Start the Year -- and the Day -- off right!

Breakfast -- the most important meal of the day

I know, I know... People have been telling you that for years. Because it's true, dang it! The sad thing is that more people today are recognizing the fact, but eating less and less healthy breakfasts. According to a megamart manager friend, who reads the industry publications, the fastest growing segment of the grocery industry is breakfast bars. Why? Because they are fast, and you can eat and text and drive all at the same time!

That's really sad. Those commercial bars are loaded with such crap it's unbelievable - corn syrup, malto-junktose and a lot of things you can't pronounce, not to mention salt and sugar. You can make your own, healthier, breakfast bars -- my culinary hero Alton Brown dedicated an entire episode of Good Eats to the subject.

Or you can opt for some of the following ideas, several of which can be made-ahead and then grab-and-go.

New Years Brunch

A fancy brunch to start the New Year with Sally's Mum. There's a great restaurant chain out of Atlanta called The Flying Biscuit. Twenty odd stores around Atlanta, plus one in Gainsville, FL. We've eaten at the Gainsville store, and loved these two recipes.

Famous Flying Biscuits with Canadian Bacon

3 cups all purpose flour (a soft winter wheat flour, like White Lily, is best) sifted

1 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon plus 1 ½ teaspoon sugar

6 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup half and half for brushing on top of biscuits

1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling on top of biscuits

1 package Canadian Bacon

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into ½ tablespoon-sized-bits and add to the flour. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in all the heavy cream and the half and half.

Stir the dry ingredients into the cream and mix with a wooden spoon until dough just begins to come together into a ball. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times to form a cohesive mass. Do not overwork the dough.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a 1-inch thickness. The correct thickness is the key to obtaining a stately biscuit.

Dip a 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter (I used a larg-ish water glass) in flour, then cut the dough. Repeat until all the dough has been cut. Scraps can be gathered together and re-rolled one more time.

Place the biscuits on the prepared sheet pan, leaving about ¼ inch between them. Brush the tops of the biscuits with 1 tablespoon of half and half and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes. Biscuits will be lightly browned on top and flaky in the center when done.

Makes 8 to 12 biscuits, depending on the size of the cutter. Make a batch and store them in the fridge in a zip-top bag.

Fry the bacon in a drop or two of EVOO until it just starts to brown around the edges. Slice a biscuit and make a better breakfast biscuit than you can buy!

Creamy Dreamy Grits

You really want to notice that "serves 12" when you go to make this recipe. That's enough grits to feed the Confederate Army! It took me a long time to learn to like grits. Never cared for Cream of Wheat when we were growing up; we were oatmeal folks. Then I discovered Shrimp and Grits, and the universe changed! Even without shrimp these grits are fabulous.

Serves: 12

6 cups water
2 cups half-and-half
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 cups quick grits
1 cup grated white cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed 

In a saucepan, combine water, half-and-half, salt and white pepper and bring to a boil. Slowly pour grits into boiling water while whisking the entire time. (Watch out for splattering; mixture is very hot.) Reduce to low heat and continue to whisk often, until thick and completely smooth, about 10 minutes. 

Add cheese and stir gently until cheese melts. Whisk again to combine. Turn heat off and allow grits to rest 5 minutes. Add butter and stir until completely smooth, silky and shiny.  Can be served hot, of course, or cooled and cut into portions for re-heating (or even eating cold).

Creamy Dreamy Grits garnished with slices of white cheddar

Steel Cut Oatmeal

As long as we're talking breakfast, this is our favorite way to have oatmeal. The larger particles of the steel cut process gives this 'gluten free' breakfast a completely different (and we think better) texture than those rolled flakes. 

 It takes 20-30 minutes to cook steel-cut oats rather tha five minutes, but they can cook while you stir them, sip a cuppa and crank the ole eyelids open! When I was a kid my Mom thought I was nuts to put homemade grape jelly in my oatmeal when everyone else put milk and sugar and butter. Hah! Our favorite toppings are my ten-minute marmalades (see the very first post of this blog), and local sea-grape honey or a blended honey made by our friend Patrick Hosey.

Sally takes oatmeal to work for breakfast. I can make a batch of steel cut oatmeal on Sunday night, and she takes a 'slice' to work every day.  Thirty seconds in the microwave, and yuuummm!

English Pancakes

Not sweet like their American Cousins (not quite a reference to Abe Lincoln), Sally made these from the leftover Yorkshire Pudding batter (see last week's blog post), with an added egg, flour and milk. Traditionally served with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice. Make ahead, dress, and roll three or four up as a fast nibble breakfast. Sometimes these are made with a bit of diced green onion added, for a more savory take on breakfast.  This week I have a treat for you.  Sally showing off her "chef flip" (that I've never been able to do), filmed by daughter Holly:

And here's what those pancakes look like ready to eat:

Eggy Bagels

This is pretty much our standard weekend brekkie fare. Eggs, bagels and cheese of your choice. Simple, tasty and gives you energy for weekend adventures! A single egg takes only as long to make as a bagel takes to toast. Add a slice of cheese for a complete breakfast. Five minutes from cracking the egg to eating!

Slo-Cook French Toast Casserole

This was perfect as our Christmas Day Brunch. We rose late, then Sally's Mum came over about 10AM for present opening.

1 loaf day-old challah bread

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

8 large eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 vanilla bean, beans only

5 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch kosher salt

Lightly coat the inside of the slow-cooker insert with cooking spray. Slice the challah into ½-inch slices and arrange them, overlapping, in the slow-cooker.

In a large bowl whisk together the rest of the ingredients until very well blended, then pour over the challah in the slow cooker. Push the bread down so that it is completely submerged and soaks up the goodness. It will spring up, but that's ok.

Place the cover on the slow-cooker and set the heat to low and cook for 8 hours. (I turned it on at 11pm so it was ready at a good time the next morning).

In the morning allow the French toast to cool slightly, then cut and serve with honey or maple syrup. The leftovers were great even two days later. A wedge of the bread and a drizzle of honey. Oh my!

All My On Invention

Years ago when I worked as the Science Writer at the Univ. of Utah Computer Center, I would get up in the morning, take my shower, then drive to the office, put on a pot of coffee, and have a couple handfuls of this while reading my morning emails before other folks came to work. The early bird gets the trail mix! Buy from a store that sells bulk goods, and mix together equal amounts by weight of:

Blueberry Granola

Diced Papaya

Unsalted Peanuts

Generic M&Ms tm

I still make this when we travel, as an 'emergency' snack. It's got fast sugars, caffein (in the chocolate), slow sugars (dried fruit), carbs, and protein. Not to mention reat taste! What more could you ask?