Chestnut Pancakes (Gluten Free)

DH and I were in Orlando for the day recently and on our way out of the city, we stopped at a natural foods store, Chamberlain's. There we found a few items we have a hard time finding in other places in Florida, such as blue corn meal, maple sugar and other things. DH also put in our cart this bag of chestnut flour:

We have never used it before but have heard that it is delicious. So we decided to try it, even though it is quite pricey. We found online this recipe for gluten-free chestnut pancakes published by the manufacturer of the flour. It only uses a 1/3 cup of the chestnut flour, so if we keep using recipes like this, our small bag of flour should last a little while. We hope so, as we are loving it! The flour itself even smells wonderful! It adds a deep, sweet and nutty flavor. The pancakes are not as light and fluffy as more traditional pancakes, but they are packed with flavor and are very satisfying.

We topped this batch of chestnut pancakes with some caramelized bananas. We have found they are also good with apples or a bit of maple syrup.

Lemon Curd Breakfast Topping

As you know by now, I am a big fan of breakfast. So, here is a recipe for lemon curd, which is great on everything breakfast: crepes, scones, pancakes, French toast... Yes, it is a bit indulgent, but for a treat once in a while, why not?! Here is a great article about lemon curd on the Fine Cooking website. It has a link to a recipe they recommend, but here is my adaptation:

Lemon Curd
yields about 2 cups

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (or just cut into small cubes if using a stand mixer)
2/3 cup of maple sugar (or sweeten to taste with crystal sugar of choice, up to one cup)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until fluffy, about two minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating. Once well incorporated, add the lemon juice and mix to combine. Don't worry how it looks at this point.
2. In a heavy saucepan, heat the mixture at low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth and then thickens, about 15 minutes. Don't allow the mixture to boil.
3. Remove from heat. Add the zest and transfer to a bowl. Place plastic wrap to touch the top of the curd so a skin doesn't form. Refrigerate. It will thicken a bit more in the refrigerator. After it is cooled, cover tightly and it will keep a week refrigerated or 2 months in the freezer (if you can resist it... )

Corn 'n Orange Waffles

I reviewed previously this recipe for Cornmeal Waffles from the March 2007 Vegetarian Times. Here I provide the recipe as I have modified it. First, I think the word orange needs to be included in the name of the dish, as there is a very distinct orange flavor, which is actually my favorite thing about it. They are very good as shown with fresh peaches and a sauce made from almond butter and maple syrup. But, they are also good with bananas or other fruit on top.

Corn 'n Orange Waffles

3/4 cup whole grain flour of choice
1/2 cup corn flour or Masa Harina
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. maple syrup
1 1/4 cups milk
1 or 2 Tbs. fresh lemon or bitter orange juice
1 large egg, beaten
2 Tbs. vegetable oil of choice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. orange zest

1. Preheat waffle iron. Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients. Stir the wet into the dry until combined. Pour batter into a greased waffle iron and cook according to specifications of the waffle iron. Serve with fresh fruit or favorite topping.

Moyetes

Moyetes are basically Mexican bruschetta or open-faced sandwiches. They are commonly served for breakfast. Typically they are made using a French-style bread, cut in half, and spread with refried beans and topped with cheese. Then they are toasted in the oven until the bread is crispy and the cheese has melted.

Although they are not a dish that comes from the Yucatan, we have been served them for breakfast there in recent years. In Yucatan we enjoyed them on Yucatecan French bread (pan frances) with refried black beans, salsa de jitomate, and sliced cheese. It's a delicious combination, but the options are limited only to your imagination. They are also great as snacks or served at informal parties, as they are so quick to prepare and easy to eat with your fingers. They can be made appetizer-sized too. Pictured above, we used millet bread rather than French bread, as millet bread is wonderful toasted.

Vanilla-Apple Syrup

I have been experimenting with reductions a bit lately as a way of getting intense flavors. So, this recipe caught my eye on page 78 of the May issue of Vegetarian Times. The recipe is Fruit Salad with Vanilla-Apple Syrup. The syrup is good on fruit, plain yogurt, in iced tea to sweeten it, on pancakes as I show above, or really it is up to your imagination.

Vanilla-Apple Syrup
2 cups apple juice
2 2-inch strips lemon zest or orange zest (I used 4 strips of orange)
1/4 vanilla bean (I used 1/2 of a bean)

Place apple juice and zest in small pot. Slice vanilla bean in half and scrape seeds into juice. Add bean to pot as well. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Depending on your pot and your stove you can leave it simmering at medium high, or reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until it becomes syrup-like and has reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove the zest and bean pod before the syrup gets too thick. Cool to room temperature. Use as a topping on your chosen dish.

Note: I have a new camera I'm testing out. Seeing if I like it. Don't know how to use all of the features yet. It's nice to at least have one that works! Also of note, if you want to see the images larger, just click on them.

Teff

For breakfast this morning, I made teff. Teff is a tiny grain that originated in Africa. You may better know it as the grain used in making injera, the big flat breads served in Ethiopian restaurants. I used brown teff. I put a half cup of teff into 1.5 cups boiling water w/a dash of sea salt. I lowered the heat to simmer and stirred occasionally to prevent sticking. I am sorry I didn't time how long it took to get to the consistency you see. Next time I make it, I'll set the clock to see! This is also good served drizzled with coconut milk, but today I drizzled on a sauce made from maple syrup and almond butter.

[Note added 5/4: teff needs to simmer approximately 15 minutes].

Berry Hill Muffins at the Conscious Gourmet

Well, you win some, you lose some. Above is pictured the Berry Hill muffins we made during our final class at Conscious Gourmet. They were fabulous, moist, chewy, with great texture and a wonderful flavor. I brought home a few that were leftover, and Pedro loved them too. So, over the weekend, we tried to make them. And here's how they turned out:

A pile of crumbs! Tasty crumbs, I should add. So, as long as we don't mind eating muffins with a spoon, we're all set! I don't even know where to begin explaining what we did wrong, as there were many things. One thing that we may have a hard time correcting in our next attempt is the sweetener. The recipe calls for maple sugar, and I can't find anywhere in my city that sells it. Probably I can get some online. Anyway, we used brown rice syrup as a substitute and used less of the liquid ingredients to try to compensate, but somehow, we may not have compensated correctly. Other things went wrong too though, from the coconut oil congealing, to the muffins sticking to the pans, etc. At least the flavor was still there! Ovo-vegetarian.

Breakfast Burrito

For breakfast I used some of my leftover greens in scrambled eggs and made breakfast burritos. I used tortillas made from whole grain spelt flour. I heated some leftover mashed sweet potatoes as well. And, I topped everything with leftover spicy Thai satay sauce. This combination worked for me, as I love spicy food and can handle it some mornings. But it would have also made a nice lunch. We made similar use of leftovers in breakfast at Conscious Gourmet. Ovo-vegetarian.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

It has been unseasonably cold and cloudy in Florida lately, which probably accounts for my sudden craving for hearty oatmeal with sauteed fruit and walnuts. Breakfast foods are generally very vegetarian-friendly. This version of oatmeal is vegan, as it is old fashioned oats cooked in soy milk, and the fruit is sauteed in vegan-friendly Earth Balance Buttery Sticks with turbinado sugar and cinnamon.

Cocoa Pancakes

I am on the email list for the Recipe of the Week from the Vegetarian Times website. Anyone can subscribe to the free weekly newsletter with recipes. These pancakes were one of this week's features and you can see the recipe here. It first appeared in the May 2005 issue. We made it last night as a dessert, and that was a good call. I'm not sure that this is really breakfast food. We have made many decadent pancakes in our days, but this in our minds crosses over from being pancake to being more of a cake. The recipe calls for chocolate soy milk, something we never buy. So, we used regular soy milk, and they were still totally sinful. So, using the chocolate soy is not necessary, especially if you use real chocolate chips instead of carob. If you are eating these as dessert, why not also try white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips instead of the carob. That would be good too. Vegan using the original recipe.

Huevos Motuleños

Huevos Motuleños is a dish served for breakfast in the Yucatan. It is so delicious.

Assemble as follows: corn tostada, refried black beans, a fried egg, salsa de jitomate, peas, and queso fresco. Yucatecans who eat meat will also add chopped ham to the top. Lacto-ovo vegetarian.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

This Peanut Butter Banana Bread is some of the best banana bread we've ever had. It's super moist and the peanut butter flavor goes so well with the bananas and chocolate chips. It's a recipe from the March issue of Vegetarian Times, located on page 85. I find myself buying large bunches of clearance ripe bananas just to have the excuse to make this. One thing I do add to the recipe is a bit of unsweetened applesauce. So, I don't know if that contributes to the moistness, or if it would be just as moist without it. The Slashfood Blog posted the recipe for this dish. Lacto-ovo vegetarian.

[Added 4/20: If you try this recipe, note that in the instructions, it doesn't say when to add the sugar, so don't forget to add it. If you use a liquid sweetener, add it with the wet ingredients, and if you use a dry sweetener, add it with the dry ingredients. Also, be sure to use really ripe bananas for the best flavor.]

Waffles with Strawberry Sauce

I celebrate Florida's early spring strawberries. One thing I make with them is strawberry sauce. I just puree most of them in my food processor and then chop the rest. Then I simmer them on the stove w/a thickener, a bit of lemon juice, and then I sweeten to taste. I used cornstarch to thicken today and a bit of turbinado sugar. Vegan.

Here is the recipe I use as a guide, I actually tweak it quite a bit, but it's a good starting point:

• 2 cups berries, one cup of them sliced
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (I usually use less, start w/a teaspoon or two, because i don't add water)
• sugar to taste (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup sugar but that's always been way too much for me- and I'll sometimes use a non-sugar sweetener)
• 1/2 cup water (optional in my opinion)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1. Wash berries and blend one cup in blender. Slice the other cup.
2. Put the berries in a small saucepan. Sweeten to taste. Dissolve the cornstarch in couple of tablespoons of water. Stir into the berries.
3. Heat the berry mixture over moderate heat, stirring constantly, to bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice.

Pedro made the Whole Grain Waffles using a recipe listed on allrecipes. He altered it by using soy milk, adding a bit of cinnamon and chopped walnuts. As you can see, our waffle iron makes heart shaped waffles. We topped the waffle with a very generous serving of strawberry sauce. Ovo vegetarian, with my substitutions.

Oatmeal Pancakes - Hawaiian

Oatmeal pancakes with macadamia nuts in the batter, topped with pineapple and bananas. The recipe I used for these Oatmeal Pancakes is recipezaar's recipe #13372. I modified it by adding toasted macadamia nuts to the batter, using soy milk instead of milk, and adding a dash of vanilla. I have also made these pancakes with chocolate chips and other nuts mixed into the batter. Ovo-vegetarian, with my substitutions.

Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast

This is a peanut butter & berry jam sandwich on whole wheat, dipped in french toast batter and cooked on a cast iron griddle. The idea for this sandwich was found on page 86 of the March 2007 issue of Vegetarian Times. Here's a recipe for this dish if needed. Served with a side dish of sauteed apples flavored with cinnamon. And to top if off, a soy cappuccino. This dish was a hit, and we've made it several times already. Ovo-vegetarian.