Breakfast Inspiration!

English muffin-French toast-waffles

Leave it to NPR's "The Food Schmooze" to have me smacking my forehead wondering, why didn't I think of that?

Yesterday morning we were inspired by a simple "waffle" recipe.

Start with whole-grain English muffins, dip them in French toast batter — I prepared mine with eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, soy milk, orange juice and orange zest (next time I will add orange marmalade to the mixture) — then pop them into your waffle iron. Ingenious!

We cooked up an entire sleeve of English muffins and enjoyed some for breakfast with English bangers and soy lattes. The rest we cooled, put back into their paper sleeve and bag, and placed in the freezer. They'll be great crisped up in the toaster oven weekday mornings.

A savory, healthy, fast dinner? It's possible

Summer has metamorphosized into Fall. School is back in session. And while the chill in the air has me craving cozy comfort food, on weeknights, I find I have little time for cooking.

During the last cold spell I threw together a simple, healthy, hearty, nourishing soup in less than 20 minutes. Here's how.

I started with chicken stock and added a touch of soy sauce, some fresh ginger, a little rice vine vinegar and some sesame oil. I simmered chopped veggies we had on hand—shallots, carrots, green beans from our garden, and some frozen broccoli. (I always have frozen organic veggies on hand for soups, quesadillas, etc.) Then I added some Trader Joe's chicken dumplings. A little corn starch thickened the stock and a whole beaten egg, added slowly in a thin stream, added depth, flavor and protein.

We served the steaming bowls with srichacha sauce, freshly ground Szechuan peppercorns and diced scallions.

Cupcakes Galore!

woof

There are few things as lovely as cupcakes. Each one is a personal little cake just for you.

Better yet: kids' cupcakes. And, since my son's birthday was a week ago, I had the opportunity to make not one, but two batches.

It started off simply enough, with a plan for a farm birthday with farm animal cupcakes. Alas, the evening before the party my son had a fever of 102 and the birthday party...bought the farm.

Never one to miss a chance to 1) make my son happy and 2) bake cupcakes. I decided to surprise him with a family party.

a favourite stuffed puppy = inspiration

We had postponed the farm party 'til the following weekend, so I decided to hold off on my original farm animal cupcake idea. I wanted to make something else fun. So, I decorated and made a batch of cupcakes inspired by his favourite stuffed puppy, Douglas.

I think they came out rather nice, wouldn't you say?

The cupcakes were a simple vanilla recipe—from scratch, of course. The puppies "fur" is homemade buttercream frosting I tinted with unsweetened cocoa powder and piped on with a star tip. Their faces, ears and paws are made of all-natural marshmallows. They have chocolate chip eyes and naturally dyed jollybean noses.




pupcakes!

 
Next up, the real deal: farm animal cupcakes!



farmcakes! can you spy the sheep in shades?


These were so simple and great fun to make. Again, I started with homemade vanilla cupcakes (my son's only request) and a batch of homemade buttercream frosting. For the chicks, I simply frosted the cupcakes and rolled them in toasted coconut for the "feathers." Then I added four naturally dyed chocolate candies—two brown for the eyes, and two orange for the beak. The cutest thing is the upright candies, which make the beak look as though it's open.

Next up, the pigs. I had roasted beets the night prior and saved a little of the beet juice to tint the frosting. I added the beet juice gradually until I'd achieved the right shade of pig. (I didn't want purple pigs!) I used two all-natural marshmallows for the pig's face, one for the snout and one cut in half for the ears. I made an easy ganache with a couple of tablespoons of melted chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream. I used a toothpick to paint on the pigs' nostrils. The "mud" is made from frosting I tinted with unsweetened cocoa powder.

And lastly, the sheep. (Yes, they are sheep and not bunnies!) Their "fur" is frosting piped with a star tip. Again, their faces and ears are two marshmallows and their faces are painted on with chocolate ganache.

Our lucky little 6-year-old got to make more than one wish!

pupcakes with each puppy holding a fetched (candle)stick

Out of the kitchen & out of the country



bier

 Recently we visited Germany and—along with copious amounts of German beer—enjoyed lots of local foods.

A foodie who marries another foodie (who happens to be a beer snob) is bound to have culinary adventures, particularly when on holiday.

Unfortunately, the camera was not handy when we devoured what had to be The Best liverwurst I have ever had, freshly made at the Pinkus Mueller Brewery in Muenster. We also missed the opportunity to take pictures of pfifferling (commonly known as chanterelle), which was in season. We were also fortunate enough to enjoy the very end of white asparagus season.



schnitzel with mushroom sauce
&  spaetzle

Needless to say, we had our share of wienerschnitzel and spaetzle (served my favorite way, with mushroom sauce), soft pretzels (the waiter was appalled when I asked for mustard!) and my husband's favourite: schweinshaxe.

A lovely dinner: schweinshaxe for my husband, and pike with pfifferling and lemon sauce—spectacular flavor

schnitzel mit"tots"

Several dishes we ordered came with a version of fried potato we fondly referred to as "tots" (a nod to Napolean Dynamite).

These crunchy bits of deliciousness were tasty, but not really my thing, as I tend to prefer my pototoes roasted, not fried, and preferably with the skin intact.

  

We also set out to taste many versions of apfelstrudel. Of all the strudel we had the most interesting was served with the typical vanilla sauce and fresh whipped cream, but also some sort of ice cream and honeydew melon:



apfelstrudel with mystery ice cream
& honeydew melon



In addition to the food, some of the best times were spent walking, hiking, exploring and recollecting. It was always nice to come back to a cold beer and a snack.

cold bier + apfelstrudel = happy

What's more, all that fresh air and walking made us all the more ready to sit down and enjoy a good meal—to the very last bite.

no caption necessary

Dreaming of coconut cake

It’s almost March, which means it’s almost time to make my annual version of Food & Wine’s Six-Layer Coconut Cake with Passion Fruit Filling.

I start looking forward to this cake sometime in February, after all of the holiday gluttony has passed and I have had my fill of the dark chocolate my husband and I typically exchange for Valentine’s day.

My coconut cake typically features a mere four layers. I also use a different recipe for the cake than Food and Wine. Mine uses cake flour (resulting in a lighter-texture cake) and light coconut milk.

Since I haven’t been able to find passion fruit puree, I have tried several types of fruit filling—from peach puree to Valencia orange—all of which have been fantastic. The cake is slathered with a cream frosting and forgivingly coated with toasted coconut.

I can hardly wait for the first bite.

For the love of cupcakes

Who doesn't love a cupcake? They are perfectly portioned little bites of heaven. What's more, they give me an excuse to wield my pastry bag.


I dream of piping, creating flowers, making buttercream frosting, chocolate ganache.... It's becoming borderline obsessive.

Just before the holidays, I caved and bought a pastry bag kit. My "starter kit" included petal, star and round tips. Of course I had muffins in the house — carrot oatbran — so I figured why not frost them with cream cheese for a healthy after dinner treat? My first attempt:

From there, I have been looking for any excuse to bake and frost cupcakes.


One of the first batches I made were rum raisin mini cupcakes with rum glaze and rum frosting. They were so delicious, I didn't even get to take of picture of them.

Another batch that didn't receive photographic evidence were gingerbread mini cupcakes with orange-ginger frosting. I brought them to an open house party and convinced myself that eating four of them was equivelent to eating one standard-size cupcake.

For our special Hanukkah dinner I made chocolate Frambois cupcakes with raspberry frosting. They were quite lovely.

The obsession continued with a batch of lowfat orange chocolate cupcakes for dinner guests:

And then I found an excuse to use my naturally dyed red, white, and green jellybeans at Christmas-time:

Most recently, we hosted our annual holiday open house. With kids afoot, I thought brightly colored mini cupcakes would be a fun treat. Earlier in the week I had roasted beets, so I used the beet juice to create a fushia frosting. The cupcakes were devoured by kids and grown-ups alike.

What's for dinner? Molasses-brined pork chops

Molasses-brined pork chops are a weeknight favorite in our house. The recipe may sound complex, but with careful planning it's rather simple. Brining not only adds depth and flavor to the pork chops, it makes the chops exceptionally tender.

I begin by brining the pork chops in a mixture of water, molasses, brown sugar, sea salt, vanilla and ice cubes. Leave to brine for at least eight hours and up to two days.

Meanwhile, I create a spice rub with using dried sage from our summer farm share, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and black pepper. Once the pork chops are removed from the brine and patted dry, I dredge them in seasoned flour.

The spice mixture is then rubbed on both sides of the pork chops, and they are refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before they are broiled to perfection. Although this recipe does require some advance planning, with a little preparation, it can make an extraordinary weeknight meal.

The broiled pork chops go well with a variety of side dishes:



molasses-brined pork chops with roasted root vegetables



molasses-brined pork chops with roasted brussel sprouts and tzimmes



molasses-brined pork chops with cheddar grits and collard greens