Sugar Plums with Fresh Ginger and Sparks Flying in My Oven!

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | September 12, 2008
Filed Under breakfast, dessert, recipe | 26 Comments

These California Sugar Plums showed up at our market, like a little gift at the end of summer. They are so sweet and lovely that the first bunch I bought were gobbled up, pure and simple. I returned and bought two more quarts of them with the intention of roasting them. Their flavor is so wonderful and the sugars so developed they didn’t need much adornment. When you cut into the plums the flesh is slightly green, against the purple skin it is really quite beautiful. I left the skins on, as I am apt to do, but this time I’ll admit that the skins, although pretty, were a little too tough. I was afraid as the flesh baked the skins would remain too firm.

Well I never got far enough to find out. My oven exploded while I was preheating it. Yes, exploded! Read more

Bread-on-a-Stick at the MN State FAIR (and a Book Giveaway!)

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | August 20, 2008
Filed Under Artisan Bread book, Book Giveaway, breakfast | 51 Comments

cinnamon rolls on a stick

The MN State FAIR opens tomorrow and the annual food-on-a-stick showdown begins. Not to be left out of all the fun, Jeff and I will be presenting our bread methods and introducing our latest and greatest achievement; Bread-on-a-Stick. This Thursday and Friday at 5:00pm in the Creative Activities Building at the St. Agnes Kitchen, We will be demonstrating how to make these cinnamon rolls and other savory breads-on-a-stick. I’ve included the technique below for anyone who does not have the great fortune of living in MN or the ability to join us at the Fair.

For those of you who can make it to the FAIR, Jeff and I have put together a Gift Bucket Giveaway, to be raffled off at the St. Agnes Kitchen. It will contain a 6 Quart Cambro Bucket, Mixing Spoon and a signed copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Even though Jeff and I will only be there for the first two days, the Gift Bucket Giveaway raffle will be there for the entire FAIR. Just stop by the St. Agnes Kitchen and fill out a ticket. We will draw the name of the winner on the last day of the FAIR.

Because some of you are not able to be at the FAIR, we will also be randomly selecting someone’s comment from this post and sending them a signed copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Just leave a comment below or at www.artisanbreadinfive.com and you could win a book. We will select a winner on September 2nd. Read more

Sweet Peach Lassi

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | July 31, 2008
Filed Under breakfast, frozen dessert, kids | 16 Comments

lassi

How can something so tasty be SO easy. Just throw it all in the blender, let it whirl and you have a a gorgeous lassi! This is what I made my boys for breakfast this morning. Peaches and a bit of honey sweeten the tangy yogurt. Pour it in beautiful little glasses you can serve it as dessert after an Indian feast or a light picnic on the patio.

The recipe comes from my friend Suvir’s book, Indian Home Cooking. I switched to peaches from his traditional mango and replaced the sugar with honey, otherwise it is all his! He and I will be teaching a class at Cooks of Crocus Hill on August 30th for any of you in the area who would like to join us. It will be a wonderful evening of his incredible food and I will be creating breads and sweets to match. Read more

Springtime Crêpes and Michelle Gayer’s “Salty Tart” Bakery!

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | May 19, 2008
Filed Under breakfast, dessert, recipe | 14 Comments

strawberry rhubarb crepes

My friend Michelle, pastry chef extraordinaire (more on that later!), and I went to Porter & Frye for a little late night bite to eat. This was a spontaneous get together, a stolen moment between work and mothering. I’ve been wanting to try Porter & Frye because the executive chef, Steven Brown, is my ex-boss and one of the most talented men I have ever had the good fortune to meet. He, unfortunately had already put in his 12 hour day and wasn’t there when we arrived at nearly 10:00pm. But, his sous chef and pastry chef were still working and willing to whip something together for us. Read more

Same Ingredients, New Pastry! (Blueberry Lemon Curd Ring)

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | May 14, 2008
Filed Under breakfast, dessert, reader question, recipe | 22 Comments

lemon blueberry ring

Elizabeth wrote and asked me about assembling the Blueberry Lemon Curd Ring from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (page 228). I already had the Brioche dough, in my mini dorm fridge filled with buckets, and I had just made the lemon curd for mother’s day so it was simple to throw this together. Read more

Lemon Curd and Brioche à Tête for Mother’s Day!

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | May 8, 2008
Filed Under bread, breakfast, dessert, recipe | 4 Comments

lemon Curd

This weekend is Mother’s Day and I will get breakfast in bed from my two wonderful young boys. It is a tradition that always ends up with the duvet and my children wearing a significant portion of food. The menu is a list of their favorite things to eat, prepared by their dad. Waffles smothered in syrup, whipped cream, berries and a side of bacon (because my husband Graham loves bacon). I adore it all! They generally give me about two bites before climbing into bed to inhale the rest. I’m sure someday when the boys get older and more civilized we will go out for brunch and I will actually get to eat something. But, there is a part of me that will sadly miss this display of loving savagery. Read more

Crazy About Fresh Warm Doughnuts!

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | March 14, 2008
Filed Under Artisan Bread book, breakfast, dessert, kids, recipe | 12 Comments

doughnuts

I made a batch of chocolate filled beignets for a dinner party. The next morning the oil was still on the stove, albeit cold and I had brioche dough left in the bucket. My boys were waiting for something to eat and the coffee machine was doing its magic. In as much time as it would have taken me to make oatmeal I whipped together a batch of warm fresh doughnuts. The boys were thrilled and my coffee had the perfect companion! Read more

“Gourmand Kids!” the Star Tribune asked what my boys eat…

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | January 23, 2008
Filed Under breakfast, dessert, kids, recipe | 9 Comments

crepes

May Chen asked me what I fed my boys when they were little, as part of an article she wrote for Cribsheet, a blog about kids at startribune.com. My guys are very adventurous eaters, borderline extreme. Yeah, they will try anything, once. The raw oysters were not a huge hit but sushi is a favorite. I suppose they have to draw the line somewhere, for now! Read about some of their favorites and our family philosophy on food!

As part of the article I gave her a recipe for crepes, because my boys LOVE them, depending what you fill them with they can be a meal or a sweet treat!!!

For the recipe and a demo on making crepes read on:

Sunny-Side-Up Apricot Pastry (plus tips on vanilla pastry cream!)

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | January 14, 2008
Filed Under Artisan Bread book, breakfast, dessert, recipe | 13 Comments

Sunny-Side-Up Apricot Pastry

(photo by Mark Luinenburg from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)

In Minnesota for the past week it has been a little too gray for my taste. The one consolation to all the cold and snow we get around here, are the endless clear blue skies. They are rather remarkable and make the winters tolerable. When they refuse to show themselves through the clouds I go cold. This means I need a little something to brighten up my day. Something sweet! Something easy and quick. Sunny-Side-Up Apricot Pastry (p. 225) will do the trick. A combination of buttery brioche, luscious vanilla pastry cream and tangy sweet apricots. Read more

Why is peeling a boiled egg so HARD???

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | November 13, 2007
Filed Under basic, breakfast, kids | 8 Comments

eggs fresh from the farm

This morning my 8 year old son asked me for hard boiled eggs for breakfast. Nothing fancy, just a few whole eggs topped with salt and pepper. I went to the CIA, so this request should have seemed like a walk in the park, right? Let me start by telling you about the eggs. My husband works by a small farm which is tucked into the sprawl of suburbia. They sell wonderfully fresh organic eggs, which have yolks the color of marigolds and taste wonderful. My kids have been to the farm and have chased the chickens that lay the eggs they eat. They now want to raise chickens in our yard. But I digress from my egg peeling dilemma. By the time the eggs made it to the table, half of the whites were spiraling down the garbage disposal. I presented the remainder to my son and he said “these look like zombie heads!” He was thrilled with my presentation and ate them like an 8 year old savage eating zombie heads. This was not the effect I was going for.

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