Dutch Baby with Lavender Sugar

Sunday mornings for me deserve a special breakfast.  Often this means french toast, but when the only bread in the house is multi-grain (and let's be serious, a good french toast should be made with challah or French bread) sometimes you need to up the ante a little bit.  I have been seeing recipes for dutch babies for months and I've been dreaming about them but they look... intimidating.  All that puffed dough in a cast iron skillet? Sounds complicated.



Wrong.  SO EASY.  Healthy? Not so much. But definitely easy!  And delicious?  Of course.  It reminds me of the fried dough we used to get at Clowntown, my hometown's annual carnival, every year.  But it's breakfast food and on Sundays, I don't even feel guilty about it!  The lavender on top takes it from a cheesy carnival treat to something just a little bit more gourmet.  I loved this so much as is, I didn't even pour maple syrup on it.  Now that's saying something.



Dutch Baby with Lavender Sugar
from A Cozy Kitchen

Ingredients
3 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes
2/3 cup whole milk at room temperature (I used skim and it worked fine)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of dried lavender

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Put a 10" cast iron skillet on the middle rack of the oven and let it heat up for about 3 minutes (if it gets too hot the butter will burn).
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the eggs on high with the whisk attachment until pale and frothy. Add the milk, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and beat just until smooth. You'll have a very thin batter.
3. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and add the butter, swirling to coat the bottom evenly. It may brown a little bit - that's OK.  As soon as the butter is melted, add the batter and immediately return to the oven.  Bake until puffed and golden brown, 18-25 minutes (mine was done in 18, so be sure to watch it).
4. While the pancake bakes, mix together the sugar and lavender in a small bowl.  Press the lavender into the sugar, breaking it up and making it fragrant.
5.  When the pancake is finished, remove from the oven and top with the lavender sugar.  You may not need all the sugar - I only used about half and saved the rest for another day.  Serve immediately.

An American Meal

We had the BEST dinner the other night.  Everything worked so well together, I just had to share it with you as a whole plate.  It's a perfectly American meal for the week of the 4th of July!

The meat of the meal (pun intended) was what I lovingly refer to as "Pork Chop ala Monkey Scientist".  I'm not totally sure of every step he makes to prepare it, but I know it involves maple syrup (my favorite), cayenne pepper, and a quick pan sear on a grill pan coated with olive oil from the Misto.  It's juicy and delicious - one of his specialties these days!



Next, what would pork chops be without apple sauce?  The Monkey Scientist told me about an amazing peach apple sauce that his mom buys, so I did my best to replicate it.  He told me I was very successful! Apple sauce is one of the easiest things to make from scratch, it just takes a little time and patience.  I was glad he suggested adding peaches because they added a perfect bit of summer flair to my go-to recipe.  My recipe is below and it's a yelleBELLYboo original, based on the applesauce knowledge passed down by my Nanny Paula (although it isn't nearly as good as hers) and my own preferences (maple. it's always maple) .



A week before we made this meal, we'd gone to the grocery store when we were both starving.  As we stumbled down the baking aisle, somehow a box of Jiffy cornbread mix ended up in our basket.  We decided it would go great with this meal, but I had to spice it up a bit.  I added a tablespoon or two of lavender, but otherwise followed the box instructions.  I think it added a nice flowery touch that elevated the cornbread nicely.

Finally, sticking with our southern theme, we made some beautiful swiss chard.  I don't usually cook swiss chard, but I couldn't resist its rainbow stems!  I used techniques I often use for kale or spinach and I think it came out wonderfully.  It added just a little bit of Asian flavor to our otherwise very-Americana meal.  I loved how it rounded out our plate.  The recipe below is another yelleBELLYboo original - I was feeling quite inventive this night!

If you're looking for a nice dinner to throw together, this one was so easy and yummy.  It was our favorite meal we've had in a long time!



Peach Applesauce


Ingredients
2 lbs Macintosh apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
3 peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup raw or white sugar (more or less depending how sweet you like it)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water

Instructions
1. Add all of the ingredients to a large pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low and continue to simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the apples and peaches are easily crushed with the back of a spoon.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Crush the apples and peaches with the back of a spoon until you have a chunky applesauce.  If you like your applesauce smoother, you can blend with an immersion blender or in the food processor.  Serve cold or at room temperature.


Swiss Chard with Goat Cheese and Almonds


Ingredients
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili oil (can omit)
1 bunch Swiss chard
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup slivered almond (I used honey roasted)
1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

Instructions
1. Heat the sesame and chili oils in a medium to large skillet with high sides over medium heat.
2. Wash and dry the Swiss chard and roughly chop.  Add to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook down until wilted and soft.
3. Remove from heat and place in a serving dish.  Add the almonds and goat cheese and toss to mix.  Serve immediately.

Lemon Poppy Seed and Lavender Muffins

It has been a while since I last made muffins.  Please don't think that's because I don't love them.  They are one of my favorite breakfast foods. It just can be difficult to make a healthy muffin and not feel like I'm eating cupcakes for breakfast.

In fact, when my coworker bought me poppy seeds, all I could think of was lemon poppy seed muffins.  I've been talking about them for weeks. But typical me, I procrastinated making them.

And then, when I was at World Market, I was inspired! I found lavender for $0.99 for a small baggie and I knew it would put these muffins over the top.

Dorie Greenspan is a kitchen great - and who am I to adapt her recipes? Yet, of course I did. I didn't stray too far from the original, but I did make it whole wheat and add the lavender.  Plus, I didn't have any sour cream in the house, but I did get a good deal last week on greek yogurt (close to free with store discount and coupons) so I made that substitution.

And of course, because my mother's good friend, also known as "the Oops-a-Baker", taught me how to bake, I forgot an ingredient while making these muffins.  Let's just say they were very low-sodium. Next time I'll remember the dash of salt.

Still, I have to admit, they came out pretty darn tasty.  They're super lemony and the poppy seeds give them a nice pop. The lavender give them a subtle flowery note, but isn't at all overpowering.  I'm sure Dorie's original is the best lemon poppy seed muffin ever, but for a little something different - these were perfect.

Lemon Poppy Seed and Lavender Muffins

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours via Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons lavender

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup greek yogurt (1 6-oz container)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Instructions

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

2. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, lavender, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – a few lumps are better than over mixing the batter. Fold in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffins cups.

3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.