Elle's New England Kitchen

Is there anyone that doesn’t love going out for breakfast?  I don’t think it’s possible.  There’s so many choices, and I don’t know about all of you, but for whatever reason, some things just taste better when someone else makes it.  I know, I’m weird.  But I like other people’s eggs better than mine.  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich?  Great the way it is, but when someone makes it for me, it tastes better.  Are they putting extra love in it?  I have no idea.  And don’t even get me started on omelettes.  I’m still working on making decent ones—my husband makes good ones!  Mine?  I definitely need practice.

Going out for breakfast has always been a special thing for us.  It wasn’t for me until I met my husband.  When we were dating, he took me to all kinds of great places (and luckily, he still does!), and breakfast was no exception.   There was one place we loved so much, that we’d wait outside in rain, snow, sweltering heat, or freezing temps just to get in.  And it was so busy, that this could sometimes take up to an hour, maybe more.  Some of you local readers may remember it—Jakes, in Dover, NH.  It was THE place to be on weekend mornings.  Seriously. 

It was so funny, because there were two little tables by the the windows, on either side of the door?  And if you got a window table, you’d have starving people waiting in line, looking in your window and drooling over your food!  And when you finally made it inside the vestibule (which could fit about 4 people, but often held 6 or 7 in bad weather, hehehe) you’d see the waitresses carrying trays full of the most delicious foods ever made for feasting on—right in front of your starving face.  And everyone would say “I’m having that!  And that!  Oh, and that, too!”  They had amazing omelettes, delicious muffins, pancakes, waffles—and nothing was average.  I truly miss that place—it’s gone now.  But I have some delicious/hilarious memories of it.  Remind me to tell you all about Karl’s someday…Snotty Fries, anyone?  ;-)  (No, I didn’t go to UNH, but had friends that did, and got to enjoy Karl’s firsthand.)

We still judge being full by “Jakes Full.”  As in, “I’m so full!” 

“Really?  But are you Jakes Full?” 

Because you’d waited so damn long to get in, that when you finally did, you wanted everything.  hehehe

Good times, gooooood times. 

Look at the brown sugar melting into the sour cream…

But our current favorite is Betty’s Kitchen in Hampton, NH.   Their food is great, and their menu is huge!   They have about a million* omelettes, and a hundred** Benedicts (the lobster one is always a favorite), plus all of the expected breakfast fare.   You can see a sample of the menu here.  There’s way more!  Look at the Specials!  And they also serve a great lunch.

*Slightly exaggerating.

**Still exaggerating.

I’m stuck in a rut at Betty’s, though.  And by no fault of theirs!  I can’t go without ordering their Stuffed French Toast.  It gets me every stinking time.  It’s too good to pass up—I can’t help myself!  It’s French Toast, layered with strawberries, blueberries, and bananas.  And topped with a dollop of sour cream and brown sugar.  And a side note here—if you’ve never tried fresh strawberries dunked in sour cream and then in brown sugar?  You’re seriously missing out on one of life’s greatest simple pleasures.

The guests of honor at today’s brunch?  Blueberries and strawberries, and their wacky friends, the bananas.   

There’s no set recipe for this.  French Toast is pretty basic, right?  Beaten eggs, a little cream, and extras like vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and we like to use agave instead of sugar.   Use what you like and what you have on hand.

Stuffed French Toast

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your favorite sliced bread
4-6 eggs (depending on how much you're making--I made 9 slices from this amount)
a splash of cream (I use half and half, because it's always in my fridge)
vanilla, a tsp or so
about 2-3 tsp agave (but you can use whatever sweetener you like) 
cinnamon, about 1/2 tsp
nutmeg, about 1/4 tsp

Beat all ingredients in a bowl, then pour into something shallow, like a pie plate.
Soak a couple of pieces of bread, on both sides, until they're saturated with the egg mixture.
Heat a little butter and oil in a sauté pan, and when it's hot, add your soaked bread.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes on the first side, until golden brown, then cook the other side the same.
After you make the first two, you get the rhythm of how long it'll take to do each side to the doneness you want.
Remove to a plate and keep warm while you cook the rest.  I soak the next two slices as two are cooking, so I always have some ready to go into the hot pan.

When you're done cooking, layer the French toast with sliced strawberries and bananas, and the blueberries. 
Put a dollop of sour cream on the top, and sprinkle some brown sugar over that. 
Serve with your favorite maple syrup.

And speaking of maple syrup!  Has everyone seen the Agave Maple Syrup Blend at Trader Joe’s?  It’s a perfect blend of real maple syrup with agave.  Delicious!

I’m a potato snob and always judge a breakfast place by it’s potatoes.  It’s pretty hard to screw those up, but so many places do.  In fact, Betty’s potatoes could be a little crispier, but I love everything else there so much, that I’ll forgive them that.

So, what are your favorite things to get when you go out for breakfast?   And what is your favorite breakfast place?

And I’m here to prove it! I was recently contacted by Katharine Schuler from U.S. Mills. She wanted to know if I would be interested in trying some of their products. One of them is Uncle Sam Cereal—we buy that pretty often at Trader Joe’s, so I said yes, please! She asked what I’d like to try, but I left it up to her—though I did add that I have four kids, so if she could tuck a few kid things in there, that would be great. My kids get so excited when a package arrives, but so bummed when there’s nothing in it that they think is cool.

Katharine packed a box so full of stuff, it was like a puzzle. I don’t think I could have ever repackaged it if I had to, hehe. But I was so surprised, and the kids were thrilled! U.S. Mills doesn’t just have cereal, they have cookies, graham crackers, 100 calorie graham cracker snack packs, hot oatmeal---if it’s for breakfast, they probably have it. Have a look around their site—I’ll bet you see something you want to try, or have already tried and had no idea it was from them.

So I had all of this cereal, and aside from eating it in a bowl, I knew I could find something else to do with it. I had a quick look at the recipes on the site, and messed around with a couple. I’m happy to report my experiments were successful!

You all know how much I love muffins—they’re an excuse to have cake for breakfast. So I went with those first. And came up with these Chunky Monkey Muffins. What’s not to love about banana and chocolate? Nothing! And adding a healthy dose of good for you Uncle Sam Cereal was perfect. Gave them a little crunch, and the kids loved them. They were like “Cereal? In a muffin? Have you gone nuts, Mom?” But I knew they’d love them. And I was happy they were getting some good grains into their systems.

Chunky Monkey Muffins
Makes 2 dozen

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3 1/2 cups Uncle Sam Cereal (Original)
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 smallish bananas (1 cup total mashed banana)
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff, fold in chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for about 18 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
Cool in pans for a few minutes, then remove to a rack to cool.

Look who was hoping I’d drop a muffin…sorry, Hamilton!

A couple of days later, while looking at the bounty of cereal in the pantry, I decided it was time to try something else. The Erewhon Raisin Bran said “Ooooh! Pick me! Pick me!” So yay, it was the lucky cereal of the day. And it had a recipe on the back for Apricot Nut Bread. I didn’t have dried apricots, but I did have dried figs, and just about everything else it called for, so I got to work and came up with this Fig Nut Bread. It’s very moist and dense, almost like a gingerbread that’s studded with raisins, figs, and nuts. It very much reminded me of Morning Glory Muffins, in fact! It was totally delicious.

Fig Nut Bread
Makes one loaf

To print this recipe, click here!

1 1/2 cups Erewhon Raisin Bran
3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Cake Spice
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup agave or honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup diced dried figs
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350.
Pour the boiling water over the figs and set aside.
Grease a loaf pan.
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, blend the egg, oil, agave, vanilla and applesauce together.
Add to the dry ingredients and stir; fold in the figs (and any leftover water from the figs) and nuts.
Pour into loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

SO the moral of the story is…get out and look for these cereals and other good things from U.S. Mills. And stop looking at cereal like it’s only good for eating in a bowl with cold milk. Although that’s cool, too.

But start thinking outside the cereal box!

It really is a humble little bread, isn't it? It isn't a grand dessert, given a starring role on restaurant menus. But it's delicious, just the same--for a snack, or yeah--for breakfast! It's the kind of thing you picture your grandmother or your mom making, and it brings you right back to their kitchens--or at least for me, it does. And I don't know about you, but when I get a craving for banana bread, I've got to have some.

The only thing standing in the way of banana bread is my kids, the little monkeys. They eat all the bananas! I've had to start hiding some from them, just so we can have banana bread or these muffins, which we all go crazy for.

This recipe is from an old friend, and it's definitely our favorite. This is the one my husband asks for when he gets a craving for banana bread. And even better--it makes two loaves. I love getting more for my work, don't you? You can freeze one, if you like--just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and I throw it in a freezer bag for good measure. It's a moist bread, buttery and tender, and just right.

If you have buttermilk and want to use that instead of plain milk, it's delicious that way, too. The original recipe calls for three cups of sugar, but I cut it down to two and a half cups. And add nuts if you like! I'd add nuts, and a lot of them if the kids didn't find them so revolting. What is it with them?! I ended up adding some walnuts to the top of one loaf, anyway. One of my favorite ways to have a slice is to pop it in the toaster, and then put peanut butter on it. Because peanut butter makes so many things better. It's right up there with bacon, cheese and chocolate for their food enhancing capabilities.