sticky orange cake with marmalade glaze (for breakfast)

sometimes you see something and you just NEED it. this was one of these things. becky crocker sent this recipe my way and no more than 3 days later and my entire apartment was eating it for breakfast. yup, cake and ice cream for breakfast! (as a spring cleaning reward).

although the cake itself is vegan, thekitchn (recipe source) recommended pairing it with pistachio ice cream, which is exactly what we did. yummmm. and i promise, this is one of those recipes that just happens to be vegan, as in, you aren't substituting anything unusual and it doesn't taste like anything has been "altered." the apple cider vinegar ensures a wonderfully fluffy texture.

sticky orange cake with marmalade glaze from thekitchn
makes 2 9-inch round layers

• 3 cups flour (i used a mix of spelt and gluten free)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 tpns baking soda
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 orange, zested
• 2 cups orange juice
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tblspns apple cider vinegar
• 1 tspn vanilla
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoons rum, vodka, or water

• preheat oven to 350°F.
  
• lightly grease 2 9-in rocun cake pans. line the bottoms with parchment and lightly grease the paper.
• make the cake batter: whisk together the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. whisk until thoroughly combined.
• in a separate bowl (i, of course, ignored the separate part), whisk together the orange juice, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla. quickly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones and whisk thoroughly.
• pour batter into cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.
• let the cakes cool for about 20 minutes in the pan then cool outside of pans. glaze while cakes are still warm but not hot.
• to make the glaze, mix the marmalade and rum or vodka in a small saucepan. warm over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until the glaze is bubbling and hot. turn off heat and immediately glaze cake.
• place one cake layer on a plate. pierce the top with a toothpick a few times. pour about half the liquid over the first cake layer. place the second layer on top and repeat.
• serve with pistachio ice cream!
  

shakshouka and pita!

a recent trip to israel means many yummy food posts to come. a good place to start is the celebratory meal i cooked when i got back: shashouka and pita bread! i wanted to use the spices i brought back with me, paprika and za'atar right away.

so the deal is that there are a lot of ways to make shakshouka. i'm sure everyone has their preferred method. i went for something quite simple to keep things easy but also to let my newly acquired paprika shine. i looked up a bunch of different articles online and just used them as a guide to go at it myself. this is one of those dishes that is quite hard to mess up. really, no matter what you do, it's going to taste good.

the pita bread was surprisingly easy to make. especially considering i was making it while doing loads of laundry...i'm sure i messed up somewhere along the way. and yet, delish.

shakshouka

• 1 28-oz can tomatoes
  
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 large red pepper, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon paprika
  
• salt
• pepper
• parsley, chopped
• feta cheese
• 6 eggs
• olive oil

• add a couple of tablespoons to a large pan
• add garlic, onion, red pepper and cook until softened
• add tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, paprika
• cook until sauce slightly thickens, about 15 minutes
• make 6 indents in the sauce and crack eggs onto top of sauce
• cover and cook until the whites set, about 5 minutes
• top with parsley and crumbled feta
  

pita bread
adapted from mark bittman's how to cook everything and the mollie katzen's new moosewood cookbook

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 3 cups flour (i used spelt)

• mix yeast into warm water and let sit for a few minutes. it should foam.
• mix oil, salt, sugar, honey into water
• add flour and mix, 1 cup at a time. by the end, you'll probably need to use your hands.
  
• knead a bit and form dough into a ball. cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1-2 hours (or less, if you're rushed).
• punch down dough. cut into 6 pieces and cover. allow to rest for 15 minutes. apparently this helps them puff...
  
• flatten and roll each ball so that they're about 1/4-1/8" thin and somewhat circular. cover. allow to rest 15 minutes.
• bake on a baking sheet 5-10 minutes, flipping once, until lightly browned on both sides.
• good warm. or cold.
  

latino brunch and a photo shoot

when i heard that the studio was lit, the only thing that made sense to do was cook and document! friend/colleague mel was generous enough to host and shoot this shindig. and what a shindig it was. i was *pleasantly* surprised to be introduced to this social network that resides in jersey city. as i cooked, a number of friends drifted in and out and soon enough the 6 of us were sitting down to a feast. the feast was a combination of the impressively vast amount of food mel had on supply and a few supplemental materials we picked up at the local deli. on the menu: arepas, guacamole, pico de gallo, eggs, bloody marys and flourless chocolate cake.

let's talk about flours. you've got to have arepa flour, not cornmeal or other corn based flour substances. look at your local latino market or the latino section of large supermarkets. it's pretty common.

arepas with eggs, guacamole and pico

make the arepas:

• once you have arepa flour, just follow the directions on the package. it will be a simple mix of the flour, pinch of salt and warm water. i suggest adding some grated cheese at this point...
• flatten a small handful of dough in the palms of your hands, and fry on the stove top in a decent amount of heated oil until browned on both sides.
  

make the guacamole:

• 2 avocados
• 1 small tomato, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
  
• juice from 1 lime
  
• salt and pepper

• mash the avocados with a fork and add salt to taste
• add tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice. mix well.

make the pico de gallo:

• 2 tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• small handful cilantro, chopped
• juice from 1-2 limes
• salt and pepper
  
• 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped

• combine all ingredients in a bowl, allow to sit for a few minutes. you might want to add a tiny drizzle of olive oil...

once you have the components (arepas, guacamole, pico) i suggest layering them with over easy eggs. and more cheese.

flourless chocolate cake
from epicurious

my general rule: the simpler the recipe, the better. nothing fancy required. it's a little bit of a labor of love but totally worth the effort and will blow everyone away.

• 12 ozs bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 12 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• preheat oven to 350°F. butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan. line bottom of pan with parchment paper or waxed paper; butter paper. wrap outside of pan with foil.
  
• stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. remove from heat. cool to lukewarm, stirring often.
• using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 3 minutes.
  
• fold lukewarm chocolate mixture into yolk mixture, then fold in vanilla extract.
  
• using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. gradually add remaining 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until medium-firm peaks form.
  
• fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. pour batter into prepared pan.
• bake cake until top is puffed and cracked and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 50 minutes. cool cake in pan on rack (cake will fall).
• using small knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. remove pan sides. place 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom or cardboard round atop cake. invert cake onto tart pan bottom. peel off parchment paper.

or, just make this cake in whatever buttered pan you have. it might not be as beautiful but will be absolutely delicious. and this cake definitely does not require a glaze. i recommend a nice sprinkle of powdered sugar.

solstice brunch

subtitle: continuing the backwards holiday march


this particular brunch was made specifically for solstice (part II) but there's no reason it wouldn't work for any other time--special occasion or not. an indulgent king crab leg meal the night before yielded many more leftovers than we thought possible. the perfect thing to pair with those leftovers? eggs! well, eggs and quite a number of other things. hence the necessary trip to whole foods. the shopping trip left us with ingredients for the following: crab quesadillas with guacamole and eggs and a citrus fruit salad.

i love citrus, so this salad gives it something a little bit extra but pretty much just hangs onto the integrity of the fruit. and it's incredibly festive. to make it even better, you really can't go wrong with crab, cheese, guacamole and eggs. it's a match made in heaven (the perfect thing to share).

citrus salad

• a mix of citrus (we used grapefruits, navel oranges and blood oranges), segmented
• honey
• chopped mint
• champagne vinegar (champagne)
  

• whisk together honey, mint and vinegar. start with about a tablespoon of each and adjust to taste.
• mix with citrus.
  

crab quesadilla with guacamaole and eggs

• eggs
  
• 2 corn tortillas per quesadilla
  
• small handful of cheese per quesadilla (something mild), grated
  
• crabmeat
  
• 2 avocados
  
• 1 small tomato, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
  
• juice from 1 lime
  
• salt and pepper

• make the guacamole: mash the avocados and add salt to taste. add tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice. mix well.
• heat both sides of the tortillas in a pan. once warmed, put cheese and crab in between tortillas and heat until cheese melts and tortillas brown. keep warm while you make the eggs.
• make eggs any way you like (i prefer over easy)
• assemble: place quesadilla on a plate. top with guacamole then eggs.
  

squash pancakes and pumpkin waffles

i've done the pumpkin pancake thing before. but for some reason, taking my fresh csa squash and mixing it into a pancake recipe seemed fresher, healthier and more innovative. especially considering it was a winter squash--something that in my mind doesn't automatically belong in a pancake. and i had a squash i need to use. a scenario that tends to be my motivating factor.

thanks to a squash site, i identified my winter squash as a delicata squash. it resulted in a wonderfully moist pancake with a great texture. the squash was not overwhelming in flavor and provided much more of a desirable consistency than anything else. and it was easy too. i just took my normal pancake recipe, added a freshly roasted and pureed winter squash to the batter and threw in some chopped walnuts for good measure.

you want another breakfast squash recipe? and what's that? you don't want healthy-feeling pancakes?


pumpkin waffles (aka pumpkin pancakes meet waffles)

i am confident in saying that the best way to serve these is layered with cheddar cheese (so that it melts) and topped with maple yogurt. yes, you heard me right. now go forth and conquer the cheddar-maple-waffle world that lays before you! or throw that squash you've been saving into your sunday pancake batter.

squash pancakes or pumpkin waffles

because of the similar consistency of squash and pancake or waffle batter, i merely added a cup of squash to a batch of batter. depending on the type of squash you use, you may have to thicken (add more flour) or thin (add more liquids) out the batters. in my case, i used canned pumpkin with the waffles, which left no adjustments. in fact, i added some extra pumpkin without having to adjust anything else. for the pancakes, i added some liquid to the squash to get it to more of a puree, since it was rather thick after roasting.

glorified grilled cheese

when is grilled cheese okay for breakfast? when it has an egg on it! (or all the time). in any case, a wonderfully crusty spelt loaf and aged cheddar were beckoning and i couldn't wait until lunch.

i topped my sandwich (instead of stuffing it) with an egg, heirloom tomato slice and a ginormous basil leaf, because i was really looking for a grilled cheese vehicle and wanted to keep my cheesy goodness purely intact as possible.

if you're gonna go this route (extra toppings or not), there are very few ingredients involved so quality is crucial. i mean it! do no skimp. save your wonder bread and american cheese for something else. and as we transition to the fall season, read up on your heirlooms, if you haven't already. i must say, they were absolutely out of control at the santa monica farmers market a couple of weekends ago.
glorified grilled cheese

• cheese: a nice aged cheddar made me happy
  
• bread: crusty, please!
  
• nice thick slice of tomato
• a couple of basil leaves
  
• fried egg: over easy, lots of yolk, please

• combine as desired. in my case, this involved buttering two slices of bread, frying them butter side down with cheese on top, cooking until the cheese melted , sticking them together and topping them with the rest of the ingredients.

chocolate pancake cake!

a triple roomie bday called for a special treat. especially one appropriate to eat after a late night of drunken debauchery. i bring you the chocolate pancake cake! this, my friends, is a yummy labor of love. and perfect for a bday brunch.


chocolate pancake cake

• 2 cups of pancake mix (i used gluten-free)
• other pancake mix ingredients (whatever is required by your preferred kind)
• cocoa powder
• cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
• strawberries, chopped
  

• prepare the pancake mix according to the directions, with the following adaptations: add a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients and add extra milk so that you get a runny batter, closer to that of crepes.
• pick a large pan to make your pancakes in. add a few tablespoons of batter, and swirl batter around to thinly coat pan. make sure to let the batter spread the width of the pan, so that your pancakes will turn out uniform in size.
  
• very flat, smooth pancakes (more like crepes). you may have to give a test run.
• once you have a giant pile of cooked pancakes, assembly starts.
• put one pancake on a plate, spread on some frosting, add berries. repeat. again and again and again and again.
  

truthfully, there was already a bunch of cream cheese frosting in my fridge (yes, that's really what living in my apartment is like), so i just used that, and thinned it down with some soy milk so that it would spread easier and drip down the sides of the pancakes. but for those whose apartments aren't stocked with all sorts of baking supplies, martha stewart's cream cheese frosting recipe is below.

cream cheese frosting
courtesy of marthastewart.com

• 4 tablespoons room-temperature unsalted butter
• 4 ounces room-temperature bar cream cheese
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
• milk (or soy milk)
  

• beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.
• add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
• add milk to thin down frosting to desired texture (runny enough to spread down the side of the pancakes).
  

banana coffee cake with chocolate chip streusel

here is your reason to keep overripe bananas in the freezer at all times. (seriously, when your bananas cross through the yellow phase, throw them in the freezer. they can be defrosted to bake or smoothie-fy at any time). another birthday, an internet search and the realization that i had bananas and walnuts at home lent to this SCRUMPTIOUS baked good. well, that and the need to find something that would be relative easy to lug to jerz. and since technically it's a coffee cake, i'm going to label it brunch.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel
(adapted from bon appetit)

• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups flour (i used spelt)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 cups mashed bananas, about 3 bananas (i only had 2 so i threw in an extra egg and some extra applesauce)
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk (i made my own with soy milk and a dash of lemon juice-let it sit for a few minutes before you use it)

• preheat oven to 350 degrees F, butter and flour an 8x8x2 inch baking pan.
• stir chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon together; set streusel aside.
• sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
• in a separate bowl (that's right, this is your third separate bowl now) beat sugar, butter and egg in a large bowl until fluffy. beat in mashed bananas and buttermilk.
• add dry ingredients and mix well.
• spread half of batter (about 2 cups) in prepared baking pan. sprinkle with half of streusel. repeat with remaining batter and streusel. bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
  

summer waffles

i would argue that there aren't many better ways to start a morning than waffles with frozen yogurt and peaches. especially farm fresh peaches. and so, with a little help from some friends (bittman and how to cook everything included), i whipped up a batch of waffles and threw on the best things i could find in my fridge/freezer.

it was a joint effort and i can't take credit for the whole idea but i do maintain that if it weren't for my awesomely stocked kitchen (aka endless supply of froyo and stone fruit), this meal never would have come to fruition.

summer WAFFLES! (adapted from mark bittman's everyday buttermilk waffles) makes 4-6 servings

• 2 cups flour (spelt here)
  
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 2 tblspn sugar
• 3 tspns baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups milk (i used soy)
  
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
• 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

• if you're being proper, you might mix all of the dry ingredients together, than all of the wet separately, and combine the two. i tend to mix all of the dry and then just throw the rest right on top and whisk until everything is just combined.
• heat up your waffle maker, give it a little lubrication and let it rip.
• top your golden waffles with frozen yogurt, sliced peaches and just a bit of maple syrup.
  

back in the kitchen: french toast with raspberry syrup

there's nothing like spending a week and a half without being able to cook that will inspire me to get back in the kitchen. a trip to the farmer's market for the first csa pickup of the season certainly also helps. as does being resolved to hang out at home on a saturday afternoon to watch some world cup soccer...

so, to whet my appetite for a day of cooking and futbol watching, I decided to start with some french toast. the catch was that i decided whatever i cooked needed to include at least one piece of csa bounty. for the french toast? raspberry syrup, of course!


french toast with raspberry syrup
serves 1

• 2 slices of your preferred bread (or more if it's small!)
  
• 1 egg
• some milk (or soymilk)
• dash of vanilla
• dash of cinnamon
• 1/2-1 cup raspberries
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• dash lemon juice
• about 1/2 cup water

• combine egg and some milk to create a slightly thick mixture. add vanilla and cinnamon, stir. dip bread in egg mixture and allow to soak.
• meanwhile, combine water and sugar in a saucepan. cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture thickens slightly.
  
• stir in the raspberries, and stir occasionally (the more you stir, the more the berries will break down). bring to a boil and continue cooking until mixture thickens slightly more about 5-10 minutes. add lemon juice towards the end of the cooking time and stir.
• cook toast in a buttered pan over medium high heat until golden brown on both sides.
  
• top with syrup!
  

weeknight dinner: eggs in purgatory casserole

there are certain things that don't have immediate appeal to me. casseroles are one of these things. and it undoubtedly has to do with what was cooked in my house when i was growing up. (lots of spaghetti but never ever meatloaf. got it?)

so when i received my march issue of bon appetit and saw a casserole feature, i first flipped straight past. until the pictures distracted me and i realized how delicious they looked. these weren't your standard tuna noodle casserole (no, i've never had one). and although i wanted to make them all, there was one that particularly caught my eye: eggs in purgatory. a of all, it featured many things i like (eggs, artichokes and parmesean) and b of all, it seemed pretty straightforward. a perfect weeknight meal, if you will. or even better, a perfect roomie meal entree. this is exactly why i file away recipes for later use.

and even though this dish incorporated things i'm not so fond of (okay, one thing: potatoes) it allowed me to knock off some more of those csa potatoes. yes, they're still around. in a nutshell: comfort food at its finest. yum yum.

eggs in purgatory
from bon appetit

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• coarse kosher salt
• 1 8- to 10-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
• 8 ounces red-skinned or white-skinned potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 8 large eggs
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  

• heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. add onion, thyme, and red pepper; sprinkle lightly with coarse kosher salt and sauté until onion is tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes. add artichokes and minced garlic; stir 1 minute. stir in diced tomatoes with juice and bring to boil. reduce heat; cover skillet and simmer 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• meanwhile, cook potatoes in small saucepan of boiling salted water just until tender, about 8 minutes. drain. add potatoes and capers to tomato-artichoke sauce; cover and simmer 5 minutes. season to taste with coarse salt and pepper.
• preheat oven to 375°F. pour tomato-artichoke sauce into 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. using back of spoon, make 8 evenly spaced indentations in sauce for holding eggs. crack 1 egg into each indentation in sauce (some of eggs may run together slightly in spots). bake until egg whites and yolks are softly set, 12 to 16 minutes. carefully remove baking dish from oven; sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over and serve.
• serves 4 very hungry roomies
  

gluten-free crepes at bar breton

a gluten-free note here. if you're looking for some legit buckwheat crepes (100% buckwheat instead of a wheat and buckwheat mix and therefore gluten-free), bar breton has them. buckwheat is a gluten free grain but if you're extremely sensitive, you have to make sure it isn't contaminated. bar breton must be certified as they have designated gluten-free items throughout their menu.

so these didn't exactly rock my world but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. i had la guerande with a poached egg, spinach, mushroom and parmesean. the parmesean and pesto like sauce didn't hurt. and really, we've already discussed how i believe an egg with a runny yolk can solve most food problems in life.

next time i'm going for a dessert version.

bar breton
254 5th avenue
ny, ny 10001
212.213.4999
mon-sun 11am-10:30pm

low-fat cranberry chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

subtitle: more oatmeal

by now, we all know that i'm oatmeal obsessed. (but not quite so obsessed as this guy.)

another birthday called and therefore another baked good. trying to respect the health concious, i stuck with the recent low-fat theme. AND since bday boy was going to be leaving the office early, i figured oatmeal cookies counted as breakfast cookies. because you just can't bake someone muffins for their birthday. and just to anticipate any griping, there really isn't anything boring about cranberry chocolate chip cookies.

if you're feeling my current oatmeal addiction, the serious eats' oatmeal roundup is not to be missed. now back to the bday baked good...

low-fat cranberry chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
(adapted from baking bites; original recipe from foodfit)

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1/4 c plain unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  

• preheat oven to 375F. line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• cream butter and sugars. beat in the egg, vanilla and applesauce.
• stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats until just combined.
• add chocolate chips and cranberries and stir.
• drop tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. bake for about 9-12 min at 375F.
  

makes 2 dozen cookies

low-fat pear oat muffins

subtitle: a health conscious muffin for an otherwise carb obsessed office

toto, we aren't in kansas anymore. shocking how the food expectations rapidly decline from soho, ny to secaucus, nj. okay, maybe not that surprising. anyways, i decided the polite thing to do would be introduce myself with muffins (duh). i wanted them to have oats (more breakfast like to me), be low-fat (because, well, muffins can be scary), and have pears (because they're delicious and would add flavor in case everything else went to crap). clearly, i had a lot of requirements, so it may not be surprising that i had a hard time finding a preexisting recipe. it was easier to just take a base muffin recipe (bittman!) and make the adjustments that i wanted.

i subbed some of the fat with unsweetened applesauce, added fruit, and swapped out half of the flour for instant oats. what resulted was a deliciously sweet, flavorful and moist muffin. the only downfall was that i didn't have turbinado sugar to sprinkle on the top...


low-fat pear oat muffins
adapted from mark bittman's muffin recipe in how to cook everything

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup instant oats
• 1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 3 tspns baking powder
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 cup low fat milk
• 1 cup pears, finely chopped
  

• preheat oven to 355 degrees
  
• combine dry ingredients
• combine wet ingredients and mix into dry
• stir until just combined (don't overmix! lumps are good)
  
• bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through
  

practically healthy banana oat waffles

not only is this the first time i have lived with a waffle maker but my apartment currently houses two of them. until now, i was a pancake person. but when you know that there are waffle makers (plural!) just itching to be used, it tends to shift the focus. now i will admit that sometimes i experience a certain pang of guilt when consuming mass quantities of baked carby goodness as my first meal of the day, although you probably wouldn't have guessed that from reading the blog.

conversations of waffles over the weekend provided a) oat waffles and b) hey, let's use this mushy banana i have, or i'm going to throw it out. how did this decrease my guilt? practically healthy banana oat waffles! the banana subbed in for any fat that i would have added to the batter and a combination of flour and oats was way better (think whole grain) than flour alone. and since we didn't have any syrup, my holy trinity of toppings for the day was homemade raspberry jam, peanut butter (crunchy, of course) and honey. yummmmmmm.

practically healthy banana oat waffles

bear with me here. this is one of those not so exact recipes. once you know the kind of consistency you're looking for (a relatively thick but no too thick batter) i don't think accurate measurements are necessary.

• one mashed banana (it needs to be ripe! the mushier, the better)
  
• 2 eggs
• about 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup quick cook oats
• 1 cup spelt flour
• some brown sugar (a few tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
  
• cinnamon

• mash banana in the bottom of a bowl
• add remaining wet ingredients (soy milk, eggs, vanilla) and mix
  
• this is where i really break the rules: dump in the dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon) and sort of mix them together on top of the wet ingredients with a fork, before blending everything together. really, i see no need to dirty 2 bowls when 1 gets the job done. don't overmix.
• waffleize!
  

red wine poached pears

i've been craving poached pears lately. it must be my stomach's winter solution to a summer stone fruit dessert. i realize that many people might not exactly be excited by this idea but really, they're super easy and versatile. in this instance they were dessert but they just as easily could have been a snack or yummy breakfast paired with granola and yogurt (my original plan...)

the opportunity to actually make these guys presented itself as a celebratory brunch where a "warm" dessert was requested. perfect! i had never actually poached a pear myself, so there were some nerves involved in the group effort that came to be. we ended up slicing the pears in half and placing them face up in a baking dish. then we mixed together red wine, orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, fresh grated ginger and nutmeg, and poured it over the top. it may be argued that the pears were actually baked and not poached, since they weren't completely immersed in the cooking liquid. i'm going to claim that it was a combination of the two. since the stove was already too crowded during brunch preparation, the oven had to do.

it might also be argued that i should have started with the pears face down--at least these are the things i think about. when i decided to stop stressing about it, the pears were face up in the baking dish. you should probably flip the pears at some point, or at least cover them (neither of which we did) but they still tasted damn good. another one of those almost fool proof and impressive items.

closer to my original vision: poached pear with granola and yogurt at anella, before they changed chefs. don't even go trying to find this thing. sadly, it no longer exists.

what to do when you find yourself in a house alone on a sunday morning

french toast with stewed apples.

whole foods makes an awesome spelt loaf on the west coast. i have yet to see it in new york.

coconut pancakes

we talked about crazy gluten-free low carb flours before with the almond meal microwave cookie adventure. now another gluten-free flour, brought to you by The Baker: coconut flour. now, if you're like me, you're probably saying, now how the hell does a coconut turn into flour? there's nothing dry about the stuff. my second reaction was, how the hell is coconut flour healthy? i know that coconut is a good cooking alternative, however, because of the fat, it isn't exactly the obvious healthy choice. well, apparently, all of the fat is extracted in order to make the flour. so what results is something that's gluten-free, high protein, high fiber, low carb and low fat. another one of those wonder foods, if you will.

what to make with this wonder flour? coconut pancakes, of course. now it just so happened that when i was making these (the only time i've made them for myself and didn't have The Baker make them for me), i was also making them for someone on a super restricted diet (low fat, low calorie, low sodium, low everything). so if these turned out well with those modifications, then you know the original ones are splendid.

coconut flour pancakes

• 4 eggs (i used egg beaters)
  
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1 pinch cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk (i used low fat)

• mix ingredients and let them sit for five minutes.
  
• oil or grease a pan and heat over medium heat.
  
• pour about a 1/4 cup of batter for each crepe, allowing each side to brown before flipping it.

baked eggs with kale (december csa)

i had promised my csa pickup partner (you try carrying 15-20 pounds of goods by yourself in the freezing cold, it ain't fun) brunch as a thanks for helping out. as i was searching for a dish that would celebrate the fresh bounty, i came across baked eggs.

one of my favorite csa items that i get are eggs. although the eggs from my farm aren't not currently certified organic, they are pastured and from free-range chickens that are grass-fed without hormones or antibiotics. once you try them, you won't go back to your standard supermarket fare, i promise. however, if you are trying to buy a better quality egg at the store instead of a local farmer's market, there are a variety of label factors and some really don't quite matter. i could go on and on about this as it really gets rather complicated but this article sums up some key differences nicely. and if anyone has some information to shed here, please, fire away.

we sauteed some kale with olive oil and garlic until it got soft, then placed it in the bottom of a ramekin, topped it with an egg, parmesean cheese, salt and pepper and baked in the oven at 375 degrees until white of the egg set. the part that got me was making sure the whites of the eggs were cooked without overcooking the yolks. with these amazing farm fresh guys, the last thing you want is rubbery, overcooked eggs. you can really throw anything in here with the guarantee that it will be delicious!

quinoa breakfast cupcakes

becky crocker originally sent me this recipe and i'm pretty sure we both had the same initial reaction: quinoa cupcakes--how healthy! when we actually got together to make the things, we realized that they were in fact just cupcakes with some added quinoa. next time, we're going to up the quinoa, decrease the flour, and substitute some of the fat with applesauce. but for now, these cupcakes are delicious, juicy and flavorful and perfect for breakfast. serve with some cream cheese frosting or vanilla ice cream and they're even more decadent.

the recipe below is gluten-free but i used spelt flour when i baked them instead of the rice flour because it's what i had on hand.


gluten-free quinoa cupcakes

• 2 medium sized diced apples
  
• 1/4 sugar
• 1 tspn vanilla
  
• 1 tspn ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 4 large eggs
• 9 tablespoons butter (1 stick + 1 tblspn)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 3/4 cup rice flour (or any other flour)
  
• 1 tspn baking powder
  

• simmer the apple cubes with the water, sugar, cinnamon, and rum until the apple is cooked and almost all the liquid is evaporated.
  
• whisk the egg and sugar and add the melted butter. stir well.
• add the quinoa, mix well, and then add the flour and baking powder. stir well.
• mix in the apple mixture.
  
• bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the tops bounce back when you touch them.