Good morning!!

It's the weekend again and hopefully you have a little time to chill out around the house and whip up some breakfast! During the week a lot of us don't have that extra couple hours for an uber delicious, nutritious meal first thing in the morning. One awesome way to hastily and tastily remedy the breakfast blues is with a nice trusty packet of instant oatmeal-- my personal favorites were always maple brown sugar and cinnamon spice! This morning, why don't ya grab a couple of your favorite flavors to bake up a fabulous batch of this week's

Breakfast Classh Course Number 2:

 Instant Oatmeal Muffins

with homemade streusel

Ingredients:

Makes 12 muffins
(enough to take some to work over the week!)

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 packets of instant oatmeal

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

1/4 cup veggie oil

For the streusel:

3 tbsp flour

3 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup crushed nuts- mine are honey roasted macadamia nuts, fresh from Hawaii!

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

-Grease 12 muffin cups

-Mix dry streusel ingredients together

-Cut butter in with a fork

-Mix in crushed nuts

-Set mixture aside
-Combine dry muffin ingredients in a medium mixing bowl

-Create a "well" in the center of your powdered ingredients

-Pour liquid ingredients into the well and mix all together thoroughly

-Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and sprinkle streusel evenly on top

-Bake 15 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted in the middle of the muffin and extracted clean

-Serve warm with butter and honey!

These muffins are super tasty and the familiar flavor of the instant oatmeal is warmly comforting- a perfect way to start your day!

Originating in the late 1800's, Eggs Benedict was invented as a either a hangover cure, or a cure for a boring breakfast menu, depending on who you ask. If you ask me, however- I'd say the dish adequately fulfills both purposes! A classic eggs benedict consists of a slice of ham and a poached egg stacked neatly on top of an english muffin and then doused with hollandaise sauce. While there are multiple variations of this recipe, one factor remains the same- they're all delicious! When eating my first meal of the day out at a restaurant, I always look for a Benny!
Unfortunately there are times when you may find yourself seated at a restaurant who's menu has yet to employ the de-borifying powers of a yummy benny. When faced with such a dilemma it is inevitable that the lunch menu will start to look that much more enticing. It is in this section, laden with Cesar  salads, fish n' chips and cheese burgers that you will hopefully find another classic hailing from the late 19th century... The Club Sandwich! A delectably stacked sandwich, the club incorporates turkey, tomato, bacon and lettuce between three slices of toasted bread and held together with the ubiquitous frilly toothpick. Once again, variations abound and being a California girl that usually means the addition of avocado, sprouts and some honey mustard!
This week I decided to take the best elements of both of these menu favorites and slam 'em together for a breakfast dish home run that would make Denny's blush:

January Classh Course Number One

Club Benny

with homefries

Ingredients:

Serves 2

2 Sourdough English muffins

8 Slices oven roasted turkey lunch meat

1 Tomato, sliced

4 Eggs

1 Packet hollandaise sauce*

4 Strips of bacon

1/2 a Hass size avocado

1 cup Clover sprouts

1/4 cup White vinegar

Sweet Hot mustard

Mayonnaise

Paprika

White pepper

Salt

For Home Fries:
2 Russet potatoes, peeled, cubed and rinsed in cold water

Seasoned salt

4 Pickle chips

1 Frilly toothpick

-Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy. Cut into medium/large size crumbles and set aside. 

-Throw potato cubes into bacon skillet. There should be about 2 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan already-- if not, add a little veggie oil. Mix cubes until well coated, sprinkle generously with seasoned salt, cook covered (stirring once or twice), over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove lid, sprinkle more seasoned salt and cook (stirring frequently) another 10 minutes. Put in a warm oven until ready to serve.

-While potatoes are cooking, slice avo and tomatoes to prepare a veggie plate for quick benny assembly.

Thanks for the plate, Nat!

To poach eggs:

-Crack each egg into it's own shallow bowl, cup or ramekin. Keep close to the stove for quick use.

-In medium-large nonstick pot bring three inches of water and 1/4 cup white vinegar to boil, then turn heat very low so water is slightly simmering.

-Quickly and gently slip each egg into the water, taking care not to let the whites mix with eachother. 
DO NOT BREAK YOLK

-Using a spoon, gently ease each egg's whites closer to the yolk. 

-Keep an eye on the eggs, taking care not to molest them too much, but making sure they stay together.

-Cook for 3-5 minutes depending on desired yolk hardness (I do mine for 4 minutes)

-Remove each egg with a slotted spoon and place on a plate with paper towels. Dab the excess water off gently and let sit for about 2 minutes

This was my first time poaching eggs and I was HELLA nervous! I don't know what I was expecting, but I was pretty shocked by the sight of the eggs all flowery and flow-y in the water. My hands were shaking as I pulled the eggs out of the poaching liquid. In the end, though, they were so beautiful and perfect. yay! Of course I later learned that people sometimes will put the eggs in plastic bags to keep them contained while poaching. Sounds like cheating to me! 

-Cook up hollandaise packet, adding some paprika and a dash each of white pepper and salt. Where the packet calls for water, use 50% water and 50% milk for a creamier sauce.

-Toast English muffin

-Spread mustard on one muffin half

-Spread mayo on other muffin half

-Place 2 slices of turkey on each muffin half

-Add 2 tomato slices to each muffin

-Place one egg on each muffin

-Drizzle hollandaise sauce over everything!

-"Sprinkle" avocado and bacon crumbles on top

-Finish with a tuft of sprouts 

-Plate homefries alongside Club Benny and garnish with pickles and frilly toothpick 

The Club Benny truly does embody the most delicious elements of Eggs Benedict and a Club Sandwich.  It's a match made in brunch heaven and I think you'll agree! 

Come back next week for 

January Clash Course Two:

Instant Oatmeal Muffins

with homemade streusel

*Hollandaise sauce made from scratch is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter then spiced up with lemon juice and pepper. If ya wanna get all classy pants, make it yourself. The words "emulsion" and "egg yolks" sound disastrous and curddlesome to me. The work "packet," however, sounds surefire and classhy as all get out, so bring it on! 

January is a time for new beginnings and starting over with a fresh slate. Gym memberships spike, journals are begun with resolve and the dog gets walked far more regularly. For about a week. Well fortunately for all of us good intentioned slackers out there, January 1st isn't our only opportunity to start life anew. In fact, we have a chance for redemption every day- its called The Morning! And with it comes what has oft been touted (though greatly disputed) as The Most Important Meal of the Day.

Breakfast!!

I'll admit that I've never been real big on breakfast. I tend to lean toward the lunch side of things, so if i find myself  at a restaurant in the morning, I'm usually the freak with a spinach salad while everyone else is rocking out on their belgian waffles and croissant french toast. I think part of it comes from associating breakfast with sweet foods- syrup, sugar, fruit... As a decidedly salty palliated person, I'm not too keen on pancakes or Capt'n Crunch (I know, how can I be trusted?!). 


I've also lived most of my life with an underlying fear of eggs. They've always sort of resided in the "gross out" section of my tastes-- not due to their flavor but more so the threat of bloody yolks, partially developed chicks and that time my vegan friend called me an abortion eater. You know, the usual.  


All that being said... I am getting older and my tastes are changing. I've discovered a few yummy eggs plates to order and sweet is finding it's place on my radar.  Actually making these dishes at home, however, has proven to be a challenge since I have no eggsperience! 


So this month I will challenge myself with four classic breakfast dishes which incorporate eggs and/or sweets--with a classhy twist-- and just in time for your weekend brunch! 

Come back tomorrow for Classh Course One:

Club Benny!

...where the breakfast and lunch menus collide!

We could not have asked for better picnic weather so far this month! Last weekend was no exception as the sun was out and there was a pleasant breeze moving throughout the city. Waking up to such lovely conditions made my anticipation of the day’s picnic that much greater—we were heading to the waterfront!

Pier 1 Picnic

New England Clam Chowder in Sourdough Cups, Zesty Caesar Salad,

Perfect Lemon Bars and Sorbet Green Tea Jars

I have a definite weakness for clam chowder in bread bowls. What I don’t have a weakness for, however, is how freakin’ huge they always are! Stop me if I’m wrong, but an entire loaf of sourdough hollowed out and filled with rich, creamy soup seems a bit excessive. I mean, I love fresh, flaky bread, and I love a good chowder, but I certainly don’t want to overdose on either of those things—particularly in the same sitting. This technique is a scaled down version of the classic bread bowl-- a bread cup, if you will. You still get all of the fun of dipping the bread top in your soup, scraping the soggy sides of the cup out, and tearing up the hollowed out shell—simply in a more manageable size!


No, I did not make my own clam chowder. I’m far too classhy for that. Instead I picked up a can of Progresso New England Clam Chowder—it’s cheap, delicious and gets the job done without making your kitchen (or hands!) smell like raw clams.

New England Clam Chowder in Sourdough Cups
Serves 2
1 can New England Clam Chowder
2 dinner size sourdough rolls (make sure the outsides are nice and crusty)

-Cut the tops out of the rolls like a jack-o-lantern

-Through the hole in the top, lightly cut through the inside of the roll (don’t pierce the bottom!) and pull out the majority of the bread. Leave more or less on the sides based on preference, but make sure there’s enough room for your soup.

-Heat chowder according to can instructions.

For my take on this classic wharf staple I also offer a number of toppings for picnickers to customize their soup as they please:

Sliced green onions

Bacon bits

Grated Monterey jack cheese

Grated Colby jack cheese

To Pack:

-Put the tops back on the rolls and tuck them into a paper or plastic bag.

-Transfer chowder to insulated thermos container for travel.

-Pack toppings into a sectioned Tupperware.

At the Picnic:

-Pour chowder into bowls.

-Pile on your favorite toppings!

One of the great things about scaling down the bread bowls to cup size is that it leaves room to enjoy other flavors in the meal as well—like a little Caesar salad! This is a basic salad with homemade zesty Caesar dressing and topped with oyster cracker croutons. It’s simple, extremely tasty and travels well!
saraH’s Simple Zesty Caesar Dressing
1 cup SmartBalance mayonnaise

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 large clove of garlic, crushed
½ cup grated parmesan
1.5 tbsp milk
1 tsp spicy, brown or Dijon mustard
¼ tsp salt
Few shakes of celery salt
Pepper to taste

-Just whisk it all together until it’s well blended!
-Stores well refrigerated in a jar

Oyster Cracker Croutons
For two salads
½ cup oyster crackers
1 tin of anchovies in oil
Lavender salt

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

-Lay crackers out on a baking sheet

-Drain oil from anchovies into a small bowl

-Cut a small bit off of one of the anchovy fillets and mince. Add to oil.

-Using a cooking brush, brush anchovy oil and bits onto the tops of the crackers.

-Sprinkle each cracker with lavender salt (make your own or use Eatwell Farm’s version)

-Bake 5 minutes

Salad for 2:
1 organic romaine heart

-Cut or tear leaves into bite-size pieces

To Pack:

-Put ¼ cup dressing in a to-go jar or Tupperware

-Oyster croutons travel best in a small plastic container

-Pack lettuce in a plastic bag or container

At the Picnic:
-Distribute lettuce on plates
-Drizzle dressing on romaine
-Top with oyster cracker croutons

Lemon bars are absolutely a classic favorite. These lemon bars are my mother’s recipe and considered legal tender in five countries. They are also the perfect addition to a waterfront picnic on a warm early summer day!

Kim's Epic Lemon Bars

Crust:

1 cup sweet butter

½ cup powdered sugar

Dash of salt

2 cups flour

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

-Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with butter and flour

-Combine all ingredients and mix well
-Press dough evenly into the bottom of the baking dish
-Bake 15 minutes

Filling:
4 large eggs, beaten
6 tbsp lemon juice
2 cups sugar

¼ cup flour

-Keep oven at 350 degrees F

-Mix sugar and flour together

-Mix in eggs and lemon juice

-Pour onto slightly cooled, baked crust

-Bake 25 minutes

-Once cooled to room temp, sprinkle with powdered sugar
-Cut into squares
-Keep bars in the fridge

To Pack:

-If made right before the picnic, lemon bars should be slightly chilled in the fridge before travel.

-Stack in a Tupperware with wax paper between layers.

At the Picnic:

-Simply serve!

***Beware*** People will be jealous and might shoot you dirty looks or try to befriend you for extras!

This off-the-cuff green tea and sorbet refresher is a wonderful finishing touch on this well rounded Pier 1 Picnic:
Sorbet Green Tea Jars
For Two:

16 oz unsweetened green tea

Fruit sorbet (I used peach and strawberry)

Ice

2 mason jars with lids

-Fill jars with ice

-Pour in 8 oz green tea in each jar

-Top tea with a scoop of sorbet

To Pack:

-Screw lid on and throw jar into your basket!

At the Picnic:
-Unscrew lid and throw tea down your gullet!

Pier 1 Picnic Essentials for 2:

Picnic basket

Oil cloth for sitting

2 plates

2 forks

2 spoons

Napkins

Varied Tupperware containers

Plastic and/or paper bags

2 Mason jars

With a beautiful day! And with the San Francisco Bay spread before us, the Pier 1 Picnic could not have been more of a success. Everything was delicious and the sights were unforgettable. Tucked away at the end of Pier 1, there was nary a tourist in sight and we were able to completely avoid all of the flying lures and fish guts that are so prevalent on the other public piers.

Be sure to make this great San Francisco picnic one of your tasty summer goals!

Last Saturday Belinda got hooked up with some Giants tickets and in turn, hooked me up for the evening game against the A's (she rules, BTW). As readers might recall, I had a couple alternate scenarios in mind for some of the elements of my Giant Ballpark Lunch from Memorial Day. I decided to put those concepts to use and packed up yet another bring-in spread for the evening. Since we had spent the day cooking, baking and eating this week's picnic (tune in Thursday!), I packed a little lighter for this AT&T Park meal.

First off, Instead of putting the turkey dogs into their buns before packing up, I just wrapped all four dogs into a piece of foil and then wrapped that with the heat source and into the soft cooler. The buns I just threw into a baggie and brought along in my bag. The outcome was great- we ate the dogs a good hour into the game and they were still warm!

The next element that I'd been mildly concerned about was my SkyBox Garlic Fries. While they'd been delicious on Memorial Day, there was no getting around the fact that there was a wilty element to them. This time around I decided to completely do away with the whole frozen fry approach and use a totally different ingredient. Have you ever had those tri-colored VeggieStix from Trader Joe's? They're made out of dehydrated potatoes, tomatoes and spinach. They're kind of amazing and they totally taste like french fries! Here's how they worked as a more travelable french fry alternative:

SkyBox Garlic Fries- Version 2.0!

Serves 4

1/3 bag VeggieStix or similar product
Spray butter
Garlic salt
Parsley, finely chopped

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
-Line a large cookie with tin foil
-Cover foil with a single layer of VeggieStix
-Spray Stix thoroughly with spray butter
-Coat liberally with garlic salt
-Sprinkle on parsley
-Bake 5 minutes


To Travel:

-Toss into a tupperware and throw into your pack!

To Serve:

-Create construction paper cones in your team's colors (orange and black!!!) by cutting paper pieces in half width wise and simply rolling. Secure with tape and flatten for easy travel!

-Dole servings into cones and dip into Truffled Ketchup- if you can stand to share it!

Sure enough, this was a fantastic alternate recipe! I definitely love the original SkyBox fries, but I think Version 2.0 will be the one I default to when traveling- paper cones and all!

ps... GIANTS WON!!

Living in San Francisco can really take a toll on the thickness of one’s pocket book. Whether you’re enjoying eating out at the city’s many fantastic restaurants, exploring cultural events in our rich museum climate or shopping for unique finds amongst its myriad of boutiques, you’re bound to wrap up your day with a shocked “I spent, what?!” when assessing the damage later on at home. Wait a minute…”home”…home... what was I supposed to remem-- Oh yeah-- the astronomical rent is due.

Yet, here we are- Here I am, still shelling out the dough just as fast as it gets baked. But, I live in a city that I truly love and while I know I won’t be here forever, I try to really cherish everything San Francisco has to offer in the meantime. Currently, I live on Nob Hill. I rock a cute studio with a great kitchen, close to work and in a neighborhood of relative safeness. However while my address is definitely classy, its price can tend to leave my budget lookin’ pretty trashy. This last week was no exception, so when my sweetie and I decided to pack up for a little twilight picnic at the park I found myself digging deep into the reaches of my fridge and cupboards for some grub.

Here’s how some forgotten food, leftover ingredients, a little creativity and a couple cheap-ass beers can still provide a meal worthy of your million dollar view!

Introducing this week’s Classh Course Picnic:

Slumming on Snob Hill Summer Spread

We-so-bi Poor Broccoli Slaw, Flat Broke Turkey Paninis

and Penny Pincher Pasta Salad

Peeking into my fridge over the weekend, I spotted a half full, rolled up bag of “Eating Right” broccoli slaw veggies from Safeway. The package of julienned broccoli, cabbage and carrots is a great addition to stir frys, as fresh salad fodder and even just lightly steamed with a little garlic salt on top. I’d never actually made a slaw with it, though! As I scanned my door full of condiments and random sauces, my eyes landed on a jar of light green wasabi mayonnaise. This was a premixed variety purchased from the deli counter, but it’s a very easy spread to make yourself:

½ tablespoon wasabi powder*
1 teaspoon water
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip—it’s too sweet!)
-Combine powder and water to form a paste
-Add paste to mayo and mix well

* ½ tbsp premade wasabi paste can be substituted for powder and water.
**As always with spicy stuff, add more or less of either ingredient based on taste

Never having been a huge fan of traditional coleslaw, the addition of wasabi mayo definitely made me more eager to finally use my veggies for their originally intended purpose:

We-so-bi Poor Broccoli Slaw

Serves 2

2 cups broccoli slaw

3.5 tbsp wasabi mayo

1.5 tbsp Smart Balance mayonnaise

3 shakes of celery salt

-Mix it all together!

-Seal Wasabi Broccoli Slaw up in a to-go container for traveling

Since we weren’t going far for the evening’s picnic excursion, I thought firing up the panini grill (that’s right, I don’t have 2 bucks to my name, but dang it if I don’t have my Breville panini grill!) seemed like a great idea. The gorgeous day was cooling off and the prospect of a nice warm sandwich in the San Francisco twilight sounded like a very appetizing treat.

Living alone, it takes me ages to go through a loaf of bread or package of pita. More often than not my bread purchases are made solely when I’m having guests or if it’s recipe specified. In any case, I’m constantly throwing leftover bread into the freezer to save or in the event of a crouton emergency. Sure enough, I discovered a totally forgotten package of Trader Joe’s whole wheat flat bread—perfect! I set those puppies out to defrost as I perused the fridge for panini fillers. Since I hoard Laughing Cow light cheese wedges, a few of those were a given, as were some Claussen pickles, brown mustard and smoked turkey lunch meat left over from my brother’s stay with me that week.

Flat Broke Turkey Paninis
1 Whole wheat flat bread per picnicker
1 wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese per flat bread
2 slices of turkey cold cuts per panini, slightly cooked on stovetop or Foreman grill
1 Claussen Baby Dill pickle sliced thin per panini
Brown mustard

-Preheat Foreman or panini grill (375 degrees F for panini grill)

-Spread cheese wedge over entire flatbread

-Spread a smattering of brown mustard over the cheese

-Place turkey on one side of the bread

-Top turkey with pickle slices

-Fold flat bread over like a taco and place on grill

-Cook until outside bread is nicely grilled

-Wrap in foil for packing and travel


Everyone loves a good pasta salad at the park! Fortunately I had some leftover angel hair and spaghetti squash chilling in the fridge. The inclusion of this stringy squash adds a crisp, unexpected texture to the dish while also lightening up on your carb intake! I found a jar of pesto on the top shelf of my cupboard, scrounged a few pine nuts out from hiding and incorporated a couple staples even the most casual pizza orderer is bound to have lying around:


Penny Pincher Pasta Salad
Serves 2-3
2 cups cooked, chilled angel hair pasta

¼ small spaghetti squash, cooked, scraped from skin and chilled

2 tbsp pesto

1 tbsp chopped pine nuts

1.5 tbsp grated parmesan

2 tsp salt

3 pinches of pizza pepper flakes

-Mix everything together in a medium mixing bowl
-Transfer to to-go container and top with an extra dusting of cheese and a few more pepper flakes


Slumming Summer Spread Picnic Essentials:

-Sweet picnic blanket
-Picnic basket
-Tupperware containers
-Forks
-Plates
-Napkins
-Koozie clad PBR’s
-Soft cooler (optional but always good for containment purposes!)
-Million dollar view (Mandatory)

Sitting on the lawn in the shadow of the Fairmont, we watched the lights go on at Grace Cathedral as we enjoyed our picnic and company. The marble fountain at the center of the park was beautifully lit and Spartacus the Chihuahua came by for frequent visits. Our paninis were warm and gooey, the pasta salad was delicious and the spicy wasabi brocslaw was easily washed down with ice cold Pabst.

Picnic love was in the air and dusk on Snob Hill has never been richer!