August Cooking Club: Brenner

Our cooking club is still making an effort to meet once a month (sometimes once every 6 weeks) to try new recipes together and enjoy amazing food.  This month we did breakfast for dinner (brenner, as some call it).  And mmmmm delicious!  Thanks so much to Lara for hosting, the food was fabulous.  Here are three of the recipes we tried, not included in this roundup are the homemade biscuits and gravy, which were also yummy!

Sausage and Cheese Strata with Sundried Tomatoes

1/2 cp. sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), chopped

12 oz. hot Italian Sausages, casings removed (I used a pound)

8 large eggs

3 1/2 cps. whole milk

2 tsp. minced fresh thyme (3/4 tsp. dried)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

11 slices white sandwich bread (about 1 pound), crusts trimmed, and cut into 1″ pieces (I didn’t remove the crusts – oops!)

1/2 cp. chopped onion

1/2 cp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cp. freshly grated Mozzarella cheese (packed)

1/4 cp. crumbled, soft fresh goat cheese

Chopped fresh parsley

1. Place sun-dried tomatoes in medium bowl.  Pour enough boiling water over to cover.  Let stand until softened, about 15 minutes.  Drain.

2. Saute sausage in heavy medium skillet over medium heat until cooked through, breaking up with a spoon, about 5 minutes (**this took much longer than 5 minutes, I’d say closer to 10).  Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towels to drain well.

3.  Butter a 9×13 glass baking dish.  Whisk eggs, milk, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, sausage, bread, onion, and Parmesan cheese; stir to blend.  Transfer to prepared dish.  Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake strata uncovered until puffed and golden brown, about 45 minutes.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and goat cheeses and bake until mozzarella melts, about 5 minutes.  Transfer pan to rack and cool 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with parsley.

1/2 cp. sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed), chopped

12 oz. hot Italian Sausages, casings removed

8 large eggs

3 1/2 cps. whole milk

2 tsp. minced fresh thyme (3/4 tsp. dried)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

11 slices white sandwich bread (about 1 pound), crusts trimmed, and cut into 1″ pieces

1/2 cp. chopped onion

1/2 cp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cp. freshly grated Mozzarella cheese (packed)

1/4 cp. crumbled, soft fresh goat cheese

Chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Place sun-dried tomatoes in medium bowl.  Pour enough boiling water over to cover.  Let stand until softened, about 15 minutes.  Drain.

2. Saute sausage in heavy medium skillet over medium heat until cooked through, breaking up with a spoon, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towels to drain well.

3.  Butter a 9×13 glass baking dish.  Whisk eggs, milk, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to blend.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, sausage, bread, onion, and Parmesan cheese; stir to blend.  Transfer to prepared dish.  Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake strata uncovered until puffed and golden brown, about 45 minutes.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and goat cheeses and bake until mozzarella melts, about 5 minutes.  Transfer pan to rack and cool 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with parsley.

Hash Brown Quiche

Ingredients:

3 cups, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

3 large eggs, beaten

1 cup half-and-half

3/4 cup diced cooked ham

1/2 cup diced green onions

1 cup shredded Cheddar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Gently press the drained hash browns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible. In a 9-inch pie plate, toss the hash browns with the melted butter into the plate. Press them into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. When the hash brown crust is ready pour the egg mixture over it and return to the oven.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed

(excuse the terrible photo!)

French Toast Souffle

Ingredients

10  cup  (1-inch) cubed sturdy white bread (such as Pepperidge Farm Hearty White, about 16 (1-ounce) slices)

Cooking spray

1  (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat-cream cheese, softened

8  large eggs

1 1/2  cups  2% reduced-fat milk

2/3  cup  half-and-half

1/2  cup  maple syrup

1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract

2  tablespoons  powdered sugar

3/4  cup  maple syrup

Directions:

Place bread cubes in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Beat cream cheese at medium speed of mixer until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add milk, half-and-half, 1/2 cup maple syrup, and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture over top of bread; cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Remove bread mixture from refrigerator; let stand on counter for 30 minutes. Bake at 375°  for 50 minutes or until set. Sprinkle the souffle with powdered sugar, and serve with maple syrup.

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Smitten by Pancakes

I have not been doing anything impressive in our kitchen recently, lots of baking cookies and heating up frozen pizza. Just can’t seem to get motivated to make big meals anymore! Last night I tried a new recipe for pancakes, since the box of Hungry Jack mix leaves something to be desired! We stopped using bisquick a couple of years ago when we saw how much transfat was in it and switched to another mix, but I don’t think either produces very good pancakes. This batter was quick and easy to mix up, the hard part was waiting for them to cook since I cooked them on low-medium. UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH. I am so not patient, lol! Took forever to make them all, but they were VERY good, so it was worth it!  Before you go any further or ever attempt to make pancakes again, go read Smitten Kitchen’s tips for making pancakes, I found them EXTREMELY helpful and definitely think it made a difference in getting the right taste and texture in these pancakes.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes (adapted from Martha Stewart’s Original Classics Cookbook, as seen over at Smitten Kitchen)

Yield: Martha says this makes 9 6-inch pancakes.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or slightly less table salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing griddle

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed (optional)

1. Preheat an electric griddle to 375°F, or place a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.

2. Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.

3. Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the batter in pools 2 inches apart. If you wish to make blueberry pancakes, arrange a handful over the cooking pancake, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or blueberries roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

4. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

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TWD alternate recipe: Orange Berry Muffins

Tara from Smells Like Home chose this week’s recipe for TWD. As intrigued as I was to try my hand at madeleines, I knew our tiny kitchen could not hold yet another pan, so I took the offered out and made a recipe that had previously been made for TWD before I joined. I needed something that I could make in a short period of time since we are leaving for our vacation to Chicago this week and life is a bit hectic right now. Muffins fit the bill, and since I was so over the moon with Dorie’s lemon poppy seed muffins I figured these would be just as good. Sadly they were not.

Tyler ate the first one and when I asked how it was he said “it doesn’t taste like anything.” Sure enough. It tasted kind of like a bland corn muffin with some blueberries thrown in the mix. The orange flavor was almost completely absent and it is not a sweet muffin so it was left with very little flavor. What a bummer! The culprit is likely the orange I used. I searched through bins of oranges to find the brightest, orangest one, but it still wasn’t very orange. It was juicy inside, but the zest was not as fragrant as I had hoped it would be. It is just not a good time for oranges! Most of the ones at the store looked very sickly. I may try this recipe again when good oranges can be found!

Head on over to the blogroll to see the madeleines and other alternate TWD recipes!

Orange Berry Muffins (from Dorie Greenspan “Baking: From My Home to Yours” p. 3)
Ingredients:

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 Tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries – fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)

Decorating sugar, for topping (optional)
Directions:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

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Broccoli-Cheddar Quiche…revisted

I’m revisiting another recipe that I’ve made before. I’ve calculated the WW points using e-tools and taken some new pictures. It was a quick and easy dinner for a Thursday night (Office night!!) and I served it with spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. Best part was I got to use one of my new tart pans for the first time. Loved it!! The 11 inch was the perfect size for the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust.

Broccoli-Cheddar Quiche (from Weight Watchers online)

6 oz pie crust, 9-inch, refrigerated
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup red onion(s), chopped
1 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 large egg(s)
2 large egg white(s)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
10 oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and well-drained
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Press pie crust into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch, removable-bottom tart pan (I used my 11 inch) or a 9-inch pie pan; refrigerate until ready to use.

To make filling, heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer onion to a large bowl and add ricotta cheese, cheddar cheese, egg, egg whites, mustard, oregano, salt and pepper; mix well and fold in broccoli. Spoon mixture into prepared crust and level surface with a wooden spoon; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake until a knife inserted near center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

Serves 8

WW pts per serving = 6

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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Well I just couldn’t wait to try another Dorie recipe! The first one I bookmarked in my new cookbook was this recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins with a tasty looking icing. It didn’t take long at all to whip up a batch and they are SO GOOD. They are the perfect balance of tart and sweet, leaning more towards sweet with that delicious icing. Good news is that they are not terrible WW points wise! Much better than a muffin from Starbucks! I used fat free sour cream, that probably helped. I took most of these to work today and they were gobbled right up. My favorites were the ones with the raspberry jam in the center, I will probably put that in all of them next time.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours pp.10-11)

Ingredients:

For the Muffins:
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup sour cream (I used fat free)
2 large eggs
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 T poppy seeds

For the Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2-3 T fresh lemon juice

Directions:

To Make the Muffins:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and hte fragrance of the lemon strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whish the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the wish or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean (I baked mine for about 17 minutes since my oven cooks hot and my muffin pan is the horrible dark kind, which can make the bottoms burn if you’re not careful). Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them.

To Make the Icing:
Put the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and add about 1 1/2 T of the lemon juice. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional lemon juice, a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins or coat the tops entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.

Best if served at room temp, plain or with jam.

Variation: fill the muffin cups with half the batter and top each with a teaspoon of jam (I used raspberry in half the muffins) then spoon in the rest of the batter

Serving size = 1 muffin

approx. WW points per serving=4
(note: this is for the ones without jam in the center, depending on the jam you use it may or may not increase the points value)

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Pancake Dinner

When we look in our fridge and don’t see anything that would make a full meal or we’re just feeling tired and want something easy, we know it’s pancake night.  Saturday night I didn’t get back from work  and the grocery store early enough to make chili as planned,  so it was definitely a pancake night.  Went to the pantry and we were out of pancake mix so we figured it was time to try making them from scratch!  We found this recipe on allrecipes.com and decided to give it a try, with a couple of additions.  We added some cinnamon to spice them up and threw in some blueberries as well.  These were delicious!  I loved the texture with the oatmeal, they were very filling, though they did take a little longer to cook.

Pecan-Oatmeal (and Blueberry!)  Pancakes (original recipe from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup all purpose flour
2 T brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 T ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:
In a bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Combine milk, eggs and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until blended.  Fold in pecans and blueberries.  Pour batter by 1/4 cupfulls onto a lightly greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top of the pancakes (I always wait for them to pop!)  Cook until second side is golden brown.  Serve with maple syrup!

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The incredible egg

I didn’t eat eggs growing up, in fact the first time I remember having eggs in any form was when I was 15 and staying at a ski lodge where amazing breakfasts were served up every morning. The omelets looked so good I just had to try it. When I was a baby I had an allergic reactions to eggs which led to my years of egglessness. I had no idea what I was missing. I tried the omelet and had no adverse reaction and since then I’ve made eggs a regular part of my diet. I learned to make scrambled eggs in a cast iron skillet over a campfire when I was a camp counselor. I taught myself to make omelets on the griddle in the cafeteria in college when the meal offerings got truly bleak. A few weeks ago my father in law made “egg in a hole” for us while we were in Texarkana for Thanksgiving. I had no idea what an “egg in a hole” was but was pleasantly surprised when he put it on my plate. It’s just an egg in the middle of a piece of toast, yum! So simple! So tasty!

So today I was craving eggs, like I usually do on the weekends. I wanted to make my own “egg in a hole” for lunch but with a twist. So I present to you, courtesy of my assortment of Christmas cookie cutters:

“Egg in a Mitten” and “Egg in a Snowman”

Ingredients:

slice of bread
egg
cookie cutter of some kind (or a glass could be used if you want a plain old circle)

Directions:

heat skillet over medium heat, grease skillet, cut hole in bread and place in skillet. Break egg open and drop egg and yolk into the hole in the bread. Cook on both sides until egg is at your desired consistency and bread is toasted. I added some salt and pepper to the egg but that’s just personal preference.

slightly blurry picture of my snowman creation :

and what do you do with the leftover piece of bread? Why cover it with jam of course

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Breakfast Time

I had ambitious plans for our Saturday morning breakfast. My original plan was to make crepes (saw a great recipe in Cooking Light) and some sort of egg bake. I lost steam though and knew the egg bake would be filling so I just made that instead. I modified the recipe that my family has been using for several years now. We always have breakfast casserole on Christmas morning now. Sometimes we even eat it before opening gifts, shocking, I know. So I took that recipe and halved it and made a couple of changes.

Breakfast Casserole

4 slices of bread (I used a small loaf of Panera’s 3 cheese bread, but regular white or wheat bread is fine)
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used turkey bacon)
1/2 cup cheese (I use Mexican blend since we always have that on hand)
4 eggs
1 cup milk
dash of salt and pepper

Spray the bottom of glass pan (I used a small 6 cup rectangular pyrex dish), cover bottom of pan with pieces of bread. Sprinkle cooked bacon over top of the bread, then sprinkle with cheese. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over bread/bacon/cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes in the morning. Let sit for 5 minutes, then cut and serve. Makes 6 servings.

So as I was typing that up I realized that I accidentally used 2 cups of milk in mine, thus why it took FOREVER to finish baking (mine had to be in for over 45 minutes and still wasn’t totally done at that point.) Next time I’ll make sure to get the measurements right. In the original recipe everything is doubled and we use a pound of browned lean sausage instead of bacon. We make it in a 13×9 dish and it serves 6-8 people. I liked the version I made, the 3 cheese bread from Panera added a nice flavor and made for a thicker, heartier casserole. Unexpectedly, the bread rose to the top and I had a layer of baked egg underneath. In the original casserole the bread slices don’t usually float like that so it doesn’t end up layered. Still tasted great though!

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New Secret Family Recipes

A couple of weeks ago my dad sent me these photos from a lovely breakfast he made for my mom.  He won’t share the recipes, but he wants to show off his culinary prowess.  So for your viewing pleasure, here are my dad’s most recent culinary masterpieces   Maybe if I’m lucky he’ll make them for me sometime, or share the recipes!  I don’t really know what they are or what to call them, I just know he used puff pastry.

Sausage & Puff pastry?

Berry Puff Pastry creation

I have been inspired by my dad’s breakfast creations, I think I may even whip up something special for Tyler this weekend!

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A no shop dinner

Well it’s almost the end of the month and I’m pushing it as far as keeping within our grocery budget (but we were still restocking our pantry from our move…at least that’s one excuse!) So I’m trying to cook with what we have and do minimal grocery shopping. I will of course go get more milk and fruit and Dr. Pepper as needed, but otherwise I’m going to try not to buy a lot of new food items. I’m glad I chose a simple meal for dinner tonight because somehow I managed to get lost on my way home from work tonight. I thought I was taking a shortcut but it took me twice as long to get home, ugh. I should just stick with what I know! I swear Kansas drivers are so much worse than D.C. drivers though, I have seen some manuevers on the highway this week that literally made my jaw drop. But anyways, you’re here to see what I made for dinner, so back to that

French Toast, originally from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 6 thick slices bread
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Beat together egg, milk, salt, desired spices and vanilla.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle of skillet over medium-high flame.
3. Dunk each slice of bread in egg mixture, soaking both sides. Place in pan, and cook on both sides until golden. Serve hot.
4. I like to sprinkle mine with powered sugar and drizzle with syrup.
   

Scrambled Eggs for Two (how I throw them together, by no means an exact science)

3-4 eggs
some salt
some pepper
a little bit of milk (maybe a 1/4 cup? I just eyeball it)
some cheese, usually I have Mexican blend on hand.

Whisk together eggs, salt, pepper, and milk. Pour into skillet over medium heat, stir constantly until eggs cook up and are the texture you desire. Sprinkle with cheese, allow it to melt over eggs and then serve. Eat promptly unless you like cold eggs!

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