Hot winter breakfast

Pinterest rewarded my work-time browsing breaks with yet another wonderful recipe link to 10 hot cereal breakfasts. Yesterday morning, having awoken 30 minutes before my alarm was to go off, I decided it was the perfect time to try one of them. Having recently purchased steel cut oats for the very first time (adventurous, no?) - I opted to make baked pumpkin steel cut oatmeal. I found out two things: (1) I absolutely love the chewier texture of steel cut oats, reminds me a bit of wheat berries, combined with the creamy rich taste of the oats; (2) I absolutely love making a casserole dish full of oatmeal in one go that means multiple breakfasts are already made for subsequent mornings!

I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I didn't have quite enough canned pumpkin so I used applesauce for the rest of the pumpkin quantity. I also reduced the brown sugar, so that I could add a drizzle of maple syrup at the end without it being too sweet. I think fancy molasses (or even blackstrap molasses) might add another nice dimension to this recipe.

Baked Pumpkin Steel Cut Oatmeal
serves 4 to 6

• 2 Tbs butter, divided
• 1 1/2 c steel cut oats
• 1 c pumpkin or squash puree (or applesauce up to 1/4 c.)
• 1/4 c brown sugar (not packed)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tspginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 c milk  (I used 1 c. almond milk and 1 c. milk - I'm sure 2 c. almond milk and vegan margarine would work great in this recipe too)
• 2 1/2 c warm water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a 3-quart Dutch oven, melt 1 Tbs of butter over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, stir in the oats and fry for about 3 minutes (keep stirring).
3. Push the oats to the sides of the pan, and add the second Tbs of butter to the center of the pan. Add pumpkin puree, sugar and spices, stirring for another 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Pour in the milk and whisk to combine. Whisk in the water, vanilla and salt. Put the lid on and transfer the dutch oven to the oven.
5. Bake for 35 minutes. Stir the oatmeal and test that the oats are al dente and tender (may still look fairly liquidy). The oatmeal will thicken much more as it cools.
6. Eat immediately with a drizzle of maple syrup and/or cream. Let the leftovers cool and then refrigerate for reheating later.


Photo perhaps to come - but check out the link if you want to see what it looks like

Pancake Success!

Pancakes - for many a happy morning memory, a sweet indulgence that speaks of slow weekends and breakfast in bed - have been a sore spot for me. Mostly because for some ludicrous reason they tend to weigh like lead in my belly after pancake number three (though I easily have the stomach capacity for 6-7 of them). I have tried crepes, cornmeal southern pancakes, dutch apple pancakes, regular pancakes, pancakes from mix, pancakes from scratch and am always left sadly disillusioned with their reality after eating. Until last night! Yes, an exclamation mark of discovery! Oatmeal applesauce pancakes have rescued me from my general pancake disenchantment. Almost like a super moist and fluffy muffin in a pancake form packed full of oats, applesauce, and walnuts, they were just superb. And I managed to eat eight of them :) And they're pretty darn healthy!

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes (1 batch makes 7-8 pancakes using 1/4 c. for scooping)
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. quick oats
2-3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon optional
1/2 c. almond milk, or regular milk
1/2 c. apple sauce (unsweetened)  (plus 1/2 - 1c. extra for topping the pancakes, if desired)
1 Tbs canola oil
1 egg, or 2 egg whites

1. Whisk dry ingredients together.
2. Whisk wet ingredients together. Then fold into dry ingredients until just combined.
3. Heat skillet or griddle to medium heat, pour out batter 1/4 c. at a time. Leave pancakes until very bubbly, then flip. Remove when cooked on both sides.
4. Serve with more warm applesauce and/or maple syrup.

Poached Eggs and Sorrel

If you love lemon, then sorrel should be your new favorite vegetable. We inherited a couple of sorrel seedlings from a farmer friend of ours and they have come back stronger each year, doing quite well in garden pots. I came across a version of this recipe in the NYTimes and thought it would be a perfect way to make a dent in our sorrel plants. I loved the recipe even if I accidentally overpoached the eggs - watch them closely!

Eggs Poached in Buttery Sorrel Sauce
1 large shallot half, minced (or more if you like)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs unsalted butter
6 cremini mushrooms, washed, stemmed, sliced thinly.
4 oz sorrel, stems trimmed, washed
1/4 tsp salt
ground black pepper
1/3 c. coffee cream (10% fat)  - the recipe called for heavy cream, but I really enjoyed the coffee cream
4 large eggs
chili flakes (optional)
buttered toast (good thick bread)
tomato jam (optional)

1. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat (skillet should be big enough to fit 4 eggs). Saute mushrooms until cooked. Add the garlic and shallot, saute until golden brown.
2. Add sorrel leaves, salt, and pepper. Stir gently until sorrel turns olive-green and starts to break down. Add cream in and simmer for 1 minute.
3. Crack eggs into skillet. Lower heat and cover pan. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and let rest covered until done.
4. Carefully scoop eggs and sorrel sauce into two bowls. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with toast (or on toast as I prefer!)

Salt Spring Island

We had an amazing 4 day weekend on Salt Spring Island: camping in Ruckle Provincial Park, hiking up Mt. Erskine, driving up Mt. Maxwell, visiting the farmer's market, learning a bit about orienteering and geocaching, basking in the sun, and most importantly testing out our new Coleman camp stove! 

Other than the fact that the grill started to melt a bit at high heat (only because the grill is a replacement that someone made for the stove which we got off of craigslist!), it performed satisfactorily and we were able to cook a variety of foods I would never dream of taking on with our Whisperlite hiking stove. My favorite breakfast, other than the cheese grits and scrambled eggs, was the buttermilk cornmeal pancakes with fresh strawberries and maple syrup.

A friend of ours gave us this recipe on our wedding day; since it contains one of my favorite ingredients (CORNMEAL), it has been a frequent weekend breakfast meal.

Buttermilk Cornmeal Pancakes*
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs sugar
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vinegar (or 1 tsp cream of tartar)
2 eggs
1/4 c. oil

1. Mix together dry ingredients
2. Whisk together eggs, oil, and buttermilk (and vinegar if using instead of cream of tartar)
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
4. Fry up pancakes!

*For two people, I would halve the recipe and it will make about 4 pancakes per person.

Holy Saturday brunch

The cooking continues this weekend ... a lovely afternoon brunch where I was finally able to test my ability to recreate the amazing bread pudding muffin I experienced at Little Nest.  I started off using the base recipe from the Grand Central Bakery cookbook, and added the additional flavors I wanted. My only complaint about my muffin, although delicious, was that I didn't quite get the crusty exterior I was going for. Perhaps baking longer at the recommended heat, or letting the bread soak for less time (or having bigger bread chunks of more stale bread).

I also made a version of the quintessential breakfast egg casserole. The best thing about both of these recipes is they can be ASSEMBLED THE NIGHT BEFORE!!! And just hang out in the fridge until morning time or brunch time when you are ready to bake them!

Orange Blossom-Pistachio-Chocolate Bread Pudding Muffins
(makes 16 muffins)
1 lb crusty artisan french bread
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 eggs
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1 1/2 c. milk
2/3 c. sugar
2 tsp orange blossom water
1.5 -2 oz roughly chopped semi-sweet chocolate (I used Bakers)
1/4 - 1/3 cup chopped unsalted pistachios
1/4-1/2 tsp salt*  (the original recipe did not call for salt, nor did I add it, but I think it would be a good addition!)

1. Cut or tear bread into 1" chunks. Toss with cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Beat eggs, sugar, cream, milk, and orange blossom water together. Pour over bread. Stir to coat bread.
3. Mix in chocolate and pistachios. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. (I removed the batter from the fridge about 30 min before baking to let it come to room temperature).
5. Line muffin tin with paper cups and scoop batter into tins. The batter should be mounded up (and the muffin tins very full since the muffins won't rise at all).
6. Bake for 40-50 min until crusty on top and muffins are cooked through.

Breakfast Egg Casserole 
6 - 10 pieces of bread
6 eggs
3 c. milk
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp salt
(pepper if desired)
1 chopped green bell pepper
chopped basil
~ 1/4 c. rehydrated sundried tomatoes
1 package veggie breakfast sausage
1 1/2 - 2 c. grated cheddar cheese

1. Grease a 9 x 13" baking pan. Tear bread into chunks and cover the bottom of the pan.
2. Beat eggs, milk, mustard and salt until smooth. Set aside.
3. Layer the bell pepper, basil, sundried tomatoes, breakfast sausage over the bread and top with cheddar cheese.
4. Pour egg mixture evenly over the ingredients in the pan.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Remove 30 min prior to baking and preheat oven to 350oF. Bake for 40-50 min until cooked through in the centre and egg mixture has become puffy/golden brown on top.

These are just suggestions; you could add a variety of vegetables and spices like corn and jalapenos, or green onions, or feta, etc to the egg casserole instead!