First Basic Recipe for LIFE- Fluffy Scrambled Eggs

I have joined Jamie Oliver's FOOD REVOLUTION, and watched the first in the series of television shows on Sunday night. Did you? If you caught my post a few weeks back about his acceptance speech you'll recall him talking about "10 recipes for life".

I've done some thinking about that. Over the last few weeks I put together a small, very small cookbook for my son with barebones information about how to buy food, what brands are reliable, how to plan a menu and use your time wisely in the kitchen and some actual weekly menus with a handful of recipes. The recipes I included are exactly what I think Oliver is talking about. Simple food with a few ingredients that will sustain life.

I realize that most of you in the blogging world are making gourmet food. But do your children and neighbors know how to scramble an egg? If not, here is a tried and true recipe that I think everyone should have for LIFE. It's the first recipe in the book for my son, it takes 45 seconds to make-- FLUFFY SCRAMBLED EGGS, made in a cast iron skillet.

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We all have our "go-to" recipes that pull us through life. I know you have them.

What do you make on a night when you wish you didn't have to cook dinner but everyone is starving and you know you can do better than take-out?

I really want to know.

SaraBeth's & Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Any of you lucky enough to have eaten at SaraBeth's in New York City have a great food memory- at least I do. I went with a bunch of wonderful young friends who wisely helped me order Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and wow- they left a perminant mark in my foodie memory bank. I came home and tried to duplicate the recipe, it sort of worked- but today I found this recipe on line and made it this morning for our New Years breakfast. Delish! If you can't be at SaraBeth's in person, you can make a close second at home. I picked up some of her preserves that made it almost feel like I was half way there . . .

Happy New Year 2010!

Pumpkin Pie Brioche and Ebelskivers, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day

I am a member of the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day google group, and the first bonus assignment was to make this fabulous seasonal brioche- the deadline has passed, but I decided to go ahead and make it anyway and I'm glad I did. You may want to make this delicious bread for your table as well, Pumpkin Pie Brioche.

The Pumpkin Pie Brioche recipe was available on the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day web site, but has now be removed. You can access it from Michelle's blog {Big Black Dog} who has permission from the authors of HBinFive, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. The changes I made in the original recipe were made because I live at a high altitude. I took the suggestions that were made in the book -- they worked beautifully. Here are the changes: 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon yeast, 1 rounded tablespoon kosher salt, and 2 rounded tablespoons vital wheat gluten.

The dough has a wonderful consistency and I found it easy to work with. I absolutely had to make a brioche, which will find it's self turned into french toast in the morning, but decided that pumpkin ebelskivers would be just the thing to best use this flavorful dough and they worked like a charm.

Christmas brunch at my house finds me making ebelskivers, it's been a tradition as long as any of my children can remember. These delicate puff pancakes can be quite delicious but unfortunately a bit of a time eater as well. This Pumpkin Pie Brioche dough worked out famously to cut down in the time area because I was able to make the pinch balls and set them out to rise and then cook them up quickly. I may have to think about mixing this into my menu this year. It is a winner recipe served with nutmeg syrup and orange butter.

When I make ebelskivers I use a cast iron pan. I love cast iron. It cooks these cute little pancakes evenly and perfectly light brown. I put the cast iron in a hot oven for about 15 minutes before I'm ready to cook to get the pan nice and hot. Once it's hot, place it on the stove top on a low setting. Put a little canola oil in the bottom of each round cup and place one of the risen pinched balls carefully into each hole. Watch them attentively until you get an idea of how quickly they will cook. You need to have a tool to turn with, I've used everything from a bamboo skewer to tongs. This year I have a set of new tools that I picked up at Williams-Sonoma made by Littledeer. They made quick work of lifting and flipping the delicate little babies. They were a bargain at $12. Once the ebelskivers are done, sprinkle them with powder sugar, serve and and watch them disappear.

Pocket Pies for the Breakfast Club

Saturday morning was an escapade of The Breakfast Club. We met to make hand held pies, or pocket pies as Williams-Sonoma has chosen to market them. Because it was for breakfast, we wanted to have a filling that would be conducive to that time of day. We ended up with a savory filling of eggs, potatoes, veggies and cheeses that was a knock out. And for the sweet tooth we made some simple ones out of homemade raspberry and peach jam (we didn't have any trouble giving those away either). All in all we had a great time being together and learning how to use these wonderful little tools. You would not need to have the gadgets that we used, it would be very easy to use a large cookie cutter and go through the same process. The video on the Williams-Sonoma sight is helpful to watch before you make these pies, with or without theirpocket pie molds.

On Sunday I tried my hand a second time at these cute little pies with a jar of pre-made homemade apple pie filling (recipe coming later). It was a one pint jar and I made 8 pies with 1/2 of a recipe of pastry dough. They turned out quite nice and having done the hand held pies twice now I have learned a few things.

1. The pastry dough should be rolled out thin, as thin as possible ( you are getting more than a regular amount of pastry in these little pies, so thin is a good idea unless you have double the time to spend at the gym).
2. Putting the egg wash around the edge of the inside of the pie to seal the two pieces is pretty much mandatory in keeping them together if you want the filling inside the pie.
3. Fillings should be cut into tiny pieces.
4. Brushing the egg wash on top should be put on the center of the pie, but not necessarily on the crimped edge (it gets a little over done).
5. These hand held pies are somewhat time consuming to make, plan on more time than you would to make a regular pie or playing the Tom Sawyer game and gathering others around you to help.

One addition to the recipe for these Veggie Cheese Scrambles- we did cook the shredded potatoes and asparagus in a frying pan with some olive oil for a few minutes before we mixed them in with the other ingredients. This allowed the pies to cook quickly in the oven.

Let me know if you try making these cute little babies and how they turn out for you!

How Many Cereals In Your Pantry?

Did you know that American's buy 2.7 BILLION packages of breakfast cereal each year? And if laid end to end, the empty cereal boxes from one year's consumptions it would stretch to the moon and back? (facts from Cerealizing America)

So what kind of cereal is at your house? I did a little inventory of my pantry and we have a pretty good collection of more than four boxes, diet and regular. And I have plenty of ingredients to make my own cereal, which is a blend of both worlds. It's a granola that is made of all sorts of good things for you, tastes good and can be used for snacks as well as breakfast and you know what? It has no preservatives to worry about or a box to add to the recycling bin and the big bonus is it's low in fat and sugar. It is great served with yogurt and fresh fruit- who could resist that?

If you happen to be one of the 49 out of every 100 people that start their day off with a bowl of cereal, join me with some freshly made granola!

Cast Iron Skillet, It's All in the Pan, German Oven Pancake

If you haven't made this old favorite in a cast iron skillet, you've been missing out. It gives the pancake a wonderful crust without overcooking the inside pancake. I'm sure the German cook that actually first developed this recipe did so in a well worn skillet made out of iron. There are several reasons I call the cast iron skillet the miracle pan--two of them are the things cook even and quick. This recipe is a perfect example of those qualities. Don't be afraid to break out that cast iron skillet and try German Pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Let me know if your family loves it as much as mine does.