Weekly Recipe Roundup

Another fun week in the kitchen! Every time I get to play in the kitchen, I realize how much I love it and how I'd love to cook for others in terms of a little lunch and bakery spot. Some day, some day... Until then, I'll just share my discoveries with you via my pictures and words.

Up first is a recipe that will probably sound odd but if you love bread, especially pancakes, you're bound to love it as much as I did. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the cookbook I got this out of. I just remember checking it out at the library at the same time I checked out Dorie Greenspan's infamous book, "From My Home to Yours". I know this was in a cookbook dedicated solely to pancakes and perhaps it was another one of Dorie's. Nonetheless, I'll post the recipe at the bottom since I can't link to it. Wes and I both agreed that the accompanying crab salad was the highlight of the recipe. It made for a perfectly light summer dinner, along with some fresh grilled veggies.

I love nothing more than to create a meal without a recipe (crutch). Well, I guess I love it more when the meal actually ends up tasting good! This was one of those meals. I did get inspiration from Epicurious and their Honey and Soy Glazed Salmon. I added a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger to the sauce and substituted 1 tsp sesame oil for 1/2 of the canola. I tried to think of some of the pairings nice restaurants use with fish entrees and realized they're usually pretty simple, yet well done. I came up with cream cheese grits and sauteed spinach. With the sauce from the salmon recipe and my fancy (cheap) new plates, I had a restaurant quality presentation that tasted as good as it looked!

I'd put this recipe for Spinach Ravioli Lasagna right up there with some of the best in my arsenal. I made this for my mom's birthday and we all loved it. So much so, we were literally licking the sauce off the plate! There are a few straight-off-the-shelf items you'll have to look past but the taste more than compensates for those - oh and the ease of it is pretty nice too! I added some diced sun-dried tomatoes in between the layers but otherwise followed the recipe as written. This is definitely a keeper!

Do you watch Top Chef? That's one show that Wes and I actually watch together. We're loving the current season of Top Chef Masters. We've thoroughly enjoyed looking up each of the chef's restaurants and drooling over their menus. Needless to say, our list of "to try" places keeps getting longer and longer. Well one of the chefs is Art Smith. He's a rotund ball of feminine energy who spares no calories in his cooking. He's famous for cooking for Oprah and more recently, Obama. I've had one of his recipes in my binder for years but have just never gotten around to making it. For some reason, I ran across it recently and finally managed to work it into my menu this week. Why oh why did I wait so long?! This goat cheese biscuit recipe is to die for! Wes gives compliments but rarely goes on and on about anything - that is until he tasted these biscuits. He proclaimed them to be "restaurant quality" and that we'd rave about them if they were served in a restaurant. The goat cheese is definitely the punch factor that sets them apart from other biscuits. I used herbed goat cheese and would recommend that for added flavor. Seriously, add these to your menu right now!

SPICY BUTTERMILK CRAB CAKES TOPPED WITH TOMATO CRAB SALAD

1 ¼ C flour

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Pinch of cayenne

1 ½ cups buttermilk

2 eggs

3 T melted butter

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

¾ tsp Tabasco

6 oz. crabmeat

3 scallions, white part only, thinly sliced (I accidentally omitted)

3 T. minced fresh basil

Whisk dry and wet separately. Gently fold in crab, scallions, and basil. Cook on griddle, spreading out batter when you put it on the griddle.

TOMATO CRAB SALAD

¾ pound crabmeat, flaked (I used imitation crab)

Juice of ½ lemon

3 T. mayo

2 tsp ketchup

¼ tsp Tabasco

1-2 tsp prepared horseradish

Pinch of cayenne

1 tomato, cored, seeded, and diced

2 T. minced fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together gently; salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately or store in a covered container for up to 1 day.