Featured: DailyBuzz Moms: Strawberry, Sage and Grapefruit Granita

I was looking at the DailyBuzz Moms site today and stumbled across my Strawberry, Sage and Grapefruit Granita on their Top 9!

Loving that I'm featured and can't wait to try the Blackberry Lime Tarts from Thyme of Taste's website.

Click on over to see the feature and check out some of the other recipes while you are there.

Grits, Fried Green Tomatoes and Bacon: The Perfect Meal

Grits, fried green tomatoes and bacon were the first combination that came to mind when I started work on this installment of our Cook The Book project.

We are covering cereals from Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book. There are six of us participating in the project: Rachel of Ode to Goodness, Sammy of Rêve du Jour, Emily of The Bon Appetit Diaries, Aimee of Homemade Trade and Claudie of The Bohemian Kitchen.

I've never made either of these dishes before. Both turned out to be very easy and very satisfying. I was surprised at how much I loved the grits. They are a cross between traditional polenta and a warm grain cereal, like cream of rice or farina. Those were two of my favorite warm cereals growing up, so it makes perfect sense that the grits made me so happy. It's such a filling dish that I think I can get six to eight servings out of each batch.

The recipe said you could serve the grits as a sweet dish with milk and sugar. Savory breakfast is more my taste, so I tried the grits two ways: one just with butter and one with black truffle oil and bacon.

The black truffle oil was my favorite, but way too rich to eat very much of it. The fried green tomatoes were nice and crispy, as an alternate cornmeal texture against the smooth silkiness of the grits. I have plans to make a ton of this, and will likely experiment with some other combinations.

Good Grits

adapted from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book, copyright 1987, Alfred A Knopf

Ingredients:

Method:

  1. Bring the water to a boil and add salt. slowly stir in the grits, and stir for a few seconds more.
  2. Turn the heat to medium-low (closer to low than medium on my stove) and cover the pan.
  3. Cook, stirring once or twice for five minutes (I left it for up to 10 minutes).
  4. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter or the black truffle oil.
  5. Serve hot.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 4 small hard green tomatoes cut into slices
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (you may want to add more at the end depending on taste)
  • 1 to 2 eggs, whisked until yolks are incorporated with the whites, in a shallow dish
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup cornmeal, on a small plate
  • Tobasco or Chalula sauce for serving.

Method:

  1. Heat a skillet over high heat.
  2. Place the tomato slices in the egg wash, turning to coat them completely.
  3. Transfer the egg-coated tomato slices to the cornmeal and coat them completely in corn meal.
  4. Add the olive oil to the hot pan, swirling it around to cover the entire surface of the pan.
  5. Place the tomato slices in the hot oil and cook for four minutes, or until the coating on that side has browned well.
  6. Turn the slices over and cook for an additional four minutes on the second side.
  7. Remove the slices to a paper towel lined plate, sprinkle with salt and serve.

Raw Juice: Spinach, Carrot, Beet, Avocado, Peach, Strawberry and Banana

Raw juice made with strawberry and vegetables is tastes great and gives you a great energy boost in the morning. I'm reposting this Raw Spinach, Carrot, Beet, Avocado, Peach, Strawberry and Banana Juice recipe this week  because I'm in New York and it's about 30 degrees warmer than I'm used to in San Francisco and I need some relief!

I'm thinking of juicing every day, in addition to the great food my parents are making for us, and will start with this recipe as soon as I get everything together.

Here's what you'll need. Make this juice, or any other combination of fruits and veggies you may have around. It'll cool you off from the summer heat.

Raw Spinach, Carrot, Beet, Avocado, Peach, Strawberry and Banana Juice

Ingredients

  • 1/2 avocado, skin removed, cut into chunks
  • 15 to 20 spinach leaves (a small handful)
  • 1 beet, skin removed, sliced
  • 2 carrots, skin removed, cut into rounds
  • 1 small peach, pit removed, sliced
  • 1 banana, sliced
  • 2 strawberries, hulled, sliced
  • lime juice (about 1/4 of a lime)
  • 1 cup coconut water
  • Ice cubes

Method:

  1. Put all the ingredients in a blender or drink mixer with a good blade.
  2. Pulse on high until everything is chopped up.
  3. If you want the juice to be thinner, add more coconut or regular water to the mix.

Enjoy!

Cook the Book: Gluten-Free Cinnamon Butter Puffs

Better than beignets, these cinnamon butter puffs really knocked my socks off.

In this installment of our Cook The Book project, we are covering quick breads from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. There are six of us participating in the project: Rachel of Ode to Goodness, Sammy of Rêve du Jour, Emily of The Bon Appetit Diaries, Aimee of Homemade Trade and Claudie of The Bohemian Kitchen.

After my wonderful cinnamon buns, I was prepared to commit at least eight hours to making these. The butter puffs were made, start to finish in just over thirty minutes. They came out of the oven just as we finished eating dinner, so instead of these being a breakfast treat, we ate them as desert.

This perfect marriage of sugar and spice yields moist, fluffy muffins with a kick of nutmeg. The gluten-free flour mix I used did not take away from the fluffiness of the muffins, which was my main concern. My daughter loved the flavor and texture of them so much that even after I told her they were gluten-free, she said they tasted just right.

Enjoy with tea, cafe au lait or hot chocolate. The lip-licking coating and the downy interior elevate these muffins beyond traditional breakfast offerings.

You may also want to give these fig, ham and butter sandwiches from the same book.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Butter Puffs

adapted from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup shortening (I used butter instead, same measurement)
  • 1/2 cup suger (less if desired)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 cups flour (I used Gluten-Free Pantry's Baking Mix)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup milk

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup sugar combined with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Meethod:

  1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the muffin tins.
  2. Put the shortening (or butter), sugar, and egg in a mixing bowl. Beat well.
  3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and add to the first mixture.
  4. Pour in the milk and beat until blended and smooth.
  5. Fill the muffin tins about two-thirds full.
  6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
  7. For the topping, have the melted butter ready in a bowl that is just large enough to hold one puff.
  8. Have a shallow bowl nearby with the combined sugar and cinnamon.
  9. As soon as the puffs are done, remove them from the pan and dip them one by one into the melted butter, and then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.