Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

My office is full of stress. I am a case manager at a community mental health center and I share an office with many other case managers. It is an amazing job. I love the work and the people. But it can be very stressful.

I am very new there and my co-workers have been so fantastic helping me navigate the world of case management. But I am beginning to notice the international sign for displaying one's stress level. It mostly involves a loud sigh, or series of sighs, the second you enter the door and my office is full of this behavior. So to brighten my co-worker's day I decided to bake them something special. And this morning as people entered, sighed, and shuffled over to the coffee pot you could hear "oh man! who brought muffins!?" with a glimmer of excitement in their voice. There is just something about homemade baked goods that always seems to make things better. . .

The recipe is an adaptation from Ina Garten's Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks Butter
• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 3 large Eggs
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda1
• /2 tsp Cinnamon2
• 1/2 cups Flour
• 12 oz Bittersweet Chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar with a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time while mixer is on slow speed.

While mixing on slow speed add milk, sour cream and vanilla. With mixer still on add salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and slowly add flour until all incorporated. Mix in chocolate chips.

Line baking tins with colorful liners.

Fill liners with batter about 3/4 full.

Have your husband model with the muffins before baking.

Bake for 23-26 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Pecan Streusel Topping (Optional)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups Brown Sugar
• 3/4 cups Flour
• 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup softened Butter
• 1 Tbsp water

Mix all ingredients together until crumbly.

Top muffins with 1 tbsp of the mixture before baking if desired.

Makes 16-18 muffins

Cupboard Clean-out: Spicy Roasted Carrot Soup

I hate throwing food away.  I see the harsh reality of hunger everyday at my job and I don't want to take for granted how lucky I am that I have never truly experienced hunger.  But it seems no matter how hard I try, something goes bad in my fridge each month resulting in wasted food.  My solution: 1 meal a week based completely on items that need to be used up in my refrigerator and cupboards and I encourage you to give it a try.  I wonder what kind of creative recipes will come out of it!?

Tonight I decided to make dinner using up a few things in the fridge that would need to go in a few days if I didn't.  The main component: a 1 lb bag of carrots that has been sitting in the fridge untouched.  Result: yummy and healthy dinner, and carrots saved from rotten demise.

Soups are always a good way to use up produce. This was so easy to throw together and it was delicious and warming on a chilly evening.  This could be easily adapted to use up whatever other veggies you have lying around.  Potatoes, squash, tomatoes, turnips and sweet potatoes would all work well.

Spicy Roasted Carrot Soup 

Servings: 6  Serving Size: 1 Cup

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb Carrots, peeled 
• 1/2 an Onion
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper
• Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil 
• 3 Chicken Bouillon Cubes dissolved in 3 Cups water OR 3 cups Chicken Stock 
• 1 Cup Milk
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 tsp grated Ginger 
• 1/2 tsp Srirarcha 
• 1 tsp chopped Rosemary 
• Optional Toppings: Sour Cream, Cheese, Croutons 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Chop carrots, onion, and red pepper into large chunks.  Put veggies on a sheet pan and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

While veggies are roasting, heat water and chicken bouillon (or chicken stock) over medium heat.  Add roasted veggies to pot, cover, and simmer until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.  Transfer veggies and stock to a blender and blend until smooth consistency.

Pour mixture back into pot.  Mix the milk with the flour to create a slurry and slowly mix into the pureed soup. Grate in the garlic and ginger.  Add sriracha and chopped rosemary.

Serve with sour cream, cheese, and croutons if desired.

Makes 6, 1 cup servings.

Beef Sliders with Caramelized Onions and Rosemary Mayo

I am a Food Network junkie and Tyler Florence is one of my favorites. Ever since I saw his episode “The Ultimate Burger Bar” I have been wanting to try out some of his ideas. The first thing that caught my attention was that he used ground brisket instead of ground beef, claiming that it makes the “ultimate” burger. WARNING: butchers think you have no idea what you are doing, and in my case refused to do it for me, when you ask them to grind you some brisket. I ended up borrowing my friend’s grinder attachment for my KitchenAide mixer and ground the brisket myself. It was well worth the effort. It resulted in wonderfully beefy and juicy burgers.  But, 85% ground beef will work great too if you don't want to spend the extra bucks and time going through this step.

I made these for my husband this Sunday afternoon to enjoy while watching football.  They were a huge hit.  I think he devoured like 8 of them...  These would be just as good as regular sized burgers, but who doesn’t love tiny sized food?!

Beef Sliders with Caramelized Onions and Rosemary Mayo 

Servings: 4 Serving Size: 3 Sliders

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs ground brisket or 85% ground beef 
• Salt and Pepper 
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 
• 1 Large Yellow Onion 
• 4 Tbsp Butter 
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil 
• 1/4 cup Prepared Mayonaise 
• 1 tsp Fresh Rosemary 
• 4 slices American Cheese 
• 12 Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls 

Directions 

Season the ground beef with salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce. Give it about 3 turns in the bowl with your hands or a spoon. Lightly shape 2 oz portions into patties. Set patties aside to take the chill off while you prepare the onions and mayo.

Cut onion into 1/2 inch strips. Heat 2 tbsp of the butter and the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add onions and slowly caramelize while you finish preparing the rest of the components.

Finely chop the rosemary and mix it with the mayo.

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat with 2 tbsp butter. Begin cooking patties in the skillet, flipping after 2 minutes. Top each patty with 1/4 of a slice of cheese after flipping and cook for another 2 minutes. Cut rolls in half and assemble burgers with all the toppings.

Makes 12 sliders.