Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

As a Southern girl growing up, my dad would often fix biscuits and milk gravy on the weekends. I was foolish enough to never master the recipe. I learned a few tricks recently to make the best gravy and want to share!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb breakfast sausage, formed into 5-6 patties
• 1 c milk, plus extra as needed
• 1 T flour
• Salt and pepper

In a large skillet, cook sausage. Meanwhile, measure milk and flour into a mason jar or other container. Screw on lid tightly. When sausage is cooked through, place on a plate lined with paper towels. Shake mason jar until there are no lumps. In same skillet, pour milk mixture into remaining grease and whisk quickly to form gravy over low heat. It will thicken quickly.Season to taste. Crumble 1-2 patties into gravy. Serve hot over fresh biscuits with patties on the side. As the gravy sits, it will thicken and you might need to thin it out with a few tablespoons of milk. 

Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Mom made this during my visit home for the holidays. It made a delicious breakfast! You can easily substitute your favorite variety of preserves. Raspberry or blackberry would be just wonderful! 

Ingredients:

1 package of cream cheese

1/4 c butter

2 c biscuit mix

1/4 c milk, plus 1-2 T for glaze

1 c powdered sugar

1/2 t vanilla 

1/2 c cherry preserves 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl, cut cream cream cheese and butter into biscuit mix until crumbly. Stir in milk. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead 8-10 times. Move to wax paper. Press into a 12x8 inch rectangle. Invert onto greased baking sheet and remove paper. Make 2 1/4 inch long cuts at 1 inch intervals down length of rectangle. Spread preserves down center of rectangle. Fold strips over the filling on an angle. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla for glaze. Cool the coffee cake 5 minutes, then drizzle with glaze. Best served warm. 

PBJ Smoothie

Who doesn't love a good ol' PBJ?

Ingredients

1 c unsweetened almond milk

1/4 c oats

1 T ground flaxseed

1 T creamy peanut butter

1 frozen banana, cut into pieces

1/2 c frozen strawberries

1-2 T water as needed

In blender, combine first 4 ingredients and mix on low for 30 seconds. Add banana and berries and blend to desired consistency, adding 1 T water as needed. 

Coconut Almond Granola

Granola. Is. Awesome. 

Super versatile, granola can be adjusted to fit whatever taste you're craving. Today, I went with coconut and almonds, but you can add any dried fruit or nut that you like. Serve over milk or yogurt.

Ingredients:

4 c old fashioned oats

2 c sliced almonds

1 1/2 c dried sweetened coconut

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c ground flaxseed

1 c oil

1 t salt 

1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Add oil, stirring to coat. Spread onto two cookie sheets, and bake for 10 minutes. Turn granola with a spatula, and then bake 10 more minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Cool completely. This stores well in a sealed container for a couple weeks.

Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Chocolate banana is one of my favorite flavor combinations! Add oats to your smoothies for an extra boost of fiber fullness.

Ingredients:

1 c milk (almond/dairy/soy)

1/2 c old fashioned oats

5 ice cubes

1 banana

1 T cocoa

1 T ground flaxseed

Blend milk and oats first. Add ice and blend. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Ta da! Now enjoy your excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast. 

Cranberry Orange Chocolate Scones

Folks, I have a confession. Scones and other breakfast pastries are the way to my heart.

Cranberry Orange Chocolate Scones

Adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Ingredients

2.5 c flour

1 t salt

4 t baking powder

2 T sugar

5 T butter, cold

3 eggs

3/4 c milk

1/4 c dried cranberries

1/4 c chocolate chips

1 T orange zest

1 T water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a food processor, combine all dry ingredients and orange zest, reserving 1 tablespoon of sugar. Add butter, and pulse until mixture appears sandy. Separately whisk milk and 2 eggs. Combine milk mixture with the dry ingredients. Turn onto floured surface and gently knead in berries and chocolate chips. 

Pat dough into rectangle of 3/4 inch thickness. Cut into 8-10 triangles. Place scones on ungreased cookie sheet. Make egg wash with water and remaining egg, and brush mixture onto scones. Sprinkle scones with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. 

Cheese Quiche

Quiche. It's what's for dinner.

I made mine in a whole wheat crust from scratch, but by all means use a frozen pie crust if you want. No judgement here! The key is that the crust is hot when you pour the filling into it- so watch your timing.

This one is pretty basic, but you can add all kinds of veggies or herbs. Play with your food!

Ingredients

6 eggs

2 c milk

2 c shredded cheese (I used white cheddar)

1/2 t salt

1/2 c chopped parsley

3 dashes hot sauce

1 pre-baked pie shell

Bake crust per directions- reduce oven temp to 325. Whisk together eggs and milk. Add other ingredients. Pour into hot crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes until edges are firm but middle is jiggly. Cool completely, or serve slightly warm. I like mine with a side of greens. 

"Cinnabon" Cinnamon Rolls

I had been holding onto this recipe waiting for an occasion to try it. Christmas morning was my chance. The smell of them baking got everyone up and ready to go. Christmas (and Thanksgiving) are sort of like marathons for me and my siblings. We have lots of places to go and lots of people to see. So a couple of these to start our day wasn't so bad...right?

If you want to have these in the morning, but don't want to wake up hours before everyone else, you can make these the day before you need them. Just store them in the fridge before the second rise. In the morning, take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before you bake them off. I was nervous they wouldn't puff up, but they really expanded once they got in the oven.

"Cinnabon" Cinnamon Rolls
adapted from allrecipes

For Dough:

• 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
  
• 1 cup warm milk
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 1/2 cups flour

For Filling:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For Icing:

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2-3 tbsp milk
  

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough. (I used dough hook attachment for about 5 minutes). Dough should be soft and smooth.

Put in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Roll it up (lengthwise) and slice into about 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. (At this point, I would transfer to refrigerator for next day). Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Make your icing while they are in the oven, adding enough milk for the consistency you like. Enjoy!

Makes 12 rolls. (I think I doubled this recipe for my family!)

New-York Style Crumb Cake

This is Jack, have you met him yet?

One of the first things I made when I went home for Winter break this year was a crumb cake. Like many of the things I bake, this is one of my mom's favorites. What I like most about this recipe is the size of the crumbs- they're huge! That's all Jack wanted- a crumb.

I might have dropped a crumb or two on the floor "on accident". This is really a great recipe. Keep it on hand for when you have a house full of family or friends. It works any hour of the day, as breakfast, a snack, or dessert.



New York-Style Crumb Cake
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

For crumb topping:

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, still warm
1 3/4 cups cake flour

For cake:

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature (I used sour cream)
Set an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together all the ingredients for the crumb topping until they form a smooth dough. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the cake.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the cake flour, sugar, baking soda and salt at low speed. With the mixer running on low, add the butter chunks one at a time, letting each one incorporate into the dry ingredients before adding another. When the mixture resembles even, moist crumbs, add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and buttermilk, and increase the speed to medium. Beat until the batter is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Break apart the crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces, rolling them slightly in between your fingertips to get them to hold their shape. Spread the crumbs in even layer over the batter. Bake until the crumbs are golden and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

Home Fries

My roommate loves these little half-moon potatoes. We like to eat them very simply with a fried egg on top and a little ketchup, which makes for super filling and super cheap eats! You can use any kind of potato you like, just try to slice it evenly. I always wish I had some jalepeno to throw into this!


For 2 servings plus some leftovers:

• 3 cups sliced red potatoes
  
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
  
• salt, pepper
• crushed red pepper (optional)
  

In a large skillet, heat up your oil and cook the onions until translucent at medium heat. Add in the potatoes and remaining ingredients. Cover with a lid (or an aluminum foil tent) to trap the steam for fast cooking. Stir occasionally and cook until potatoes are fork tender, then crisp everything up by removing the lid and turning up the heat a bit. Enjoy!

French Toast Casserole

I am probably never going to make regular french toast every again. All that dipping, flipping, and washing all the dishes. No, not anymore. Probably the only teeny-tiny setback is if you wanted to stuff your french toast, but that is a post for another day. The reason for trying this awesome recipe from smitten kitchen is that I volunteered to make breakfast for four before attending the 10 o-clock service to honor a family member last Sunday (this was at a Baptist church in Mississippi--talk about culture shock!). This summer has been an interesting summer. A strange time when I am, as my grandmother puts it, learning to relax. This means lots of reading, cooking, watching too much television, and hanging out with my goofy family. When you are doing these types of things, there is no good reason to wake up early. None whatsoever. Therefore the prospect of waking up and fixing breakfast for four on a Sunday morning in addition to showering and finding something appropriate for church was not something I wanted to attempt. The reason this recipe is so great is that you assemble it the night before and just throw it in the oven in the morning. Slice up a few berries and there you have it, a lovely breakfast for four. See the little rooster napkin rings? My mom has this funny obsession with roosters. So adorable. By the way, you don't have to use challah bread like she did, I used a mixture of some cinnamon swirl and lots of ends of loaves that no one likes to eat in our house. Yummy, yummy, and so easy!

Zucchini Bread

One day my uncle brought us two giant zucchinis. I mean these things were the size of a small baseball bat! My mom had no clue what to do with them so I grated them up and made about four loaves of this bread. Like most quick breads and muffins, it freezes beautifully. It was very moist and spicy! Inspired by Joy of Cooking.

For 2 loaves (Or 24 muffins):

• 1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)
  
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your pans. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and mix, then stir in your zucchini and nuts. Divide batter between your pans and bake for 40 minutes to and hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you are making muffins, they will take 20-30 minutes. Enjoy this wholesome, healthy bread with your friends and family!

French Toast

This is really simple. Stale bread works well because it soaks up the egg custard best. You may use any kind of bread. Sourdough is my favorite, but cinnamon raisin is great, too.

While your skillet or griddle is preheating on medium heat, whisk well by hand or combine in a food processor:

• 1 c. milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. sugar or maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Dip 1 slice of bread at a time into your custard, coating both sides (I usually pour the custard into a shallow dish, like a pie plate, for instance). Spray nonstick oil or melt butter in your skillet.
Lay your slices into the skillet and cook until golden brown, 1-2 minutes on each side. Serve with maple syrup and pats of butter.

The amount this recipe makes depends on how thick your slices are and how much custard you let your bread soak up. My mother fears the risk of soggy French Toast, so I've always been very quick about dipping my slices; so for my family, this recipe could make up to 12 slices.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

These are the fluffiest blueberry pancakes I've ever produced. Adapted from the Joy of Cooking.

Stir together in a large bowl:

• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  

Whisk together in a small bowl:

• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 stick melted butter

Preheat a large skillet or griddle to medium heat. Spray with oil (I find this creates a prettier pancake than melted butter). Pour wet ingredients over dry. Stir until only slightly lumpy. As you dollop the batter into your skillet, sprinkle in your blueberries. Use as many berries per pancake as you like. Turn when bubbles form and pop, leaving empty dimples in the pancake. Serve hot with syrup and extra pats of butter, or freeze for later.

If you don't have buttermilk, no problem! Just add about 1 tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice to 1 1/2 c. milk and let sit for 5 minutes. This will create the acid you need for that tender, distinct "buttermilk" flavor.