through without burning them so make sure they are very thin. 

Happy cooking! :)

Black Bean Quesadillas

Ok so this one I did on my own. I was inspired by the sweet potato enchiladas with the combination of black beans and corn so here you go.

Ingredients

1 small onion
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp butter
1 (15oz) can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 and 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen and cooked it ahead of time)
about 8-10 cherry tomatoes- sliced (though you could probably use any kind of tomato)
a few sprigs of cilantro
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp to start- garlic powder
1/2 tsp to start- paprika
Tortillas
Butter

Directions
1) Start a medium saucepan with the lime juice, onion, and butter. Cook until the onions start to turn translucent. Warm a separate skillet for the tortillas.
2) Add the black beans and corn to the lime/onion mixture.
3) Then add garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper (these ingredients are all to taste, which is why I wrote to start, taste often and update these ingredients).
4) Once these items have warmed add the tomatoes and cilantro. And let simmer for a minute or two.
5) Add any final seasonings- to taste.
6) Butter one side of the tortilla (so it will get crispy in the skillet).
7) Fill tortillas with mixture and top with cheddar cheese. Put in skillet- warm each side until crispy and serve with sour cream and salsa - if you like.

I hope you enjoy these. I found them very filling and tasty!

Happy cooking!

Carbonara

Ok- this recipe is amazing. Everytime Adam makes it we eat the whole thing (which may be dangerous :) ). This comes from a book: Classic Rachel Ray- 30 Minute Meals page 48. Adam tells me that he adds more wine and red pepper flakes than called for. It really is fantastic! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1 pound rigatoni
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
1/4 lb pancetta (chopped)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (1/3 palmful)
6 cloves garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
Handful of finely chopped flat leafed parsley (optional) - garnish

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Add a liberal amount of salt and rigatoni, cook to al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add evoo and pancetta. Brown pancetta 2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add wine and stir up all the pan drippings.

Beat yolks, then add 1 large ladleful (about 1/2 cup) of the pasta cooking water. This tempers the eggs and keeps them from scrambling when added to the pasta.

Drain pasta well and add it directly to the skillet with pancetta and oil. Pour the egg mixture over the pasta. Toss rapidly to coat the pasta without cooking the egg. Remove pan from heat and add a big handful of cheese, lots of pepper, and a little salt. Continue to toss and turn the pasta until it soaks up egg mixture and thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with parsley, if desired, and extra cheese.

I can't express enough how good this is! We LOVE it! So thanks Rachel Ray! :) Happy cooking!

Strawberry Waffles

***Update!- Ok so I did this one again but cut it in half (so it made 8 waffles). Except this time I used peaches. Oh so good. Just as good or maybe even better than the strawberries. It only took one peach cut up into small pieces. I did use two eggs- don't forget to beat the whites separately- it really makes a difference. So so good. ***

Ok- so this one I kind of pieced together different recipes to make my own. They turned out really good. These were really soft so if you are looking for a crispy recipe this is not the one for you. I am reading to try and figure that out. From what I can find cornstarch has to be involved. I will get back to you on all that. A note about the eggs. It worked out really well to separate them and then beat the whites. It made it really fluffy- worth the effort!

Ingredients

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup and 1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 eggs separated

2 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp sugar

1 cup of fresh strawberries

Directions

1) Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar into large bowl

2) Stir in milk, oil, and yolks until smooth

3) beat egg whites in separate bowl until peaks form. Fold into batter.

4)Depending on your waffle iron scoop desired amount mine was about 1/4 a cup per waffle. Cook on a hot waffle iron until golden.

This made about 16 waffles on my small iron. We topped with whipped cream and syrup. Happy cooking!