Category Archives: Breakfast in Bed

Breakfast in Bed: Sweet Corn Cakes with Smoked Salmon

Post by Alison Hein.

Masa harina, a Latin American dough made from hominy, gives these sweet corn cakes a smooth, full-bodied texture and distinctive flavor. Then, whole sweet corn kernels add little pops of pure maize when you dig in for a bite. These elements are especially nice when serving the corn cakes chilled, as we do here, then alluringly topped with smoky salmon and parslied sour cream. Wonderful for breakfast or brunch, but toss together a side salad and you’ve got a light, refreshing summer meal.

Prepare the batter in advance and fry these babies up just like pancakes. Put them in the refrigerator to chill, or, if you want, stop right here and serve them warm with salted butter and Vermont maple syrup.

Parslied sour cream appears elegant and time-consuming, yet it’s a cinch to whip up – simply toss all the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. It looks lovely, keeps well in the refrigerator, and its creamy herbal base adds fresh pizzazz (try it on baked potatoes, or even sandwiches).

All you need is a little smoked salmon, for a super summery meal – a sweet and smoky breakfast in bed.

Sweet Corn Cakes
1 cup masa harina, or substitute cornmeal
½ cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup sweet corn kernels, fresh or frozen
Dash of cayenne
2 to 3 tablespoons corn oil, for frying

Preparation
Combine masa harina, flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. In separate bowl, stir together milk, egg and honey. Gradually add milk mixture to dry ingredients, stirring frequently, until well-mixed. Fold in corn kernels and cayenne.

Heat oil in heavy pan or griddle on burner over medium to medium high heat. Ladle ¼ cup of batter into pan for each corn cake. Cook one to two minutes per side, flipping once, until corn cakes are lightly browned and crisped. Add more oil and adjust heat as necessary. Serve hot with butter and real maple syrup, or chill and top with smoked salmon and parslied sour cream.

Makes approximately 10 sweet corn cakes.

NOTE: For gluten-free corn cakes, replace the white flour with an equal amount of masa harina.

Parslied Sour Cream
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup parsley (flat leaf or curly)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon oil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to blender or food processor and mix together until smooth. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Makes approximately one cup of parslied sour cream.

Sweet Corn Cakes with Smoked Salmon and Parslied Sour Cream
2 sweet corn cakes
1 to 2 tablespoons parslied sour cream
4 ounces smoked salmon
Additional parsley for garnish (optional)

Place corn cakes on plates. Spread about two teaspoonfuls of parslied sour cream on top of each cake, and top with smoked salmon. Garnish with a dot of sour cream and parsley sprig, if you like.

Makes 2 servings.

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Breakfast in Bed: Chelsea Morning / Orange Butterscotch Toast

Post by Alison Hein.

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses..

Recognize these lyrics? Well, my sister would. Besides being my culinary partner in crime, Janet also frequently serves as my memory. She correctly reminds me of what “really” happened when we were kids, clues me in on people’s names, and quizzes me on long-forgotten song lyrics.

Janet has recently been sending me puzzling emails such as: “ladyfinger dipped in moonlight” Just listening to the Dead. Do you think they were referring to the cookie? Or: Picture yourself in a boat on a river, With tangerine trees and marmalade skies…..

Well, let me be fair. I may have started this chain of events when asking Janet for new ideas for my breakfast recipe posts. “What about food songs?”, she inquired. Great idea, Jan!

First up, Joni Mitchell’s Chelsea Morning. Toast, oranges, butterscotch… What could be better for an unforgettable, lyrical breakfast in bed?

P.S. Janet and I have started a list of suitable breakfast food lyrics, so please let me know if you have any we can add!

Ingredients
1 Valencia orange (use about 2 tablespoons juice)
8 tablespoons (one stick) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
Bread, for toasting


Preparation

Cut orange in half. Juice one half of the orange (should yield 2+ tablespoons). Slice the other half of the orange into thin slices. Set orange juice and orange slices aside.

In small, heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Continue to cook over medium to medium low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is significantly thickened, about 5 minutes. If using a candy thermometer, cook until the mixture reaches the soft crack stage (270° – 290°). Remove pan from heat and stir in orange juice. Pour mixture into small dish or ramekin, and refrigerate until firm enough to spread (1 to 2 hours). Serve with toast and orange slices.

Makes ⅔ cup of orange butterscotch spread

Orange Butterscotch French Toast

If you’d like to get a bit fancier with this recipe, try making French Toast (see Sonya’s French Toast for inspiration. Then, after you’ve added the orange juice to your butterscotch mixture, stir in ½ cup to 1 cup of cream. Pour over warm French Toast and serve immediately.

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Breakfast in Bed: Panko-Fried Heirloom Tomatoes

Post by Alison Hein.

We may not be loving the hot, hot weather that much, but the heirloom tomatoes sure are. Homely and humble on the outside, these babies are sweet and juicy on the inside, tasting of warm, summer sunshine and cool, fresh water…

Pick some up at your local farmers’ market. Then try slicing them, coating with panko, and lightly frying the tomatoes to a crisp golden brown. You can stop right here, if you like, for a lovely summer side dish or lunchtime salad topper. Or, keep going. Top your heirlooms with a couple of poached eggs, a light cheese sauce, and garden fresh chives for a sweet, summery breakfast in bed.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons grated gruyère cheese
1 – 2 heirloom tomatoes
3 eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 – 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped, fresh chives
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
To make cheese sauce, melt butter in small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth, thick paste forms. Whisk in milk and cook until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add grated cheese and stir until just melted. Set aside and keep warm.

To bread and fry tomatoes, cut tomatoes into 4 ¼-inch slices. Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon water. Coat tomato slices thoroughly with beaten egg, then roll and coat in panko to fully cover. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a heavy pan and heat over medium heat. Add tomato slices to pan and cook slowly over medium to medium low heat, turning once, until panko is golden brown and tomatoes are heated and soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. (Green tomatoes will take slightly longer to cook than red ones.) Transfer to paper towel-lined plate and keep warm until eggs are cooked.

Eggs should be as fresh as possible for perfect poaching. To poach eggs, fill a heavy saucepan with enough water to cover eggs (3 to 4 inches) and heat until very hot and simmering, but not boiling. Break eggs into individual small dishes. Or you can use an egg poacher. Carefully pour the first egg into the simmering water. Immediately use a wooden spoon to wrap the cooking white around the egg yolk to prevent the white from feathering. Repeat the process with the second egg, and cook for about four minutes, until the white is firm but the yolk is still soft. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain. Trim edges if necessary.

To assemble, stack two fried tomato slices on a plate, place one poached egg on top, top with cheese sauce, and garnish with chopped chives. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings.

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Breakfast in Bed: Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Post by Alison Hein.

If you’ve been reading my posts for awhile, you know that I am a blueberry fanatic. But did you know that July is National Blueberry Month? According to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, the North American blueberry harvest runs from April in Florida to late September in British Columbia. The peak of the season is around July 4th. What better way to celebrate Independence Day?

Start your day off with this easy, fruit-filled blueberry cake. Light enough for breakfast, it’s the perfect companion for that first cup of steamy morning coffee. Warm brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla flavors beguile with each blueberry bite. Assemble all your ingredients first, and mixing becomes a cinch. This cake is best served warm, and sour cream added to the batter keeps the texture moist, even after reheating.

Serve your cake with some fresh strawberries, if you like, for an Independence Day red, white and blueberry breakfast in bed.


By the way, July 10th is National Pick Blueberries Day, so you’ve got one week to plan. Check out the North American Blueberry Council’s website for nationwide u-pick information, as well as blueberry festival dates: http://www.nabcblues.org/upick.htm

Ingredients

Topping
¼ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cake
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sour cream
2 cups (1 dry pint) blueberries


Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside. Mix white sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one at a time. In a separate small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Mix the milk, cider vinegar, and vanilla together in another small bowl. Add alternately with flour mixture to the egg batter, until well mixed. Fold in sour cream and blueberries.

Spread batter evenly in baking dish, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly across top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 20 to 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm. Add a dollop of whipped cream, if you like.

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Breakfast in Bed: Mulberry Mini-Scones

by Alison Hein.

My sister, Janet, has a red mulberry tree in her garden. Mulberries are prolific in the Northeast, where they are better known for their messy habit of dropping sticky, ripe berries wantonly to the ground than for their inherently sweet and tangy, somewhat wild, juicy berry flavor.

Mulberries are not commercially cultivated in this country (you will soon learn why), and make a rare early-summer treat. Peak growing season is fleeting, and harvesting is messy. Berries fall to the ground the moment they ripen, becoming instant prey for birds, deer, and other creatures. Picking ripe berries from the tree results in a slow, frustrating harvest, and stubborn, crimson-stained hands. Tenacious little stems cling stalwartly to the tree, making you fight for every berry. Instead, try laying down a tarp or drop cloth, give the tree a good shake, then scoop up the ripe berries.

Now, what to do with them? Pies, tarts, pancakes and muffins are all good options. Mulberries look and taste somewhat like blackberries, but with a sultry, wild edge. Jellies and jams, or mulberry-infused vodka, will taste like a fleeting, exotic indulgence. Whatever you decide, make sure you harvest enough mulberries to create a wild, early-summer breakfast in bed.

Ingredients
2¼ cups flour
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ cup (one half stick) cold butter
¾ cup milk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 eggs
½ cup toasted walnuts*
1 ½ cups mulberries (or blackberries), carefully rinsed and placed on paper towel to dry
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Extra flour for shaping scones


Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°. In large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ginger. Cut butter into small pieces and cut into dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, combine milk, vinegar and one egg. Mix well, then add all at once to dry ingredients, stirring until just mixed in. Add toasted walnuts and mulberries. Mix in gently.

Turn batter out onto floured board. Divide into 16 equal pieces and shape into balls. Press each ball gently into a flat round. Cut a cross in the top of each scone, but do not cut all the way through.

Place scones on lightly greased cookie sheet. Lightly beat remaining egg, and brush on top of scones. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Place in oven and bake for about 14 to 16 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm with butter.

∗ To toast walnuts, preheat oven to 350º. Arrange walnuts on baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool, then chop.

Makes 16 mini-scones.

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