Sunday, October 10, 2010

Breakfast Puffs



Note: This recipe is the exact recipe from BHG's Cookbook, called "Nan's Puffs".

These puffs are so simple.


So delicious.



So...adaptable! I made the bare-bones version at home this morning, but I can imagine so many delicious possibilities: Cheese and chive puffs, cinnamon and nutmeg puffs, custard filled puffs...and the list goes on.




These are a perfect "Sunday" breakfast in my mind: quick to make, only a few staple ingredients, and only 1 pot and 1 muffin tin to clean up! Perfect!




Breakfast Puffs

Makes 12 puffs

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter
1 c milk
3/4 c flour
4 eggs
sugar for sprinkling
honey for topping

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375F, and grease a 12 cup muffin tin, inside and around the edges.

2. In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the milk and carefully (let's not repeat the dreaded TAPIOCA INCIDENT) bring to a boil.

3. Once boiling, immediately and quickly stir in all of the flour. The mixture will stick to itself and make a large ball, coming away from the sides of the saucepan. Allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes.

4. After cooling, add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously after each addition for one minute.

5. Scoop into equal portions in the muffin tin, filling the cups about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle sugar on top of each puff. Bake for 30 minutes at 375F, until puffed up and golden. Be careful not to startle the muffins too much (treat them as gently as you would a souffle, because they will deflate easily.

6. Serve immediately, drizzled with honey for extra sweetness.


Happy Muffin Says ENJOY! :)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Throw-It-Together Vegetable Soup

Hi Friends.

I'm sorry I've been absent from this blog for well over a month (or two) now. I haven't been posting because I haven't been cooking. We've been really busy, and I've been exceptionally tired after work, so we've been eating out, or eating "staple" meals that I've already described on this blog.

One day, however, I was really in the mood for some soup. So I decided to raid the fridge, freezer and pantry to concoct something sans recipe.

I hope you all can use this recipe as a foundation, and add or remove ingredients to your liking.


Hopefully, I'll be able to post a little more frequently now that the holidays are just around the corner and I will at least be doing some baking!

Throw-It-Together Vegetable Soup

Serves 6-8 (Or 2 people 3 times. Hah.)

Ingredients:

1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/2 bunch of celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 head of a small cabbage, shredded
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can whole tomatoes, chopped and juice reserved
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp Lawry's seasoned pepper (or any coarse ground pepper)
2 Tbs vegetarian bullion
8 cups water
salt to taste

Procedure:

1. In a large soup pot over medium heat, saute the onion and celery until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds (don't let the garlic burn!).

2. Add all of the rest of the ingredients except the salt, and bring to a boil. Cover and turn the heat down to allow the soup to simmer.

3. Simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes, or until celery and onions are very tender. Finally, add salt to taste.

4. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on top and a whole wheat roll on the side.