Category: Breakfast

Recipe boxes. Who remembers them? My mother’s favorite recipes are easily identified, even today. As she aged into her nineties, she became less capable of cooking, but the browned recipe cards with worn and tattered edges remained in her recipe boxes, which I am delighted to now own. She frequently penciled in changes to the recipe, depending on what she might have tried or intended to try. She also used the power of free speech and opinion writing rather liberally on her recipe cards, scribbling comments like “Delish!” on the edge. Or a directive such as “I urge you to try this!” might be scrawled next to the addition of wheat germ when recipes were headed in my direction. The source of the recipe, when known, was always carefully noted as well. She was a librarian, after all.

I tend to be a bit, eh… perhaps lazy is the right word in regards to maintaining her practices. It’s not unusual for me to make major changes to a recipe, then neglect to note them. My husband predictably asks if I wrote down the modifications, with the likely answer of “well, not yet.” Implying that I will do it, ha-ha. Inevitably I will ask him if he remembers what I did when I attempt to make the dish again…

I am delighted to tell you that I have turned over a new leaf! Or recipe card! Or something like that. In other words, I am trying to be more systematic about noting the original source of a recipe, along with how I have altered it. Sometimes I don’t alter the original at all, but enjoy it enough to use as a template to create a dish that is similar, yet unique in its own right. The recipe I’m presenting today came about in this fashion.

I have no idea what I might have been searching for when I stumbled onto a strawberry almond breakfast frittata recipe that sounded like a low carb sort of thing I might actually want to eat. I am most decidedly not a savory breakfast sort and I once managed to eat low carb for almost six hours…

Anyway, I found this recipe on the blog https://www.asaucykitchen.com/sweet-frittata/.  Turns out the blogger further credited Eating and Living Gluten Free magazine, from which she adapted the recipe. Nor is my alteration the only one you might locate using an online search. This crediting of sources is much more complicated than I ever might have expected, and I wonder if my mother would have continued the practice under these conditions… But I do think she would have enjoyed this particular recipe, even though low carb would have been a foreign concept to her.  She did live on an egg farm!

I encourage you to check out the original recipe, because it’s really quite tasty and I still make it, though not as often as my own adaptation. Why? Because blueberries and maple syrup is a match made in heaven, pecans are my favorite toasted nuts and goat cheese provides a tart richness that perfectly counters the small hit of sweetness. Perhaps I could even “urge you” to take a deep low carb plunge and try them both.

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Blueberry Pecan Frittata

Blueberry Pecan Frittata

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Mary Kay Allen

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• ¼ cup pecan meal
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup divided
• ½ teaspoon each vanilla extract and maple flavoring or 1 tsp. vanilla
• Dash of salt
• 1- tablespoon butter
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1/3- cup goat cheese crumbles
• 1/3- cup chopped toasted pecans divided
• 2 cups blueberries divided
• 1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Instructions

• Whisk the eggs, pecan meal, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, extracts and salt together until fluffy. Melt the butter in a 9-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Pour in the egg mixture and cook, not stirring, until partially set, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon, the goat cheese crumbles, ¼ cup of the pecans, and ½ cup blueberries. Pop under the broiler for about 5 additional minutes, or until eggs and set and top begins to brown. Remove from the broiler, and scatter the remaining pecans and berries over the top. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon of maple syrup, and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
• Makes 4 servings

Citrus Breakfast Cheesecake

I figured that “Citrus: Part Two” wouldn’t be near as appealing as cheesecake…

Fruit curds are scrumptious-thick, rich spreads made from fruit, sugar, eggs and butter. And no, they most certainly are not health food! But like jam, a little bit can add amazing flavor. I played with making curd all winter, given the non-stop zest and juice from our various citrus fruits. The best ones combined sweet tangerine juice with the more tart tangelo juice. I actually have to confess, though, that my lazy self has been trying to perfect a reliable microwave recipe for it, and while all the experiments have been tasty, they haven’t all been curds, and certainly haven’t been reliable. I’ve discovered just this week that with slightly more effort, involving creaming the ingredients before stovetop cooking, my lemon curd was perfect. I use my frozen citrus curds to flavor numerous simple dishes and the good news for cooks everywhere is that beautifully bottled lemon curd is available in most grocery stores. Which means that you can leave all my kitchen experimentation behind and just make delectable dishes easily!

Plain, tart whole milk yogurt is one of my go-tos for breakfast. Sometimes I just spoon on the curd and top with toasted nuts. Or make layered parfaits with Greek yogurt, citrus curd and granola. Either way the sweet acidity of the curd balances the tartness of the yogurt beautifully. One of my mom’s easy desserts was what she called jelly tarts. These consisted of pie dough, rolled and cut into circles, with a cutout in half of them. Once baked, she would simply fill them with jam. I like to fill them with a combination of blueberry jam and citrus curd, the flavors of which are natural partners. But my favorite way to use citrus curd is in cheesecake.

Now Mom made a fabulous New York style cheesecake, dense and rich with just enough sugar, vanilla and a tinge of lemon. It was a large cake, made in a spring form pan with graham cracker crust. Mind you, she didn’t make it often, I suspect for the same reasons that I don’t make it. Even sliced into very small servings, it’s calorific to the max and easily serves a big crowd. If I don’t have a crowd to eat all those petite little pieces, you can imagine who will… me. Which I do not need. BUT, what if I could make a lighter version and call it breakfast? That’s a win in my book.

The first time I experienced such a thing was in Boston, roaming the aisles of Faneuil Hall in search of something to accompany my morning cappuccino. What I discovered at an Italian stall was a slice of creamy ricotta cake with a buttery cookie crust. Not a major improvement on Mom’s cheesecake in terms of fat and calories, but delicious beyond belief. Once home, I set about making one that inspired just a bit less guilt. The ricotta is higher in protein and lower in fat and carbs than cream cheese, which made for a good start. Replacing the buttery cookie base with crushed granola provided just enough crust to satisfy while still feeling somewhat virtuous. And while I used whole milk ricotta, I suppose one could use part-skim to really push the virtuosity, but how much fun will it be if it isn’t a tad bit naughty? Balancing dietary virtue with naughtiness; story of my life. Citrus zest, juice, curd and vanilla provide the flavor and balance sweetness. Baked in an 8-inch pie tin, the recipe makes 6 to 8 servings, depending on your morning appetite, but let us not forget that this pie has to fuel your body for the whole morning…

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Citrus Breakfast Cheesecake

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 6 slices

Ingredients

• 1 ½- tablespoons soft butter
• 1 cup crushed granola divided
• 1/3- cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 lb. ricotta cheese
• 1- teaspoon vanilla
• 1- teaspoon citrus zest of choice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3- cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour I use spelt, but all purpose or GF blend is fine
• 2 tablespoons citrus curd of choice

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Brush the butter thickly over the bottom and side of an 8-inch pie tin. Sprinkle 2/3 of the granola over the butter and roll the pan around to evenly distribute, forming a “crust.” It’s fine if the layer on the bottom is thicker than the side.
• Place the remaining ingredients in the order listed into a blender. Blend on medium speed to thoroughly combine. Pour evenly into the prepared pie tin. Bake for 15 minutes to allow the edges to set. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining 1/3-cup of granola around the edges. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until mostly set; it may be soft in the center but will fully set upon cooling. I like to top each slice with a dollop of citrus curd.

I wonder if you ever really know your parents?

My childhood self took living on a small family farm as the norm. Yet even then, it wasn’t. Having known my parents for decades, I have to wonder why I never asked them about their choice to buy and move to the farm. Two people couldn’t have been raised in more different circumstances; I would describe my mother as “cool jazz,” while my father was “a little bit country.” She had grown up in a comfortable urban home and attended a year of college, which she left to attempt a career in her beloved dancing. He had been raised poor on a family farm with many siblings, and at the first opportunity, exited the farm of his youth for city lights. It was the early fifties, and they were living the good life in a hip urban neighborhood when they flew the coop for life in the country. I suspect that my father’s memories of a farm childhood along with the birth of my older brother spurred the decision. While my mother would not strike one as the farm type, she truly bloomed where she was planted. She loved the farm and lived there for the majority of her life. Gardening, cooking, and preserving became her primary activities for a number of years while raising my brother and me.

When you think of farm meals, do you think of hearty, home-style comfort food? Well, there was a bit of that on occasion. But somehow my mother turned out to be a royal health food queen at the very moment that most people were discovering cake mix and biscuits in a tube. Two popular cookbooks of the time dominated our family’s diet, one from Carlton Fredericks and the other by Adele Davis. Somehow Mr. Fredericks parlayed an English degree into being a “nutrition consultant,” while Ms. Davis actually did have nutrition background, and is honored to this day. Both were into whole wheat, dried milk, wheat germ and low sugar, along with pushing vitamin and mineral supplements. Oh yes, we took our nasty horse pill vitamins on the farm! (Well, most of us-as I remember my dad escaped to work each day before the dosing occurred.) Both food writers also championed some questionable ideas as well, but my mother lived (and we ate) by their words.

I don’t even know how she obtained some of her ingredients, but I do remember trips to a local grain mill for stone ground whole-wheat flour. Yogurt had yet to hit the grocery aisles, so she made her own in a small warming oven adjacent to the baking oven. Our “popsicles” were home frozen from yogurt and juice concentrate. Most baked goods were the recipients of a whole-wheat makeover, and the rare item not baked from scratch got wheat germ plastered on the top.  I was a kid trying to fit in; living on a farm and eating “weird” food didn’t earn my support, but in the long haul my mama’s healthful approach to cooking was pretty influential. I probably shouldn’t mention that I gave up the vitamins the day I left for college though…

In honor of my mom’s and Adele’s approach to diet, I’m making granola this morning. Here in the desert southwest, the heat is ramping up and I am in need of hot weather whole grain breakfasts. While researching Adele Davis, I noted from the Adele Davis Foundation that she was the developer of granola as we know it today, that crisp mixture of oats, seeds, sweetener and nuts. Her recipe is on the foundation website should you wish to check it out. My mother would have embraced it for its use of soy flour and dried milk. Having eaten my share of soy flour and dried milk, I’m going with my own recipe! Simultaneously crisp and chewy, this granola is not too sweet, allowing the rich flavors of the nuts and fruit to shine. That said, if you like your granola on the sweeter side, you may wish to add brown sugar to taste along with the syrup mixture.

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Hazelnut Cherry Granola

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Cereal

Servings: 16 servings

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole old-fashioned oats
• ½ cup golden flax meal
• 1 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts
• ½ cup dried unsweetened coconut
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/3- cup sorghum or maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 –cup neutral vegetable oil I use avocado, but coconut would be delicious
• 1 beaten egg white
• ½ cup cacao nibs
• ½ cup dried cherries

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 300° F. Spray a large sheet pan lightly with pan spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the oats, flax meal, nuts, coconut and pumpkin seeds.
• Combine the syrup, oil and extract in a small saucepan and warm over low heat. Stir this mixture into the oats thoroughly, making sure the grains are coated. Add the beaten egg white and again mix thoroughly. Turn the mixture onto the prepared sheet pan and spread into a thin layer. Bake, turning the mixture several for 30-45 minutes, until it is the brownness you like.
• Allow for thorough cooling, as the granola will crisp as it cools. Then, gently break into clusters with a pancake turner, and stir in the cacao nibs and cherries.

*Gluten-free if made with certified gluten-free oats