Blueberry Muffins

This is an amazing blueberry muffin recipe. If you read some of the additional notes on the website, you'll see that you can substitute all sort of other fruit for the blueberries and that you can refrigerate the batter for up to a week and just make a couple of muffins each day. I've also made it with half whole wheat flour and they were really good. Seriously, give them a try.

Here is the website where I got the recipe.

Blueberry Muffins
Ingredient Section

2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
coarse white sparkling sugar for garnish (optional)

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with papers, and grease the papers.

2) In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.

3) In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with a hand-held or stand mixer, until light, fluffy, and almost white in color. Start the mixer at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, then gradually increase speed to medium-high until the desired color and texture are reached.

4) Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the butter is incorporated, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5) Add the vanilla and sour cream or yogurt, and mix until incorporated.

6) Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the batter is smooth. It will be thick.

7) Fold in the berries by hand.

8) Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups, using a heaping 1/4-cup for each. Sprinkle with regular granulated or coarse white sugar, if desired.

9) Bake the muffins for 18 to 24 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Remove them from the oven, cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan to finish cooling on a rack.

Blackened Tilapia

4-6 tilapia
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried, crushed basil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

Heat iron skillet on high 5 minutes. Mix all seasonings in a bowl. Dip fillets in melted butter and coat with seasonings. Place fillets in hot skillet and cook 2 minutes on each side.


My Notes:
I've also dipped them in olive oil instead of butter. Not quite as good as it is with butter, but still really good
I typically serve this with some sort of salad and rice, but it is delicious actually in a salad or in fish tacos.

Strawberry Asparagus Spinach Salad

I love spring produce. Right now the strawberries are beautiful and the asparagus is fresh and crisp. Around Easter I always start craving this salad. It is amazing. Oh how I wish I had a picture of it right now. If you saw how good it looks, you would go to the store right this minute to buy the ingredients, and you would not be disappointed by how it tastes. It is so incredibly good.

Strawberry Asparagus Spinach Salad

8 cups torn lettuce (spinach, romaine, butter, red)
1 avocado, cut into chunks
1 lb. steamed asparagus
2 c fresh strawberries cut into slices
1/4 c. pecan halves, chopped
1 sliced cucumber
1/4 c. blueberries

Dressing
1 pkg. good seasons Italian dressing seasonings
1/4 c. raspberry flavor vinegar
1 T. fresh orange juice
1 t. grated orange rind
1 T. water
1 t. poppy seeds
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 T. sugar

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cakes

*recipe from Good Housekeeping Magazine
Ingredients
1/3 cup(s) sugar
1/4 cup(s) sugar, plus additional for ramekins
1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
2 Meyer or regular lemons (up to 3)
3 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoon(s) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 cup(s) whole milk
1 pint(s) raspberries, for garnish
Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease eight 4- to 5-ounce ramekins; sprinkle with sugar to coat bottoms and sides. Shake out any excess.

On sheet of waxed paper, with fork, combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. From lemons, grate 1 1/2 tablespoons peel and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat egg yolks and lemon peel and juice. Whisk in butter and milk. Gradually whisk in flour mixture.

In another large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add one-third beaten whites to yolk mixture and, with rubber spatula, stir gently until incorporated. Gently fold in remaining whites until just incorporated. With ladle, divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins.

Arrange ramekins 1 inch apart in large (17-inch by 13-inch) roasting pan. Fill pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Carefully transfer pan to oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cakes are golden brown and tops rise 1/2 inch above rims.

Cool cakes in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. With sturdy metal spatula, carefully remove ramekins from pan with water and transfer to wire rack to cool 15 minutes longer.

Run thin knife around edge of 1 ramekin. Place small serving plate on top of ramekin and invert plate and ramekin together; remove ramekin. Repeat with remaining ramekins. Garnish each cake with a couple of raspberries and a mint sprig; serve warm.


*My Notes
If you like citrus desserts, try this and you won't be disappointed. Made this last night and it was absolutely delish. I dirtied a lot of bowls, but now that I know how everything goes together, I could easily whip this up in two bowls and very quickly. We used strawberries instead of raspberries and really, I think you could probably use any fruit with it. I would recommend waiting for the cakes to cool until they are just above room temp. We started eating them before they were really cool enough. And while they were yummy, the last bites of it were better tasting than the first because it had cooled to the right temp. I think you could served it chilled and it would be good too.