Bake. Laugh. Eat. Repeat.
There really isn’t that much to say about this cobbler…
Except maybe that it is the work of 1 humble skillet, 11 simple ingredients and 40 short minutes in the oven.
Or perhaps that it’s the perfect vehicle for crisp, sweet, springtime apples, such as the lovely Pink Lady and some tart Granny Smiths, both of which fairly burst with flavor when cooked into a luscious caramel-coated cobbler just like this one.
Remember that time?
So, so long ago?
Just after Al Gore invented the Interwebz?
When I was a food blogger?
Ugh.
Sincerest, sincerest apologies friends and hungry people. What can I say?
Life… it won’t stop happening to me!
Someone please make it stop!!
Just kidding.
But I’m seriously back in action with some serious foodstuffs that I want nothing more than to share with you.
So let’s start at the very beginning.
A very good place to start.
When you read you begin with A-B-C.
When you eat you begin with break-break-breakfast.
Which brings us to these Chia Flapjacks topped with a sweet and spicy Strawberry Salsa!
Take that, life!
I really am a huge fan of these flapjacks, and I have a feeling that you will be too.
Don’t be intimidated by the chia: they’re nothing more than the newest superfood rocking the block. My local national chain market recently started stocking chia next to the wild rice and quinoa. And all you need to do (I insist!) is lightly toast the seeds in a dry pan for 3-4 minutes, or until the seeds have darkened slightly and become fragrant. To my eye, chia seeds resemble poppy seeds. To my nose and palate, they have a lovely nutty aroma and a crunchy, satisfying texture. They’re really nice stuffed into fluffy, warm morning flapjacks.
And don’t forget the strawberry salsa!
So pretty. So colorful. So spicy with a bit of minced serrano and chopped basil.
It’s just super isn’t it?
Super chia in some super flapjacks taking over your super Monday. So super, Al Gore must have invented it!
Either way, thanks for your super patience. I’m glad to be back in the super saddle again.
Chia Flapjacks With Strawberry Salsa
For the salsa:
1 lb. strawberries, hulled, diced
1 tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 tsp. white sugar, granulated
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large basil leaves, chopped
2 serrano chiles, stemmed, diced (Note that you may remove the seeds from these chiles before chopping if you prefer to lessen their heat.)
For the flapjacks:
1/3 c. chia seeds
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. white sugar, granulated
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. whole milk
1 large egg
2 tbsp. vegetable oil + more for frying (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
To prepare the salsa, place the strawberry pieces, lime juice, sugar and salt in a large bowl, stir together, and set aside to macerate for 30 minutes. After half an hour, stir in the basil and chile pieces. Note that this salsa may be stored in a covered container, preferably a glass jar, for up to two weeks in the refrigerator, and, in fact, its flavor improves and deepens with time.
To prepare the flapjacks, place the chia seeds in a dry pan over a medium flame and, tossing frequently, toast for 3-5 minutes or until the seeds have deepened in color and are fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Whisk the milk, egg, two tablespoons of vegetable oil and vanilla extract together in another large bowl. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing just until you have a smooth, uniform batter. Fold in the chia seeds.
To fry the flapjacks, heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over a medium flame. Note that preparing perfect pancakes depends to a large degree on the type of cooking vessel you are using: if you are using a nonstick griddle or pan, you will likely not need to grease it with any additional oil. If you are using cast iron or stainless steel, you may want to consider adding one tablespoon of oil to the pan before frying each batch of pancakes. Either way, be sure not to heat your pan over too high a flame or the cakes will burn on the outside without cooking through on the inside.
Once your pan or griddle is heated, portion the batter out onto the cooking surface (I chose to make larger cakes by using a quarter cup measure here). Cook for just one to one and a half minutes on each side; finished cakes will be puffed and golden brown across their tops and bottoms. Remove cooked flapjacks and repeat with additional batches as necessary. These flapjacks are best served straight from the pan or griddle, topped with strawberry salsa.
YIELD: 8 large flapjacks and approximately 2 cups of salsa
I owe you an apology. And a slice of pie. OK, maybe a couple of slices.
Because although my little southwest kitchen has been bustling, I’ve been remiss in sharing all the juicy details with you over the past few weeks.
But I have an explanation! And it’s a good one! And it involves lots and lots and lots of technology fails, potty-mouthed tirades, and hatred of all things bandwith, byte, bitmap and Boolean. But I won’t bore you with the details.
Instead I’ll just tell you that the techno-troubles are resolved and now it’s time to churn out more goodness than you can shake a server at: there’s going to be cookies, there’s going to be gifties, there’s going to be laughter, and there’s most certainly going to be some good cheer.
But for now, there’s pie. The most delicious, candy bar-esque, toasted pecan-stuffed, Mexican-chocolate and graham-crusted pie that you can possibly imagine.
So dig in, strap up, and stay tuned. Because it’s about to get festive all up in here.
Mexican Chocolate-Crusted Pecan Pie
Chef’s Note: This recipe yields a thick, thick crust and quite a bit of filling – you’re going to want to be sure to use a 9″ deep-dish pie plate and, although I’ve never had any spillage while baking this pie, you may want to place the pie plate on a sheet tray before placing it in the oven, just to be safe.
For the crust:
1 package (9 whole) graham crackers
2 discs Mexican chocolate, melted (approximately 6.3 ounces)
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
2 c. dark brown sugar, tightly packed
11 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 c. pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350°.
Spread the pecan pieces evenly over a sheet tray and toast for approximately 8 minutes or until deep brown and fragrant. Remove and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, to prepare the crust, place the graham crackers and melted chocolate into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until smooth and blended. Process in the melted butter – the finished mixture should be the consistency of coarse, damp sand. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ deep-dish pie plate. Set aside.
To prepare the pie filling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, salt and then flour. Fold in the pecans. Carefully pour the filling over the crust and smooth across the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes. The finished pie will be crisp, puffed and golden on top. Remove and set aside to cool slightly before serving.
YIELD: approximately 10 servings
Is there anything better than finishing up a weekend with a major pan of brownies? If so, you’re going to have to tell me what’s what – I’ve got nothing.
I just feel that it’s important to end things on a positive note. Kind of send yourself off into the wilds of the week with a warm and fuzzy tucked in your pocket. Then, when your boss is yelling, your bills are piling, your traffic is inching, and your head is aching, you can reach back into the recesses of your mind to find that special memory and keep yourself going. Or, if you’re really a planner, you can reach into your pocket and take out that one last brownie you saved yourself and find some very special comfort there.
The seed of these brownies began germinating on Thursday afternoon.
I was thinking about chocolate and I was thinking about ricotta cheese. I was thinking about soft, moist brownies with a chewy/crisp crust. And I was thinking about what it would take to bring all of these things together in one pan.
Rich, chocolaty, gluten-free brownies seemed like the best vehicle.
I don’t want to distract you with a whole lot of blah-blah-blahbibbity-blah today: we’ve got the matter of this cake to attend to. And I want to make sure that you aren’t distracted.
Put your full focus on this cake.
In case you’re not familiar with a mostachon cake, it’s a traditional meringue-style cake from Monterrey, Mexico. It typically includes cookies or crackers in the meringue.
But here’s a secret: I don’t like meringue. Apologies, apologies, apologies – I just don’t.
So I flipped the script on a traditional mostachon and made it much more like a conventional cake. I kept the cookies in the mix, incorporating sweet, crisp Maria crackers. And then I threw in some bursting fresh blueberries and topped it off with a tart goat cheese frosting.
You’re going to want to make some room in your weekend for this cake. Pretty amazeballs.
Today will be something of a wordless Wednesday…
as I show you a few simple pictures of some sweet, simple cookies that I made from a retro recipe found in my grandmother’s collection.
Isn’t baking fun? Yes! Duh.
And when it comes to baking, I actually enjoy the failures just as much as the successes. Most of the time.
Take the Milk Bar cookie, for example.
It would be an understatement to say that the story of Me & The Milk Bar Cookie began as a tale of epic failure. Fire reigning from the sky. Swarms of locusts. Clothing rending. Fetal positioning. (Stay with me – there’s chocolate at the end of this story.)
If you’ve stopped by here on a Monday over the past few months, you know that I have no shortage of love for all things Milk Bar: cakes, pies, curds and creams – there’s really nothing for a sugar addict such as myself not to love.
So cookies were going to be a lock, right? Simple to bake, so easy to consume, cookies, to me, are like dessert redux; they’re everything a sweet tooth could want and so much more.
A loving loved one sat me down last week and reminded me of all the things that I didn’t learn to accept until later in life. Adult-like things that I only recently came around on. This list includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1. Salads
2. Salad spinners
3. Wearing socks
4. Washing socks
5. Coexisting peacefully with spiders
6. Respectable bedtimes
Loving loved one tells me that it’s questionable as to whether I have yet to actually accept numbers 1 and 6.
Three things that I have embraced with open arms since birth:
1. Ice cream
2. Pie
3. Bacon
So when I learned that National Ice Cream Day was about to be upon us, I began plotting a way to combine all of these personal favorites.
And thus, as we celebrate ice cream all day today, I am here to present you with a Dulce De Leche Ice Cream Pie with a Bacon & Graham Cracker Crust. Take that Mr. Salad Spinner.
The truth is that I am very much on a sweet/salty kick right now, and it’s a delicate, delicate balance to strike. You must involve just the right amount of salty flavor without too much cloying sweetness. It takes precision, concentration, and more than a few taste tests.
Bacon and caramel create that perfect balance for you naturally: bacon is salty with just a touch of smoky flavor, and caramel is sweet without being overwhelming and overpowering, as chocolate can sometimes be.
Plus it’s about a gajillion degrees outside. You may have noticed? So this sweet/salty pie was always going to happen today.
I wish I liked coffee. I really do.
I have this idea that if I liked coffee I’d be more sophisticated. Just a little more glamorous.
If I liked coffee I probably wouldn’t have such a potty mouth. I’d be fresh like driven snow!
If I liked coffee I probably wouldn’t be sitting here in yoga pants and an old Brew Thru tee shirt. I’d be wearing culottes and a jaunty scarf around my neck!
I just think that if I could get behind a morning cup of java, I’d be the best version of myself.
But, alas, I can’t stand the stuff. And I’ve tried!
Instead I prefer to attend business meeting with a 153 oz. fountain soda in hand. Arrive at family functions with a 2 liter tucked in my pocket. Wear my soda love on my sleeve.
What can I say?
Intellectually I know that it’s undignified to slurp out of a bottle or can in polite company, but soda has remained a hold-over comfort from my schooling days and I refuse to give it up.
And now my daily diet soda has taken the place of my childhood security blanket. I feel unprepared without it. Naked until it’s in hand. Mentally verklempt until I’ve started my journey to the bottom of the koozie-protected can (Yes, it’s a Brew Thru koozie and yes, I’m officially a hot mess.).
Not a lot of words today. Just a few pictures.
Pictures telling the story of a clumsy batch of Agave Nut Bars that tripped and fell into some melted chocolate.
Really? Be more careful, lil’ Agave Nut Bars! What if you’d fallen into a pot of my mole negro?!? Uh… whatever. More on that later.
