Tag Archives: breakfast

Lemon Brioche Croissants

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Flaky and buttery croissants made from scratch using brioche dough. Stuff them with anything you like – I chose homemade lemon curd.

We leave for the summer in six days. After surveying the pantry for what will not survive three months, we determined the lemon juice, coconut and salsa are on the “must finish” list. Obviously, no recipe is going to take care of all three ingredients in one fell swoop — not one I’d want to eat, anyway! Salsa chicken and rice will be on this week’s menu. Coconut butter cookies for the staff potluck. And lemon curd stuffed croissants for breakfast.

From a culinary and baking standpoint, this summer should be interesting. We’ve cooked for weeks at a time in our camper. We’ve also cooked for weeks on a Coleman stove while tent and boat camping. This summer, it will be all galley cooking on our sailboat, Bandon. We’re both eager to outfit her galley with the least amount of quality tools that will help us with the most culinary tasks. We are also excited to fish the south central waters of Alaska and cook up the freshest and tastiest seafood for ourselves and our guests. Stay tuned to see what will be created from the galley of Bandon!

Lemon Brioche Croissants

makes 8 croissants

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/8 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup soft unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup lemon curd or other filling (see below for separate lemon curd recipe)

Directions

  1. Pour milk in saucepan and heat until lukewarm.
  2. Pour milk in mixing bowl. Add sugar. Mix until incorporated.
  3. Beat eggs. Pour eggs into milk mixture. Mix until incorporated.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of flour. Mix until incorporated.
  5. Add yeast and a second 1/2 cup of flour. Mix until incorporated. I switched to a dough hook on the mixer at this point.
  6. Add salt and last 1/2 cup of flour. Mix again until incorporated. Dough should be sticky.
  7. Mix butter into dough in increments of about 2 tbsp at a time.
  8. Once the butter is completed incorporated, cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
  9. After at least 4 hours, place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
  10. Roll the dough out to form a circle with about a 15-inch diameter.
  11. Cut dough into 8 pieces (pizza style) using a pizza wheel, forming 8 triangles.
  12. Place a heaping tbsp of lemon curd near the base of the triangle.
  13. Roll dough from base of triangle toward point.
  14. Curve into a crescent shape and pinch ends closed.
  15. Place croissants on parchment-lined baking sheet and cover sheet with plastic wrap. Let rest for 45 minutes.
  16. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F while dough is resting. Bake croissants for 15 – 20 minutes until lightly browned.
  17. Cool on a wire rack.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
  • zest of one orange (about a tablespoon)

Directions

  1. Mix together lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and zest. Mix in butter 1/4 cup at a time.
  2. Place bowl on simmering pot of water (double boiler). Stirring constantly, cook until mixture reaches 160 degrees F (about 10 minutes).
  3. Store covered in refrigerator. I used a mason jar.

The above recipe used about half of the lemon curd. Enjoy the extra on scones, with yogurt, or to replace jam in any other recipe.

Croissant recipe adapted from http://www.cookingbread.com/classes/class_lemon_brioche_croissants.html

Lemon curd recipe adapted from http://www.recipegirl.com/2008/11/10/meyer-lemon-curd/

Overnight French Toast with Blueberries

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Blueberry French toast made from leftover challah bread makes for a gourmet breakfast. Thick slices of apple-smoked bacon and freshly brewed cups of espresso roast coffee rounded out this Spring Break breakfast.

Overnight French Toast with Blueberries

Ingredients

  • 6 slices day-old (or older) challah, cut into 1 inch cubes (other brioche-style breads can be substituted)
  • 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (or dried blueberries soaked in hot water for five minutes)
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
Directions
  1. Lightly grease a baking dish approximately 8 x 8 inches. (My dish was 7 x 10.)
  2. Spread cream cheese on top of bread slices. Cut slices into 1-inch cubes. Arrange the bread cubes in the dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup blueberries.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
  4. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  5. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.

I opted to sprinkle chopped pecans onto the French toast during the last 10 minutes of baking. The French toast is not overly sweet, which is what I was going for. You could mix in confectioner’s sugar with the cream cheese for a sweeter version. Cinnamon would also be a nice addition.

Sunshine Muffins

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Some mornings just seem to call for fresh baked muffins. In just 45 minutes, we were enjoying steaming cups of coffee with these muffins which are chock full of grated carrots and pears, nuts and raisins. We love these muffins smeared with cream cheese. All the healthy ingredients make me feel like I’ve had a dose of sunshine–a great feeling on a morning when it’s negative 9 degrees outside and we still have eleven days to go until we see the sunrise. The recipe below can be easily modified based on what’s in the kitchen.

Sunshine Muffins:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1 pear – peeled, cored and shredded
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup mashed overripe banana
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the carrot, raisins, nuts, and shredded pear.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, applesauce, mashed banana, and vanilla. Stir egg mixture into the carrot/flour mixture, just until moistened. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Yields 12 muffins.

3-Egg Dungeness Crab Omelet

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The previous evening, we had split a bottle or two of Willamette Valley Chardonnay and enjoyed a late dinner, watching the Fourth of July fireworks over Resurrection Bay from our camper while leisurely picking a couple of beautiful Dungeness crabs which I’d steam-boiled in miso soup. One of the things we love about meals like this is anticipating the omelets we’ll enjoy the next morning made from leftovers. Crab omelets run neck-and-neck with omelets made from fresh halibut or yelloweye rockfish as our very favorites. And, as it happens, I have an 11″ Swiss Diamond frypan that is perfect for making a three-egg omelet. (If you haven’t experienced cooking with Swiss Diamond cookware, we highly recommend you give it a try. Cooking eggs and fish, in particular, is a revelation.) One of the keys to making a good omelet is to heat ingredients in a separate pan before placing them on the egg.

Three-egg Dungeness Crab Omelet

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I often use Tillamook cheese, and sometimes English-style cheddars.)
  • Cholula hot sauce (Cholula is more robust than Tabasco without being hotter)
  • mixed Italian seasonings. (You can add separate ingredients, but the mixes made by Morton & Bassett or The Spice Hunter are very good)
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • olive oil (or butter)
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons of sherry (The better the sherry, the better the final product. I often use Dry Sack.)
  • 1/2 cup (or more) of cooked Dungeness crab meat

1. Place olive oil (or butter) in a 10 to 11 inch frypan and heat over medium-low heat, making sure to coat the entire bottom of the pan.

2. In a small bowl, add the eggs, Cholula, Italian seasonings, sea salt and sherry. Whisk thoroughly.

3. Pour the egg mixture into the pan. Make sure it doesn’t cook too quickly. You want it to be gently simmering, not frying.

4. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat a little olive oil and warm up the crab meat over low to medium-low heat.

5. When the egg is nearly cooked through but still a little moist on the upper surface, place the shredded cheddar and the crab meat on the egg. Add an additional couple of grinds of pepper, seasoning or salt, if desired. Place the cheese and crab in the middle of the egg and fold the two sides toward the middle, or arrange evenly on one half and fold the other half over.

6. Cover the pan with a lid and continue cooking on low heat until the cheese is melted–about two minutes.

Serve the omelet with  your favorite salsa, slices of avocado, or seasonal berries and a slice of bread pan-fried in olive oil. This dish isn’t just for breakfast and pairs equally well with a dark roast coffee or a good Chardonnay or Viognier. White meat fish such has halibut, rockfish or walleye can be substituted for the crab. Serves two.