secret recipe club – Page 2

SRC: French Toast Casserole

March 15, 2015May 6, 2015 Sarah

French Toast Casserole is a great treat to wake up to!

Yay SRC! This is my second month participating in SRC group C and once again I had a blast! This month I was assigned to Jess’ blog, Pumpkins and Peonies. Two things I love! 🙂 Jess’ blog is beautiful and her love of life, pretty things, and delicious baked goods is SO apparent. Her wedding pictures are gorgeous too! I was tempted by many of Jess’ recipes including these Deep Dark Chocolate Chunk Muffins, S’mores Cookies, and Popovers. In the end though, I decide to go with French Toast Casserole, because when is french toast wrong?!? Mmm!

Jess made me fall in love with this French Toast Casserole when she said it was perfect… not too wet, not too dry, not too sweet. I’m sure you’ve had french toast that falls into any [or all] of those three categories, and this recipe does NOT disappoint! It’s practically foolproof too. I love simple recipes. 🙂

The original recipe suggested using brioche or challah, but I used Texas toast and am happy to report that was an awesome choice. I just felt like it so I went with it. It’s still a soft, white bread so it works well, but use whatever you please.

This french toast bakes up nice and soft, with a sugary crust on the bottom and a nice crisp topping. Jess used pecans to top her french toast, but I just left them off. And this may go without saying, but this french toast makes weekend mornings even BETTER than they usually are. You can assemble the casserole the night before, and wake up and have breakfast on the table in less than an hour. Perfect-o! Enjoy! And thanks, Jess, for the great recipe!

one year ago: Tasty Mexican Lentils
two years ago: Quick Chocolate Pudding
three years ago: Alice’s Vanilla Tea-Infused Granola
four years ago: Roasted Tomato & Black Bean Soup

French Toast Casserole

Servings: 12
Time: 1 hour + overnight
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from Pumpkins and Peonies

Ingredinets:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 loaf brioche or challah, sliced [or I used Texas toast!]
8 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup pecans, chopped [I left these out]
maple syrup, for topping
powdered sugar, for topping
fresh fruit, for serving

Directions:

Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together butter and brown sugar. Pour mixture into bottom of baking dish.

Arrange bread on top of brown sugar mixture, overlapping as needed.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger. Pour over bread slices, then sprinkle on pecans if using. Cover with foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, remove pan from refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 10 minutes while preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30-35 minutes, covering with foil partway through if the top starts browning too much. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving with maple syrup, powdered sugar, or fruit.

Be sure to check out what else my SRC pals made this month:

Beans, Main Dishes, Other, Recipes, Rice, Sauces, Sides

SRC: Falafel, Tzatziki, and Greek Lemon Rice

February 15, 2015December 14, 2015 Sarah

Panfried falafel served up with lots of creamy tzatziki [cucumber sauce] and a tangy Greek rice. No one said vegetarian food had to be boring!

I’m so glad it’s a Secret Recipe Club [SRC] day! What’s SRC? Basically a fun blogging group where you’re secretly paired up with another blogger. Everyone makes a recipe from their assigned blog and posts on the same day. The club has grown over the years and now has four groups. Since I first joined a few years[!] ago, I’ve been in group A. But when I had the chance to switch groups, I got SO excited because–hello!–new blogs to explore! 🙂 So now I’m in group C and loving it! This month I was assigned to Jamie’s blog, Our Eating Habits. Jamie lives in Canada and like any food blogger, loves food. She says on her about page: “Eating is a big part of my life, so I make sure everything that goes into my mouth is tasty.” A sentiment I agree with! [And that is EXACTLY why I bought jalapeno cheetos on Saturday at the grocery store. Those are SO good. Anyway…] Jamie loves cooking and baking for her family and has an impressive number of recipes on her blog. It was so fun to browse her recipes! I was tempted to make these red velvet M&M cake mix bars for Valentine’s Day, and will make this Butterscotch Confetti at Christmastime this year! I was all set to make those red velvet bars when I saw that Jamie had a falafel recipe…and I was sold!

Though I love falafel, sometimes I’m hesitant to order it at restaurants because it’s easy to make it too dry since it’s basically deep-fried chickpea balls/patties. Chickpeas are a drier bean anyway, so it makes sense. That’s why I’ve been excited to see so many pan-fried recipes for falafel lately. This recipe doesn’t disappoint! It’s so flavorful and moist [sorry!]. I changed the recipe a little from Jamie’s version, using lime juice instead of lemon, and adding the zest in for a little something special. Jamie used an egg as a binder and I decided to exclude it just so I didn’t have to worry about not cooking the falafel enough. I compensated for the lack of egg by using more chickpeas and less bread crumbs. Served up with some creamy tzatziki, chopped tomatoes and red onion, on a pita or lettuce-wrap style, this is an awesome meal! I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make this tasty vegetarian meal. Jamie added mayo to her tzatziki sauce and I thought that was genius! The mayo made the sauce a little creamier and added a little extra zip, but it also tasted good without.

As a side, I made a super easy lemon rice. It has just four ingredients: jasmine rice, chicken broth, rosemary, and lemon juice and is SO addictive. The bright, fresh flavor was perfect alongside the falafel. This is not a meal to be missed! Hope you try it today. 🙂 Thanks, Jamie, for a great recipe!

one year ago: Fresh Cranberry Coffee Cake
two years ago: Go-To Pancakes
three years ago: Sunrise Muffins
four years ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

Falafel, Tzatziki, and Greek Lemon Rice

Servings: 4
Time: 50 minutes
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Falafel and Tzatziki from Our Eating Habits; Greek Lemon Rice from Thank Your Body

Ingredients:

for falafel

1 small onion
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch cayenne pepper
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2-1 cup bread crumbs
1-2 cans chickpeas [15 ounces each]
freshly ground pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
oil for cooking

for Tzatziki

2 cups plain greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, seeded and grated, pressed dry with a clean dish towel
2 teaspoons dried dill [or 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped]
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
freshly ground pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

for Greek Lemon Rice

1 cup jasmine or basmati rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
juice of 1 lemon [approximately 1/4 cup]
freshly ground pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

for serving

pita bread
chopped red onions
chopped tomato
romaine lettuce

Directions:

Begin by making the tzatziki. In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt, cucumber, dill, and mayo. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate while cooking falafel and rice.

Next, mix up the falafel. In a food processor, pulse together onion, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, lime zest, and lime juice. Then add 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 1 can chickpeas and pulse together, being careful to not completely pulverize the chickpeas. Check to see if mixture holds together, then add additional bread crumbs and/or chickpeas, pulsing gently, until mixture can be shaped into patties. I used 1/2 cup bread crumbs and 1 1/2 cans chickpeas [approximately 2 1/4 cups chickpeas]. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Shape into small patties–I used about 1/4 cup for each. Place on a plate or baking sheet and pop in the fridge to chill while starting the rice.

In a small saucepan set over high heat, combine rice, chicken broth, rosemary, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then stir. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer, cooking for 15-20 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Fluff with a fork and season with pepper and salt to taste.

While rice is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil and when hot, cook falafel patties, about 3-4 minutes per side until heated through and browned on each side.

Serve falafel in a pita or with lettuce, topping with onions, tomato, and tzatziki. Rice is great on the side or in the pita too!

Be sure to see what other SRC members made this week:

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

SRC Cookie Carnival: Orange Spritz

December 14, 2014December 14, 2014 Sarah

Cute little crisp, buttery Spritz cookies are the perfect addition to your cookie plate this Christmas season! This version has an orange twist for a bit of freshness!

It’s always more fun to make cookies at Christmastime, don’t you think? This year for the Secret Recipe Club we are celebrating all things COOKIES by having a fun little cookie carnival.

For this event I was asked to make one of Marsha’s recipes from her blog, The Harried Cook. Marsha is a mom of two girls who loves Jesus too! She lives in India with her family and from glancing at her Twitter, I learned that she teaches cooking classes. How fun! 🙂

Marsha’s girls love these Orange Spritz cookies–both the eating, and the making. I remember eating Spritz cookies every Christmas growing up… and truthfully, they weren’t my favorite cookies. But as an adult I have given them another chance. They’re so delicate and light, the perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee or even a richer cookie treat. I almost made Marsha’s Lime and Pepper Cookies because they sounded so interesting, so you might want to check that recipe out too!

But back to these cookies. This was my first time making Spritz cookies on my own and it was kinda fun, once I got the hang of my cookie press. By “me getting the hang of it” I clearly mean me desperately calling for Ben to come help because I could NOT figure out the instructions. It didn’t help that I have an Italian cookie press and the [oddly] translated instructions are spread out over several pages. Cookie press problems aside, the results were awesome. Thanks, Marsha for the great recipe! Merry Christmas!

four years ago: Cranberry Sauce Two Ways

Orange Spritz

Servings: about 2 dozen medium cookies
Time: 35 minutes
Print

from The Harried Cook

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
zest of 1/2 an orange
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.

With a mixer, cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in salt and the egg yolk until just combined. Add vanilla and orange zest, then beat again. Stir in flour.

Fill your cookie press and press out according to the cookie press’ instructions, placing on baking sheets approximately 1 inch apart.

Bake for about 8-12 minutes, until edges are golden brown. The original recipe said baking time might be about 6 minutes, but mine was definitely about 12.

Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Check out other cookie recipes here:

Breakfast, Muffins, Recipes

SRC: Gingerbread Muffins

November 30, 2014December 5, 2014 Sarah

The warm, spicy flavor of gingerbread in a muffin, instead of fussy cookies. Perfect for breakfast, teatime, or anytime!

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Jessie Weaver, written by Jessie. 🙂 Jessie lives with her family in Tennessee too–in fact, she used to live in Nashville! How fun. Jessie has three little ones and still has time to blog on many subjects, from recipes to faith to family fun. Going to her blog is always a joy and I love seeing what she posts for Secret Recipe Club each month. While Jessie has a lot of great recipes on her blog, two that caught my eye were Peanut Butter Pie with Pretzel Crust and Gingerbread Muffins with White Chocolate Chips. I let Ben pick and muffins it was! These muffins are SO seasonally appropriate, huh? 🙂

I always love a good muffin, and these were no exception. They come together in just a few minutes in one bowl for easy cleanup… and smell absolutely amazing as they bake! We put up our tree on Friday and let me tell you, I should have made them while we were decorating. These muffins can compete with a gingerbread candle for best smell ever. I actually have a gingerbread candle, so I should do a test run. Haha. But as for taste, I think muffins win over candles any day! They’re perfect to make on a cold afternoon during the holiday season. If you like, you can add white chocolate chips like Jessie did. I’m sure they’re great that way too. Enjoy!

one year ago: Dark Chocolate Ginger Squares
two years ago: Caramel Apple Dip
three years ago: Honey Yeast Dinner Rolls
four years ago: Pumpkin Pancakes

Gingerbread Muffins

Servings: 12
Time: 30 minutes
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from Jessie Weaver

2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil [coconut or canola, or melted butter]
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, optional — I think cinnamon chips could also be yummy too

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray well with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, ginger, baking soda, and sugar. In a measuring cup, whisk together oil, molasses, milk, and eggs. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just mixed. Fold in white chocolate chips, if using, then divide batter between muffin cups, about 2/3 way full.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

For more SRC recipes, check out the link below:

Linked up with Weekend Potluck.

Breakfast, Muffins, Recipes

SRC: Cranberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

November 2, 2014November 5, 2014 Sarah

These sweet muffins swirled with cranberry compote and a delicious cream cheese center are the perfect afternoon snack!

Welcome to November’s Secret Recipe Club! This month I was assigned to Maxine’s blog, Why I Am Not Skinny. Maxine is a South African expat living in Brussels… two great places! I’ve been to South Africa for a few days when I was in Lesotho for part of a summer in college, and I would absolutely love to go back. On her blog, Maxine shares so many delicious recipes and restaurant recommendations. If/when I go to Brussels I will have to check out her blog again! Though I really wanted to make her Pea and Mint Risotto or Pumpkin Fritters, I settled on these Cranberry and Cream Cheese Muffins because I wanted a sweet treat. 🙂

I also kind of wanted to make these as a sort of redemption for Maxine, because her muffins didn’t come out quite as well as BBC’s picture. And I am SO glad I did. They were tangy and creamy and all sorts of deliciousness. Though they weren’t quite as simple as most muffins are–you have to make the cranberry compote and the cream cheese filling, they are well worth it. Next time [and there WILL be a next time] I think I’ll skip mashing the cranberries so as to have bigger chunks in the muffins, and I might reduce the temperature for baking down to 325 or 350 so they don’t brown quite as quickly. Some of my unpictured muffins definitely got a little dark. Maxine, I hope my muffins live up to your expectations! Thanks for a great recipe! 🙂

one year ago: Pumpkin Graham Muffins
two years ago: Pollo alla Poggia Alloro
three years ago: Homemade Maple and Brown Sugar Almond Butter
four years ago: Pumpkin Soup and Homemade Croutons

Cranberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

Servings: 12
Time: 30 minutes
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from Why I Am Not Skinny

Ingredients:

100 grams/3.5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
250 grams sugar/1 cup + 2 tablespoons, divided
175 grams/6 ounces fresh cranberries [frozen can also be used, just add a splash of water or apple cider to help liquify]
200 grams/26 tablespoons flour – UPDATED: I used this calculator to come up with this. When I made the recipe I used my kitchen scale and didn’t measure in tablespoons… I think the previous measurement I had here was wrong. So sorry about that!
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
75 ml canola oil [this is just between 1/4 and 1/3 cup]
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease well with cooking spray.

Beat together cream cheese with 2 tablespoons sugar. Place in refrigerator to chill until ready to use.

In a small saucepan, combine another 2 tablespoons sugar with 6 ounces fresh cranberries. Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until cranberries pop. Then mash gently with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, vanilla, and almond extract. Fold in wet ingredients into the dry, then fold in cranberries. Do not overmix or else the batter will bleed.

Scoop batter–it will be thick–into prepared pan, about 1/2 to 2/3 way full. Do not overfill. Use a spoon to scoop a ball of cream cheese mixture into batter, pressing down gently. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Notes:
Some of my muffins spilled over the top of the muffin cups because I filled them too full, so don’t make that mistake.

Also, you may want to skip mashing the cranberries so the batter bleeds less.

Do not overbake–cheese may still seem a bit soft. If muffins are browning too much, cover with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking or reduce heat to 325 degrees F.

Be sure to check out all the other fun recipes made this week for the Secret Recipe Club below!