Blueberry Lemon Muffins

One of the things that I enjoy about the summer is fresh blueberries. Why yes, I also love the beach, but come on people...when it comes down to it summer is the best not only for the sun, but also for the food! Garden ripe tomatoes, juicy peaches, crisp corn on the cob, sweet melon and tangy blueberries that burst in your mouth when you bite down. It makes me happy just thinking about it!

So when I stopped at a local farm stand on the way home from work and they had boxes of fresh blueberries that were the size of your thumb, I couldn't resist...well those and the peaches and tomatoes. I couldn't help myself and popped a few berries in my mouth on the way home and they were wonderfully sweet with that tangy berry flavor that you get from fresh berries, not bitter or tart like you sometimes find from ones in the store, picked before they are truly ripe and then refrigerated.

Being that I had about two cups of fresh berries, I started by eating a good half cup then decided to use the rest to borrow an idea that I saw in a Martha magazine. I decided to use my old Betty Crocker cook book circa 1969 since she has never steered me wrong. I found a basic muffin recipe and adapted it to create a delicious blueberry muffin with hints of lemon.

I couldn't resist eating one right out of the pan and it was worth not waiting! The top was crispy and dotted with bits of decorating sugar that I had added before popping them in the oven. The inside was striped with the indigo of burst berries and had an underlying hint of lemon. These would be great with a streussel topping or plain as I had them with a bit of butter. This was a fabulous finish to my day, yes I had muffins for dessert and they were wonderful, I hope I leave some for breakfast!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Adapted from Betty Crocker Cookbook

Makes 12 muffins or 8 small loaves
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice (or juice from lemon that was zested)
zest from one lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (if using frozen be sure that they are thawed and well drained)

Grease the bottoms of 12 muffin cups. Beat the egg then stir in the milk, oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients to the wet and blend slightly, reserving a table spoon of flour to mix in with the blueberries to coat them. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter in the muffin cups. After coating the berries add them to the slightly blended batter and gently incorporate the berries only until the flour is moistened. Over mixing can make the muffins dense or tough, it is okay to have a few lumps or bumps in your batter.

Bake 20 minutes. Tops should be golden brown.

Eggs in a Basket with Creamed Spinach

I love going into the fridge and coming up with a new twist on an old favorite using what I already have available. So this morning when I was craving something hearty and healthy I decided to make Eggs in a Basket topped with some shredded Gruyere cheese and Creamed spinach. It turned out delicious and was the perfect combination of salty, creamy, and crunchy.

Eggs in a Basket with Creamed Spinach

1 slice of bread
1 egg
1 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
fist full of spinach leaves
2 tbs. cream
1/4 c. shredded Gruyere cheese (approximate amount; you can also use swiss cheese)

Cut a hole in the middle of the bread slice (I use a 1/3 measuring cup to do it).

Heat pan on medium, add olive oil to coat bottom of the pan. When hot, place bread in pan, slide it around a bit to coat with oil then flip and do that to the other side. This will coat both sides with oil so the bread doesn't stick.
Crack egg into the hole in the bread. You can break the yolk or leave it as is depending on how you like your eggs.
Then add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on that side until the bread is browned and the egg and bread slide easily around the pan.
Very carefully flip the slice of bread and egg. Allow to cook until bread is browned. If you want the yolk more done, then reduce the heat so that it doesn't cook at quickly.
Shred the cheese over top of the egg and bread while it is in the pan.
When done, place bread on a plate. Add a bit more oil to the pan and add the spinach. I don't chop the spinach. As it starts to wilt, add the cream and some more salt and pepper. Stir it around in the pan until all the spinach is cooked. The cream might boil a bit, that is okay since it will reduce the liquid. Place ontop of the egg and bread.

Moving up in the world... and Baked French Toast

It has been a while since I have posted, but things have been busy.
1. coaching has wrapped up
2. grad school is officially finished (yay)
3. stopped raining long enough to finally do some gardening
4. its spring, more specifically May... busiest time of year for me

As the month comes to a close, I am finding that I finally have time to get in some writing. I have been cooking up a storm, however have just not gotten around to posting about it (sigh).

But before the food... I have finally joined Twitter! I don't know that I will be much better about Tweeting than posting, but my sister has convinced me that I must be involved in all versions of social media if I actually want people to read this.

Now for the food, delayed but here none-the-less: Baked French Toast

This is one that I thought up around Christmas and is kind of a combo of French Toast and Cheesecake and tastes like a cheese danish. I made it for a Royal Wedding breakfast and we ate it with our cup of tea.

Ingredients:

Filling:
16 oz Cream cheese softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat together until smooth

Rasin or Cranberry (only available at the holidays) Bread

Dipping Mix:
2 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups milk or half-n-half
1 tsp. cinnamon
Beat together in a shallow bowl or dish to dip from.

Directions:
Grease an 8x8 pan (can double to use a 13x9 but the bread fits well in the 8x8 to do three layers)
Make a sandwich with two slices of bread and the creamcheese filling in the middle. (I guess you could also do a layer to dipped bread, then a layer of filling and another layer of dipped bread).
Dip both sides of the sandwich in the dipping mix.
Place the dipped sandwich bread in the bottom of the pan. Do this until the bottom of the pan is covered with 4 sandwiches.
Spread the rest of the filling (you should have about half left) over the sandwiches in the pan.
Dip four peices of bread on both sides in the dipping mix then place over the filling. Dump any remaining dipping mix over the top of the bread in the pan.

Bake in the oven at 350 for about a half hour.... I am not 100% on the time... it may need less, it may need more. I would just keep checking to be sure. It will be done when a knife comes out clean (there will be cheese on there, but not runny egg mix)

It is good right out of the oven, but I like it better cold the next day.

Ginger Orange French Toast

French toast takes me back to being a little kid. That was my mom's breakfast specialty. Dad did the pancakes, but mom made French Toast. It was always a great treat smothered with butter and cinnamon sugar.

I had some stale-ish bread in the fridge that needed to go and so French toast was on the menu for breakfast Saturday morning. I wanted to punch up the flavor a bit, since while regular milk and eggs work great, I wanted a bit more depth to my stale bread. I ended up adding some orange juice, vanilla and ginger to my egg and cream (yes, I used cream, it was handy since there was no milk and was delicious!). What I ended up with was a subtle orange ginger flavor that was great alone or with syrup.

Ginger Orange French Toast

(Measurements are approximate, add more or less to taste)

1 c. cream or milk or half-n-half
1-2 eggs
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

9 slices of French bread (the more dry and stale the better)

Beat ingredients in a shallow bowl with a fork. Heat pan on medium and add a bit of olive oil to the bottom. Dip bread on both sides the place in the pan. Flip when underside is lightly browned. *Do not let the bread soak, as it will not cook all the way through or be very soggy and difficult to flip.