eggnog bread pudding

I saw this eggnog bread pudding recipe last week and knew I had to give it a try. I happened to have a ginormous panettone on my kitchen counter. One of those impulse purchases, where I knew I wanted a panettone...but somehow I neglected to notice the size of the thing. So anyway, I come across this recipe that promises to turn half of my (huge) sweet bread into an equally decadent dessert-- or in our case, brunch-- and I knew it was fate. OK, fine, I don't need to get all dramatic about it. But seriously, you must try this recipe. Not only because it is so, so easy, but because it's Christmas-y and special and soooo good.

Eggnog Bread Pudding

based on this recipe from Cooking with Trader Joe's

(makes a 9x13" dish of decadence)

750g loaf of panettone*

6 eggs

1 quart of eggnog (4 cups)

1-2 Tablespoons of vanilla

zest of an orange, optional

cooking spray or butter

Preheat your oven to 350. Butter your baking dish, or lightly coat with cooking spray. Cut the panettone into roughly 1" cubes and place the bread in the baking dish. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, eggnog, vanilla and orange zest (if you are adding it) and mix until well blended. Pour evenly over bread. Let this sit and continue to soak while the oven is warming up. The original recipe has you making a water bath and baking the bread pudding for about 1 hour. You can go that route, or you can skip the water bath (as I did) and bake it (normally) on the middle oven rack, uncovered for the first 45 minutes. Then, I covered mine with foil because the top was starting to brown quite a bit, and I continued to cook it for another 45 minutes. You'll know it's done when a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean. As you all know, my ovens are dying a slow death, so you can assume that the whole cook time is somewhere around 1 hour...but it could be as long as 1.5 hours, depending upon how pesky your oven is. (Plan ahead if you're having guests!!)

Speaking of planning ahead, this dish can be made in advance either fully baked (and then warmed in the oven, covered loosely with foil) or you can pour the egg mixture over the top and pop it into the fridge, and bake it the next day if you want to wow your family/friends/house guests with an absolutely amazing smelling kitchen. That said, if it's going straight from the fridge into the oven, count on it taking more like 1.5 hours to bake.

Here are action photos for those who like to see the step by step:







*A little side note: panettone is studded with dried fruit and has quite a distinctive taste. I thought that was what made this bread pudding special...I loved the plump raisins and bits of orange rind in the finished product. But, if you think your family would prefer it with plain bread, you can make the recipe I posted above with about 5 cups of French bread, also cut into 1" chunks.

of course they are cooked!

Seriously you guys? The number of emails asking if I gave my family RAW eggs. Come on people. That was the before photo. No one commented on the sweet verbiage, but you all wondered if I cooked the eggs.... yes, I cooked them at 375 until they were set. You should do the same. They were fabulous.

homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal

If you've made homemade apple sauce, then apple-cinnamon oatmeal is a must try. Nothing like the packaged stuff. This make-ahead breakfast is the perfect start to a crisp, Fall morning.

make-ahead oatmeal + homemade applesauce

Make one big pot of oatmeal at the start of the week and store it in the fridge. This way, breakfast can be made in minutes on busy school mornings.

Back-to-School (Make-Ahead) Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal

I have to be perfectly honest: I had every intention of coming back from our trip ready to hit the ground. I thought I would have mapped out the perfect back-to-school meals, snacks and lunchbox ideas...carefully planned out how I was going to get that elusive "me" time while the kids were at school...organized all of the articles I've been tearing out and piling up all summer into a tidy binder so I could quickly and easily share new ideas with you all. And the truth is, I spent most of August just enjoying the summer with my kids. Now I'm back, but definitely not focused yet. I can't tell if my head's spinning upon re-entry or if it's just still in (blissful) vacation mode? By the end of the week, both kids will be back in school and I'll probably feel a little bit more organized. But for now, I'm just restocking the fridge/freezer after the week long Hurricane Irene power outage, and focusing on kicking off the new school year on a high note. In that spirit, I wanted to share a new make-ahead breakfast recipe with you all! We gave it a whirl yesterday and it was a hit.

Baked Oatmeal (with Bananas & Almonds)

based upon Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day's Baked Oatmeal

(makes 8 servings)

butter, to grease the baking dish

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

dash of salt

2 cups milk

1 egg

1/4 cup agave (optional)

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2" pieces

Preheat oven to 375. Butter an 8" round or square baking dish. In one bowl, combine dry ingredients: oats, almonds, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a second bowl, combine the wet ingredients: milk, egg, agave (if using), melted butter and vanilla. Place a single layer of sliced bananas in the bottom of the baking dish. (Pictured above; I used two of the bananas here and the third banana as the topping.) Cover the bananas with the oat mixture. Drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. You may want to gently tap the baking dish on your counter top, just to make sure the milk mixture moves through the oats. Arrange remaining banana on top. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until top is golden and the baked oatmeal has set. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Can be made ahead and slices may be reheated in the oven or microwave, until warmed through.

Here is the recipe in photos with a few of my additional notes:

I made this recipe with what we had on hand: bananas and slivered almonds. As such, it came out smelling and tasting like breakfast-worthy banana bread. The original recipe from Super Natural Every Day's cookbook calls for walnuts, bananas and your choice of fresh berries. If you'd like to follow the orig recipe, the steps would stay the same but your measurements would be: 2 bananas on the bottom of the pan + walnuts instead of slivered almonds in the oat mixture + 1 1/2 cups of fresh berries scattered over the top before baking, instead of that last banana. Really, you can use any type of nut you like, and any type of fruit to top it. But the way we made it was really good, so I'd probably just stick with my almond-banana version. Anyway, in the photo above, the bananas have been covered with the oat mixture, and then I am going to drizzle the milk mixture over the oats.
I did gently tap the baking dish on my counter top, just to make sure the milk mixture moved through the oats. Then I arranged slices of the third banana on top.

The baking time should be between 35-45 minutes. It took 41 minutes for the top of my dish to be golden brown and the baked oatmeal to set. It's goopey if you serve it right away. Best to let it cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

This is a perfect breakfast to make ahead, and simply reheat slices in the oven or microwave on a school morning. Or, if your new school year resolution is to workout before the kids get up, you could always do the quick assembly, pop it into the oven and let it bake while you workout. The amazing smell wafting from your kitchen as it bakes should get the kids out of bed in time to make the school bus.

homemade egg sandwiches with pesto

So....I wouldn't say that I am exactly relaxed, nor am I refreshed. I think I was mid-way through our 5th year at family camp, but suffice it to say that re-entry with a sick little one is no fun.



Pair sleep deprivation and day time worry with the fact that no one is making my three meals a day, and well, that explains the fact that I am a tad disillusioned. I did, however, nail our first breakfast back: homemade egg sandwiches that were both comforting and delicious made with what we had on hand when we returned home:



whole wheat English muffins

eggs, fried or poached

Gouda cheese, sliced thin

pesto (I have a new food crush on these LeGrand packs of pestos and sauces)

Since the photo above doesn't look like much, here's a peek inside to the gooey deliciousness...

chard & scallion scrambled eggs on toast

My neighbor shared half of her CSA bounty this week. Lucky me. The big bunch of chard and dainty scallions became our brunch: sauteed in a bit of olive oil, and scrambled with a few eggs then served over a toasted slice of Alvarado Street California Protein bread. I added cheese to my husband's and kid's. Mine was delicious as is.

new favorite (energy packed) breakfast

I've taken up tennis again this summer. And, this has become my go-to breakfast. Not only is it delicious, but it tides me over til lunch and gives me the energy to zip around the court (totally avoiding my to-do list while the kids are at camp). The breakfast is simple (and makes an equally fabulous lunch or hearty snack):

Alvarado St. Bakery California Protein Bread* (toasted)
+ Hummus, White Bean Dip, Edamame Hummus or (mashed) avocado (whichever I have on hand)
+ one sliced hard-boiled egg

The key is to hard-boil a bunch of eggs once/week and keep them in the fridge so this can be made in minutes.

*I find Alvarado Street bread in the freezer aisle of our local markets.

Now for those wondering, no, my kids aren't digging that breakfast. And so, I've kept a supply of Trader Joe's French Toast on hand...

or I'll give them a muffin, fruit and yogurt...

or, one of the hard-boiled eggs, some fruit and a frozen tube of yogurt if it's hot...

and they've seen their fair share of Van's waffles.

Simple and delicious morning - make ahead breakfast ideas

Mornings can be nutty. But that doesn't mean your family has to throw back a handful of cereal as you dash out to meet the school bus. With a little planning ahead, and maybe 1 hour of cooking each week, you can get a few recipes made ahead of time so that breakfast is ready to go on the busiest of mornings.

The photo above is our breakfast yesterday morning. Looks good, doesn't it? Particularly for a Tuesday morning! Total time spent making it Tuesday morning: about 5 minutes to plate and reheat the slices of frittata (which I had made on a lazy Sunday morning) and cut up an apple, and wash a few berries. I make a frittata at least once a week with a variety of veggies because it's so, so easy. Here is the original post that had my super simple frittata recipe.

Last week, I taught a cooking class for a group of young athletes. The topic was "healthy breakfasts" so they can be at peak performance at school, and at their meets. After hearing from so many friends that their kids are "picky eaters", or "they definitely won't try this or that", I was thrilled that this group of kids not only tried-- but relished-- each of the recipes we made together, including a veggie filled frittata. So, I encourage you to give that recipe a try. My go-to protein pancakes were another major hit at that lesson. The kids topped them with applesauce, berries and kept coming back for more. Since I am short on time to do in-person lessons right now, here's a video of the protein pancake recipe in action. Enjoy!

Simple Weekend Brunch: Veggie Hash

I wish I could say that I toodled out to our local farmer's market, two kids in tow this morning, and put a seasonal bounty on the table. But, the reality is: my husband's off playing tennis with the guys, I've got two kids who are totally beat from a big week in the sun, and I really wanted to sneak off and read during the quiet period when my kids were immersed in their LEGO creations.

Still, on a moments notice, we had a fabulous breakfast together. It wasn't the freshest, but it hit the spot. One of the secrets to being able to whip up quick, yummy meals for your family is to have a well-stocked pantry and freezer.

Brunch Veggie Hash
(4 servings)

1 package of Trader Joe's Country Potatoes with Haricots Verts and Wild Mushrooms (found in the frozen section)
6 eggs (or more if you'd like leftovers or your family is bigger)
handful of shredded Parmesan

Heat the contents of the country potato package in a medium fry pan. When potatoes and veggies are just about warmed through, add the eggs and cheese. Scramble everything together until eggs are cooked. Serve to your family. Don't mention there are mushrooms in there if your child hates mushrooms. Chances are they won't even notice them in the hodge podge of delicious flavors.

I served the veggie hash with biscuits smothered in strawberry jam, sections of a juicy orange, and dried cranberries (my little one's request...) I passed on the cranberries and also forgot to photograph my plate before thoroughly enjoying this meal.

Cooking with Kids: Blueberry Muffins

Baking's not really my thing. I much prefer to improvise with a little of this and a little of that, rather than follow a recipe with the right proportions. But my younger child loves to help out in the kitchen, and at his age, baking is a better gig than hovering over a hot pot or using sharp knives together. So, this morning we whipped up some blueberry muffins, putting the bounty of berries on the counter to good use. I did the measuring, he did the dumping into the bowl, washed the blueberries, used the hand mixer with reckless abandon and wiped the counter down as I filled the muffin cups.

Blueberry Muffins
Yields 12 Muffins
(adapted from a Stonyfield advertisement, which was sort of pointless since I didn't have any yogurt on hand*...)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
between 1/2 to 2/3 cup of sugar (depending upon how sweet you want them)
1 cup of sour cream* (which was supposed to be yogurt, but I didn't have any)
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, room temp
cinnamon
vanilla
lemon zest
1 1/2 cups of blueberries
Turbinado sugar (optional, to sprinkle on top before baking)

Preheat oven to 375 and spray muffins tins with cooking spray (which we didn't do, so ours are, um, stuck but still taste good). In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except blueberries. Using a hand mixer, blend on low speed until combined. Fold in the fresh blueberries. Spoon into twelve muffins cups. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (depending upon your oven, mine always takes longer) until tops are lightly browned and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For the first year that I can remember, someone else will be doing the cooking this Fourth of July. So, this might be as festive as my cooking gets this weekend? But for those of you looking for a festive treat idea to make (and one that is great for little helping hands to get in on the action), I'll send you back to last year's posts from the 4th here and here!

(Effortless) pancakes and frittatas on a snowy morning

It’s a snow day today! So, with a little luck, I can pull out the Play Doh, sticker mosaics, pipe cleaners, felt, markers, glue and popsicle sticks and catch up on posts. This morning was another reminder that on the busiest-- or laziest-- of days, it’s so great to have meals made ahead. In today’s case, the boys wanted pancakes so I heated up some protein pancakes with vanilla yogurt and organic (frozen) strawberries on top. And I enjoyed a wedge of the frittata I’d made earlier in the week. Now, if only my children could have slept in, it would have been the perfect, cozy morning! Here are the recipes for the Protein Pancakes and frittatas, or you can always click here for the original post:

Canyon School’s “Cosmic Cookery for Kids” Protein Pancakes

1 lb cottage cheese (1 tub)
6 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 cup flour
2 t vanilla (or more)
dash of cinnamon
lemon zest (optional)
butter (optional, for fry pan)

Blend everything in the blender until the batter is smooth with a consistency of sour cream. Bake small pancakes on hot griddle, turning once. Serve warm. These pancakes may be made ahead, cooled, and stored in a Tupperware in the fridge for several days. They reheat beautifully.

Veggie Frittata

About 2 cups of your choice of vegetables
9 eggs
½ cup of milk
½ cup any type of shredded or finely chopped cheese
+ another ½ cup of shredded cheese to go on top

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and cheese. Set aside. Sauté the vegetables in a bit of olive oil in an oven-proof medium-sized skillet, until tender. Spread this veggie/meat mixture evenly on bottom of skillet. Pour egg mixture over it, and lightly stir with a spoonula or spatula so the egg mixture is evenly distributed underneath.

When the egg & veggie mixture is about half set, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the frittata and put the skillet in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until frittata is puffy and golden. Remove from oven and let cool on the counter for several minutes. You may serve it directly out of the skillet, or invert it onto a plate. If doing the latter, be sure to use oven mitts as the handle will still be very hot!! I recommend making frittatas on the weekend (or a lazy snow day!), and enjoying it that morning. Then let the remainder cool completely and slice it into individual servings, which can easily be heated in the microwave later in the week.

Cooking with Little Ones: Homemade Granola

I blew into town last night, just before the heavy snow. In case you hadn’t noticed, it was very quiet over here the past week, as I was enjoying a decadent week away with my mom where the only thing we had to worry about was which yoga class to take, whether to hike or take a breathing workshop, and whether to have dinner at 6:30, 7:30 or 8:00. Bliss I tell you.

Anyhow, local schools were cancelled today, which was nice because I hadn’t spent quality time with my children in a week. On my flights home, I had earmarked all sorts of recipes from Mark Bittman’s book, Food Matters, and jotted down this elaborate shopping list, excited to launch back into cooking after being cooked for for the past fifteen meals.

After the novelty of making Valentines wore off, my littlest one wanted to cook together. Truth be told, he wanted cookies, and I think he figured asking to cook together just might make a couple dozen appear. No such luck on Day 1 back from the spa. But close, since oats/butter/sugar/flour were some of the only things on hand. I’d left the home stocked with plentiful frozen meals and enough fruits and veggies to last the week, intending to do a major marketing run upon my return. But the snow was keeping us in, so I honed in on a recipe that we could whip up together with what we did have on hand…and this recipe happens to also be perfect for little hands because it involves dumping and stirring, that’s it. Today I tried Mark Bittman’s granola recipe, which is very similar to the one I posted a couple of months back, minus the olive oil and his has a higher proportion of oats to nuts/coconut.

Anything Goes Granola from Food Matters by Mark Bittman
Makes a lot of granola!

5 cups of rolled oats
3 cups of mixed nuts (we used walnuts, pecans, and slivered almonds)
1 cup of shredded, unsweetened coconut
Cinnamon, to taste
½ - 1 cup of agave or honey (we used half of each and probably put ¾ cup in)
Sea salt, dash of
Vanilla (but we didn’t have any on hand)
1 cup of raisins (which we also didn’t have, so we used cranberries)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix rolled oats, nuts, coconut, cinnamon, honey, sea salt in a big bowl. Spread the mixture on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice during the cook time. Once it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins (or cranberries). Cool and then store in an airtight container.

Mark says that it will “keep indefinitely in the fridge” but I think we’ll blow through this batch in the next few days. Excellent eaten plain for a snack (if you have a vacuum nearby), eaten like cereal, or made into yogurt parfaits.

Easy Kid-Pleasing Granola

In the October 2009 issue of Health magazine’s Best in Food section, there’s a blurb saying you can “Steal This Dish” and it gives Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Easy Granola. I’d torn it out and filed it into my recipe binders thinking I’d give it a whirl one day. I’m a pretty horrible baker, since I prefer to slice, toss in and stir what I have on hand or what looks good at the market that day, instead of follow instructions. But this one had promise. Well, at least I hoped it was more flexible because I decided to tackle it this afternoon with what I had on hand. It turned out beautifully, and both kids approved. So, now I pass it along to you.

My Easy Granola (That’s a Combination of Jamie Oliver’s and Cooking Light’s and What I Had On Hand)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

On a rimmed baking sheet, I combined:
2 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 cup of nuts (I used raw slivered almonds from Trader Joe’s)
½ cup of unsweetened coconut (which I’d gotten in a tub in the produce section of Walter Stewart’s)
About 5 tablespoons of maple syrup
3 Tablespoons of olive oil (yes, olive oil-- it works!)
About 2 teaspoons of cinnamon (because we really like cinnamon, but use less if you want)
About 2 teaspoons of vanilla (which we also really like around here)
½ teaspoon of kosher salt

I gave everything a little toss on the sheet with my spatula and then baked it for 20 minutes, taking it out and stirring it every 5 minutes (so stirring 4 times total). Then when it was golden brown, I took it out, and put it into a mixing bowl with ½ a bag of dried cranberries (so probably about ¾ cup). The berries plumped up in the heat. I tasted it, and it was good, but could use just a little more sweetness so I then put a hearty squeeze of honey on it, gave it one more stir. Served it to my boys for lunch with whole milk and they ate it right up. Love that. This one’s a keeper.

New Breakfast Idea – Egg Toasts

Scrambled eggs with a side of toast can get kind of ho-hum. I saw this in a magazine (which I’ll have to dig up so I can give it credit) and gave it a whirl last week. It’s become one of the new favorite breakfasts around here. It’s the hidden shape that sealed the deal.

Egg Toast

Butter
Piece of bread (1 slice per toast)
Cookie cutter that fits within the size of the bread
Egg (1 egg per toast)
Shredded Cheese (optional)
Ham (optional)

Warm a fry pan, and drop in a pat of butter. Let it melt over medium heat.

On a cutting board, you’re going to start with a piece of bread.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out the center of the piece of bread. (Make sure to leave the whole outer edge in tact, since that’s what is going to frame the egg.) Put the piece of bread into the warm fry pan (that already has melted butter).

Then you crack an egg into the opening. The egg will ooze around and fill the shape you cut out. Cover with a lid so the egg cooks more quickly. (As you'll see above, I started adding some cut up ham and shredded cheese after I got the hang of it. But first, I'd just try it with the eggs...then you can get a little more creative!)

Once the egg is a little past halfway cooked, you’re going to flip the piece of toast. It may splatter. That’s ok! As long as one side is pretty, you’re good to go!!

Let the egg finish cooking, the toast finish toasting. Then remove it from the pan and wow! Look at that. After my kids have ogled the hidden shape, I have been cutting it into quarters for them to eat it more easily.

A quick note on bread: you cannot use that funny, really thin bread for this. It will not work…the egg will run everywhere and you’ll have one disappointed mom and child. Go for a nice hearty thick piece of bread. Our favorite is Eli’s Health Bread (which you can get in 4-piece packs at Aux Delices in Darien). La Brea’s Seeded Wheat or Whole Wheat would probably also work well.

And, as you see above, the buttery, egg-y bread is wonderful dipped into your favorite jam too.