Our Daily Grains

This is our mix: stark naked granola, no chopped nuts or dried fruits to dress it up. It's just grains with peanut butter, honey and cinnamon. We are just simple folks with simple taste.

Admittedly there are times when we wake up in the morning and we feel like walking on the wild side. Then we might feel so bold as to dress up our granola with creamy vanilla yogurt, bright-colored fresh fruit and even a sprinkling of nuts.

Peanut Butter and Honey Granola

4 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups puffed brown rice
1 1/2 cups puffed millet
1/2 cup ground flax
1 T cinnamon

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup honey

In a large bowl combine the oats, rice puffs, millet puffs, flax and cinnamon. In a 2 cup glass measuring cup, measure out peanut butter and honey. Heat in the microwave for a minute then mix thoroughly with a spoon.

Pour the peanut butter mixture onto the bowl with grains.

Using a rubber spatula, coat the grains with peanut butter and honey.

Divide the granola onto 2 sheet pans and spread in a single layer.

Bake at 300F. After 15 minutes give each pan a good stir and trade place (put the bottom pan on top and vice versa). Bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown.

The granola will crisp up after it cools.

Yeast Pancakes

Also known as: overnight pancakes. The batter is mixed and then refrigerated overnight for the yeast to slowly work its magic. Nothing can be more convenient because all you have to do in the morning is plop globs of goo on a hot skillet. But here's the rub: to have these fluffy goodness for breakfast, you need to be a person who plans ahead.

This might be problematic if, like me, you mostly cook on a whim. But do not despair. The situation is not completely hopeless if the night has come and gone and the batter is still waiting to be mixed. We can bully the yeast into working harder and faster by not refrigerating the batter. We just have to wait an hour or so for breakfast. Or if there's an immediate need to break the fast because grumpiness is setting in, we might just decide to have the pancakes for dinner.

This recipe (which is very similar to the one at Allrecipes) is adapted from sweetfineday. Since I didn't have overnight to let the batter rise, I just kept the batter at room temperature and it was ready to cook in about an hour.


Yeast Pancakes

1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg

2 1/4 cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt

Measure out the milk in a glass measuring cup and warm up in the microwave (just slightly hot to the touch, about 110F). Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk and let sit for 10 minutes. Add oil and egg.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry.

Whisk together just until incorporated.

Cover with plastic and let rise for about an hour.

The batter will almost triple in volume.

Heat a pan/griddle/skillet over medium heat. Lightly oil the pan and scoop the batter onto the pan to whatever size or shape you want. Cook until golden brown then flip over and cook the other side. It will take each side about a minute or two to cook.

A Bread Pudding By Any Other Name

What had been missing in our lives these past nine years was a nice hearty casserole. Besides the rare appearance of a pan of enchiladas on our dining table, I can't remember ever having a casserole since Rosalind was born.

Consequently, a feeling of inadequacy overcame me when Steve came home from school and Rosalind screamed: "Daddy, we're having a casserole!" She was jumping-up-and-down excited about it. All I could think of was that I had deprived this kid of her Midwestern roots and I sincerely hoped that the breakfast casserole I had thrown in the oven would not disappoint.

Maybe it was the exotic nature of a one-dish-meal (carbs, protein and veggies all in one pan?) that created such a stir. In any case, Rosalind devoured her first serving and then asked for a second and then a third helping. She ate everything, even the usual suspects that all too often got shoved in a corner of her plate: spinach and bell peppers. So of course I have made the "casserole" a few more times since then. Now when she talks about "casserole," she means a breakfast casserole.

My old chef would call it savory bread pudding. Similar to Rosalind's casserole, dear old Chef's savory bread pudding consisted of day old bread and a custard base to tie the whole thing together.  But I must say that Chef's version always involved sauteed red onions with white wine, fresh thyme and Gorgonzola. Rosalind's casserole has never been the same dish twice because I just use whatever type of cheese, veggies, and/or meat I scrounge up from the fridge.


Breakfast Casserole

6 cups bread (cut up into small pieces, about 1 inch cube)
5 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups grated cheese or thereabouts

Suggested ingredients to mix and match:
chopped spinach
chopped bell peppers
chopped cooked sausage, ham or bacon
artichoke hearts
broccoli
sauteed onions and garlic
olives
pepperoncini
chopped tomatoes
chopped basil
feta cheese
sauteed mushrooms
green onions
Or whatever you fancy in your omelet (probably not avocado)

Whisk together  milk, eggs, nutmeg and salt and pepper. In another bowl, mix together cheese and bread. Pour the milk mixture over the bread. If time permits, refrigerate mixture for an hour or more to allow the bread to soak in the custard.

Mix in additional ingredients. Dump everything in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or greased casserole pan. Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes or until the center is set.

Let sit for about 10 minutes.

Just in case there's not enough carbs in the casserole, we serve ours with roasted potatoes.

Potato and Onion Tarts

Potato and Onion Tarts

1/4 recipe of sour cream pastry
2 T olive oil
1 potato cut into small cubes
1/4 c sliced onion
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 c gorgonzola cheese

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/8 inch thick rectangle.


Using a cookie cutter or a sharp paring knife, cut out circles. Place the circles on a lightly greased sheet pan or one lined with Silpat or parchment paper. Refrigerate until ready to use.



Heat 2 T of olive oil in a cooking pan. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the potatoes.


Cook until the potatoes are soft and slightly brown. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly.


Top the circles with the potato mixture and gorgonzola.


Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes or until the bottoms of the circles are brown.

Homemade Granola

Here's another "toss in a bowl and pop in the oven" recipe. It's very adaptable. Vegetable oil can be substituted for butter, maple syrup for honey and you can use whatever nuts or dried fruits you have in the pantry.

Granola

2 T butter (melted)
1/2 c honey (if you want more caramelization and clumping, double the amount)

3 c oats
1/2 c cashews
1/2 c sunflower seeds

1/2 c chopped dried mangoes
1/2 c dried strawberries


Toss all the ingredients (except the dried fruits) in a large bowl. Mix well.

Bake in a 325F oven for about 30 minutes.

Cool completely. Add the dried fruits.

Enjoy!

Pancakes

As you see, these look like a cross between Mickey Mouse and Wererabbit (from Wallace and Gromit) so Rosalind calls them:


Monster Mickies

1 cup buttermilk (or milk)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
To make faces use: chocolate chips, blueberries, or raisins.

Measure out milk in a liquid measuring cup (4 cup capacity). Add the egg, vegetable oil, sugar, and salt.

Whisk together until combined.

Mix in the flour and baking powder.

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter on a hot (but not too hot) nonstick pan. Use medium heat.

Round it out.

Make the ears.

Make the face.

When you see bubbles all around, flip the pancake. Cook the other side for another minute.

Quiche Cups

Quiche Cups

5 crepes
1 cup grated cheese

1 cup milk
2 eggs
dash of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Carefully press down crepes in greased muffin cups. Divide the cheese between the crepe cups.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper then pour over the cheese.

Bake at 350F for about 20 to 25 minutes, until firm.

Scones for Aunt Lisa

To Rosalind, not much can top a visit from an aunt, an uncle or a grandparent. I'm confident in this assertion because the only time we can get her to clean her room (with the thoroughness an eight year old is capable of) is in anticipation of these visits. Today, she not only found "time" to clean her room but also to make these yummy melt-in-your-mouth scones.


Cream Scones

In making scones, the "biscuit method of mixing" is usually used. Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, all the liquids (anything wet, to be precise) in another. Rub the butter with the dry ingredients then mix in the liquids. Just like pie dough, the less you work the dough, the better. Using cream yields flaky melt-in-your mouth scones and buttermilk makes softer/cake-like texture. This formula is based on a recipe from Nick Malgieri's book How To Bake.

3 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1 T baking powder

5 T butter

1 c cream or buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

Raw sugar for sprinkling


Place the flour, sugar, and baking powder in the KitchenAid bowl. Mix for 10 seconds.

Cut the butter into small pieces then drop in the bowl a little at a time while the mixer is mixing on low speed. When there are no more big chunks of butter, stop the mixer.

Measure out cream in a liquid measuring cup (2 cup capacity at least). Add the eggs and vanilla to the cream and whisk together using a fork or a small whisk.



Start the mixer again using the lowest setting and slowly pour in the milk/egg mixture. Continue mixing until just combined.

Using 2 spoons or a portion/ice cream scoop, scoop out mounds onto a lightly greased cookie sheet or a pan lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Sprinkle raw sugar on top.



Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until they look done!