0 BLUEBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST PUDDING

i must say, i love a big, healthy, delicious breakfast.  it's my most favorite meal of the day.  i was told...

"EAT BREAKFAST LIKE A KING

LUNCH LIKE A QUEEN

and DINNER LIKE A PAUPER"

pretty much works for me. i'm a believer in breakfast being THE most important meal of the day.  go big...or stay home !  so for the next few months i'll be posting some of my favorites like Protein Pancakes, Pumpkin Oatmeal Bake, Granola Bars, Protein Pumpkin Pie and what ever else i come across that i find worthy to start the day out right.  don't worry BACON will be involved.  it doesn't always have to be too too healthy, but it definitely has to be fit for a King.

this breakfast treat is really healthy and oh so easy...all the ingredients go into the blender 'till smooth and then baked.  it's tasty, satisfying, warm, healthy and keeps well for quick warm-up breakfast through the week...AND very versatile.  you can easily change up the flavors. try different nuts , different fruits, dried fruits or maybe add a little ginger or pumpkin spice.  YUM!  i enjoyed mine with some non fat greek yogurt mixed with a little ginger syrup and some fresh berries.  i think it needs a little something because it can be quite dense on it's own...but any way you have it...warm or cold, on the go or at home with the fam....it's DELICIOUS

BLUEBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST PUDDING

found HERE at Diet, Dessert and Dogs
with many thanks to Ricki and all her tasty goods

i've copied the recipe for your convenience and added my notes in bold italics.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (75 g) lightly toasted hazelnuts (filberts), with skin

1/2 cup (75 g) lightly toasted cashews...i used roasted, lightly salted almonds

1/2 cup (60 g) old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)

3/4 cup (180 ml) unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp (30 ml) agave nectar or maple syrup; or 10 drops stevia liquid...i used 3 Tbsp. sugar free maple syrup
2 tsp (10 ml) cinnamon...and a little fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp (.5 ml) fine sea salt...my almonds were lightly salted
1-1/4 cups (300 ml) unsweetened, plain or vanilla soy or almond milk...vanilla almond milk works great
1/2 cup (120 ml) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw first if frozen)
i added 1 Tsp ground flax

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Grease a 4-6 cup (1-1.5 L) casserole dish....2 qt 8 x 8 pyrex glass

In the bowl of a high-speed blender*, place the nuts, oats, applesauce, vanilla, agave, cinnamon and salt. Pour the milk over all and blend for about a minute, until perfectly smooth and creamy. Pour mixture into the casserole dish, then gently fold in the blueberries (scatter a few extra blueberries over the top if you like, as they won’t sink).
Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes, rotating the casserole about halfway through, until the edges begin to puff and crack and the top appears dry. Allow to cool somewhat before serving; may be served warm or cold. Makes 4-6 servings. Store, covered, up to 4 days in the refrigerator. May be frozen.
*To make with a regular blender: Pour in the milk first, then add the remaining ingredients (except blueberries). You may need to blend in batches to achieve an equally smooth consistency.
i made mine in a regular blender with no problems.  i'm sure a food processor would work as well.

0 Decorated Sugar Cookies

For September's Daring Bakers' challenge hostess Mandy of "What the Fruitcake" asked everyone to make decorated sugar cookies. I've never been a fan of rolled sugar cookies. Maybe because I suck at rolling out anything at all. Whether it's a pie crust or cookie dough, I'm just not good at it. I'm an even lesser fan of decorated sugar cookies. Maybe it's because I suck at decorating especially when it involves piping. And for the record, I am also not a fan of those "ace-of-cakes-cake-boss" cakes.

Mandy chose a sugar cookie recipe from Peggy Porschen. I had no idea who she is so I had to Google her. She is the pastry chef/proprietor of a bespoke cake business in the UK. After checking out her website I realized that her work seemed familiar to me. It turns out that the publishing house Clarkson Potter had sent me a courtesy copy of her book "Simple Spectacular Cakes". Her work with cakes and cookies is absolutely stunning, but I still wouldn't want to waste my calories on a decorated sugar cookie. I always find sugar cookies way too sweet. And when you add the icing on top, well, that's just a toothache waiting to happen.



Mandy also wanted our cookies to showcase what September means to us. September has always meant back to school. But it also means that the California apple season is in full swing. So I decided to decorate my sugar cookies like apples.

I decorated my cookies using the using the "flooding" method. “Flooding” a cookie is a technique used when covering a cookie with royal icing. First, using the royal icing, I outlined the area I want to flood. The outline acts as a dam. Then I filled or flooded inside the outlined area. My flooding did not go as well as I hoped. To get a good flood of icing, the icing must be at the correct consistency. I thought that my icing was fluid enough to fill the area that I had outlined, but it was still too thick. So to cover the surface I had to spread the icing using the tip of the pastry bag. And while I was spreading it around with the pastry tip, more icing was flowing out of the pastry bag onto the surface. So my cookies ended up with a pretty thick layer of icing.

I'm not very good at decorating so I thought my apple cookies just seemed a bit sad and pathetic. So I came up with a plan to sandwich the apples cookies with a salted caramel filling and shove a stick in it. Ta-dah! Caramel apples on a stick!



I made the salted caramel filling by making a caramel sauce and adding a healthy pinch of Maldon sea salt. When the sauce cooled down I added a little bit of room temperature butter and some powdered sugar until I liked the consistency.



The finished cookies were still way too sweet for me and a little difficult to eat on a stick, but they were way more interesting than what I had before.

The fine print:
The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of "What the Fruitcake?!" Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.


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0 Bacon Candy

what can i possibly say about this that you havent already imagined. just two simple words...BACON..and...CANDY. might make little sense to the unenlightened few, but once you've crossed the line and seen the light, this concept makes all the sense in the world. as a matter of fact all seems right in my world once sweet and savory are put into play. this is a quick simple way to get that fix. come on...you know it's true..bacon makes everything better.

sweet, savory, spicy...you hit the flavor trifecta

BACON CANDY
lots of versions out there, but this is how i roll...

i like to use THICK sliced applewood smoked bacon
cover a sheet pan with parchment or foil for easier clean up
put slices on a rack that fits pan
sprinkle brown sugar on each slice, a few lumps are fine, they will melt
sprinkle with a little cayenne pepper or cinnamon if you can't take the heat.
put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until it's good and crispy.
let cool completely before attempting to devour.  melting sugars and sizzling bacon can be a tad detrimental to the palette.  ENJOY !

0 Alton Brown's Protein Power Bars

AS SEEN ON TV !!!

i'll admit, i was watching Alton late the other night. usually i just can't wrap my head around some of the stuff he makes. does anyone remember the deep fried turkey episode?...where he rigged up this whole elaborate ladder pulley system to safely drop the turkey into the vat of hot oil? he just goes a bit overboard on his explanation and method of cooking things that really needn't be so involved. BUT, this episode on homemade protein bars caught my attention.

i'm always on the hunt for a tasty homemade protein snack and i've tried a quite a few...some (most) are...hmmm...let's just say...AWFUL. i think the worst so far was one i found in a bodybuilding forum comprised of raw oats, protein powder, peanut butter and egg whites. the end result was something like particle board.

i'm happy to report that this one is actually tasty. it's moist, satisfying, filling, sweet, a little crunchy, keeps well and is a handy, healthy snack for anytime of the day. i tried a few out on my friends and they too were amazed that this handy, sweet snack bar was actually good for you.

so...i've copied the recipe exactly for you below so you can check out the ingredients. the list is looooonnngg. i thought is sounded a bit involved, like everything he does, but i found the ingredients interesting...i never would have thought to add a whole block of tofu in for protein AND moisture.

you can find the original recipe HERE at Foodnetwork.com for a printable version

Alton Brown's Protein Bars 2005

Ingredients
4 ounces soy protein powder, approximately 1 cup..i used vanilla whey protein powder
2 1/4 ounces oat bran, approximately 1/2 cup
2 3/4 ounces whole-wheat flour, approximately 1/2 cup
3/4-ounce wheat germ, approximately 1/4 cup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 ounces raisins, approximately 1/2 cup
2 1/2 ounces dried cherries, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces dried blueberries, approximately 1/2 cup

2 1/2 ounces dried apricots, approximately 1/2 cup
1 (12.3-ounce) package soft silken tofu
1/2 cup unfiltered apple juice
4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/2 cup packed
2 large whole eggs, beaten
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
Canola oil, for pan

NOTE...i used used 1 1/2 cup total of dried blueberries, diced-dried apricots and approx 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, diced
AND 2 Tsp. flax seeds

Directions
Line the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper and lightly coat with canola oil. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the protein powder, oat bran, wheat flour, wheat germ, and salt. Set aside.

Coarsely chop the raisins, dried cherries, blueberries and apricots and place in a small bowl and set aside.

In a third mixing bowl, whisk the tofu until smooth. Add the apple juice, brown sugar, eggs, and peanut butter, 1 at a time, and whisk to combine after each addition. Add this to the protein powder mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in the dried fruit. Spread evenly in the prepared baking dish and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees F. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

0 Roasted Quail with Orange, Tarragon, Garlic Glaze

Roasted Quail

there really isn't much to them...a few nibbles on the legs, a couple bites of breast meat and you're done...but i must say...what an impressive presentation and a unique dish that really isn't hard to create at all. so easy i've done them twice and i think i'll get some more for this weekend.

i've been interested in birds other than chicken lately and quail has been on my list for quite a while, but they were always a bit too expensive at 5 or 6.00 $ each...and you can't buy just one or two...what would be the fun in that? so i finally found these at my favorite Asian market 99 Ranch in Irvine, Ca. they came 6 to a package for about 10.00$...frozen, of course. i was soooo excited.

i thought as a first timer i better just go the easy route. i had read somewhere that roasting the little bird was the way to go. actually, cooking them is the easy part..eating them is a different story. the first one i attempted to have a little etiquette with the knife and fork, half way through the 2nd it was all hand to mouth...not to attractive, but i definitely enjoyed myself.

OVEN ROASTED QUAIL

2 or more quail...i did 3
butter, room temp
1 small juice orange
a few sprigs of fresh tarragon
1-2 cloves garlic- thin sliced
salt and pepper

QUICK GLAZE

3-4 T. apricot or orange marmalade
2 T.orange juice...more or less
1 garlic clove...
minced fresh tarragon
salt and pepper
note...the amount of ingredients varies with how many quails you have.

preheat oven to 350 degrees
clean your quail inside and out and pat dry.
salt and pepper the inside (remember these are tiny birds, so don't over salt).
inside the cavity put a teaspoon of butter, a small wedge of the orange, a sprig of fresh tarragon and a couple slices of garlic it you want.
rub some butter on the outside, sprinkle with a little salt and tie the legs together with some string. i think this makes for a better presentation.
place on a rack breast side up and place in oven for 20-25 min. checking on them throughout. baste with more butter at least once. if they don't look browned on top you can turn on the broiler and watch them carefully. if the legs are getting too brown you can cover them with a little piece of foil.
remove them from the oven...if they are browned then they are done...there's really not much meat to cook. now you can glaze them and let them rest or glaze and put back in the oven for a few mins. it depends on how you like your glaze....but don't let it burn! i just brushed the glaze on and let them rest. i couldn't eat all 3 in one sitting so it's good to know they warm up well after refrigeration.

FOR THE GLAZE...easy!
in a microwavable dish put marmalade, finely chopped tarragon, orange juice and pressed garlic clove and mix. heat 'till thick brushable liquid or a runny jam consistency. oh geez... just heat it through a few times so the flavors meld and you can brush it on. taste it. season if necessary.

serve one as a starter or two as a main....or go head and do as i did...eat all them yourself ...absolutely no sign of etiquette. they are delicious and quite fun to eat...
when no one is looking

0 Confit Style Roast Duck Legs

yes...i'm still riding the DUCK TRAIN...

and still lovin' every bite of it. if you're game (pardon the pun...so so sorry..they just slip out and i can't help it) please do try some duck cookin'. i think you might find it interesting and a bit more flavorful than the ever popular ever so over used chicken. i am continuously looking for things that have just that little extra something. duck has that rich flavor that chicken sometimes lacks. i recently cooked some duck breasts (expensive, by the way) and i thought it tasted like a cross between a good filet mignon and a perfectly cooked chicken. sounds odd, but it was like a flying cow. the texture was meaty and the flavor was poultry. the leg and thigh are a rich dark meat that are equally as tasty, but not so expensive...2 leg/thighs run about $5.00 as opposed to 2 breasts costing around $18.00 smackers.

if you haven't tried duck, i suggest you do. i found a recipe that is fairly easy and the end result is a roasted confit-style duck, but with a fabulous crispy skin. the truth is...i've never had REAL duck confit, so i have nothing to compare it to. i must say that now after all the duck i have been making i DO have enough rendered duck fat to make a good confit. i've read that it takes a few days to do a proper job of it. one of these days i'll get to the real deal, but for now this Easy Duck Confit recipe will do just fine.
this great recipe was found at Simple Recipes posted by Hank Shaw. many many thanks to Hank and his pals at Simple Recipes for introducing a quick Confit by making it sound so easy and SIMPLE.

i've copied the whole thing for your convenience and added a few notes of my own, but check out the original recipe HERE @ Simplerecipes.com......

EASY DUCK CONFIT
Ingredients
Duck legs-thigh attached (at least one per person)
Salt...i also added fresh thyme to the salt rub and fresh tarragon, unpeeled garlic cloves and about 1/4 cup extra duck fat to the roasting dish as you can see in the photo above. i added the extra duck fat because my legs weren't snug in the dish and i though it would help in the confit-style cooking...not necessary if your legs are fatty (please don't take this out of context)...just use a dish that will fit the legs snug.

Method
1. Pat the duck legs dry with paper towels. Find a needle or a very pointy knife and prick the skin of the duck all over. Focus on the skin that covers fat. Do your best to avoid piercing the meat itself by pricking the skin at an angle over the drumstick and the center of the thigh. You are doing this to give the fat that lies under the skin a place to seep out – if you don’t do this, it will be far more difficult to get crispy skin.

note....i didn't use the needle method. as you can see in the photo i just slashed the skin a few times and it worked just fine

2. Salt your duck legs well, more than you think you ought to, actually. Let them rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.

3. Put the duck legs in a small casserole, skin side up. How small? You want it just big enough to hold the legs. Put a thin sheen of oil or melted duck fat on the bottom of the casserole, then place the duck legs in close together but not overlapping.

note...if you want some really good confit garlic cloves add them in under and around the legs. enjoy them with your legs or peel them and save them in a jar with some of the duck fat for a rainy day and a crispy baguette.

4. Put the casserole in the oven and turn it to 300 degrees; if you have a digital oven, you could even go down to 285 degrees. Do not preheat the oven. You want to cook the duck as gently as possible.

Walk away and watch football, go shopping, read a book or something. How long? Every duck has a different level of fat, so I can’t tell you exactly. But it will be at least 90 minutes, and two hours is better. After 90 minutes, check the duck: It should be partly submerged in melted fat and the skin should be getting crispy.

5. When the skin is starting to look crispy, turn up the heat to 375 degrees. Check after 15 minutes. You’re looking for a light golden brown. If you missed some spots with the needle and there are places where the skin won’t crisp that’s OK – better that than burnt skin elsewhere.

6. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before eating. Save the accumulated fat for cooking vegetables, other meats or for keeping your skin shiny. I strain the fat through cheesecloth, but you really only need to do this if you are saving the fat for several weeks or months; strained, it will keep for 6 months tightly covered in the fridge. Well wrapped, the duck meat itself will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

note...by adding the tarragon and garlic i ended up with some delicious duck fat that was slightly infused with these flavors...i call it DUCK BUTTER

0 Lemon Poppy Protein Cake

this little unassuming cake is not just your usual lemon poppy seed cake. not only is it light and moist and delicious..it's THE BEST "protein cake" recipe i have come across as of yet...and i must say i have tried quite a few...bars, puddings, cupcakes, cookies, cakes, etc...ALOT! most cakes using protein powders come out dry or mealy or just plain awful, but this one is surprisingly good. friends i tested it on asked for the recipe...doubt they'll ever make it themselves, but nice to know they wanted it again.

if you're looking for something a little more healthy to start your day, a nice afternoon pick-me-up snack or a great light after dinner treat this is definitely worth the try. i used a 9 x 13 dark pan with parchment and made 16 servings. the approx. nutritional count (per 1/16th serving) 85 calories...8g protein...7.5 g carb...and a couple grams o' good fat from the coconut oil.

LEMON POPPY SEED PROTEIN CAKE

adapted from askGeorgie.com ...original recipe found here

• Cooking oil spray
• 1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour (or gluten free flour)

i subbed in 1/3 cup almond flour
• 2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup Splenda granulated or 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1½ cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon canola or macadamia nut oil...coconut oil
• 2 ½ teaspoons lemon extract
• 2 eggs...i used EGGBEATERS

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 9×13″ pan thoroughly with cooking oil spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, whey, Splenda, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and zest; stir to mix.
3. In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together yogurt, applesauce, oil, lemon extract, and egg. Add dry ingredients to wet ones, and stir just until uniformly moistened. Pour batter into pan.
4. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool 5 minutes before slicing. To keep moist, wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator or freezer. Microwave briefly to reheat.
this saves very well. i kept it in the fridge for a few days and it was great, although it's SUPER good and moist the day of....isn't everything?