Morning Brunch

Today I hosted a small brunch with a couple of friends who were kind enough to be my guinea pigs.  I made a recipe from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook although I tweaked it a bit. The recipe is for Cranberry-Orange Spelt Muffins however, I did not have an orange but did have a Mineola Tangelo and used it in place of the orange and orange zest.  I had purchased the spelt flour a few weeks ago right after my cookbook arrived but the opportunity to use it had not presented itself until now. Items baked with Spelt flour need to be allowed to rest before baking for the flour to absorb the moisture from the batter.

Cranberry-Tangelo Spelt Muffins
Makes - 1 dozen
Bake at 400 degrees F
Bake for 20-25 minutes

Muffin Batter
1 Cup diced dried cranberries
1/2 cup fresh squeezed tangelo juice

1 1/4 cup whole spelt flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 T canola oil
1 T tangelo zest
1/2 c chopped pecans

Streusel Topping
3 T butter
1/2 c dark brown sugar
1/2 c all purpose flour
2 T wheat bran
1/2 c chopped pecans

The night before you want to bake - Heat juice in microwave for 30 seconds then pour over dried cranberries in small heatproof bowl and cover then set aside to cool.

Combine flours, baking powder and salt in mixing bowl, stir with whisk to combine.  In a separate bowl mix milk, honey, eggs and oil.  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until there are no more dry clumps of flour - do not over mix, it will look soupy which is ok.  Fold in the tangelo zest, pecans, cranberries and juice.  Cover batter and refrigerate overnight.

Make the streusel while the batter is resting.  Combine all ingredients except pecans(works best with a pastry blender) until the mixture is crumbly.  Mix in the pecans.

To bake - remove batter from refrigerator, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Prepare muffin tin by spraying with nonstick spray or use liners and spray with nonstick spray.

Spoon batter into the 12 muffin cups - they will be almost full.  Sprinkle streusel mixture over batter (I had a lot of streussel leftover and would consider putting a spoonful in the bottom of the muffins too for the next time).  Bake until golden brown and a cake test comes out clean (mine were slightly over baked).  Remove from the oven, cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove to cooling rack to finish.

Baked Egg Casserole

1 medium yellow squash
1/2 white onion
1 red pepper
3 cups frozen hash brown potatoes
4 slices bacon (cooked then crumbled)
1 cup grated queso fresco cheese
7 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1/2 palmful Emeril essence
1 T Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

This is a prepare ahead dish that is pretty easy and delicious.  The first thing I did was cut up the veggies into large pieces so I could grill them for additional flavor.  I brushed the squash, onion and red pepper with olive oil and grilled it at 325 degrees for about 20-25 minutes turning occasionally.  I let this cool and rough chopped the veggies into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. 

Mix eggs, milk, essence, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper until frothy. 

In a casserole dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, layer the potatoes, grilled chopped vegetables, crumbled bacon and cheese. Pour egg mixture evenly over other ingredients in casserole dish.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

In the morning when ready to bake - remove from fridge, preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Bake for 35-50 minutes - I checked and rotated mine every 12 minutes or so.  Eggs should set up.  Keep warm until ready to serve.  Serve with hot sauce or Tabasco. 

New dinner recipes

Tonight we made grilled marinated flank steak, fresh rolls, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed kale and fresh cut-up cantaloupe. The kale and the potatoes tasted fantastic if eaten together on the same forkful, Blaine finished off all of the kale.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Rated: Submitted By: Kathleen Burton Photo By: Marlee Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes Servings: 8

"Russet potatoes are blended with roasted garlic, butter and milk."

Ingredients:

1 medium head garlic 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup milk salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Drizzle garlic with olive oil, then wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
3.	Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. Stir in butter, milk, salt and pepper.
4.	Remove the garlic from the oven, and cut in half. Squeeze the softened cloves into the potatoes. Blend potatoes with an electric mixer until desired consistency is achieved.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 9/13/2011

Sauteed Kale

Bobby Flay

Rated 5 stars out of 5

Total Time: 15 min

Prep 5 min

Cook 10 min

Yield: 4 servings

Level: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds young kale, stems and leaves coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not colored. Raise heat to high, add the stock and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar.