Breakfast
Blueberry-Peach Bran Muffins
Every year, without fail, I get an uncontrollable craving for bran muffins as soon as the faintest hint of fall sneaks into the late-August air. Growing up, my mom always made them for me as a back to school treat. They were my favorite breakfast — especially when they were still warm rom the oven. Even now, years later, homemade bran muffins signify the start of fall just as much a pumpkin spice lattes (Yes – I’m one of those people who wait for them all year. I told you I love coffee!)
Mom always made the classic Raisin Bran muffins that use a box of cereal, but have you seen the cost of cereal these days? It’s completely outrageous. Clearly time to find a new, more economical recipe. It took a while. So many versions were too dry, too dense, or too gritty. I felt like I was being beaten over the head with health food. Just as I was about to give up and buy a box of Raisin Bran, I decided to give it one last try. Success! After two years of fiddling around with recipes, I’ve finally developed what I think is the perfect bran muffin: light, springy, and moist with just the right amount of nutty bran flavor. Spread with a little butter and served with a glass of cold milk, this is the perfect back-to-school (or off-to-work) breakfast.
Click to get the recipe for Blueberry-Peach Bran Muffins –>
Starbucks Natural Fusions (+ a Giveaway)
Over the past month, I’ve had plenty of posts about tea thanks to the Tazo Cookoff. Today I’m switching up gears with a post for all the coffee lovers out there.
If you know me, you know I love coffee. I started drinking it the summer before my senior year of high school and I’ve rarely spent a morning without a coffee cup in my hand since. In fact, I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I write this post (no, I don’t have a problem or anything…) So I was super excited when Starbucks contacted me about trying their new, naturally flavored coffees, which will be available in stores this fall.
I was really impressed by these! The flavors are there, but are very subtle — more like putting cinnamon in your coffee grounds or adding a drop of vanilla extract to your coffee cup than the overwhelming flavor that some coffees like this have. Since I generally drink my coffee with just a splash of milk I also love that, unlike adding flavor with a syrup, these aren’t sweet or full of calories.
I like the cinnamon flavor the best if I’m drinking hot coffee and the caramel flavor best if I’m drinking it iced. The vanilla is great either way. But why take my word for it when you can try it for yourself? Starbucks has agreed to send three lucky readers full-sized bags of each flavor along with a French Press and a mug. Just leave me a comment telling me which flavor you’r the most excited to try.
{Tazo Cookoff} Vanilla Rooibos Quinoa Pudding with Cherry & Pistachio
Fate smiled down on me last week when I opened the box containing the mystery ingredient for week two of the Tazo Cookoff. I had been dreaming of a tea enriched breakfast appropriate rice pudding for months. When I was first asked to participate in this challenge I knew I finally had an excuse to actually make it. But I wanted to step things up for this challenge so I decided that instead of using rice I would use quinoa. I crossed my fingers and hoped that one of the mystery ingredients would work in this dish.
Imagine my delight when I opened he week two box only to find a jar of organic red quinoa waiting to take pat in some culinary magic. My quinoa pudding was meant to be.
I used boxed vanilla rooibos latte concentrate for this recipe because cooking with a product clearly meant for drinking (even more than tea in general) seemed fun. Plus it meant that I didn’t need to add any additional sugar or spices (the concentrate is slightly sweetened and contains vanilla and cinnamon). Complete with toppings, this recipe contains a grand total of six ingredients. You can’t get much simpler than that!
The quinoa gives this pudding a nutty flavor and a coarse texture — it lacks the creamy starchiness or rice pudding and reminds me more of steel cut oats. The flavor of the tea is very prominent and combined with the sweetness of the cherries and the crunch of the pistachios, it makes a great breakfast or a filling snack.
Also, vanilla rooibos lattes? Totally my new favorite drink. Warm and creamy, with a slightly floral this drink reminds me of the perfect rainy day. The kind where you have nothing better to do than sit in your yoga pants, drink tea, and curl up with a book while the rain softly pitter patters outside the window.
A few tips for making this pudding:
- Make sure to rinse the quinoa well. Until the water runs clear. This will prevent it from being bitter.
- Ignore the directions on the back of the box of concentrate. If you look at the box, you’ll be tempted to use more concentrate than this recipe calls for. That would be a huge mistake. Even though you start with a cup and a half of milk, it reduces down to form the pudding and you’ll only end up with about a quarter cup of milk in the final dish. If you use too much concentrate the ratios will be way off and your pudding will be far too sweet.
Click to continue reading Vanilla Rooibos Quinoa Pudding with Cherry & Pistachio and for a change to win a great Tazo gift pack –>
Brunch at Northern Spy Food Co (NYC)
I love blogger get-togethers, and I’ve been looking forward to this one for what seems like forever. I think we might have actually started talking about it back at the Foodbuzz festival in November! Mardi and her husband, Neil, were going to be in New York City and wanted to get a group (including Andrea from High/Low Food/Drink, Mary Ann from Puff and Choux, and Christine from Fresh, Local and Best) together for brunch. Since New York is only a short drive from us, there was no way that I was going to miss out on that!
As it turns out, arranging a brunch for a group of 9 isn’t as easy as you’d think it would be – a lot of places don’t take reservations! Seeing the size of the restaurants, it was understandable though. Our small group took up a good third of the restaurant. If they took reservations and ended up with no-shows, that would seriousy cut into their profits! Anyway, Andrea managed to arrange for us to get a table at Northern Spy Food Company, a small farm to table restaurant in the East Village. While thye don’t normally take reservations, they were happy to accomdate our group, and even let us in before seating their other guests when they opened. It was very VIP. 
It’s apparently also the place to be on a Sunday morning! Even taking into account the restaurant’s small size, it was surprizing how quickly it filled up! I suggest getting their a little before they open if you want to snag a table. Which you do. Believe me.
It’s apparently also the place to be on a Sunday morning! Even taking into account the restaurant’s small size, it was surprizing how quickly it filled up! I suggest getting their a little before they open if you want to snag a table. Which you do. Believe me.
Click to continue reading Brunch at Northern Spy Food Co –>
Sweet and Spicy Crab Hash with a Poached Egg
Last winter, Restaurants & Institutions Magazine published an article outlining their predictions for the major food trends of 2010. One of their predictions was that eggs would be the new bacon. I thought they were crazy. Who would ever pass up bacon – especially if only to replace it with an egg? Pure silliness.
I should have given them more credit. It pains me to say it, but I’m a bit baconed out. And I’m finding eggs – poached, fried, or baked with their quivering yolks – completely irresistable. Which might explain why as I was thumbing through Michael Symon’s cookbook the other day, the crab tater tots caught my eye. I thought they would go beautifully with a softly poached egg.
I bought all of the ingredients but as the week wore on, I thought about it more and more and the dish became more about the eggs than the tots. Plus, they seemed like more work than I wanted to invest in them: boil the potatoes, mash the potatoes, fry the tots. So the dish evolved. I used many of the same ingredients and emerge from the kitchen with the recipe reinvented as a quick and easy crab hash. That took a quarter of the time to make and is healthier since its not fried. And that was delicious topped with a poached egg. [...]
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