Favorite Recipes for March

I really didn’t mean to be away for months. The short explanation is that things just didn’t get done. The long explanation can best be summed up by the short one, and would not be more interesting. Let’s just carry on, shall we?

Carry on into the month March, that is. It’s been a weird one in my geographical area, with the Winter stepping out for a cup of coffee or something, and then coming back to really destroy the joy that Spring built up while he was gone. With events like a significant thunderstorm sharing the same ten days or so with a significant snow storm, one kind of wants to just go back to bed and have someone wake you when it’s June.

The weather doesn’t quite make me go crazy for spring salads yet, but the hanging on of the winter weather just makes the days amenable to soups, like some of my favorites:

Black Bean Soup with Salsa

Creamy Cabbage and Potato Soup

Chickpea and Barley Soup with Fennel and Tomatoes

 

Chard Soup with Cilantro and Lime

Southwestern Chicken Soup

Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

And of course, there’s St. Patrick’s Day. I haven’t made plans for anything special from my own kitchen this year (I’m going out!), but my favorite meals in the past have included Beef and Guinness Pot Pie, which can easily be served as a stew if you leave off the puff pastry top and present it with soda bread (traditional or not) or biscuits instead.

This Reuben Loaf is also fantastic. You can make it with leftover corned beef if you went with a corned-beef-and-cabbage meal on St. Patrick’s Day, or you can use deli corned beef with great results.

And for dessert, there’s this decadent Chocolate Irish Cream Cheesecake

 

Or, for a quicker pay-off, Irish Cream Brownies

Finally (and heading toward Final Four-ly), the phenomenon that is March Madness is upon us. If, like a certain member of my family (who doesn’t read this blog) you take your vacation days during the NCAA tournament, you might think of March as snack month.

My friends don’t watch basketball, but they do love when I make them Spinach and Artichoke Dip or Hummus. You can also get jump on spring by making the bright Green Pea Hummus.

There’s also this Cheddar Jalapeno Cheese Ball or Bean Dip with Sour Cream, Salsa and Cheese.

However you choose to celebrate March, with its sort of bi-polar lion/lamb nature, I hope you’ll always find something appropriately celebratory to eat.

I’ll be back soon with Chocolate Cookie Butter and Marmalade French Toast!

Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

 

You know the universe is conspiring against you when, after a month of nothing, you finally pull together a small lump of material for a humble blog post and your internet provider experiences widespread outages. Great.

But I think the waves are rolling, now, so I’ll tell you about the latest version of the simple coffee cake I keep coming back to. This one has cranberries and apples and enough oatmeal to make it feel like it’s part of a complete breakfast.

 

I love how the pockets of cranberries keep this cake from getting too sweet, especially after the recent Halloween overload. (After it was all over, I found two more bags of candy in the closet that hadn’t even been opened yet!) The cranberries also make this cake kind of pretty, as their jewel-toned juices bubble up through the crumble topping. While I love that crumble topping, you could leave it out and save some time and/or calories, depending on your priorities.

Even when I get a weekend off, I never seem to be able to pull together anything like an elaborate brunch, but this cake is a quick one, so it can help make the weekend special without too much fuss. It’s also good for dessert and stays moist and appetizing for a few days, so leftovers will be welcome.

Someday, maybe my life won’t be quite so messy, with a day-job schedule that makes me feel like a real human being. Until then, let me eat cake! Take that, conspiring universe!

Cranberry Apple Oatmeal Coffee Cake

For the topping

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch fine salt

For the cake

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup rolled oats

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg

¾ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 medium apple, peeled and diced

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1. To prepare the topping, combine the 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, cold butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt in a small bowl. Work in the butter pieces with a fork or with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly and forms clumps when squeezed together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (This can be made a few days ahead.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan or dish with cooking spray or grease it with butter or oil.

3. To make the cake batter, melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Set aside to cool.

4. In a medium-size bowl, combine the 1 cup flour, rolled oats, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Whisk together to combine well. Set aside.

5. In another medium-size bowl, lightly beat the egg. Slowly whisk in the melted butter. Whisk in the milk and vanilla extract.

6. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until most of the dry ingredients have been moistened. Stir in the apple and cranberries.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top.

8. Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool on a wire rack until cool enough to cut and enjoy. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 9-16 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Blueberry Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Crumble Topping, Lime Scented Cranberry Muffins, Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

14 October Favorites

October is one of my favorite cooking months! There are still lots of fruits like apples, pears and cranberries for stuffing into desserts and other baked goods. There are quite possibly tons of winter squashes of all kinds! They’re so plentiful and so delicious that they just beg to be included in all sorts of sweet and savory recipes. Colder nights and the first frosts call for comfort foods. And then, there’s Halloween, which means little more than sweet, sweet candy to the likes of me.

Here is a pared down (I did my best) list of 14 of my favorite dishes and treats for this time of year, all from The Messy Apron Archives:

1. Early and late autumn can merge together in sweet harmony in Applesauce with Pumpkin and Spices, which is delicious eaten with a spoon, but also great in…

2. Applesauce and Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

 

3. I’m always trying, and loving, new variations on recipes for pumpkin muffins, such as Pumpkin Cranberry, Pumpkin Molasses, and Pumpkin Spice Latte

4. Pumpkin Focacccia (Sweet or Savory) is an extra-special treat when there’s time for baking yeast breads.

5. Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce is wonderfully delicious on filled pastas, or on any noodle. It also is a quick and delicious dish to make when you have used part of a can of pumpkin for another recipe and are looking for a way to use the remainder.

6. I can’t wait to make Winter Squash and Leek Empanadas with Sage this year with butternut squash from my own garden!

7. While spaghetti squash doesn’t quite fill the same niche as pumpkin or butternut squash, it’s still great in comforting savory dishes, such as Spaghetti Squash Casserole with Bacon and Cheddar

8. Spaghetti squash is also great with Asian flavors, like in Spicy Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry

9. There’s more than just squash to eat in October, of course, and Noodles with Cabbage, Bacon and Onions is just the thing for a cold night’s supper.

10. If I need a delicious side dish this time of year I go directly for Roasted Vegetables. In fact, I often serve them as the main course, sometimes with sausage roasted right in the pan with the vegetables. Love it!

11. On the lighter side, there’s Cranberry Walnut Tabbouleh, a fall take on bulgur salad.

12. Desserts like Pear Apple Crumble Pie allow me to step away from pumpkin-y sweets, while still getting a comforting autumnal feeling.

13. My favorite Halloween candies are often put to good use (as if just opening the wrapper and popping them in my mouth isn’t enough!) in baked goods, such as Peanut Butter Butterfinger Blondies and…

14. Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups

If you count the links in this post, you might just come up with more than 14 October favorites, but with so much to love, who can blame me for so many variations on so many themes. Enjoy!

One year ago: Maple Date Oatmeal Bars