What's for Breakfast?

This post wanders about a bit, but bear with me. There is a point.

You all know that I'm obsessed with breakfast. Not just what I eat, but what everyone else eats all over the world. A while ago, I posited that cultures in which a hearty breakfast was the norm tended to have more skinny people than, say, cultures in which you can find no less than three donut shops within a half-mile radius. (Don't belive me? check out this map. Yes, I live in the donut epicenter of the earth). I set out to test this by eating - you guessed it - a hearty breakfast, hoping that it would fill me up and decrease my consumption for the rest of the day.

The scientists among you will note that my study design is flawed because (1) I did not do a power analysis to determine what the appropriate sample size is to detect a statistically significant different and (2) I'm supposed to attempt to disprove my hypothesis, so what I really should have done was eat nothing at all for breakfast. But, (1) since the Great Computer Crash of '09, I lost all of my bookmarks including that handy sample size/power analysis calculator and (2) since my son started going to preschool every morning, I'm really enjoying the luxury of making myself a nice breakfast after I drop him off.

So what's on my menu? Fried eggs with brown rice, spicy seasoned radish, and roasted seaweed. The radish and seaweed were purchased at Hmart and can I just say, I have become a complete seaweed junkie. It's salty, crispy, and (if you buy that version) a little sweet too. The perfect snack food, and realy, really yummy with a fried egg.

Now I know some of you are thinking, oh Yawn, you just discovered kimchee and eggs? Get with it, will ya! But yes, I did just discover it, and now I'm totally addicted. I see it as a measure of how far I've come: not so long ago, I would have looked at this and thought, What the heck is that? Now I look and start to drool...


I promised you a point to this post, so here it is...actually, there are 2 points. (1) I'm getting better at the food photography thing - I at least have figured out to place the dish on a non-reflective surface, and (2) I have lost no weight whatsoever, despite all those Hearty Breakfasts. I'm not giving up, though...maybe I just need to extend the study for a few more weeks.

Mmmmm Muffins

Dish Gal was looking for some healthy muffins, so I decided that I would post these two recipes that I developed when I wanted to make some healthy baked goods for my son. The term "healthy" can mean different things to different people, so first I offer up my philosophy:

1. I mostly try to make nutritious food. That means I'm willing to keep the fat in a recipe if there are other nutritious elements (i.e. protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals).

2. I prefer to develop recipes around the items that I use frequently, such as whole-milk yogurt. It saves me money when I don't have to throw away a container of fat-free sour cream that I didn't finish, and mental anguish when I don't have to figure out how to use up a container of fat-free sour cream. (I don't buy sour cream, fat-free or otherwise, much at all anymore. In most cases, whole-milk yogurt works just fine - try it on a baked potato sometime). To use up leftover buttermilk from these recipes, you can always make waffles or soda bread.

3. I try to include whole grains in my baking, but again, I don't want to have a lot of extra stuff lying around that I won't use up. So, these recipes as well as my waffles include a little whole-wheat flour along with unbleached white flour and some other grains. If you want to go all-whole-grain, try out the "white whole wheat" flour from King Arthur; it has a lighter texture than regular whole wheat flour.

4. With respect to muffins, you may have to adjust your expectations. Starbucks does not make muffins in Life-Sustaining Portions. Have you looked at a muffin tin lately? A 12-muffin muffin tin? It holds about 1/3 cup of batter in each muffin. So don't get carried away with portions; respect the muffin for what it is. I like to think of them as nutritious snacks for me and my toddler (and sometimes they double as entertainment).

Most muffins taste best on the day that they are baked. I freeze the leftovers: pop them in a zip-top bag and eat them all week (20 seconds in the microwave, or a couple of hours in your purse while you commute to work is sufficient to thaw them). If you want to store them longer, wrap them individually in foil or plastic wrap before you store them in the zip-top bag and freeze.


Pumpkin Bread or muffins
Recipe adapted from livinglowfat.com

1 cup pumpkin or squash puree (canned, homemade, whatever)
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
2-3 tablespoons walnut oil (or olive oil)
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 9x5” loaf pan or muffin tins (6 large, 12 regular or 24 mini-muffins).

3. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, buttermilk, egg and oil until well blended.

5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir well to combine. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Pour the batter in to the loaf pan or spoon it into the muffin tins.

6. Bake the loaf for 1 hour, muffins 20-35 minutes depending on size until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.


Blueberry corn muffins
Recipe adapted from cooksrecipes.com

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, dredged in flour

1. Heat oven to 375 F. Grease a 12-cup muffin or 24-cup mini-muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

3. Add the egg and buttermilk, mix only until absorbed. Fold in the berries.

4. Pour the batter into cups, making each cup 2/3 full.

5. Bake 15-20 minutes or until browned and the center springs back when gently pressed. Cool on a wire rack.

Saturday, and Beyond

I bought my first waffle maker in the early 90s. Why did I buy a waffle maker? I'm not all that sure, actually. I think it was because I'd read a recipe for raised waffles (as in, made-with-yeast-waffles, not resurrected waffles) and wanted to try it. In those days, I was the sort of person who bought a kitchen gadget just to make a specific recipe (as in, a youngish person who has not yet overstuffed their kitchen with gadgets).

As I recall, I carefully researched options and decided upon a classic round waffler with nonstick finish. I think I sunk about 50 bucks into that waffler, which was a lot of money back then. Five batches of waffles later, I finally realized that "nonstick finish" does not mean "waffles will not stick." Even though I kept spraying the grids with cooking spray, it still took some time for that sucker to build up what I like to call seasoning or, to be even more euphemistic, patina. I'm still not sure what kept me from carrying out my threat to toss the waffler out the window, but I'm glad that I hung in there. Waffle batter #6 was my lucky batch; we've been waffling ever since. (Note: if you do not currently own a waffle maker and are considering buying one, don't be put off by this story. I'm sure that waffler coating technology has advanced in the last 15 years).

My waffle-making made great technical advances when I discovered the book, "Waffles: From Morning To Midnight" by Dorie Greenspan. Here I learned that, by heating one's oven to ~180 F, already-cooked waffles could be kept warm and waiting. Thus it was possible to make a whole batch and then serve everyone at once, including the waffle slave. This opened up a whole new realm of waffle consumption...for a couple of years, we'd get together every Saturday morning with friends to watch cartoons, drink too much coffee, and take turns making breakfast. (We called it the CAB club for caffeine, animation, and breakfast). When our turn was up we'd often make waffles.

After its CAB heyday, the waffle maker sat idle for a few years. I rediscovered it when my son was ready to start eating solid foods and I wanted to include more whole grains in his Recommended Daily Serving Of Starch. So, I started tinkering around with a couple of recipes from Ms. Greenspan's book. To be honest, though, there wasn't that much tinkering to be done; a couple of her recipes almost fit the bill as-is.

I usually have either buttermilk or plain yogurt in my fridge, so I developed a recipe for each one. (Buttermilk comes in low- and non-fat options; either will work. I usually buy whole milk and whole-milk yogurt but I think you could sub in the low-fat versions). I like a waffle that stands up to its syrup, so both recipes produce a fairly sturdy waffle although the yogurt one is a bit softer. Buttermilk will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator; if you don't want to make waffles again the next weekend, try this recipe for Brown Soda Bread from Bon Appetit to use up the extra.

Each recipe makes 5-7 waffles, depending on how much batter you need for your waffle maker. (Mine takes a little more than 1/2 cup per waffle). Leftover waffles can be frozen in zip-top bags and reheated for quick breakfasts during the week - pop them into the toaster for a few minutes, or microwave them, or wrap them in foil and put them in your diaper bag for an on-the-go toddler snack. (My son eats them, still frozen, straight from the freezer). Waffles make great snacks for toddlers because they don't crumble and make a big mess.

A note about oats: I always have "old-fashioned" rolled oats in the pantry because that's what I use to make granola. (Yes, I do have four different kinds of salt, but I only buy one kind of oats...well actually two because there's the steel-cut oats for oatmeal, but I digress). I soak the oats in milk (or whatever liquid the recipe calls for) just so that there aren't any dry oat bits in the final product. The soaking step is not essential. And, if you have "quick" rolled oats, the soaking isn't necessary. Just don't use "instant" oats. (Actually, I've never tried these recipes with instant oats, so I don't know what would happen - if you do try it, let me know).

And another note about sweeteners: I like to use maple syrup, but you can use honey, sugar, brown sugar...whatever you like. You can even skip the sweetener altogether, as I found out last weekend when I forgot to add the syrup: the waffles still taste pretty OK, especially if you put syrup on top. The vanilla and cinnamon add a hint of sweetness on their own.


Multigrain Buttermilk Waffles
Adapted from “Waffles from Morning to Midnight” by Dorie Greenspan

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup old-fashioned oats (not instant oats)
½ cup all-purpose flour (preferably unbleached)
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1½ cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
Optional: 2 medium-size ripe bananas, thickly sliced crosswise or 1 cup blueberries, washed and drained

1. Place the buttermilk in a medium bowl. Add the oats and stir well; set aside for the oats to soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. (Letting the oats soften in the buttermilk makes them chewier in the waffles).

2. Preheat the oven to 190 F. Place the oven rack in the upper and lower third of the oven and set a couple of cooling racks on them.

3. Melt the butter in a glass dish in the microwave (about 30 seconds) on in a small pot on the stove.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg with a whisk.

5. Crack the eggs and add them to the bowl with the oats and buttermilk. Add the maple syrup and vanilla to the same bowl. Use a fork to beat the eggs together, then stir everything in the bowl together.

6. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix and fold everything together until it is almost completely mixed. Drizzle the butter over the batter, add the optional fruit, and fold it in.

7. Let the batter rest for a few minutes while you preheat the waffle iron. The batter will puff up and increase in volume; it will become quite thick.

8. Lightly grease the grids on the waffle iron or spray with cooking spray. Scoop out a generous ½ cup of batter onto the waffle iron and use the measuring cup or a spatula to spread the batter over the grid. The batter is very thick; you will probably need ~1/3 more than the manufacturer’s recommended amount of batter for each waffle.

9. As each waffle is cooked, transfer it to the oven rack to keep warm until serving time. This recipe makes a sturdy waffle, but the oven-resting step can help to crisp up a soft waffle.

Multigrain Honey-Yogurt Waffles
Also adapted from “Waffles from Morning to Midnight” by Dorie Greenspan

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Proceed as in the above recipe, letting the oats soak in the milk while you prepare the other ingredients.

Ode to an Easy Oatmeal

One of these days I'm going to surprise you all and just post a recipe without a long-winded tale to introduce it. Today is not that day...in fact this may be a Personal Best Post in terms of the wordy-background-to-short-recipe ratio.

I'm always interested in learning about what other people eat. I'm especially interested in what people in other countries feed to their kids, since one of my hopes for raising my son is that he will appreciate the wondrous array of foods that the world has to offer. So, when I get to know someone from a different cultural background, I like to ask them what they have for breakfast.

Although this is not a carefully controlled study, I can't help but notice an apparent correlation between countries full of skinny people and eating a hearty breakfast. By "hearty" I mean almost anything except the processed-type of cereals, donuts, muffins and other sweet things that have crept onto the American breakfast table. Some cultures have eggs and tortillas, some have rice and fish, some have a nice big pork chop - my point being that breakfast truly is a meal that nourishes the body after the long break since dinner.
Does having a hearty breakfast sustain you longer into the morning than a bowl of cereal, with the net result that you eat less all day? I bet those Special K folks sure hope not.

Since I am trying to be a little more skinny myself, I am doing an experiment that throws American dietary advice out the window and treating myself to bigger morning meals. Last night's (homemade) veggie lo mein and kimchee stew with rice made surprisingly good breakfasts. I'm not sure I'm ready for the breakfast pork chop, though; I love bacon and sausage but I guess I have too much culinary bias to try chops for breakfast. (Isn't that odd? Maybe it's because I was raised with pork chops on the dinner plate, whereas the lo mein and kimchee entered my kitchen when I was an adult). At any rate, this observation, coupled with our horribly cold weather of late, has me hankering after hot breakfasts. But sometimes there are no leftovers, and sometimes I just want something more familiar as breakfast food. Which brings me to my point: oatmeal.

I wasn't a Big Oatmeal Fan until I discovered steelcut, or Irish-style oats. If you've never tried them, they have the same general flavor as rolled oats, but they aren't rolled - the grain is mostly intact, so they're bigger and chewy-er. (I'm not doing a good job of describing this...just take my word for it, they taste better!). oats are one of those food that I classify as Ludicrously Healthy, plus they taste good. The downside to the steel-cut variety is that they cost a little more than rolled oats (though you can find them in bulk at Whole Foods or other "natural" grocery stores) and they take a lot longer to cook. So it would seem that hot oatmeal is not an option for the whole hearty breakfast thing on a busy weekday.

But wait! Thanks to Marion Cunningham, author of "The Breakfast Book," there is a way to have your oats and eat them on a weekday, too. I call this "Overnight Oatmeal."

For 3-4 generous servings:
3 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup steel-cut oats

Put the water in the top half of a double boiler. Bring the water to a boil and shake in the oats and salt. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, fill the bottom of the double boiler with water and bring that to a boil, too. When the 5 minutes of oat-simmering have elapsed, cover the pan and transfer it to sit in the hot water in the bottom of the double boiler. Leave it on the stove overnight and in the morning, the oats will be cooked. You can re-heat the oats by turning the heat on low to bring the water in the bottom of the double boiler to a simmer (let it simmer for ~15 minutes to heat the oats), or by scooping out individual servings into bowls and heating them in the microwave.

That's it. For ~15 minutes' effort in the evening - most of which is waiting for water to boil - you can have hot oatmeal waiting for you in the morning. If you don't have a double boiler, you can place the covered pan with the oats in a larger pan of water. Alternatively, you can use a small Crock-pot or put the oats and water in a covered dish and bake all night at 225 F (no need to pre-boil the oats with these methods).

I do love this recipe. Add some fruit and a little yogurt, cream, brown sugar or maple syrup and you're in breakfast heaven. (I should note that Marion says you can cook regular rolled oats in the same way. So if you don't want to deal with steel-cut, you don't have to).

You don't have to limit yourself to oats, either. I messed around with this a lot when my son was in the mushy-food stage, and tried out various grains and combinations. I came up with what I like to call the Rule of Threes, to make it easy to remember the recipe: (1) use three cups of water for every cup of oats, (2) up to 1/3 of the oats can be substituted with another type of grain, and (3) don't use more than 3 kinds of grain.

The last two rules came into being because I was trying to come up with a multigrain-type of porridge. Through trial and error I found that adding too many different types of grains muddled the flavors, and too much volume of different grains affected the consistency of the porridge. My favorite combinations are 2/3 cup oats with 1/3 cup (total) of millet and cracked wheat, millet and barley, or cracked wheat and quinoa. If you can find it, get "hulled" barley instead of "pearled" barley; the germ has not been removed from hulled barley. This gives an extra "snap" to the cooked barley that goes really well with the oats.

So give it a try, and let me know what combinations you like...or at least what you like to eat for breakfast :-)