Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Hi all,

I thank J for encouraging me to continue on posting recipes. I hit a bit of a dry spot with trying new recipes and recently I've gotten more organized and tried a bunch of new recipes! So, this recipe is perfect if you make the stuffed eggplant. You'll end up with a half a carton of ricotta. Sometimes I'll use the ricotta up, but sometimes I find it going bad in the back of the fridge. Not a good thing. But, here's the solution! I made just half a recipe to use up the ricotta, but you can make a whole recipe if you have a full carton of ricotta. The pancakes are great for a quick breakfast. They heat up quicky, just pop them in a toaster.

Mixed the following together in a large bowl.

1 1/2 cup flour (You can use gluten free flour for this recipe)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar


In a small bowl mix the following ingredients and stir until smooth.

2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups whole milk
grated rind and juice of 2 lemons

Add ricotta mixture to flour mixture and stir until just smooth.

In a large skillet melt the butter over medium-high heat.

1 tablespoon butter (You will add more butter with subsequent batches.)

After the butter melts, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot skillet for each pancake. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is brown. Flip. Cook the other side for about a minute more. You want to be sure that the skillet is hot enough, but if it's too hot, the pancake will cook too fast on one side and it won't be easy to flip.

When you finish the first batch add more butter and repeat. You can keep the pancakes hot while you make the next batch. These are great with some maple syrup and berries.

I hope you'll like these as much as we did. They have a wonderful light and fluffy texture. Yum!

Love,
Mom  :  )

Basic Meat Loaf - Comfort Food

Hi,

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I've posted any new recipes. I decided to take some online courses and the two classes have been distracting me from my recipe blogging. But I finished my one course and got a 94 on the final. Not too bad... K requested a meat loaf recipe and I did end up giving her one over the phone, but I thought because meat loaf is such a great comfort food and very good for left overs, my recipe blog would be lacking without it.

If you make the whole recipe with 2 pounds of ground meat you can bake half shaped into a loaf and take the other half and shape them into meat balls. Then bake both in the oven. The meat balls will take about half the time as the meat loaf. Bake the meat loaf in a pyrex baking dish and bake the meatballs on a rimmed baking pan. You can also just make one big meat loaf and it will heat up great for leftovers or for meat loaf sandwiches.

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs, fresh if possible
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Soak the bread crumbs in milk.

2 pounds ground meats (I usually just use beef, but you can also make a mixture with lamb or pork)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
1 onion finely chopped
1 small carrot finely chopped (this is optional, I usually don't do this, but more veggies are always good)

Mix the above ingredients together. Add the soaked bread crumbs. Mix thoroughly. Shape the mixture into 1 large loaf or 1 small loaf and a pan of meatballs. The meat loaf will take 1 hour and 15 minutes and the meat balls will take about 30 minutes. The meat loaf will be done when no longer red in the center.

And don't forget to make meat loaf sandwiches! They are one of my favorites with a little dijon mustard and some arugula. Enjoy and receive hugs and warm thoughts from home because you know that meatloaf is comfort food.

Hugs,
Mameekosan