Category Archives: Breakfast

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by in Bread, Breakfast, Vegetarian

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Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized ApplesThese pancakes are a treat for breakfast in the fall with or without the caramelized apples.  Make yourself a homemade pumpkin spice latte while you’re at it!  (Mix two shots of espresso into steamed skim milk.  Stir in 1 heaping tbsp. canned pumpkin puree, ¼ tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. ground ginger and a drizzle of caramel sauce.)  Yum!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples
Yield:  24 pancakes
Time:  30 minutes

For the pancakes:
3 cups cake flour
¼ cup sugar
1 heaping tbsp. baking powder
1½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. salt
2 cups skim milk
2 eggs
¾ cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. melted butter

For the apples:
2 apples, thinly sliced
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
2 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. brown sugar

1.  In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of milk and eggs.  Stir in the canned pumpkin, vanilla, and melted butter.  Gently beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, whisking out any lumps.  Cook the pancakes over medium-low heat on a greased skillet until cooked through, roughly 3 minutes per side.

3.  Meanwhile, prepare the caramelized apples:  Toss the apple slices with the brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger.  Place in a lightly greased medium sauté pan and cook over medium-low heat until slightly tender, about 10 minutes.  Whisk together the corn syrup and heavy cream, then pour over the apples.  Simmer over medium heat for another 3-5 minutes.  Turn heat to low and stir occasionally until ready to serve over pumpkin pancakes.

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Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramelized Apples

Basil and Goat Cheese Egg Scramble

16 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Breakfast, Healthy, Quick and Easy

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Basil and Goat Cheese Egg Scramble

I have a confession:  I cannot make omelets.  I’ve tried for years to make the perfect omelet, I’ve even stared for entirely too long at the professionals showing off their omelet-making skills at breakfast buffets.  I’ve asked for their tips and tricks, but still, after much practice, I simply cannot toss the partially-cooked egg with all its mix-ins into the air and have it and all the mix-ins land back in the pan.  I end up with bits of egg, broccoli, and tomatoes all over my kitchen floor, with splatters of grease streaked across my walls.  So in very un-JanisCakes style, I’ve given up.  Now, when I make “omelets” they are really scrambled eggs with all of the fixings cooked into clumps of egg.  When I ask my husband if he wants an omelet, he now laughs and says “do you mean scrambled eggs, babe?”  Why yes, yes I do.  And quite frankly, doesn’t it taste the same whatever form it takes on anyhow?  My omelets egg scrambles usually contain whatever fresh veggies and herbs I have at the moment, but when I made this one a few days ago it was tasty enough that I decided to share this specific ingredient combo.  Feel free to make it into an omelet if you’re a pro (and please message me with explicit step-by-step instructions of how you create such a masterpiece), or do as I do and turn it into an unattractive, albeit delicious egg scramble!

Basil and Goat Cheese Egg Scramble
Yield:  2 breakfast servings
Total time:  15 minutes

2 whole eggs plus 3 egg whites
3 tbsp. skim milk
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
6 large basil leaves, roughly torn
2 MorningStar Farms sausage patties (I like the Hot & Spicy or Maple Flavored varieties), diced into bite-sized pieces
1½ oz. goat cheese

1.  Whisk together the eggs and egg whites, milk, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.

2.  Place the quartered tomatoes into a small (like 8-inches or so) greased skillet.  Heat over medium heat until they are slightly tender.  Mix in the pieces of MorningStar sausage patties, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

3.  Pour the prepared eggs into the pan and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, until egg begins to cook.  Stir the egg around to cook evenly (or be super fancy and do your omelet-flipping thing when the time is right).  Mix in the basil and half of the goat cheese.  Continue cooking until the egg looks completely cooked through.  When fully cooked, top with the remaining goat cheese and enjoy!

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Garden Breakfast Strata with Sausage

15 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in Breakfast

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Garden Breakfast Strata with Sausage

The beauty of this recipe is that everything can be prepared the day ahead of time.  All that’s left to do the next morning is preheat your oven, pop it in, and wait!  It makes for a very convenient breakfast for busy holiday mornings or when entertaining weekend guests.

Garden Breakfast Strata with Sausage
Yield:  8-10 servings
Time:  40 minutes active, 2 hours 40 minutes total

1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
¾ of a bunch of asparagus
16 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow or white onion
2 Ciabatta rolls or ½ a baguette (roughly 8 cups when diced into ½-inch cubes)
3½ cups shredded Jarlsberg cheese
10 eggs
3 cups skim milk
¼ cup Dijon mustard
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
a dash each of salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil

1.  Cook the sausage in a sauté pan over medium heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes.  Once fully cooked, transfer to a metal strainer to allow the grease to drain off.  Set aside.

2.  Cut the tough ends off of the asparagus spears and discard.  Dice into 1-inch segments.  Blanch the asparagus by dropping the pieces into boiling water for one minute.  Immediately transfer the asparagus to an ice bath to stop them from cooking further.  After a few minutes, drain the water and remove the ice cubes.  Set aside.

3.  Sauté the mushrooms in a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until dark brown (about 8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.  Set aside.

4.  Dice the bell pepper and onion into bite-sized pieces.  Sauté over medium heat in a tablespoon of olive oil until slightly tender, about 5 minutes.

5.  Chop the bread into ½-inch cubes.  Set aside.

6.  Spray a 9×13-inch (3 quart) baking dish with canola oil.  Place half of the bread cubes in the dish.  Sprinkle half of the sausage over the bread, followed by half of the asparagus, half of the peppers/onions, and all of the mushrooms.  Top with roughly 1½ cups of the shredded cheese.  Layer on the remaining bread, followed by the rest of the asparagus, peppers/onions, and cheese.  Gently press down to lightly pack all of the ingredients into the baking dish.

7.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs.  Whisk in the milk, mustard, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Pour this mixture over the ingredients in the baking dish.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

8.  Bake at 325°F for one hour until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

Garden Breakfast Strata with Sausage

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

20 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by in Breakfast, Chocolate, Vegetarian

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Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

It was snowing yet again on Tuesday morning in the Northeast.  It feels like this winter has lasted for years!  I needed something yummy for breakfast to boost my mood, so I decided to make banana chocolate chip pancakes because they always make me feel like a child–carefree and happy!  As I stirred the batter I kept singing the lyrics to Jack Johnson’s song Banana Pancakes (“Can’t you see that it’s just raining snowing, ain’t no need to go outside…Maybe we can sleep in, make you banana pancakes, pretend like it’s the weekend now.”)  They did the trick–between the song and the pancakes, I felt much better.  Maybe I could even handle one more snow storm before the winter is finally over for good!

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Yield:  25-30 pancakes (about 4-inches in diameter)
Time:  40 minutes total

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
6 tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

additional bananas, for serving
maple syrup, for serving

1.  Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, eggs, and mashed banana.

3.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients together in several additions, whisking out any large lumps.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

4.  Cook on a lightly greased griddle over medium-low heat.  Once bubbles form on the surface (after about 4 minutes), flip the pancakes.  Heat until cooked through, about another 2 minutes.  Serve topped with sliced bananas and drizzled with maple syrup.  Enjoy!

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