EVERYDAY BREAKFAST

While I greatly enjoy crepes and french toasts I rarely, or should I say never, have time to make them during the week.  Elaborate and time consuming breakfasts, like eggs Benedict or pancakes are usually reserved for slow weekend mornings.

For my every day breakfasts I've tried adopting North American classic - milk and cereal - and the oh-so-popular green smoothies but they do not keep me full for long.  After several attempts of finding my perfect, filling, and easy-to-make breakfast I've tried muesli, but instead of mixing them with milk I've added some yogurt and was very happy with the flavour and texture!
It has been over 5 years since my first yogurt and muesli breakfast and ever since most of my mornings start with a mix of seasonal fruit, muesli, and some yogurt (drinkable or thick).

Up until last year I would use a store-bought muesli mix (Jordans is my personal favourite) but in my attempts to make more kitchen staples from scratch I've been mixing my own muesli.

what you need

• 2 parts raw cereal mix (mine comes from Bulk Barn and has everything, from millet to flax seeds in it.  You can easily make your own mix using millet, barley flakes, flax seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, etc.)
• 4 parts steel cut oats
• 1/2 part chopped dried fruits (raisins, cranberries, dates, prunes, dried apricots, pineapples, etc)

what to do

• mix all ingredients and store in a large airtight container
• in the morning chop some fruits, add the muesli mix and yogurt, and enjoy.  You can sprinkle your everyday muesli with chopped nuts, seeds, or granola for extra crunchiness
• easy, fast, filling, and delicious!!!

What is your favourite everyday breakfast?

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A year ago: SPROUTING 101
Two years ago: WEEKEND COLOURS

FRUITCAKE TOSS DAY

Did you know that January 3rd is the Fruitcake toss day? While I do not feel comfortable tossing the cake I've always wondered whether the fruitcake could be incorporated into other dishes.
This year my father-in-law ended up buying way too many cakes giving me a chance to make a fruitcake pudding with eggnog sauce.

Since fruitcakes come in all shapes, sizes, and textures you might want to adapt the quantities of the recipe depending on the cake you have.  My fruitcake was very moist; I tried drying it in the oven but instead of drying up it fell apart.  If your cake does not have a lot of fruit try toasting it before using (the same way you dry bread before making bread pudding).
I did not need to use any extra sugar or spices in my pudding, since the cake was quite sweet and spicy to begin with.  In fact I decided to add a tart green apple to compensate for the cake sweetness.  If you want your pudding to have more flavour add some nutmeg and cinnamon to the egg mix.
Finally, I made my pudding in a loaf pan.  I needed about 3 cups of crumbled cake to fill the third of the dish.  The recipe could easily be doubled or tripled for a bigger pudding.

What you need:

Pudding

3 cups crumbled fruitcake

1 green apple (peeled, cored, and cubed)

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

2 tbsp brandy or rum (could be replaced with rum essence)

Eggnog sauce

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tbsp brandy or rum (could be replaced with rum essence)

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

What to do:

Pudding

• In a medium bowl lightly whisk egg and sugar (if using any).  Add milk and butter, mix well.  Add brandy.

• In the buttered baking dish (loaf pan) mix crumbled fruitcake and apple.  Pour egg mix over.  The egg mix should cover the fruitcake completely.  Let stand for at least 30 minutes.  You can leave the custard-cake mix overnight

• Preheat oven to 350F.  Fill a deep baking sheet with water.  Place it on the oven rack and put the loaf pan in it.  Cooking the pudding this way will prevent it from burning and overcooking at the bottom.  Cook for an hour or until the pudding is firm and no custard comes out when you press on it.  You can cover the pudding with foil if the top gets too dark.

 Eggnog sauce

• In a small sauce bowl combine milk, cream, sugar, and spices.  Heat up over medium heat, stirring frequently until light simmer.

• Prepare a cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch with 2-3 tablespoons of cold milk.  Slowly pour the slurry into the sauce, mixing constantly.  Add the alcohol and let the mix simmer for 2-3 minutes or until it reaches desired consistency.

The fruitcake pudding could be served as a dessert.  Personally I think it makes for a great breakfast so I am adding it to my BREAKFAST CLUB collection!
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A year ago: JANUARY "TO DO" LIST
Two years ago: CREAMY PARSNIP SOUP

RUSSIAN PANCAKES WITH A SIMPLE FRUIT SAUCE

They are called "oladushki" in Russian. I guess you can say that these are smaller brothers of traditional pancakes or griddlecakes.  In Russia they are usually eaten with jam, honey, sour cream, or farmer cheese ("tvorog") but you can try Nutella, powdered sugar, fruits, and even slices of cheese.  This time we enjoyed our pancakes with farmer cheese and a simple blackberry sauce - similar to the one I've made for my FRENCH TOAST back in October.

You will find myriads of recipes for Russian pancakes.  Here is a slightly adapted version of Nadya's recipe from A-KROL-COOKBOOK (her blog is in Russian but you can enjoy the beautiful photos) and a recipe for fast fruit sauce.
 

What you need

pancakes
1 1/2 cups yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 egg
2-3 tbsp sugar (use less if your yogurt is sweet) 
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
splash of vanilla
1 cup flour
butter or oil for frying

simple fruit sauce
2 cups your favorite fruits
2-3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp butter or oil
3 tbsp rum or Cognac (optional)

 

What to do

pancakes

• In a bowl combine together yogurt and egg.  Add sugar, baking soda, salt, and vanilla and mix well.
• Add flour 1/4 cup at a time, stirring to avoid clumps.  Adjust the amount of flour, so that the final mix has the consistency of sour cream.
• You do not need a lot of oil/butter to fry the pancakes yet you want the bottom of the frying pan to be a bit greasy. Simply wipe the bottom of the pan with a paper towel dipped in oil/melted butter.  Fry pancakes on a medium heat.
• note: pancakes will get a bit thicker while cooking so do not scoop up too much dough - 1 heaped tablespoon should make a perfect-sized small Russian pancake

simple fruit sauce

• If using big fruits, like pears or peaches, cut them in 1/4 inch cubes.
• Heat oil in a small sauce pan, add fruits, cook stirring for 2 minutes.
• Add sugar and cook for 2-3 more minutes.  At this point your fruits should give some juice.
• Add alcohol and cook for another 2 minutes.
• note: for a creamy version of the sauce add a couple of tablespoons of cooking cream and cook for another 2 minutes. 

 

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A year ago: K IS FOR KRIS KRINGLE
Two years ago: VEGETARIAN MOUSSAKA

FRENCH TOAST

Eric made us French toast for breakfast and I remembered that I've never got a chance to share my version of this breakfast classic.

I like my French toast soft (but not too mushy) inside and crispy outside.   To get this effect I do not mix milk and eggs together.  This adds extra time to the whole process (and leaves one extra dirty bowl to clean) but I believe it totally worth it!

What you need

6 pieces of slightly stale bread
2 eggs
2 cups milk
2 tbsp sugar
dash of cinnamon
splash of vanilla
butter or oil for frying

What to do

• If your bread is fresh, dry it for 10 minutes in the oven or toast it. 
• In the first bowl combine together milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar. Stir well. 
• In the second bowl beat eggs lightly. 
• Dip a slice of bread in the milk mixture. The longer you dip the bread the softer your French toast will be. 
• Dip it in the egg and fry for 5 minutes each side (or until golden brown).  The trick is to keep the heat low so that the bread gets a chance to cook before burning.

Serve with your favorite toppings: maple syrup, fruit compote, jam, honey, or simply sprinkled with icing sugar.

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Looking for more breakfast ideas? Check out BREAKFAST CLUB feature
A year ago: LILAC LEAF SHAWL

Lemon curd coffee cake

For the longest time I could not understand why some people like lemony desserts.  I could not feel the pleasure in eating a lemon square or a slice of lemon meringue pie.  Until recently, when I started occasionally to crave tangy lemony desserts.

Last week, when such a craving got extra strong, I decided to make lemon curd.  While searching for a recipe I've discovered a fool-proof way of making SMOOTH LEMON CURD over at Fine Cooking.  You absolutely have to try this technique no matter whether it's your first time making the curd or whether you are a lemon curd pro.

The recipe yields a little bit over 2 cups of curd. Turns out this is too much curd for the three of us.  So to use the leftovers (a little over a cup) I made a lemon curd coffee cake. The original MEYER LEMON COFFEE CAKE  recipe comes from Martha Stewart.  Liren at Kitchen Confidante adapted the recipe to make MEYER LEMON COFFEE CAKE WITH ALMOND STREUSEL.  Both recipes use a 9-inch angel food cake pan.  Since I could not find one I used a regular size loaf pan and four small loaf pans for cute "petit fours".

What you need: 

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup thick yogurt (or sour cream)
1 cup lemon curd

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

• In a large bowl beat butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time and then vanilla.  Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with yogurt.

• Spoon 1/2 of the batter into the buttered cake pan and smooth evenly.   Add the lemon curd on top, making sure to leave a border from the inner and outer perimeter (you do not want the curd to spill out of the cake).  Top with the remaining batter.  Note: Do not fill the pan up to the rim - the cake will almost double in size while cooking.

• Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (40-50 minutes).

• The original Martha Stewart's recipe calls for lemon glaze (easy and fast).  Liren uses almond streusel topping for her cake.  I opted for powdered sugar. 

And since this beautiful lemon curd cake is so yummy in the morning I am including it in my BREAKFAST CLUB series.  Just remember to enjoy in moderation!
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Fine Cooking - CLASSIC LEMON CURD
Kitchen Confidante - LEMON MEYER COFFEE CAKE WITH ALMOND STREUSEL
Martha Stewart -  MEYER LEMON COFFEE CAKE
More BREAKFAST CLUB recipes

Breakfast club: green smoothie with a twist

Last week I had a strong craving for a simple and healthy breakfast so I decided to make a green smoothie (since everyone, including my mom, are raving about them).
Unfortunately, regular smoothies do not keep me full for a long time - I get hungry less than an hour later.  So I decided to make a super-smoothie and add oats to the delicious green drink.

I also wanted to add a new flavour to the fruity drink.  I've heard people pairing herbs with fruits (strawberry and basil, green apples and parsley, etc) so for my smoothie I thought of adding a bit of cilantro to the banana-pear mix.  I know some people can not stand this herb: my father-in-law, for example, loves the smell but has a hard time with cilantro taste, so much so that he can not swallow anything that taste cilantro-ish.
To me cilantro tastes fresh and makes me think of warm spring rains (maybe because it was one of the first herbs to appear on spring markets back in my country).  I really enjoyed it in the smoothie and can not wait to experiment more with other herbs from my garden.

There is no strict recipe to follow.  Simply blend together:
1 ripe banana
1 ripe pear (peeled)
2 small kale or chard leaves (thick stems removed)
2 tbsp rolled oats (optional)
1/2 - 1 cup of cold water
2 cilantro branches (optional)

Once all ingredients are blended, taste your smoothie and add water or more fruit for a desired taste and consistency.

As a fun extra - here are some photo bloopers.  I find these images quite fun even if they are blurry or have Sebka's tail in front of the cilantro pot.

And if you are planning on mixing and matching herbs with fruits take a look at THIS, THIS, THIS, and THIS lists of herb-fruit combos.
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Previous BREAKFAST CLUB RECIPES

Crepes

Time for a new edition of the BREAKFAST CLUB.  Today I will be sharing the recipe of my favorite breakfast food: crepes.  I absolutely love thin crepes and can eat them for breakfast every single day.  I like to staff them with jam, tvorog (Russian ricotta cheese), Nutella, honey, fruits, or sugar with lemon juice (not all at the same time).

A lot of people find crepes difficult to make.  Although it is not a fast breakfast food, thin crepes require no magic and use simple ingredients.  Three basic ingredients you will need are: eggs, milk, and flour.  The easy way to remember the recipe is that the ratio for these ingredients is roughly 1:1:1.
Here is my version of a basic crepe dough and my mom's tips for a successful crepe-making.

What you need:

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk (room temperature) + 1/2 cup water (for a total of 2 cups of liquid)
about 2 cups of flour
3-4 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter (could be replaced by oil)
Vanilla extract (optional)
oil for frying

What to do:

• If using butter, melt it on a lower heat.  Be careful not to burn it.
• In a medium bowl beat eggs for 2-3 minutes.  Add sugar, salt, milk and water.  Mix thoroughly.
• Slowly add flour (about 1/4 cup at a time).  Make sure that your batter is clumps-free.  You might need less than 2 cups of flour!  Add just enough flour to get batter to the consistency of a liquid yogurt.
• Add butter or oil and mix well.  You can now let your mix rest for anywhere between 5-10 minutes to overnight.
• When ready, heat up your frying pan.  Once the pan is hot, grease it with a little bit of oil (use a piece of paper towel dipped in oil and wrapped around a fork).  Avoid pouring oil onto the pan - too much grease will interfere with proper crepe baking.
• For a 12' frying pan pour about 3/4 ladder of batter in the center and quickly spread it around, tilting the pan in a circular motion.  Another way of doing it is by pour batter on one side of a pan and letting it spread over by tilting the pan.
• Cook crepe for 1-1 1/2 minutes.  Ideally you want to let it cook for the first 30 seconds on high heat and then lower the heat to medium, this way the crepe will cook uniformly without burning.
• A thoroughly cooked crepe is easy to turn.  Try prying the edges of the crepe with a spatula.  Once they are loosen, use the spatula (and even your fingers, if necessary) to flip the crepe.
• Cook on the second side for 15-30 seconds.
• Re-grease the pan and continue.  You might also want to taste your crepe and adjust batter for sugar if necessary.

Notes:

• It is OK to use oil instead of butter.  In fact, my mom (who makes the best crepes ever) never uses butter in her recipe
• For a richer batter substitute 1/2 cup of milk with yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk.  Adjust the flour quantity accordingly
• Crepe batter could be made beforehand and refrigerated over night.  In the morning, mix it thoroughly.
• A Russian saying goes: First crepe resembles a lump (first crepe rarely turns out good). 
  There is a lot of truth to this saying: the frying pan needs to be hot enough and greased enough for crepes to come out nice.  Also, it takes several attempts to adjust the amount of batter needed for one crepe.  Do not get discouraged if your first couple of crepes do not look good.

Click here for other breakfast ideas featured at the BREAKFAST CLUB.


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{Breakfast club} Peanut-choco-banana English muffin

There are 3 ingredients that you can find any day in our house: peanut butter (usually 2 types: regular and whipped), fruits, and .... Nutella!
So on the days when I want something extremely sweet and piggish for breakfast, I make myself

There is no need for proportions or recipe here.  Just spread some peanut butter (or any other nut butter of your choice) and Nutella on an English muffin.  Top it with bananas or other fruit of your choice (I like it with pears) and enjoy.

Simple, sweet, and oh-so-satisfying!  I like to believe it's a healthy breakfast, after all it has fruit in it!!!

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Click here for other BREAKFAST CLUB ideas.

{Breakfast club} Sunny smoothie

I wasn't expecting to be making my 2nd breakfast for the BREAKFAST CLUB series so soon but when I woke up last weekend the sun was shining bright and it was just the perfect day for food-photography.

Unfortunately I was absolutely not hungry.  When my usual glass of lemon-honey water did not wake up my appetite, I decided to continue with my day: cleaning, crafting, and watching the beautiful bright sunlight fill the house.  As the light got brighter my energy began dropping and by the time Eric was up I was in need of a breakfast.

Still, nothing seemed appetising to me until I thought of ..... a smoothie.
I rarely have smoothies for breakfast but at that very moment an idea of a fresh, juicy, sweet, and flavourful drink was just what I needed.

This is how tasty Sunny Smoothie was created and how Eric and I got a chance to take pictures on a food-photography-perfect Sunday morning.

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Past breakfast club recipe: ASPARAGUS EGGS BENEDICT

{Breakfast club} Asparagus eggs Benedict

As promised, here is the first breakfast for the BREAKFAST CLUB series: asparagus eggs Benedict with orange-flavoured Hollandaise sauce.

This was my first attempt at eggs Benedict and they turned out so amazingly good.  I have to warn you, this is not a breakfast dish you can make in a hurry, it's more of a weekend brunch type-of-thing.  You also want to think about the order of things: what do you cook first eggs or asparagus? Do you begins with toasting English muffins or making Hollandaise sauce?

Originally I thought of saving time by making blender Hollandaise but it turned out that "cooking" the sauce does not take very long so I opted for a classical version of the sauce.

As for the order of things I started by preparing asparagus.  While it was steaming I whisked the sauce.  After that I prepared eggs and while they were poaching I "cooked" the sauce and toasted English muffins.

And now on with the recipe:

What you need:

(for 4 portions) 

• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2 English muffins
• 15-20 asparagus spears

     
      orange-flavoured Hollandaise sauce:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 to 2/3 cups of butter 
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 3-4 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• salt

What to do:

asparagus

• Bring a big pot of water to boil.   Prepare asparagus by snapping off woody ends.
• Blanch or steam asparagus until bright green and crispy (2-4 minutes).  To avoid overcooking shock it in an ice bath.

poached eggs

• Bring a medium-sized pot of water to boil.  Add vinegar and turn down heat to medium to avoid strong bubbling.
• Carefully break an egg into a small cup/ramekin making sure that the yolk stays intact.
• Gently pour the egg into the boiling water.  If the white separates too much, use a slotted spoon to bring it all together.
• Repeat with the rest of the eggs.
• Cook for 3 minutes.  Carefully remove poached eggs with a slotted spoon and set on the paper towel to dry.  You can also keep poached eggs in warm water while making the Hollandaise sauce.

orange-flavoured Hollandaise sauce

• In a small sauce pot melt butter.  Skim off foam.
• Whisk egg yolks, lemon juice, and mustard until well combined.
• Slowly whisk in warm butter.  Transfer to the sauce pot and thicken over medium heat, constantly stirring.
• Remove from the heat, add orange juice and zest.  Mix thoroughly.

to assemble eggs Benedict

• Toast English muffins.  Set half of the muffin onto the plate and pour about 1/2 tbsp of Hollandaise sauce.
• Cut 4 or 5 asparagus spears in halves and arrange on the muffin half.
• Arrange one poached egg on top of asparagus and spoon 3-4 tablespoons of warm Hollandaise sauce.

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Breakfast club

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.  Unfortunately on the work-days my breakfast is rather unexciting: a bowl of muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt and a cup of coffee.  I 've been noticing that recently my weekend breakfasts were quite unexciting as well.  I guess I am being lazy ...
To battle my laziness I am starting a new series: BREAKFAST CLUB.  Every now and then I will be making an effort to cook something special for breakfast and to share the recipe with you.  Ideally I would like this project to last for the whole year and my goal is to make 44* breakfasts in 2012.

I've already cooked my first breakfast (not the one showed on the photo) and will share the recipe over the weekend.  Meanwhile, here are my favorite breakfast recipes from the past: PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST (I've made several versions of it: pumpkin, banana, raspberries and almonds),  PUFFY OVEN PANCAKES (aka Dutch babies), and SCRAMBLED TOFU (my favorite camping breakfast).

What are your favorite breakfasts?  Easy or time-consuming, sweet or salty ... I would love to hear your suggestions, cuz I don't think I can come up with 44 different breakfast recipes!!!

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* 44 is just an arbitrary number.  I should go for 52, for the number of weeks, but I know that there will be weekends when I won't be able to cook or won't feel like cooking.  So why not 44 breakfasts instead?!

A year ago, Anya was sharing LOVE-BIRD tutorials for Valentine day.