Recipe for Strawberry Crepes with Nutella
Ingredients

Crepes
•1 cup low-fat milk
•1 cup flour
•3 extra large eggs
•1 tsp salt
•½ tsp vanilla
•1½ tsp sugar
•1 tbsp butter

Whipped Cream
•½ cup heavy cream
•¼ tsp vanilla
•2 tsp sugar

Crepe Filling
•Nutella
•fresh strawberries

How-to Make
1.Whisk eggs and milk together with a fork until blended. Then gradually add flour, beating with a hand mixer
2.Add the vanilla, salt and sugar. Beat again with the hand mixer for 2 minutes
3.Heat crepe pan on medium heat, coating it with butter
4.Pour the crepe batter into the middle of the pan. Quickly rotate the pan to cover the entire surface. (The goal is thin, crisp pancakes, not thick ones.)
5.After about 2 minutes, flip the crepe and add strawberries, Nutella, or both
6.Fold in half, then in quarters and plate with freshly cut strawberries and/or homemade whipped cream

courtesy of www.how2heroes.com

I spent three weeks this summer at a writing camp at Sewanee outside of Nashville, TN, so now biscuits have become a food very close to my heart.  I had them almost every morning for breakfast before camp.

The big question when it comes to these Southern comfort classics is this:

What is better?  Fluffy or Flaky?

I had mostly fluffy biscuits in Nashville.  So, back in the comfort of my grandmother’s Jersey Shore kitchen, I set out to see which type of biscuit reins supreme. Biscuit wars here we come!  The first day I tried making fluffy biscuits. With nothing more that heavy cream, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, my biscuits were in the oven baking up only 10 minutes after I was hit with the craving. Smothered with clover honey, they were delicious.

But what if I was missing out on something big with the layered, buttery, cholesterol-laden flaky type biscuits. So 2 days later I set out with “The Best of America’s Test Kitchen’s” flaky biscuit recipe to see which biscuit was superior. After about an hour (I kid you not) of chilling and rolling and folding and rolling and folding and rolling and cutting and preheating, my biscuits (which very much resembled hockey pucks) went into the oven.

All I was left to do was pray. And threaten. I kept saying, “these better be good, because this is taking an incredibly long time.” I stood guard next to that oven for the full 15 minutes (except for one bathroom break) …but even then my thoughts were plagued by the image of hard, flat and burnt biscuits. After the timer dinged, I held my breath and opened the oven door. And, oh, were they beautiful. They rose high and were golden brown and oh so delicately flaky. It was truly unbelievable how perfectly flaky they were.  And when I whisked them out of the oven and onto the counter, that long hour of work left my brain and all I could think was “it was worth it!” I’m a convert.

 

But even though the flaky, buttery biscuits went over unanimously well in the Rosen household, I personally will be saving that recipe for special occasions, and sticking to the fluffy biscuits that can be out of the oven and in my mouth 25 minutes after the craving hits again.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 bananas, very ripe

2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup butter, softened

Mash the bananas up with a potato masher.  Then add in your eggs (which already were beaten).  Then, cut in the butter., using a pastry knife and set aside.  Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Then combine the dry mixture with the wet ingredients so that you have a thick, bananaey mixture, all moist.

Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes.  Stick with a knife to determine if it is cooked through.  Bread should be golden brown on the outside.  Set aside to cool and then enjoy!

Looking for more award-winning recipes? Check out this recipe for my Double Trouble Chocolate Zabaglione!

 

Photo and video courtesy of www.how2heroes.com

Ingredients

Crepes

• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1 cup flour
• 3 extra large eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1½ tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp butter

Whipped Cream

• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp sugar

How-To

1. Whisk eggs and milk together with a fork until blended.  Then gradually add flour, beating with a hand mixer
2. Add the vanilla, salt and sugar.  Beat again with the hand mixer for 2 minutes
3. Heat crepe pan on medium heat, coating it with butter
4. Pour the crepe batter into the middle of the pan.  Quickly rotate the pan to cover the entire surface. (The goal is thin, crisp pancakes, not thick ones.)
5. After about 2 minutes, flip the crepe and add strawberries, Nutella, or both
6. Fold in half, then in quarters and plate with freshly cut strawberries and/or homemade whipped cream

Photo and video courtesy of www.how2heroes.com

Ingredients

Pesto Sauce – makes 1 cup

• 3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled, end trimmed
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided into 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (plus more if needed)
• salt & pepper for seasoning

Pie Crust – makes 2 crusts (freeze 1 for future use)

• 2 cups flour + more for dusting work space
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1½ sticks butter, room temperature
• 6 tbsp ice water

Souffliche Base

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup hot milk
• salt & pepper for seasoning
• 4 extra-large egg yolks

Filling

• ⅓ cup finely-grated Parmesan cheese + more for topping
• ⅓ cup pesto sauce*
• 1½ tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped finely
• 5 extra-large egg whites
• ⅛ tsp cream of tartar
• salt for seasoning

HOW-TO

Make Pesto

1. Place the garlic cloves in a small pan over medium heat and toast for 3-4 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, until light brown. Remove from pan, and set aside to cool
2. Turn off the heat and immediately place the pine nuts in the still hot pan from the garlic and toss about 2-3 minutes until golden brown
3. Place basil, pine nuts, garlic and 3 tbsp of cheese in the bowl of a food processor
4. Pulse and stream in olive oil until the desired consistency is reached (a thick paste is usually what you’re looking for). Scrape down sides of food processor if necessary to be certain all ingredients have been blended
5. Season with salt and pepper and blend just a couple of seconds to incorporate
6. Remove pesto from food processor. Fold in the remaining 2 tbsp of cheese. Adjust oil, salt and pepper to taste and it’s ready to serve

Make Pie Crust

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Combine flour and salt in medium bowl
3. Add room-temperature butter, and incorporate into flour with hands until fat is in pebble-sized pieces
4. Add ice water slowly, mixing with hands. Gather into ball and divide in two portions. Wrap one portion in plastic, and freeze for future use
5. Roll into round, ¼” thickness. Place in pie plate and crimp edges
6. Bake for 6 minutes. Take out and let cool while making the souffle base

Prepare Souffle Base

1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Using a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add flour and stir with a wire whisk constantly, 1 minute
3. Add hot milk, salt and pepper, and cook for 1 more minute
4. Remove from heat. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and whisk until combined
5. Add ⅓ cup of pesto and the Parmesan cheese. Stir until combined and place into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the chopped sun-dried tomatoes
6. Whip egg whites in a mixer with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. Whip 1 minute on low speed, 1 minute on medium speed and 1 minute on high speed. Look for medium-stiff peaks

Assemble & Bake

1. Stir ¼ of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk-pesto mixture. Working in 3 parts of the remaining egg white mixture, gently fold in ⅓ at a time until all egg while mixture is combined with the egg yolk mixture, careful not to fold too much and deflate egg whites
2. Transfer to pie crust, top with grated cheese, and bake for 20-25 minutes. The souffliche should be golden-brown and fluffy, ready to eat immediately

Photo and video courtesy of www.how2heroes.com