Table Talk: Breakfast Strata

The book we are using { The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook} is all about making everyday meals healthier.  I don't recall that I've ever eaten strata before, so I can't really compare it to the full-fat and calorie version but I thought this was pretty good.

My only complaint, again, is the amount of dishes this recipe created.  If I made it again, I would definitely try to streamline that.  I would also probably half the spinach and throw in some other vegetables.  I did add some mushrooms, but not nearly enough.  Also, I didn't have enough feta cheese so, after mixing the feta in with the strata, I just threw some monterey jack on top instead of more feta.

My pie weights came in handy to weigh the strata down for an hour before baking.  Fine!  I'm not fancy enough to have pie weights.  They are just beans.  Happy?!

After the weight was lifted.

After baking.

We had this for dinner but if I were going to make it for breakfast, I would put everything together the night before and refrigerate it over night.  The recipe says you can refrigerate for up to 24 hrs.

If you'd like the recipe you can buy the bookor you can visit the blog of our hostess for the week, Janet.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

We've made these a few times now (like 4 or 5) but I am just getting around to sharing the recipe.  If I could remember and plan ahead everyday, we would have them everyday.  My kids LOVE, LOVE them.  They have almost replaced their favorite breakfast food and they might be my favorite breakfast food.  I love bagels.  And these bagels are so good it's ridiculous.  My favorite bagel recipe so far, by far.

I adapted the recipe to use active dry yeast because that's what I always have on hand (I buy Red Star active dry yeast in bulk) and that's what I want my recipe to call for.  I don't want to have to buy different kinds of yeast.

If you like cinnamon raisin bagels, these need to go on your to-make list.  They take some planning and a little bit of time, but they are so, so worth it!

Table Talk: Homemade Turkey Breakfast Sausage

 Uh, is that breakfast sausage or a steaming pile of......?

Isn't it supposed to be in link form?

Can you even call it breakfast sausage at this point?

All good questions.  

To which I will say: 

1) It's supposed to be breakfast sausage but I can see where you'd be confused, 

2) Yes 

and 

3) I have no idea.

I am not sure where I went wrong with the link situation but I have a few ideas.  I bought the tube of frozen ground turkey (What?  It was cheaper, so kill me!)  and it seemed to have quite a bit of liquid in it.  Maybe I should have drained it first or something?  When you buy it from the meat counter, there's usually a pad at the bottom that soaks up all the extra juice and maybe that's a necessity here?  I also used dried buttermilk powder and water as a sub for the buttermilk.  

When it was time to form the links, it seemed way to wet so I added some dried bread crumbs.  It was barely firm enough to form but I was afraid of adding too much bread and just turning them into fried breadsticks with some meat.  Even though I barely got them formed into links, I kept going, thinking that maybe once I started cooking them, they would magically hold together.  Not so much.  They held together well enough until I flipped them.  I was ever-so-careful and the first flip was okay but it seemed the more I cooked them, the less they held together.  I finally gave up and just made a steaming pile of sausage.  Yes, that's the official name I am going with.

 For my family's sake I tried to pretend I meant to make some kind of breakfast hash with it. :)  

It's supposed to look like that, see?  (I'm not sure they believed me either.  Maybe it was because I was laughing maniacally while I was smashing it up.)  

I really liked the flavor of the sausage which surprised me, I was afraid I wouldn't like the spices involved but I did.  I want to try again, but next time, I think I will try the ground turkey from the meat counter and some real buttermilk and hope it goes more smoothly.

Don't let my idiocy deter you from trying the recipe, you might be a sausage-making-whiz!  You can get it at Talesha's blog.  She was our host for the week.  Even though this wasn't a shining moment for me in the kitchen, I liked trying a new recipe and of course I learned some new things.  Like with all of my failures. :)  

Bake 52: Large Danish Braid

I knew when I looked at this recipe a few days ago that it was probably a 2 day process.  It doesn't have to be but it's easier to give yourself a couple days so you don't feel rushed.  Yesterday I made the danish dough and did all the rolling and folding, which really isn't that hard, just takes a little time.  You roll it out and fold it over a few times, refrigerate for 2 hours and then repeat.

This morning, I rolled it out, made the fillings and baked it.  I chose cream cheese and strawberries (1 cup frozen strawberries, pureed with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp lemon juice, simmered until thick) for the filling.  Of course we all loved it.  We are strawberry lovers around here and you all know how I feel about cream cheese.  I almost threw some Nutella in there too but I figured after folding all the butter into the dough, we were going to be consuming enough fat and calories without it.

 After baking it at 400 {Next time I would go with 375 degrees maybe.  It seemed like mine was more done that I'd like on the bottom.  Or maybe just double up on the baking pans like Betsy suggested a while ago.} for 22-25 minutes, the glaze is brushed over it.  I was maybe supposed to brush all the glaze over it, but I just did one coat and still had plenty left.  

 Since I had glaze left, instead of starting over with the icing, I just added some powdered sugar to my left over glaze to make the icing.  And I still had some left over.  Maybe I was just supposed to douse this thing?

This is super fancy, super delicious and not too hard.  It would be perfect for a special brunch or dessert on a special occasion or just a Wednesday. :)

Jen O was our host this week.  If you'd like the recipe, you can head over to her blog.  Thanks for hosting this week Jen, it was a great pick!

Bake 52: The Best Buttermilk Biscuits

 I am always completely skeptical when the name of a recipe includes 'The Best...'  I think it's over used and I also think, how can it possibly be known what is 'the best'?  Have you tried every recipe (to be fair, I am sure America's Test Kitchen has tried quite a few) and even if you've tried every recipe out there, how can you possibly know what people are going to like?  Everyone has a different idea of what makes 'the best' of anything.  I mean, some people like fudgey brownies, some like cakey, and there are some weirdos out there who don't even like brownies!  

And then there's biscuits.  I am sure that if you asked a dozen people, they would all have different ways to describe 'the best' biscuit.  Just to let you know, I have no idea if this is in fact, the best biscuit recipe.  It was good, we liked it.  It's been a while since I've made biscuits so I can't tell you if it's better than the recipe I've used before.  They might be my favorite but whether they are your favorite or not isn't for me to say.  

I feel like this might be the kind of recipe you have to make a couple times to get it perfect and that gives you time to add to it and make them how you want them.  I halved the recipe and it made about 7 biscuits and seemed to work well.

 I'd say if you are looking for a great recipe, give this one a try.  It might be your favorite.  It might be your idea of the best buttermilk biscuits.  It might be mine.  I am going to have to make about 10 batches of biscuits just to be sure. ;)  But in the mean time, it was a great recipe and if I needed biscuits for something, I would use it again.

Betsy was our host this week.  You can get the recipe at her blog.

Bake 52: Oatmeal Scones

 I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of scone.  The kind that's more of a biscuit.  So I can't really say if these turned out how they were supposed to or not.  We basically treated them like biscuits and ate them with jam, honey, butter and such.  Is that what you're supposed to do with these things?

I almost didn't toast the oatmeal because I was being lame and I thought last time I did it, I toasted it for too long (I think with the granola bars).  But I sucked it up and toasted it and wondered why I had been being such a baby.  It wasn't a big deal.  The rest of the scones came together fairly easy especially if you have a food processor (which I do).  I think next time I would make the cinnamon raisin variation, I bet it would taste almost like an oatmeal raisin cookie but you can pass it off as breakfast. :)

They were good and if you like scones, you should give this recipe a try.

Jen O. was our hostess for the week and chose the recipe, you can get it at her blog.  Thanks for hosting this week, Jen!

Bake 52: Make-Ahead French Toast Casserole

 I don't want to sound whiny or anything (again) BUT I don't remember a time before my computer started uploading these THREE photos!  I am about to go ballistic on the internet in general if I could just figure out a way to do that.  A hissy fit sounds like a stellar idea about now.  How did we EVER survive with dial-up internet connections?!!? I feel like I have dial-up and it's un-survivable.  It was a simpler time I guess.  But enough about that...

This is such a great fall dish!  And while I haven't totally gotten on the fall-bandwagon yet, I was excited to make it.  You should have smelled it baking!

Bake 52: Crunchy Granola Bars

We are almost completely moved out of our old place, we just have a few random things left to take care of and a bit of cleaning to do.  Tonight we were there finishing some things up and Tyler broke 4 of my pasta bowls.  My pasta bowls that we got for our wedding and I have been in love with since day 1.  Every time we have moved, I have wrapped them meticulously and marked the box, "PASTA BOWLS, BREAK AND DIE."  They made the move from Utah to South Dakota, back to Utah, (I didn't take them to Texas or Hawaii, they were in storage) and to California all in one piece.  I broke one of them a few months ago and spent a significant period of time mourning.  And now we have moved 1 mile and broken 4 more.  Leaving only 3.  We can't even have a meal with them now.  This could possibly be the worst day of my life and I am currently restraining myself from choking Tyler with my bare hands.  (I could, possibly, be acting a bit dramatic right now....)

The second worst thing that happened today was when my granola bars didn't go perfectly.  I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but they are a bit brown.  I was supposed to toast the oats for 20-25 minutes before assembling the bars until they were light golden.  I went with 20 minutes and they were more like golden, golden.  Or maybe darker.  After the final baking, they were just too done and it came through in the taste.  It might be my oven, it might be California, it might be that this day was just out to destroy me from the get-go....who knows!  

Next time, I might go with 10 minutes and see what happens.  And I will make these again.  I can tell they have serious potential if I can get it right.  I omitted the cinnamon and added about 1/4 cup of coconut and a handful of chocolate chips when I mixed everything together.  No regrets there, I would do that part again in a heart beat.  Luckily I halved the recipe so we don't have quite a many reject-bars hanging around (we do have quite a few though).  And as an added bonus, Hadlee and I had a lesson on area and what pan would work to half the batch if the recipe called for an 18x13 pan.

 If you want to try the recipe, you can visit Emily's blog for the recipe.  Thanks for hosting this week Emily, I can't wait to try these again and make them better next time!

PS.  I hope to be back to regular posting soon!  I am starting to feel like getting back in the kitchen finally!

TWD: Popovers

This week was eye-opening for me.  Where have popovers been all my life?  I don't know but we are never to be parted again.  I felt like these were a cross between German pancakes (you know, the kind that puff up in the oven?) and the pastry used for eclairs and cream puffs (pâte à choux). They were so, so easy that I am going to need to make them all the time.  I am seriously in love. 

Bake 52: Monkey Bread

MMMMMMMMMMMMonkey bread!  I haven't made monkey bread before.  I guess when I crave something like this I always go immediately to cinnamon rolls.  This is just as delicious as cinnamon rolls but less formal and also, somehow, still super impressive looking.  

I took some to my neighbor and when he answered the door (shirt-less, I might add.  Awkward!) he asked if it was homemade.  (More awkward!)  I never know what to say to people in that situation.  Yeah, it's homemade because I am awesome?  That seems weird, so instead I launch into this story about how I am in this online baking group and each week we bake something and this week.....and now it's even more awkward because I am rambling on to him about online baking groups while he stands there with his shirt off and monkey bread in his hand. (The most awkward thing ever.) He seemed to be impressed that I said it was homemade (in about 3 million words) before I ran off to lock myself into my apartment and never set foot outside again without duct-taping my mouth shut.

I am glad I gave half of it away because otherwise I would have kept eating it and we all know I don't need that.

I decided the easiest way to divide the dough into 36 pieces was to roll it into a square and cut it, then form into balls.  I am not sure if that was the easiest way or not but I always feel better when my ruler is close by.

I was a bit heavy-handed with the brown sugar mixture and used 50% more than the recipe specified.  But it goes nicely with my belief that you can never have too much brown sugar.

 After the rise.

 Once again, my oven baked way faster than the recipe said.  I think it was almost not quite done in the middle, but almost burning on the outside.  I can't wait until I never see that oven again.  I am sure it feels the same way about me.  So don't feel bad for it, the feeling is mutual.

 This is a great recipe, if you want to give it a try, you can visit Jenn Z.'s blog.  She was our lovely hostess for this week.  Thanks for picking a great recipe!

Bake 52: Cinnamon Rolls

I had to constantly remind myself to stick to the recipe this week.  Because I genuinely wanted to see how they would turn out.  I have a very intimate relationship with cinnamon rolls (yes, I just said intimate).  And these were good but it's hard to compare a recipe I have tried for the first time to one I have over-hauled and made exactly how I like it.  It's really not fair.  I don't know if you've heard though; life isn't fair.  Even though they had some stiff competition, they made a decent showing, they were pretty good cinnamon rolls.  I will probably stick to the recipe I love but I did learn some things this week (of course!).  

Bake 52: Classic Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

 When I have a favorite recipe, I don't mind trying new ones, what if there is a better recipe I haven't tried yet?  It happens.  When I saw that Jesse had chosen these pancakes for our baking club, I was excited.  I don't mind trying new things.

Sourdough Waffles

These waffles are delicious and completely worth making a sourdough starter just for this purpose.    They are crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside with that sourdough tang and cancer curing capabilities.  If you don't like sourdough things, maybe you should steer clear of this deliciousness.  If you do like them though, you have to make these.  

Rachel's Healthy and Delicious Waffles

I used to have a waffle maker that I loved.  His name was Warry.  I planned to love him forever, but then he died.  I have been mourning him for 2 years now.  The pain has just subsided enough to replace him.  Well, I don't know if anything could ever really replace him, but maybe ease the pain, fill the void a little.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramel Buttermilk Syrup

I picked up some blueberries at the grocery store the other day; they were on sale and I have been wanting to make some things with blueberries.  These were so worth the on-sale-blueberries (maybe even worth the full price variety).  I think Calvin ate 15 of them and Hadlee loved them even though she wrinkled her nose when we were making them.

Quinoa Cakes with Poached Eggs

Ummm, what?!  I know what you are thinking.  I really don't have anything to say for myself.  I don't consider myself a gourmet.  And when I first saw this recipe on Annie's blog, I just skimmed it over and didn't give it a second thought.  When in the world would I ever make that?  I was there long enough to see her rave reviews but that's about it.  And I didn't know if I believed her.  

Sausage and Mushroom Quiche

My computer and I are having a disagreement.  We have been at it since last night.  I was trying to finish this post and it was determined not to let me.  Needless to say, it won last night.  This morning, it is still out to destroy me.  I thought we were on the same team, but I guess not.  I had a photo of the quiche cut and ready to serve, but my computer doesn't want you to see it.  It doesn't want to download it from my email.  It's refusing.  So I guess for now, you will have to settle with the quiche in whole form.  What can I say, the computer has spoken.  If I can get it to work later, I will add it then.  Or maybe I will just decide that it's not that big of a deal.  Pick your battles and all that stuff, right?  Maybe this isn't a battle I should pick today.  After all, we are just really starting the day.  There might be some way more important things to chose from. I doubt it.  What could be more important than this quiche?  I find it hard to believe anything could be.

Bake 52: Bran Muffins

Week 2 of Bake52!  50 to go. :)  

This week Valerie was our host and she chose Bran Muffins.  I understand her choice.  She picked right after the holidays and I think everyone was probably feeling like some healthy food!  I know I was.  

It pains me to admit that I am not sure I have ever made bran muffins.  It's just never been on my radar.  And that's one of the reasons I wanted to do the baking group.  I want to make things that I normally wouldn't make.  This week was perfect for me since it probably wasn't a recipe I would have picked and we all ended up really liking them.  

Crêpes with Strawberries and Nutella

(updated photo: 2/14/2013)

My family has a tradition involving these crêpes.  If you ask any of them they might say they came up with the idea.  But seriously, don't listen to them.  It was all me.  I was in San Francisco for a work conference a billion years ago (it sounds better for the story that way but it was really probably 9 years ago) and we went to an outdoor mall with a bunch of little shops; including a crêpe shop.  I wish I could remember the name of it.  That place changed my life.  

Caramel Buttermilk Syrup

If you remember from the pumpkin pancake post, I mentioned making the buttermilk syrup with brown sugar instead of white to give it a caramel quality.  I finally tried it today.  We had pumpkin french toast, which wasn't nearly as good as the pancakes, but we made caramel buttermilk syrup with it.  Although I don't think the french toast was blog-worthy, the syrup definitely was.  I used sour milk instead of buttermilk, but I am sure buttermilk would make it even better.  Even though, it's probably not necessary, I am including the recipe.