Spanish Omelette

We discovered this omelette dish about a year ago and make it once every few weeks. It's quick to pull together and I always work to have the ingredients on hand for an easy meal. We often eat it for dinner on an especially chaotic night because by the time we're ready to sit down to eat, it's cooled to the perfect temperature. Nigella suggests this as a great item for a picnic lunch though as the warmest you want to eat it is room temperature and it's easy to transport.

What I love about it though is the combination of colours and flavours. Simple ingredients highlighted together in an equally simple dish. The sweetness of the peppers, the sharpness of the cheese, the texture of the soft potatoes with vibrant colour of the bright green onions.

Spanish Omelette
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 12-15 baby new potatoes, halved and boiled until cooked through
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 of a jar of flame roasted peppers, roughly chopped
• 3 green onions, finely sliced
• 3/4 cup old cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Heat an oven-safe, heavy-based frying pan on medium heat
• In a bowl, whisk the eggs, add the peppers, green onions and cheese and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked, drained potatoes
• Heat the butter in frying pan and, when hot, pour in the omelette mix and cook gently for five minutes
• By this time, the bottom of the omelette should be set and, rather than turn it, simply sit the pan under the grill for a few minutes to set the top. It should be a little wobbly in the middle still but it will continue to cook as it cools
• Once cool, slice into wedges and serve at room temperature

Recipe from Nigella Express

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins

My mom always has a batch of muffins ready to go at a moment's notice. Since I have been home on maternity leave, I have had people come over for lunch often and it's always nice to have something homemade for lunch. Since my meal planning resolution was exclusively for dinners however, sometimes lunch ingredients don't always make it into the mix so I'm going to try my mom's trick: freezing muffins.

I made this recipe for Tim and I, but it made a dozen muffins which we can't eat fast enough so I took half of them, and froze them. Now if I have some unexpected visitors, I can easily pull some out of the freezer and it looks like I just made them! Brilliant.

These muffins, from The Barefoot Contessa, were moist and delicious but what I love is that you could probably have a lot of fun with the add-ins, too. Next time, I'm going to add blueberries to the mix instead of raisins for an added punch of antioxidants, colour and flavour. What add-ins would you try?

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/8 pound (1/4 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup large diced bananas (about 1 large banana)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
• Combine the bran and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on a high speed for about five minutes, until light and fluffy
• With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time
• Scrape the bowl then add the molasses, orange zest and vanilla (the mixture will look curdled)
• Add the bran-buttermilk mixture and combine
• In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Fold in the raisins, banana and walnuts with a rubber spatula
• With a large spoon, fill the muffin cups full and bake for 25 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans.

Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa at Home

Oven-Baked Bacon

Bacon is one of my weaknesses. For years, I was a vegetarian, but secretly, on Saturday mornings when T and I would go out for breakfast, I would indulge in a few strips of bacon. There's something about the saltiness of it that I crave and it just completes a Saturday morning breakfast.

But no matter how much I loved bacon, I rarely made it myself. I found it super messy and I hated that hot oil always popped up and burned me and covered my stove top. Baking my bacon though has changed all of this. It is a foolproof way to cook bacon and I always  have perfectly cooked, non-curly bacon that has an easy clean up. The other great thing is that it is one less thing I have to watch on the stove when I am making eggs, pancakes and vegetables. 

Oven-Baked Bacon

Ingredients

• strips of your favourite bacon

Directions

• Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and place a cooling rack on top.
• Lay strips of bacon out on cooling rack in a single layer and put in centre rack of oven. Turn oven on to 400 degrees (do not preheat) and bake for 18-20 minutes or until bacon has reached desired crispness.
• Remove tray from oven and transfer bacon strips to a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess grease.

Eggnog Pancakes

It's eggnog season! Every year, I buy one delicious litre of eggnog, to enjoy during the holiday season. This year, I wanted to find some creative ways to cook with it, so for Pancake Sunday, I subbed in eggnog in my standard buttermilk pancake recipe. The result was a pancake that tasted a lot like french toast. They were light and fluffy and a great new way to use up that extra nog!

Eggnog Pancakes

Makes 12-14 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups eggnog
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg (cinnamon would work too)
• some butter to grease the skillet

Directions

• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
• In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the eggnog and melted butter.
• Using a spatula, combine the dry and wet ingredients to make a thick, lumpy batter, being careful not to over mix.
• In a non-stick skillet, melt some butter over medium heat. Ladle 1/3 cup batter into hot skillet. Do not overcrowd the skillet because the pancakes will puff up and out as they cook.
• When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, and the edges begin to brown, flip the pancakes and cook the other side. 
• Smother with maple syrup and a dollop of whipped cream.

Bacon, Tomato and Cheese Frittata

Pancakes are our traditional Sunday morning breakfast, but this week, I wanted to be a little less hands on and give this quick frittata recipe a try. It was a nice change of pace and, since we don't eat a lot of bacon, a real treat to have something a little salty and well, let's just say it: greasy. 

I used six eggs which was two more than the recipe called for so it took a little longer to cook, but two of us easily split it. (Split may not be the right word here... there was definitely a hungry man in my kitchen that may have had more than his half!). Overall, a great way to mix up breakfast and give me some time to sit back and relax while this was cooking. A great way to start a Sunday.

Ingredients

• six eggs
• 1 tomato, diced
• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• In a skillet on medium, melt 1 tbsp of butter.
• In a bowl, beat the eggs slightly, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir.
• Pour in the warm skillet and cover. 
• Cook for 8 - 10 minutes, or until centre is set.

Recipe adapted from Kraft Canada's What's Cooking magazine

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

I've been seeing apple everything all over the blogosphere and couldn't wait to whip up something very fall-like for breakfast this weekend. Having just run out of blueberries, I thought apple would be the perfect addition to my pancakes. I used a slightly different recipe than usual, so these were a bit denser than the buttermilk pancakes, but yummy in a completely different way. 

I used honeycrisp apples for these because I had them on hand, but making these with tart apples would be best so the apple flavours really stand out. Served best with warm syrup, slippers and a good book.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded tart apple
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp white sugar

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, milk and apple
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar
• Stir flour mixture into apple mixture until just combined
• Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat
• Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle using a 1/4 cup for each pancake
• Brown on both sides (flip once bubbles appear on the surface)
• Serve hot

Recipe from allrecipes.com 

Pumpkin Pancakes

Looking for something different to make with pumpkin? I made these out of the blue on a Sunday morning (which in our house, always features pancakes), but this could easily be part of a special Thanksgiving brunch. They are a dense and decadent pancake, perfect for a cold morning and would be delicious served with whipped cream and toasted pecans. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp vinegar

Directions

• In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, spice and salt.
• Combine dry and wet ingredients just enough to combine.
• Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
• Brown on both sides. Serve hot with whipped cream and pecans.

Breakfast Burritos

After the success I had with the baked steak burritos, I thought that the burrito possibilities were endless. In a state of panic the other night when it seemed like there was no food in the house, I was able to pull off what looked like a pretty sufficient dinner -- all thanks to some great presentation.


You can really do anything you want with these burritos (which is what makes them so amazing), but I stuck with the classics: bacon, eggs, tomatoes, onions, cheese. This was a breakfast of champions and would be good to make in the morning for active kids walking out the door. 


Ingredients

• 4 large flour tortillas, warmed
• 6 eggs
• 8 slices of bacon
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 green onions, diced
• salsa and/or sour cream to serve

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In one frying pan, cook the bacon
• In another frying pan, cook the eggs, scrambled
• Open up the four tortillas and spread out over the counter
• In each, in a line down the middle, place two slices of bacon, a couple of spoonfuls of egg, some tomatoes, some green onions and some cheese
• Fold the burrito by folding the long side in, tucking in the short ends and rolling over
• Lay seam side down on a baking sheet (don't be shy to use toothpicks to keep them closed)
• Serve with salsa and/or sour cream, or wrap in tin foil for easy portability

Brown Sugar Oatmeal with Berries

It's getting cooler here in the morning. One of my favourite things to do on a Sunday morning is snuggle up with my dog, a hot coffee and a warm breakfast and watch Sunday Morning on CBS. I usually make pancakes, but sometimes I'm looking for something easier so last week I pulled out a bag of Quaker oatmeal and I might not turn back. 

I pretty much followed the recipe until the end when I opted to make it a little more decadent by adding cream and sugar -- balanced out with some blueberries of course. 

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)

• 1/2 cup Quick oatmeal (3-5 minutes to cook)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cream
• 1/4 cup blueberries

Directions

• Bring water to a boil and add oatmeal cooking for 3-5 minutes (or, as per the bag's directions)
• Remove from heat and add brown sugar and cream. Stir in
• Add blueberries and mix in, letting warm up slightly
• Serve in bowls and sprinkle lightly with more brown sugar and a few more blueberries

Mixed Berry Muffins

It's berry season here in Ontario and I had an absolute abundance of berries on hand when I decided to make these. I laughed when I looked at these half way through cooking because the recipe told me "these muffins hide a sweet surprise" -- but the surprise of the berries were bursting all over my muffin tin. I actually think they looked better than if they were just a plain looking muffin. 

I will note that the "muffin" was pretty dense though -- more like a shortcake or even a scone. These would work really well as a summer dessert too -- add some fresh whipped cream and some extra berries on the plate and you're done!

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 cups mixed berries (I used blackberries, strawberries and raspberries)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest

For the muffins:

• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup  butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Combine all the filling ingredients in a small saucepan. Gently bring to a simmer and cook for five minutes until the berries give some of their juices. Set aside.
• For the muffins, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the butter, milk and egg in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
• In a 12 tin muffin pan, use half the batter and spoon into each cup. Then spoon a layer of the filling and the add the remaining batter.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Recipe from 500 Cupcakes

Zucchini and Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm having a cooking love affair with zucchini. It's such a lovely ingredient to cook with and because of it's high moisture content, everything I make with it is so moist and delicious.

Zucchini muffins seemed weird to me, but I was happy to add chocolate chips to it (as per the recipe!). As this recipe was from www.allrecipes.com, lots of people suggested that this was a great way to feed vegetables to children. Truthfully, I don't agree. In a dozen muffins, there was one large zucchini, which nets out to hardly one serving. Either way, I really enjoyed these and they certainly didn't last long in our house!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

• In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• In a separate bowl, combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla.
• Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
• Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.
• Pour into greased muffin tins.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

This recipe came from one of my favourite sites to scout recipes: www.allrecipes.com. On this site, someone will post a recipe and then other bakers and cooks can rate the recipe and write in what they liked about it -- or didn't like about it -- and often what recommendations they had for it. I like this site in particular because I enjoy other new chefs commenting on recipes and appreciate the feedback they offer.

This blueberry muffin recipe had 3,750 comments and received 4.5 out of 5 stars. And let me tell you, that many people certainly weren't wrong! This recipe is oustanding, ridiculously easy and full of ingredients I already had on hand (huge bonus). Plus, the crumble topping was a nice treat!

One of the things in particular I noticed when mixing this was how thick the batter was. It was unlike anything I had ever made before -- really dense and more cake-like than muffin. It bakes up really well and I wouldn't call the muffins light and fluffy, but they have a nice substance to them. Don't be shy on the blueberries either!

The original recipe said this made eight muffins, but I stretched it to 10 (in a regular muffin tin) so I had room on top to add the crumble mixture.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.



Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.


To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.


Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.




Print recipe for To Die for Blueberry Muffins

Muffin Frittatas

This is the new Egg McMuffin. 

These met all the criteria for a weekday breakfast:

• easy to prepare (even better to make the night before and just microwave in the a.m.)
• healthy -- loaded with veggies and protein
• good for on-the-go

I made this frittata mixture and simply put them in (note: well greased) muffin tins. You could add any combination of veggies that you like and any kind of cheese to dress them up -- or down -- as you like. 

Next time I'm going to experiment with a strata recipe, which I think will make these a little denser (the difference, as far as I can tell, is that in a strata there is bread). These would also be great as mini-muffins as a nice brunch appetizer. Stay tuned for more variations of this one!

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (if you use skim, mix some 5 or 10% cream with it so it's not too runny)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup zucchini, diced
• 1/2 cup yellow pepper, diced
• 1/3 cup diced tomatoes

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper until blended.

Add cheese and veggies, mix well.

Ladle into well greased muffin cups. About 1/4 cup each -- makes 10 to 12.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until just set.

Cook on rack for about 5 minutes, but as soon as they come out of the oven, run a paring knife around the edges (this will not only help get them out, it will make clean up a breeze).

Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Print recipe for Muffin Frittatas

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Every sunday morning, I make the same pancake recipe. It's easy and delicious, but this weekend, I had buttermilk in my fridge so I whipped out a brunch cookbook and found this new recipe. 

These pancakes are light and fluffy but rich and decadent at the same time. The batter -- which was full of air holes -- should have been a good indication of how light these were going to be. They were certainly a nice change to my regular stack and the kind of special occasion pancake you'd serve with warm maple syrup and whipped cream. Mmmm...

The trick to these is in the mixing. If you overmix the batter, the pancakes won't be moist and delicate. The batter, according to the recipe, should be thick and lumpy, but by the time I went to put my second batch on the skillet, it was light and airy. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• some butter to grease the skillet

Directions

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter.

Using a spatula, combine the dry and wet ingredients to make a thick, lumpy batter, being careful not to overmix.

In a non-stick skillet, melt some butter over medium heat. Ladle 1/3 cup batter into hot skillet and sprinkle with blueberries. Do not overcrowd the skillet because the pancakes will puff up and out as they cook.

When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, and the edges begin to brown, flip the pancakes and cook the other side. 

Smother with maple syrup and a dollop of whipped cream.

Print recipe for Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe from Out to Brunch: A Mildred Pierce Restaurant

Orange Cranberry Muffins

These muffins were extremely moist and the batter was even really not like any other muffin batter that I've made before. The orange muffin on its own would have been really good, but I decided to add some craisins (cranberry raisins). For T, this put the sweetness scale over the top, but I really enjoyed them. So much in fact, that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

Either way, I'd definitely make these orange muffins again but instead of the craisins, I would maybe add some walnuts or raisins instead, just to try something different.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp taking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup craisins (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, soak oats in warm orange juice for 15 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and mix in oat mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking powder, soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir into batter.
4. Stir in vanilla and craisins.
5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans (greased or with paper liners). This batter will be really liquidy, but the muffins will be soft and moist!
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Recipe adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Squash Soup with Bacon and Asiago Crumpets

On Sundays I feel that we should be having a full "Sunday night" dinner. But even though I took out a roast out of the freezer yesterday, it still wasn't defrosted in time to make dinner tonight, so we came up with Plan B: Butternut Squash Soup and Bacon and Asiago Crumpets.

Butternut Squash Soup

I didn't have a recipe so I used my basic Leek and Potato recipe and modified it slightly. Here's what I did:

1. Cut one medium butternut squash down the middle and roasted in the oven for one hour.
2. Melted two teaspoons of butter in a large pot and added one diced onion. Let cook for five minutes.
3. Add two diced up potatoes and one and a half cartons of chicken stock. Let boil until potatoes cook.
4. Cut up squash and add to the soup. 
5. Puree with immersion blender.
6. Add 1/2 cup of cream and 1/2 cup of white wine. 
7. Add salt, pepper and splash of nutmeg.
8. Serve in bowls and add a dollop of sour cream.

Overall, a pretty basic recipe and it turned out pretty well. I think this will be a winter favourite.

Bacon and Asiago Crumpets

These were delish! I got this recipe from the Mildred Pierce Restaurant brunch cookbook. They were good and pretty easy to make, but I certainly don't need 12 of them. My husband, T, really liked these though and maybe they won't be around that long.

They had a nice flavour and had a bit of a bite to them with the asiago cheese and the scallions. I think they might be nice in the toaster too for enjoyment throughout the week.

Lessons learned:

• I can make soup without a recipe
• If a recipe calls for crumpet rings, if you don't mind a messy border, you don't need them
• Hillebrand Riesling is our new favourite wine and it went really well with the mild soup