Almost Famous Pecan Waffles

I believe I have mentioned this before... but the Food Network Magazine does a section every month called "Copy That", where they share a recipe from a famous (or somewhat well known) eating establishment. In the December 2011 issue they shared a recipe from the Waffle House. Unless you have lived in the south east, then you do would not understand the loveliness that is the Waffle House. For me it brings back memories high school and late nights with friends. It is seriously the scariest place you will ever get food, but it also has the best late night nosh!

So, when I saw the recipe for Pecan Waffles from Waffle House Iknew I had to try it. I never actually had the Pecan Waffles, but I know everything I tried there was good, so these had to be too, right?

And I was right. These waffles are amazing! DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT leave out the pecans. It seriously made these waffles devine. Oh, and do not forget your dollop of fresh whipped cream!

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Almost Famous Pecan Waffles

3/4 cup pecans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for brushing and topping
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, melted and cooled
Maple syrup, for topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet; bake until toasted, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool, then chop. Reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees F.

Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk the egg, milk, buttermilk and vanilla in a separate bowl until combined. Stir the egg mixture, melted butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until just combined. (The batter will be lumpy.)
Preheat a waffle iron and brush with melted butter. Ladle some batter into the iron (about 1/2 cup, depending on your waffle iron); sprinkle with 2 tablespoons toasted pecans. Cook until golden brown, then transfer the waffle to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining batter. Top the waffles with butter and maple syrup.

Bacon 'n' Cheese Strata

What is a strata? Well, I realized after I made this that it is a fancy word for "casserole". Casserole is a bad word at our house. Call me a food snob, but we do not do a lot of casseroles at our house. However, there are a few casseroles that we like to make, and this "Strata" has made the list. From the crispy bacon to the ooey gooey cheese, there is not a whole lot not to like! We love having breakfast for dinner too, so we just added this to our repertoire. Plus, you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for later!

Bacon 'n' Cheese Strata

8 slices firm white bread
2 scallions, chopped (including green)
8 slices pre- cooked bacon, chopped
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1. Coat shallow baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Arrange half the bread in single layer in dish, cutting to fit.
3. Cover with half the scallions, bacon, cheese and tomatoes.
4. Repeat for a second layer.
5. Combine eggs, milk, pepper and hot-pepper sauce.
6. Pour over casserole.
7. Cover.
8. (Can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 2 hours).
9. Heat oven to 375°F.
10. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.
11. If browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/bacon-n-cheese-strata-120320#ixzz1aX79JzJG

Breakfast Caserole

I think I may have mention this before... or maybe several times... We love having breakfast for dinner. So, whenever I can find something to add to our breakfast menu, I get really exited! Oh, and I am not a fan of breakfast casseroles. It has to do with all the milk and soggy bread. So, when I found this breakfast casserole recipe made with crescent rolls, I was curious. And guess what, I LOVED it. It is very simple and easy too, which we always love!

Breakfast Casserole


1 can crescent rolls
1 lb bacon
8 oz cheddar cheese
1/2 c milk
8 eggs
1/2 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 9x13 pan. Press crescent rolls in the bottom (try to do this without separating them), Cook the bacon, crumble, then sprinkle over rolls followed by the cheese. Mix milk, eggs, oregano, salt and pepper to sate. Pour over cheese. Bake 25-30 min.

I usually half this recipe, and cook in a 8x8 pan for 25 min.

Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Waffles with Cranberry Syrup

Welcome to pumpkin week! We may as well start with the waffles right? And these are so good, but really you could put pumpkin in anything and I would eat it. However, my kids love them too so that means they must be good! Honestly I have never attempted the cranberry syrup, but I will include it just in case you want to! We find them delicious just with maple syrup, whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkled on top!

Pumpkin Waffles with Cranberry Syrup

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/ 12 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups low fat buttermilk
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 large egg
1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg whites

Heat oven to 250. Place a large baking sheet in the oven.
Combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir to mix well. Make a well in the center of the ingredients and set aside.
Combine buttermilk, canned pumpkin, egg, oil, and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Add the buttermilk mixture and 1/3 cup water to flour mixture. Stir until moist batter forms. Let rest.
Beat egg whites in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain.
Cook on heated waffle iron using about 1/3 cup batter for each 4 inch waffle. Keep warm in oven until serving.

Cranberry Syrup:
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) cranberries

Bring honey and cranberry juice to a boil over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Add 3/4 cup of the cranberries and cook 5 minutes or until cranberries pop. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cranberries. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Makes about 1 cup.

Blender Wheat Pancakes

A friend of mine e-mailed me this recipe several years ago. Our family loves whole wheat bread, so we also love these whole wheat pancakes! They are fluffy and moist, but with a heartiness only whole wheat can bring. And then there is the fact that they are super easy to make! We do not have a wheat grinder either, so it is a great way to use up some of our whole wheat food storage. This is a great "breakfast for dinner" dish too!


Blender Wheat Pancakes

1 C milk
1 C uncooked whole wheat
2 eggs
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp salt

Put milk and wheat in blender and blend on high for 4-5 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add and blend on low eggs, oil, baking powder, honey, and salt. Be careful with the amount of salt. I found when I use the whole amount, they came out a little salty for my taste, so now I only add about 1/2 tsp. Bake on hot griddle or pan. We love to top this with fresh berries or fruit and whipped cream!

Perfect French Toast

A great recipe from my Food Network magazine. A whole section on different types of french toast! This time I just made the original french toast, and it was amazing! I bought a loaf of thick sliced french bread at Costco, and it was perfect! Great recipe and very simple, this will definitely stay on my "breakfast for dinner" rotation.

Perfect French Toast 
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon sugar
pinch of salt 
1/2 tablespoon butter
6 thick slices white bread, challah or brioche 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon sugar and a pinch of salt in a shallow bowl. Heat 1/2 tablespoon butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, dip 6 thick slices white bread, challah or brioche in the egg mixture and cook in the skillet until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side, adding more butter as needed. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake until puffed, 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in the same skillet until browned, about 5 minutes. Drizzle the French toast with the browned butter and maple syrup.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I finally used my new mini muffin pan! These are not the best chocolate chip muffins, but they are cute (which is really important when it comes to food), and they are actually a little bit healthy (as far as chocolate chip muffins go). My husband and I are trying to lose a little bit of our "winter weight", so these are great because they are only 45 calories each! After my winter weight comes off, I will find a more delicious chocolate chip muffin recipe.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

3/4 c milk
1/4 c butter
1 egg
1 3/4 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)

Pre-heat oven to 400. Beat milk, butter, and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients all at once. Stir until batter is lumpy.  Bake about 10 minutes in a mini muffin pan, 18-20 in a regular muffin pan.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread is a hit at our house. Last summer we had two out of control zucchini plants, so we used a lot of zucchini. To make it fun, I tried out a lot of different recipes. The oatmeal zucchini bread is one of my favorites, mostly because I feel better eating it since it has oatmeal in it, oh and it tastes good too!

I made these in my new mini loaf pan! I love it because I can freeze them, and pull one loaf out a day for us to eat!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
(I apologize, but I cannot remember which site I found this recipe on, so thank you who ever you are!)

3 cups flour
1 cup quick oats
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/3 cup white sugar
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup cinnamon chips (optional)

Grease and flour 2 8x 4 inch pans (or use mini loaf pans). Preheat oven to 325. Stir together dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, Beat in eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini and cinnamon until well combined. Pour batter in to prepared pans. Bake for 40-60 minutes (more towards the 40 minute for the mini pans). Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove.

Blueberry Muffins

We decided to have a relaxing Easter this year, and did not do any big meals. I did make some very delicious blueberry muffins, found on foodnetwork.com from Alton Brown. These were awesome, and very easy to make. I did over cook them a tiny bit, but they will still soft and fluffy on the inside. I used muffin cups instead of greasing and flouring the pan, which was a big time saver.

Blueberry Muffins

    * 12 1/2 ounces cake flour
    * 1 teaspoon baking soda
    * 2 teaspoons baking powder
    * Heavy pinch salt
    * 1 cup sugar
    * 1/2 cup vegetable oil
    * 1 egg
    * 1 cup yogurt (I used vanilla flavored)
    * 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
    * Vegetable spray, for the muffin tins

Preheat oven to 380 degrees F. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients reserving 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and toss with the blueberries. Stir mixture for a count of 10. Add 1 cup blueberries to mixture and stir 3 more times. Reserve the 1/2 cup of blueberries.

Using a #20 ice cream scoop, add the mixture to greased muffin pans. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of berries on top of muffins and press down lightly. Place into the oven and increase the temperature to 400 degrees. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Remove from oven and turn out, upside down on tea towel to cool completely. Serve immediately or store in airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Instant Pancakes

This is one of many recipes I love from Alton Brown (food network). I have never made a bad recipe from him, and they are all delicious. These pancakes are great. You actually make a lot the dry mix before and store it, so all you have to do to make them is add the wet ingredients. And do not worry, they are so much better then the instant pancake mix you buy at the store.

Pancake Dry Mix

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (check expiration date first)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months.

"INSTANT" PANCAKES:

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups "Instant" Pancake Mix, recipe above
• 1 stick butter, for greasing the pan
• 2 cups fresh fruit such as blueberries, if desired

Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F. Heat oven to 200 degrees F.

Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.

Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.

Check to see that the griddle is hot by placing a few drops of water onto to the griddle. The griddle is ready if the water dances across the surface.

Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel. (No butter should be visible.)

Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on fruit if desired. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.

Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel. Hold in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Crepes

Sorry, no fun story or commentary about this recipe, other then I finally made them well, and I forgot to take a picture! This is another recipe from my mother-in-law, so of course it is good.

Crepes

1 1/2 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c milk
1 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp margarine, melted

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Fro each crepe, lightly butter an 8 inch skillet over medium heat until butter is bubbly (if you are using a non-stick then the butter isn't really needed). Pour about a 1/4 c of batter into the skillet, immediately rotate pan until batter covers the bottom. Cook until light brown, flip and brown the other side.  repeat until batter is gone!

You can fill crepes with anything. We like to do fruit crepes, like banana, peaches, strawberries or blackberries, topped with whipped cream. You can do savory crepes with eggs and cheese, or you can even get super fancy and be creative!

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

When I was in high school in Georgia, I went to a early morning church class everyday. Every month or so, we would do a big breakfast, and our teacher would make the best sausage gravy and biscuits. She was as southern as you can get, and she made the best food. Now I wish I would have got some recipes from her.

I did make some sausage gravy and biscuits the other day, while they were not as good as the true southern kind, they still hit the spot.The biscuit recipe I got is from Alton Brown, who lives not too far from where I lived in Georgia, so I figured this would probably be the closest I could get to the real thing.

Southern Biscuits


2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp shortening
1 c buttermilk, chilled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (The faster the better, you don't want the fats to melt.) Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.

Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting. Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

And the gravy...

Sausage Gravy

2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cup chicken broth
bay leaf
black pepper
ground breakfast sausage

Heat butter over med-high heat. When melted whisk in flour. Reduce heat to low and continue whisking. Cook until you smell a toasty aroma and mixture begins to turn brown, and then whisk for 2 more minutes. Take off heat and set aside.

In a separate pan, cook sausage at medium heat. When sausage is cooked, turn heat up to high and deglaze the pan with the chicken broth (pour in chicken broth while scraping the bottom of the pan). Once pan is deglazed add bay leaf and pepper and cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and whisk the butter and flour mixture (also called a roux). Return to a simmer and whisk until smooth and desired thickness.

Light and Crispy Waffles

Sorry no picture again, but you all know what waffles look like right? This is the best waffle recipe and we have used it for over five years. We love it. The best part is it has no sugar in it, so you don't feel quite as bad when you top it with sugary syrup. My favorite is to make homemade syrup from whatever berries, topped with fresh fruit and cool whip. 

We also love having breakfast for dinner. We rarely have big breakfasts in the morning, so it is fun to have it at night instead!


 Light and Crispy Waffles
 
2 egg yolks (save the eggs whites, you need those too)
2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
2 stiffly beaten egg whites

Preheat waffle maker. Put all ingredients except egg whites in large mixer bowl. Beat on low until moistened. Increase to medium, mix until smooth. By hand, gently fold in beaten egg whites. Pour 1/2 cup batter over grids. Close waffle maker, bake until steam no longer escapes, about 3-5 minutes.

Remember That Cheesecake?

We made good use out of the cheesecake forever stuck in the muffin tin...

We dug it out, topped it with blackberry syrup (that we had on blender wheat pancakes yesterday) and homemade caramel sauce. I zapped mine in the microwave for 15 seconds, and it was delicious!

Blackberry Syrup

• 1 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water

Cook blackberries over medium heat with sugar and water until thick. *can be substituted with any berry (we do it with blueberries a lot)

Recipe of the Day: Pumpkin Crumb Muffins

I love making pumpkin recipes in the fall! Every year I try out new ones, and I am rarely disappointed. I made these for breakfast one morning this week, and everyone loved them! They were easy enough to make in my stupor of sleep too! I found this recipe on Crazy Crafty Cousins, a great site for crafts and recipes!

Pumpkin Crumb Muffins:

• 1 2/3 C. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1 C. Libby's solid pack pumpkin
• 1/4 C. undiluted evaporated milk
• 1/3 C. shortening
• 1 C. packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in large bowl. In small bowl combine pumpkin and evaporated milk. Cream shortening and sugar in large mixer bowl. Add egg, beat until fluffy. Alternately add flour and pumpkin mixtures to shortening mixture; beat well after each addition. Fill muffin tins (greased) or paper lined cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle Streusel topping over muffins.

Streusel Topping:
Combine 2 Tbs. flour, 2 Tbs. granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 1 Tbs. butter until mixture is crumbly.

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 35-40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.