Pizza Ebelskivers

Pizza Ebelskivers

I begin by making a traditional pancake batter.  In a bowl mix together 1 c of flour, 1 c of milk, 1 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of oil, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1 egg.  Take your ebelskiver pan and coat it well with oil.  If you are in search of a great pan, I have a nonstick ebelskiver pan and turning tools from Williams-Sonoma and I love them.  I highly recommend the turning tools, but toothpicks can also be used.

Once the pan has warmed up, fill each bowl with 1/2 tbsp of batter.

I made the ebelskiver batter from our breakfast recipe and added some Trader Joe's 21 seasoning salute to give it a more seasoned flavor, as opposed to a sweet one.  I followed the same routine for breakfast ebelskivers, but instead I prepared a tomato base sauce and sliced string cheese for my fillings.

In my ebelskiver pan I placed the batter and then a dollop of the sauce ...

then I placed a piece of the cheese on top of the sauce ...

and topped it all with another layer of the batter.  I completed this process until all my ingredients were used.  We used a marinara sauce for dipping as well.  If you missed the thorough steps to making ebelskivers, check out the ebelskiver blog ... if you are up to date with it all, enjoy this new take on the ebelskiver as an appetizer or light dinner- which was a perfect finger food, especially for our boys!

Lemon, Sesame and Ginger Chicken with Edamame and Asian Noodles

Lemon, Sesame and Ginger Chicken with Edamame and Asian Noodles

I love cooking with my wok- the high heat and quick cooking is great for nights when I don't want to leave my oven on for an hour.  I have made this meal a few times now and it has become a favorite amongst the boys.  Any time we can all sit around the table and enjoy the same meal, it is a success!

To get started, slice 2 chicken breasts into small cubes.  While doing so, place about 1/4 c of oil in your wok with 1 1/2 tbsp of minced garlic.  Keep in mind that the high heat and the oil will burn you if you aren't careful- just as a precaution I cover my wok with a splatter shield to minimize the popping oil.  Carefully added the cubed chicken to the wok with 2 tsp of ginger.  Once the chicken begins to cook through, start boiling water on your stove to cook your noodles.  I prefer Udon noodles as they are very similar to linguine noodles- but Japanese ...  I didn't have them on hand, so I boiled fusilli noodles and it worked just the same.

At this point the chicken shouldn't be raw anymore.  I poured a lemon, ginger and sesame marinade over the top of the chicken and allowed it to caramelize and glaze over.  Creating this marinade is fine as well- combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, ginger, lemon juice and sesame seeds.  The sauce will bubble and boil- stir occasionally to season all sides of the chicken well.  

When the noodles are done boiling, remove them to drain and add about 8 ounces of cooked edamame to the chicken in the wok.  Continue to stir to incorporate all the flavors to the edamame as well as the chicken.  Let cook for 5 more minutes in the wok and remove all the chicken and edamame and set aside.

This is when I make my noodles, it takes only a few moments.  Re-season the wok with another heaping tbsp of minced garlic, 1/2 c diced onions, 1/4 c rice vinegar, 1/4 c soy sauce and a few dashes of Togarashi seasoning.  This seasoning is found in most Japanese markets and makes these dishes taste so authentic- it consists of sesame, ginger, orange peel, red pepper and chili pepper.  

Once the wok has been seasoned with these contents, add the noodles to the wok and mix well to ensure all the noodles are evenly coated with your sauce.  If you are looking to make edamame by itself in the wok- this same marinade used to season the wok is great for that as well.

Serve and enjoy!

Leek Chicken Stock with Noodles and Bagel Garlic Bread

Leek Chicken Stock with Noodles

Bagel Garlic Bread

For the past 8 months our family has done everything on a very strategic budget- pretty simple: if you don't have the cash to buy the item, don't buy it!  That being said, I shop once a month- yes only once, and when the groceries are up, they are up!  I obviously don't have my family go hungry, but creativity and planning is huge.  I make a little extra for the hubby's lunch the next day and the final week of the month, I often feel like I am on those cooking shows that have the mystery baskets that you have to create meals from- I honestly love the challenge and my hubby and kids typically enjoy those meals the best!

Well, today I woke with a sore throat and thought to make chicken soup, regardless of the fact that it is July in Southern California- comfort food is still comfort food when you don't feel well!  This week is our families final week of groceries before going shopping again and I didn't have a lot of the ingredients I would use to typically make my chicken noodle soup, so instead I made this version tonight, adapting to what I did have-

Boil a pot of water for your noodles, in another pot heat 64 ounces of chicken stock (enough so that this meal turns into the hubby's lunch for tomorrow as well), and in a fry pan heat the pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil.  I had 2 cups of chopped leak that I browned in my fry pan, I then added 3 tbsp minced garlic, sprinkled in 2 tbsp parsley and 1/2 tbsp thyme.  I added a bit of red pepper as well as black pepper to season.  Once all these flavors were incorporated I chopped a chicken breast into bite size cubes and added it to the fry pan as well.  Once all cooked I added this to my boiling chicken stock.  At this time my noodles were finishing as well- drain and also add to the stock.  I finished the soup with 1/3 c of lemon juice and mixed all together.  I lowered my heat to get started on my other part of the meal.

It is always nice to have a side of bread with soup- but as stated, my options were limited as we were closing in our month's groceries.  I had 2 plain bagels left so I slice them in half and each in half again.  I placed them on a cookie sheet and drizzled olive oil over the tops and added garlic powder, parmesan and parsley.  I baked these for 5 minutes at 350 degrees and then turned my oven to broil for 3 minutes to make the tops crispy. 

Serve your soup and bread and enjoy!