made by Emily This is a recipe for a breakfast dish involving grits. Being a Jersey girl, this was the first time I made anything with grits, the first time I ever bought grits, and I think the second time ever eating them. But, they work in this recipe, and I actually like them, which surprised me. So if you're a Yankee too and haven't had grits, maybe it's time to try them!
You'll Need:
small amount of butter for pan
Quaker grits, or any other brand you like
1/3-1/2 lb pancetta, chopped up small bite sized pcs
Approx 5 oz (fresh) baby spinach
salt and pepper
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (use leaves only and chop)
3 or 4 oz soft goat cheese
1/3 cup fresh grated parmesan
4 eggs
pinch of grated nutmeg
To Make:
Butter a small baking dish, about 8" diameter and at least 3 1/2 to 4" tall because you'll be layering a few things and you'll need the height (I used a large porcelain ramekin, smaller than a pie dish but much taller).
Preheat oven to 375'.
Cook 2 servings of grits as package indicates to do so.
In the meantime, cook pancetta in a large frying pan on Medium heat until crispy and browned on all sides (toss every few minutes so it doesn't burn). Remove and set aside on paper towel. If there is more than 1 TB of oil in the pan, drain it out until there is only about a tablespoon remaining. Add the fresh spinach to the hot pan and sprinkle with S & P. Toss as it wilts and cooks, about 5 minutes. Add thyme. Set pan aside off of heat.
To assemble:
Sprinkle cooked pancetta in the bottom of the buttered baking dish. When grits are done cooking, season them with S & P and layer them on top of the pancetta in the baking dish. Sprinkle with half the fresh grated parmesan. Then top that layer with the cooked spinach/thyme, then the goat cheese.
Crack 4 eggs on top of everything.
Top with remaining parmesan and a pinch of nutmeg.
Place in oven on a baking sheet, in case it overflows a bit. Cook about 20-25 minutes. (this will vary upon what kind of baking dish you use, but you want the eggs cooked over easy, meaning yolks still runny).
ENJOY!
made by Rachel My husband absolutely loves the Banana Nut Bran Muffins that Mandy gave me the recipe to a while back. But in an effort to get rid of some buttermilk I had in the fridge I looked around for a new banana bran muffin recipe that required buttermilk and here is what I came up with. They are different than the last banana muffin recipe and still really good, especially when grilled or toasted and the chocolate chips get all gooey and melted - yum!
You will need:
2 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 ripe bananas, smashed
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
To make:
Pre-heat your oven to 400F and line your muffin tin with paper/tin cups.
Mix eggs and sugar in a bowl, and then add bananas, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and then bran.
In a separate bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Slowly add the wet ingredients mixture to the dry and fold until just combined.
Next, stir in the chocolate chips, being careful to not over-mix so you don't get rubbery muffins. Bake the muffins at 400 until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to a week (not-so-fresh muffins still taste awesome when toasted or grilled!).
made by Miranda My friend Karen made these for me for Christmas and I really really really love them. The original recipe is from Smitten Kitchen (a favorite blog of ours). That recipe has some room for customizing, giving you options for fruit, nut and sweetener additions. I have made them more than a few times now and THIS is my favorite combination. I cut them up into bars and individually wrap them and freeze them- this way I have no excuse to not eat breakfast.
You will need:
1 2/3 cups oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (to make this I grind oatmeal in a food processory or krupps coffee grinder)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
5 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 Tbsp water
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 pan and line with parchment (This is for removing and cutting them later). Toss together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Put the rest of the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and heat until butter, pb and coconut oil are melted. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir well to combine. Press firmly into your prepared pan and bake about 40-45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. Cool completely in pan, then use parchment paper to lift out bar onto cutting board to cool even further. Using a large serated knife and a sawing motion, carefully cut them into bars so they dont crumble. (if you are having trouble, it may be helpful to refridgerate first). Sooooo yummy!
made by Miranda I finally found a banana bread recipe that I love! And it is made with wheat flour - even better! I don't know why, but I always have had trouble with banana bread. It gets too dark on top and still mushy in the middle, or its too dry, or too bland. This recipe is exactly how I like it. It's full of flavor, perfectly sweet, and (I hate the word, but i have to use it...) moist!! The recipe comes from King Arthur Flour.
This recipe calls for 1 cup white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, but instead I used 2 cups of white whole wheat, which is a little milder than whole wheat flour.
You will need:
2 cups very ripe bananas (4-5) mashed
1/2 cup veg oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
To make:
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Mash bananas in a large bowl. Add oil, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla and stir well. Add salt, powder and soda and stir to combine then add flours and walnuts and stir just until flour is incorporated, scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Try not to overmix.
Pour into prepared pan and bake about 1 hr. Halfway through, I put a sheet of foil over the top of my pan to prevent overbrowning of the top and it worked perfectly. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then tip bread out onto a cooling rack and cool completely before cutting (otherwise steam escapes and your bread might dry out).
Yum!!
By Rachel A friend of mine gave me a can of Odense Almond Paste and I was so intrigued by it (I had never heard of almond paste before) and was so excited to use it because I love ANYTHING almond flavored (remember Good Humor almond ice cream bars? Oh my gosh...). I found this recipe on the Odense website. These muffins are incredibly almondy and sweet - and they have the dense consistency of a good wedding cake. Enjoy!
You will need:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-7 oz can of almond paste, grated (which is weird because it's kind of mushy)
1 Tbs lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 egg
Course sugar for sprinkling on top (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease or line your muffin tin. Grate your almond paste and set aside. Then sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
Add the almond paste and lemon zest to the flour mixture. Mix by hand until all pieces of almond paste and rind are coated with flour and don't clump together.
In another bowl beat the butter, yogurt and egg. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid ingredients. Beat until ingredients are just combined. Use an ice cream scooper to fill your muffin tin and sprinkle tops with sugar, if using.
Bake muffins for 18 - 20 minutes, or until golden on top and a cake tester comes out clean.
Enjoy!
By Miranda I love making waffles with my kids in the morning. My 2 1/2 year old daughter, Remy, bakes with me all the time and she is really becoming quite comfortable in the kitchen. It is so fun - although it takes patience on my part :)
She gets all the ingredients out for me and even knows how to measure the dry ones almost all by herself. It's kinda crazy. Maybe this is because we bake something together almost every day. Anyway- we made waffles this morning and thought we'd share the recipe. I use the buttermilk waffle recipe from my trusy "Joy of Cooking" cookbook but add vanilla and use my homemade plain yogurt instead of buttermilk.
Makes about 5 big waffles in a standard waffle press.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1 1/2 c buttermilk or plain yogurt (thinned with a little milk if its thick)
1 tsp vanilla
6 Tbsp melted butter
To make:
Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients then add wet to dry. Mix only until dry ingredients are just moistened, then let it sit for a few minutes while your waffle maker heats. Use in a standard waffle maker as usual.
By Miranda I've always eaten a lot of yogurt, but since I've had kids, we go through a ton of it. I use it in most recipes that call for buttermilk (biscuits, waffles, pancakes...) and in smoothies ALL the time. Smoothies are a great way to get your kids to eat fruits and veggies! This recipe makes plain yogurt - so if you prefer sweetened yogurt, add honey, jam, syrup or fruit.
Anyway, buying a quart of yogurt costs $3-4 (i usually get stonyfield organic) and for the same price I can MAKE a GALLON of yogurt! Stored in the fridge it lasts about a month or so. It is slightly time consuming but I have the routine down and enjoy the results, so its worth it.
Ingredients:
1 gallon of milk (Raw milk works great if you can find it; if I don't use raw milk, I use 2% Hood brand. I've found that Stonyfield organic milk doesn't set for me for some reason. In the beginning some of my batches didn't set, or thicken, so I used the milk for cooking instead (Alfredo or mac and cheese or something). But now my batches are pretty consistent. If you have trouble, please comment!! (Or look it up, there is a lot of info on this online).
2 cups nonfat dry milk (this thickens the yogurt to a better consistency- use less if you want runny yogurt)
1 cup of "starter" yogurt (this has the cultures in it that makes yogurt yogurt- you may use a cup of your previous batch of yogurt if you make it consistently or buy a cup of plain or vanilla yogurt from the store. I use Stonyfield vanilla).
To make:
In a large pot over low-medium heat, mix milk with nonfat dry milk and heat to 175-180 F degrees stirring occasionally. (Stirring prevents it from burning on the bottom. Mine usually takes about 30 minutes to an hour to get to 180 degrees. If I am distracted (by my kids) I put it on lower heat and set the timer for me to stir and check temp every 10 minutes. If I can devote myself fully to it, I put it higher and stir pretty frequently). When it gets to 180F (or a few degrees under), remove from heat and let it cool to 105-110 degrees F. (This whole process kills the bad bacteria before you add the cultures. If you add the cultures at too high a temp they will die and you'll just have milk at the end).
When it cools to between 105 and 110 F add your starter yogurt and stir it a bit. Then cover your pot and put it in the oven at the lowest possible temp or just with the oven light on for about 7-8 hrs. (I've read that some people just wrap the pot with a towel to insulate it and put it in a cooler or next to your wood stove or soemthing to keep it warm. Basically you just need a warm dark environment to let the cultures multiply). I do this late at night then leave it in the oven overnight, then refridgerate it in the morning.
After 7-8 hrs, your yogurt is ready to use! Refrigerate it at this point for up to a month or so. This all sounds like a lot but it is really quite simple, once you get the routine down.
Hopefully you'll enjoy it like us!
By Rachel These muffins are so great! Very hearty and filling and...well....MOIST. I really hate that word but I can't think of another way to describe them! I feel like morning glory muffins are undermade - and I have no idea why when they are so good! This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour website, which has a bunch of really great baking recipes. The picture, surprise surprise, does not market these muffins well. Maybe one day I will get some lessons in food photography. Maybe. But in the meantime I will keep eating my muffins.
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup orange juice
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.
In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe.
Chop or process your carrots, apple and nuts (chopped or shredded). I got a food processor for Christmas (thanks big brother!) and have been processing anything I can...it's amazing!
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ, if using.
In another bowl, beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and oj. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until combined. Drain the raisins and stir them in. Use an ice cream scoop to load the batter into the muffin tins (I piled my batter in to the top and still had extra for another 6 muffins - or 18 total).
Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then dump out onto the rack to finish cooling.
Enjoy!
By Miranda These biscuits are really sooooo good. The trick is to NOT handle them a lot at all. The more you handle them, the tougher they get. So once the liquid is in, just do a few tosses of the batter, and a few folds of the dough, and then stop. I usually use plain yogurt cause I have it in my fridge more often than buttermilk, and actually prefer it. Either way, they are a great addition to breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Makes about 10 biscuits, depending on your cutter size. If you don't have a biscuit or cookie cutter available, just cut into shapes with a knife. You will need: 1 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda Scant 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 5 Tbs butter, cold 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs cold buttermilk or plain yogurt (if yogurt is very thick, add a little milk to thin it) Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss together all dry ingredients. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or 2 knives until butter pieces are as small as peas. Drizzle 1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt over flour mixture and toss a few times- add remaining 2 Tbs if needed to soak up the extra flour. Lightly flour your hands and knead or fold-over the dough just enough times to get it to stick together. Handle it as little as possible. Once you have a ball or mass of dough, put it on a floured counter and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with a knife or with a cutter.
Place on a greased baking sheet or on parchment paper. Bake 10 minutes or until nicely browned on top. Yum!!
By Miranda I got this recipe off of a bed and breakfast website a long time ago but can't remember the name of it (shoot!). It's one of my family's favorite breakfasts, so I have to share it.
Makes about 6-8 depending on the size.
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped strawberries
2 1/4 cup flour
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter
2/3- 3/4 cup cold milk
Decorating sugar or raw cane sugar for the tops of the scones
Preheat oven to 425F. Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or two knives (or you could pulse in a food processor) until there are no butter pieces larger than a pea.
Add strawberries and toss to coat them. Drizzle in milk and toss mixture just until all dry ingredients hold together. Do not overmix. Drop by large spoonfuls onto baking sheet (they expand slightly) and then sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake about 15 minutes. You can serve plain or with butter or cream cheese.
|
