Brown Butter Blueberry Cornmeal Banana Bread

Say the recipe name five times fast. I dare you.

Sure, it could just say ‘Banana Bread’…but, can you imagine leaving any one of the other ingredients out of the recipe name? It’s like Banana Bread, but on crack. But somehow Crack Banana Bread just didn’t have the right ring to it. Somehow.

Instead of regular old butter, we brown the butter in a saucepan first to become nutty and delicious and just downright seductive.
Dear Brown Butter: Is it acceptable to dab you on my wrists and neck like perfume?

Instead of just flour, we kick up the flavor and the texture by adding an earthy crunch of cornmeal.
Dear Cornmeal: I have a crush on you. You make me want to eat fresh tortillas every day.

Instead of only sweet ripe banana, we add juicy summer Maine blueberries to the fruit roster. Because they’re in the freezer and are practically crying out to be used and brighten the spirits of a heavy winter chill.
Dear Maine Blueberries: You win. Forever.

But I digress to from my love letters to food ingredients. Let’s get down to it.

By now you are armed with not one, not two, but three rockin blueberry bread recipes that are fit to please any guest and at any time of year. That’s badass. And this recipe is unabashedly the badass-est (woah). 
All of the elements come together in a sweet-enough, banana, blueberry, crunchy, moist-but-not-too-moist, perfect crumb bite. Having a whole 9x13 pan of it is nothing short of dangerous. And by dangerous I mean awesome.

Think Batman – dangerously awesome.

Batman Brown Butter Blueberry Cornmeal Banana Bread…?


We win. Forever.

Also, Note to Self:  This is the risk of taking a food photo shoot on a very snowy balcony railing.

Note to Self #2:  The consequence of said risk = out-of-the-oven banana bread dusted with freshly fallen Maine powder.  An amazing unexpected reward.

Brown Butter Blueberry Cornmeal Banana Bread


Adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

7 ounces unsalted butter, melted and browned to just over 1/2 cup of butter
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup corn meal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup plain yogurt (any fat content) or buttermilk
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 3-4 medium bananas)
Heaping 1 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen


Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan and set aside. (You could also consider doing two bread loaf pans)

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Butter will begin to foam and crackle as it melts. When the crackling subsides, the butter will begin to brown. Swirl the pan as the butter cooks. When the butter browns and begins to smell nutty, remove the pan from the flame and transfer the butter to a small bowl. Taking the butter out of the hot saucepan will stop the butter from overcooking and burning. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, and yogurt or buttermilk. Whisk in the mashed bananas. When butter has cooled, whisk in the browned butter.

Add the wet ingredients, all at once to the dry ingredients. Fold together, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to reveal any hidden pockets of flour. Fold in the blueberries. Fold together ingredients, but try not to over stir.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 15 minutes.

Bread will last 4 days, well wrapped at room temperature. It also freezes well.

Blueberry Gingerbread Cake

It's 2014.

...what?

Wait a minute, I feel like we're having deja vu.  I feel like we were just having the same conversation about how crazy it was that it was Labor Day.  And talking about a recipe that has blueberries baked into a delicious bread batter.  And swooning over how delicious Maine blueberries are. 

Yup.  That's exactly what's happening.  Again.  And I'm into it. 

Only now I look outside and all I see is a magical winter wonderland instead of a late summer sun-glistening lake.  And those blueberries, they're the same.  Except they've taken a long winters nap in our freezer, patiently waiting to awaken on a cold day like today and make everyone feel warm and summery and nostalgic.  

This recipe puts a summery bright burst on a winter holiday favorite: gingerbread.  The deep sweet of molasses with a ginger spice is perked up just enough by the bright freshness of the blueberry.  And oh, the amazing summer flavor is still there.  It's there and it's awesome.  You close your eyes and get lost in the time warp.... and in the end you don't care what time of year it is.  All you taste is delicious. 

Because what do you do when it's -11 degrees outside?  You bake, and you bake with what you have.  And if that means pulling out part of your summer harvest from the freezer, all the better.

Also, consider this Winter Blueberry recipe as Recipe 1 of 2 - with another coming your way tomorrow.  It's even more awesome...so get excited.

And in the meantime, get bakin'.

Blueberry Gingerbread Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart and Smitten Kitchen

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for pan
1 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting finished cake
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, essential for serving

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Butter and flour parchment and sides of cake pan, or spray both with a nonstick baking spray.

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan (or large one, if you’d like to make the cake entirely in there) and add baking soda — it will foam up! this is fun! Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in butter until melted. Whisk in dark brown sugar, molasses and fresh ginger, if using. Mixture is usually just lukewarm by now, but if it still feels quite hot to the touch, set it aside to 10 to 15 minutes to cool further before using.

Place flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking powder in a fine-mesh strainer or sifter so that you can sift them over the wet ones in a minute.

Transfer molasses mixture to a large mixing bowl if your saucepan isn’t large enough to make the batter in. Whisk in eggs until just combined. Sift dry ingredients over wet, then stir the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer cake to a wire rack and let cool completely. Once fully cool, cut around cake to make sure no parts are sticking to the side and invert cake out onto a rack, then onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares. Please, promise you’ll serve this with lightly sweetened, softly whipped cream. They’re made for each other.

Do ahead: Whipped cream needs to be stored in the fridge, of course. Cake keeps at room temperature for up to a week in an airtight container. 

Coconut Blueberry Bliss Cake

It’s Labor Day. 

 
…what?

How is it that the Memorial Day to Labor Day stretch goes by quicker every year? It’s a fascinating phenomenon we all seem to experience and have trouble accepting. It’s May, then September, and we don’t really know if those J months ever exist. This year I decided to use this feeling as a welcomed opportunity to find a way to embody it, to savor it; to somehow tangibly represent this time of year we all cherish so much. And doing so through a baked good seemed very appropriate.

In terms of summer, you cannot get more summery than hand-picked Maine blueberries. This is fact. And they must be picked from Blueberry Hill Farm in Acton, Maine. On a hot summer afternoon. After a morning woods run. And a swim in Great East Lake. But pre afternoon boat ride…and pre happy hour. With cold Sam Summers. Or Kahlua iced coffees. These are more facts. Are you writing this down? Stick with me here.

For fall, spices like cinnamon and nutmeg enter their prime time to shine come September. Apples start their harvests and have a direct destiny for pie pans and applesauce jars. Cinnamon and nutmeg will be at the ready on every kitchen counter post-harvest, ready to spice and make everything nice. Trust me on that one.

The beauty here is that we can find a middle ground for this seasonal divide; a culinary creation to bridge the gap of summer and fall. And it just so happens that this particular bridge combines all of the seasons’ best traits into one moist, sweet, brown sugar, cinnamony (new word), bursting-with-blueberry-goodness coffee cake. And the coconut? Well, why the heck not? I say. When one is able to give life an exotic, tropical twist – such as adding a crunchy coconut topping to your coffee cake - you say yes. This is another life fact. Jot that down.

Bottom line: make this cake for a special occasion or as a simple way to make your or someone else’s morning cup of coffee even better. It will please everyone’s palate and, most importantly, give us a helpful hand in saying so-long to a wonderful summer and welcome to a fall full of promise and even more flavor. Sounds like bliss to me.

Coconut Blueberry Bliss Cake

Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for coating
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for coating.
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Yogurt Cake:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (or sour cream) at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 healthy cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

For the Streusel:

Heat the oven to 350F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 9x13 inch pan with butter and flour or spray with Pam and set aside.

Combine the streusel ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well incorporated and clumped. Refrigerated until read to use.

For the Cake:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl until aerated and lumps are broken up; set aside.

Put the brown sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat over medium speed until light in color and airy. Add the yogurt (or sour cream) and mix well. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until evenly combined. Remove the bowl from the mixture and stir in the flour mixture until just moistened through.  Gently fold in the blueberries.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the streusel over the top and press in to adhere. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and just a few crumbs remain, about 55 minutes.

Adapted from Shutterbean

Breakfast (or lunch...or dinner) Enchurritos

Enchurrito? Wha?  Well, it’s a creation I just made myself for dinner.  As I pulled it out of the oven, my roommate walked by, stopped, and said: “you better be blogging about that”.  So, here I am.

I was trying to scrounge up something for dinner from my fridge, and once I saw my trusty-always-must-have carton of eggs, I knew it was breakfast-for-dinner time.  I had corn tortillas too, and I knew I wanted them to be involved.  Breakfast burritos?  Yes please.  But wait…then I saw a full jar of peachy green chili made from peaches picked from one of the best places on earth (Excelsior Orchard, which you can read and see more about here) and then I had a smothering sauce that needed to be incorporated.  This meant fork and knife.  Plus, they were corn tortillas and not flour ones.  Yes, this meant enchiladas…and breakfast burritos….as one.  And right then and there, enchurritos were born.  (I thought this was my own crafty creation, but apparently they already exist?  Madness I tell you.  Let me know if you already knew this or have had them before.  That is…before you make these!)

To round them out and make them even more super fantastic, I added a bunch of fresh herbs and cheddar cheese to my scrambled eggs, and layered them with cooked spinach and beans within their tortilla robes.  Hearty, cheesy, eggy, smothered-in-a-chili salsa goodness.  Topped with a whole lot more freshly chopped herbs and a dollop of sour cream, and you’ve got yourself a helluva breakfast…lunch….or dinner. 

Breakfast (or lunch...or dinner) Enchurritos

This recipe is made for one person, but be sure to double, triple, or quadruple to make for as many friends who want in too!

Ingredients

2 eggs

¼ cup (or more) shredded cheese of your choice

½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or use any combination of herbs you like! chives, tarragon, cilantro…)

1/2 cup cooked spinach

1/3 cup black, white, or red beans (optional)

1 cup salsa

2 6-inch corn tortillas

Salt

Pepper

More fresh chopped herbs, shredded cheese, and sour cream

Method

Preheat broiler to high and set a rack to one of the highest rungs in the oven.  Cover bottom of a small, ovenproof casserole dish with half the salsa.  Warm up the two tortillas in the microwave, toaster oven, or in a dry skillet just to make them pliable.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat.  While it heats, scramble the two eggs in a small bowl and add to the skillet when up to temp.  Move the eggs around with a spatula until just cooked; add cheese, beans, fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.

Divide spinach and spread in middle of each tortilla.  Divide egg mixture and place on top of spinach.  Fold each side of the tortilla to the center over the filling and place seam-side down in the casserole dish.  Top with remaining salsa and shredded cheese, if desired. 

Place under broiler until salsa is bubbly and cheese is melted. 

Top with herbs, and a dollop of smooth, cool sour cream. 

Devour.    

Apple-Banana Bran Muffins

I wish I could tell you that this recipe came from some free-willed creative vision I had.  That it came to me while standing on top of a snow-capped mountain looking over a breathtaking vista, or while meditating in a peaceful buddhist sanctuary, and suddenly a vision of Apple-Banana Bran Muffins manifested in my third eye and my destiny was found to create them.

No, not so much.  But that sure sounds nice.

In actuality, this recipe came up because of two very common predicaments that home cooks encounter all the time.
The first is this: you bought an ingredient for a certain recipe and have more leftover after you're done that you'll need to use up; What the heck to do with it besides the make the same recipe again?
The second:  There's something in your fridge or on your countertop that has Father Time working against it, and you've gotta use it up.  Or else into the garbage it goes, unused and unloved.  So sad.  Too sad.  So something has to be done.

So this recipe, you could say, came from necessity.  And don't they say that Necessity is the Mother of Invention? (you know, they)  And if I do say, it is very true in this case.  The two culprits in this case were the end of a quart of buttermilk and some very brown bananas.  And we're talking brown bananas, people.  Every day I would come home from work and I would see the bananas hanging sadly from the banana hook in our kitchen.  I would reluctantly glance at them out of the corner of my eye, blocking out their pleas that sounded something like: "Eat me! Use me! Do SOMETHING!  I can barely hold on anymore!"  It got ugly.  So, like I said with what happens in these situations, something had to be done.

And hence the birth of this recipe.  It makes one fantastic batch of muffins, and one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is that is actually makes a hearty, tasty muffin, not a cupcake disguised as a muffin, as so many muffins are these days.  There are not pounds of sugar in it, nor cups of oil - only 3 tablespoons! - so a majority of the sweetness and the moist crumb come from the ripe bananas, with a fun addition of the sweet studs of apples amidst the batter.  The buttermilk adds great flavor and tenderness, and with nutrition-rich additions of whole wheat flour, wheat or oat bran (use either!), and walnuts if you dig 'em, you can eat these muffins and feel super powered.  Breakfast on the go?  No problem.  Do it and rock it.  In fact, make a bunch and throw em in your freezer.  Then they'll be ready for you whenever you need them.

How's that for turning a sour situation into a sweet success?  



Apple-Banana Bran Muffins
Use any level of overripe banana here, from brown speckled to deep, dark doom.  The latter may look ugly, perhaps even dangerous, but these intensely overripe bananas are disguised pieces of gold, with even more flavor from their developed sugars than a just slightly overripe banana.  Waste not want not! 


Also, I found myself without wheat bran in the middle of making this batter - oops - so I improvised and blended some old-fashioned oats into a fine powder and it worked perfectly.  So wheat bran, oat bran, or a Macgyver-ed, on-the-fly oat bran of blended oats will do just fine.  


Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, (2-3 naners)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup unprocessed wheat bran or oat bran 
• 3 tablespoons canola oil or melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup small diced apple
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, buttermilk, wheat (or oat) bran, oil and vanilla.

Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients; add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in apples. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they’ll be quite full). Sprinkle with walnuts, if using.

Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Adapted from EatingWell Magazine

Gimme mah Pancakes!

One day, a few weeks ago, I was blindsided by a craving.  You know, one of those cravings you don't even see coming, and then BAM, suddenly you cannot be satisfied until you find something like bread and butter pickles or honey mustard pretzels.  No, you don't have to be a pregnant woman to want a certain food, and to want it made right...and right now.

For me, it was pancakes.  There was something in me that needed that fluffy texture, a buttery edge, and a healthy dousing of that good 'ol Vermont Maple Syrup in my life.  When the feeling never subsided, I knew nothing else would do.

After much wait and anticipation, last weekend I was finally able to make this Pancake Daydream a reality.  While perusing new recipes for inspiration, I found this recipe on one of my favorite go-to Inspriation Food Blogs; Smitten Kitchen.  Recently, the author had made these pancakes and I knew I had to have them.  Then, the Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones recipe caught my eye, and, surprise surprise, I had to have and make those too (and added lemon zest to boot).  The recipe is so simple it's silly, and only requires one bowl, one fork, and one sheet pan.

It was a breakfast of champions, a feast for the eyes, and a craving satisfier like you wouldn't believe.  Go take advantage of Blueberry/berry season and make these for yourself and the people you care about!  And add the freshly whipped cream and breakfast sausage to the spread....you wont regret it.

Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes

Makes 12 to 14 4-inch pancakes

2 large eggs
1 cup plain, full-fat yogurt
2 to 4 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for buttering skillet
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (62 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (68 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (32 grams) barley or rye flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried


Melt half of butter. Remove from heat and stir in second tablespoon of butter until melted. This keeps your butter from being too hot when you next want to add it to the wet ingredients.

Whisk egg and yogurt together in the bottom of a medium/large bowl. If you’re using a thin yogurt, no need to add any milk. If you’re using regular yogurt, stir in 2 tablespoons milk. If you’re using a thick/strained or Greek-style yogurt, add 3 to 4 tablespoons milk. Whisk in melted butter, zest and vanilla extract. In a separate, small bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir dry ingredients into wet only until dry ingredients are moistened. A few remaining lumps is fine.

Preheat your oven to 200°F and have a baking sheet ready (to keep pancakes warm). Heat your skillet or saute pan to medium. If you’ve got a cast-iron skillet, this is my favorite for pancakes. Melt a pat of butter in the bottom and ladle a scant 1/4 cup (about 3 tablespoons) batter at a time, leaving at space between each pancake. Press a few berries into the top of each pancake. The batter is on the thick side, so you will want to use your spoon or spatula to gently nudge it flat, or you may find that pressing down on the berries does enough to spread the batter. When the pancakes are dry around the edges and you can see bubbles forming on the top, about 3 to 4 minutes, flip them and cook for another 3 minutes, until golden underneath. (If you listen closely, after a minute you’ll hear you blueberries pop and sizzle deliciously against the pan.) If pancakes begin cooking too quickly, lower the heat. Transfer pancakes to warm oven as they are done cooking, where you can leave them there until you’re ready to serve them.


Serve in a big stack, with fixings of your choice. Do not anticipate leftovers.





Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones

The trickiest thing about these is the dampness of the dough. Yet that same trickiness is they bake into something that seems impossibly moist for a scone, and especially a whole wheat one. Keep your counter and your hands well floured and you won’t have any trouble getting them from bowl to counter to oven to belly, which, after all, is the whole point.

1 cup (120 grams) whole wheat flour
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter
1 cup (136 grams or 4 3/4 ounces) fresh raspberries
3/4 cup (189 grams) whole milk ricotta
1/3 cup (79 ml) heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together.

With a pastry blender: Add the butter (no need to chop it first) and use the blender to both cut the butter into the flour mixture until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas. Toss in raspberries and use the blender again to break them into halves and quarter berry sized chunks.

Without a pastry blender: Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife and work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Roughly chop the raspberries on a cutting board and stir them into the butter-flour mixture.

Both methods: Add the ricotta and heavy cream together and stir them in to form a dough with a flexible spatula.Using your hands, gently knead dough into an even mass, right in the bottom of the bowl. Don’t fret if the raspberries get muddled and smudge up the dough. This is a pretty thing.

With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to a well-floured counter, flour the top of the dough and pat it into a 7-inch square about 1-inch tall. With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 even squares. Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet with a spatula. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. It’s best to cool them about halfway before eating them, so they can set a bit more. I know, way to be a big meanie, right?

Do ahead: Scones are always best the day they are baked. However, if you wish to get a lead on them, you can make them, arrange them on your parchment-lined sheet and freeze them. If you’re prepping just one day in advance, cover the tray with plastic wrap and bake them the day you need them. If you’re preparing them more than one day in advance, once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or container. Bring them back to a parchment-lined sheet when you’re ready to bake them. No need to defrost the froze, unbaked scones, just add 2 to 3 minutes to your baking time.

Homemade English Muffins

Today was one of my favorite types of days. It was a day of discovery - food discovery to be specific - and nothing gives me more joy and excitement as do these moments. I get to experience something new, something delicious, and I feel that much more knowledgeable about the world around me than before. The food world is infinitely full of these moments. Each one builds upon the next, and I get to continuously experience them every day. I'll never get over how lucky I am for that.


But guess what? It's actually the fact that I get to share these discoveries with you that means the most to me. Yes, you! If I can do it, you can do it. And since I need to eat, and you need to eat, there's no reason I should be more informed about this human necessity than you are. I therefore feel an obligation to pass along this knowledge to as many people as possible, and I do it both gladly and eagerly. "Food is our common ground, a universal experience" after all... right, James Beard?


I felt similarly on the day I got to tell you that you can make your own Nut Butter at home, since it is something that is commonly only thought to be accessible in a store. But alas, it's not true! And today I feel the same way. Only today I'm telling you that you can make your own English Muffins. Standing there, in your PJ's, in your own home, makin' muffins. Yes, it's true!


This recipe has been on my 'must make' list for a while, and when I came across it recently on one of my favorite blogs Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to finally check it off the list. It uses a cooking technique similar to an English Muffin recipe by Alton Brown (using tuna cans as molding rings to shape the muffins) but the ingredients are adopted from a Ruth Reichl recipe. The only ingredient I wanted to add but unfortunately forgot to buy at the store was cornmeal. My plan was to sprinkle it on each side of the muffin before cooking them on the griddle to get that nice, crunchy, hint of toasted corn flavor with every bite. But oh well, there's always next time, and now I know they are perfectly delicious without it too.


All I can really say is: sorry Thomas', but we've got your number now. I will pass by you at the store and give you a glance and a slight grin, but nothing more, and simply continue in stride.

Homemade English Muffins
Makes about 15 muffins

1/3 cup warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

5 cups all-purpose flour

Mix 1/3 cup warm water with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 package active dry yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in 1 2/3 cups milk. When cool, add to yeast mixture along with 1 egg, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and mix, at medium speed, 5 minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups more flour and mix well. Cover and let rise 1 hour.*

Preheat a griddle to 300 degrees F, or a heavy duty skillet to medium low heat.

Place metal rings or tuna cans (both tops and bottoms removed) onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Using #20 ice cream scoop**, place 2 scoops into each ring and cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork and serve.

* You can also mix this by hand, adding all of the flour at once and not for five minutes.
** Unable to figure out what size scoop this was, I can only caution you to not fill the ring more than halfway. It puffs plenty while cooking.

Fluffy, steamy centers...

...turn into those nook and cranny crags you crave after a run in the toaster. More like butter capsules really.

Inspiration for a brunch to remember: Homemade english muffins smeared with butter, and topped with fresh radish slices, scallions, sea salt and lemon juice. An uncanny combination.

Swiss chard-goat cheese eggs and purple potato garlic hashbrowns to round it all out. Happy Easter! holy food coma

Simple, wholesome ingredients

Big discoveries

French Toast Casserole

Ah, breakfast.  So essential, so versatile...it makes an alarm clock a little less offensive knowing that it's not too far away.  I know every person has their own breakfast staples as a part of their everyday routine, but it's nice to know a thing or two about throwing a special breakfast together when the time comes for such an occasion.

I agree that pancakes and french toast are great options, but I start to get cranky just thinking about all of the pans and bowls and utensils I have to get out and use so early in the morning, only to be left to clean them after my food coma has kicked in after eating.  I want the paper (or...lets be honest, a good food book or magazine) and a warm cuppa' Joe to be waiting for me at that moment, not a counter full of dirty dishes.

This recipe is one of my favorite things to make when I want to make something special for breakfast, but don't feel like doing all of the hard work in the morning.  It's great for holidays, vacations, when staying with friends, or on a Saturday morning to surprise someone special.  I actually made a few of these casseroles last week for a catering gig and they were a hit with the gracious conference attendees.  The casserole sits in the fridge overnight, with flavors mingling and developing, and is ready for the oven when you step into the kitchen in the morning.

And once everyone is awake and with a healthy appetite after the smells begin to waft from the oven, a glorious dish full of light custard soaked bread awaits the table...and your fork.


French Toast Casserole
I want to tell you that this recipe is a mere backdrop to infinite varieties.  Go crazy with other ingredients as additions: dried fruit! fresh fruit! nuts! exotic spices! flavored liquors!  Some stellar combinations await you.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of crusty french bread, cut up or torn into bite size pieces
12 eggs
3 cups milk (or half-and-half or cream)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (half stick) butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Maple Syrup

Method:

- Place bread pieces in a 9x13 baking dish.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

- Pour egg mixture over bread.  Press the bread pieces down to make sure they are fully submerged in the liquid.  Cover with aluminum foil and place in fridge overnight.

- In the morning, remove the casserole from the fridge and let sit on counter as the oven preheats to 350 degrees.  Mix together the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.  Once the oven is at temperature, place the casserole in, uncovered, for about an hour.  You want a puffed up, golden brown crust and a knife to come out clean from the center (that wont jiggle if you shake the pan).  If it gets too brown before its done, simply cover it with the foil and continue baking until its cooked through.

- Pour some maple syrup over the top and serve - making sure there's more maple syrup to pass around too.  And for goodness sake make sure it's the good stuff.


(I unfortunately wasn't fast enough to snap a picture of last week's casseroles, but the photo above is close to what you should be going for! courtesy of http://candcdish.wordpress.com/ )

The 16th Batch

Just posted on LIS ... its nice to finally share the final recipe with everyone!

Morning Glory Muffins, Made-Over

As an intern at America’s Test Kitchen – and also at its respective magazines Cook’s Illustrated, Cook’s Country, numerous cookbooks, and television series - you are able to see the entire recipe development process unfold right before your eyes. And, in most cases, you are experiencing it with your own hands too. By taking on the role as an intern, you are signed up to assist the test cooks as they tirelessly test every facet of a certain recipe, which often leads to a recipe being made forty, fifty, or even seventy times. This means a lot of ingredients, a lot of prep work, and a lot of tasting. And don’t take the vague descriptor of ‘a lot’ here lightly…I’m talking slicing forty pounds of onions to make ten batches of French onion soup simultaneously…in one afternoon. How else could we know what type of beef broth is best? This was what my days were like during the thirteen week period of my time there.

To enhance our experience in the test kitchen, we (I and the other wonderful group of people interning along with me) were given a project that enabled us to mimic the procedure that a test cook goes through each time they are assigned an official recipe project. This meant that, on our own, we were to pick a recipe out of a given topic, research its background and recipe variation, test the many differing elements of the recipe, create a final ‘best recipe’ from the results of said tests, and write an article describing our testing experience behind the created dish in the style of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.

Our topic was fruit muffins. Sounds like a pretty good topic, right? When you think about muffins, they seem so cute. Harmless little palm sized delights, sitting daintily in a dishtowel-lined basket, probably ready for a summer picnic. Let me tell you though, after your 15^th batch of muffins that didn’t turn out the way you wanted them to, you start hallucinating tiny little devil horns growing out of muffin tops. Do I really have to make and taste you, AGAIN?? And the answer is yes, because you want to get it right.

Alright, I may be being overdramatic. There were no devil muffins, although I will say that none of us could even look at a muffin for a good couple of weeks after the project was done. But of course, like many challenges, it was very rewarding at the end to have completed the whole process and have your own original recipe and story laid out in an article format.

Morning Glory Muffins was what I chose as my topic. Since I was so fed up with muffins that were more like cupcakes with an identity crisis, I wanted to create a Morning Glory muffin that was still moist and delicious, without being oil slicked and bombed with refined sugar. Who wants to start their day that way? After playing around with many different ingredients and ratios – how much AP Flour to whole wheat flour? What is the real purpose of the egg yolk vs. the egg white? When and how does ‘moist’ turn the corner to ‘gummy’? - the rising heroes of the recipes proved to be apple butter and honey, each adding excellent flavor and texture profiles to the otherwise ordinary muffin. Although Morning Glories were a bold project choice with all of the different ingredients and recipes that exist, I was able to create at least one more variation to add to the list.

Morning Glory Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

NOTE: Apple butter is a fruit spread made from the low-and-slow cooking of apples, liquid, and in some cases added sugar or spices. We prefer Whole Earth All Natural Tap’nApple Apple Butter Spread which contains only apples and apple cider. Other brands will work as well, but be sure to read the ingredients and/or taste it prior to using as these flavors will affect the final taste of your muffin.

1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup (5 ounces) whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup packed (3.5 ounces) light brown sugar

1/2 cup apple butter (see note)

1/4 cup honey

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrots (from about 4-5 medium, peeled carrots)

1 medium Granny Smith apple peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly spray cups with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flours, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, apple butter, honey, melted butter, and vanilla extract until combined, set aside.

3. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently fold until the mixture just starts to come together; streaks of flour should still remain. Add the carrots, apples, raisins, walnuts, and stir until evenly combined. Try not over-mix or you will have tough muffins.

4. Divide batter evenly among the 12 cup spaces by scooping into prepared muffin tin. It will seem like a lot of batter but don’t worry: the batter level will stand above the cup line and is stiff enough that it will stay standing. The muffins will spread out as it bakes (but will not over-rise). Bake until muffins tops have slightly browned and a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out with a few crumbs attached, 24-27 minutes. Place tin on wire rack to cool 5 minutes, then remove muffins from tin to wire rack. Let sit 10 minutes before serving. They also freeze beautifully, and may be even better the next day!