Banana Blueberry Muffins

I try a lot of muffin recipes. My kids love them, they are super fast and oh so delicious. But, the big problem with muffins is you are eating cake for breakfast. Which, on occasion, (and if it's chocolate with chocolate frosting) I can succumb to. But, for the most part, I try and start my day out right. So, I try a lot of muffin recipes. I always substitute whole wheat flour and add wheat germ or flax seed or oats; I also trim the sugar and fat and such. Some of the muffins don't turn out so fantastic. These ones did. Make them.

Banana Blueberry Muffins
makes 2 dozen

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ (or flax or 1/2 cup oats)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup low-fat milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork (you should have 3/4 cup); stir in milk and vanilla.

With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in blueberries.


Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 18 - 22 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 5 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.

Buttermilk Chicken

Raise your hand if you have ever marinated chicken in buttermilk! If your hand is not up, then you are truly missing out on easy goodness. Buttermilk is so fabulous. Endless number of uses. What is ranch dressing without buttermilk? Out of yogurt but want a smoothie? Use your buttermilk. Want to add the richness of cream without the fat? Open up some buttermilk. Soups, sauces, dressings, whatever. Try it out, I promise you won't be disappointed. So what makes it so great? First off, it's low in fat, but thick. It has a slight tang and works wonders for lean proteins like chicken and fish. It's made by adding a bacteria to low-fat milk and then heating it up so the bacteria turns the sugar in the milk into lactic acid. The lactic acid is what tenderizes your meat and gives it that characteristic tang. Chicken stays tender and juicy and oh so delicious. Pancakes made with buttermilk are lighter and fluffier because the acid reacts with the baking soda and acts like yeast. And who doesn't love light, fluffy pancakes?

Herb Buttermilk Chicken

1 whole chicken, cut up into 8 pieces (or you can use just drums, or thighs or breasts, whatever combo you want)
1 1/2 -2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh rosemary or thyme or combo
4 cloves garlic, smashed* (if you love garlic, add some more):)
2 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper

Rinse and pat dry your chicken pieces. Place in a gallon sized ziploc bag. Add buttermilk, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Shake to combine. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Pull out 30 minutes prior to using.

For grilling: Heat one side of grill to medium (direct heat). Brush grates with oil. Remove Chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Grill meat skin side down over direct heat for 10 minutes. Flip the chicken, move it to indirect heat (part of grill with no flame directly underneath) and grill, covered, until thickest part reaches 165*, about 10-15 minutes

* To smash garlic: Tear off cloves from head of garlic and place on cutting board. Hold your knife flat with the sharp edge facing away from you. Using the base of your knife blade, smash the cloves. The skin should peel right off.

And because I am on a buttermilk kick right now....

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and egg white, stirring with a whisk; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Heat a nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Serve with syrup and butter.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Is it June already? Oh my, time is going too fast. Strawberry season is almost over and I almost blew it. Hurry! Run to the store! Buy some delicious strawberries from the guy on the corner or from your local farmers market. Then, MAKE THESE COOKIES. They are one of my all-time favorites. If you love Strawberry Shortcake (like real shortcake, not whatever oily sickness that supermarkets try to sell you next to the strawberries), then you will love these cookies. The cookie itself is not too sweet, and then you get a little chunk of delicious strawberry and it is oh so good. And if you don't have the sanding sugar to put on top it is ok - just use granulated, but the sanding sugar is best. And a little tip, don't go crazy and add tons of extra strawberries thinking it will be better. If you get too many berries and not enough batter in each individual cookie it is a soggy mess. And really try your best to get 1/4" dice on your berries - it is the best size for the cookie. Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
about 3 dozen

12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cream until dough starts to come together, then stir in strawberry mixture.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing evenly apart. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake until golden brown, 24 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool. Cookies are best served immediately, but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Honey, Garlic and Sage Pork Sirloin Roast

Easy and Delicious...do you notice a pattern in my cooking? I like things to be easy and delicious. I bought some pork sirloin tip roasts from Costco and love them. They are lean and a great size, individually wrapped and very tasty. Plus there are a myriad of uses for them...crock pot, oven roasted, kabobs, whatever you want. Be creative!

1 pork sirloin tip roast
2 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs fresh sage, chopped or 2tsp dried, minced
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 Tbs honey

Heat oven to 400*. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sage, salt, and pepper. Rub generously over the entire roast making sure to get the sides and bottom of roast as well. Place on baking sheet. Roast for 30-45 minutes (depending on weight - 20 minutes per pound). Remove from oven and brush honey generously over the top and sides of pork. Continue roasting for additional 15-20 minutes until internal temperature reaches 155*. Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Grilled Lemon Chicken

I love this marinade for chicken. The chicken is so moist and delicious and works great for all sorts of applications. Easy and really good, that's the winning combination. If I can plan ahead of time then I do marinate the meat overnight, but I have also only done it for like an hour, so whatever works for you, just make it happen. oh and this marinade is for a lot of chicken - like up to 6 breasts worth (if you are using smaller breasts) If you use the huge chicken breasts, cut them in half lengthwise so they are thinner, that way the breasts will be better seasoned. Oh and please don't use lemon juice concentrate - fresh is best!! If you think squeezing the juice is a pain, order one of these -i swear I am not just trying to sell you something - IT WORKS!

Grilled Lemon Chicken
Serves 8 to 10

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 Tbs minced fresh thyme leaves (1/2 tsp dried)
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Pour over the chicken breasts in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Heat a grill and cook for 7-10 minutes on each side, until just cooked through. Cool slightly and cut diagonally in 1/2-inch thick slices.

Strawberry Lemon Cream Tart

This is one of those times that I really wish I had a picture for you to look at. I made this and took it over to a freinds house for a party and no lie it was beautiful and tasted amazing. It's one of those that looks and tastes very impressive but is super easy. Who doesn't love that? The filling comes from my Aunt's recipe for Lemon Cream Pie (that is also to die for) and I decided to pair it with a graham cracker crust, add sliced strawaberries to the top and bake it in a tart shell. Perfecto. Maybe I will make another one soon and take a picture of it for you. But picture or not, you should make this for Mother's Day and if you are the mother you should request it to be made for you :)


Strawberry Lemon Cream Tart

Crust:
1 package graham crackers, broken up
1/3 cup sugar
6 Tbs butter, melted

Place graham crackers and sugar into food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Dump out into a bowl, pour in melted butter and mix together. Press into an 11-in tart shell. Bake at 375 for 5-7 minutes. Let cool and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes. (This just helps it to cool down and firm up for the filling)


Lemon Cream:
1 cup sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
4 Tbs butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbs lemon zest
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream

In a saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, butter, lemon zest and juice, beaten egg yolks and milk. Cook over medium heat, strring constantly with a whisk until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and let cool on counter. Fold in the sour cream. Spoon into graham cracker crust and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Strawberry top:
10 -15 strawberries
strawberry jam, melted

Slice strawberries lengthwise and arrange in a flower design on the top, working from the outside in with the pointed end of the strawberry out. Brush the melted strawberry jam over the strawberries to give them a nice shine.

Sweet Pork of the Cafe Rio Variety

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! Behind Thanksgiving (I am an American after all) this is the best food holiday around. Who doesn't love Mexican food? Thank goodness for all those illegal immigrants, without them there's no way you could ever get a decent tamale. I say if they bring good food, we can certainly party with the Mexicans, the more the merrier , right? (Name that movie.) I realize these recipes are coming to you a tad late, I much prefer to have my meals planned out, but these are worth the hustle to the store to get things cookin'. Are they the real recipes from Cafe Rio? Who knows? But, honestly you will be eating what you make for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So good.

Café Rio Pork
Serves 8

5 lbs pork loin (approx)
18 oz coca cola classic
1 cup sugar-in-the-raw
1 (7oz) can Chipotle Chilies in Adobo
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp garlic, minced

Remove chilies from the can of adobo sauce. Rinse the chilies and can with the coke to get the sauce. You are using the sauce and not the chilies for this recipe. Discard the chilies or save for another recipe. Put all ingredients except pork in the blender. Blend until smooth. Pour over pork in the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-9 hours until it pulls apart easily. After cooking, shred with forks.

Serve in burritos, enchiladas, tacos, nachos, on a salad or whatever...

Café Rio Rice
4 cups water
4 tsp chicken bouillon
4 tsp garlic, minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chilies
¾ tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
½ onion
2 cups rice

Blend cilantro, green chilies, and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.

Café Rio Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing
1 envelope buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
½ bunch cilantro
1 heaping tsp minced garlic
2 tomatillos
Cholula Sauce to taste (or ½ Serrano pepper with seeds removed)
Juice of one lime

Blend in food processor or blender, store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Dressing continues to get hotter when it is stored in the fridge. It’s best if you make this ahead of time to let the flavors meld together; will keep about 2 weeks in the fridge.