Sausage Balls

"The Pig, if I am not mistaken, supplies us sausage, ham, and bacon. Let others say his heart is big, I think it stupid of the Pig."
- Ogden Nash

Pork, as a whole, is not my favorite meat.  I do enjoy bacon (if prepared properly, especially over a campfire), and sausage (as long as it isn't full of gristle and stringy meat), and I love good pork barbecue (or Beerbecue).  I am not a fan of pork chops, though, because they seem to be too difficult to get done without overdoing it.  I did recently fry my first batch of Pork Chops, and I served them with homemade Biscuits and gravy, and they turned out pretty good.  I love me some ham, though!  My preferred way to eat sausage is disguised within something else:  gravy, meatloaf, on pizza, or in this recipe for sausage balls.

Sausage Balls

1 lb bulk sausage of your preference, I used regular but Sage is good

1 1/2 - 2 cups Bisquick baking mix (I used 1 3/4 cups)

1 1/2 cups mozzarella, shredded

1 1/2 cups cheddar, shredded

Let all ingredients come to room temp before beginning.

1. Mix all ingredients together by hand or in a stand mixer.  Start with least amount of Bisquick.  If you need to add more, add it after you have mixed everything together.

2. Form into 1 TB balls - small walnut size (you should get 60).  Place on greased, foil-lined baking sheet with a rim (jelly roll pan).

3. Bake in 350° oven for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 165°.

I like to serve mine with Ranch salad dressing :)

Barbecue Vinaigrette Spinach Salad

“Salad is never more appetizing than when served in a large wooden bowl.”
- Dorothy Draper

I enjoy salads, but not any of the iceberg variety that has no taste.  I much prefer baby greens, spring mix, or baby spinach.  And as I think salad looks much nicer when served in a lovely bowl that everyone can fill their plate from, when I make them I like salads that make an impression - none of this open-a-bag-and-serve business.  I had a bag of baby spinach that was past its fresh date by a few days, a bag of carrots, a bag of celery, and a Granny Smith apple of unknown date-of-purchase.  I needed a side to go with Cranberry Barbecue Chicken Thighs, and I wanted to mimic the flavor of the main dish in the salad.  The chicken had celery, onions, and barbecue sauce, so that was my jumping off point.  This was taking a huge chance for me...I don't usually do salad.  However, a few years back I had made a couple of salads in the fall that paired Romaine and Spinach with Bosc Pears and Apples.  Apples and celery pair nicely, and as long as carrots are thinly sliced I like them raw.

Barbecue Vinaigrette Spinach Salad

1 bag baby spinach (approx. 3 cups)
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 stalks celery, tops trimmed
1 medium Granny Smith apple, cored, top and bottom leveled
1/4 large white onion, diced
2 tsp butter/margarine
1/3 cup Hickory flavor barbecue sauce
1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar

1. In a small pan, caramelize onions over medium-low heat in the butter.  They will look like they are burning, just keep stirring and they will brown and sweeten nicely.

2. Combine barbecue sauce and vinegar and set aside.

3. If you have a mandolin, use that on the 1/16-inch setting (1 on mine) to slice rounds from the apple and carrots. Use it on the 1/8-inch setting (2 on mine) to slice the celery. Please, please, please be careful if you choose not to use the guard. I have a nasty scar to show for what happens when you ignore the warnings of a sharp blade. In fact, last week was the first time I'd used mine since the incident last September 5. So, let my tale be a cautionary one. If you'd like to avoid stitches in your hand, use the guard whenever possible. I could not use it for the celery and carrots, but I stopped short of the large ends of each by about an inch to avoid losing any more blood.

4. Toss onions/celery/carrots/apple in the barbecue vinaigrette and refrigerate until ready to serve.

  

5. Just before serving, wash and dry the spinach. If you have a salad spinner this will be a lot easier. I picked one up at Walmart for less than $15, and I use it for absolutely everything: grapes, strawberries, cherry/grape tomatoes, lettuce, anything that I don't want to dry individual pieces of.

6. Place the spinach in a large bowl (you need tossing room), and top with the dressing.  Toss gently to combine and distribute the sauce evenly.

Chocolate Chocolate Pancakes

"A new British survey has revealed that 9 out of 10 people like Chocolate. The tenth lies." 
– Robert Paul

My kids love chocolate.  Plain and simple.  They inherited a few things from me:  blue eyes, petite stature, and the love of books, coffee, unsweetened tea, bread, and chocolate.  They also love breakfast foods at any time of the day - especially homemade Buttermilk Biscuits and buttermilk pancakes.  Hmmm, maybe they would like buttermilk?  Probably not.  I won't drink it, but I love to cook with it.  I don't necessarily dislike the taste of buttermilk, it tastes like plain yogurt to me, but the thick texture just about gags me.  That texture and tang, however, are what make buttermilk particularly fabulous for baking and coating meat (like Chicken) for frying.  This recipe is a smoosh.  I took a recipe for chocolate chip muffins and combined it with my hands-down favorite homemade pancake recipe and this was the result.  The pancakes come out perfectly every single time, and my kids ask for them before the first four are even halfway done.  I always tear one in half for them as an appetizer before all the pancakes are done.  This morning my son (almost 3) asked when the "flap cakes" would be done as soon as I had the first batch on the griddle.

Chocolate Chocolate Pancakes

1 1/2 cups self rising flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 egg

1 1/4 cup buttermilk -OR- 2 Tb lemon juice + 1 1/8 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

1.  Mix dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.

2.  Blend milk, oil, and egg together with a fork in a glass measuring cup.  If you do not have buttermilk, simply measure 2 Tb lemon juice into the cup and add enough milk to make 1 1/4 cups.  Milk with fat tends to do better than skim, but skim is all we buy now that our son is almost 3.

 3.  Stir the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients to coat them so they do not sink to the bottom of the batter.

 4.  Pour all the liquid ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients.

5.  Stir until there are no dry spots, but do not try to get the lumps out of the batter.  If you overmix the batter your pancakes will be flat, chewy, and dense instead of puffy, tender, and fluffy.

6.  Let the batter sit while you heat up your griddle or pan to medium (5).  This will allow the buttermilk to do its thang and create the perfect texture we're aiming for.

7.  When making pancakes, cooking spray, a medium width flipper, and a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop are my best friends.

8.  Once your griddle/pan is hot - just hold your hand above it and if it feels hot it's hot - spray it with cooking spray and dollop four pankey-doodle-all-the-days onto the surface.  Be sure to space them far enough apart that when they spread as they cook they still will not touch.  If you prefer smaller pancakes, you can use a 2 Tb scoop.

9.  Once the tops form bubbles and the sides have lost some of the sheen of wet batter, it is time to check them.  Very carefully test the edge of a pancake to see if you can get the flipper under it without smooshing it all up.  If you can get the flipper under it, carefully lift the edge to check the color on the cooked side.  If it is darker brown than the top, drier, and has some borderline blackish places it is definitely ready to flip.

10.  Flip them one at a time, in the order that you put them on the pan.  I work clockwise from the back left-hand side of the pan.  After you flip them, the second side will not take as long to cook.  Check it after a couple of minutes.  When the pancake is firm and browned on the second side, remove it to a plate.  Then turn down your pan 1/2 to 1 full mark (ie, from 5 to either 4 or 4 1/2), or the following batches will burn, baby, burn.

11. Continue this process until you have used all the batter.  I don't remember exactly how many pancakes I made, but I'm thinking it was somewhere in the range of 14-18 pancakes.  You can also place a cookie sheet in the oven and turn it on WARM, place finished pancakes on the cookie sheet and tent a piece of foil on top until you get them all done.

12.  An alternative is to use Reese's Peanut Butter Chips and White Chocolate Morsels in place of the mini chocolate chips.