Elephant Ears (Palmiers)

This delicious French cookie comes from Ina Garten's French cookbook, Barefoot In Paris, and could not be more simple! They're actually supposed to come out much rounder, but for some reason mine fell. I kind of liked it though. They made adorable little hearts.

• 2 cups sugar*
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 sheets Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, defrosted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine sugar and salt, then pour 1 cup of mixture onto flat surface. Unfold first pastry sheet onto sugar and pour 1/2 cup of sugar mixture on top, spreading evenly. With a rolling pin, lightly roll dough until it's a 13" square and sugar is pressed in on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square towards the center, but only halfway to the middle. Then fold them again so that those folds meet exactly in the middle of the dough. Then fold one half on top of the other, like you're closing a book. There will be 6 layers. Slice the dough into 3/8" slices and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat process with the second sheet of pastry. (There will be quite a bit of sugar left). Slice and arrange on baking sheet with parchment.

Bake cookies for 6 minutes, or until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake for another 3-5 minutes, until caramalized on the other side. Transfer to baking rack to cool.

*I only used half the sugar it called for and it was more than enough!

Sweet Creamed Corn

This is a delicious accompaniment I came up with for all of Scott's smoked meats. It was inspired by The Smoking Apple's sweet butter corn. (Also inspired by Robert Irvine's recipe for Creamed Corn).

Warning: consuming too much of this will kill you. It would be difficult to make a vegetable any worse for your health than this corn. That being said, you would die very happily.

6 ears/servings of corn (I cheated and used frozen since it's April)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 Tablespoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons butter

If frozen, cook corn according to directions on package, then strain off any additional liquid. If using fresh, husk the ears, place in a pot with enough water to cover the corn, and bring to a boil. Boil for 10-15 minutes before removing the corn to cool, then cut the kernals off.

While corn is cooking, add the cream to a saucepan and reduce by 1/3 over low heat. Remove from heat and add the butter. Whisk in salt and sugar, then fold in the corn before serving. Serve warm.

Honey Lemon Dressing

I'm repenting of my food blog negligence! I blame it on the lack of camera right now. Recipes are just so much better with pictures!

Anyway, I had some extra lemons on hand and wanted to make salad dressing with them. This is kind of a culmination of a few different recipes online:

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon honey

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Really simple and it has a bright, fresh flavor to it. It'd totally rock with some fresh herbs like thyme or basil in it too!

Hearty Black Bean Soup

1 cup tomato salsa
2 (15 ½ oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp lime juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Sour cream, optional

Heat the salsa in a large saucepan for about 5 minutes. Add beans and broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover for 15 minutes.
Let the soup cool slightly, then ladle half of it into a food processor or blender and puree it. Return the pureed soup to the pot. Stir in the lime juice and chopped cilantro and heat the mixture through. Serve the soup warm, topped with sour cream. Serves 4.
This recipe is also very successful using dry beans. Simply sort, rinse and soak the beans overnight. Cook the beans until tender before adding the remaining ingredients.

Ham and Bean Soup

3 cups dry pinto beans
Ham bone
1 yellow onion, diced
1 bay leaf, dry
Salt and pepper to taste

Sort and rinse beans; soak them in a generous amount of water overnight. Next morning, rinse beans once more and add fresh hot water to cover several inches above the surface of the beans. This will be the broth, so add as much as desired. Add ham bone, onion, and bay leaf to the pan. Cover and cook on medium-high until beans are very tender—this could be anywhere from 2-8 hours, depending on how old the beans are. Remove from heat. Remove ham bone from the pan and slice any good meat on the bone to return to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaf just before service. If a thicker soup is desired, puree with a stick blender.

Southwestern Pinto Beans

1 pound dry pinto beans
½ lb bacon, chopped
2 cups chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
¼ tsp pepper
1 quart tomatoes + juice
2-3 Tbsp chili powder
½ tsp oregano leaves
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cumin

Soak beans overnight. Drain and rinse. Cover with water and simmer for 3-4 hours or until tender. In large skillet, crisp bacon, onion, and garlic. Do not drain. Add bacon mixture, tomato sauce, and spices to beans. Stir well. Simmer, uncovered, for an additional 20-30 minutes

Cowboy Beans

1-2 pounds ground beef
1 large yellow onion, chopped
left-over cooked beans: pinto, black, white
1 or 2 cans of pork and beans
ketchup
mustard

Brown 1-2 pounds of ground beef in a large fry pan. Drain fat and add one chopped, yellow onion, cooking until translucent. Add to the pan any drained, left-over beans from previous meals. (Pinto, black, pink, great northern all work well.) Stir in one or two cans of pork ‘n beans. Add ketchup and mustard to taste. Heat through and serve. Children love it because this is what cowboys eat! Husbands love it because its hardy and filling.