Last weekend I stayed with my lovely friends of mine and we had an all-out cook fest. First, we grilled up some fish kabobs. Yum town. Then we drank one too many of these margaritas. I would like to tell you I regret this, but the fact is, I don’t. You should never, ever regret your margaritas.

Truthfully, I had barely enough energy in the morning for our last endeavor: baking. Luckily, this is a super simple and delicious quickbread that didn’t require much brainpower first thing in the morning. And, it’s perfect for breakfast. It has eggs, milk, and TWO kinds of fruit. Winner.

BTW – have you ever had chocolate cake for breakfast? The same above reasoning works just perfectly. Eggs, Milk, flour. Done and done.

Blueberry-Orange Walnut Bread

If you’re not a big fan of walnuts, feel free to substitute any other kind you like.

3  cups  all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon orange zest
2/3 cup orange juice
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs in a small bowl and add to the dry mixture. Add in melted butter, milk, and orange juice and mix just until you have a smooth batter.

Gently fold in blueberries and walnuts and pour into two greased & floured loaf pans. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean.

There are some things in the South that you just can’t find elsewhere in the country. Sweet tea is number one. I’m not sure why everyone else has issues with combining tea and sugar, but Southerners are pros.

Fried okra. Actually, make that okra in general. I have seen okra at the farmer’s markets here in California, but every time I buy some the guy at the stand looks at me like I’ve just asked to buy the only bruised and rotting tomato that he owns. Seriously dude, I know how to cook this stuff.

Bojangles. I have to make a confession that since the only Bojangles in my hometown growing up was totally get-OH, I’m not very familiar with their food. However, try telling that to a guy that grew up in the South. I’m not just talking about Chase, I mean ANY guy that grew up in the South. He will immediately begin to preach to you the wonders of Bojangles, including their chicken biscuits, sweet tea, and certainly the Bo Berry Biscuits.

From what I can gather, these biscuits are blueberry biscuits with icing drizzled over them. A perfectly balanced breakfast, right? So, I tried to bring a little of the South to LA. I wouldn’t want to commit blasphemy by claiming them to be better than the mighty Bojangles’, but I thought they were pretty dang swell. I’ve also received quite a few cell phone photos of Bo Berry biscuits in my life and none were very attractive. Since I had a hard time making these look pretty also, I figured they’re probably pretty close to the real thing.

Blueberry Biscuits with Vanilla Icing

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I used our buttermilk biscuit recipe and tweaked it a bit by adding vanilla extract and doubling the amount of sugar. Oh yeah, and adding blueberries. I think frozen are best in this situation since they help keep the butter cold and also don’t come apart as easily as fresh ones.

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup butter, diced and chilled
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup frozen blueberries

For the icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons water

Pre-heat oven to 450F. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cream of tartar. Working quickly, throw butter into flour mix and work it in with your hands until little balls form. You can also blend in the butter using a food processor.

Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and add buttermilk and vanilla extract, and frozen blueberries all at once. With a large spoon stir mixture, just until it’s blended and begins to mass and form a sticky dough.  (If dough is dry dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons additional buttermilk.)

Immediately turn dough onto a generously floured surface.  Using floured hands, knead briskly 8 to 10 times until cohesive ball of dough forms. Gently flatten dough with hands to even thickness. Using a floured rolling pin, lightly roll dough to a 3/4-inch thickness.

Using a glass or biscuit butter, cut the biscuits out and arrange on heavy baking sheet.  Try to get as many as you can out of the first roll.  Gather the excess dough and roll out again and cut more biscuits.  I’d discard the excess dough after the second roll out because they’ll turn out tough and chewy.
Place on upper third of oven and bake for 8 to 12 minutes until crusty and golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and water and whisk together to form an icing. Drizzle over the hot biscuits and serve, or eat them all yourself. Whatevs.

I have no excuse for this pie. Absolutely none. I could maybe defend it by pointing out the use of fresh fruit, but I’m aware that this is just not something I should be showing you in the dead of summer, also known as Bathing Suit Season.  Maybe I can place the blame elsewhere…specifically, to Saluda Grade Café, the restaurant that I worked at in high school, and the place that gave me the inspiration for this recipe.

The funny thing is, this was not a popular dessert there. It only  showed up for maybe 2 months out of the year, and when it did those pies would sit and sell so slowly that eventually I would take some home to keep it from going to waste. Not that I ever once complained about this. Except when I had to put on a bathing suit. Damn those pies.

I’m convinced that the reason these pies weren’t big sellers is because instead of having our desserts in a display case, customers made their decisions based on a list that we wrote on a chalkboard at the back of the restaurant. Even I will admit that it’s hard to choose “Blueberry Cream Pie” when it’s written next to “Double Chocolate Fudge Cake.”

However, I think that if everyone had realized that “blueberries” meant fresh-picked North Carolina mountain blueberries delivered that morning, and that by “cream” we were talking about the equivalent of melted cheesecake, they may have changed their minds. This pie that I only got to eat twice a year was the absolute highlight of my summers. And totally worth forgoing a bathing suit for.

Blueberry Cream Pie

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This is a recipe that I came up with on my own, but it tastes exactly like the one at Saluda Grade.

1 baked pie shell
½ cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar, divided
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries

In a bowl, beat the whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.

In a larger bowl beat together the rest of the sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract. Once everything is well combined and the cream cheese is smooth and creamy, slowly fold in the whipping cream. Once everything is combined gently fold in the blueberries.

Pour the filling into a prepared pie shell and chill for at least and hour to allow the pie to set up. Now try to stop yourself from eating the whole thing at once.

Have you ever noticed that people are straight crazy about how they make their cornbread.  Here are a few proper cornbread do’s and don’ts that I’ve heard over the years:

Do’s: Baking cornbread requires a cast iron skillet. Grease the hot skillet with bacon grease before adding batter.

Don’ts: Never add honey…or sugar…or splenda. Never sweetener. You don’t need to add kernels of corn, just cornmeal. Don’t add frilly stuff…like fruit, particularly pretty blueberries.

People get stressed out about their cornbread. I understand. Trust me. I do. Tradition is a tough thing to break.  And this cornbread breaks every cornbread rule in the book.  It has a 1/4 cup of sugar . Not a ton, but it’s definitely there. I added fresh blueberries, which is so, SO wrong! And I used butter instead of the traditional bacon fat to grease the skillet. But I’m okay with being wrong sometimes; especially when doing so results in a delicious, moist, slightly sweet, cake-like cornbread that is perfect for pairing with dinner or a cup of coffee.

Blueberry Cornbread

Recipe by Sunset Mag

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Yield: Makes 9 servings

2  large eggs

1  cup  buttermilk

1/4  cup  (1/8 lb.) butter, melted

2/3  cup  all-purpose flour

1 1/3  cup  yellow cornmeal

1/4  cup  sugar

1 1/2  teaspoons  baking powder

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1  cup  fresh blueberries, rinsed

In a bowl, beat eggs, buttermilk, and butter to blend. In another bowl, mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Stir flour mixture into egg mixture just until evenly moistened. Gently stir in berries. Grab your 10″ cast iron skillet and heat over medium heat. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, coating the pan with it.  Note: If you don’t have a cast iron skillet you could also use an 8 inch square pan.

Bake in a 375° oven until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then cut into 9 squares.

I have an issue with rice pudding. It’s not that I don’t love it. I do. A lot. My issue is that I always seem to convince myself that this is somehow a “healthy” dessert. I mean, it’s rice, right? How can rice be bad for you? This explains why in the past I have ordered rice pudding for breakfast, ignoring the looks of my friends when they realize my early morning meal will be coming from the dessert menu.

So yeah, it’s sort of an issue. Especially when I realize I’ve convinced myself that I’ve made a smart choice even though I’m spooning sugar and milk into my mouth at an unhealthy rate. However, I found a solution to my problem with this recipe. I’m not gonna lie, it still has some sugar, but A LOT LESS than most rice pudding recipes. And, this has brown rice instead of white rice, and soy milk instead of  whole milk. And it has blueberries. Fresh, juicy blueberries. So, with just a little sugar and lots of nutrition, I finally have a rice pudding that I can eat for breakfast. Well…that I can eat for breakfast and not feel bad about.

 

Brown Rice Pudding with Blueberries

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A huge bonus to this recipe is that it gives you something to do with cooked rice leftover from dinner. If you want to cut down on the cooking time leave out 1/2 cup of milk, although that might affect the creaminess of the final dish. You can also used dried fruit instead of fresh, but I would add it in at the beginning of the cooking process instead of the end.

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups low fat milk or soy milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh blueberries

In a medium saucepan combine rice, milk, sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon. Cook for 15-20 minutes stirring frequently until the pudding is thick and creamy. Remove from heat and add blueberries, stirring gently to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature. Eat in a big bowl with a spoon and feel happy about the decision you’ve made.

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day, but despite my heavy addiction to pancakes, (which you’ll find here, here…and here) I hardly ever make them during the workweek.  I’d much rather opt for sleep than wake up early to prepare a full breakfast. Instead, I usually just make myself a blueberry smoothie which takes less than 5 minutes.  But as it’s recently been damp, chilly and rainy in LA, a cold smoothie simply does not sound appealing.

I always gaze at the marble loafs and sugary-coated scones at Starbucks and dream of eating them, but having a sugar rush first thing in the morning isn’t what I want. So, to hit the spot, I’ve moved my attention to something just as healthy as my smoothie, but with less sugar than the marble loafs I lust over—Granola Blueberry Muffins. Surprisingly they’re just as flavorful and easy to make.

I baked some up and stuck the remaining muffins in the freezer a few days ago. And today I stuck one in the oven on low while I finished getting ready.  By the time I was done, I wrapped it in a paper towel and was on my way.  Voila–the perfect quick and healthy breakfast.

Granola Blueberry Muffins

Recipe from NY Times

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Yield: 12 muffins

I made a couple of tweaks to the original recipes. Since I think raisins ruin everything, I excluded them and replaced them with chopped walnuts.  I highly recommend this, as they added an extra crunch and made for a more interesting texture. I also added blueberries, but I think cranberries or raspberries would work beautifully.

1 cup granola
1/2 cup low-fat milk (I had whole milk)
1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large or extra large eggs
1/4 cup mild honey, such as clover
1/2 cup buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt (I went with the low-fat yogurt)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375ºF with a rack in the middle. *Oil 12 muffin cups. Combine the granola and milk in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cover the raisins with hot water and soak for 15 minutes. Drain and dry on paper towels.

Sift together whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In medium bowl, beat together the eggs, honey, buttermilk or yogurt, canola oil and vanilla. Quickly whisk in the flour, then fold in the granola and raisins. Combine well

Spoon into muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool on a rack.

Advance preparation: These will be good for a couple of days, and freeze well. Thaw overnight or in the microwave.

*Oiling the muffin liners is super important.  They’re not like cupcakes, which don’t require it at all. If you don’t oil them, you’ll find that when you try and take the liners off the muffin bottoms will be destroyed.  Not fun.

In my head I know it’s September already, but I am having a hard time letting go of summer. However, the world is doing it’s best to let me know that autumn is here. I have to carry a jacket with me since it is no longer guaranteed that it will be meltingly hot outside. There are just a few more leaves lying in the street every morning and a few less on the tree branches, and the flowers outside our apartment are starting to droop and shrivel ever so slightly.  The most obvious sign of the changing season, though, is that pumpkin flavored lattes have appeared in every coffee shop in the city. Ever since the birth of flavored coffee drinks, it seems that pumpkin has become the poster food of autumn.

If I could pick the poster food of summer, it would be berries. Any kind of berries. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, rasberries; I cannot eat enough of them during the summer months. Growing up in North Carolina, summer always brought with it the appearance of fresh berries on the bushes in our small town.  At my Granny’s house I ate blackberries right off the bush until I was sick from them. At my Grandma’s, raspberry bushes were scattered all around her property and my cousins and I would collect them in the morning and be eating cobbler by that afternoon.

One of the best ways to use all of those ripe berries is to make a crisp. For those of you not blessed enough to grow up in the South, a fruit crisp is a dessert comprised of fruit mixed with sugar and topped with a crumbly, sugary crust on top, then baked in the oven until hot and bubbly. It’s similar to a cobbler, except that in cobbler the crust more closely resembles a traditional pie crust. Now, the difference between cobblers and crisps are often a source of heated debate in the South, but this is how I have always defined the two. For any fellow Southerner out there that disagrees, please leave me a comment below with your definition. At any rate, I was filled with an absolute craving for a crisp on a day when I had a picnic planned (I’ve been picnicking a lot…I guess I lived up to my promise). So, in an effort to make my crisp a little more portable, I doubled the recipe for the crust and layered it on both the bottom and the top of the berries and voila! Fruit crisp has been transformed into finger food!

Blueberry Crisp Bars

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These bars were made with blueberries because I had some plump ones on hand that needed to be eaten, but you can substitute any berry that you like. If you want to make a traditional berry crisp, halve the recipe for the crust. You should also use a smaller pan and/or double the amount of berries, and toss the berries with a couple tablespoons of flour to soak up the excess juices they produce when cooked.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup butter
3 cups blueberries
1 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix together the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and milk. Cut the butter into the mix, and knead into the flour until it begins to look like course crumbs.  Squeeze some of the mixture in your hand, it should stay intact and form a ball, but should break apart easily with your fingers. If it won’t stay together, add more butter. If it won’t come apart, add more flour. Pour half of the mix into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Press down firmly until it forms a crust.

Toss the blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice together. Pour the berries over the crust and spread evenly along the first layer. Sprinkle the rest of the crust mixture over top and lightly press into another layer.

Bake in the oven at 350º 30-40 mintues, or until the crust begins to brown. Allow to cool, and then cut into deliciously imperfect bars of berry goodness.

Butter and pancakes seem to go together like, umm…me, chocolate ice cream and midnight.  No? Well, you get my point.  They simply make sense together.  So when I came across this pancake recipe using olive oil instead of butter I was intrigued, but waaaay skeptical.

Caroline and I have already given up butter when it comes to making eggs…but pancakes? Hadn’t even considered it. But I’m an easy going person—I went with it. When I carefully measured out the olive oil and added it to the batter, I thought to myself, Man, that seems like a lot of olive oil, but hey, that’s the recipe.  What the heck do I know? But then I double-checked the recipe and realized I totally botched it. I almost had a little crisis, which I have quite often in the kitchen.

Sometimes I just shrug if off and keep going–other times I can’t ignore my humungo mistake and I’m forced to start over. It was a two-tablespoons-too-much kinda blunder so I figured it can’t be that bad.  I forged onward expecting it to taste too much like olive oil.  Boy was I wrong.  That 1/4 cup of olive oil was just right! I didn’t have chocolate in the house; only blueberries, so I used those instead, which turned out to be another welcomed diversion from the original recipe.  The pancakes were fluffy, moist, and slightly sweet with a notable olive oil flavor.  Perfectly perfect.

Olive Oil Blueberry Pancakes

Adapted from José Andrés

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1 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4  teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk
1 large egg
1/4 extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cups of fresh blueberries

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Whisk in the egg, buttermilk, and olive oil until you have a smooth batter, then stir.  Be sure to not over stir–it’ll make the pancakes tough and flat rather than being light and fluffy. Lastly, delicately fold blueberries in to the batter.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat. Ladle 1/4 cup of the pancake mixture into the pan and cook until golden brown. Flip the pancake with spatula and cook until golden brown on the second side. Transfer the pancake to a warm oven. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed.

It’s “June Gloom” in LA, and while most people spend complaining about it being cold, hazy and foggy outside, I wake up excited about it. I mean, LA is sunny EVERDAY so I welcome to change. In fact, the dreary weather actually makes me really happy. True fact: When I was a kid living in Ft. Lauderdale, I used to turn the air conditioning really low so I had a reason to curl up in a blanket and sip hot tea. I like being cozy. Whatevs.

While I really don’t see myself living in Alaska freezing my behind off, I do like cashmere blankets, coffee mugs, Uggs, and other sorts of cozy accoutrement. And when I think of cozy type foods nothing comes to mind sooner than scones. I mean, the accompaniment of scones is hot tea. STFU!

Blueberry Scones

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Recipe

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INGREDIENTS

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup cold heavy cream

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 4 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the cold butter at the lowest speed and mix until the butter is in pea-sized pieces. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour and butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss the fresh strawberries with 1 tablespoon of flour, add them to the dough, and mix quickly. The dough may be a bit sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface and be sure it is well combined. Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Cut into squares with a 4-inch plain or fluted cutter, and then cut them in half diagonally to make triangles. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Brush the tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outsides are crisp and the insides are fully baked.