Breakfast

Pumpkin Ale Muffins with Graham Cracker Streusel Topping

13.09.2013 21 Comments

Don’t judge me for this.

It’s obligatory. After all, I am a blogger, and it is pumpkin season. And as the beer-food blogging hybrid beast that I am, pumpkin season means two things. First, there is the food blog trend of Pumpkin All The Things that I must participate in. Second, there are the most highly anticipated of all seasonal beers: The Pumpkin Ale.

So naturally, I couldn’t let this season slip away without presenting you with a few pumpkined items, roll your pumpkin weary eyes if you will, but it’s not over yet.

I will now further assault you with a list of Must Try Pumpkin Beers, In no particular order. Are you sick of list? I hope not, I am quite the list maker, so sit tight, it’s about to get real.

1. Souther, Tier Pumpking. This has been on my list for a while, but being a West Coaster, it’s not available to me anywhere near my current longitude. It’s only because of This Girl and her new Husband that I was able to try it a few months ago in Boston. It’s fantastic. An epic example of Pumpkin Done Right. If you’re on the East Coast, it’s fairly mandatory that you pick one up.

2. Shipyard, Smashed Pumpkin. This is what you grab if you want to be punch in the mouth with some pumpkin, it’s not subtle, as Shipyard rarely is. It’s full force pumpkin in your face.

3. Elysian, Night Owl Pumpkin Ale. A nice, low ABV (I like the low alcohol beers, it means I can drink more) pumpkin pie tasting treat. More subtle than others, with a nice maltyness.

4. Avery, Rumpkin. This guy is a beast. If there was a Pumpkin Ale School Yard Bully, it’s this guy. Not only did Avery make a pumpkin ale that demands attention, they went and aged it in rum barrels (!!!!) to give you a monster ale with monster flavor and monster ABV. Be prepared to share, or at least call a cab.

5. Cigar City Brewing, Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale. This is what happens when your pumpkin beer takes a Caribbean vacation. Unique spices that come from Jamaica give you a new take, completely worth seeking out.

Pumpkin Ale Muffins with Graham Cracker Streusel Topping

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For The Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground ginger
¾ cup pumpkin puree
2/3 cup pumpkin ale
2 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup canola oil

For the Topping:

5 standard sized graham cracker sheets
2 tbs all purpose flour
1 tbs brown sugar
pinch salt
3 tbs melted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl sort together the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.
In a small bowl stir together the pumpkin puree, pumpkin ale, eggs, vanilla extract, melted butter and canola oil.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Spray 12 muffin tins with cooking spray.
Scoop the batter into the well of a muffin tin to about 2/3 full.
In a food processor, add the graham crackers and process until reduced to just crumbs.
Add the flour, brown sugar and salt, pulse to combine.
Add the melted butter and process until well combines.
Scoop about 1-2 tbs graham cracker mixture on top of the muffin batter.
Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until top spring back when lightly touched.

Notes

Optional add in's (stir in the batter just before pouring into the muffin tins):
2/3 cup raisins,
2/3 cup chocolate chips,
2/3 cup dried cranberries or cherries,
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Classic Glazed Beer Doughnuts

27.08.2013 25 Comments

We need to chat, you and I. About the Cooking With Beer odyssey I’ve firmly placed myself on and the reasons, both practical and provocative, that I’ve remained such a Craft Beer Cooking Devotee. While I know that the reason you’re drawn to these brew-infused foods may just be the ability to lay down a tray of treats and proudly proclaim, "I put beer in this!" there is in fact, a very functional side to beer baking.

Leavening is the hallmark reason to use beer in your bread. And cakes, and doughnuts for that matter. It gives your baked goods a light and tender texture that just can’t be touched by the water or milk. Making that beer in your grubby paws a great addition to anything that needs a lightness to it. These doughnuts are a great example, the dough turned out extremely light and tender, giving you the impression that it was completely acceptable, nay…imperative, that you eat four. Ok, five. Doughnuts, those deep fried little vixens, can often be dense and tough, but just wait until beer has its way with that dough and it’ll never be the same.

Although that isn’t to prevent you from placing a large plate of homemade Classic Glazed Beer Doughnuts in front of a table full of friends and saying, "I put beer in this!"

Classic Glazed Beer Doughnuts

Print Recipe

Servings 12 -16 doughnuts

Ingredients

Doughnuts

3 cups bread flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 packet rapid rise yeast 2 ¼ tsp
¾ cup wheat beer
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 large egg yolk room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream room temperature
1 tsp salt
4 tbs butter softened
oil for frying

Glaze

1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup IPA beer

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook add the flour, sugar and yeast.
Add the beer to a microwave safe bowl, microwave on high for 20 seconds, test temperate and repeat until beer reaches between 120 and 130 degrees F.
Add the beer to the stand mixer, mix until most of the flour has been moistened.
Add the vanilla then the yolks, one at a time. Add the cream, salt and softened butter.
Building up speed, beat on high until the dough comes together and gathers around the blade.
The dough will be very soft.
Add dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until doubles in size.
Punch down the dough and knead lightly to remove any air bubbles. Place dough in the fridge and allow to rest for 1 hour.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1 inch thickness. Cut doughnuts out with a 3 ½ inch biscuit cutter with 1 inch circle holes.
Place doughnuts on a baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. Loosly cover with a towel.
Allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Fill a large heavy bottomed saucepan with canola oil until about 4 inches deep. Add a deep fry thermometer and bring oil to about 360 degrees, adjusting heat to maintain temperature.
Working in batches, fry the doughnuts on each side until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from oil and allow to cool on a wire rack.
To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and the IPA beer until well combined. One at a time dip the doughnuts in the glaze.
Allow glaze to set before servings.

Adapted from: Classic Glazed Doughnuts, Epicurious

Maple Bacon Doughnut Muffins

19.07.2013 17 Comments

After months of waiting, my book is finally available on Amazon. Which is equal parts thrilling and terrifying. I still have momentary panics that everyone will hate it, more of my previously mentioned Too Hard On Myself situation. In spite of the fleeting dread, I’m so grateful that I had this opportunity to work with a publisher that really believes in me and what I’m doing on The Beeroness.

The book is released on October 18th, just in time to make a fantastic holiday gift for the those hard to buy for beer lovers. Or for guys, they’re hard to shop for. But "here’s some beer, and a cookbook about beer!" isn’t so bad.

So to celebrate what has been firmly designated a "guys" cookbook (although I disagree, I might as well just go with it) I made some delicious cupcakes with "manly" ingredients. Although bacon is gender neutral, if you don’t agree just try and take a girls bacon and see how that goes for you.

Maple Bacon Doughnut Muffins

Yield: 18 muffins

Ingredients

For the Muffins:

¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cups all pupose flour
2/3 cup cake flour
1 cup buttermilk

For the Bacon:

5 strips bacon
¼ cup real maple syrup

For the Frosting:

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup real maple syrup
3 cups confectioners sugar
½ tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, oil, and both kinds of sugar, beat on high until well combined,
Add the eggs and vanilla, mix on high until light and fluffy, scraping the bottom of the bowl to insure that it’s well combined.
In a separate bowl stir together the baking powder, salt, and both kinds of flour.
Alternating between the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, add a bit at a time to the stand mixer until all is combined.
Line the wells of a muffin tin with muffin papers. Add batter to prepared muffin tins, about 2/3’s full (a standard ice cream scoop works to add the right amount to each well).
Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until the tops spring back when gently touched.
Place the bacon a wire rack set over a rimmed backing sheet.
Drizzle each slice with maple syrup, use a pastry brush to evenly coat both sides.
Bake the bacon at 400 for 15 minutes. Using a pair of tongs, flip each piece. Bake until is dark pink, about 15 more minutes (bacon will not crisp until it has cooled). Allow to cool, then chop.
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the maple syrup and softened butter, beat on high until well combined. Add the confectioners sugar and salt, slowly build up speed to high speed, beat until smooth.
Pipe icing onto cooled muffins, top with chopped bacon.

Honey Beer Biscuits with Strawberry Belgian Ale Sauce

17.07.2013 12 Comments

If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen my announcement that I shot a TV show for Lifetime back in January. The premise of the show was to take people with interesting ideas for food products and develop those ideas into product lines that end up on grocery store shelves. There is a hole in the market when it comes to beer infused foods. Clearly this is something that people want that currently isn’t being offered on a large scale. The show airs June 22nd on Lifetime, my episode airs on August 22nd at 10:30pm on Lifetime, you’ll have to watch to see how it all turns out for me. Beyond my story, the show was well cast with incredible people, all with stories to tell and passion for what they make.

These biscuits, which would be a fantastic addition to a beer infused food line, are the best biscuits I’ve made so far. The technique creates these beautifully flakey layers, the beer lightly leavens the dough, leaving behind soft notes of beer on the finish. For both the sauce and the biscuits I used Mischief from The Bruery.

There are two types of breweries that I respect, those that offer accessible beer that’s consistent and well done. Solid beer that can be held up as excellent examples of their represented styles. The Bruery is the other type. They aren’t afraid to break a few rules, they make that clear with the spelling of their name. There is nothing traditional about the beer that comes out of this place, it’s innovative, experimental and exciting. It’s a place that you take a true beer lover, not someones who "like some beer, sometimes." It’s not among the beer I recommend for those who want an easy introduction to craft beer, it’s beer for beer lovers. It’s were you go when you want to see the limits of beer being challenged.

To be honest, I don’t always fall in love with what The Bruery makes, but I’m always intrigued, I always want to try what they’ve come up with because it’s clear how thoughtfully made every batch is. Mischief is one of my favorites. It’s beautifully well rounded with notes of bread, yeast, citrus, grass, with a bit of spice and apricot. It also comes in a bottle that’s a perfect fit for a champagne recorker which comes in handy when you want to open a large 750ML bottle in the morning to make biscuits and want to save the rest for later in the day. It also well distributed, I’ve even heard rumors of it making it past the Booze Guards to the North to earn spots on shelves in Canada.

Another amazing Bruery creation is Black Tuesday, available in October. If you’re near Orange County in late October, it’s worth a drive to the tasting room just for that beer.

If you can’t get your hands on Mischief (although you should try, it’s a great beer) looks for a hoppy Belgian ale or Hefeweizen for this recipe.

Honey Beer Biscuits with Strawberry Belgian Ale Sauce

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Strawberry Sauce:

2 cups sliced strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup Belgian ale or hoppy wheat beer

For the biscuits:

3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
8 tbs butter cut into cubes
1 tbs honey plus 2 tbs (divided)
1/2 cup whole milk
2/3 cup Belgian ale or hoppy wheat beer
¼ tsp course sea salt

Instructions

To make the strawberry sauce:

Add the strawberries, sugar and beer to a saucepan over medium high heat.
Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened, about 20 minutes.
Add to a food processor or blender, blend until smooth.

To Make the Biscuits:

Preheat oven to 425.
In a processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Pulse to combine. Add the butter and 1 tbs honey, process until well combined. Add to a large bowl.
Add the milk and beer. Mix with a fork until just combined.
Add to a well-floured flat surface, pat into a rectangle. Using a cold rolling pin (preferably marble) gently roll into a large rectangle, about 1 inch in thickness, using as few strokes as possible.
Fold the dough into thirds as you would a letter about to go into an envelope. Roll lightly, once in each direction to about 1 inch thickness, fold in thirds again. Gently roll into about 1 1/2 inch thickness (this will give you the flakey layers).
Using a biscuit cutter cut out 6 to 8 biscuits. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Add the remaining 2 tbs honey to a microwave safe dish. Microwave for about 15 seconds or until thinned.
Brush biscuits with honey and sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 425 for 10 to 12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
Serve warm with strawberry sauce

Sausage and Spinach Breakfast Casserole with Poached Eggs

30.05.2013 13 Comments

I love breakfast, I eat it every day.

Saturdays and Sundays I always make it an ordeal, several dishes, coffee, juice, and my husband and I chat, lingering over the last bits of the meal. I love it because I almost never blog about it, so it’s not "work," it’s whatever I want to make. I love that we both just want to sit and talk to each other, long after my daughter has powered down her bacon and eggs and started to torture the dog with dress up clothes.

I especially love when I have breakfast guest, which is rare. They always offer to help, assure me that they are fine with just toast or cereal, but I love that I get to include more people in this weekend ritual we have at the house of Team Dodd. This was a breakfast guest meal that I will make again. I made it for my Mother in Law, who loved it so much she wrote down the ingredients on the inside cover of her crossword book before I could assure her that I would post it. It’s easy to throw together the night before, giving you more time to spend with your breakfast guest. Or to make Bloody Marys. You should make Bloody Marys.

Sausage and Spinach Breakfast Casserole with Poached Eggs

Prep Time: 6 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 lbs crusty bread, cut into cubes
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
8 ounces raw chicken sausage, removed from casing, crumbled
8 eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
3 ounces shaved or shredded parmesan
6 eggs poached (or substitute a large dollop of sour cream on each serving)

Instructions

Arrange bread cubes, spinach and sausage crumbles in a 9×13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix the eggs, milk, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Pour mixture over bread cubes evenly, toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350
Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until eggs have set.
Cut into squares, top with poached eggs or sour cream.

Apricot Peaches and Cream Turnovers

30.04.2013 65 Comments

In honor of moms everywhere, and the upcoming Mothers Day holiday, I’m hosting some giveaways this week with a Mothers Day brunch theme!

If you are a coffee drinker, you need to get a French press. This is the best way to make coffee at home, and it doesn’t get any easier. You get an amazing coffee-house flavor, and it doesn’t even need electricity. I fell in love with French press coffee in Europe and I’ve used them ever since.

This gorgeous version from Le Creuset is available at Sur La Table, and as I’ve told you before, I’m a huge fan of Sur La Table.

For a gorgeous, thoughtfully stocked, kitchen store, their prices are outstanding (remember that marble rolling board? Shockingly inexpensive!) and the store has everything I’m looking for, I’d take this over shoe shopping any day (ok, most days).

Sur La Table and I are giving away this fabulous Le Creuset French Press (that I adore) and some amazing Sarahbeth’s Peach Apricot jam that has quickly become a favorite of mine. The ingredients are amazingly simple: sugar, water, peaches, apricots. The simplicity of the recipe puts the focus on the amazing fruit. Try turning over the jar of jam at your local super market and you’ll know why I’m so thrilled with this jam. Most commercial jam is full of dozens of unpronounceable ingredients, and even food dye (why the heck does my apricot jam need to be oranger?!). Sarahbeth’s jam is amazing, I’m a fan of the honest ingredients and incredibly huge flavors of real life fruit.

Because this jam is so gorgeously simple, I wanted a recipe that was simple as well. Something easy to throw together for your Mothers Day brunch, but that will show off that fabulous jam.

Just roll out a sheet of puff pastry and cut it into squares.

Fill those squares with a little sweetened cream cheese and jam (the stuff that breakfast dreams are made of).

Seal it up to keep all the good stuff inside.

Brush it will a glaze made from jam and a little water to thin it.

Bake it to golden brown perfection.

Apricot Peaches and Cream Turnovers

Yield: Yield: 6 Pastries

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
¼ cup Apricot jam
2 tbs jam plus 1 tbs water for glaze
pearl or sanding sugar (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, set aside.
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 6 equal sized squares.
Add 1 tablespoon sweetened cream cheese towards one corner of the squares, leaving about ½ inch edge empty. Top with 1 tablespoon jam.
Moisten the edges with water, fold the puff pastry over into a triangle.
Use a fork to seal the edges, transfer to a baking sheet that has been covered with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In a small bowl, wisk together the 2 tbs jam and 1 tbs water. Brush each pastry with the glaze, sprinkle with pearl or sanding sugar if desired.
Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake

29.04.2013 81 Comments

In honor of moms everywhere, and the upcoming Mothers Day holiday, I’m hosting some giveaways this week with a Mothers Day brunch theme!

To kick us off is Le Creuset with a gorgeous cake stand (I love cake stands) that is perfect for a cake, pie, cookies, lets be honest, I’d serve roast chicken off this thing, it’s gorgeous! But not just that, we are also throwing in some beautiful French preserves by Bonne Maman. The winner also gets four jars in fabulous flavors like Fig, Strawberry and Golden Mirabelle. I love that these are jams that have simple, honest ingredients, jam like your Grandmother would have made in her own kitchen, with the fruit from her trees.

To celebrate these gorgeous jams, I wanted to give you a recipe that works well with all the great flavors. Of course, I looked to Martha, a woman who is no stranger to French jams. I adapted her amazing crumb cake recipe for the use of these jams, making it three times to get it just right. I love this so much, and I love that it works with all of these fabulous jams.

The winner will receive: One cherry red Le Creuset cake stand, four jars of French Bonne Maman preserves, shipped anywhere in the continental USA, you can even have it shipped directly to your mom! Or keep it for yourself, I won’t judge.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
½ cup milk
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the topping:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup Jam
1 ¾ cups flour
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325
line 8X8 pan with aluminum foil, spray with butter cooking spray, set aside.
Stir together 1 ¼ cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, batter will be thick.
Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared f baking pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, egg and granulated sugar. Spread evenly on top of the batter.
Drizzle with the jam (marble in with a knife, if desired).
Combine the remaining 1 ¾ cup flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Drizzle with melted butter, stir together until crumbs form.
Bake at 325 for 32-36 minutes or until the top crumbs have just started to turn golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature, chill until ready to use. Cut into squares and dust with confectioners sugar prior to serving.

BLT Eggs Benedict with Avocado Hollandaise

01.04.2013 25 Comments

I’m a breakfast girl. I’m also an avocado girl. So when California Avocado Commission asked me something along the lines of: "Hey Jackie, wanna come to a fancy schmany Beverly Hills restaurant and have a schmancy chef make you Breakfast For Dinner? Oh and you get to make cocktails with avocados," My answer didn’t require much debate.

Schamncy Chef Neal did an outstanding job feeding Los Angeles bloggers an array of Avocado Breakfast foods. They even sent us home with a goodie bag that included a bag of avocados and a cutting board. AND if that doesn’t sound great to you, you’re probably not a food blogger. We seem to have an unreasonable affinity for bags of produce and cutting boards.

I also have a great love of the Eggs Benedict (I’m probably an old man, given the love I also have for stout beer and cable knits) but after waitressing my way through college, working the early shift at a breakfast joint, I’ll never be able to eat hollandaise at a restaurant (if you read this book, you’ll also know why). Because of these two things, I tend to make it myself about once a month. Add the creaminess of an avocado and I’ll lick it right out of the blender and don’t you try and stop me.

BLT Eggs Benedict with Avocado Hollandaise

Ingredients

1 large ripe California avocado, diced
2 egg yolks
3 tbs butter
2 tbs lemon juice
pinch each of salt, pepper and cayenne
4 English muffins, split and toasted
8 slices tomatoes
½ cup baby arugula
8 strips bacon, cooked
8 eggs, poached
Yield 8 (4 to 8 servings depending on serving preference)

Instructions

Add the diced avocado to a blender or food processor, process until smooth.
Add the egg yolks and process until well combined.
Heat the butter in a microwave safe bowl until very hot.
While the food processor is running, slowly add the melted butter until well combined. Add the lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne, process to combine.
Add the English muffins to a plate, cut sides up. Top each half with a slice of tomato, a few leaves of arugula, bacon, and a poached egg.
Spoon avocado hollandaise over eggs. Serve immediately.

Apple Streusel Pancakes

11.02.2013 45 Comments

Pancakes are my first food memory.

I’m one of 8 children (all girls, wrap your head around that) and one of about 27 cousins (I don’t even know the actual number) which made alone time with my grandparents really special.

The spring after I turned 4, I spent a Saturday night in a My Little Pony sleeping bag on the floor of my Grandparents bedroom, falling asleep to a wall mounted TV playing Wheel of Fortune. When I woke up, my Grandpa (Papa) was already gone. He was an artist that had done quite a bit of the original artwork for the Madonna Inn, looked a lot like Desi Arnaz and had a heart of pure gold.

My Grandma packed me into her 1980’s Cadillac with overstuffed seats that felt a lot like recliners and headed for the San Luis Obispo community center’s Pancake Sunday. My Papa was the "featured chef" and the hall was packed. My Grandma shuffled me past tables of seniors, wide eyed and waving at the tiny blond 4 year old. I was like a celebrity, I was Harry Tregarthen’s granddaughter and I was a "baby" to these ladies who just wanted to pick me up and squeeze my cheeks.

My Grandma and I join a round table with four other older ladies. "Your Papa makes the best pancakes, you know," one of the ladies was actually talking to me, instead of about me, that was new for me as a 4 year old, "That’s why this place is so busy. Last weekend, when Sal was cooking, only half full. Today, standing room only!" I didn’t know what "standing room only" meant, but I knew it was good.

"They must be good pancakes!" It’s all I could think to say, but the thing about being 4 is that as long as you form a coherent sentence and say it with enthusiasm, people laugh. And they did, these ladies were my crowd and I was on fire.

"Do you know the secret ingredient is?" She asked, clearly as excited with the banter as I was. "Sugar?!" I said, because I’m 4, and that’s pretty much my life.

I hit again, they were rolling. I could have mic dropped. Once she caught her breath the older lady let me in on the secret, "7-up! Can you believe it? Instead of milk!" I didn’t know how to make pancakes, or even that milk was a part of the process but I did like 7-UP. He was brilliant, I couldn’t believe it. He had put soda in pancakes?! At 4 years old, before I had even seen a recipe, let alone followed one, my Papa taught me that you should experiment. Break the rules, do your own thing.

Pancakes are a great recipe to experiment with. So basic, and with so many places to go. I don’t drink soda anymore, so I never have it on hand, but when I did I always used it in pancakes. It makes them fluffy and light. But now, even though I’m back to using milk, I like to experiment. Pancakes are like a canvas, nearly ever ingredient from sweet to savory somehow work in a pancakes.

And to this day, I always think of Papa when I make pancakes.

Apple Streusel Pancakes

Ingredients

For the Streusel topping:

1 flour
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup butter
½ tsp ground cinnamon

For the Pancakes:

1 ¼ cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 granny smith apple, peeled and diced

Instructions

Add all streusel ingredients to a food processor, process until crumbly. Set aside.
In a bowl add the flour, salt, brown sugar, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mix until well combined.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the milk, egg and vanilla, stir until just combined. Add the apples and stir.
Heat an electric griddle at 350 or skillet over medium heat, coat with cooking spray.
Drop about 1/4 cup of batter on the hot griddle, top with 1 to 2 tbs of streusel.
Cook until the edges start to look dry, and the underside is golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip andcook on the other side until cooked through, about 2 additional minutes. Plate, top pancakes with remaining streusel.

Cinnamon Rolls With Chocolate Bourbon Caramel Pecan Sauce & A King Arthur Flour Giveaway!

12.12.2012 120 Comments

I have loved King Arthur Flour long before I decided to force my way into the blog world.

I read the catalogues the way normal girls read Cosmo, curled up in bed with a glass of wine, pouring over each page. Not just for the products, but because it’s has always been obvious to me that this is a company that wants to help people learn to bake. Teach people how to make bread from scratch and the best cakes their kids have ever had.

This is important to a girl that managed to reach adulthood before ever eating homemade whipped cream or even seeing a plate of macaroni and cheese that didn’t come out of a box. I had so much to learn, and still really appreciate the books, shows, and websites that helped answer my questions and feed my curiosity.

It was important to me to learn how to cook, not just how to put dinner on the table. I wanted to know how to bake yeast rolls from scratch, and I wanted to know what to do when things went wrong.

I found the Secret Ingredients section on King Arthur by accident and in the space of about 10 minutes my bread and chocolate cake recipes became exponentially better. I now knew the secret to rich chocolate cake and light, fluffy bread. It was like a gift.

I knew that chocolate cake recipes tended to call for coffee or espresso powder, but I just figured that the flavors went well together. It wasn’t until I read the King Arthur website that I learned espresso powder intensifies the flavors of chocolate without leaving any coffee flavors behind. Espresso powder is now in every chocolate cake I bake.

And the dry milk powder has taken my dinner rolls and bread to new level. Whoever figured out that dry milk powder makes bread rise higher and with a more tender texture deserves a prize. It’s really a great tip, and one that I’ve used for years.

There is a huge flavor difference between the Vietnamese Cinnamon and the regular grocery store variety, it’s like Filet Mignon to Bologna. Vietnamese cinnamon is rich and smooth and bold, really worth trying is you want to cook with cinnamon, this on it’s own will bring your cinnamon roll recipe to a new level.

I have also become a loyalist to the All Purpose Baking Cocoa, which has a bit of a miss leading name. The name makes it sound so average and forgettable, and it far from that. Master or All Trades Cocoa is more accurate. It pulls double duty and fits brilliantly in recipes that call for Dutch Processed and recipes that call for regular unsweetened cocoa. Good quality cocoa is a must, it makes a huge difference over that grocery store stuff. If you are going to all the trouble to bake a chocolate cake from scratch, you really don’t want your efforts washed away with weak, bland cocoa powder. Get the good stuff, it makes a world of difference.

The good people at King Arthur have agreed to give away a basket of these fantastic ingredients, along with The Most Amazing Whisk Ever. It really is my new go-to, it gets the job done quickly, and nothing gets caught in it like with my traditional balloon whisk.

Here is what you’ll get:

Espresso Powder

Bakers Special Dry Milk Powder

The Most Amazing Dough Whisk Ever

All Purpose Baking Cocoa

Vietnamese Cinnamon

To Enter (open to USA addresses only):

Leave a comment telling me your favorite thing to bake during the holidays.

Bonus Entires:

1. Like Domestic Fits on Facebook, leave a comment stating you did so.

2. Like King Arthur Flour on Facebook, leave a comment stating you did so.

3. Follow Domestic Fits on Twitter, leave a comment stating you did so.

4. Follow King Arthur Flour on Twitter, leave a comment stating you did so.

Giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered

and congrats to the winner, #62 Shannon McClear!

Contest Closes Monday, December 17th at Noon PST. Winner will be chosen at random.

Cinnamon Rolls With Chocolate Bourbon Caramel Pecan Sauce

Ingredients

For The Dough:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 packets rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 cup milk
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 large egg yolk

For The Filling:

1 stick butter, softened
1 tbs Coca powder
1/3 cup white Sugar
1/3 cup Brown sugar
1 tbs Cinnamon

Topping:

2 cup sugar
3 tbs bourbon, plus 1 tbs, divided
1/4 cup water
2 oz dark chocolate (60%) (about 1/3 cup chopped)
1/2 cup cream
1 cup pecans chopped

Yield: 12 rolls

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 1 cup of flour, sugar, dry milk and the yeast (make sure to use yeast that is rated for higher temperatures, regular dry active yeast will not work), mix until well combined.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the milk and butter, heat until it reaches between 120 and 130 degrees. Add milk to the mixer, and mix on medium, stopping occasionally to scrape the bowl. Add the yolks, one at a time, beating between additions. Add the remaining flour and beat on high until dough comes together and starts to gather around the blade, about 6 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, kneed the dough until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.
Add dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to sit in a warm place until doubled in size. About 2 hours.
In a bowl, add all of the filling ingredients, mix until well combined (you can also use a food processor).
Once the dough has risen, punch down and then roll out on a floured surface into a large rectangle. Spread the filling mixture evenly across the rectangle. Although the filling is abundant, use it all.
Tightly roll the dough into a log the long way. Using a very sharp knife, cut log into 12 equal slices, about 2 inches wide.
Spray a 9X13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange the rolls evenly in the pan. (if you want to make these the night before, refrigerate the rolls at this time, removing them the next morning for the final rise, which will take longer given that the rolls will be cold). Cover and allow to sit in a warm place until doubles in size, about 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
In a pot over high heat, add the sugar, water and 3 tbs bourbon, stir until all of the sugar has been moistened. Clip a candy thermometer onto the side and allow to boil, untouched until it reaches 220 degrees, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. While stirring continually, add the cream and stir until combined. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and combined, add the bourbon and the pecans, stir to combine.
Top rolls with sauce prior to serving.

Chorizo Egg Breakfast Skillet

11.12.2012 20 Comments

There is something about lingering over a long breakfast with those I love that just makes me feel like I did something right. Everyone eats dinner, most of us have a few minutes for lunch, but it’s when we take time to sit and spend "valuable, productive" hours of the day actually tasting our food, chatting with those people whose company often gets taken for granted, that the day really become special.

This may be a habit I picked up while traveling in those countries that wouldn’t think of letting a hotel guest check out without being fed, even if you only spent $5 on a bed in a shared room. I think maybe a hotel owner and his wife insisting that the 19 year old American who spoke no Italian MUST sit for a cup of espresso and a some bread before departing had a huge impact on me, especially given that I was broke and had paid less for the room than I would have paid for the breakfast in the States. Some how breakfast and hospitality have since been linked in my brain. I feed my guests. A lot.

This is a great Family style breakfast that takes very little skill to throw together. Tons of flavor, little effort.

Chorizo Egg Breakfast Skillet

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbs olive oil
1 cup red potatoes peeled and diced small dice
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 large shallot chopped
1 bell pepper sliced julienne, stem and seeds removed
6 oz chorizo sausage removed from casing
½ cup pale ale beer I used Scrimshaw
14 oz crushed stewed tomates in juices
4 eggs
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 large avocado sliced
¼ cup cilantro

Instructions

preheat oven to 350.
In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt and pepper, cook over medium high heat until potatoes are fork tender, remove potatoes from skillet.
Return skillet to heat, adding additional olive oil if the pan is dry and cook the shallots and red peppers until soft. Add the chorizo, stir and break up while cooking. Once the chorizo is mostly cooked, add the beer, scraping to deglaze the pan.
Add the tomatoes and cook until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Return potatoes to the pan.
Crack the eggs on the skillet, evenly spaced.
Cook in a 350 oven until the whites have set, about 10 minutes.
Top with cilantro, parmesan and avocado prior to serving.

Eggnog French Toast Bake

I really have to confess that I don’t much care for Eggnog. But, to be fair, I guess I’ve never really had a great version of it.

Sweet Potato Beer Biscuits With Maple Sage Butter

11.10.2012 24 Comments

I didn’t grow up eating Sweet potatoes.

I never saw them on my Thanksgiving table or at Sunday dinner. They just didn’t exist in my world. Until one chilly afternoon in College when I stopped by the dorm room of a Souther friend of mine who had just pulled a Sweet potato, covered in butter and brown sugar out of the microwave. She was nuts. A Vegetable with sugar on it? I couldn’t get over how strange it was to enjoy a vegetable as if it was some kind of dessert. She offered me a bite, and my instinct to recoil was overtaken by my overwhelming curiosity. I was hooked.

I shocked at how much I love it. It was a comfort food, and it was a vegetable. Biscuits, made from scratch, are a bit the same. Although I didn’t grow up with anything other than a biscuit from a tube with a fear inducing opening method, those always seemed amazing to me. Another incredible comfort food.

And the beer isn’t just here for the novelty of it. Beer is a mild leavening agent, giving this biscuits a lighter, more tender texture. For this recipe, I like a Hefeweizen or a Pumpkin Ale.

Sweet Potato Beer Biscuits With Maple Sage Butter

Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Biscuits:

1 large sweet potato
2/3 cup beer
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 tbs sugar
1 stick butter cold, cut into small cubes
1 tbs melted butter

For the Butter:

3 tbs butter room temperature
1 sage leaf minced
1 tsp pure maple syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425.
Pierce the sweet potato all over. Microwave on high until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to work with. Remove and discard skin, add sweet potato to a bowl (should be about 3/4 cup of sweet potato mash).
Add the beer to the sweet potatoes and using a potato masher, stir and mash until completely combined.
In a bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix to combine.
Add the butter cubes and using your fingers or a pastry blender, rub the butter into the flour until completely combined.
Add the sweet potato beer mixture and mix until just combined.
Form dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Form into a square, about 1 1/2 inches high, and about 1 foot long. Cut into square biscuits. Place on a baking sheet covered with a Silpat or parchment paper. Brush with melted butter.
Bake at 425 for 15-18 minutes.
In a small bowl, add the maple syrup ingredients and stir until combined.
Serve biscuits warm, with maple sage butter.

Pumpkin Ale Waffles & How To Roast A Pumpkin

25.09.2012 33 Comments

Although most of you are in the giddy early stages of fall, here in Los Angeles it’s still over 90 degrees. So what the rest of the country is referring to as "Fall," I am calling Pumpkin Season. And to curb my near constant urge to shove as much pumpkin into everything I consume, I have elected to only make pumpkin from scratch, no cans.

It’s only really helped a little. It’s pretty easy to roast a pumpkin and turn it into massive quantities of pumpkin treats.

If you haven’t roasted your own, don’t be intimidated, its pretty simple.

Start with a pie pumpkin. They go by various other names, but they are not Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins used for carving. They are small, about the size of a cantaloupe.

Preheat oven to 375.

Remove the stem by running a butter knife around the edges and then prying it off. The most stubborn one I removed by whacking it on the edge of the counter. Popped right off.

Cut the pumpkin in half, right through the hole left by the stem.

Scoop the seeds out with a spoon.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place pumpkins on baking sheets, cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast at 375 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until a fork can easily slide into the skin.

Allow to cool and sccop the flesh out.

For a smoother texture, process in a food processor for about 3 minutes.

See, that’s not so hard. You can totally do that.

Pumpkin Ale Waffles

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs divided
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 stick melted butter
1 cup Pumpkin Ale

(Makes 6 to 8)

Instructions

Preheat waffle iron.
Get out three bowls.
In the largest bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon, stir until well combined.
Divide the eggs between the last two bowls, egg whites in one, yolks in the other.
In the yolks bowl, add the milk and pumpkin puree, stir until well combined. Add the melted butter and stir.
Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes.
Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined, don't over mix. Add the beer and stir until combined. Gently fold in the egg whites.
Spray waffle iron with butter flavored cooking spray. Cook waffles according to manufactures directions.

Crab Cake Eggs Benedict with Bacon Hollandaise

19.09.2012 16 Comments

I think we know each other well enough by now that I don’t have to try and pretend. If a dish is easy, I’ll tell you. If it’s quick, I’ll tell you. If it’s healthy, I’ll tell you.

This is none of those things. It is, however, worth the effort. It’s a special occasion breakfast to keep in your back pocket, for, you know, if Bradley Cooper stops by for breakfast. It could happen.

It’s actually not that difficult. Although, I do hesitate to say that since my "not that difficult" is someone else’s "Oh my GOD, is she nuts??"

But really, you can do this. I even gave you a food processor version of a hollandaise, which is SUPER easy, you don’t even have to worry about turning your sauce into scrabbled eggs, which is what I did the first time I tried to make it the traditional way.

If you want to make this in stages, you can assemble the crab cakes ahead of time, put them on a plate, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then cook the following day. You can also make the sauce ahead of time, and then reheat slowly in a double boiler. You can EVEN replace the poached eggs with fried eggs to make it even easier. But really, it’s not that difficult.

And I believe in you.

I think all food people have a small stash of items that we buy at Gourmet Food Stores that we save for special recipes. Spices, the good salt in those fancy containers, crab meat, things like that. This is a recipe I found worthy of breaking into my Gourmet Food Store stash. Rare for a breakfast recipe, but this one made the cut.

Crab Cake Eggs Benedict with Bacon Hollandaise

Ingredients

For The Crab Cakes:

1 egg
2 tbs green onions, chopped
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1 tbs melted butter
8 oz lump crab meat
1 cup Panko bread crumbs, plus one cup divided
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
pinch cayenne
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning

For the Hollandaise:

4 strips bacon
4 tbs butter
4 egg yolks
2 tbs lemon
pinch cayenne
4 eggs (for poaching)

Makes 4 servings

Instructions

Combine all the crab cake ingredients in a bowl (reserving one cup of Panko for the coating). Form into 4 patties, about 1 inch thick. Place remaining Panko in a bowl. One at a time, place the patties in the Panko and press until well coated on all sides with bread crumbs. Place on a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
In a pan over medium high heat, cook the bacon, turing frequently, until crispy and cooked trough. Remove the bacon and set aside. Once the bacon is removed, add the crab cakes to the pan, cooking in the bacon grease until golden brown on the underside, flip carefully and cook on the other side until cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat.
In a food processor, add the bacon, process until only crumbs are left. Add the egg yolks and process for about 3 minutes. Melt the butter in a pot on the stove (or in the microwave) until hot and steaming. While the food processor is running, slowly, slowly add the butter until well combined with the yolks. Add the lemon and the cayenne, process until combined. If your sauce is too thick, add water to thin, about a teaspoon at a time.
Poach the eggs in simmering water.
Place one crab cake on each plate, top with poached egg, then sauce.

Brownie Waffles

29.08.2012 27 Comments

I can’t decide if I’ve been obsessed with Dessert for Breakfast or if it’s really an obsession with Breakfast for Dessert.

Well, you say, it depends on what time of day said meal is being consumed. Although if this dessert/breakfast hybrid is eating all day long, the lines get a little blurred.

Now that I’ve shared with you my Pecan Pie French Toast, and Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes now I throw these Brownie Waffles at you.

I figured out that although I eat pretty well most of the week, I let myself eat whatever I want at my Saturday morning breakfast, making me want to get the most bang for my bite. Hence, breakfast and dessert crammed into one plate. I hope you don’t mind too much.

And if you want to get craaaazy, go ahead and top this with vanilla ice cream. And sprinkle it with bacon. But make sure and invite me over.

Brownie Waffles

Ingredients

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup milk (divided in half)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, divided
1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications.
Get out three bowls.
In the largest bowl, add the flour, baking powder,cocoa powder, and salt, stir.
In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Add the remaining milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and only the yolks of the two eggs.
Add the whites to the third bowl, along with the sugar. Whip with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the chocolate milk mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold into the egg whites until just incorporated.
Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications, using butter flavored cooking spray if indicated.
And I recommend topping with whipped cream, or ice cream, or frosting, or chocolate chips, or all of it.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

21.08.2012 57 Comments

I’ve spent all day with an internal struggle about the limits of my acceptance of other people. Probably a much too serious intro for a post about pancakes, but bear with me, you might have some insight I could really use.

I’ve always prided myself on being a person who is able to see people for who they are, in the context of their own culture and life experiences and find beauty, talent and value without the qualification and framework of my own situation.

Whether it be a trailer park in South Central Los Angeles, a cave in Morocco, or a bus bench in Greece I’ve always been able to do that. Easily.

But today I was challenge with a though: what about hateful, small-minded, bigoted people?

What about racists?

The homophobic?

Are those people I should love and keep in my life?

I had an interaction with someone who left me wondering about my assertion that I have the anthropological capacity to care about other people regardless of who they are, what their beliefs or culture dictates, without judgement.

Can I judge someone merely for judging others? Isn’t that the epitome of hypocritical?

Isn’t the greater definition of open-minded and open-hearted to love those who are a challenge to love? I do believe that there is good in everyone. But is it worth it to try to dig past the hate and anger of a racist or homophobic friend or family member, or is that level of toxicity a fundamental deal breaker?

If you have some insight, let me know. For now I will proceed with caution, because the bottom line is I want to love everyone. I don’t want anyone, or any group of people, to be designated as a group I should hate. Because hate just breeds more hate.

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk (use coconut milk for dairy free, this is what I used)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup raisins (plus more for garnish)

Instructions

In a bowl add the flour, oats, salt, brown sugar, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mix until well combined. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the milk, egg and vanilla, stir until just combined. Add the raisins and stir.
Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat, coat with cooking spray.
Drop about 1/4 cup of batter on the hot griddle. Cook until dry on the edges and bubbles start to form in the center. Flip and cook on the other side until cooked through, about 2 more minutes.

(Yield: 6-8 pancakes)

Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter French Toast

09.08.2012 23 Comments

It seems so wrong.

This urge I have to continually make breakfast with beer.

Probably reinforcement of the personality test I took in college in which I scored "surprisingly high" on the Inherent rebellion scale, as noted by the test administrator.

Because we, as a society, have decided that we shouldn’t mix alcohol with pre-noon hours. Along with a Sunday brunch mimosa or, well… Vegas in general, this should be your exception.

And while I’m ordering you around, I have to mention how much I adore this beer and demand that you seek it out:

Stone smoked porter with vanilla bean. It’s a porter with the perfect infusion of the flavors of smoke and vanilla bean. And even though it’s summer and I’ve been told by Beer Store Beer Guy that porters and stouts aren’t "in season," I’ve driven all over town to stock up on this very porter, twice. More evidence of my inherent rebellion.

Vanilla Bean Smoked Porter French Toast

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup milk
2/3 cup smoked porter recommended: Stone Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Bean
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs butter plus additional as needed
1 large loaf of crusty italian bread cut into 1 inch thick slices

Instructions

In a bowl, add milk, beer, sugar, eggs and vanilla, whisk until well combined. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter.
One at a time, dip the bread into the milk mixture until well coated. Add to pan and cook until browned on one side, flip and brown on the opposite side (about 2 to 3 minutes per side). Repeat for all slices. Add butter to the pan as needed.