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Apr 30, 2018

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

This Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole is loaded with sausage, eggs, hash brown potatoes, and lots of cheese. It can be assembled the night before, and then baked and served for breakfast or brunch the next morning.

This post is sponsored in conjunction with BrunchWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the BrunchWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

Cheesy Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole #Brunch #Casserole #Hashbrowns





 This breakfast casserole also makes excellent leftovers! Just store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to five days. We reheated slices in the toaster oven at 350 degrees F.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

These Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins are like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the form of a muffin. They have the savory sweet flavor of a peanut butter cookie, complimented by a filling of strawberry jam.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

You can make these peanut butter and jelly muffins with any jelly or jam you like. I used some homemade strawberry jam that I had made for this strawberry swirl brioche, For a more traditional PB&J flavor, grape jelly would be delicious in these.
Apr 25, 2018

Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Knots

Made from scratch Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Knots! The dough is really easy to make, and produces a soft and slightly chewy pretzel.

What gives homemade soft pretzels their amazing dark color and distinctive flavor is dipping them in a bath of water and baking soda before baking. It's not as scary as it sounds.

Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Knots

Instead of pretzel salt, I topped these soft pretzel knots with Everything Bagel topping. Everything Bagels got their name from bakers taking all of the leftover bagel toppings, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion flakes, dried garlic, and salt, and combining them together and sprinkling the mixture over bagels.
Apr 24, 2018

Stir-Fried Crispy Orange Beef

Crispy Orange Beef is a classic Chinese take-out dish made with thinly sliced steak that has been marinated in orange juice, soy sauce, and garlic, stir-fried with a corn starch coating, and then tossed in an orange, Sichuan peppercorn, and scallion sauce.

Stir-Fried Crispy Orange Beef

Unlike the gloppy orange beef that is breaded and deep fried, this crispy orange beef is briefly marinated in a mixture of soy sauce and orange juice, coated in corn starch, and then quickly fried in batches in a wok.
Apr 20, 2018

Chicken Orzo Soup with Spring Vegetables

This Chicken Orzo Soup with Spring Vegetables is hearty and filling, and the broth, made from a chopped up whole chicken, takes less than an hour. 


Chicken Orzo Soup with Spring Vegetables

In fact, this Chicken Orzo Soup with Spring Vegetables tastes like it has been simmering for several hours.
Apr 19, 2018

Causa Limeña de Cangrejo (Layered Potato, Crab, and Avocado Salad)

Causa Limeña de Cangrejo is a layered potato, crab, and avocado salad from Peru. The potatoes are infused with the flavors of lime and ají peppers. 


Causa Limeña de Cangrejo (Layered Potato, Crab, and Avocado Salad)

This Causa, or Peruvian potato salad, has a delicious layer of crab salad sandwiched between ají spiced potatoes and sliced avocado. Causas can also be made with shrimp, tuna, or chicken salad.
Apr 17, 2018

Strawberry Swirl No-Knead Brioche with Strawberry Lime Jam | Strawberry Shortcake Bread

I am loving this strawberry swirl no-knead brioche bread. It's just slightly sweet and slightly buttery, and very soft and airy. To make it even tastier, it is filled with a swirl of homemade strawberry lime jam. 


Strawberry Swirl No-Knead Brioche with Strawberry Lime Jam

This strawberry swirl bread is actually pretty easy to make, as long as you are comfortable with very sticky dough. It's very similar to working with a sticky ciabatta dough, except that this dough is enriched with some sugar, butter, and milk, resulting in a very tender bread.

Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies are surprisingly complex and flavorful. I may never go back to just wheat flour for chocolate chip cookies. 


Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the keys to making these rye chocolate chip cookies is toasting the rye flour in a skillet until it gets all fragrant and browned. It adds an amazing nutty flavor to these chocolate chip cookies.

Apr 16, 2018

Sautéed Shrimp with Capers and Olives

This sautéed shrimp with capers and olives is so easy to whip up with ingredients you probably have on hand. It takes about 20 minutes to make, and paired with rice and a salad, makes a fabulous weeknight or "company's coming" dinner. 
Sautéed Shrimp with Capers and Olives

The sauce in this shrimp with capers and olives is also wonderful for dipping crusty garlic bread into too.

Lariano-Style Bread | Pane di Lariano

This Lariano-Style Bread is a strongly flavored sourdough bread and is wonderful served with cured meats, smoked fish, or a garlicky bruschetta. 

It's origins are in the Lazio region of Italy, just outside of Rome. The bread is traditionally baked to a deep brown color in a chestnut wood fired oven. 


Lariano-Style Bread | Pane di Lariano

This Lariano-style bread begins with a firm sourdough starter, or lievito madre. I used my 100% hyration (flour to water ratio) to build a firm starter.
Apr 15, 2018

Easy Homemade Herb Crusted Italian Bread

This homemade herb crusted Italian bread is soft, flavorful, and most of all, one of the easiest yeast breads I've ever made. 


Easy Homemade Herb Crusted Italian Bread

While I love the challenge of making an artisan bread that requires several steps (and possibly several days), sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than pulling together a dough in the morning, and slicing and serving the bread by lunchtime.
Apr 10, 2018

Detroit-Style Pepperoni Pizza

You probably haven't heard of Detroit-Style Pepperoni Pizza, even though it's been around for nearly 70 years. It was introduced to Detroit by Buddy's Pizza, a restaurant chain from the Detroit area. 

Legend has it that Detroit-style pizza was first baked in blue steel pans that were originally utility trays that held hardware and tools for assembling automobiles. 


Detroit-Style Pepperoni Pizza

There are probably a lot of arguments about authentic Detroit-style pizza. For example, "do you add the sauce before baking or after?" Or... "Isn't this is really just Sicilian (or Grandma) pizza?"
Apr 9, 2018

Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with a Chocolate Glaze

These Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with a Chocolate Glaze combine the flavors of what just might be a marriage made in flavor heaven, red wine and deep, dark chocolate. 

I just happened to have some 70% bittersweet chocolate as well as a bottle of Chilean Carménère. While tasting the chocolate and sipping on the Carménère sounded like the perfect evening, combining the two ingredients into a dark chocolate cupcake also sounded like a wonderful way to use both ingredients.


Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with a Chocolate Glaze

The flavor of these Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes with a Chocolate Glaze is very rich, intense, and not overly sweet. This is a grown up cupcake.
Apr 7, 2018

Butter Crumb Coffee Cake

This Butter Crumb Coffee Cake will take you back to your childhood. It's been a long time since I've had a real coffee cake, and even longer since I've made one. 

Butter Crumb Coffee Cake

This butter crumb coffee cake is topped with the most amazing cinnamon and walnut streusel. There is a lot of of streusel on top of this coffee cake, and every bit of it will take you back to 7th grade "home economics" class. Only it's way better.
Apr 4, 2018

Garlic Knots

I don't know what took me so long to make Garlic Knots. They just might be my new favorite yeasted rolls. Rest assured, no vampires will be visiting your house with these around! 

Garlic Knots




These garlic knots involve sautéing nearly a whole head of minced garlic in butter, adding the solids to the dough, and then brushing the rolls with the resulting garlicky butter, once during baking, and then on the rolls when they are fresh and hot from the oven. 


Apr 2, 2018

Spinach Salad with Pancetta, Eggs, and Mustard-Shallot Vinaigrette

This spinach salad with pancetta, eggs, and mustard-shallot vinaigrette is a delicious way to get your leafy greens in either a light meal, or as an appetizer salad. 

Spinach Salad with Pancetta, Eggs, and Mustard-Shallot Vinaigrette

This spinach salad with pancetta, eggs, and mustard-shallot vinaigrette also includes homemade croutons from leftover bread.