Breakfast/Brunch

Late Summer Fruit Tart with Yogurt & Nuts

by liz · Aug 10, 2016

I know the first the day of Autumn has officially come and gone, but the weather around here hasn’t gotten the message. It’s still unseasonably hot and sticky, and the garden is still producing summer vegetables like crazy.

I’ve been craving a fresh and simple breakfast lately, and dreaming of fruit tarts. Berries have one of the highest concentrations of vitamins and anti-oxidants of all the fruits; strawberries, along with almonds, are even featured on the clean-eating detox diet that I love!

And making the crust with crushed nuts only ramps up the nutrition as well as making it gluten-free. You can use any nut you like — almonds, cashews and hazelnuts are my favorite. Delicious and healthy, you can indulge in this delicious fruit tart and still call it breakfast.

Extra thanks to the lovely and talented Toki Lee for helping with a summer fruit tart photoshoot!

Check out this Greek Yogurt Fruit Tart recipe by Sally’s Baking Addiction for a delicious fruit tart recipe with Greek yogurt and a nut crust. I love how simple and pretty it is — you’ll be addicted too!

Late Summer Fruit Tart - Toki Lee photography

Late Summer Fruit Tart - Liz Dodder photography

Stone Fruit Clafoutis Recipe

by liz · Jul 29, 2016

Living in California means having fruit trees in your yard, or in the yard of friends, coworkers and neighbors. If your produce yield is not high (unlikely here in the land of sunshine), you’ll surely receive piles of peaches, apricots, plums, oranges, lemons, avocado and figs from those living and working around you. Hint: it might help to be a little friendlier this time of year.

I had a large batch of plums this summer, and could hardly pick them fast enough to keep them from dropping to the ground where they became a sugary snack for the wildlife that’s claimed my home as their own. I also just read a book by one of my favorite pastry chefs, David Lebovitz. He moved to Paris, writing about his glorious and perplexing adventures in The Sweet Life in Paris. He described a summer fruit Clafoutis recipe, a simple French custardy dish that wasn’t too sweet and was served warm with morning coffee, which drove me straight to my kitchen with my plums in the midst of a heatwave.

I began baking a new clafoutis each week, with whatever fruit my friends and colleagues brought me. My favorite was using both plums and apricots, as well as whole wheat pastry flour, half and half and organic sugar. I knew just how David felt in Paris. Another similarity with David: I had recently begun doing my dishes in the bathtub (just like in Paris!), but that’s another story. On with the clafoutis recipe!

Stone Fruit Clafoutis Recipe

adpated from David Lebovitz

Ingredients:

4 T butter, melted + more for preparing dish
1¼ lb firm, ripe plums and apricots (or figs, cherries, raspberries)
3 eggs
½ C whole wheat pastry flour
1 t vanilla
½ C + 2 T organic sugar
1 C half & half

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Liberally butter the bottom and sides of a 2 QT shallow baking dish. Halve the plums/apricots (or figs or cherries) and remove the pits. Place the plums/apricots cut side down over the bottom of the baking dish. If you’re adding figs, cherries or raspberries, sprinkle them over the plums or apricots.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Whisk the butter and flour into the eggs until completely smooth, then add the vanilla. Whisk in ½ C of the sugar, then the cream.
Pour the custard mixture over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, sprinkle 2 T of sugar over the top. Continue baking the clafoutis for about 30 minutes more, until the custard feels slightly firm in the center and the top is a nice golden brown.

Stone Fruit Clafoutis Recipe

Author: adpated from David Lebovitz

Ingredients

4 T butter, melted + more for preparing dish
1¼ lb firm, ripe plums and apricots (or figs, cherries, raspberries)
3 eggs
½ C whole wheat pastry flour
1 t vanilla
½ C + 2 T organic sugar
1 C half & half

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Liberally butter the bottom and sides of a 2 QT shallow baking dish. Halve the plums/apricots (or figs or cherries) and remove the pits. Place the plums/apricots cut side down over the bottom of the baking dish. If you're adding figs, cherries or raspberries, sprinkle them over the plums or apricots.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Whisk the butter and flour into the eggs until completely smooth, then add the vanilla. Whisk in ½ C of the sugar, then the cream.
Pour the custard mixture over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, sprinkle 2 T of sugar over the top. Continue baking the clafoutis for about 30 minutes more, until the custard feels slightly firm in the center and the top is a nice golden brown.

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Baked French Toast with Apples

by liz · Mar 14, 2016

French Toast is my favorite breakfast! It’s also my favorite food translation into French: pain perdu or lost bread. I just love the idea of bread that has lost its way and fallen into naughty behaviors like a mounds of milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon.

Baking French Toast makes the whole process a lot easier, and creates a creamy, bread-pudding-style French Toast, which just makes it more delicious, in my humble, lost-girl opinion. This version uses baked apples, but you can use any kind of fruit pie filling recipe for this.

Baked French Toast with Apples, adapted from Meals.com

Ingredients:

homemade pie filling of any fruit, like these simple baked apples
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 pieces of bread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Melt butter in 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Add brown sugar and Harvest Apples; stir well.

Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla extract in medium bowl until well combined.

Dip bread into egg mixture; place on top of apples.

Bake in oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until bread centers are firm.

Baked French Toast with Apples

Author: Meals.com

Recipe type: Breakfast

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 6

Baked French Toast is any easy way to enjoy my favorite breakfast - and the apples add a lovely sweetness.

Ingredients

homemade pie filling of any fruit, like simple baked apples (see post for recipe link)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 pieces of bread

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Melt butter in 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Add brown sugar and Harvest Apples; stir well.
Whisk eggs, milk and vanilla extract in medium bowl until well combined.
Dip bread into egg mixture; place on top of apples.
Bake in oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until bread centers are firm.

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Natural Coconut Granola: the Best Granola in the World

by liz · Feb 27, 2014

So this is the best granola in the world. I know because I asked everyone I know to try it and they became immediately addicted. So, now I’m writing this up so they can all have the recipe and I won’t have to supply them anymore.

I got the base recipe from this Coco-Nutty Granola recipe at MindBodyGreen.com (I love this website!) and I’ve been experimenting with different ingredients and quantities. I have fun looking in my cupboards and using things I find to change up the combination every time, but I also think I’ve found the magic combination of whole foods (check out recipe below).

This all-natural, all-organic granola is not low-calorie by any means, but it is made of 100% super foods that are gluten-free and you can control the sugar. And if you need a low-sugar delicious green smoothie to go along with it, try this one!

Natural Coconut Granola: the Best Granola in the World

Author: Liz

This scrumptious coconut granola will keep you satisfied and full of wholesome foods, even if you don't like coconut!

Ingredients

5 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 cups coconut flakes (use large flakes, not shredded coconut)
2 cups organic quick oats
2 cups nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, etc.) or seeds (pumpkin, pepita, pine nuts, etc.), chopped roughly - I like to use a combination
½ cup organic flaxseed
½ cup chia seeds
1 or 2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves, ginger or other spice of your choice
¼ to ½ cup coconut sugar, evaporated cane juice or honey, to taste - the amount of sweetener is up to you

Instructions

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until well combined. Place parchment paper in a cookie or cake pan big enough for one layer of granola.
Pour granola mixture into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Stir granola or turn the pan halfway through cooking time.
If you like it crunchier, let it cook to a darker color. Just keep checking & stirring until you get your perfect crunch!

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Southern Citrus Twist: Citrus Buttermilk Raisinets Muffins

by liz · Sep 17, 2012

Written by Liz –

As any real Southerner (or Midwesterner) knows, buttermilk is a very important part of any kitchen. It adds creaminess and light texture to biscuits, pancakes, breads, donuts, soups, salad dressings…and the list goes on and on. In fact, many say a biscuit isn’t a real biscuit without buttermilk, whether it’s the traditional left-over milk from churning butter or commercial-grade cultured buttermilk. It’s so important, there’s even a buttermilk-themed food truck here in Los Angeles!

These muffins, created by Maria of Two Peas and their Pod, incorporate buttermilk to give it that creamy texture, along with orange juice/peel and chocolate Raisinets for a citrus-sweet twist. If you’ve never baked with buttermilk, this recipe is an easy way to start — no dough coaxing skills required.

Citrus Buttermilk Raisinets Muffins

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

Nonstick cooking spray or paper baking liners
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup NESTLÉ RAISINETS Dark or Milk Chocolate-Covered Raisins
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel

Directions:
FOR MUFFINS:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners.

COMBINE granulated sugar and orange peel in small bowl. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant. Whisk together flour, orange sugar mixture, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Stir together melted butter, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract in medium bowl until well blended. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Pour liquid mixture into the well; gently stir until combined. Fold in Raisinets. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

BAKE for 17 to 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in muffins comes out clean. While the muffins are baking, make the orange glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the muffins while they are still warm. Allow the glaze to set before serving.

FOR ORANGE GLAZE:
COMBINE orange juice, powdered sugar and orange peel in a small bowl. Whisk together until smooth, adding more juice if necessary until desired consistency.

Links:

More muffin recipes:

Blue Blueberry Muffins

Pumpkin Oat Streusel Muffins

Secrets of a Sharecropper: Southern-style Buttermilk Biscuits

by liz · Sep 14, 2012

The Sharecropper is one of the most interesting members of my community. He shows up in the dark of night to build fires and cook dinners for large gatherings. No one knows where he lives or when they will see him next; he just appears, ready to lend a hand and drink a glass. And bake biscuits. Sometimes he’s gone for weeks on end, only to resurface with a new tattoo, driving a strange new vehicle (or motorcycle) we’ve never seen before, and we may never see again. He has a magically never-ending beard and a huge heart. And the best biscuit-making skills in the region.

The first time I had his biscuits, he pulled the freshly made dough out of a compartment on his black motorcycle, strode into the kitchen in all leather and asked politely for a rolling pin. They were buttery, flaky and layered with just the right amount of density and lightness. They were perfect.

Here are some of his biscuit flavor combinations:

Cracked pepper and sea salt
Smoked Andouille sausage and Cotswold cheese
Parmesan and herb
Bacon, green chile and sharp cheddar
Duck fat, Parmesan and capers
Prosciutto and smoked Gruyère

But, if you’re gonna make traditional southern biscuits, here are some guidelines…or more accurately — closely guarded biscuit secrets — to follow:

you have to use real buttermilk, no substitutes allowed
the butter should be full-fat, unsalted, herbed and frozen
self-rising flour is best, but you can use whole-wheat and other flours (but then you have to use more butter, in fact, mad amounts)
getting the ratio of liquid to flour to butter is key, and takes practice — not something you can get from a recipe
you must exercise patience, using just the right amount of rolling, resting, flattening and folding (and sometimes back again) to coax the right result out of the dough — much like the attentions paid to a woman.

Well, I don’t have the Sharecropper’s secret recipe, his dough-coaxing skills or any tattoos, but I know I’ll see his leather-clad tribal-decorated self soon, and he’ll be bearing his gift: the best southern-style buttermilk biscuits I’ve ever had.

Favorite Breakfast Now: Farro & Eggs

by liz · Apr 14, 2012

Breakfast/Brunch is probably my most favorite meal of the day. I love the morning sun, the smell of pork belly, coffee and mimosas. Levain sourdough toast with butter and strong coffee with cream is all I need to feel happy and well-fed. Add a fried egg on that and it’s gonna be a special day.

So I am very familiar with all the traditional and regular breakfast/brunch menus and dishes. And frankly, a little bored. So now that farro appears on breakfast and brunch menus all over town, I am again excited about the first meal of the day.

This ancient grain is most often grown in Italy, where the people have the lock-down on how to eat fresh, delicious and healthy. And it’s perfect with eggs.

At Canelé in Atwater Village, I had this fried farro with egg, bacon, kale and sriracha. Farro is the perfect nutty platform for fried egg, kale and bacon. It satisfies any craving for that classic eggs-and-bacon-breakfast, while adding a dimension of flavor. And sriracha never disappoints.

At Lazy Ox downtown, I had this creamy farro with wild mushrooms, fines herbs & pecorino. Savory, creamy and perfectly salty-sharp, this dish feels more like a pot roast than a simple whole-grain dish.

Thanks farro, for making my day.