Blackberry Cobbler

*Photo courtesy of thePioneerWoman.com

Ree at Pioneer Woman has THE BEST recipes! Here is another of our family favorites we've found on her site. (She makes a second blackberry cobbler that I haven't yet tried so give it a whirl if you feel adventurous.)

Blackberry Cobbler
6 c fresh or frozen blackberries
1/2 c plus 4 T sugar
1 T lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
2 c flour
1/4 t salt
1 T baking powder
1/4 c vegetable shortening
4 T butter
1 egg
1/2 c milk
ice cream (optional, but oh so highly recommended!)

Preheat oven to 425. Combine blackberries, 1/2 c sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine, pour into baking dish and set aside.

In a separate bowl, pour flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 T sugar. Add shortening and butter and work mixture together with a pastry blender until the mixture is coarse. Measure 1/2 c milk, add an egg and mix together. Pour into flour mixture, stirring as you go. Mixture should be smooth and not dry but not overly sticky.

Take clumps of dough and place them on top of the blackberries. Lightly flatten dough with your fingertips. Sprinkle with 2-3 T sugar and bake until golden for 30 minutes. Berry juice will be slightly thin but don't be afraid. It will gradually soak into the cobbler topping.

*Jayne's notes: I forgot to add the lemon when I made this and it still tasted heavenly.

German Pancakes and Warm Peach Butter Sauce

Jayne's Notes: Home-grown and bottled peaches are like GOLD in our house! They are divine! I made this with a quart of these delicious peaches and it was ohhhh so good!! If you're on a diet, don't continue reading. Run away, far away! This is not light on calories but it tastes so good!!
Warm Peach Butter Sauce
1 pint peaches
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in a small saucepan. blend peaches in blender and add into butter. add sugar and salt. stir and bring to a boil. simmer until sauce thickens. stir in vanilla. serve warm with whipped cream.

German Pancakes

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Mix the eggs, milk, flour and salt until smooth. Pour the melted butter into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish; add the batter. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

(This is German pancakes recipe I found online. I'm sure it's very similar to mine as there isn't a whole lot of room to make changes with this simple recipe.)

Pioneer Woman's Crispy Yogurt Chicken

Crispy Yogurt Chicken

Chicken legs
2 c plain, unflavored yogurt
2-3 cloves garlic
parsley
juice of one lemon
salt
butter
2 c Panko Bread Crumbs
Begin by throwing 2 cups of plain yogurt into a mixing bowl. Peel and mince a couple of cloves of garlic and put in yogurt. Next chop up a small amount of fresh parsley and add it to the yogurt. To this add the juice of one lemon. Mix together to combine.

Rinse your chicken and pat it dry. Then give it a nice sprinkling of salt.

In another bowl place the bread crumbs. Give them a sprinkling of salt too and then a bit of a stir.

Butter a baking dish. With a pair of tongs place the chicken, one piece at a time into the yogurt mixture. Turn it over thoroughly to coat. Then roll the chicken in the bread crumbs. Cover each piece thoroughly with bread crumbs and place it in baking dish.

Finally, place a slice of butter over the large part of each chicken piece. Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking. When the chicken is nice and golden, remove from the oven and enjoy!

Jayne's notes: This wasn't as crispy as I would have liked but that may be because I added the last of my corn flakes to the bread crumb mixture. Or it might be because I didn't use 'Panko' crumbs. I'm not sure what they're like, but I just had generic crumbs in my cupboard. I also used a shake of garlic powder instead of fresh garlic. All in all we give this a thumbs up. It was very tasty! Thanks, PW!

Milk-free Chocolate Frosting

We were making brownies this weekend and didn't have enough powdered sugar. This was a yummy alternate recipe that doesn't call for any powdered sugar or milk (my daughter is lactose intolerant). It was surprisingly yummy with a fudgy taste and texture.

Chocolate Frosting

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn starch
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Mix sugars, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa in a medium sauce pan. Whisk in the water. Heat over medium until it gets thick and starts to boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes. (Make sure you don't boil too long, or it will set like taffy.) Remove from heat and stir in oil and vanilla. Cool and spread on cooled cake.

Makes: enough frosting for 1 cake
Preparation time: 10 min.

BYU Mint Brownies

These bring back a lot of childhood memories. Whenever we visited the BYU campus with my family (almost every summer) my dad would have to buy a BYU mint brownie. (He bought the brownies while we girls bought the fist-sized jaw breakers.) The other day I received this recipe in my BYU alumni email. Yummy to my tummy!!

BYU Mint Brownies

MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.
PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.
2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.
3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Copyright © 2008. Brigham Young University Alumni Association. All Rights Reserved.

Southwestern Chicken and Barley Soup

Okay, so you all may have your doubts about eating a BARLEY soup as did I. But honestly you don't even know it's in there unless you look carefully at what you're spooning into your mouth. This soup tastes great! I wasn't tempted to make it at first but since I have two pounds of Pearl Barley that have sat in my cupboard for a year I figured I would give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. Taste of Home rates it a 5 star recipe and so do I!



Southwestern Chicken and Barley Soup
(Taste of Home original recipe)

1 c chopped onion
1 minced garlic clove
1 T oil
3 c water
1 15-oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 15-oz can kidney or black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can tomato sauce (or two small ones)
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 14.5-oz can chicken broth
1/2 c pearl barley (uncooked)
1 4-oz can chopped green chilies, drained
1 T chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
3 c shredded or cubed cooked chicken
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
juice from 1 small lime or 1/2 large lime (about 2-3 T)
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese

In a large soup pot (4-5 qts) saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the next 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and cook for 15 more minutes or until barley is tender. Stir in cilantro and lime just before serving.

To serve, ladle into bowls and top with sour cream and shredded cheese.