Apple Streusel Egg Muffins

It's been a long time since we've posted a new recipe. Sorry about that. No good excuse really other than being busy with life. This particular recipe that I'm posting today is from the 21 Day Sugar Detox Book . I did this detox back in June, and it was pretty difficult. But, I really think it helped with sugar cravings, and I lost about 8 pounds! Fortunately, the author provides plenty of wonderful recipes to choose from during the detox. This Apple Streusel Muffin was something I ate for breakfast everyday. There's absolutely no sugar in it save for the diced apples. However, it's still very good. I'm still eating this for breakfast along with a Chocolate Avocado Smoothie! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter, coconut oil, or ghee (I use butter)
1 1/2 cups peeled & chopped green apple
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided
3 tbsp warm water
6 eggs (I use 5)
2 tbsp full-fat coconut milk
1/2 tsp  vanilla
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized skillet, sautee the diced apples in the melted butter over medium heat. Sprinkle 1 tsp of the cinnamon and stir. Add in the water. Stir and cook for about 10 minutes until the apples are the consistency of chunky applesauce or apple pie filling. Set aside to cool completely.

In a medium size bowl, add the eggs and whisk. Then, add the coconut milk and vinegar. Whisk until incorporated. Sift in the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Add in the remaining 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Whisk until well combined. Next, stir in the cooled apples. Prepare 6 cups of a muffin tin with parchment paper muffin cup liners. Pour the mixture into the cups. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the muffins have risen and golden in color. Enjoy.

Pancakes

I've been craving pancakes for a while now, and the other night I decided to satisfy that craving. I've made homemade pancakes before, and they turned out okay. But, I wanted to try a different recipe in hopes that I could find a way to make a light and fluffy yet tasty pancake. I decided to peruse the web in hopes of finding a recipe that would accomplish this. After reviewing a couple recipes I ultimately decided on this recipe by Bill Hilbrich. It received 5 stars, and people seemed to love this recipe. I decided to give it a try but tweak it a bit. I added the juice of one lemon to the milk and about 1/4 tsp of vanilla to the batter. Man, these pancakes turned out friggin awesome. I'm not even joking. They tasted like pancakes you would get at your favorite Pancake House. The pancakes were indeed light and fluffy and tasted great. I had plenty of batter left over, so I decided to freeze it. I had them again about a week later, and they still tasted great. I highly, highly recommend this recipe the next time you want pancakes. They're easy to make and sooo much better than a pancake mix. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 eggs, beat them separately before adding to mixture

1/4 cup butter, melted (1/8 of a pound)

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla optional
• Juice of one lemon added to the milk (optional)

Take out a medium bowl and combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Set aside. Take out a small bowl and add the milk and juice of one lemon (if using). Set aside for one minute. Add the eggs to a large bowl and beat well. Then add the melted butter, vanilla (if using), and the milk. Stir well. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Set aside for ten minutes. I use an ice cream scooper and scoop out the batter onto your griddle. Make sure it's set at medium-high heat. Once the pancake batter starts to have bubbles forming and has a golden color flip over to the other side. Serve warm with butter and syrup.

Buttermilk Waffles

Guys, guys, guys. WHY aren’t we eating waffles like, all the time? First of all, we can agree that they are delicious. Tender in the middle, crisp on the outside, with awesome little pockets for butter or syrup or I don’t know, bacon crumbles or cheese. Or anything you want to put on it. And then besides being the most wonderful vehicles for tasty stuff, they are also incredibly simple to make. Just whip up some batter, heat up your waffle iron, and you’re minutes away from enjoying one of these fabulous creations. And wait one second, here’s the really genius part. Make some extra waffles and you can freeze them, then just pop them in the toaster like an Eggo and you have a quick, delicious homemade waffle pretty much any time you want. I mean, this should change your life.

I had some leftover buttermilk from another recipe so I threw these together on a Sunday morning. I usually make eggs on the weekend, and this was actually easier and faster. I followed an easy recipe from AllRecipes, and it was perfect.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups low-fat buttermilk

1/3 cup melted butter

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

You can do this in separate bowls if you’re a stickler, but you should know by now that I’m not. Whisk buttermilk and butter in a bowl together before whisking in the eggs. Then pour in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix a little with a spoon on top of the wet mixture before stirring it in. Stir until it’s just combined, then add in the vanilla extract and stir that in. It will be lumpy, don’t worry.

Then make the waffles according to your waffle maker’s instructions. And if you want to freeze some, just let them cool off, then either put them on a non stick pan in a single layer, or layer them on a plate with wax paper between and stick them in your freezer. Once they are completely frozen, you can put them in a plastic bag without worrying that they will stick together. To eat it, break the frozen waffle in half and put one half in each side of the toaster. Depending on the size of your toaster, you may have to flip it upside down and toast the other side a little bit. Or you could also heat it up in the oven for a few minutes. And viola! Waffles anytime. Let’s do this.

Western Omelette To Go

So, now that I'm trying to follow a Paleo life-style; I'm having to eat more eggs. Yay. Eh, not really. I've never been an egg fan. Or, I should say a fan of egg yolks. Bleh. I don't like the texture or the flavor of egg yolks. However, I've realized that as long as the eggs are cooked, scrambled, etc then I can tolerate them a lot more. So, I've started looking for recipes that involve cooking such as quiches, omelettes, and scrambled. There's a cookbook I really want to buy from health-bent called Primal Cravings. Fortunately, good ol' amazon let's you look inside the book prior to purchasing. One of the recipes that's featured is this one for Western Omelette To Go. I thought it would be perfect for my lifestyle. I get up really early (5:45 am) and only give myself 45 minutes to get ready. So, I want to make something quick, or have something already made that I can pop in the microwave. Suffice it to say; these Omelettes fit the bill. I was able to make them on a Sunday, and since the serving size is about 6 "muffins" I have one for each day of the week, and one for the weekend. Plus, they turned out to be really delicious. One recommendation; do not microwave these little guys for more than 30 to 45 seconds. I think I microwaved mine for like a minute and a half and they ended up being pretty darn chewy. Bleh. Feel free to tweak the ingredients to your liking. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6 slices of ham
6 eggs
2 tbsp bell pepper, finely chopped (I used yellow)
2 tbsp yellow onion, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
I threw in some cheese as well.

Set your oven to 350 degrees. Take out your muffin pan and grease with some butter. Line the muffin pan with the sliced ham. Set aside. Next, take out a medium sized bowl; and combine your eggs, chopped pepper, and chopped onion. Toss in some salt and pepper. Stir well. I used an ice cream scoop to scoop out the egg mixture and gently pour into the muffin cups. Bake until the eggs are set...about 15 to 20 minutes.

Egg, Prosciutto and Gruyere Tartine

So, tartine… sounds all fancy, right? Well, don’t be afraid, it’s not that fancy. In fact, in this case, it’s really, really messy. Tartine is just a pretty way to say “open face sandwich.” This tartine was so pretty I had to try it when I saw the photo on the Simply Life blog. Plus I’ve been on the look out for some lighter dinner options, so this seemed perfect. And it actually turned out to be extremely flavorful and delicious. The Hubs definitely loved it. I have to admit that the prosciutto made it a bit too salty for me after a few bites, but that could just be a personal taste thing. I’m pretty sure cooking the prosciutto concentrated the saltiness a little as well since I’ve had plenty of prosciutto that wasn’t salty. Anyway, I think it’s worth a try. What’s really interesting is the layers of flavor. When you first bite into it you mostly get the egg and the lemony spinach flavor, but as you chew you start to taste prosciutto and finally the gruyere. This would make a great brunch meal, too!

2 thick slices of French, brioche or sourdough bread

Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced

2 tbs. + 1 tsp. olive oil, divided

1 cup spinach or arugula

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Sat and pepper

3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

2 eggs

Pinch of red pepper flakes

I don’t think you really need to measure much for this recipe. Even for the spinach, just add a little oil, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper, then taste and adjust. I will say, we used ciabatta bread instead of the suggested breads, and although I love me some ciabatta, it wasn’t the right bread choice for this. You really need the bread to be manageable in a bite with all this stuff on top. Just think about that when you’re slicing your bread and don’t get it too thick.

Brush olive oil on both sides of the bread slices and put them on a baking sheet. Broil each side about one minute to toast them. Yes, I just gave you instructions on how to toast bread. I know.

Toss the spinach or arugula in a small bowl with the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust to your liking. Remember that the prosciutto will bring a lot of salt to the table so you don’t need much here.

Cook your eggs sunny side up. The original recipe had an interesting method for making sure the whites get cooked all the way on top. They recommend covering the pan and cook for 4 minutes. I’ve never tried it, but my whites were a little runny this time so I may try it in the future. Let me know if you do.

Top the bread slices with thin slices of gruyere and prosciutto and broil for another one or two minutes to melt the cheese. When the cheese is melty, take them out of the oven, top it with spinach, and put your cooked egg on top of that. Season with (a little) salt and pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. There you have it, a fancy, schmancy tartine! 

Breakfast Potatoes

For Christmas 2012; I wanted to do brunch with my Dad. On tap for my menu; were these Swedish tea rings, this quiche, and breakfast potatoes. I found the recipe for breakfast potatoes from The Pioneer Woman's blog. My friend, Sara, swears by her recipes, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with it either, right? Right. It was very simple to make; and I even added cayenne and paprika pepper to kick it up a notch. I wish I had made more bacon, because I would have added crumbled bacon to it, as well. My only gripe was that I wish the potatoes were crispier, but I think it's because I used white potatoes instead of the red potatoes she suggested in her recipe. Oh well. They were still quite tasty. Overall, brunch was a success!

Ingredients:
4 whole (to 5) Large Red Potatoes
1 whole Onion, diced
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Or Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Bacon Fat
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Red And Green Bell Peppers, Diced (optional)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp paprika (optional)
crumbled bacon (optional)

Wash your potatoes and throw in a large pot and boil until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and then dice 'em up. Set aside. Take out your onion and dice 'em up. Take out your saute pan and in the bacon fat and oil. I just used regular ol' bacon fat, because I can. Set the temperature to medium-high and add in the diced onion. Just as the onions are beginning to brown this is the time to throw in the diced potatoes. Stir and cook the potatoes for a couple minutes. Then kinda crowd your potatoes together and pat down with your spoon. Let sit for several minutes without stirring. Feel free to sprinkle some flour at this point. You can also add in the cayenne and paprika peppers if you so desire. The pan should be hot enough to crisp the potatoes but not so hot it'll burn 'em. Cook for several minutes and then flip with a spatula. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to your desired seasoning. And, keep cooking to your desired crispness. Enjoy!

Alison's Quiche

So, for the past couple years I've been going to a co-worker's Ornament Exchange party. And, every year that I've been she's made this Quiche recipe as part of her brunch menu. The first year I tried it I was pretty leery since I'm not an egg person. But, I have to admit that I really liked it. So, if you are not a big egg person I bet you will love this recipe. It doesn't taste real eggy (is that a word?) but it has that fluffiness you can expect from a cooked egg. Plus, you use a pie crust, which, if I'm being honest is my favorite part. And, you also throw in your favorite veggies and/or protein such as ham. I think that if you are a big egg person then you should really love this recipe. Give it a try and I'm sure you won't regret it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup veggies of your choice, diced (Mushrooms, Green Pepper, Onions, Asaparagus)
1/2 cup cooked diced ham
3 eggs
1 cup Half and Half
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
2 tbsp flour
1 pre-baked pie shell

Cook your vegetables in 2 tablespoons of butter until nice and soft. I used green peppers and onions. Set aside. Since I used diced pre-cooked ham I didn't bother sauteing them.
Next, take a medium bowl and mix the eggs, half and half, salt, and pepper. Then, mix the flour with the cheese in a medium bowl. Now, take out your packaged pie crust; pour in the veggies and diced ham. Add in the cheese and then carefully pour the egg mixture over the cheese. Place the quiche on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Then, drop your oven temperature to 325 and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes. The quiche is ready when a knife inserted doesn't come out runny. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Baked Eggs in Portobello Caps

Man, this looks good, doesn’t it? The Portobello cap is just a perfect place for an egg to rest, and it looks so happy and delicious sitting in there. Well… sadly this is one situation where eating with your eyes doesn’t match up to eating with your mouth. We ended up overcooking the egg a bit (I think the temperature she called for was off), but the real flaw in this meal is the total lack of flavor. I found the recipe on Fuss Free Cooking, and I guess I’ll just chalk it up to a taste buds difference since she calls this her favorite breakfast recipe.

So why am I even posting it? Well, two reasons. One is that the spirit of this site is to post failures along with successes in the interest of learning to be better cooks. But two is that I think this could be saved. So I’ll post the original recipe below, followed by some tips that might make it move from the “looks delicious” category into the “tastes delicious” one.

Ingredients

2 Portobello Mushrooms

2 Eggs

2 small stalks of thyme

Salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

Here are the original instructions: gently clean the mushrooms and remove the stalks, making sure not to tear the sides of the mushroom (or your egg will just run out). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the mushrooms there. Preheat the oven to 300 (this seems really low to me). Drizzle olive oil over the mushrooms and season with salt, pepper and thyme leaves before carefully cracking your eggs into the caps. It’s easiest if you crack them into a small dish and then transfer them from the dish to the caps. Then cook for 15-20 minutes.

Here’s what I would do to make them better. Season the mushroom caps but also season the eggs with salt and pepper. You could put thyme on the eggs as well, I didn’t even taste it. If there’s room in the cap a tablespoon of cream wouldn’t hurt, and maybe even some parmesan on top for more flavor. I’d also start with the oven at 350 and cook for 15 minutes. I can’t say I’m going to try this again, but if you do and find that it’s better with these adjustments, let me know! 

Whole Wheat Bagels

There's something about home-made bread that just makes me feel like a better person. Healthier. More accomplished. A successful “home-maker” for making my house smell so wonderful. A courageous soul for taking on the task.

Actually no courage was required here. The bagel making process was surprisingly easy.

When they came out of the oven, they were just shy of perfect, but who can complain on a first attempt. My husband was drawn to the kitchen by the smell. He looked them over with an approving nod and didn't hesitate when I told him they were ready to try.

“They're a bit more brown than normal bagels,” he said as he brought it to his mouth.

“Whole wheat flour,” I responded.

He grimaced (not quite the health nut I attempt to be), but then later I noticed a few more bagels missing from the finished batch. Apparently my healthy home-made bagels were pretty good after all.

This recipe was taken from the “When Pigs Fly” blog at the suggestion of my wonderful neighbor who guided the way with the bagel-making fun.

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cup hot water (read the directions on your yeast for exactly how hot... it makes a difference!)
2 Tbsp. plus 1/3 cup honey, divided (local would be awesome... though mine was only from the local Kroger)
2 ¼ tsp. sea salt
5 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. INSTANT yeast (I had my yeast in 2 ¼ tsp. Packets; I guestimated here)

Directions:

-Measure out water and heat in microwave to recommended temperature. (I measured with a meat thermometer, but there are definitely better ways).

-Mix hot water, yeast, 2 tablespoons of honey, and sea salt.

-Add in the flour one cup at a time, mixing as you go with a spoon. When all of the flour is added, it will be too thick for the spoon and it will be time to knead. At this time, additional water may be necessary (it was for me) if the mixture is too dry/not coming together into a dough. Conversely, if it's too sticky, more flour may be added.

-When the dough is “slightly stiff,” knead your heart out for 8-10 minutes. Wear a content Martha Stewart smile while doing so.

-If making plain bagels, transfer dough into a large bowl and cover with a towel. (I decided to make two varieties of bagels at this point, splitting the dough in half into two bowls. One remained plain bagels. The second – my sweet tooth's rebellion against all the healthiness – became dark chocolate chip. I kneaded that dough more to thoroughly mix in the chocolate chips. Dried cranberries or blueberries would also be awesome. I was out of craisins, which was my original intention.)

-Let the dough rise, covered for a few hours until doubled in size.

-Pound the risen dough down after it's doubled, and then divide into 12 balls (or 6 balls of each variety). Let it rise again for 10 minutes.

-Bring water to boil in a large pot. Mix in 1/3 cup honey (easier if you are patient and really wait for it to boil). Return to a simmer.

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-Form each dough ball into a bagel shape, poking a hole in the middle, roughly 1 – 1 ½ inches in diameter.

-Carefully drop 3-4 bagels at a time into the simmering water depending on the size of your pot. They will float at the top. Let them simmer for 30 seconds on each side, and then place on a cookie sheet ,either greased or on parchment paper. Be sure you wait until the water is simmering here. If it is still slightly boiling, you will have pock-marked bagels. (My first three had this issue. Are you noticing a patience issue here? Hmmm...)

-After all bagels have simmered in the honey water, bake 20 minutes.

-Remove from oven, inhale, take pride in your bagel-making prowess!

Happy baking!

KSP


(Click here for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Honey - Honey Glazed Doughnuts

Okay. Okay. I know this was probably one of my worse Iron Chef showings, but really we only had 5 people total. And, I promise you this doughnut is really, really delicious. I probably should have known going into it that not eating these doughnuts right away would probably be my demise. I contemplated making a Honey Cake with a Honey Frosting, but that's been done before. And, I really wanted to do something different; something no one else had tried. So, I decided to stick with these doughnuts (courtesy of All Recipes) even though I knew it would not taste as awesome 3 hours later as it would hot out of the oil. My other downfall was that I decided to use whipped cinnamon honey that I purchased from the Farmer's Market earlier in the day to make my chocolate glaze instead of regular ol' honey. I probably would have done better than fourth had I just stuck with regular honey instead of trying to kick it up a notch. I made a honey sugar glaze and a  chocolate honey glaze. Stick with regular honey and you won't regret it. Live and learn, I guess. But, seriously, make these doughnuts and eat them right away. You won't regret it. Enjoy!

Ingredients for doughnuts:
2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

I used instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. Please go to All Recipes to view their directions on using Active Dry Yeast. I'll proceed with my directions for instant yeast.

Grab your standing mixture bowl and add in the instant yeast, the sugar, salt, shortening, 3 cups of flour, the lukewarm milk, warm water, and eggs.  Beat at low speed and gradually add in 1/2 cup at a time the remaining flour. Beat for 5 minutes at medium speed until the dough starts flapping away from the bowl or until the dough is smooth and not very sticky. Take a large bowl, lightly oil it, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm enclosed place. I use my oven for this and set the temperature to around 100 degrees. Let rise for an hour or two until doubled in size. Remove the dough from the oven and punch it down with your fist. Pour it onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 thickness. Using a doughnut cutter cut out the dough and set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You will probably have to use 2 to 3 cookie sheets. Let rise in the oven for 45 minutes. While the dough is almost finished rising take out a heavy pot and add in about a quart of vegetable oil. Using a dessert thermometer make sure the temperature reaches about 360 degrees and then add in 4 doughnuts at a time. Cook on both sides until it reaches a golden color. Use a wide spatula to remove doughnuts from the oil and set on a wired rack. Dip the doughnuts into your glaze and set back on the wired rack.

Honey Sugar Glaze:
150 grams (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon honey (I'm using orange blossom)
3-4 tablespoons milk or water

Take a medium sized bowl; and mix the powdered sugar, honey, and milk.

Chocolate Honey Glaze:
30g butter (2 tbsp butter)
1/4 cup (90g) honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g dark chocolate (I used milk chocolate)

In a small saucepan, cook the butter, honey, vanilla, and chocolate over low heat until melted.

(Click for printable recipe)

Hearty Frittata w/ Bacon, Potato, & Cheddar

For Christmas day, I had brunch with my Dad. Typically, I would make french toast or pancakes. But, I decided to do something with eggs. Normally, I would never make eggs for breakfast, because I really do not like eggs. But, I remember we made frittata's for Christmas one year, and I actually liked it. So, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Plus, I had a new cookbook that I wanted to try a recipe from. The cookbook is called The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, and it has over 2000 recipes. I highly recommend it. Anyway, I ended up adding additional ingredients to this frittata and it became almost too hearty. But, it was still pretty darn good for my first attempt. If you like eggs; you'll probably like this. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 12 lg eggs
3 tbsp half and half
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 slices bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 lb gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes
4 oz cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 in cubes (3/4 cup)
3 scallions, sliced thin on bias
Ham Steak, cubed (optional)
Roma Tomato, diced (optional)

Adjust your oven rack about 5 inches from the broiler element, and heat broiler. Now, take your eggs and a medium sized bowl. Whisk eggs, half and half, salt, and pepper until well combined. Set aside.

Next, cook bacon in 12 inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel. Pour off all but 1 tbsp bacon fat. Add potatoes to skillet and cook. Stir occasionally until golden browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in cheddar, scallions, and bacon into eggs. Add egg mixture to skillet and cook until eggs are very wet about 3 minutes. Shake skillet to distribute eggs evenly. Cook without stirring for 30 seconds to let bottom set.

Broil until frittata has risen and the surface is puffed and slightly brown, 3 to 4 minutes. When cut with a paring knife the eggs should be slightly wet and runny. Remove skillet from oven; let sit for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges, and serve. I did end up having to bake the frittata for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven, because the eggs were very runny on one side. I think I had too many potatoes in the frittata.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Swedish Tea Ring

Ever since I was a little girl my mother has made these English Tea Rings for Christmas day breakfast. Basically, they are a type of cinnamon roll. The rolls, however, are much fluffier than cinnamon rolls and they don't have as much cinnamon goodness. The other difference is the rolls are made into a ring instead of rolled and cut. As far as the flavor goes; they are very delicious. Just the right amount of cinnamon. I absolutely love them. Well, I wanted to make these for my neighbor who has helped me out a lot since I've lived in this home. I found this recipe for a Swedish tea ring, and I thought it looked pretty similar to the version my mom made. I decided to give it a whirl. Boy, they turned out excellent. The cardamon and lemon zest really gave the rolls a nice zing. I highly recommend this recipe. And, it was really easy to make. Enjoy!

Ring Dough:
1 package instant yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 Tb sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. cardamom
zest of one lemon
2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 TB cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tb milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

First, heat your milk in the microwave for about a minute and a half until the reading of your thermometer comes out to 105-110 degrees. Set aside. Next, add in the flour, sugar, salt, cardamon, instant yeast, butter, and lemon zest into your bowl. Briefly, mix together. Now, with the dough hook attached pour in your milk and egg; mix until it forms a nice dough that pulls apart from the bowl. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for a couple minutes until the dough becomes smooth and shiny. Take a large bowl; lightly spray with cooking oil, and place your dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm oven (around 80 degrees). Let rise until doubled in size...about an hour or two. I let mine rise for 2 hours.

Once the dough has doubled in size, remove from the oven. Punch down the dough, and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a 12x18 rectangle. Now, get your filling together. I did not use walnuts. Pour the sugar/cinnamon mixture onto the dough and spread evenly leaving a slight border around the dough. I did make another batch of the cinnamon sugar mixture because I didn't think it was enough. Roll your dough into a log starting at the short end of the dough. I had to kind of pull the dough as I rolled to make it long enough so I could make it into a ring. Once you have the dough in the form of a ring, take scissors and cut every inch or so only about 3/4 of the way. You don't want to cut the ring. Twist each piece slightly so the rolls fan out from the ring. Place the ring on a parchment lined cookie sheet and put plastic wrap over the dough. Place in your 85 degree oven and let rise for an additional hour. Remove from oven; and pre-heat at 375 degrees. Place the ring in the oven and let cook for about 20-30 minutes or until the rolls have a nice golden color. Remove from oven. And, let cool on a cooling rack. When completely cooled; gather together the ingredients for the glaze into a small bowl. Pour with a spoon over the ring. Enjoy!

(Click here for printable recipe)

Creamy Parmesan Baked Eggs

During the week, I am not a breakfast person. Actually, let me be more accurate: I’m not a morning person. And breakfast is merely collateral damage. But on the weekends when I’ve been up for a few hours and have come to grips with the fact that I am awake, I start getting that urge for eggs. Usually I cook them up scrambled, or sunny side up with toast to dip in the yolks. But this weekend I had the urge to try something new. I saw this recipe for baked eggs on Shop Cook Make, and it stuck in my head. It looked so good and was so easy, it seemed like something I could make even while half asleep.

Ingredients

2 eggs

2 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp shredded parmesan (give or take)

½ tsp Italian Seasoning

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You’ll need a small (really small) baking dish like a ramekin. I got some for Christmas that I hadn’t used yet so I broke them out. Spray it with cooking spray. I missed this step and it wasn’t a huge deal, but I am sure it would make things easier. Crack two eggs into your ramekin, then add the cream. You don’t need to stir or anything, just pour the cream all over the eggs. Season with the herbs, salt and pepper. And then sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. It’s so easy it hardly seems like a recipe at all!

Cooking is where I got into a little trouble. It looks like the cooking times were based on a wider, shallower dish than my ramekin so I had to increase the time. Then I got worried that it would be underdone and ended up overdoing it. I think that 16 minutes might have been the perfect time, but probably anywhere between 14-20 and you’re good. The top should have a little wiggle to it, but not so much that it looks uncooked. Unfortunately I cooked mine completely and the yolks were hard, but it was still really tasty and I can see the potential for this to be truly amazing when cooked properly. And another benefit is that you don’t have to dirty a whole bunch of skillets or dishes, it all cooks in the ramekin. It just might change my mind about breakfast.


(Click here for the printable recipe)

Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole

If you’ve ever looked for a go-to breakfast when you’re having family over for a long weekend, having friends over to brunch, or really just to have a great start to the day, this is absolutely it. I tried it out for the first time in May, and it has already made multiple appearances since then.

Something about melted cheese and the smell of sausage gets me every time. My trick was to use lean turkey sausage and use egg substitute for a portion of the recipe to save on the guilt/fat/cholesterol factor. No one was the wiser, and everyone asked for seconds. This is a recipe that has never had any left-overs and will now be a staple on our breakfast table. Pair it with mixed berries or fresh melon, and this is what I call a breakfast of champions. Sorry Wheaties.

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 package lean turkey breakfast sausage
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
2 cups egg substitute
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
16 (1-ounce) slices white bread
1 cup finely shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon paprika

How easy is this? Cook sausage in a frying pan for roughly 5 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat and set aside. Combine milk, egg substitute, eggs, mustard, salt, black pepper, and red pepper in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk. Cube bread into 1/2 inch squares, and then add bread cubes, sausage, and cheese into the large bowl with mixed ingredients. After spraying a 13 x 9 inch dish with non-stick cooking spray, pour bowl's contents into casserole dish.

On the original recipe on myrecipes.com, it is suggested to put this mixture in the refrigerator overnight or 8 hours. I did this once, and it was awesome. I skipped this step on the second go (pure forgetfulness on my part!) but it was still pretty darn good. Long story short: I wouldn't stress about this step.

Cook casserole 45 minutes at 350 degrees, and then let it stand to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Side perk of this recipe: your house will smell fabulous.

KSP

(Click here for printable recipe)

French Toast Casserole with Berries

I’ve been on a breakfast casserole kick lately. It’s probably because we’ve had a lot of family and friends staying over this summer, but I always love the excuse to try something new. The original recipe called for blueberries – and I’m sure that would have indeed been lovely – but what if the folks coming for breakfast don’t happen to like blueberries? What if they’re more strawberry people? Or what if they don’t like berries at all?

What I ended up with looked oh-so-American in its red, white and blue glory … or perhaps I should say French. This was a French Toast Casserole after all, and if I only designed my berries in a different order, I could have easily made the French flag.

Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
10 slices of French bread (store bought is fine as long as it's fresh) cut about 3/4-1 inch thick
Blueberries and strawberries (but any fruit topping will do!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix until well blended (use a mixer! You want that cream cheese to be smooth!). Add in the eggs, again mixing well after each one, and then the milk. Cut the french bread, and arrange slices in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread fruit over bread. Making sure that the mixture is thoroughly blended, pour cream cheese mix over the bread and berries, and let stand for 15 minutes to soak in. Finally, bake for 40-45 minutes.

My original recipe called for maple syrup or confectioners' sugar for topping, but you definitely don't need it. Everyone at the table raved about this recipe, so the practice run was a success. I love easy but mouth-watering delicious recipes! Next time, I think the entire thing will be covered with a mixture of strawberries, blueberries and something else. Perhaps bananas. Mmm… I’m getting hungry again.

KSP

(Click here for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Strawberry: Strawberry Chipotle Jam

I fear that my title might be taken after I post the recipe used for my strawberry chipotle jam and cheddar biscuits. This was my first time making jam so I made a trial batch a week before. Regardless how simple, after one bite I knew it would be a winning recipe.


Thank you to A Spicy Perspective for the recipe.



JAM
3 cups of sugar
1 lemon
1.5 lbs of strawberries (or 3 cups chopped)
2-3 chipotle peppers (from canned)


Prep by chopping the strawberries and peppers into tiny pieces. I used my pamper chef chopper which made the process go much faster than using a knife and it mashed up enough to make a nice consistency for the jam.


Zest and juice the lemon into a large pot. Combine with the 3 cups of sugar over medium heat. Stir regularly until the sugar is dissolved. Getting the sugar fully dissolved can be tricky and you really don't want to burn sugar. I used a rubber spatula and smeared the mixture on the side of the pot until it didn't feel gritty anymore.


Add the berries and peppers to the mixture and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes then test and repeat. The spicy perspective recipe gave a great suggestion to test the jam consistency. Take a tiny bit and put on an ice cube to test. If hot, the jam will always appear runny until cooled and the longer you cook it the thicker the jam will get. Mine took 40 minutes to simmer until just right, but I imagine each stove top will be different.


BISCUITS
2 cups of bisquick
2/3 cups of milk
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
(get the thick shredded cheese, not the fine)
1/2 cup of melted butter
tsp of garlic powder


Preheat oven to 425. Combine the bisquick and cheese. Then add the milk and 1/4 cup of butter. Use a large spoon to create and drop biscuits onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic powder to the remaining butter and brush the mixture on top the finished biscuits. Let cool and enjoy!


(Click here for printable recipe)

Ham, Cheese & ½ Spinach Quiche

There’s a Ukrainian word hospidiña (bear with my non-traditional spelling. Ukranians use the cyrillic alphabet). Hospidiña means one who takes great care with cooking, presentation, and being a great hostess. My grandmother was known as a great hospidiña. The tables she set, the flowers she arranged, the food she presented… it was all treated like an art. I like to think that I have a bit of my grandmother in me, or I at least aspire to.

Recently for Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I played host as family stayed with us. Perhaps I went overboard, but I was having a lot of fun. My onion flowers ("how-to" post coming soon!) even broke out amid the lettuce, tomatoes and onions for the burgers. But what I really had fun with were the breakfasts. Feeding 5 to 9 mouths is not the norm in my childless household, so I thought it was a great excuse to try a few new recipes. Here’s the first:

Ham, Cheese & ½ Spinach Quiche

This was the quiche to please the range of eaters in my family. What started out as a plan to make 2 quiches turned into an improvisation that blended the two.

Ingredients: 1 pastry shell (9 inches), roughly 2 cups diced fully-cooked ham, 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese, minced onion to taste, 4 eggs, 2 cups half-and-half, ¼ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. pepper, 2 hand-fulls fresh baby spinach.

Directions:

Spray pie pan with non-stick oil. Unroll store bought pastry shell (see, I cheated here!) into pie pan - personally I use a Pampered Chef Pie Stone, which I love! Bake pastry shell at 400° for 5 minutes covered with foil. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes more. (The pastry shell needs more time to cook than the filling, so this makes sure the whole quiche is finished at the same time.)

After you pull out the shell, scatter ham, half of the cheese and onion on top of the shell. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper, and after it is blended pour it into the shell on top of other ingredients. Spread cheese over mixture and slowly stir with the whisk to blend it in evenly.

This is where the picky eaters come in. I didn’t put in any spinach until this point, because I tried to keep it on only half the quiche, with no spill over. (Important stuff!) Wash the spinach in a strainer, and then push it into the mixture on the one side. I dropped it on top and then pushed it deeper with the whisk.

Cover the edges with foil so they don’t brown more-so than the rest of the quiche. Bake at 400° for 35-40 minutes. When a knife is inserted in the center and comes out cleanly, it’s done.

Enjoy!

KSP

(Click here for printable recipe)

Cinnamon Bread

There are certain things in life that put a smile on my face. Sunsets, hanging with good friends and family, mojitos, a nice warm day with a gentle breeze, my dogs, and the smell of cinnamon bread baking in the oven. Since it was a rainy and gloomy day I decided to make some bread. This particular bread will be ready the same day you make it. I’ve made this once before, and it was very delicious. I remember the first time I had cinnamon bread. I think I was about 17 years old, and it was when I baby-sat some kid in the near west-end. I thought it was sooo yummy. The cinnamon swirled throughout the bread made it heavenly. I’m pretty certain it was from the Montana Gold Bread bakery in Carytown. The only difference between their bread and mine is their’s might be more cinnamonny. I think I just made that word up. But, anyway, it’s a really easy bread to make. And, it’s quite good. Plus, if you want to put it away for awhile it will last up to 3 months in your freezer. I think you will really enjoy this bread, and it should definitely put a smile on your face!! I got the recipe out of New Best Recipe…my go-to cookbook. Enjoy!

Dough:
1/2 c whole milk (I just used 1%)
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 envelope instant yeast
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees)
1/3 c sugar
2 lg eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/4- 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface

Filling:
1/4 c sugar
5 tsp ground cinnamon
Milk for brushing

Glaze:
1 lg egg
2 tsp milk

First, you need to heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan until the butter melts. Cool until warm (110 degrees). While the milk mixture cools, sprinkle yeast over warm water in a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle. Beat in the sugar and eggs and mix at low speed to blend. Then, add the salt, the lukewarm milk mixture, and 2 cups of flour. Mix at medium speed until thoroughly blended...about a minute. Switch to your dough hook, and add 1 1/4 cups of flour. Knead at medium-low speed, adding more flour a little at a time if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, until the dough is smooth and comes away from the sides of the bowl. About 10 minutes.
Then, turn the dough onto your work surface. Squeeze the dough with a clean and dry hand. If the dough is still sticky, then add some more flour. Transfer the dough to a very lightly oiled large bowl. I used spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm air-free area (I use my oven) for several hours. The dough should double in size. I set my oven to around 75 degrees.
After the dough has risen, remove from oven and punch down the dough. Turn the dough onto your unfloured work surface. Let the dough rest for an additional 10 minutes.

Now, for the filling mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9x5 loaf pan.

Press the dough neatly into an evenly shaped 8x6 rectangle. With the short side facing you, roll the dough with a rolling pin into an evenly shaped 18x8 rectangle. Flour the work surface if the dough sticks. Brush the dough liberally with milk. Then, sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough leaving a 1/2-inch border on the far side. Now, starting at the side closest to you , roll up the dough, pinching the dough gently with your fingertips to make sure it is sealed. To keep the loaf from stretching beyond 9 inches, push the ends in occasionally with your hands as your roll the dough. When you finishing rolling, pinch the seams tightly to secure it. With the seam-side facing up, push in the center of both ends. Firmly pinch the dough at either end together to seal the sides of the loaf.

Place the loaf seam-side down in the prepared pan; press lightly to flatten. Then cover the top of the pan loosely with plastic wrap and set aside to rise. I put mine back into the oven. Let rise until the dough is 1 inch above the top of the pan, which is about 1 1/2 hours.

Prep your glaze. Remove the loaf from the oven, and gently brush the bread with the egg mixture. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer reads at an angle from the short end of teh pan into the center 185 to 190 degrees. Remove the bread from the pan and cool to room temperature on its side on a wire rack at least 45 minutes. If tightly wrapped the bread will last at room temperature for 4 days or frozen for 3 months.

(Click here for printable recipe)