Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Salmon with Cowboy Potatoes

We tried a new salmon recipe tonight. It was delicious. The glaze is perfectly sweet and tangy. We've been making the potatoes forever and have added more and more veggies over the years.

Salmon
(Adapted slightly from Rachael Ray as the cyclist doesn't particularly like to read recipes. While I took number 3 to our neighbor/bishop/pediatrician for a quick ear infection diagnosis, Seth worked on dinner. I'll tell you how he made it because it was delicious.)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 T Dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
four (7 oz) salmon fillets

Preheat oven to 400. In small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, mustard, lemon juice and 1/2 t pepper.
Heat large, ovenproof skillet over high heat. Pour in about 1/3 of the sauce and place fish skin side up in the skillet. Cook until a crisp brown crust forms, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, flip salmon and coat with remaining mustard mixture. Transfer skillet to the oven and bake until the glaze caramelizes and fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes.


Cowboy Potatoes
Potatoes, quartered (sometimes we do red, sometimes russet)
Red onion, coarsely chopped
Baby Carrots
Whole mushrooms
olive oil
1 packet Lipton onion soup mix (dry)

Combine all veggies in large bowl. Coat with a couple tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with soup mix and stir to coat. Spread evenly onto large rimmed baking sheet. Cook at 450, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender on the inside and crisp on the outside, about 1 hour.

Orange Cranberry Pull-Aparts

This is a variation of the overnight sticky buns. I just love a yummy hot breakfast that can be prepared the night before. These were out of the oven before my girls (or my husband) were out of bed. What a nice treat to wake up to!

12 to 16 frozen white roll dough (still frozen) 

1 (3.4 oz.) package vanilla non-instant pudding 

¼ cup sugar 

¼ cup dried cranberries 

zest of one orange
½ cup butter, melted 




Sprinkle cranberries in the bottom of a greased Bundt pan. Arrange rolls evenly in pan.
 Mix sugar and dry pudding together and sprinkle over rolls. 
Combine orange rind with melted butter and spoon over rolls. 
 Cover pan with sprayed plastic wrap. Place pan in cold oven overnight (8 to 10 hours). 
Remove rolls from oven. 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic wrap from pan and bake for 25 minutes (check about half way through, you may need to cover with foil if browning too quickly). Immediately invert pan onto a serving platter. 
Drizzle with frosting. 



Frosting 

1 cup powdered sugar 

1 tablespoon melted butter 

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Most of the things I make for brunch, I make simply because they look or sound decadent...with absolutely no concern for their nutritional make-up.
Going on a seven day cruise (and eating like a true cruiser) has changed my attitude, at least for this morning, maybe all week.

These pancakes taste delicious, and are made 100% with things you can pronounce. No preservatives, no enriched flour, nothing from a mix. I actually feel good about feeding these to my children. The batter whips up in under 5 minutes (and all in the blender, so your hands are free to cook up some homemade syrup). Pick up some wheat and keep it in your pantry. It will keep forever.
However, once you taste these, your wheat won't stay on the shelf long!


Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
adapted from "Wheat Cookin' Made Easy"

3 cups milk
2 cups whole-wheat kernels
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup cooking oil
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar or honey

Place milk and wheat in blender and blend at high speed for 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and process 1 minute more.
Cook pancakes on hot griddle, flipping once.

Serve hot with homemade syrup, fruit, or jam.

We served ours with a homemade raspberry syrup. While high in sugar, at least I knew exactly what was in it.

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 vanilla bean (split and scrape out seeds)

Combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Add raspberries, vanilla seeds and pod. Cook 3 minutes more. Strain through a fine sieve. Return to pot and cook over medium heat until reduces by about half, about 10 minutes.
Any leftover syrup will store well in refrigerator.
We're eating it tomorrow night for dessert over some fat free frozen yogurt and bananas.

Berry Brownie Tartlets

These are a delicious bite-size Valentines dessert. Aren't they cute?! You can make them with a boxed brownie mix but I think home-made are always better.


Special equipment needed: mini muffin pans and a tart shaper. If you don't have a tart shaper, you could probably use the back of a spoon, or, for all my drinking buddies, the bottom of a shot glass.


Tartlets:
1 cup butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour


Melt the chocolate and butter in a 2 quart bowl in the microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring every 20 – 30 seconds until the chocolate is melted. Cool slightly.
Add sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well with a spatula.
Add the flour and stir to combine. Scoop evenly into well greased mini muffin pan. (Makes about 4 dozen).
Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 12-13 minutes. (If they are undercooked, they will stick in the pan.)
Remove from oven and immediately press tops of brownies with tart shaper to create indentations. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Loosen edges and gently coax from pan. Let them cool completely. (I generally make them the night before and store them in a zip-loc bag until I need them.)

Filling:
2 oz white baking chocolate
2 T milk
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 c thawed cool whip
Berries

Melt white chocolate and milk in microwave or on stovetop. Stir until smooth. Set aside. Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar. Stir until smooth. Stir in white chocolate mixture. Fold in cool whip.
Fill tartlets with cream cheese filling, using a pastry bag or dollop with a spoon. Arrange a sliced strawberry over the filling. Refrigerate 1-3 hours before serving.

Tartlets?... Tartlets?... Tartlets?... the word has lost all meaning.

Snickerdoodles

These are tasty little cookies that you can make in a snap! To quickly soften the butter, put both sticks on a microwave safe plate and microwave on 50% power for about 30 seconds.

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 c butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
3 c flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t soda
1/2 t cream of tartar
mixture of cinnamon and sugar

Preheat oven to 375.
Cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add vanilla and almond. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, soda and cream of tartar. Add to mixer and mix until combined (don't over-mix.) Shape dough into small balls and roll in cinnamon/sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten slightly with bottom of measuring cup. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until bottoms are slightly golden. Cool on rack.