Roasted Garlic

Roasting garlic is so easy that if you have never done it, I highly recommend that after reading this, you give it a try, because it's fantastic.  All you need is a couple full bulbs of garlic and some olive oil.  

To roast garlic:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Peel away the outer layers of skin from the garlic bulb, but keep the bulb intact and do not remove the individual skins from the cloves.  Use a sharp knife to cut off the top quarter inch or so of the bulb, so that you can see into each clove.  Place the bulb, right side up, either into the cup of a muffin pan, or on a piece of foil.  If using foil, fold the edges up into a cup shape.  A tablespoon of olive oil over the garlic, making sure to get some on each clove.  If using foil, seal the foil around the bulb, if using a muffin pan, fold/crinkle up a small piece of foil to cover the   cup(s) containing bulbs.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool until you can touch the bulb with your fingers.  Garlic should now be soft.  You can use a pairing knife to cut open the individual skins and remove the cloves, but I usually just use my fingers.  I gently rip the skins open and squeeze the cloves out.  Place the cloves in a small jar and add just enough olive oil to cover the garlic.  Discard skins.  To use, crush garlic using a fork or your fingers and add to veggies, pasta, or any other desired dish while cooking.  This is my favorite way to use roasted garlic...

Roasted Garlic Pizza
Pizza Crust
Alfredo Sauce (I just use my favorite jarred sauce)
5+ large Cloves Roasted Garlic
Fontina Cheese, shredded
Chopped Fresh Parsley

Place crust or dough on a pizza pan or baking sheet.  Evenly spread desired amount of sauce onto crust.  Crush and pull apart garlic cloves and spread over sauce.  Top with cheese and garnish with parsley.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted and begins to turn golden.  
*I got this recipe from my favorite pizza restaurant and it's absolutely one of the best pizzas I have ever had!

Mmm... Pancakes

I made pancakes for breakfast this morning and decided I would share my favorite recipe and a few ways to change it up.  Enjoy!

Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine all other ingredients in another bowl.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour milk mixture into the well.  Using a wooden spoon, fold all ingredients together until entirely combined, but do not over mix - batter should be a bit lumpy.  Cook desired size pancakes over medium heat in a lightly buttered skillet or shallow pan.  It's time to flip them when the surface of the batter becomes covered with bubbles.  (I remember my dad teaching me that trick while making pancakes over a campfire roughly 20 years ago!)

*If you are like me, you don't usually have buttermilk in your kitchen.  However, you can easily make your own buttermilk if you have regular milk and either lemon juice or vinegar.  Measure out the needed amount of milk, leave it in the measuring cup and add a bit of lemon juice or vinegar - 1 tbsp per cup of milk.  Mix and let sit for about 10 minutes.  The milk will thicken and curdle a bit... and you have buttermilk!

*Another good substitute for buttermilk is yogurt.  My dad always puts yogurt in his famous waffle batter and it also works in pancakes.  Instead of buttermilk, use any type of yogurt mixed with a bit of water or skim milk.  I like this idea because you can add extra flavor by using different kinds of yogurt - I like to use cherry vanilla, or mixed berry yogurt.

*Make blueberry-lemon pancakes by adding the juice of half of a lemon and 1-2 cups of fresh blueberries to the original recipe above.

*Make vanilla-raspberry pancakes by adding 1-2 tsp vanilla and 1 cup of lightly smashed fresh raspberries to the original recipe above.

*Make more hearty pancakes by substituting 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour and add 1-2 tsp of ground cinnamon.