I love scrambles! When I’m not ordering pancakes at a breakfast place, I’ll go with an egg dish like a scramble. This particular recipe has some of my favorite ingredients: spicy Andouille sausage, mushrooms, spinach, onions and, of course, eggs. And while I don’t think the devil should get any credit for something good, this dish gets its name from the spicy sausage and red pepper flakes. Oh yeah! It makes a great lazy Saturday morning breakfast…enjoy!

Devil’s Mess
-recipe from The Sunset Cookbook (Oxmoor House, 2010)

A big, spicy scramble of eggs, hot pork sausage, vegetables, and red chile flakes in which all the flavors remain distinct.
Serves 6.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped andouille sausage (about 6 oz.)
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
6 ounces spinach, washed and thoroughly dried (about 2 qts.)
Hot sauce

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and stir often until onions are light golden, about 10 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, add sausage, and stir often until sausage has browned slightly and released some fat, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and 3 tbsp. water.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and chile flakes. Stir until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add spinach to pan and toss with tongs until it has wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer sausage-vegetable mixture to a bowl and wipe pan clean.

Add eggs to pan and scramble just until set, 4 to 5 minutes, then gently stir in sausage-vegetable mixture. Serve with hot sauce if you like.

Sunset, OCTOBER 2008

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Tags: Andouille sausage, Breakfast, Eggs, mushrooms, onions, scramble, spinach

If you’re a granola lover like I am then you know that it can be a spendy item to buy on a regular basis. That’s the beauty of making your own granola…it’s super easy to whip up a batch of it and you get a lot more granola for a lot less money.  

This recipe is a great one to play with. You can use different dried fruits and nuts depending on what suits your fancy. I decided to use dried apricots and a combo of chopped pecans and sliced almonds. I didn’t have unsweetened coconut so I used the sweetened variety. I also added 1 tablespoon of flax seeds, 1/8 cup of wheat germ and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. The granola turned out great! I like to mix it with plain yogurt drizzled with a bit of honey. Yumm!

Everyday Granola
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine

Yield: Makes about 5 cups

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut*
3 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup assorted dried fruit

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; toss. Spread on prepared sheet. Bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 30-40 minutes. Place sheet on rack. Stir granola; cool. Mix in fruit. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight.

* Available at specialty foods stores and natural foods stores.

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Tags: almonds, apricot, Breakfast, cereal, dried fruit, granola, honey, old-fashioned oats, pecans, shredded coconut

Looking for a good banana muffin that tastes great and is healthy, too? Give this recipe a whirl. My kids loved them…so did I! The struesel topping elevates them from plain ol’ banana muffin to something special.

I didn’t have plain yogurt for the recipe so I used 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup buttermilk. The muffins make a great breakfast treat or after-school snack. Enjoy!

Banana Oatbran Muffins
-adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe

Moist, tender, and banana-y, these muffins represent comfort food at its best.

Batter
1/2 cup yogurt (I used 1/4 cup buttermilk & 1/4 cup sour cream)
1 large egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed banana; 2 to 3 large bananas
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup oat bran
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping
¼ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon soft butter

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a standard muffin tin, or line with papers and grease the papers. 
 
Combine the yogurt, egg, oil, mashed banana, sugar, and oat bran in a bowl. Whisk together and set aside for 10 minutes. 
 
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. 
 
Work the topping ingredients together until the mixture is crumbly. 
 
Whisk the banana mixture into the flour mixture. Scoop into the prepared muffin cups, filling them almost full; the muffins won’t rise much. 
 
Sprinkle muffins with the topping. 
 
Bake the muffins for 20 to 24 minutes, until the muffins are set and browned. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and enjoy warm.
 
 

Tags: banana muffins, Breakfast, brown sugar, nutmeg, oatbran, rolled oats

Everyone needs an apple cake in their baking repertoire, and this recipe is excellent! The cake is super moist, velvety, slightly tangy from the cream cheese, and loaded with apples…YUMM!

The recipe calls for a 12-cup Bundt pan. My Bundt pan doesn’t say how many cups it holds but rather gives the size (9 3/4″ x 3 3/8″). It can hold 12 cups of water but it’s filled to the rim of the pan. This recipe has a bit too much batter for my pan so I spooned as much into the pan as I could without filling it to the very top (leaving some room for it to expand while baking). Any extra batter can be baked in greased and floured ramekins or muffin tins (they’ll bake in less time, of course).

If you don’t have a Bundt pan, you can use a different baking pan but your baking time will vary. Check out this link for different baking pan size equivalents. Because my oven is old and tempermental, I use the baking time in a recipe as a guideline. Sometimes the item in the oven needs less time, sometimes more time. If you use a different pan size, you’ll need to adjust the baking time.

The apple cake keeps covered at room temperature for several days. Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Apple Cake 
-recipe from The Grand Central Baking Book by Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson

Grand Central has baked this cake in every shape and size imaginable: as cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting, in rounds baked in springform pans, as classic Bundt cakes and currently in long Pullman loaf pans. Because it stays moist for several days, this large cake is tailor-made for a long weekend with friends, providing dessert the first night and leftovers to nibble on for several days to come.  Serves 14 to 16.

3 cups (15 ounces) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (8 ounces, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups (1 pound, 1.5 ounces) granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds tart apples (3 or 4 apples), peeled and diced into 1/2-inch chunks
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a bowl.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very light in color –almost white–and the texture is fluffy, about 8 minutes. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl once during the process to ensure that the butter is evenly incorporated.

Crack the eggs into a liquid measuring cup and add the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the eggs, letting them fall in one at a time and incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl once or twice during the process. 

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients; stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated. Fold the apples in by hand using a stiff spatula, then scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. The cake is ready when a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan. Cool completely, then cover with a thick dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

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Tags: apples, Baking, Breakfast, bundt cake, butter, coffee cake, Cream Cheese Apple Cake, Dessert, Grand Central Bakery

Although the weather here in Portland is cold and drizzly, I’m not letting that stop me from dreaming about sandy beaches, warm breezes, palm trees, and fruity drinks. This Layered Fruit Smoothie is a perfect example of that: a lime-kissed mango smoothie topped off with a layer of refreshing strawberry smoothie. It’s a healthy, fun and creative way of getting a few servings of fruit!

I used plain non-fat yogurt and frozen mangoes and strawberries. The smoothie was good but I know it would be even better with perfectly ripe mangoes and strawberries. The squeeze of lime juice and little bit of freshly-grated lime zest adds a lot of flavor and tropical flair to the mango portion of the smoothie.

Layered Fruit Smoothie
-recipe from The Sunset Cookbook (Oxmoor House, 2010)

If island-inspired cocktails warm your soul, this smoothie might just tip your taste buds over the edge. Blend mango, yogurt, honey, lime juice, lime zest, and ice until smooth; do the same with the banana, strawberries, yogurt, honey, ice, and lemon juice and zest. Pour the mango smoothie into a glass and layer the strawberry-banana mixture on top for a drink that’s as much a feast for the eyes as it is for your stomach. Makes two smoothies (serving size: 2 cups)

1 mango (peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped)
1 1/4 cups plain low-fat yogurt
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
1 banana (peeled, and chopped)
10 medium strawberries (washed, and hulled)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

In a blender, whirl the mango; 3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt; 2 tablespoons honey; the fresh lime juice; 2 ice cubes; and the freshly grated lime zest until smooth. Divide mango-lime smoothie between 2 straight-sided glasses and set aside.

Rinse blender, then whirl the banana; the strawberries; 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt; 2 tablespoons honey; the fresh lemon juice; 2 ice cubes; and the freshly grated lemon zest until smooth. Layer banana-strawberry smoothie onto mango smoothie, gently spooning mixture around inside edge of each glass to create a clean horizontal line.

Tags: fruit, fruit smoothie, layered fruit smoothie, lime juice, mango smoothie, plain yogurt, smoothie, strawberry smoothie

My mom has me hooked on the combination of scrambled eggs with green chilies! Sometimes I crave it, which is what led me to this recipe for Tortillas with Eggs. It’s a great breakfast or brunch dish and can easily be doubled or tripled to feed more people. You can also get creative and add other ingredients to the scramble: diced tomatoes, cooked chorizo, cheese, etc. Yumm!  

Tortillas with Eggs
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine

This dish is a twist on chilaquiles, a tortilla-based hash. It’s great served with salsa for breakfast. Serves 2.

1 tablespoon corn oil
3 5- to 6-inch tortillas, halved, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
4 eggs, beaten to blend
1/4 cup canned diced green chilies
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

Heat oil in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tortillas and stir until softened, about 1 minute. Add eggs, chilies, and cilantro. Stir until eggs are softly set, about 3 minutes. Season with hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper.

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Tags: Breakfast, brunch, cilantro, corn tortillas, diced green chilies, Eggs, hash, scramble

These moist, spice-flavored muffins are a cinch to whip up and make a nice breakfast treat or after-school snack. I love the muffin’s light nutmeg flavor and simple, old-fashioned goodness. Yumm!

I didn’t have fresh nutmeg so I used regular ol’ jarred ground nutmeg. Enjoy!

Applesauce Spice Muffins
-recipe from Gourmet Magazine, November 2003

Yield: Makes 12 muffins

For muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped

For topping:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in nuts and divide batter among muffin cups.

Stir together all topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool slightly.

Cooks’ note: Muffins, cooled completely, keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 day.

Tags: allspice, applesauce, cinnamon, Muffins, nutmeg, pecans, spice

Blueberries and lemon…I love the flavor combination! This easy-to-make cake highlights this beautiful summer berry in a delicious way! The addition of cornmeal adds a little texture without making the cake heavy or gritty. I took the Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake to a recent dinner gathering along with a Raspberry-Peach Cake. I guess our friends liked the cakes because there weren’t any pieces left for me to bring home (always a good sign!). I served both cakes with lightly sweetened freshly whipped cream. Delicious!

The recipe calls for finely ground yellow cornmeal, which I couldn’t find so I used Albers Yellow Corn Meal. The box of Albers doesn’t state what grind it is (fine, medium, etc.) but it seemed to be on the finer side so I went with it. The Albers cornmeal worked great.

The recipe also calls for tossing the blueberries with flour and sugar before sprinkling them over the batter. After the cake baked, however, some of the blueberries still had some flour on them. Partially white blueberries was not the look I was going for so I decided to make a quick lemon glaze to brush over the warm cake. I squeezed the juice from half a lemon into a small bowl and added enough sugar (a few tablespoons) until the lemon-sugar mixture was pleasantly sweet-tart. I then added a teaspoon or so of water and microwaved the mixture for a minute or so until the sugar dissolved. Give the syrup a stir then microwave for approximately 30 more seconds if you still see some sugar granules. Keep doing this until you have a clear syrup. Once the lemon syrup was ready, I brushed the cake and the whitish berries to “hide” any spots of flour left on them. My little trick worked like a charm! The syrup masked any leftover flour coating and added an extra hit of lemon flavor to the cake. Sweet!

Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

The combination of cornmeal and buttermilk offers both texture and tang. Serves eight to ten.

6 oz. (1-1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pan
1/4 cup (1-1/2 ounces) finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. table salt
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, at room temperature; more for the pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk

For the topping:
1 cup (about 5 oz.) fresh blueberries, rinsed and well dried
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. unbleached all-purpose flour

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter a 9×2-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with a parchment round cut to fit the pan, lightly flour the sides, and tap out the excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium high until well blended and fluffy, about 3 min. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until just blended and adding the lemon juice with the second egg (the batter will appear curdled; don’t worry). Using a wide rubber  spatula, fold in half the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, and then the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 15 min.

Meanwhile, make the topping.
Combine the blueberries, sugar, and flour in a small bowl. Using a table fork, mix the ingredients, lightly crushing the blueberries and evenly coating them with the flour and sugar. After the cake has baked for 15 min., slide the oven rack out and quickly scatter the blueberries evenly over the top of the cake (discard any flour and sugar that doesn’t adhere to the berries). Continue baking until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, another 23 to 25 min.

Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 min. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan. Using a dry dishtowel to protect your hands, lay a rack on top of the cake pan and, holding onto both rack and pan, and invert the cake. Lift the pan from the cake. Peel away the parchment. Lay a flat serving plate on the bottom of the cake and flip the cake one more time so that the blueberries are on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From Fine Cooking 80, pp. 69
September 1, 2006

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Tags: Baking, blueberries, butter, buttermilk, cornmeal, lemon

I love berry treats and desserts and was lured into buying the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites Cookbookbecause of this recipe for Raspberry Muffins. How can anyone resist a moist, freshly-baked muffin flecked with berries and finished with a crunchy streusel topping? Certainly not I!

I’ve made these muffins a few times with great results. I had a hard time getting them out of the muffin tins this time, though, so maybe I didn’t grease the pan good enough. Next time I might try using muffin liners. I used fresh raspberries but the recipe says you can use frozen, too (although the muffins may take longer to bake). These muffins make a great breakfast treat or afternoon snack! Enjoy!

Raspberry Muffins
-recipe from Stonewall Kitchen Favoritesby Jonathan King, Jim Stott, and Kathy Gunst

You can make these muffins year-round–with fresh berries in the summer, or any time of year using good-quality frozen raspberries. Makes 18 muffins.

For the topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

For the muffins:
Vegetable oil spray, for the pans
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the topping: mix the flour and the sugar together in a medium bowl until blended. Add the butter, and using your hands or a fork, mix the ingredients until homogenous and crumbly. Set the topping aside.

To make the muffins: Spray 18 regular muffin tins with the vegetable oil. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl until blended, and set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing the batter on low speed until smooth after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl if necessary. Add the vanilla, and mix to combine.

Add about one-third of the dry ingredients to the batter, and mix on low until blended. Add half of the sour cream, mix, and repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the sour cream, and the remaining dry ingredients, mixing between each addition. Use a wooden spatula to stir in the raspberries by hand.

Fill the prepared muffin tins until almost full, and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the topping onto each muffin (don’t worry if it looks like a lot of topping).

Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes. Using a kitchen knife, gently lift the muffins out of their tins and transfer to a cooling rack.

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Tags: Breakfast, Muffins, raspberry, streusel

Apricot jam…I love it! Not only is it great on toast but you can use it as a filling for coffee cake and scones and as a glaze for everything from pies to grilled meat (like chicken and pork). Here’s an easy-to-make recipe for Quick Apricot Jam that’s a perfect use for all those ripe summertime apricots. Enjoy!

Quick Apricot Jam
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

This quick, simple recipe comes from Becky Smith of Frog Hollow Farm in California. The jam doesn’t require canning and keeps for weeks in the fridge—if you don’t eat it all up before then. For a sweeter spread, use a bit more sugar. This recipe is easily halved. Yields 3 cups.

2 lb. ripe apricots, rinsed, quartered, pitted, and unpeeled (about 16)
1 cup plus 3 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

In a wide, shallow pan, stir together the apricots and the sugar. Set the pan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring often so the preserves don’t stick or burn. Simmer the jam until it’s thick but some chunks of fruit remain, 10 to 15 min. Stir in the lemon juice and remove the pan from the heat. Let cool, transfer to a plastic container with a tight fitting lid, and refrigerate.

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Tags: apricot, jam, lemon juice, sugar