Buttery Herb-Gruyere Toasts {served with soft-boiled eggs}

This is yet another Smitten Kitchen creation. I adore Smitten Kitchen - I am smitten with Smitten Kitchen (sorry, I had to). Her recipes are so doable and ALWAYS delicious! Her cookbook comes out this Fall and you can bet I am pre-ordering that baby!

I made this for breakfast for myself a few weeks ago and boy, it hit the spot! This would be perfect for brunch, or even an afternoon munch. The yolk from the egg creates a perfect sauce for the salty, crunchy cheese-sprinkled toasts... yum!

What you need:
16 sourdough toast fingers, 1/2" thick
4 Tbls. butter, melted
1 tsp. dijon mustard
salt
pepper
1/3 c. finely grated Gruyere cheese
2 Tbls. finely grated Romano cheese (or parmesan)
1 Tbls. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme

What to do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place bread cubes in a large, shallow bowl.
Whisk together mustard and butter and drizzle over the top of the bread.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cheeses, and herbs.
Toss to coat.
Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray and scatter the bread cubes on the sheet.
Bake until crisp and golden, about 20 minutes.

Serve with soft-boiled eggs (you can find instructions on how to do this on the internet - just use Google!), making sure to soak up every last bit of yolk into that crispy toast!

Licking my fingers,

HK

01.29.2012 | Cake Doughnuts

Well, this hasn't been the healthiest weekend of breakfast foods for the Keys... But, boy! It's been a delicious weekend of breakfasts. We kick-started the weekend with homemade buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy, then opened our Sunday morning with these tasty cake doughnuts from the blog Spoon Fork Bacon.

These doughnuts do not require yeast, which means no need for rising the dough, making them a fairly fast dough-based treat. They are lightly crisp on the outside, soft and cakey on the inside, and perfectly coated with a simple powdered sugar glaze...


What you need:
1 quart (4 c.) peanut or vegetable oil

.for the doughnuts.
1 T. vegetable shortening
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg yolk
1 3/4 c. + 2 T. flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. whole milk (I needed about 1-2 T. more)

.for the glaze.
1 c. powdered sugar
2-4 T. heavy cream, depending on the consistency you want
1/2 tsp. vanilla

.garnishes.
toasted coconut
chopped peanuts
powdered sugar, sifted

What to do:
.Preheat the oil to 365 degrees
.Whisk together the shortening, egg yolk, and sugar until well combined
.In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon
.Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the egg mixture until the dough has just formed
.Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes
.Roll the dough out to a 1/2" disc and, using a 2" round cutter, cut out the doughnuts
.Use a 1/2" round cutter (I used the lid to my hairspray...) to cut out the doughnut holes
.Carefully drop 3-4 doughnuts into the oil and fry until the edges begin to turn golden, then flip and continue frying until the whole doughnut is a deep golden brown color, about 2 minutes total.
.Drain on a paper towel and repeat the process until all doughnuts and doughnut holes have been fried
.Dip each doughnut into the glaze, then gently press them into your desired garnish until it adheres to the glaze

Serve with a tall glass of milk!

It's nice to share with your neighbors, too!

Powered sugar on my lips,

HK

Sausage Gravy (for those buttermilk biscuits...)

If you are into a heartier topping to your fluffy biscuits, this gravy is the cure to your craving. It's thick, creamy, slightly salty, slightly spicy... it's delicious!

This recipe comes from a blog called Simply Recipes that I have been following for quite some time and have loved everything I made from their site :)

What you need:
1 lb. pork sausage
1/4 c. finely chopped yellow onion
6 T. all-purpose flour
4 c. whole milk
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1-2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1-2 dashes Tabasco sauce (I omitted this because I am a wimp...)
1-2 T. butter, or bacon grease

What to do:
Preheat a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat
Crumble the sausage into the pan and let it brown for 1-2 minutes, then turn stove down to medium heat and sprinkle the flour over the sausage
Stir in the flour and cook for 6-8 minutes, until the mixture starts bubbling and turns golden brown
Stir in seasonings and cook for 1 minute
Slowly add the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thickened (about 15 minutes)

Pour lavishly over buttermilk biscuits and consume right away!

Licking my plate,

HK

01.27.2012 | Buttermilk Biscuits

I hate to admit this, but I did not take any pictures from 01.17 through 01.21 (just 4 days!) because I came down with the flu on the night of the 18th... I was down for the count until that next Monday, and even then not up to par. But! I had a lovely newborn session on the 22nd, which MORE than makes up for the 4 photos that I missed during that time, and makes up for the 4 more days of photos I missed since then due to editing and preparing their disc...

Today, though, I am back in full-swing (hopefully, fingers crossed) with my photo-a-day, self-given assignment and, a little bonus, this one comes with a recipe!

Since I started working only 4 days a week (Fridays off!!), Scott and I have been so blessed to have Friday mornings to spend together. We have made it a tradition to sleep in wake up around 8:00, make a yummy breakfast and coffee, and play a few rounds of backgammon before Scott heads off to school for the day.

This Friday morning, homemade southern buttermilk biscuits! Yum! I also have a recipe for sausage gravy that I will post next, so stay tuned for that!

The KEY to light, fluffy, buttery biscuits is MINIMAL HANDLING. Do NOT over knead your dough! This will result in tough, chewy biscuits (yuck.)

This recipe comes from Alton Brown on foodnetwork.com

What you need:
2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 T. butter, cold
2 T. shortening
1 c. buttermilk, chilled

What to do:
Preheat oven to 450
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
Using a fork, work butter and shortening into the flour mixture. Work quickly, as you don't want the fats to melt. The mixture will be crumbly.
Make a well in the flour mixture with your hands and pour in the buttermilk
Stir with a spoon until just combined; do not over mix. The dough will be very sticky.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, dust the top with a bit of flour, and gently fold the dough over itself 5-6 times
Press into a 1/2-1 inch thick disc
Cut out biscuits using a 2" biscuit cutter, making sure to push straight down and straight out - do NOT twist the cutter, as this will prevent your biscuits from rising properly!
Place biscuits on a baking sheet so that they just touch
Reform scrap dough, working as minimally as possible, and continue cutting until all dough is used
Bake until biscuits are tall and lightly golden on top, 15-20 minutes (mine were done in 15).

Serve with butter & honey, or with sausage gravy (recipe to come!)

Yum!

Salivating,

HK