Truffle Omelet with Fine Fresh Herbs and a Port and Sour Cream Filling

I first became enchanted with the idea of making an egg dish with truffles after I recently read about it in Georgeanne Brennan’s charming memoir A Pig in Provence, about her days in Provence and the infamous truffles.  She had been in Provence barely a year when a neighbor introduced her to the seasonal gathering of truffles. Traditionally most truffle hunters used cochons (pigs), but today dogs are preferred. Enter an old truffle hunter, Monsieur Capretti, who relays the story of how his grandfather took him truffle hunting as a young boy and shared his he secret of how to look for truffles, as he said, “With no pig, no dog, no nothing, just your wits.” 

Monsieur Capretti’s grandfather told the boy that if he could find truffles, he could sell them and would always have money. It would be his inheritance he said, but he must work for it. His grandfather’s method was to find the circles around the base of the oak trees, called the brûlé, where all of the grass is dead. Then break off a branch of an Aleppo pine from the forest and tear all but the top leaves off to make a switch. His grandfather demonstrated by brushing the ground with the tip of the brush and pointed out the truffle fly, who is drawn to the perfume from the truffles and lays its eggs there, thus providing the clue that the truffles lay beneath the ground.  Now the hunter could employ his own wit and skills to find the truffle without the assistance of the traditional pig or dog. His grandfather then used a tool, much like a screwdriver, pushed it gently into the ground and pulled out a hard, lumpy truffle. Voila, he had uncovered a large truffle, about the size of a grapefruit.

Monsieur Capretti goes on to share his recipe for Oeufs Broûllé , or eggs with truffles, with Georgeanne. He explains that he takes eggs from his chickens, “good eggs” he calls them, and stores them along with the truffle together in a jar. His belief is that the smell of the truffles will go into the eggs.

In two or three days, Monsieur Capretti removes the eggs and truffle from the jar. He then breaks the eggs into a bowl, cleans the truffles and grates it into the eggs. The egg mixture is left to stand for a few minutes, then sea salt is added, and then the eggs and truffles are cooked in butter to make his “Oeufs Broûllé."

Since then we’ve been anxious to try eggs with truffles, but there was little to no chance we were going to find a fresh truffle in south Florida, at least not in our town. Then low and behold a fresh truffle lands in our laps. Our friends Larry and Beverly of Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings brought us a fresh white truffle as a gift when they came down for lunch a couple of weeks ago.

Quite by chance I stumbled upon a Martha Stewart video on the internet for a truffle omelet with a port and sour cream filling. I combined Monsieur Capretti’s recipe with Martha’s and added fine fresh herbs to the egg mixture for color and extra punch along with a bit of cream and hot sauce to enrich the flavor of the omelet. In Martha’s video (you’ll find a link to the video if you take your mouse and hover over her name under the title of the recipe that serves 5-6) her guest Chef gives some good tips about using fresh truffles. Not one to waste ingredients in his restaurant, he freezes any truffles he has left over. (I didn’t know fresh truffles could be frozen.) He also chops his truffles and all along I thought I had to have a fancy truffle slicer. He also emphasized that you do not want to overcook truffles. He barely heats his truffle in butter.

We had never eaten a fresh truffle and thought that they had a rich earthy flavor, weren’t as strong as truffle butter, and were indeed a real treat. Did the smell of the truffles go into the eggs while they sat with them for a couple of days? We’re not so sure about that, but it certainly didn’t hurt anything and it makes a good story.

Don’t fret if your omelet doesn’t come together properly. The way we look at it is if the omelet fails for whatever reason, there’s no shame in turning it into soft scrambled eggs and spoon the filling over the top as a sauce. Actually that’s what we planned to do if we encountered problems. Toasted slices of a French baguette spread with good butter, a couple of slices of fresh tomatoes, and spring mix fresh greens tossed in My Carolina Kitchen’s house French vinaigrette, recipe here, make the perfect accompaniment to the truffle omelet for a lovely Sunday lunch.

I wish to thank Larry and Beverly for the fresh truffle. It was a very special treat and this one is for you.

Truffle Omelet with Fine Fresh Herbs and a Pour Sour Cream Filling 
Adapted from A Pig in Provence, by Georgeanne Brennan and a Martha Stewart video – serves 2 – advance preparation required
Printable Recipe

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 truffle (about 1 ounce), coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon port wine or Madeira
5 large eggs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon each fine fresh herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley, thyme leaves, and chives
1 tablespoon cream or water
Dash of hot sauce such as Tabasco
Few chives for garnish
Slices of toasted French baguette, buttered for serving

Two or three days before you prepare the recipe, place the eggs in a jar along with the truffle and store in the refrigerator in order for the smell of the truffle to go into the eggs.

For the filling, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add chopped truffle, sour cream and port. Stir to combine. Set aside and keep warm.

For the omelet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a non-stick sauté pan (we used an 8” pan) over low heat. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs together with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground pepper, the fine fresh herbs, cream and hot sauce. When the sauté pan is well heated, pour in eggs. As the omelet cooks, tip skillet to incorporate some of the runny parts with more cooked parts until there are some curds swimming in the eggs.

Continue cooking, making sure eggs cover the entire surface of the skillet, using a spatula to push together any holes that may have formed.

Pour truffle mixture over the center of the omelet. Run spatula along right side of omelet to loosen eggs from skillet. Place spatula under right side of eggs, making sure that the spatula is well underneath the eggs to offer maximum support, and lift right side over the filling in one fluid motion. Folded omelet should look like a half moon.

Lightly press down on omelet with the spatula to seal omelet together. Do not press hard. You do not want to flatten the cures. Lift up skillet with one hand, and hold a plate with your other hand. Tilt skillet and let the curved edge of the omelet slide onto the plate. Cut in half and serve immediately with toasted slices of a buttered French baguette.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Sliced Oranges with Cranberry Coulis and Seasons Greetings

This sliced orange and cranberry compote makes a terrific breakfast for Christmas morning. I would have shown it to you earlier, but I just found it flipping through an old Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. Some say the Silver Palate cookbooks are outdated and behind the times. Here's what I say to them - wrong!

Sliced Oranges with Cranberry Coulis
Slightly adapted from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, serves 6
Printable Recipe

1 ½ pounds fresh or frozen cranberries
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 cup fresh orange juice
Grated zest of 1 orange, plus more for garnish from another orange
½ cup water
1/3 cup Grand Marnier, plus a little more as needed
6 navel oranges, peels and white membranes removed, cut into ½” slices
Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Simmer cranberries, sugar and orange juice uncovered in a medium-sized saucepan for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the zest from one orange and add it along with the water. Simmer uncovered another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Strain cranberry mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Stir in Grand Marnier. Let cool to room temperature. If coulis is too thick, add more Grand Marnier as needed.

On each of 6 dessert plates, make a pool of the cranberry coulis, fan slices or oranges on each cranberry pool, and spoon a little more cranberry coulis over the oranges. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Cook's notes: Before peeling all of the oranges, be sure to remove some of the zest for the recipe and for garnishing.

This will be linked to Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms and Weekend Bites at Simple Living. 

Caspari card, original by Stephanie Stouffer

Holiday wishes from our house to yours

Joyeux Noël

Felix Navidad

Froehliche Weihnachten

Buone Feste Natalizie

Happy Hanukkah

& 

Merry Christmas from  sunny south Florida

We’ve got everything but  SNOW!

Sam & Meakin

Strawberry Parfaits with Yogurt and Granola

I can’t think of a better way to start your day than with a healthy and colorful breakfast parfait. Fruit parfaits really step up the breakfast game, plus they take only a few minutes to put together. They are also a wonderful way to incorporate the various seasonal fruits into your breakfast throughout the year.

I adapted this recipe from Betty Rosbottom’s Sunday Brunch – Simple, Delicious Recipes for Leisurely Mornings. My friend Bonnie From a Writer’s Kitchen introduced this delightful book to me and I am so grateful that she did. At our house we never miss breakfast. There’s a phrase “eat like a king for breakfast, a queen for lunch and a pauper for dinner” and that probably explains why breakfast is my favorite meal.

Betty’s cookbook offers deliciously creative ideas for breakfast for all seasons. The picture of her plum parfaits with yogurt and granola in parfait glasses was so appealing that I adapted the recipe to use fresh strawberries in place of the plums and substituted brandy snifters for the parfait glasses. This recipe comes together very quickly, but you need to let the cooked strawberries come to room temperature before you assemble the parfaits. The parfaits may be prepared and refrigerated up to 1 hour in advance, but if you like your granola crunchy like I do, then assemble them right before serving.

Strawberry Parfaits with Yogurt and Granola
Adapted from Sunday Brunch by Bette Rosbottom, serves 6
Printable recipe

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup plus 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups plain Greek-style yogurt (low fat is fine)
½ teaspoon good-quality vanilla
¾ cups good-quality purchased granola

Slice hulled strawberries. Place a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add sliced strawberries and sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar, ginger and cinnamon. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves and becomes syrupy and the strawberries are tender when pierced with a knife, about 4 - 6 minutes. Watch carefully so fruit does not become overcooked and mushy. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature (very important).

In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, remaining 1 ½ tablespoons sugar and vanilla.

To serve, spoon about ¼ cup strawberry mixture, including juices, into each of six medium-size wine or parfait glasses. Top each with 2 to 3 tablespoons yogurt. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon granola. Repeat layers. Serve immediately.

If breakfast parfaits appeal to you, you might also like a breakfast fruit crunch with assorted fresh fruit that appeared on My Carolina Kitchen several years ago. Link to recipe here.

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Weekend Bites at Simple Recipes.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Blueberry Pancake Cake

Blueberry pancake cake – now that’s a mouth full to say isn't it?. If you want to be fancy about it and not get tongue tied, call it a Blueberry Pancake Gateau, the French name for a cake. The way it is plated using 20 layers of pancakes, each spread with blueberries, takes simple breakfast pancakes to a whole new level.

The pancakes are quite thin and look very much like crepes. We made all of the pancakes first and kept them in a warm oven, and then built the cake layer by layer. The cake looks complicated, but it’s not, especially if you make it step by step. Like any other pancake, it is best when eaten right away.

Blueberry Pancake Cake
Adapted from Summer Food by Lowe, Hensley, & Hensley – serves 8
Printable Recipe

Blueberry mixture:
2 pints of fresh blueberries
½ cup sugar
Grated lime zest to equal 1 teaspoon
1 pinch of kosher salt
2 small knobs of butter, optional but it brings a nice shine
1 tablespoon of honey

Stir together all of the ingredients except the honey in a small saucepan, heat gently over very low heat, taste and add honey if mixture is not sweet enough, then set aside while you prepare the pancakes.

Pancake batter:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 – 2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs
Unsalted butter, for frying

Mix together the first five ingredients together in a bowl. Set bowl in refrigerator and let the mixture chill for 20 minutes. Melt a scant amount of butter in an 8” non-stick omelet or crepe pan and fry thin pancakes. This amount of mixture makes about 20 small pancakes. Keep the cakes on a plate in a warm 150 degree F oven until all the cakes have been made.

For presentation, place one pancake at a time on a serving plate, then spread with some of the blueberry mixture (recipe above) over the top of the pancake, top with another pancake, then repeat, saving enough blueberry mixture for the top. Continue until there are no remaining pancakes or blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh mint leaves and fresh raspberries (recipe below). Cut the cake into slices and serve right away. This cake is best when eaten right after it’s made.

Garnish:
Powdered sugar
Fresh mint leaves
A few fresh raspberries for color

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes.    

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hearty Ham and Cheese Muffins for On-the-go Breakfasts

These hearty ham and cheese muffins are great for on-the-go breakfasts for days when you’re too busy to cook in the mornings. They can be made a day or two in advance and stored in an airtight container for a couple of days or wrapped individually in plastic wrap and placed in individual zip lock bags. The cheese and ham helps keep the muffins nice and moist and they can be eaten either at room temperature or reheated gently in the microwave.

When Rizzi from The New York Baking Company asked me if I would like to try their silicone baking cups, I was thrilled because it gave me an opportunity to pull out one of my favorite muffin recipes from the files to use to test the baking cups. Made from BPA free silicone and FDA approved, the cups are nonporous, stain proof, and reusable. They are amazingly flexible and my muffins released perfectly from the cups after baking in a 400 degree oven. They are so colorful that you can’t help but smile as you fill the cups with the batter. Kids will find them a lot of fun to use too. The silicone baking cups are available at Amazon, link here, for $9.95. They are oven and microwave safe and can be used in the dishwasher. With these fabulous silicone cups I’m now environmentally friendly. There’ll be no more peeling the paper off with crumbs falling everywhere when I bake muffins - no more paper muffin cups for me.

I’ve never seen another recipe quite like these muffins because in addition to flour, they contain cornmeal and grits and remind me somewhat of southern cornbread in taste and texture, meaning they are hearty and have body and aren’t the cakey rather sweet cornbread I associate with northern style. This recipe has been in my files for a very long time and I don’t remember where it came from. I cut the ham and cheese cubes a bit too small this time. They should be about the size of an English pea. With the cheese and ham the muffins are very filling and would also make a nice breakfast at home with a smear of red raspberry jam or sweet butter and a glass of orange juice.

Hearty Ham and Cheese Breakfast Muffins
From My Carolina Kitchen - yield 1 dozen muffins
Printable recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 ounces cooked ham (I used a ham steak), cut into cubes the size of English peas
2 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, cut into the same size cubes as the ham
1 cup milk
½ cup instant grits
3 tablespoons neutral tasting oil such as canola
2 large eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, chopped ham and cheese cubes in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and set aside.

Place milk in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 120 to 130 degrees F. Remove from heat and cool to 105 to 115 degrees F.  Sprinkle the instant grits into the warm milk and stir well to combine. Combine the oil and eggs into a bowl. Add the warm grits mixture and stir to combine. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients from above, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter into muffin cups (I used silicone baking cups) that have been coated with cooking spray, filling ¾ full.  Bake in a pre-heated 400 degrees F oven for 20 – 25 minutes.  I like to check for doneness about 5 minutes prior to what the recipe calls for since ovens can vary.

Muffins can be made a day or two in advance and stored in an airtight container for a couple of days or wrapped individually in plastic wrap and placed in individual zip lock bags. Yield: 1 dozen.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, & Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter.  

Have a great weekend everyone and to all the mothers, 

I hope you have a very happy Mother’s Day.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Smoked Chipotles in Adobo Sauce

Fried green tomatoes became an overnight sensation in 1991 after the movie by the same name. Green tomatoes are actually unripe tomatoes, not a particular variety of a tomato. Traditionally, before the first frost, all the tomatoes were picked, even the green ones, to prevent them from freezing on the vine. Now unripe tomatoes are picked green to make fried green tomatoes.

There are many recipes for fried green tomatoes, including those that use Japanese panko bread crumbs for breading, others deep fry the tomatoes, or use bacon drippings.

Our breading is on the simple side and we serve our fried green tomatoes for breakfast with bacon and eggs. We shallow fry the tomatoes in a minimum of fat rather than deep frying them. During the summer fried green tomatoes are also nice served with a sauce for dipping as part of a luncheon dish with a green salad and corn on the cob.

These fried green tomatoes have character. We think it is important to taste the tomato, not the breading. The cornmeal/flour breading produces a golden, crisp tomato with a simple, not heavily breaded exterior, and a savory, juicy tomato interior.

There are some tips to making good fried green tomatoes. First, salt the tomatoes right before you bread them. Salting foods in advance brings out the moisture and make them soggy when cooked. Second, a pinch of sugar in the breading takes away any bitterness from the under-ripe tomato. Third, just as anything that you brown, you want to make sure not to crowd the pan or the food will end up soggy. And finally, serve them as soon as you take them up. Fried green tomatoes must be hot. As they come to room temperature, the breading turns soggy.  You can see that most of the tips revolve around the word "soggy."  That makes sense because no one wants to eat a soggy tomato.

I’ve included what is referred to in our kitchen as “Meakin’s famous chipotles in adobo aioli sauce.” This is a very versatile sauce and can be used for many dishes, including a dip for fried green tomatoes. We use the sauce in fish tacos, dip boiled shrimp in it and serve them as an appetizer, or use it in place of mayonnaise where you want a kick of extra spice or smoky flavor. We puree the entire can of chipotles in the adobo sauce in a small food processor and store them in a jar in the refrigerator. They seem to last forever.

Fried Green Tomatoes 
From My Carolina Kitchen

My version of fried green tomatoes is a simple one and doesn’t require much of a recipe. I start by making a dredging mixture of three parts yellow cornmeal to one part all-purpose flour, a pinch of sugar, and a few shakes of cayenne pepper on a sheet of wax paper and stir to incorporate all of the ingredients.

I slice the tomatoes right before I dredge them and salt them at the last minute. Coat both sides of the tomatoes in the cornmeal/flour mixture, then sauté them in a non-stick skillet that’s been preheated with a little bit of canola or other neutral tasting oil in it. You don’t want to crowd the skillet, so you may have to cook the tomatoes in batches. Shallow fry the tomatoes, turning half way through so both sides brown evenly. When done, remove the tomatoes, salt them once again, and serve immediately.

If you are making more than one batch, plate the cooked tomatoes on a heat-proof plate or platter large enough to hold the tomatoes without stacking them and keep warm in a 150 degree F oven. If you stack the tomatoes they will get soggy.

Printable recipe

Meakin’s Famous Smoked Chipotles in Adobo Sauce "Aioli"
From Meakin – My Carolina Kitchen

¼ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise, or homemade mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip)
½ cup sour cream, we use low-fat
1 teaspoon or more pureed chipotles in adobo sauce
Pinch of kosher salt
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon honey

Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl and taste for seasonings. Too much honey will make it sweet & ruin it. The purpose of the honey is to temper the fire from the chipotles in adobo sauce. You should not be able to taste the honey. The finished sauce should have a nice, smoky flavor. The sauce will keep covered in the refrigerator for several days.

Printable recipe

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, and Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper.

Have a great weekend everyone.

BLT Cornmeal Pancakes – a breakfast twist on a BLT

This is probably the most fun breakfast I’ve made in a very long time. I was flipping through a magazine at the gym the other day and saw a picture here of a BLT corn cake and got the idea to make my own. This is a very creative and usual twist on a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, the all time best sandwich in the whole wide world as far as I’m concerned.

The day we made these we invited Meakin’s brother Stuart for breakfast. I’m the first to admit that this is an unusual breakfast and I could tell by the look on both of their faces that they weren’t so sure if they were going to like this for breakfast. Being a good hostess, before I served I asked if they wanted theirs stacked, or the bacon and tomato on the side. They chose bacon & tomato on the side. When we sat down, I took a couple of bites of mine, stacked like the pictures, and commented, “These are really good.” They took a few bites of their tomatoes and bacon with the cornmeal pancakes and agreed they were excellent and gave their stamp of approval.

Let’s deconstruct the stack.

These savory cornmeal pancakes are the star of this show and act as the bread for the BLT. I added lightly blanched fresh corn kernels to the pancake batter to pump up the corn flavor. If you’ve been reading My Carolina Kitchen for a while, you may remember these cornmeal pancakes from a previous post.

B is for bacon. We chose thick cut apple-wood smoked bacon from Nueske’s, our family's go-to favorite for the apple-wood flavor. When we’re in the mood for a hickory smoked flavor, we always use Benton’s country bacon from Tennessee. We’ve actually toured Benton’s smoke house in Madisonville when were coming home from a blogger get-together at Larry’s, aka Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings, house one year, post here. If you’ve never been inside of a smoke house, do take a look. If you have reluctant diners, you might tempt them to eat this BLT stack by using candied bacon, recipe below. The sweetness of the candied bacon will make up for the syrup normally served over pancakes.

L is for lettuce. We replaced the lettuce with big leaves of fresh basil, picked straight from our herb garden. With all of the rain we’ve been having, our basil has grown like a weed.

T is for tomato. Cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes are our favorite heirloom, but any good homegrown or garden fresh tomato will work. As you will notice in the pictures (your eyes aren’t deceiving you), the Cherokee Purples are a purplish red wine colored tomato, instead of being a brilliant red.

You’ll notice that the stacks of pancakes lean slightly instead of standing up straight. As much as I tried to straighten them for the picture, the tomatoes keep sliding and it ended up looking like the leaning tower of Pisa. Oh well… not quite perfect makes them look more homemade.

BLT Cornmeal Pancakes
Inspired from Better Homes & Garden, serves 4 – 1 stack each

1 recipe of savory corneal pancakes, recipe below
8 slices of thick bacon, apple-wood or hickory smoked, or candied bacon, recipe below
8 slices of tomato, preferably an heirloom
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
A small bunch of fresh basil
For garnish, cooked corn kernels, grape tomato halves, and small fresh basil leaves
Sweet butter or syrup if desired

Prepare the cornmeal pancake recipe and keep the cakes warm in the oven while you fry the bacon and slice the tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. To assemble, start with a pancake, then a couple of big basil leaves, a slice of tomato (you may have to trim it to fit), and a half of a piece of bacon. Repeat and top with a cornmeal pancake. Garnish if desired and serve with butter or syrup. Recipe easily doubles if you have those who want more than one stack. Left-over pancakes keep well in the refrigerator for a couple of days using the method below.
 

Savory Cornmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Joy of Cooking – yield twelve 4” cakes

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 large egg
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup cooked yellow corn kernels
Sweet butter for serving, optional

Combine the cornmeal, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the mixture, stir well, cover and set aside for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl beat the egg, milk and oil until combined. After 15 minutes, add to the cornmeal mixture and stir until smooth. Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Stir into the hot cornmeal mixture, then add corn.

Heat a pancake griddle or 12” lightly oiled skillet until hot. Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the griddle. When the pancakes begins to bubble in the center and start to dry around the edges, turn and cook until done. The second side takes only about half as long as the first side and never browns as evenly, so serve them first side up.

Remove the cakes and keep in a warm oven while you make the remaining cakes. When all pancakes are done, serve immediately with sweet butter if desired.

For leftover pancakes: I cut small pieces of wax paper, place the paper between each cake and refrigerate them in a covered airtight container. The next morning reheat the pancakes on a sheet pan in a 250 degree F oven for about 10 minutes until they are warm. They are every bit as good as the originals.

Candied Bacon
From Better Homes & Garden

Line a 15x10x1 inch pan with foil. Arrange bacon strips about 1 ½” apart. In a small bowl, stir together 3 T packed brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, then spoon mixture evenly over the bacon. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until bacon is browned & crisp. Transfer to a paper towel to cool. Halve slices. Great for nibbling.

* * *

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, and Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Quick Ham and Cheese Biscuits – a low fat version of fast food breakfast

These ham and cheese biscuits are perfect for days when you are in a hurry and don’t have time to make a sit-down breakfast. You could call them homemade fast food. They are a great “on the go” portable breakfast that can be held in one hand.

Kids as well as husbands love these ham and cheese biscuits. They’re perfect to eat in the car on the way to school or work. Or take a bag with you on an early morning fishing trip, which is where this boat looks like it’s headed as he motored past our lanai last week.

To make these biscuits light, the shortening (or butter in many recipes) was left out and the amount of low-fat milk was increased for moistness. Because the biscuits contain no shortening, they are lower in fat and calories than fast food joint biscuits. However, for that same reason, they don’t keep as well, so wrap them carefully if you are not going to eat them right away. I find that if you use extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, the biscuits will have more cheese flavor.

The biscuits come together in a matter of minutes. After mixing, simply drop them onto a baking pan (no rolling or cutting necessary), stick them in the oven, and in less than 25 minutes breakfast is ready. It is also a great way to use left-over ham.

Quick Ham and Cheese Biscuits – a low fat version of fast food breakfast
Adapted from Cooking Light – yield 1 dozen

Cooking spray
1 ½ cups chopped ham, about ½ pound, low fat preferable
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons baking powder
Dash or two of ground red pepper (cayenne), optional
1 cup 1% low-fat milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 10” nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat until hot. Add ham and sauté until lightly browned, about 3 - 4 minutes. Combine the ham, flour, cheese, baking powder, and red pepper in bowl. Add the milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Drop biscuit batter by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 22 minutes. Yield 12 biscuits.

Printable recipe

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, Chicken Chick, Carol's Chatter Food on Friday, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Pumpkin Yogurt with Granola – an easy “no recipe required” breakfast

This is a super easy breakfast that comes together quickly and doesn’t require a recipe. When we have house guests, some days we prepare elaborate breakfasts and leisurely sit around and drink coffee and visit. Other days everyone is in a hurry to go somewhere and I need something easy.

Enter pumpkin yogurt with granola. It needs no recipe - just mix and taste as you go. Place plain yogurt (low fat is fine & I substituted Greek yogurt) and canned pumpkin in a bowl and sprinkle with a dash of ground cinnamon. Stir, then drizzle with a little maple syrup, or another sweetener of your choice, such as honey or agave syrup. Taste and add more yogurt or pumpkin if you like. Place in an individual bowl and top with some granola, a few fresh berries, and breakfast is served.

I wish I could take credit for this, but the recipe first caught my eye on Kitchen Daily and is from Eating Made Easy. Give this pumpkin yogurt a try the next time you are in a hurry and want something a little different.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Clever Chicks at the Chicken Chick, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Skillet Blackberry Jam in Honor of my Mother for Mother’s Day

Blackberry jam was my mother’s favorite flavor of jam and every summer when the local blackberries were ripe, she canned lots of jars of blackberry jam. As I recall, every wooden spoon in her kitchen was stained dark blue. I am not a canner and have no desire to be, but when I came across this recipe for skillet jam, I knew I had to give it a try. Mom, I hope you are smiling down from heaven and know that I’m thinking of you today.

Skillet Blackberry Jam
Gourmet Comfort – makes about 1 ½ cups

1 lb fresh or frozen and thawed blackberries (4 cups)
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons powdered fruit pectin. I used Sure Jell. (Do not substitute liquid or low-sugar pectin.)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Mash blackberries with a potato masher or a fork in a large bowl. Stir together the berries, sugar, pectin, and lemon juice in a 12-inch nonstick skillet, then boil, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 7 minutes. Transfer jam to a large shallow bowl, cover jam surface with wax paper, and chill until softly set, at least 30 minutes. Jam will set further if chilled longer. Jam keeps, chilled in an airtight container, for 2 weeks.

Printable recipe

Dress the jam up a little and it makes a nice gift for a special lady in your life for Mother’s Day.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I would like to share with you these words from The Help. I’m sure most, if not all of you, have either read the book or seen the movie. They are words to live by and something every child should be taught.

I grew up in the Deep South region of the US and my family had help. Rhoda was what you might call my “other mother.” My father was stationed in the South Pacific during WWII and when I was born, my mother and I lived with his parents.  While my mother taught school during the day, Rhoda babysat me, fed me, bathed me, changed my diapers, held me when I cried, and did whatever was necessary. When my grandmother walked up the block to her canasta game, it was Rhoda who pushed my stroller while one of my father’s bird dogs followed behind. Everyone in town knew where my grandmother was by where my empty baby stroller was, parked outside one of her friends’ home with the bird dog guarding it. I loved Rhoda with the same deep love and affection I gave to my mother and my grandparents, and later when my father returned home, to him as well.

Contrary to what the movie depicted about the South, not everyone that had help in households barred them from the bathroom or accused of stealing the family silver. In our home Rhoda was family. My mother taught her how to make blackberry jam I’m sure.

During that time pediatricians believed that babies should be fed on a schedule and if they cried, just let them, so that’s exactly what my mother did. And cry I did. While my mother was teaching, it was Rhoda that held me when I got cranky and comforted me when I was hungry. What’s funny now is that to this very day, when I get hungry and can't eat right away, I still get cranky. Very cranky, just ask my husband Meakin.

I haven’t heard from Rhoda since my parents died almost 28 years ago. But this I can tell you. She instilled in me those wonderful words from The Help and I am a much better person for it today.

I was very blessed to have two wonderful mothers. Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

Oh So Good Dutch Baby with Lemon Sugar – Lemony Goodness for a Spring Time Breakfast

Some people call this oven baked pancake/popover a Bismark, while others call it a Dutch Baby. Both are baked in a cast iron skilled in a hot oven where they puff up dramatically and make an impressive breakfast dish. The Bismark was one of the most popular recipes in the original Silver Palate Cookbook, one of the best selling cookbooks of all times. Normally it’s served with powdered sugar and fresh lemon wedges, or it can be gussied up with fresh fruit as I did in a previous post several years ago. Click to see my Bismark with fresh raspberries and blueberries. It’s also delicious with sautéed apples and cinnamon.

That particular post with the Bismark topped with fresh seasonal fruit was very popular and I thought you might enjoy reading some of the reader’s comments on how they like to serve this delicious treat:

- “Sometimes we serve it for Sunday morning breakfast, other times as a dessert.”
- “We call is a German baked pancake. It’s my daughter’s favorite and I’ve acquired 4 small cast iron skillets and the next time they visit it will be individual small ones instead of big ones.”
- “Dutch Baby is becoming my easy / fancy weeknight meal – nothing to it, but I’ve also found a savory recipe that uses diced ham and gruyere cheese – delicious!”
- “I’ve been looking for fancy recipes to make while camping. This could easily be adapted to campfire oven cooking.”

This comment was perhaps my favorite: “If every morning started out with one of these, I’d never have a bad time.”

I recently found this recipe in a Gourmet publication Gourmet Comfort and fell head of heels in love with their picture and the lemon sugar. As you can see, it rises up dramatically in the oven, but deflates somewhat after it’s removed. I like to show it off as if comes out of the oven and then I don’t worry about it when it deflates. It tastes so good no one will notice.

Two tips to pass on. Most of the recipes for Dutch Babies and Bismarks call for using somewhere between a half stick of butter to a full stick. If you shutter at that much butter (I do), I assure I’ve made these many times using only 2 tablespoons of butter and you would never know the difference. I also like to grate the nutmeg myself (it’s so much better than the powdered stuff) and it’s super easy if you have a microplane rasp (the same one you use to zest a lemon). Just grab a nutmeg nut and scrape it along the rasp. Voila, freshly grated nutmeg. Now you can throw the powdered stuff way.

If you have house guests for Easter or if it’s just the two of you, pop a Dutch Baby in the oven and “start your day off right.”

Dutch Baby with Lemon Sugar
Gourmet Comfort & Epicurious – serves 4 (or 2 hungry ones)

Printable recipe

Lemon Sugar:
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

For Dutch Baby:
3 large eggs, warmed in their shells in very warm water for 5 minutes
2/3 cup whole milk brought to room temperature
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon good quality pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces (if you are watching your calories, 2 tablespoons works perfectly fine)
Garnishes: Lemon sugar, lemon wedges, your favorite jam, whatever you like

Stir the sugar and lemon zest together in a small bowl and set aside. Put a 10” skillet (preferably cast iron), on the middle rack of an oven and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Beat the eggs with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and frothy, then beat in the milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Continue to beat together one minute more (batter will be thin). Set aside.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter pieces and melt, swirling to coat. Add batter and immediately return the skillet to the oven. Bake the Dutch baby until puffed and golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately. Top the Dutch baby with a sprinkle of the lemon sugar. Serve with fresh lemon wedges

Or with your favorite jam.

I will be sharing this recipe with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable, & Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter.

I hope everyone has a happy Easter and Passover and it doesn’t rain on your parade. I’ll be wearing my Easter bonnet. Will you?

Start your morning off right with this 3 ingredient Cranberry Maple Syrup

If you are as fond of cranberries as I am, you will love this recipe for cranberry maple syrup. The tartness of the cranberries is offset with the sweetness of the maple syrup, making this a very versatile year-around syrup for pancakes. With only 3 ingredients, it couldn't be more simple.

I actually hoard cranberries in my freezer and use them throughout the year. For this recipe frozen cranberries work just as well as fresh ones. Be sure to use the best quality maple syrup you can find, because the imitation syrup, to my taste, has a faux flavor and not worth using.

I’ve served the syrup over cornmeal pancakes, but use any pancake you like. Wattles would also be delicious. If you are looking for a homemade gift idea, the deep ruby red syrup would be very festive in a pretty glass jar tied with a holiday ribbon.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Maple Syrup
Coastal Living Magazine – yield 1 cup

¾ cup pure maple syrup
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, divided
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Bring maple syrup and 3/4 cup cranberries to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 3 minutes or until cranberries pop. Crush cranberries in saucepan using a spatula or potato masher. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup cranberries; simmer just until they begin to pop (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat, add butter, and stir until melted. Keeps well covered in the refrigerator.

Printable recipe

Cornmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Joy of Cooking – yield twelve 4” cakes

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 large egg
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil or other neutral flavored oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Combine the cornmeal, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the mixture, stir will, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, milk, and oil until combined. After 15 minutes, add the cornmeal mixture from above and stir until smooth.

Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir into the hot cornmeal mixture. If the mixture seems a little thick, stir in a bit of milk.

Heat a pancake griddle or 12” lightly oiled skillet until hot. Drop the pancake batter by spoonful’s onto the griddle. When the pancakes begin to bubble in the center and start to dry around the edges, turn and cook until done. The second side takes only about half as long as the first side and never browns as evenly, so serve them first side up.

Remove the cakes from the griddle and keep warm in a pre-heated 200 degree F oven while you make the remaining cakes. Do not stack the cakes or they will become soggy. When all of the pancakes are done, serve immediately.

Printable recipe

This recipe will be shared with Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum and Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Waterside Shops in Naples, Florida. I hope you’ll enjoy this glimpse of the lovely holiday decorations among the swaying palm trees and beautiful water fountains at this very classy, best-in-class shopping destination that features such stores as Nordstrom, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Salvatore Ferragamo, Guicci, Cartier, De Beers, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Whoever said you can't get in the holiday spirit in sunny Florida hasn't been to the Waterside shops.