Tag Archives: Breakfast and BrunchAn easy appetizer or addition to a light meal, classic pizza dough is rolled very thin, seasoned with very fresh herbs, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil – deliciously summer.
 A few of you may know Margaret of Away to Garden. Away to Garden is a lovely site about … gardening. Last summer she kicked off a food blogging event called Food Fest, along with Deb Puchalla. I enjoyed reading about it during the duration, unfortunately, I was only able to participate once with some outstanding corncakes. Great news, the event is back and this time there is a new crew along with MargarChez Us › Add New Post — WordPresset: Matt of Matt Bites, Diane & Todd of White on Rice Couple and Jaden of the Steamy Kitchen. The first week of Food Fest is all about herbs. I keep a couple big pots on our deck, immediately by the kitchen door, these pots are full of: chives, verbena, basil, rosemary, mint, spearmint, chocolate mint, lemon thyme and French Thyme. I use them on a daily basis. I try to only grow the herbs I use, you will hardly find many dried ones in our house. I love the way they make the kitchen smell as well as how they make our food taste. This week was all about cleaning out our fridge/freezer and what I found was a tub of pizza dough in the freezer. After thawing it out, rolling it very thin, coating with some coarse cornmeal, I covered the top with lots shallots, thyme, and rosemary, finishing with a drizzle of good olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. It baked up golden and fragrant and was a wonderful addition to a bowl full of the “perfect” scrambled eggs with chives and white truffle oil.
 Recipe: Herbed Flat Bread1 serving pizza dough coarse cornmeal handful fresh herbs, minced 2 shallots, sliced thinly olive oil, drizzle sea salt, sprinkle Heat oven to 425. Roll out pizza dough, very thinly, on a table sprinkled with cornmeal. Carefully move rolled out pizza dough to a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Sprinkle shallots, herbs and sea salt over the top, drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve. Eat. Ciabatta is my go-to-bread for not only dipping in olive oil but for easy grilled cheese sandwiches. Cinnamon rolls are favorite breakfast treat, who does not like “candy” for breakfast!I am terribly behind on my BBA Challenge posts. I am getting ready to work on the next challenge but felt guilty jumping ahead before telling you about these two wonderful challenges. Ciabatta and Cinnamon Rolls don’t really go together but we did have the all in the same weekend. Both recipes were very simple, especially the cinnamon rolls, I was able to whip them up in an afternoon. The Ciabatta did require a little pre-planning (note to self, read recipe before getting ready to start) as the poolish and the biga need to sit overnight.
 Ciabatta normally has an open crumb texture with lots of holes. Notice the nice tight crumb of ours? I am not sure what happened? I used the poolish method and followed the instructions exactly. I felt very optimistic about this bread, that is until I began cutting it open. The flavor was delicious and as long as I just told people it was “bread”, they would have never known it was suppose to be Ciabatta. Any insight would be appreciated?? I would love to master this recipe!
 Cinnamon Buns are the ultimate breakfast treat and I decided to make them for an early morning coffee with my sister, Daniele and brother in-law, Shawn. The recipe was very easy and flowed so smoothly, no hiccups. I decided to flavor them with cardamon instead of cinnamon and a deep orange frosting – the two flavors were great together and definitely more of an “adult” cinnamon bun as the kids who tested did not care for them. I made these a couple years ago and I definitely liked the end result of that recipe better. These cinnamon buns deflated upon baking and looked more like disks. I would try them again, though, before going back to my original attempt.
 * I am entering this old post in Gel’s Kitchen Blog event, NTTC July 2009 Egg Challenge. This is a fantastic and easy salad to make for a light and quick dinner. I completely forgot about Easter. We have been so busy and all of the Catholic signs flew by us. Not only until today, did it cross my mind, when E & M stopped by flapping their Palms from Sunday Church. Normally, I love Easter. It is the beginning of all things Spring. I am usually baking hot cross buns, making marmalade, starting the garden, baking Masa; not, this year. Since all the things we love about Easter, food wise, will have to wait this year, I decided we needed to do something remotedly related to the holiday. In the middle of making breakfast it came to mind, why not pay tribute to the “egg”. The first part will be the poached egg. Now, as regular reader, you know I am not a huge fan of eggs. I must confess, I actually like them. They just have to be done the right way, which is, my way. Laudalino, on the other hand, will eat an egg any old way .. poached, fried, soft boiled, scrambled, hard boiled. Not picky. A few weeks ago I had an incredible poached egg served over a bed of curried chickpeas and lentils, it was fantastic and what was so fantastic was that the egg was perfect. I have been attempting to make the perfect poached egg and I have finally mastered it. Poached eggs don’t have to be only for breakfast. They are also wonderful for brunch, think Egg’s Benedict, as well they are fantastic for dinner, such as on a Pizza, over mushrooms, or even on a salad. One of our favorite ways to have a perfectly poached egg is the classic French salad, Frisee with Lardons (bacon). Recipe: Perfectly Poached Egg1 egg 2 teaspoons white vinegar 1 teaspoon sea salt water Bring water to boil in a shallow frying pan, about 2 inches deep. Crack egg into a small dish. Lower the heat on the water to a simmer and slowly slide the egg into the simmering water. Cover with a lid and let sit about 3 – 5 minutes depending on how soft you like the yolk. Gently remove from the water, with a slotted spoon and lay on a double folded paper towel for about 1 minute. Put into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper. Serve. Eat.
 Recipe: Frisee with Lardons1 head frisee, cleaned and torn into pieces 6 bacon slices – cut into small pieces 2 tablespoons red vinegar 2 tablespoons dijon mustard 1 small shallot, thinly sliced 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 tablespoons bacon fat, left from browning bacon salt, to taste fresh cracked pepper, to taste Cook bacon until golden and crispy. Remove from pan and left set on folded paper towels. Set aside Combine vinegar, mustard, shallot, olive oil, bacon fat, salt and pepper in a jar, shake to combine. Toss frisee with dressing and bacon bits. Set aside. Poached eggs using directions above. To serve put a bed of lettuce on a plate and top with two poached eggs each. Serve with a nicely warmed baguette. Serve. Eat. Lightly sweetened brioche dough is pressed into a tart pan and filled with jam and fresh plums, to make a wonderful breakfast treat.
 I was so excited to finally be the hostess for the Tuesdays with Dorie challenge. I have been a big fan of Dorie Greenspan’s must have book, Baking from My Home to Yours, since the first time I made something from it. If there is not any other baking book to own, this is it, there is everything from yeast recipes to quick and dirty cookie recipes. I have been secretly hoping for the past year that no one would pick the Brioche Plum Tart recipe as I really wanted to make it; so happy when I received the email about being the hostess this week. I love brioche. It is just one of those simple pastries that one can do so much with, from eating simply with jam to adding fruit. I was especially excited to try a tart using a yeast based dough and the addition of stone fruit made it even better. I am such a big fan of summertime stone fruits. The dough did have be made the day before as you will get better results after letting it set over night. I liked that the dough was sweeter than a traditional brioche recipe. The finished dough is filled with jam and then sliced plums. I could not find plum jam so I used a sour cherry and rhubarb jam, which gave the very sweet summer plums a nice slightly tart taste, reminded me of the candy Sweet Tarts. As well, I did not use walnuts, instead I used slightly toasted pecans. I made this tart for an early Saturday morning coffee with my sister and brother in-law and brought the remainder up to Lake Tahoe for our annual get away with our friend’s Evelyn & Will. It was a huge success with everyone, as who wouldn’t want a little dessert for breakfast! Be sure to grab a cup of coffee and check out all the other Brioche Plum Tarts over at TWD. Next, Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy will be tickling our taste buds with a Raspberry Blanc-Manger – cannot wait! Recipe: Brioche Plum Tart1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/3 cup whole milk, just warm to the touch 2 cups all purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar pinch of salt 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract about 14 ripe plums, preferably italian prune plums 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts, almonds (I used pecans) 3 tablespoons sugar 1/4 cup plum jam (I used sour cherry with rhubarb) To make brioche: Put the yeast and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, and fit the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Working on low speed, mix for a minute or two, just to get the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 7 – 10 minutes, stopping a few times to scrape down the bowl and the hook, until the dough is stretchy and fairly smooth. The dough will seem fairly thin, more like a batter than a dough, and it may not be perfectly smooth – that is fine. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, 30 – 40 minutes. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap into the bowl. Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours. Then if you’ve got the time, leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight – it will be tastier for the wait. To Make The Tart: This tart looks prettiest when it’s made in a fluted pan. You can use either a 9-inch metal tart pan with a removable base or a porcelain baking dish, the kind sometimes called a quiche pan. Generously butter the pan. Press the chilled dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides – don’t worry if it’s not even. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. While the dough is in the refrigerator, prepare the filling. Halve and pit the plums. If you are using large plums, cut each half into 2 or 3 slices. Set aside. Toss the chopped nuts with the sugar and set aside. Remove the tart pan from the fridge and push and press the dough up the sides of the pan. Spoon the jam onto the dough and spread it over the bottom. Arrange the plums cut side down in a concentric circles covering the jam. Scatter over the nut mixture, and cover the tart lightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Place the tart on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat and let it rest in a warm place for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Uncover the tart and bake for 20 minutes. Cover it loosely with a foil tent to prevent the crust from getting too dark, and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until the fruit juices are bubbling and the crust is firm and beautifully browned – it will sound hollow when tapped. Transfer the tart to a rack to cool for at least 45 minutes before serving. A simple waffle recipe that anyone can master. Browning the butter before adding to the waffle batter, gives them a slightly nutty flavor, which enhances the sweetness of the pure maple syrup. Great for dinner or even brunch.
 *It has been a long time since I have had time to participate in the CLICK Event. The challenge this month is stacks and I knew I had the perfect stack to share! This is a really fun photography event …if you love food and taking picture run on over and check it out!I had intentions of making an actual “dinner” tonight; but with packing, for the weekend as well as packing the house up, I did not even have time to dial take out, let alone head to the grocery store. I had to wing it with the waffle recipe as I packed all the cookbooks; but, I have to say, they came out GREAT! Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. Recipe: Brown Butter Waffles* serves 4 – 6 (depending on how hungry) 2 cups self rising flour pinch of salt 1 3/4 cup milk 2 eggs, separated 3 tablespoons butter Melt butter over low heat and gently brown. Beat egg whites until stiff. Mix milk with egg yolks until blended. Add milk/egg mixture to flour and salt, stir until mixed but not over mixed. Stir in butter. Gently fold in egg whites. Cook waffles according to your waffle irons instructions. Serve. Eat. Challah also known as hallah or challot is a traditional braided bread eaten during Sabbath and other Jewish holidays. Jewish tradition, Sabbath and holiday meals begin with a blessing over four loaves of bread, two on Friday night and two on Saturday afternoon.
For week five of the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge, we made Challah. I love Challah and always look forward to the holiday season, when I can find it in our neighborhood bakery. Now, I am happy to say, I do not have to wait any longer. This challenge was incredibly easy and I have to say I was very impressed with how well I did (I kept yelling to Lenny to come see the “Challah”) and how the bread came out. I started the bread late in the afternoon and by bed time we had fresh baked bread for our breakfast. The recipe was very easy to follow and everything happened just as stated in the recipe, from resting times to baking times. The Challah came out golden in color, light in texture and very flavorful, not too yeasty or eggy, just perfect. If you would like to see what other Bakers from the BBA Challenge are doing be sure to check out the blogroll, wonderful things are coming out of their ovens! Following you will find some photos I took showing part of the process:
Besides eating Challah by itself, it is my choice of bread for French Toast as well as bread pudding. It soaks up the egg batter perfectly. The morning after making the Challah we used some of it to make a golden blueberry French toast and saved the rest (as we are traveling) to make bread pudding later on. I have two French Toast recipes that I love using Challah for, one of them I will share with you over the holidays but for now I will share our traditional French Toast recipe, which is perfect for an easy breakfast or brunch dish.
 Recipe: French Toast1 egg 3 tablespoons whole milk or half and half 1 teaspoon sugar, prefer raw or unrefined 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract couple grates of fresh nutmeg slices of challah 1 tablespoon butter Whisk the egg and milk in a shallow bowl. Add the sugar, vanilla and nutmeg and whisk until blended. Dip the bread slices in the challah, both sides for about 30 seconds each side. Heat the butter in a frying pan, be careful not to burn it, add the dipped bread slices and cook until golden, about 3 – 5 minutes per side. Serve. Eat. An easy and guilt-free (almost) quiche recipe. This quiche recipe has all the flavor as it’s cousin the full-on crust quiche, just minus a few carbs. Quiche is a great dish to make and have on hand for a day or two; it makes a wonderful dinner when paired with a simple salad, as well it is great for breakfast or your weekend brunch.
 Quiche is a great dish to make the night before a busy week starts as it is great to have it on hand for a healthy dinner. I love making quiche for this reason as well you can basically add anything you have on hand into it. A few years ago, I started cutting back on the amount of “flour” products we eat, not for any particular reason, except to cut carbs – they are bad for our waistlines! I came up with this simple basic quiche recipe and I just add whatever I have on hand to flavor it and to add some texture. In order to give the quiche some stability when you slice into it, I add lots of veggies to the bottom of the quiche pan, sort of like the crust, it works perfectly! This particular quiche is an asparagus one with caramelized shallots. I always find it funny when Lenny reaches for the hot sauce to season his quiche, sort of like the little kid who puts ketchup on everything, so this time, I added a dried chili from our garden last summer. It was just enough spice, to leave that bottle in the fridge! It is really a simple and delicious recipe.
 Asparagus “Crust” for crustless Quiche
Pouring in egg and cheese mixture.Recipe: Crustless Quiche6 eggs 1 cup milk, whole 1 cup heavy cream 6 oz swiss cheese, grated 1 lb asparagus, sliced at an angle into pieces 3 shallots, thinly sliced 1 dried chili, crunched grey sea salt, to taste 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons olive oil Heat oven to 425. Spray quiche pan with olive oil and set on a cookie sheet. Heat butter and olive oil in a frying pan, add shallots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Drain back any olive oil/butter mixture into the frying pan and add the asparagus, chilie, and sea salt, cook until bright green and just slightly cooked but crunchy, about 5 minutes. Add shallots and toss, just to coat. Remove from heat and spread into the quiche pan. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended, add the milk and cream and blend until mixed. Fold in the cheese. Pour over the asparagus. Bake for about 30 – 40 minutes, until set in the middle and lightly golden on top. Serve. Eat.
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