It Feels Like a Perfect Night for Breakfast at Midnight

I'm a pretty big Taylor Swift fan. I remember being fascinated by the adorable girl with the curls singing "Our Song" when my friend showed me the video and then hearing off key versions of "Love Story" far too frequently coming from the boy who sat next to me in Number Theory. Then, the first friend I made in college had a penchant for randomly bursting into "You Belong With Me," regardless of if it was a socially acceptable time.

So when Taylor Swift released Red last October, it was pretty much perfect timing. About twenty minutes into the record is the wonderfully ridiculous ode to being a "happy, free, confused, and lonely" pop star and, well, being 22.

And, well, most of my friends are slowly turning 22. And I now have an excuse to play Taylor Swift songs under the pretense than it's appropriate for the occasion.

And, while this wasn't the inspiration for at all, and definitely not my first time eating breakfast at midnight, when I realized that we were celebrating my friend's birthday with a midnight breakfast, I couldn't help but think of the song.

Bourbon Pecan Sauce
similar to version I made before adapted from Dec. 2006 Cooking Light, pg 174
makes 1 - 1 1/2 cups

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon bourbon
Combine sugars and water in a small saucepan over medium high-heat, stirring constantly until sugars dissolve and it no longer looks grainy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Lower heat to a medium-low and cook until mixture is bubbly and thickened, about 5 minutes.

It's really tasty with fluffy dollar sized pancakes, freshly whipped cream, and bananas.

Curried Eggs

I'm not entirely sure when my weird obsession with turmeric started. And I'm not even sure it's a weird obsession. I just think potatoes and onions look funny unless they're stained with its yellow hue.

But anyway, it's a Friday and lunchtime and I'm standing in the kitchen with eggs and curry powder and turmeric and nutmeg and a quarter of an old onion and half a package of goat cheese sitting on the counter in front of me while I wait for the oil in my tiny little skillet to heat up. I like my skillet. It's cute and adorable and the perfect size for making eggs just for me, and I smile, and thinly slice the onion and listen to the sizzle as the onion hits the now-hot oil. Turning up the dulcet tones of the Taylor Swift song filling my ear, I sprinkle a bit of salt and turmeric powder over the onions, and they turn a beautiful golden shade as I stir them...

I also, clearly, have been craving narratives. Terrible narratives that we both know I can't write, and that definitely have no place here. But regardless, it's Friday (does that mean it's the freakin' weekend yet and I can have me some fun? Nope. Not this weekend) and I made myself some delicious eggs and gluten-free toast for lunch. (As to why the toast was gluten-free, that's a different story, and it'll come later.) And despite the funny looks I get from my roommates for putting curry powder in my eggs, I like to think of it as sophisticated, though surely that isn't actually true. And I'm far from the definition of "sophisticated" with my bright pink melamine plates and heart-covered tumblers. But hey, it works for me. As does listening to this song on repeat. Yep, that definitely puts a smile on my face.



As for this recipe, it's not really that specific. There are no proportions here for the spices, because I pretty much just decide by thinking, "Hm, that smells like a good amount." I like spices. I could've been happy dumping even more spices in here. But eggs, onion, and curry powder go together wonderfully. And goat cheese just mellows it out and makes it even creamier.


Curried Scrambled Eggs
this feeds 1 person, maybe
2 teaspoons oil
1/4 small onion, thinly sliced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
curry powder - or - nutmeg and turmeric (or both)
salt
pepper
goat cheese

In a small skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft. You can add some salt to taste, and turmeric if desired.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and curry powder. I use a around 1/4 teaspoon of a sweeter curry powder. Sometimes I just use turmeric and nutmeg instead of a curry powder. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Pour eggs over onions, and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until no longer runny but not completely dry, about 3 minutes. Add goat cheese, stir once more, and then remove from the pan and enjoy!

Omelet for One

If there's one thing I love about having a kitchen, it's being able to eat breakfast on my own schedule on the weekends. I don't have to worry about carrying pans and food to a dorm kitchen to cook, eat in a too large room by myself, and then immediately clean up. There's nothing relaxing about that, and that's something breakfast should be on a weekend morning.

With two of my roommates out of town, and another not allowed to eat until after her blood work, I took my time and made myself a nice breakfast. While making my dinner the night before, I'd cubed some potatoes and sauteed some half-frozen mushrooms that had stuck to the side of our fridge with garlic. I chopped up some onions, threw them in a pan, and cooked them up with potatoes. Having recently learned how to cook potatoes, I'm still really excited by this. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what I do. I think I just poke them until I think they're done. Meanwhile, I reheated the mushrooms, adding in some spinach with them.

In a small bowl I beat together my eggs with some milk, and poured it into a nice small pan, lifting the egg up as it cooked to let the runny egg flow underneath. Once it seemed almost cooked, I added the mushrooms, spinach, and some cheese, put a lid over the pan for about 30 seconds to let it finish cooking. I removed the lid, folded over the omelet, and slid it onto my plate along with some potatoes. Then it was time for Sunday Morning. Bon Appetit!

Pumpkin Pancakes!

Last week was a breakfast week. Thursday morning was an attempt to satisfy my curiosity of what would happen if I stuffed eggs into wonton wrappers, and Friday was less "adventurous." That is unless you consider pumpkin pancakes chock-full of dark chocolate and toasty pecans adventurous.

Coming home from the Art Institute on Thursday night, still too full from a delicious late lunch of jibaritos to even think of dinner, I turned our thoughts to breakfast instead, asking my friend what he wanted to for breakfast. As soon as he started to open his mouth, I was quick to add "that isn't waffles." Well, that was solved quickly: pancakes. With chocolate chips. I added that I thought I had a can of pumpkin puree at home, and if that was the case, would pumpkin pancakes be alright with him. He wholeheartedly approved the motion. So the next morning, as I waited for him to wake up and greet the day (and help me with breakfast, but sometimes I get a little impatient), I puttered around the kitchen, looked up some recipes, and threw these together.

He approved. My mom approved of them cold out of a bag in the fridge the next day. And my Dad ate the few that remained this morning, and he thought they were tasty as well.

Pumpkin Pancakes
adapted from Sweet Potato - Pecan Pancakes
Serves 4 (maybe)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon*
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg*
1/8 teaspoon ginger*
1/8 teaspoon allspice*
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup (1.5 ounces/45 grams) chopped dark chocolate
1 cup milk
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
190 grams (about 3/4 cup) pumpkin puree

Heat a large nonstick pan or griddle over medium heat (the way I learned to gauge the temperature was by flicking a drop of water, if the water rolls and then sizzles, it's the correct temperature.)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and salt. Stir in pecans and chocolate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, brown sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, and pumpkin puree.

Make a well in the middle of the flour, and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir until no dry clumps remain.

Ladle 1/4 cup circles of batter onto the pan as fit. Cook until sides look cooked and there are bubbles all over. Flip over and cook until pressing down lightly on the center of the pumpkin leaves no indentations.

Serve with butter and maple syrup, or bourbon pecan sauce.

*Instead of the spices, you can substitute 1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.)

Breakfast Pot Stickers

I like breakfast. It's probably one of my favorite meals of the day. I love eggs, homemade muffins, and other tasty, breakfasty sweets. But mostly, I like eggs. With vegetables. Actually, I'll eat that for any meal, but it seems most acceptable at breakfast time.

Since I bought wonton wrappers to make short rib ravioli for breakfast Monday night, I figured I'd try to use the wonton wrappers for something other than what I usually use them for: Pea Salad Cups

I haven't been home much lately for meals other than breakfast, so I figured, since breakfast burritos are so tasty, why not use a similar idea, but make potstickers instead of burritos. I scrambled some eggs with peppers, filled some wonton wrappers with the eggs, and pan fried them.


And it was tasty. All that was missing was a tasty spicy salsa to dip the potstickers in. Next time.


Breakfast Dumplings
serves 2-3, depending on appetites

20 wonton wrappers
3 tablespoons minced onion
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded if less spice desired, finely chopped
1/2 serrano pepper, seeded if less spice desired, finely chopped
handful of cilantro, chopped
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons milk
salt
oil

Heat a bit of oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute onion in pan for about a minute, or until fragrant. Sprinkle with a bit of salt Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Lower heat and add eggs to pan. Let cook about 30 seconds, and then, using a spatula, scrape the eggs, stirring occasionally, until cooked but not dry.

Remove eggs from pan and transfer to a small bowl. Spoon a rounded teaspoon of egg into a wonton wrapper. Wet edges of wonton wrapper with water and press together to seal. Repeat with remaining eggs.

Heat about 1/4 inch of oil over medium-high heat in a large pan until shimmering. Add pot stickers to pan and cook a minute or two, or until golden, and flip over and repeat with remaining side. Be careful not to get sprayed with hot oil.

Remove from oil and place on a paper-tower to drain. Serve, and enjoy with salsa if desired.

an idea a month in the making

So on April Fool's Day, I met my friend for dinner and he brought up the idea of putting nutella into brownies. Much to his surprise, I told him that I'd seen recipes for such a thing before, and we planned to meet again to bake some soon.

Soon is a relative term, and the semester is now almost over, and it wasn't until reading week that we were able to find a mutually agreeable time to bake the brownies. Which aren't just nutella brownies, they're nutella cheesecake brownies from alpine berry.


Her recipe is surprisingly simple, and extraordinarily rich. I didn't quite follow it (I'm sorry, but did I really need to unwrap that third stick of butter? The answer: no), but the brownies turned out anyway.

However, a week ago I made more sweet corn brownies, and my pan disappeared. I had to borrow a pan to make these brownies, and when I get home, I'll have to replace my pan. I'm not looking forward to that - I'm super indecisive, it took me forever to pick out a bundt cake. But I'll be optimistic, I have about 89 more hours for it to turn up before I completely lose hope.

And, it's not the end of the world. It's just a pan.


Nutella Brownie Cheesecake
adapted from alpine berry
Makes a 9x13 pan of very fudgy brownies

Brownie layer:
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread)
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder

Cheesecake layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment or greased aluminum foil.

First, make the brownie layer:
Combine butter, Nutella, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in flour and cocoa powder and mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Set aside.

For the cheesecake layer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar. Beat in the eggs and Nutella until well combined.* Pour over brownie batter in pan.

Bake until the cheesecake layer looks set, about 50 minutes. Allow brownies to cool completely in the pan before cutting. If storing, keep refrigerated.

*I originally combined all the ingredients for the cheesecake layer together at once, but it was a little lumpy. Hopefully this will solve that problem.

making waffles in a waffle iron, what a novel idea!

This morning my friend made pancakes and I made waffles. Her pancakes were fun, but not without their mishaps. There was the overheated pan, the overly reduced and cooked raspberry sauce, and some burnt butter involved... but none of that stopped it from being fun and tasty. Seven people in a tiny kitchen, random people walking in to use the microwave and looking at us like we're crazy, messes, pancakes in a mug... So, pretty much, an amazing Saturday morning.


Followed by a semi-productive evening that was derailed by my refusal to go to the library and study and the noise across the hall. Everyone just left to go bowling, informed me I'm lame for staying in, and I'm updating this. Next up: sleep. Then I'll read some more about Thomas Jefferson. But I'm already starting to wish I'd gone bowling. Oh well.


Banana Waffles
This was originally a pancake recipe from a book called Pancakes and Waffles, I think. I don't have the book with me, my mom e-mailed me the recipe last night. We made them as pancakes with sliced bananas last Saturday, and they were tasty that way as well. I used rice flour instead of oat flour, like was called for, and 1/2 cup yogurt. I would probably use more milk in them if making pancakes though, which is why I decided it would make a good waffle batter. I'm currently wondering if I could use 1 1/3 cups ap flour instead of an alternative, but I don't know much about flours.
Makes 8-10 waffles

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup oat flour
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup (6 oz) yogurt
2 small bananas, mashed

In a large bowl mix together flours, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl whisk together egg, milk, yogurt, and bananas. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined.

Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions. Or make pancakes. See note above.

Breakfast On The Floor

The dorm floor that is. And not the actual floor as in where you walk, but as in the level of the building. And it was in the common room, and made in the mini kitchen off of the common room. Only the microwave was broken in there. It was interesting.

Maybe I should back up a little. I'm back at school! And this time, I brought my waffle iron with me. I don't think it's allowed, so shh... I won't start a fire. Or use it in my room, though that would be one awfully nice air freshener. And instead of waffles, well, I made french toast. Only it looks like waffles. I made breakfast that's confused about it's identity.

Despite being a confused french toast waffle, it was quite tasty. And I think a hit. Or people are too nice and just don't want to hurt my feelings. I thought it was yummy, not spectacular, but quite tasty topped with bananas and honey.

Does anyone have a waffle recipe they swear by? If so, let me know. I want to try some out. I mean, that's what a waffle iron is usually for, isn't it? Not that I don't suggest you try to make french toast in one... it just takes a bit longer than it would on the stovetop, but it's more fun this way.

French Toast Waffles
idea and recipe from TracyFood

2 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 stick melted butter, cooled
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 loaf challah (or other bread of choice), sliced into 1/2"-1" thick slices depending on the size of your waffle iron
syrup, honey, bananas, or other foods for serving

In a bowl (or if you want one less dish to clean, in a shallow baking dish), whisk together the eggs, butter, and milk until smooth. Stir in the flour, sugar, cinammon, and salt. Transfer to a shallow baking dish (I used an 8" square dish).

Right before placing on the waffle iron, dip a slice of challah into

Heat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions. Dip each piece of challah into the batter. Let sit for 15-20 seconds, flip over. Let excess batter drip off before placing on waffle iron. Cook like a waffle according to waffle iron's settings.

Repeat with remaining bread and batter.

Serve. And enjoy.

Extra Egg Whites... Tasty "Flan" For Breakfast

Sometime early in August, I found a tea shop in Chinatown that had green tea powder (or matcha). I've been looking for the powder for over a year now, and was thrilled to finally find it. A few days later, I made the green tea ice cream from David Lebowitz's book for a friend. It was delicious.

But the usual problem with making ice cream: inordinate amounts of egg whites are leftover. And it isn't that egg whites don't have uses, but I just normally don't have the time or the other ingredients to do something with them within a day or two of making the ice cream.

So why not plan ahead? I know, that would be a terrific idea. But it doesn't always work out that way. This time it did. So I made the flans in the morning, ended up with four egg yolks leftover from it, so at the end of the day, I just had two egg white leftover, and they contributed to the chocolate mousse I made a day or two later.

I'd been wanting to try these flans, and not seeing a time when I could make them for dinner with something else, I figured I might as well just make them for breakfast. I used some really tasty tiny red and yellow tomatoes I picked up at the farmer's market and basil I stole from our neighbor's garden. They turned out tasty too.

I also made a single large version instead of individual ramekins of them the next time I had the egg white problem (though I had a LOT of egg whites that time, so this didn't even make a dent in them) since I don't actually own the right size cups. It turned out nicely too.



See original recipe here.

Is four loaves in a month a bit obsessive?

And that's not even including the 48 "muffin loaves."

I've been waiting all summer for zucchini at the market, and when it finally showed up, I'd found the perfect recipe to try. Heidi's Special Zucchini Bread looked a bit different, and, I guess to use it's name, special.

So I gave it a try, almost following the recipe exactly the first time, just omitting the lemon zest because I had no lemons (and could only find the ones with the neon green letter emblazoned on them) and crystallized ginger because, though I had it, am not a big fan of it. I bought what looked like a promising "east meets west" curry powder, and set out to try the recipe. And I augmented the few walnuts I had on hand with brazil nuts.

And it was tasty. At the first bite, I was unsure about the curry powder flavor, but by the second muffin I was sold. I had the two of them for lunch, and froze the rest. They really do freeze quite well.

The next time I made them, I omitted the poppy seeds, and once again used half walnuts and half brazil nuts, and made it with 2 ounces of butter and 2 ounces (in weight) of canola oil, and added some raisins. It was also good this time.

With it looking promising with the oil, I made it once again after my first Friday of school, but this time, used only oil. I beat the sugar with the eggs, and then added the oil. But the batter seemed oily. Before I stirred in the nuts (and after adding all the raisins I had in the house, about half a cup), I split the batter. Into one half, the half that ended up in the loaf pan, I put about 4 ounces of blue cheese that I had a wedge of sitting in the fridge that I feared would go bad. It turned out quite nicely. Different, but not at all unpleasant.
I did the usual thing with nuts in the other half, that became square muffin loaves.
But the all oil ones were a bit more dense. Maybe it was because of the splitting I over stirred them, or maybe it was the oil. Either way, when I made the bread for the fourth time this past Sunday, I started with two tablespoons of butter, beat that with the sugar, and then beat in 1/4 cup canola oil (I almost used walnut, which may have been an equally nice choice), and then continued with the recipe as Heidi had instructed, only sticking with my raisins and brazil nuts.

I think I've finally got it down. And I have a good 15 or so muffins in the freezer still.

Formerly Heidi's Zucchini Bread
makes one large loaf and twelve small square ones, or one normal loaf and twelve muffins

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
210 grams (about 1 cup) granulated sugar
105 grams (about 1/2 cup, packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil, or other neutral oil
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups grated zucchini (about 2 large), with some moisture squeezed out and fluffed back up

385 grams (about 3 cups) whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon curry powder

6 ounces (about 1 cup, 170g) brazil nuts, chopped
3 ounces (about 1/2 cup, 85g) walnuts, chopped
70 grams (about 1/2 cup) raisins

Preheat oven to 350ºF and place a rack in the middle. Line one loaf pan with parchment (overhanging over sides for easy removal) or greased and floured, and grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl or bowl of a mixer, beat the butter about 15 seconds, until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat again for about 30 seconds to a minute, or until the sugar starts to incorporate. Add the oil, and beat until it's incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well and scraping down sides between each addition. Stir in the vanilla and then the zucchini.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and curry powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, stirring between each addition. Don't overmix the batter, since the nuts still have to be stirred in.

Fold in the raisins, and about 3/4 of the nuts. Save some of the nuts to sprinkle on top of the load.

Portion batter into each of the twelve muffin cups. Pour remaining batter into loaf pan and smooth top. Sprinkle loaf with reserved nuts.
Bake the muffins and loaf side by side, removing the muffins after 15-20 minutes or until the spring back when lightly touched, and the loaf after 40-45 minutes.
Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy, or freeze for later enjoyment.

A Crumb Treat For Father's Day

Even though it's crumbly, it's not a crumby treat. (I just read Catcher in the Rye. That word was way overused in it.)

Yesterday, I bought a couple pounds of rhubarb at the farmer's market, and now I'm finding ways to use them (and the strawberries, which overnight turned to mush. Uh-oh!). The big crumb coffee cake and strawberry rhubarb pecan loaf on Smitten Kitchen both seemed like good ways to use them, as did the rhubarb and strawberry compote from Bon Appetit that I was going to make last night but didn't. The crumb cake seemed like a decadent father's day breakfast, since we normally have eggs prepared in one of a multitude of ways with lots of fresh veggies. Our usual breakfast "treat" is significantly healthier.

However, I couldn't resist, and I had a feeling that eggs and rhubarb wouldn't be the tastiest idea (maybe waffles with a rhubarb compote, but been there done that, well not with strawberries... never mind).

Unfortunately, as per usual, there was a little glitch. Cool completely before serving. Oops. So after eating half of the crumb topping waiting for my parents to get up so it would be super fresh and in the oven while we went for a walk, I noticed that sentence.
And then it started to pour. No, really. The kitchen got all dark and I had to turn on the light for the first time today at 7:30 in the morning even though they'd been off since I'd gotten up.

So off I went to assemble my crumble, and put it in the oven, though it was missing half of its topping.

Big Crumb Rhubarb Coffee Cake
adapted from Deb's adaptation at Smitten Kitchen
Serves 6-8
I ever-so-slightly improved the nutritional profile of the recipe. It now features whole grains! But it would still be better for dessert than breakfast.

For the rhubarb filling:
1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 to 3 tablespoons water

For the cake:
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons oil
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons softened butter, cut into 4 pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan. For easier removal, you can also line with overhanging parchment. For filling, slice rhubarb 1/2 inch thick and toss with sugar, cornstarch and ginger. Set aside.

To make crumbs, in a large bowl, whisk together sugars, spices, salt and butter until smooth. Stir in flour with a spatula. Add water so that flour is not dry, just enough for it to come together. It will look like a solid dough.

To prepare cake, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and oil. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.

Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon rhubarb over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over rhubarb; it does not have to be even.

Using your fingers, break topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size. They do not have to be uniform, but make sure most are around that size. Sprinkle over cake. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter (it might be moist from rhubarb), 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Birdie and Banana

Today in P.E. class I somehow ended up in the last court. Not intentionally, it just happened to be where I went to practice serving with my partner, and then when the teacher created games, defined the boundaries, and the direction of rotation for winners/losers, the very last court was the one I was in. It's suffice to say, I never left the court because there wasn't any further to recede. And one of my friends once again tried to get me to try out for Badminton. She asks every year, and this time was the first time she'd asked that I'd actually touched a racket. I can serve, I just can't do anything else.

Well, as far as badminton is concerned. But today was only my second day, and there's definitely room for improvement. Just like these muffins. Unlike badminton though, I'm not a newbie at making muffins.

We had a bunch of bananas turning brown on the breakfast table. They weren't quite overripe yet, but I've been wanting to make muffins, so they were the perfect excuse. I didn't have enough bananas in the freezer for these muffins. I also noticed shredded coconut in the fridge a few weeks ago when I was cleaning it, so I searched through my binder for the coco nana muffin recipe I'd tried a few summers ago. My notes seemed positive, they just suggested some more coconut extract. Yet I didn't listen to my notes.

The muffins are texturally perfect. Unlike the last batch of apple-oat muffins I made that were gooey and slightly underbaked and chunky, these were smooth and spongy (in that good way) with a nice chewy-crisp exterior. Maybe it's just because I like my muffins chunky with strong flavors, but the understated banana flavor and hidden coconut undertones just didn't impress me. Maybe next time I will throw in chocolate chips or raisins like I did the first time (I actually split up the batter the first time I made it into plain, chocolate chip, and raisin and then didn't record which I liked best).


Coco Nana Muffins
makes 12 muffins
adapted from The Complete Muffin Cookbook by Gloria Ambrosia
I know these weren't absolutely amazing, but the texture was. I feel bad having made these so late in the day and planning on freezing them because I'm scared they aren't studded with fruit, nuts, or oats and will turn to rubber when I reheat them. But if you have dried fruit or chocolate around, I suggest tossing some in. Be careful not to overmix.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup light brown sugar, but I only had 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup flaked coconut, divided

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large, I used 5 small)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract


Preheat oven to 375F. Grease or line a muffin tin.

Sift the flours, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut, stir in remainder.

In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas and remaining ingredients.

Pour the bananas mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir just until mixed.

Fill each muffin cup almost to the top with batter. Top each muffin with a large pinch of reserved coconut. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool slightly in tin. Remove from tin before completely cool to prevent bottoms from getting soggy.

Finals Time = Muffin Time

I'm not sure why I bake during finals. I really should be studing, but I suppose the alternatives to studying are: watching TV, taking walks (the windchill is in the teens), or baking. Well, there are other alternatives, but I don't really want to clean my room, or do anything with a long commitment. Muffins seem like a good choice. You're in and out withing an hour, and the clean-up is relatively easy. If I ever get around to it that is, since I decided to take that walk while the muffins were in the oven this morning. Actually I tried to do a single push-up, and was unsuccessful at that task.

Like my ode to bananas a few months ago, I just can't seem to stay out of the kitchen, or the oven I suppose, when there is studying to be done. And considering that I'm an hour away from my deadly history final, I should probably type faster and get going. It is in the teens outside. Like me.

But I think these were tasty enough. I was worried they'd be a bit too sweet when I was mixing the batter, and I think they are, even though I used a scant 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I just have to play around and see what happens with 1/3 cup of sugar and see if that makes them to dry.


Nutritious Muffins
from side of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran Cereal bag
makes about 9 muffins with a #12 scoop

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup brown sugar (they should be fine with 1/3 cup, but I'm not sure)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1/3 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used full-fat, but I'm sure low-fat will be fine too since that's what I normally use)
1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
2 Tbsp. oil (I used canola, but normally I'd use walnut, I'm just out-and so is the store)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup carrot, shredded (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup dates, chopped (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (about 2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400F and grease muffin pan.
Whisk together the flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. (Reserve about 1 tablespoon of mixture to toss with carrots, dates, and walnuts.) In a smaller bowl, whisk together the banana, yogurt, egg, oil, and extract.
Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in carrot, dates, and walnuts.
Divide among prepared muffin cups.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

Nice Spice Granola

When flipping through the November Bon Appetit last month, one of the pages I dog-eared (okay, put a torn part of a receipt in) was one with two delicious looking and simple recipes. I would love to say that I've made both of them, but the night I was going to make the squash, mushroom, and spinach one I ended up having too much homework and not buying the mushrooms. The squash though was eventually used in the risotto and the cake. And then a few other uses since that one squash sure stretched far bread pudding and a side dish weeks later).

But the granola recipe on the left side of the page, that I managed to make. I've only made granola a few times before, and while it was good, I was disappointed with my greasy results and lack of clumps. Store-bought granola seems to suffer the same dilemma sometimes too, and it always seems so expensive or not full of oats or ruined with chocolate. (Yes, I said chocolate. Please don't hurt me.)

I have a feeling that everyone in the house would have preferred that I didn't make the granola the first time around. It isn't that it wasn't good, but it involved some poor planning on my part that led to a nasty mood. I made it in the morning. Before school. And it isn't that granola is difficult, it just requires quite a bit of time in the oven. I woke up before six, so I figured I was all set. I was in the kitchen around 6:05 and had everything on the counter by 6:10. With 15 minutes to get it onto a baking sheet and 35 minutes in the oven, I was fine. It would be ready by seven o'clock. Except that it didn't need just 35 minutes in the oven. And it took my twenty minutes to get it into the oven. I somehow misread a time in the recipe and it really needed closer to an hour. I'll leave it to you to decide whether you want to know how the course of events and my disposition played out.

I will say this: it was tasty granola the next day. I just knew it could be better.

This time it was better. I made it at night, and though it kept me up until 9:30, it was better than running late for school.


Spiced Maple-Walnut Granola with Dried Cranberries
makes about 6 cups
(based on a recipe in November 2007 Bon Appetit, it resembles the original recipe, but I'm too lazy to find the link since I'm offline)

2/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided
1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg whites (about 2 large)
3 cups old-fashioned or quick oats (my dad prefers quick because it isn't as hard, but I use old-fashioned since that is what I keep on hand)
1 cup walnut halves, halved
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a large rimmed baking sheet.

In a small saucepan stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar into maple syrup over medium heat to dissolve. Remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl to cool.

(If you get out all your ingredients before you start, I measure them while the syrup cools. That's also when I turn on the oven and grease the baking sheet)

Whisk cinnamon, allspice, vanilla, and egg whites into syrup. Stir in oats, remaining 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar, and walnuts to coat.

Spread the oat mixture onto the baking sheet into an even layer and bake in oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and flip over with a large metal spatula. The bottoms should be browned. Bake for an additional ten minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with dried cranberries. Return to oven for another 5 to 10 minutes or until dry.

Bites o' Pumpkin

Usually I read the Good Eating section of the tribune on Wednesday mornings. That didn't happen this week. Instead, I skimmed it Thursday evening. And, one day later, for the first time, I've actually used a recipe I've clipped from it. I've been wanting to make pumpkin muffins and just hadn't gotten around to finding the recipe I copied two years ago from a book in the summer and never made (it was June, pumpkin didn't feel right then.) But upon finding this recipe, or the precursor to this recipe, which I thought I had everything for, except the flaxseeds, so I figured I'd give it a try.

I then proceeded to not even read the instructions. Surprisingly enough, they turned out well despite changing the ingredients (upon running out of granulated sugar), the procedure, the temperature, and the size of the muffins. They were loaded with a bit too much chocolate (and no nuts), but since I took them over to my friend's house where we watched Brazil and Monty Python's Now For Something Completely Different, they worked out nicely. Somehow, my container had 1 1/2 mini muffins, which resembled little balls, left it in when I brought it home.

Expect to see a full size variation of this, chock full of cranberries and pepitas, soon. (Which goes with this disclaimer: muffins shows above are not exactly the recipe below-they have pecans, as well, and are "normal" sized.)



Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Loaded Muffin Bites
based on Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Muffins in 10/24/2007 Good Eating
Makes about 24 mini-muffins

1 cup whole-wheat flour
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 heaping Tablespoons flax seeds (about 7 teaspoons)
1/2 cup water
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.

Place flaxseeds and water in a blender and whir until foamy. Add pumpkin puree, oil, and vanilla and process on high until well blended. Stir into the flour mixture until combined. If it appears to dry, add a little water. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter evenly (I use a small scoop with a release) into the prepared tin. Bake in oven about 15 minutes or until an indentation doesn't stay when pressed or a toothpick comes out just about clean. Let cool a few minutes in pan; remove and eat or cool completely on wire racks for later.

Revisiting The Muffin Man

I'm a bit rusty. I know that sounds odd, but I'm rusty at making muffins. I used to be able to have apple-oat muffins down and be in-and-out with the dishes clean in under an hour. Today it took almost an hour just to get the muffins into the oven. Well, I was also taking pictures (though just quick snips) and being careful with my measurements (metric weights, here I come!) to save time in the future, and I was remembering. I remembered why I love muffins. There's something friendly and forgiving about muffins. They're supposed to be lumpy and bumpy, and a little mistake is easy to cover. If they rise funny, well, its a muffin. I guess it isn't like a cupcake where a mistake can be covered in frosting, but if you bite into a cupcake and it isn't fluffy and uniform, things are a bit wacky. I'm very much pro-muffin and hesitant towards cupcakes, but I guess it is because we do call them muffin pans. And they make a much more satisfying breakfast.

My favorite muffins are apple-oat muffins, and at the farmer's market on Saturday (I thought I had ended, I was so thrilled when I saw an ad on public access!) and saw bins of gorgeous apples, I knew I just had to make some. Most people are dreaming of apple pie right now, but I dream of muffins. Okay, and I'm scared of pie crust. I like mixing things and being done- no rolling pins required. I asked the guy-who-knows-all which apples I should try, and picked up a few. I don't remember their names. I only ended up using one and a half of the apples, the first one was so large, but it was deliciously sweet and crisp. The second one was green and had a familiar, but somewhat deterring, flavor that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I finally recognized it. It tasted kind of like the artificial green apple flavor candies are flavored with. But the apples mixed together and in the muffin made for a tasty muffin.

I'm not sure if it was the extra care put into these, the fresh local apples. or the fact that I bit into one right out of the oven, or the months without then; they seemed yummier, and a bit sweeter, than ever today.

As for trying them with a dab of peanut butter in the middle- I think I'll save it for being slathered on top if I fancy it at the moment.


Updated Apple-Oat Muffins
makes 12

2 1/2 cups (310 g) finely diced apples (about 2 to 3 medium apples, I like it with a mix of sweet/tart apples)
1 cup (130 g) whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup (65g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (95 g) rolled (old-fashioned) oats
2/3 cup (140 g)firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (227 g) plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Place apples on paper towels to drain, pat dry.

Combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in medium bowl. Whisk together. If small lumps of sugar remain, that's fine. It makes it even better.

In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, milk, oil, vanilla extract, and egg until smooth.
Make a well in center of flour mixture, stir in milk mixture just until moist. Mix in apple.
Using a #12 scoop, scoop mixture into prepared muffin cups.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until muffins spring back lightly when touched. Remove from pan to cool.

Brandishing the Carrots

Yesterday, on our way to buy a new refrigerator (one of ours died two weeks ago, and the other likes to fluctuate between 38 and 50 if you don't shut the door tight enough), we went to Hackney's. I'm not a burger person (so I have no idea why I was excited to go, wait, yes I do. It is the onion rings. I'm totally on a fried food kick. Today I had falafel...But I digress. So at Hackney's, after the onion rings, I actually had to have a meal. And it came with what appeared to be a carrot bran muffin. I was motivated to use the carrots in the fridge (though this is not the right time of year for them. They're sweeter in the winter.)

I've been wanting to make a more flavorful bran muffin, and here it is. At first I couldn't decide on whether there should be raisins, but the consensus seems to be that they should be there.

Carrot-Walnut Bran Muffins
makes 16 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cup finely grated carrot (about 3-4 carrots)
2/3 cup walnuts
2/3 cup raisins
2 large eggs
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 1/12 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tablespoons nut, canola, or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400F. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, or until toasted. Once cool, coarsely chop or break up. Leave oven on.
In a medium bowl, pour hot water over raisins. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Grease or line 16 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in shredded carrot.
In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, brown sugar, and honey for about two minutes or until thick and paler. Whisk in buttermilk, applesauce, oil, and vanilla.
Stir liquid mixture into carrot-flour mixture until just moist. Fold in walnuts and raisins; divide among prepared tins.
Bake 15 minutes or until spring back when lightly touched on top.

Unexpected Fluffy Answer

For next weekend, I want to make scones. Dad likes the miniature ones from Whole Foods, so he didn't see the point in me making homemade ones and spending the time on them when there are other things I could be doing. (I said the same thing about lemonade, but we're planning on buying a 5 lb bag of lemons today anyways.) The batch of scones I whipped up while he was in the shower, they made that statement past tense. He likes them! I now have permission to make scones for next weekend. And a good reason to beg for a pastry blender. And dough scraper.

Cran-raisin Scones

makes 20 miniature scones

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons whole milk + more to brush tops

1 large egg

1/2 cup raisins.

1/4 cup dried cranberries

turbinado sugar for sprinkling tops

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease a baking sheet.

Soak raisins and cranberries in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. With pastry cutter or fingers, cut butter into flour mixture until resembles coarse meal with some larger pieces.

Whisk together cream, milk and egg and stir into flour mixture with a wooden spoon until just mixed. Fold in raisins and cranberries. Collect dough and turn onto a well-floured surface. Knead 4 or 5 times. Shape into a 7 by 8 inch rectangle and cut into 20 triangles (but don't separate). Transfer to a baking sheet and brush tops with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until tops and sides are golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Bran Muffins (sans banana)

I don't have any idea how I managed this. I had a beautifully ugly overripe banana staring me in the face, and searching through the muffin books I checked out from the library last night (not for the first time either), I managed to select a recipe to try that did not involve bananas. Which considering how easy it is to throw bananas into anything, was quite a feat. It took lot of self-restraint to keep myself from chopping up (though it was so soft it would have ended up mashed) the banana and tossing it into the batter.

I just figured maybe I should give the bananas a break since it'll be a while before I make any more apple-oat muffins and maybe should branch out a bit and find another recipe I can love just as much. Though I was considering trying it with celery and allspice... but we didn't have enough yogurt, so it'll have to wait another day. But don't fear, it will be soon, because the celery in the fridge is on its way out.

As for the bran muffins, they shine. And taste like bran muffins, unlike the banana-wheat muffins I usually make (they just happen to contain bran, but are not to be confused with bran muffins. Minus my mistakes (these are not meant to spill over the tops of the muffin cups, and raisins on top-they burn EASILY) that were not in the original recipe from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, this recipe is a keeper.


Bran Muffins
makes 12-18 muffins
adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book

nonstick spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
1 cup hot or boiling water

Preheat oven to 400ºF and grease muffin tins. Soak raisins in hot water for about ten minutes or until plump; drain.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, bran, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, and honey for about 2 minutes until smooth. Whisk in buttermilk, applesauce, oil, and vanilla extract. Add raisins.
Stir liquid mixture into flour mixture until just moist.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for about 15 minutes or until browned and springs back lightly when touched in center (or the toothpick method- with a crumb or two). Remove from pan and cool on cooling rack.

So... This is how I study

Bananas. I know, they aren't exactly a fruit I should be proud of loving - for environmental and political reasons. While supposedly they're cleaning up their act, banana growers don't exactly have the best reputation. They harm biodiversity, use pesticides that kill the rain forest and those who work around them...
Not to mention UFCo, and their bananas, led to the CIA intervening in a decent government and replacing it with none other than an oppressive one. Those problems still aren't resolved...

However, those little potassium powerhouses are perfect for baked goods... and I'll admit, I put them in almost everything. Not to mention they go great in cereal when they're almost ripe, and as they get riper, oatmeal, and then overripe- puree or mash them and toss them into just about anything where they can hide or dominate.

I even keep some in the freezer from times when I've bought them but had other fruits around to eat. I'm not going to throw out bananas that have so much left in them.

While banana bread is no longer at its peak of popularity, I can totally see why it was. Though I'm much more of a muffin girl, the first scratch-made muffins I made were banana-nut. Though I usually make banana-wheat with chocolate chips because its fun to have a treat every once in a while with chocolate in the muffins.

Banana-Wheat Muffins
makes 10-12 muffins
Adapted from Vegetarian Times, March 2006
I think they are tastier using hand chopped bittersweet chocolate instead of the mini-chocolate chips because it has a smoother texture. If I don't have enough bananas once they're all mashed, I also sometimes top it off with applesauce (you lose some flavor though).

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking power
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (2 to 4 ripe bananas)
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat bran
3 Tablespoons oil, such as walnut oil
1 large egg white
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup (50 g) miniature chocolate chips
a handful or two of walnuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease 12 muffin tin cups.

Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Combine bananas, buttermilk, sugar, wheat bran, oil, egg white and vanilla in a medium bowl; stir until blended.
Add banana mixture to flour mixture and stir just until moist. Add chocolate chips and stir until distributed.
Divide batter among prepared cups (I use a #12 scoop). Top with walnuts, if desired. Bake 13-17 minutes, or until golden brown and spring back when touched in center. Remove from pan and cool.