Cranberry Upside Down Cake

I love all things cranberry! It's probably one of my favorite things to bake with. I just love the tartness and bite of fresh cranberries. I've made two of these cakes in the last week and I see many more in my future. It's simple and oh, so delicious. The first one I took to work and the second one is staying home. I'm not sharing this one anymore!

This cake would also make a great addition to any Thanksgiving dinner. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this year. We celebrate with my family for a late lunch and then my husband's family for dinner. It's a lot of food, but what's more important is spending time with everything. Some of the highlights of this year's feast is my mom's potato filling and I'm baking my first pumpkin pie! EEKK! So exciting!

1 1/4  cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2  tsp baking powder
1/4  tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cup fresh cranberries
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2  cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Rub the bottom and sides of an 8-inch cake pan with 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter (it will be a really thick layer of butter). In a small bowl, stir together1/2 cup of the granulated sugar with the cinnamon and allspice. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Arrange the cranberries in a single layer on top of the sugar mixture.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, until well combined.

Spoon the batter over the cranberries in the pan, and smooth the top. Bake until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake; invert onto a rimmed platter. Store any leftovers at room temperature.

Source: Brown-Eyed Baker

The Secret Recipe Club: Green Onion Scalloped Red Potatoes

It's that time of the month again for The Secret Recipe club! I was super excited when I received my assignment this month...Get Healthy with Heather! Heather received my blog as her first assignment when she joined the SRC. She made my cream cheese, feta and cranberry roll-ups with a little bit of a twist. I'm glad I'm able to return the favor and make one of her recipes. I had a tough time chosing what to make but decided on her recipe for Green Onion Scalloped Red Potatoes.

I'm not a huge fan of scalloped potatoes but my husband is. I think in our 11 years together, I've never made him scalloped potatoes, so needless to say when he saw these on the menu, he was excited! The recipe was super simple and used ingredients I had on hand. The potatoes turned out good, except the milk never really thickened up. I'm thinking it might have been because I used skim milk but I'm definitely going to be making this recipe again and figuring out why the milk didn't thicken. It was still tasty!

1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4-5 red potatoes
3 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
salt & pepper
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 2 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Saute the onions and garlic until softened but not brown.

Slide the potatoes into 1/4 inch thick rounds and cut the butter into very small pieces. Arrange 1/4 of the potato slices on the bottom of the prepared dish. Top with 1/3 of the sauted onions, 1 tablespoon of flour and a few pieces of butter. Repeat this process 2 more times. Finally, top with the remaining 1/4 of the potato slices. Season generously with salt and pepper and the last few pieces of butter. Carefully pour the milk into the dish making sure not to distrub the potato layers. Fill the casserole dish to just under the top layer of potatoes; you may need more or less milk. Top the casserole with the chopped green onions.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until the potatoes are fully cooked. Let the casserole sit for about 15 minutes for the sauce to thicken before serving.

Want to be part of The Secret Recipe Club? Join here!

Panko-Crusted Salmon

We're big fans of salmon or as I call it for Madeline "pink fish." She gobbled this up and even asked to take it for school the next day. I wonder what all her classmates thought!

I have to rave about my favorite place to buy wild caught salmon - Wild for Salmon. It's a local couple who goes sockeye salmon fishing every year in Alaska. They sell at our local farmers market several times a year and I always make sure to stock up. Their smoked salmon spread is to die for! I also love their feta-dill salmon burgers. They're perfect for a quick meal on busy weeknights!

So back to the recipe. I bought a 2 lb filet from Steve at the last market and used half of it for this recipe and then just baked the other half. I loved the combination of mustard and panko!

2/3 cup panko
2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp grated lemon zest
salt
fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
salmon fillet(s), skin on
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the panko, parsley, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and stir until the crumbs are evenly coated. Set aside.

Place the salmon fillets skin side down. Generously brush the top of the fillets with mustard and then season generously with salt and pepper. Press the panko mixture thickly on top.

Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in an oven safe pan. Once the oil is hot, add the salmon fillets, skin side down and sear for 3 to 4 minutes to brown the skin. Take care not to move or turn over the fillets.

Transfer the pan to the hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until the salmon is almost cooked through and the panko is browned. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil. Allow the fillets to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Source: Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? Cookbook by Ina Garten

I'm alive...no worries!

My apologizes for being MIA the last couple of weeks! I've been swamped at work and fighting off a cold. I had to finalize and attend our annual sales training the last week of October and with Halloween, I totally lost track of time. The training went well - there were rave reviews about how it was the best training yet! YEAH!

We had a freak snow storm the Saturday before Halloween and we were one of the few lucky ones to not lose power for hours or days! Many of my coworkers and friends were out of power for a week. I'd seriously go crazy!

I'll be back to blogging a new recipe tonight!