8 lightning fast breakfast ideas

Maybe you're the type of person who rises, glowing, from your Downy-scented feather bed, ready to greet the glorious morn. I am more inclined to give the glorious morn a half-nod as I reach for the Diet Coke and flip on NPR. As I've written before, I loathe most breakfast food. I'm not really hungry until 10 am anyway and therefore not very sympathetic to the widely varying tastes of my family when it comes to breakfast. If I could feel good about serving cereal every day, I would definitely do it, but--as the dusty box of Kix in the pantry will attest--my kids will only really eat cereal of the high fructose corn syrup-drenched variety. Anyway, I was talking with my mom over the weekend about breakfast (she used to feed 8 people every morning, she's an expert!) and we came up with some great ideas...

* yogurt/granola/frozen blueberry parfaits
* refrigerator bran muffins (recipe here)
* boiled eggs (boil a dozen at the beginning of the week, peel what you need each morning, mash with butter and salt+pepper, heat up in microwave)
* egg mc muffin type thing on toast or whole grain english muffins
* breakfast tacos (scramble a dozen eggs, portion onto tortillas, add ham, grated cheese,and frozen spinach leaves. Freeze, heat up as needed)
* smoothies
* Please don't try the following sausage biscuits. They don't turn out well.
sausage biscuits (For these, I buy those cheap tubes of refrigerated biscuit dough and Banquet brown n' serve sausage patties. Pinch each biscuit dough portion in half. Place one half in the bottom of a greased muffin tin. Place 1 sausage patty in top. Put other half of biscuit dough portion on top. Bake at 400 for 12 minutes. Freeze and heat in microwave as needed. You can make 32 of these biscuits for about $6.00.)
* breakfast skillet (Microwave 1-2 cups of frozen hashbrowns and 1 cup of spinach. Heat some olive oil in a skillet. Add hashbrowns, spinach, and some fully cooked bacon or ham to skillet. Brown for about 4 minutes. Add 4-6 beaten eggs or 1 1/2 cups egg substitute. Scramble. Top with cheese if desired. Serve with salsa.)
* apple crisp w/ vanilla yogurt (or even vanilla ice cream!)

(Yes, we do love spinach at my house, even in the morning.)

p.s. the photo is of a Full English Breakfast. Read the wikipedia entry about it here. It's pretty interesting and only a little gross.

... and the dipping oil

I forgot to mention that all of us are way in to dipping bread into oil mixed with all kinds of herbs n' stuff. Here's a dipping spice recipe that I got from one of those "copycat" websites (it was a while ago so I don't have a link to it). It is also great as a pasta topping or combined with tomatoes for bruschetta. angry chicken has some oil and vinegar dipping sauces on her site today; her post reminded me of the joys of dipping.

Carrabba's Dipping Spice

1 T minced fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried)
1 T chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
1 T minced fresh garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano (or 1 T fresh)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary (or 1/4 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp ground sea salt or kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp lemon juice

Combine first bunch of ingredients. Add remaining ingredients. To serve, combine about 1 1/2 tsp spice blend with 3-4 T olive oil in a small dish.

Yield: 1/4 cup spice blend

Crusty Hearth Bread

I had every intention of taking a picture of the entire loaf, but the kids were hungry and super grouchy today, so there was no stopping for a photo.

I've been making this recipe for about 16 years now. Hard to believe it has really been that long since I started college and received my first cookbook: Betty Crocker, of course. It earned me the reputation of the mother of the apartment, according to one of my roommates. Paired with a good, thick potato soup or chowder, it's so very satisfying. Also excellent with ham and muenster cheese on the following day.

So here's the recipe. I make it in the KitchenAid mixer, not by hand as the recipe indicates.

Crusty Hearth Bread

1 pkg (1 tablespoon) regular or quick-acting active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
3 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1/4 cup shortening
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
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egg wash
kosher salt
rosemary, poppyseeds, dried garlic, etc.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the buttermilk, shortening, sugar, baking powder and salt until smooth. Stir in remaining flour until dough forms. Turn dough onto floured surface. Knead gently about 1 minute or until smooth. Cover and let rise 10 minutes.

Grease a cookie sheet. Shape dough into round loaf, about 8 inches in diameter. Place on cookie sheet. Brush with egg wash* and sprinkle with rosemary, dried garlic, or poppyseeds (or a combination thereof). Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350. Cut an X shape about 1/2 inch deep in top of bread. Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter; sprinkle with kosher salt. Tear bread into pieces, or cut into slices.

*For an excellent website about egg washes and "crust embellishments," click here.

the pie has left the building

OK, so after shelling out 24 bucks for a PTO pasta dinner and sitting by the door selling tickets for 2 hours and not getting a bite of any of it my rage was assuaged somewhat by a FREE PIE ! (Flash won the door prize). It was one of those pure refined sugar/refined petroleum super-long shelf life frozen pies with scary stabilized whipped cream on top, french silk flavor. Normally I can control my appetite and portion sizes, but the past 4 days have been ALL ABOUT THIS PIE... to the point of making myself sick. I'm happy to report that the last of the pie was consumed whilst watching Northanger Abbey on PBS tonight. So it's back to peanut M & Ms and Coke Zero. It was a sweet ride, the week of THE PIE.

fortune cookie mystery solved

Having never seen fortune cookies in Hong Kong or mainland China, I have often wondered why they are associated with Chinese food. The answer is here. Now, on to the next mystery: how did large spring rolls come to be called "egg rolls"? In China, an egg roll is a crisp sweet rolled-up cookie.

chocolate cake = panacea

In response to Patty's question, I did make the "towering" chocolate cake mentioned below. She asked how I made it, so here it my cheater "recipe" made up on the fly from stuff I already had:

1 devil's food cake, with 1/2 of the water called for replaced with milk and 1/2 cup chocolate chips added

1/2 recipe buttercream frosting with 1/4 cup toasted almonds added

Ganache:
3 tablespoons corn syrup
6 ounces heavy cream
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan combine the corn syrup and heavy cream. Bring to a simmer and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract.

Make the cake in 2 layers and bake according to box directions. Remove from pans and chill for a few hours. While layers chill, make buttercream and ganache. Slice cakes laterally in half. Put buttercream/almond mixture in between the layers. Spread ganache on top and let it drizzle down the sides of the cake. If you want to spread it instead, add powdered sugar until it reaches spreading consistency (while mixing with hand mixer).

I had leftover ganache and my family was mad that I sent the remaining cake home with my friend who had the birthday (how could I?) so I made another cake, this time from the back of the Hershey's cocoa tin, and man, it's really good. Here's the recipe:



* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

By the way, I don't usually spend this much time baking. After that much time in the kitchen, I spent much of the next day catching up on "Reviews of new food" at the McSweeney's website.
I was laughing out loud like an insane person. Little warning: the reviewers occasionally find a spurious reason to put the f-word in their reviews, so watch out.

pasta shock

So everyone in our family has a horrible cold and we were in need of some comfort food. I modified a recipe from Food & Wine Magazine's Quick From Scratch Pasta Cookbook and made this:

Homemade Penne & Cheese

3 cups dry whole wheat penne pasta
3-4 tablespoons butter (or butter-type spread)
1/8 cup half and half or milk
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese (I used white cheddar)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
----------------------
2 tablespoons bacon pieces
2 tablespoons bread crumbs (opt.)

Boil pasta according to directions on the package. While the pasta cooks, grate the cheese. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Over very low heat, combine the pasta and remaining ingredients (except the bacon and breadcrumbs) until the cheese is melted and everything is creamy. Transfer to a 2 qt baking pan. Sprinkle with bacon and breadcrumbs. Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes. (Baking can be skipped; just sprinkle with bacon and breadcrumbs and eat it!)


I made some steamed broccoli on the side and it tasted so nice. Super Q and I enjoyed it on the front lawn as a picnic while Flash did lots of tricks on his razor scooter in the driveway. Hooray for fall weather!

smooshy cooking

Here's my new way to trick my boys into helping me cook:

Items needed:

1 ziplock bag (gallon size)
recipe for something that can be smooshed (we made ricotta/parmesan filling for pasta shells)
a little restraint (on the part of the kids)

They had a great time smooshing the ricotta, egg, parmesan, etc in the bag. Then we cut off the bottom corner and piped the filling into the shells. They want to try it with cookies today. Or maybe brownies would work.

I have to admit that part of the appeal on their end is the gross-out factor, but that's ok with me.

I also wanted to pass on this recipe that I have been loving for a few years. It's from Lindsay Olives, and I like it in pitas as well as on couscous or rice. My kids like it, too, although not all kids are into feta cheese. You might substitute goat cheese instead (or another mild, soft cheese).

Pan Grilled Chicken with Olives & Plum Tomatoes

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons poultry magic seasoning mix* or garlic salt
2 cups diced plum tomatoes
1 (6 oz.) can Lindsay Ripe large, extra large or jumbo olives, drained
1/2 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped basil or parsley (optional)
2 cups hot cooked couscous (2/3 cup uncooked)

Coat both sides of chicken with 2 teaspoons of the oil; sprinkle 1-1/2 teaspoons of the seasoning over chicken. Heat a ridged grill pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 4 to 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, olives and remaining 2 teaspoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon seasoning. Transfer chicken and couscous to serving plates; top with the olive mixture, cheese and basil. Makes 4 servings.

*Any seasoning blend such as herb poultry seasoning mix may be substituted. To substitute garlic salt, reduce the amount to 1 teaspoon. Sprinkle 3/4 teaspoon over the chicken and stir 1/4 teaspoon into the olive mixture.

Nutrients per Serving: Calories: 419 Calories from fat: 165 Total fat: 18g Monounsaturated fat: 9g Cholesterol: 82mg Sodium: 838mg Total Carbohydrates: 31g Dietary Fiber: 2g Protein: 34g

my kind of cooking

I found an article at nyt.com (click here) which I love. Here's why: I have a friend who is an excellent cook, who grew up eating food prepared by excellent cooks (her parents), and she once imparted a bit of wisdom to me, which was, basically, you don't need a lot of crazy geegaws to make wonderful stuff. As a person who has collected a number of crazy kitchen geegaws over the years, I'm gearing up for a major kitchen cleanout. (The remnants of the late 90s candle craze were dumped over the weekend; the kitchen's next). This article gives me the freedom to not feel like a loser cook if I use a plate as a pot lid or a splatter screen as a colander.

cure for the common cold (or is it the flu? or bronchitis?)

In the past 3 days, I've undergone a transformation that some may argue was already in the works: I've become a Geriatric Nuisance. It's all due to this mystery virus that I get every year, and this year it struck early. The usual symptoms include: head cold, sore throat, and, eventually, a killer cough that starts in the chest. This year I've mixed it up a bit and added a fever and shallow breathing. That last bit is all the evidence you need of my new status of Geriatric Nuisance. All I can talk about is my Health Problems.

In addition, I lie around all day (or as much of the day as possible), I have partaken of way too much daytime television, I'm drinking peppermint tea almost exclusively (soft foods are also on the menu), and I'm reading a fairly banal Christian Literature book about (no lie) a woman in her 80s who reconnects with her granddaughter. (It includes many sort of funny lines, including one where the witchy controlling mother receives a message from Jesus that goes, "What's it to you if Sam's part of my plan for your daughter?" I just love the idea of Jesus pulling the ol' "whats it to ya" comeback.)


In honor of the occasion, I made this for dinner last night:
--------------------------------------------------------
Cure for the Common Cold Chicken Soup

6 T chicken base (I like Better than Boullion brand)
2 1/2 quarts water
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 small onion, chopped or 1 tsp dried onion

2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups uncooked noodles
6 mushrooms, sliced
1 T fresh rosemary, chopped

Combine first 5 ingredients. Heat to boiling; simmer, covered 15 minutes or until carrots are tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Return to boil; simmer uncovered 7-10 minutes or until noodles are tender.

the smell of my house

today was a cooking day. i made my sister's fantastic recipe --with 2 pages of ingredients! --for chicken tikka masala, and then a batch of chocolate chip pecan cookies. the combination of the two is a not unpleasant, slightly burnt cumin/coriander/cookie kind of scent. it was blowing in hot and strong through the bathroom vent just now.

against breakfast food

I haven't been a breakfast person for years, and i think I've figured out the phenomenon: breakfast food is not worth it. i'm much better off with a bowl of chicken herb ravioli or pizza or even (I know, insert *shudder* here) a tuna sandwich than any sort of bread product with syrup on top or processed grain shape with sugar on top or granola bar. (caveat: vanilla flavored miniwheats are excellent any time of day). I just gots to have me protein in the top o' the morning.