Obviously, visiting this farmer’s market was quite a treat for us.  Not only did we get to make some great purchases and sample some yummy tidbits, but we also found sources for illusive items, such as homemade sausage and hot dogs.

One of the farms had a broad assortment of goat and lamb.  I love that lamb has such a tender texture and a savory taste.  Goat is a meat that I have had only twice, and unfortunately was poorly prepared on one of those occasions.  As we would be making homemade sausage patties the next day, goat seemed like a good choice.  It would give me an opportunity to try it again, this time with spices, which might be helpful.

If goat doesn’t seem appealing or is too difficult to find, the meat can be replaced with something comparable, such as lamb.  If you prefer something less exotic, then it can be made with pork or chicken.  However, using goat (or lamb) does add a unique flavor, which is worth trying.

Goat Sausage

1 lb. ground goat
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp. fresh sage, minced

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

Coat bottom of frying pan with olive oil and place over medium heat.  While pan is heating, form goat mixture into small patties (about slider size).  Place into frying pan, and cook for 4 minutes, or until browned.  Flip and cook for an additional 4 minutes, again until browned.

Check the center of the patties for doneness.  If still uncooked, transfer patties to a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes in a 300 oven.

The beauty of celebrating Thanksgiving early was that we had a day where no one needed to rush to another house for the dessert course or were thinking about getting up early the next day for Black Friday shopping.  Instead it was a day to enjoy food, family, and friends.

With the earlier celebration comes an earlier round of “What to do with the leftovers!”  Of course, we had a decent amount of turkey sandwiches and wraps, and our older son used turkey as part of his egg white breakfast wrap. Another dish that we made that seemed to do well at both tasting good and using multiple leftovers was Thanksgiving Hash.

While you may not be ready to revisit the turkey tomorrow morning, be sure to give this recipe a try before all of the ingredients are gone.

Thanksgiving Hash

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup cooked stuffing

1/2 cup turkey meat, diced

Optional add-ins:

2 Tb. cranberry sauce

2 Tb. puréed squash

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  (A cast iron pan is ideal, but other pans will work.)  Coat bottom of the pan with oil.  In a medium bowl combine stuffing, meat, and any desired add-ins.  Press stuffing mixture into frying pan, and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes.*  Flip and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.  Serve hot with eggs, scrambled, fried, or poached.

*Timing is tricky for this recipe.  You do not want to flip too soon, or you will not get a crusty edge.  However, if you wait too long, it will begin to burn.  To avoid either scenario, gently lift the edge of the hash to check for doneness.

For a while now, I’ve considered making a scone that ventured into the savory side.  My husband, especially, has shown an interest in trying a scone of this fashion.  With a delayed Father’s Day celebration occurring just the other week, it seemed the perfect time to give a savory scone a try.

Since it was his celebration, I wanted to make something that he would enjoy, which meant including some fresh herbs from his garden.  As a way of convincing the kids that they’d want to try these scones, I chose parmesan for the cheese, as that is a favorite for all of them.  Ham was the easy choice as the third flavor: not too bold and enjoyed by all.  However, I think these scones could be made with a variety of different cheeses, meats, and herbs. I would suggest sticking with hard cheeses (as they have less moisture) and would drain meat well (again to avoid extra moisture in the dough).

The savory scones were a hit with my husband.  The kids’ votes were mixed; no one thoroughly disliked them, but no one was ecstatic about them.  Of course, they all have a penchant for sweets, so when they heard scones, they immediately assumed they would have chocolate.  As for me, I found that the scones were tasty and will be a new recipe with which I can experiment and try new flavor combinations.

Savory Scones

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

5 Tb. unsalted butter, diced

3/4 cup smoked ham, diced

3/4 cup parmesan, grated

1 Tb. fresh rosemary, chopped

3/4 cup buttermilk*

1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 400◦F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Add butter.  Combine ingredients using a pastry blender (or two forks) until butter is reduced to the size of grains of rice.  Stir in ham, cheese, and rosemary. Whisk buttermilk and egg yolk in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or small bowl.  Add liquids to dry ingredients; mix until dough forms a ball.  Place dough on a lightly floured surface and press into an 8-inch round.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Transfer wedges to rimmed cookie sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the scones are crusty on top and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Serve warm.

*Instead of using buttermilk, I often combine 1 tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to equal 3/4 cup.

Hash is one of those foods that takes on a different meaning for every cook.  It can be a breakfast meal, or it can be a full evening meal.  But on this rainy Sunday morning, I decided to let my creative juices flow to a sweet potato hash that would be our breakfast.

TK’s Sweet Potato Hash

1 large sweet potato

1/2 lb. spicy chicken sausage, ground

1/2 sweet onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tb. balsamic vinegar

1 Tb. honey

Boil the sweet potato over high heat until it is tender all the way through (test with a fork).  In a frying pan, brown the chicken sausage, and then set it aside in a paper towel-lined dish to drain off all of the excess grease.  In the frying pan, sweat the onions and garlic; about halfway through the process, add the balsamic vinegar and some freshly ground black pepper. While the onion-garlic mixture sautes, chop the sweet potato into 1/4-inch cubes, and add them to the frying pan.  Add the drained chicken sausage, and begin browning the entire mixture.  While it browns on one side, add half the honey.  Flip the hash to brown on the other side, and add the remaining honey.

Serve it hot off the grill to your party of 2 to 4 people.

My recent culinary trend has been caramelizing.  I have made caramelized onions, bananas, and squash, among other ingredients.  For a weekend breakfast for two, I decided to make caramelized apples to top French toast made with homemade honey oatmeal bread.  Served with a side of crispy prosciutto, there was a nice mix of sweet and salty.

While my original intent for these apples was as  a topping for our French toast, they actually worked quite nicely as a side dish.  Served atop the French toast, they added a nice layer of flavor, but separately each item’s individual flavors were even more enjoyable.

If apples are in season where you live, as they are here, I would recommend trying this recipe soon.  I made this recipe with newly picked gingergolds and was pleased with the results.  While non-native apples would work, I think they would lose some of their flavor and crispness.

Caramelized Apples

1 Tb. unsalted butter

2 Gingergold apples, cored and sliced*

2 Tb. brown sugar

Preheat large nonstick pan over medium-low heat.  Melt butter in pan, and add apple slices.  Toss to coat with butter, and allow to cook for 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender.  Sprinkle with brown sugar, and cook for an additional minute or two.  Serve immediately for best results.

*Other apple varieties can be used. Choosing an apple that is firm with a slight bit of tartness is recommended.

With only boys and me at home, I decided to make coffee cake.  Neither of the girls really like coffee cake, but the boys enjoy it, so it was the perfect morning to make this dish.  Flipping through my personal collection of recipes, I found the recipe my mom always used when making coffee cake for us.

It is a simple recipe that produces a wonderful treat.  The cake is tender and slightly moist, unlike so many coffee cakes that are dry or overly dense.  Taking my first bite, I was transported back to my own childhood eating coffee cake with my brothers.

When I spoke with my mom later in the day, I told her that I had made coffee cake using her recipe, and at that point I learned a new fact.  This recipe is multi-generational, as it was my grandma’s recipe for coffee cake.  It was interesting to learn this, as I remember her as a grandma that liked to sleep late. So, the idea of her being up early to make coffee cake was surprising.  Of course, when she was raising her five children I’m sure she didn’t sleep late often.  Maybe when I knew her she was catching up on all of the sleep she missed during those years.

Regardless, I am grateful to my grandma for passing this recipe along.  Maybe someday her great grandchildren will make it for their kids.

Great Grandma’s Coffee Cake

CAKE:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1-1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

TOPPING:

4 Tb. unsalted butter, melted

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray 9×9 pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, mix sugar and butter.  Add egg, and mix well.  Stir in milk.  Blend in flour, baking powder, and salt.  Pour into prepared pan.

In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour, and mix well.  Add walnuts, and stir.  Sprinkle topping on cake batter.  Place in oven, and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This past weekend both my husband and I were craving something sweet.  However, I didn’t feel like spending lots of time in the kitchen or making a batch of baked goods when only the two of us were home.  And pancakes are made fairly frequently for the kids, so I was seeking something different.

As we tend to do when we don’t have kids with us for a meal, I considered breakfast items that wouldn’t be appealing to the kids.  While most of them do like French toast, not all of them would like having it coated with pecans, which meant it would make the perfect breakfast for two!

Pecan French Toast

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

6 1-inch slices challah bread

1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

butter

Preheat griddle to 300 or nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  In a wide, shallow dish, such as a pie plate, whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Place pecans in a small bowl.  Lightly coat pan or griddle with butter.  Take one piece of bread, and dip one side into egg mixture.  Turn bread over, and dip other side in egg mixture.  (If you prefer less “eggy” French toast, remove excess egg mixture from bread.)  Dip one side of bread into pecans, and place on griddle or frying pan.  Cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.  Flip and cook second side for another 2-3 minutes.  Serve immediately with butter, syrup, and/or powdered sugar.

This pancake recipe is so simple you never will need to buy boxed pancake mix again.  With only seven ingredients that are baking staples, they are quite simple to make.  The pancakes have a delicious vanilla flavor, and the batter can be made thicker or thinner depending on your preference.

To make this breakfast more appealing to all eaters, add-ins can be incorporated after the batter has been poured onto your griddle.  In our house, that means chocolate chips for the kids and blueberries or banana slices for my husband and me.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled easily.  Extra pancakes, once cooled, can be wrapped in foil and stored in the freezer for several weeks.  A quick reheat in the microwave and breakfast is ready on another day!

Any Day Pancakes

1 egg

1 Tb. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tb. sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup skim milk

Preheat griddle (if electric, 300° or if on stovetop, medium heat)

Whisk egg in a large measuring cup or bowl with pouring spout.  Add remaining ingredients, and whisk until combined.  Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter on heated griddle.  When bubbles appear and bottom of pancake is golden brown, flip pancake.  Cook until second side is golden brown.  Serve immediately, with butter and syrup, if desired.

As all of the leftover corned beef wasn’t eaten by Saturday morning, I decided to use it for breakfast.  We also had leftover cooked potatoes from our St. Pat’s dinner, so making hash and eggs seemed like the perfect way to feed the family and clean out the fridge.  Plus, with almost unlimited eggs thanks to our 15 chickens, eggs for breakfast is always a good choice.

Compared to some of the weekend breakfasts that I make, this was a very simple dish.  From start to finish, it took no more than 20 minutes, which allowed us to get an earlier start on our day’s activities.

*Note, this hash won’t have that mushy, stick-together consistency, such as you find in canned hash.  However, there will be decently sized chunks of corned beef and potatoes, so that you can identify what you are eating by look and taste.

Leftover St. Pat’s Hash

1 Tb. canola oil

1 small onion, diced

3 cups corned beef, cooked and diced

1-1/2 cups potatoes, cooked and diced

salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat.  Add onion, and sauté for 2-3 minutes.  Add corned beef and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper.  Stir to combine.  Press down on hash with spatula.  Allow to cook for several minutes.  To ensure that the hash is heated through, flip or stir mixture, and press down again.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Serve hot.

I started the Sunday by vowing to stay in pajamas until noon, at least.  I also thought it would be a great day for a leisurely breakfast.  I didn’t want to make something like eggs or pancakes because I can find time to make those on a busy day.  Cinnamon rolls seemed like a good option.  The kids request them frequently, and although I have made them a few times, none of the recipes have been just right.  So, I reviewed recipes I had used, adjusted ingredients, and began preparations.

After the dough sat for its first rest, I immediately noticed how tender it was.  I don’t know if I ever have worked with dough that is so soft and pliable.  Then, while the rolls baked in the oven, they bloomed into generously sized rolls full of delicious cinnamon-sugar filling.  To make these cinnamon rolls extra tasty (and sinful), I made a simple frosting for them.

Although breakfast wasn’t served until late morning, it was well worth the wait.  Hot, tender, and sweet, they were an excellent addition to our lazy Sunday morning.  I am sure there will be many requests for these breakfast treats in the future.

Lazy Day Cinnamon Rolls

2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

2-1/2 cups flour

1 – 2 Tb. butter,  melted

2 Tb. cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar

vanilla frosting*

Heat bowl of stand mixer by rinsing with warm water.  Using warmed bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand  for about 10 minutes. Add sugar, salt, egg, and 1 cup of flour to the yeast mixture.  Attach flat beater, and put stand mixer on speed 2 to combine. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, continuing to mix at speed 2. When the dough has come together and is clinging to the beater, allow mixer to knead the dough for 4 minutes.  Remove dough from bowl, and place on a floured counter. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly grease a 13×9 inch baking pan. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up the dough, starting on the long side.  Press far edge to roll to secure.  Slice into 16 pieces, and place them in the pan with the cut side up.

Cover pan with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F.  Bake rolls until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately topped with a tablespoon or two of frosting.

*Quick Vanilla Frosting

4 Tb. unsalted butter, softened

1 -2 cups powdered sugar

skim milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

(I did not keep record of exact measurements; this should be made based on taste and texture.)  Combine butter, 1 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons milk,a and vanilla using a whisk.  Add additional sugar and milk to give the sweetness and thickness you prefer.