Classic French Toast

Every once in awhile I like to sneak French toast into my pancake routine. Last Saturday morning I did just that, arriving at the local bread shop by 8:30 a.m. in search of a day-old loaf of French brioche. This recipe from Alton Brown of the Food Network produced a classic French toast taste, that was perfectly sweet. I swapped the recipe's half and half for whole milk, which I happened to have in the fridge, and added some cinnamon to the batter. Serve the French toast with bananas, powdered sugar, and real maple syrup for happy bellies.

December Baking

December is a busy month in the kitchen. Between Christmas cookies and homemade gifts, my sink is always full of measuring cups, spatulas, and cookie sheets. Short, dark, cold days left me yearning for the tastes of summer at the beginning of the month. I broke into my frozen blueberry stash from July to make a batch of orange blueberry poppy seed muffins on December 8th. 

These muffins are a twist on Joy the Baker's lemon blueberry poppy seed muffins. I swapped the whole milk in Joy's recipe for soy and the lemon zest for orange. These muffins are moist and full of blueberries. If your blueberries are frozen to start, toss them with 1-2 tablespoons of flour in a bowl. This will help prevent your batter from turning blue.

When you begin to sprinkle the crumb topping over your muffin cups, you will be hesitant to use all the topping. Don't stop sprinkling! I was hesitant too, but I was so very happy I used it all.

Banana Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Here's an easy vegan quick bread, perfect for autumn. This bread combines two favorites - banana bread and pumpkin bread. The addition of oats and walnuts give the bread a nice texture.

Banana Pumpkin Walnut Bread
Makes one loaf

1/2 c. oats
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ground gloves
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. soy milk (or other nondairy milk)
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8 in. by 5 in. bread pan.

Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl.

Mash bananas in a separate bowl. Whisk in maple syrup, soy milk and vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to your bread pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Scones, however you like

Believe it or not, I have had the most kitchen failures with scones. I blame it on the butter and my attempts to turn them vegan. Here is the one recipe that turns out consistently (no, it's not vegan). It's sweet and buttery, a bit biscuit-like, and so very easy to adapt. The beauties below are my latest: dried cranberry and almond.

The two tricky parts of this recipe are one, deciding on what goodies you will use to fill the scones, and two, how much buttermilk to use. Regarding the first issue, this a great issue to have. What will it be? Chocolate chips? Raisins? Blueberries? Nuts? You decide. As for the buttermilk, I've needed varying amounts depending on the day. You will need anywhere between 2/3 cup to 3/4 cup of milk, but you shouldn't need more than that. Even if the dough seems dry, you will find that it comes together as you knead it. A perfect dough will be a bit sticky and manageable.

Pat the dough into a 1 inch round and then decide how you want to cut it. A biscuit cutter works great if you have one, but the rim of a glass or mug works just as well (I usually end up with four large scones when I use a glass). A cookie cutter will also work, but ideally you want to use a cutter at least 1 inch high. Otherwise the dough spills over the side and makes it harder to finish your cut. Another option is to cut the dough into triangles with a knife or pizza cutter. Enjoy the scones fresh from the oven or store them in an airtight container for a few days.


Scones
Makes 4-6 scones

2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar, raw or granulated
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, cold
2/3-3/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. sliced almonds (optional)
1/2 c. fruit or chocolate (blueberries, dried raspberries, chocolate chips)

Preheat your oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two forks.

Add vanilla and milk, mixing just until combined. Fold in fruit or chocolate.

On a lightly floured surface, gently knead dough into a 1 in. round. Cut with a lightly-floured biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass. Brush tops of scones with buttermilk.

Bake on center rack for 20 minutes.

Vegan Zucchini Walnut Bread

Zucchini is one of my favorite summer veggies. From snacking, to stir-fries, pizzas, and dessert, it's quite a versatile vegetable. I brought home a gorgeous Costata Romanesco from the farm and couldn't wait to try this quick zucchini bread recipe.

From Johnny's Selected Seeds

Costata Romanesco zucchinis are Italian and known for their ribbed, striped skin which is speckled with light green (check them out at Johnny's Selected Seeds). Whichever variety of zucchini you choose to use, be sure to have enough for two whole cups of shredded zucchini.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Cinnamon, sugar, butter. [Cue drool]

On days where I have to wake up before the sun, my first smile comes with the thought of breakfast. I could live off of breakfast and brunch foods forever. In fact, after my 85th birthday I plan to do just that, with ice cream for both pre- and post-dinner snack.

This bread was my first introduction to the fabulous Joy the Baker. Her pull-apart bread would be the perfect pairing to your morning coffee or tea, but it's best to consider this a brunch recipe. Why? It's a yeast bread. Dun, dun, dun. Don't go running just yet, but do heed my warnings: (1) multiple steps and rises are required in this recipe (so worth it) and (2) after spending your morning preparing this bread, you will be angry (but satisfied) with how fast it disappears.

pull-apart = no slicing required

When you begin to roll your dough out, you might hesitate to use all of the butter and cinnamon sugar mixture in between your layers. It looks like a lot but do not hesitate. You're on your way to warm, buttery, cinnamon sugar heaven. I wouldn't want you to end up disappointed, with only a slightly cinnamon tasting bread.   

Homemade Peanut Butter

Welcome to peanut butter eaters anonymous. 

Confession: I eat peanut butter straight from the jar, with a spoon.

Peanut butter can be expensive, especially if you prefer all-natural and go through a jar as fast as I do. Wholesale peanuts, on the other hand, are less expensive and can be quickly whipped into a smooth butter with the help of your food processor.

It's as easy as,

one

two

three

If you like your peanut butter crunchy, stop blending a bit early, or toss some chopped peanuts into your butter at the end. You can also try this recipe with almonds or cashews for something different!

Homemade Peanut Butter

Fills 2, 8 oz. jars

16 oz. unsalted peanuts

1 T. coconut oil

1 t. salt

Blend peanuts in a food processor until spreadable, using a spatula to periodically break up clumps of peanuts. Add coconut oil and salt, and blend until smooth.

Transfer peanut butter to clean, airtight glass jars and store in the refrigerator.

Vegan Mango Banana Bread

... or why I can never become a locavore.

I eat a banana with breakfast just about every day and snack on dried mango slices like they’re chocolate caramels. Naturally, I was thrilled when Joy the Baker posted this recipe for a vegan quick bread that combines two of my favorite flavors.

Do you know Joy the Baker? If you like to bake you must visit her blog. I have yet to try a recipe that wasn’t delicious, even if my product wasn’t as picture-perfect as Joy’s.

This one has become one of my favorite quick breads. The first loaf didn’t last but a day. The next two loaves sustained my friend Erin and I over three hot, stormy days of camping at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and I’ve even tried this bread as a muffin. It’s moist, sweet, and just as good cold as it is warm. The bread will last up to five days, but that’s a total joke. I’d like to see you keep your hands off of it for that long!

Be sure to use ripe bananas!

Baked Mac n' Cheese

Fontina.

Gruyère.

Extra-sharp white cheddar.

Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Still reading? I thought so.

Who doesn’t love a good mac n’ cheese? I don't need a story to convince you to make this. This recipe is from Martha Stewart and it's a relatively simple mac n’ cheese to make when you've got the blues.

Clockwise from top: fontina, Gruyère, Parmigiano-Reggiano, white cheddar

Notes from the kitchen:

The original recipe suggests making breadcrumbs with white bread and butter. White bread is evil. I opted to use canned breadcrumbs since I love the way they crunch up during baking.

Martha’s recipe calls for only 8 oz. of macaroni, or half of a standard box. Since I’m used to pasta recipes adjusted for a pound of pasta, I neglected to read the fine print and threw the entire 16 oz. box of macaroni into the cheese sauce. It wasn’t until the following day when transferring the recipe to a card for my box that I noticed my mistake. That’s also after we were all raving about how delicious the mac n’ cheese was. Next time I’ll try it with 12 oz. and it should be perfect. If you want that oozy, Velveeta-like mac n’ cheese, use only 8 oz. of noodles.

The trick to making a good, thick mac n' cheese is in the béchamel sauce. In non-chef talk, it's made when you add milk to your roux (butter and flour mixture). Temperature is important here, but unless you burn your butter, let the flour clump up too much, or burn your milk, you should be fine.

You can easily spice up this recipe by adding 1/2 t. ground mustard, spinach, broccoli, peas, caramelized onions, or anything else your heart desires.

Mac n’ Cheese

Adapted from Martha Stewart, Winter 2009

About 8 servings

breadcrumbs, as desired, about 1/4-1/2 cup
8-16 oz. elbow macaroni (*see Notes from the Kitchen above)
3 T. butter
¼ c. diced yellow onion
¼ c. flour
3 c. milk
2 oz. fontina, grated (½ cup)
3 oz. Gruyère, grated (1 cup), 1/3 c. reserved for top
6 oz. extra-sharp white cheddar (2 cups), 1/3 c. reserved for top
2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup), ½ c. reserved for top
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

Boil pasta 2-3 minutes less than recommended. Strain and rinse with cold water.
Preheat oven to 375°. Grease small dishes or a 1.5-quart casserole dish.

To make the cheese sauce, melt butter in a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Whisk in flour and stir until bubbling, about 45 seconds. Add milk and whisk to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon, until thickened, about 4 minutes. Add fontina, 2/3 c. Gruyère, 1 2/3 c. cheddar, ½ c. Parmigianno-Reggiano, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Add pasta to the sauce and stir to cover pasta. Pour into baking dish and sprinkle with reserved cheeses and cover with breadcrumbs. Bake until bubbling, about 25-35 minutes.