Ham and Cheese Strata

I thought I'd attempt my first strata since I've been drooling over pictures of them for the past couple weeks. I'm for sure making more of them! Prep the night before and cook it in the morning for an easy breakfast or brunch. And what doesn't go better with eggs than ham, cheese, and bread? Then throw in a little onion for flavor and spinach for color. I basically followed America's Test Kitchen's method with ingredients that I had on hand. And I might add, that it's so nice that I can still have fresh spinach from my garden this late in the season here. But frozen spinach will do fine as well, just be sure to drain and squeeze all the liquid from it before you add any. 

Ham and Cheese Strata

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's Breakfast Strata

One 8x8 pan

Ingredients

10, 1/2 inch thick slices French bread or other artisan/Italian bread 

Unsalted Butter

1/4 medium onion sliced

7 oz ham diced 

4 oz cheddar cheese grated

2 oz mozzarella cheese grated

1 1/2- 2 cups sliced fresh baby spinach

6 lg eggs

1 3/4 cup whole milk or half and half

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

Directions

With oven rack in middle position, preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Place bread on on large baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp. About 40 minutes flipping halfway through. 

Remove from oven and spread a bit of butter on one side of each piece when they've cooled.  

**While the bread is baking**spray a nonstick pan generously with Cooking spray and heat over medium/low heat. 

Add onions and a few good shakes of salt, stir often until they become caramelized, about 30 minutes. You don't want them to brown. Low and slow.

Add spinach to the pan, allow to wilt and lose most of its moisture. Only a 3-4 minutes here, if you used frozen spinach it may take a bit longer, but not much. Remove from heat. 

Whisk together eggs, half and half, and mustard in small bowl, set aside. 

Butter a 8x8 glass baking dish

Lay one layer of bread onto the bottom of the dish, followed by half the onions and spinach, half the ham, and half of the cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients. 

Slowly pour egg mixture over the bread layers to evenly coat. 

Cover with plastic wrap and weigh the strata down with 2 lbs of evenly distributed pressure. I used a bag full of 2 lbs of rice. 

Place In fridge at least 1 hr and up to 24 hrs. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and while its preheating remove the dish from the fridge and allow to sit at room temp for 20 min before putting in the oven. 

Remove the weight and plastic wrap. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the edges AND center have puffed and the edges seem to have pulled away slightly from the edges.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minute. And serve. This thing stays piping hot for a while, careful not to burn your tongue! 

Crunchy Granola

Good morning! When I eat this in the morning I feel like it's happily greeting me.  Fruit, Greek yogurt, and granola make me feel like I'm eating healthy.  I also love just the granola in some milk, mmm.  There's a lot of sugar, and some fat to bake it in, so unless you make a lower fat, lower sugar version, it's not really as healthy as you may think. :) Just don't eat a huge portion and I'd say you're safe. If I'm going to make granola, it's going to taste good, which most often means I'm not going to skimp out on the fat and sugar. To each his own! I like both the crunchy and chewy versions of granola but, for now, here's some crunch. This is going to make your home smell heavenly.  PS Don't forget it's in the oven, I'm really good at that.

Crunchy Granola

Makes 8-9 cups 

Ingredients

4 cups oats

2 cups chopped almonds

1 cup sweetened coconut

1-2 cups raisins and/or dried cranberries

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

1/8 cup chia seeds/flax seeds/wheat germ (optional)

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 cup maple syrup/agave 

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon vanilla

pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees

Stir together oats, almonds, seeds, and coconut.

Mix salt, sugar, syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg in microwaveable bowl.  Heat about 1 minute on high. Stir well.

Pour over oat mixture and stir until it's all coated.

Pour onto a large cookie sheet lined with parchment.  

Bake 30-40 minutes, stir every 10 or 15 minutes to avoid burning.  

Allow to cool and add raisins and dried cranberries.  

Waffles

I've tried a few different recipes but keep coming back to these. They make a pretty regular appearance at our house. They are the best simple waffle, when you don't want the Belgian variety.  But, I may be a bit biased because it's what I grew up with. I'm not sure where my mom got the recipe. Crisp on the outside and so soft on the inside. 

I did just recently get a new waffle iron that was like 3 years in the making. The decision, that is, as to what kind to purchase, was 3 years in the making. It has a few settings I had to adjust to get the best texture. There are the options for crisp exterior with soft interior, or uniform texture, then a darkness dial. Turns out, setting it to uniform texture with the darkness dial slightly above medium did better than actually just setting it to crisp exterior, soft interior (at least with this recipe). Having options is good. Anyway you need to try these. I like to occasionally double the recipe to have a freezer full. They are just as good toasted from frozen another morning when you don't have time for fresh waffles. And a million times better than eggo waffles. 

Waffles

Makes 10, 7 inch waffles 

Ingredients

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 mounded tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter or oil

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

In another medium bowl stir together the milk, egg yolks, and butter.

In a small bowl with a hand mixer, beat or whisk the eggs until they form stiff peaks.

Add the milk mixture to the flour and stir until combined. It's ok if it's a bit lumpy. 

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until it's evenly distributed with allowing a lot of egg white lumps about the size of quarters or nickles to remain. 

I pour exactly half a cup (which is the same as my ladle) onto my waffle iron. 

If not eating right away, set on a cooling rack to avoid a soggy waffle. 

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

One of my favorite things to eat is breakfast. Breakfast for breakfast, or breakfast for dinner, but not lunch, that would be weird. ;) Got it? I got this recipe from my sister-in-law who got it from Martha Stewart. Not her, personally, of course. The best part of these is the streusel. I imagine any muffin with this on top would be good. So don't skimp out on it. 

Blueberry Streusel Muffins adapted from Martha Stewart

12 muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cup blueberries, or any other small fruit (diced strawberries, apples, pears, etc)

Streusel 

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup flour

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 

Pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Put paper liners in pan. 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. 

Whisk together milk, vanilla, eggs, sugar and butter. 

Pour wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

Add fruit and gently fold in. Don't over mix. 

Let it rest while you mix together the streusel. 

Stir together the flour, powdered sugar, salt, and cinnamon. 

Add butter and smash to combine with a fork until it's evenly mixed and crumbly. 

Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into muffin tin lined with paper liners. Mostly just make sure they are even. 

Spoon about 2 tablespoon of streusel on top of each muffin and gently press into the batter. 

Bake for 15-17 minutes.

Check with a toothpick just to be sure. 

Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. 

German Apple Pancakes

I have to say it has been for ever since I have posted something on here.  About 3 months.  It makes sense to me because we recently found out we are expecting a little bundle of joy, and the past 3 months I have not really had the desire to cook, bake, or eat certain foods.  We are very excited, our lives are changing faster than I think we recognize.

A breakfast item, as I see it, is very appropriate to post because it was the only kind of food I wanted to eat for a few months.  These pancakes are different than any other German pancake I have ever made before, but I love them.  I am used to the sort that you bake in the oven and watch rise 4 inches over the top of the pan; very fun.  The apple is what intrigued me and really got me to try them.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

German Apple Pancakes

Gourmet Magazine 2006

Ingredients

1/4 cup Sugar plus 2 Tbs
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk
4 lg Eggs
1 1/2 lb Gala Apples (3-4 apples)  - I used Fuji
2 Tbs Lemon Juice
Butter for the skillet

Directions

You may want to half the recipe, we were pretty full after 2 pancakes... unless you are really hungry!
Mix together 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl, set aside.
Mix the flour, salt and remaining 2 Tbs sugar in a large bowl.
Stream in the milk and add each egg individually.
Peel the apples and cut slices from top to bottom 1/8 inch thick, you can use a mandolin or just a knife.  Avoid the core.  Continue to cut the apple slices into 1/8 inch thick matchsticks.  I found the long matchsticks to be hard to work with when you cook the pancake, so just chopping the apple in tiny pieces might work better.
Coat apples with the lemon juice.
Add the apples and lemon juice to the batter, fold.
These are kind of like crepes, so the batter should be thin.
Heat over medium a small amount of butter (about 1/2 Tbs) in a non-stick skillet.

Pour 1/3 cup batter into the pan and cook until the edges begin to brown, then flip.  About a couple minutes a side.
Continue to butter the pan in between each pancake as needed.
You may want to keep them warm in a 200 degree oven until you are done cooking.
Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and eat warm.

Mom's Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls

These are the best cinnamon rolls you will ever have the pleasure of putting into your mouth. Nothing beats my mom's recipe. I know everyone loves Cinnabon in the airport and malls but, after you eat one of these, you will never want to waste your money on them again. No offense to Cinnabon of course. They just don't compare! These are soft and fluffy with the perfect amount of cinnamon and sugar. The rolls do take a little bit of time, but it's worth it! Cinnamon rolls have been a part of our family ever since I can remember. This recipe makes about 4 dozen, but they will be gone fast! Freezing the freshly baked rolls helps keep them from going stale and you can warm them up in the microwave for about 10 seconds, yum.

Mom's Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Dough
1 Cube Butter
2 C Milk
2 Tbs Yeast
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Salt
4 Eggs
~6.5 Cups Flour (no more than 7 cups)

Filling
~ 1 Cube Softened Butter
~ 2 cups Cinnamon Sugar
~ 6 cups Brown Sugar

Frosting
2 lbs Powdered Sugar
1 Cube Butter
A few Tbs milk or add until spreadable
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp salt if needed
Beat for about 5-10 minutes.

Directions

In your KitchenAid mixer:
Pour hot milk (~2 min in microwave) over 1 cube butter, sugar, and salt. Wait 10-15 minutes or until butter has softened and milk has cooled down. If the milk is too hot it will kill the yeast. Stir in the yeast and wait about 5-10 minutes for the yeast to get foamy.
Using the mixer, add the eggs. Add the flour a little at a time and mix until the dough is smooth. This should take about 1-2 minutes.
Cover with a clean dish towel and let the dough rise until it's double in size. The amount of time this takes can vary depending on the temperature of the room. Check it after 30 minutes, it probably shouldn't take more than an hour.

This is the part of the recipe that is really not exact...
Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle about 10x5 1/2 inches. You just don't want to roll the dough too thin. It should be about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick. Spread softened butter with a spatula onto the rolled out dough. You can be pretty generous. Make sure it is even. Sprinkle about 1/4 inch thick of brown sugar on top of the butter, keeping it even; again you can be pretty generous. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the brown sugar, covering all areas.

To roll, take the longer side and fold about and inch in, and push down with your fingers to pinch the dough down. Then roll it up- be sure to pinch the edge on the last roll to seal the roll up and keep it from unrolling. Cut into 12 slices and transfer to a 12x17 inch pan with parchment paper. Roll out, fill, roll up, cut and transfer the next 3 portions of dough. You should end up with 2 dozen on each cookie sheet (12x17 in.) when finished. One dozen can fit on a 9x13 inch pan if needed. Cover the pans with a clean dish towel and let the rolls rise until they double in size. Check after about 30 minutes.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 9 minutes. Let the rolls cool for a few minutes before frosting.
Cover and freeze immediately if saving for more than about 5 hours later; they defrost in the pan on their own in about 1 hour.

Sorry, parts of this recipe are an approximation, but that is what's great about it-you can add as much or as little filling as you like.

Banana Bread

I don't have anything against banana bread, but I always feel like there is something missing. Don't get me wrong, this was a good recipe; it was a very yummy, moist (I can't stand that word but I could not think of any other word to take it's place), but typical banana bread. I debated whether or not to add spices, chocolate and other exciting ingredients but only went as far as walnuts. I only put nuts in half to accommodate my family's liking. If any of you have suggestions of your favorite banana bread I would love to hear them. I am positive I will be posting more banana bread recipes, each with their own variation, but for now, I think basic is best in order to build up.

*This makes two loaves and was adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients
5-6 Very Ripe Bananas Smashed in a bowl
2/3 cups Melted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
3 cups Flour
1 cup Walnuts (optional, very optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To the smashed bananas add the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla- mix well.
Stir in the baking soda, salt, and flour.
Pour into two greased 4x8 loaf pans and bake for 1 hour. Let it cool, and eat (I like it kind of warm still with a tall glass of milk, yum!)