Oat Bran Muffins

I lied to my second grade teacher once about what I ate for breakfast. We were doing a project on the suggested breakfasts for kids back then and if I can remember correctly, we children were supposed to start the day with a large, calorie filled meal. My aunt Roz, a newlywed who was living with us until she and Uncle Mac could find their own apartment, was in charge of getting us kids off to school. She was also clueless. She gave us coffee with lots of sugar and milk and sent us on our way.

But when Miss Seymour asked about what I ate for breakfast I told her: orange juice, eggs, bacon, toast, cereal and milk.

She sent a note home to my parents about what a big liar I was.

No one actually ate like that for breakfast, especially not children, at least where I grew up. Besides I was really small for my age so Miss Seymour had to know just by looking at me. Even today, though we hear more about the USDA Food Pyramid, most Americans ignore it — read about it and weep here.

I remember that my parents were not as concerned about my diet as they were about the fib. I guess that’s right.

I also think that was the beginning of my Cheerios phase. I still got the coffee though, and I grew to normal size even though people then said that coffee (and cigarettes) stunted a child’s growth.

But breakfast has always been always a problem. I would love the pancake-and-syrup option, but it’s too high calorie. Would love eggs and hash browns, but ditto the problem. So I usually opt for plain Greek-style (I prefer Chobani) yogurt with cut up dried fruit (and more recently, with a jam or preserve from Dagstani & Sons).

But sometimes I need a carb and neither Cheerios nor bagel will do. 

So, recently I tried oat bran muffins, which are quite tasty, not too sweet or caloric, not high in fat and I can freeze them and have a lovely accompaniment to my yogurt. Here’s the recipe:

Oat Bran Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oat bran

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin tin cups. Sift the flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into a bowl. In another bowl mix the vegetable oil, eggs and buttermilk. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is blended and smooth. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Makes 12 

Grilled Chicken Breast with Lemon-Oregano Marinade

I read that Americans now spend about half their food budget in restaurants. Apparently it’s because of everyone’s busy work schedule. After a full day at the office (school, hospital, what have you) Moms and Dads are to tired to cook.

The problem is that restaurant meals, as everyone probably knows, are more fattening, higher in fat and salt than you can cook it at home, not to mention MUCH more expensive.

And then you start to nibble at the bread they put in front of you. Plus butter. Or olive oil, which I understand is healthy but not when you absorb a half cup eating 2 slices of Italian bread. 

And then you have to sit there in the restaurant for too long when all you really want to do is be home with your feet up.

Or it becomes stressful because you have to be more vigilant about your kids because you don’t want them to be “those children,” the ones that bother everyone else in the restaurant. Or you aren’t and then your children ARE “those children” and everyone is glaring at you.

Or if you get take-out, you have to endure the smell of fast food that permeates your car and NEVER goes away even when you spray with Lysol. We once bought Chinese food, put the cartons in the trunk and picked up our daughter from somewhere and when she said she smelled Chinese food my husband more or less told her it was a fantasy. But the vapors had seeped into the back seat of course. They remained there for weeks until the next fast food load took over.

So much easier and healthier to cook something QUICK and EASY at home. Like a grilled chicken breast. 

Yes a grilled chicken breast can be boring. So can a burger, taco, pizza, hot dog and spaghetti with tomato sauce. The thing about grilled chicken breast is you can change the seasoning so it at least tries to be different.

Try this, for example. It takes about 5 minutes to put together, 15 minutes to marinate (or more if you wish — you can let it sit in the marinade for 4 hours) and less than 10 minutes to cook:

Grilled Chicken Breast with Lemon-Oregano Marinade

juice of one large lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, optional

2 cloves garlic, mashed

1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

salt

pinch cayenne pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Preheat an outdoor grill or oven broiler. Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, lemon peel, garlic, oregano and some salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper in a dish. Place the chicken in the dish and turn the pieces a few times to coat all sides. Let marinate for at least 15 minutes and up to 4 hours. Grill or broil the chicken for about 3-4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Makes 4 servings

Asparagus and Feta Frittata

When I’m developing recipes for an article I’m writing I need to experiment, so my family gets to be the guinea pigs (also my neighbors and friends and sometimes any repairman who happens to be in the house).

This past weekend, being Mother’s Day and all, my children and grandchildren were here so I tried this frittata recipe on them and it got good reviews. It makes a good hors d’oeuvre if you cut it into slim slices, but can also be a good vegetarian dinner item. I like it hot but it’s also good at room temperature and even cold.

Asparagus and Feta Frittata

12 medium asparagus spears

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

8 large eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons milk

2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven broiler with the rack about 6-inches from the heat. Cut the tips from the asparagus and set them aside. Cut the remaining part of the spear into 2-inch chunks and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cut asparagus spears and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the asparagus tips and cook for another minute. Remove the vegetables and set aside. Mix the eggs, milk and parsley in a bowl. Heat the butter in the saute pan. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, return the vegetables to the pan. Scatter the feta and Parmesan cheeses on top. Pour in the egg mixture and turn the heat to low. Stir once or twice then cook undisturbed for about 8 minutes or until the bottom has set and is golden brown. Place the pan under the broiler and cook for up to a minute or until the top of the frittata is puffed and golden. Season to taste with black pepper. Makes 4 servings

Fairway Barbecue

It’s sort of nice when a retailer lets you know how much your patronage is appreciated. Most don’t, (although I have known individual sales people who have expressed gratitude).

But, Fairway in Stamford, which is a relatively new store (opened late in 2010) wants its customers to know they are happy people actually trek down to Harbor Point to shop for groceries. It’s part of the ever expanding city of Stamford that is not yet built up and Fairway took a huge chance opening there.

And so, they are having a Customer Appreciation Barbecue on May 14th, right in the parking lot.

IT’S FREE.

They’re going to have hot dogs and sausage, fresh mozzarella cheese and olive-oil-baguette samplings throughout the day, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Also — beverages, desserts and salads.

Also, coupons will be given away.

If you’re interested you don’t even have to RSVP. Just get yourself down to 699 Canal Street.

Bulgur Wheat Pilaf with Dried Fruit and Nuts

So on Mother’s Day, when my grownup children come with their families, do I cook what they like or what I like? 

We eat at home. Call me cranky but I can’t handle the Mother’s Day brunch service at a restaurant.

But I digress. So about the food. I like turkey, but my daughter Meredith doesn’t and anyway we have turkey so often you’d think it was always Thanksgiving around here.

Mer and my other daughter Gillian don’t eat beef, but my husband Ed and son-in-law Jesse (and I) like it.

We all eat lamb, except it really isn’t Ed’s favorite and so he eats it obligingly.

Chicken — well, okay. Chicken is the kind of food that almost serves all purposes but you have it enough and so often that you wouldn’t choose it as a must-have for a special get-together.

We all like Mujadarrah, a vegetarian bulgur wheat, lentil and onion casserole, but it doesn’t seem as spring-like as I would like on Mothers Day.

Even dessert can be problematic. I like vanilla and so does one grandchild, but the others like chocolate. Which means I would love love love a white vanilla-y cake with White Mountain Frosting and coconut, but my son-in-law Greg would want chocolate cake and fudge frosting.

I like pie but my daughter Gillian doesn’t. However, my grandchildren do like pie — so maybe I’m on to something here.

So here’s what I’ll do. I’ll probably grill some stuff if the weather’s good, and make a bunch of grain and vegetable salads and side dishes and then everyone can pick and choose what they like and undoubtedly I will have some leftovers to eat on Monday. As for dessert, I still have an apple pie in my freezer, from the pile I made last November during apple season, and I always have Grand Finale Cookies there too — those are the fabulous oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies you can find here and in my book, Hip Kosher. So maybe I will make a vanilla cake too or just let it rest at vanilla ice cream. 

Here’s a recipe for one of the side dishes I’m going to cook.

Bulgur Wheat Pilaf with Apricots and Pistachio Nuts

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 6 ounces mushrooms, sliced

• 1 cup bulgur wheat

• 2 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock

• 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1-1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• pinch cinnamon or 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Add the bulgur and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring often. Pour in the stock and add the salt, pepper, fresh herb and apricots. Stir, bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for about 25 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the pistachio nuts, parsley and cinnamon or lemon peel.

Makes 6-8 servings

Derby-ish Pie

I went to the Kentucky Derby once and in a stroke of good luck I actually made a small bet on the winning horse.

Of course I wore a hat.

Of course I drank a Mint Julep. To be honest, I think a Mint Julep is a colossal waste of bourbon. 

We always watch the Derby at home. It’s a terrifically exciting 2-minutes of sports and my husband Ed always relates the story of how when he was a little boy he watched the event with his grandfather and urged him to make a “family” bet on a “sure thing,” and his grandfather said there was no such thing as a sure thing. And of course Ed’s horse, the sure thing, came in 4th or 5th.

If you’re a Derby-watcher and need a little something Kentucky Derbyish to eat, try this pie. I call it Derby-ish Pie. It’s a riff on Derby Pie, a pecan pie lavished with melted chocolate plus chocolate chips, but the name Derby Pie is apparently trademarked.

Anyway, this really really gooey confection will charge your engines and make your sweet tooth happy. It’s best when served warm with a little vanilla ice cream or a blob of whipped cream. 

Derby-ish Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

6 tablespoons butter

8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (1-1/3 cups chocolate chips)

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork, cover with aluminum foil, including the edges, and weight the foil with baking pellets or dried beans. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights, return the crust to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Melt the butter with 2 ounces (1/3 cup of chips) of the chocolate, stir to blend them thoroughly and set aside. In a bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla extract, salt, brown sugar and flour together until thoroughly blended. Stir in the melted butter-chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate (or chips) and nuts. Spoon the mixture into the partially baked crust. Bake for another 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a cake rack. Makes one pie serving 8 people

Mom’s Creamed Spinach

If you love potatoes as much as I do, you should read this article which says that ”Potatoes belong in the diet. Children who consume white potatoes have more nutrient-dense diets, overall, and they actually eat more of other vegetables,”

Not fried potatoes though. They have to be baked, boiled and so on.

A medium size potato has only 110 calories, has no fat, no cholesterol and no sodium. It is also loaded with vitamin C and more potassium than a banana.

Of course, this is a plain potato. Not one with salt plus a gob of butter and sour cream on top.

Back in the day my mother used potatoes to get us to eat other vegetables. She made mashed potatoes, mixed it with spinach and called it “creamed spinach.” It’s what I thought creamed spinach was until I tasted real creamed spinach much later in life. Her recipe was more like Colcannon, the traditional Irish recipe that mixes mashed potatoes and cabbage. It was SOOOO delicious. Here’s the recipe: 

Mom’s Creamed Spinach

3 medium to large all-purpose potatoes

3 tablespoons butter

1 bunch spinach, washed

3/4 cup milk

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

chopped parsley, optional

Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain the potatoes. Add the butter and mash with a potato masher or ricer until most of the lumps have disappeared. Place the spinach in a steamer basket over a pan of water, cover and cook over medium heat for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted. Drain the spinach in a sieve. Press down to extract as much liquid from the spinach as possible. Add the spinach to the potatoes and mix the ingredients. Bring the milk to a simmer, then pour it into the potato mixture. Mix thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in a tablespoon or two of fresh chopped parsley if desired. Makes 4 servings

sprinklefingers: shelf life questions answered

sprinklefingers:

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again - the internet is full of magic.

while doing some research for a post on salads (yes, really) i stumbled upon stilltasty - a very exhaustive library of foods and suggestions for their shelf life. we’re talking everything from milk (how many days…

sprinklefingers: while they're sleeping brioche french toast

sprinklefingers:

weekday mornings. phew.
is it just me, or are weekday mornings always a delicate balance? i generally try to get up at least an hour & 1/2 earlier than anyone else in the house. the minute my feet hit the ground i’m working - making coffee, squeezing in a few loads of laundry, researching &…

When my kids were little I would always wake up nearly an hour before they did because I needed a peaceful cup of coffee and a shower without someone banging on the door and asking me when I was going to come out already or asking me to write “Hi” and their name on the steamy glass shower door (my grandchildren do that now and somehow I don’t seem to mind).

I recommend this early morning privacy to any parent of young children. That small segment of quiet, peaceful, private harmony is worth more than the extra sleep. IMHO.

Then the world starts. Breakfast for kids and the daily routine. It’s much easier on the weekends.

But as far as breakfast goes, French Toast doesn’t take long. Sprinklefingers’ recipe is delicious. The five spice powder is a delicate, sophisticated addition.

Otoh, if your kids are like many, and don’t eat anything that veers from plain, here’s an easy version. I think French Toast is a good way for children to eat an egg. Serve the French Toast with mango slices and grapes or some other fruit and you can easily cut down on the amount of maple syrup you use, if at all. This breakfast doesn’t have to be a sticky, sugary mess.

Plain Old French Toast

1 large egg

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel, optional

2 slices homestyle white or wholegrain bread, challah or brioche (1/2-inch thick)

2 teaspoons butter for frying, approximately

Beat the egg, milk and vanilla extract and optional orange peel in a shallow pan until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Add the bread and let it soak, turning it over once or twice to be sure both sides are moistened. Let the bread soak up all the liquid. Heat about 2 teaspoons butter in a saute pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and looks foamy, add the soaked bread and cook about 2 minutes per side or until golden brown. Makes 2 slices

Bin Laden Killed

Although Passover has already passed, today I remember a stirring passage from the Haggadah where the Israelites have escaped and the Red Sea envelops and drowns the pursuing Egyptians. The Israelites are cheering but G-d tells them not to celebrate because all people are His children.

So, maybe we should not cheer that Bin Laden has been killed but we can be satisfied that justice has been done, be thankful that this monster is dead and be very grateful for our splendid American forces and our president, who have done such a spectacular job in getting this done.

And yet on Purim don’t we celebrate Haman’s death, another who sought to destroy a portion of mankind?

All of these thoughts are especially important today, Yom Hashoah, on which we remember the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Would that American forces had captured Hitler before the genocide.

All stirring thoughts.

On Purim we celebrate with Hamantashen. On Passover we celebrate with matzo.

What shall we celebrate with this time?