Category Archives: Breakfast

Poached Eggs Florentine with Parmesan Sauce

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I don’t know how to explain what I did on these, but I’ll try my best. They were delicious so I feel like I need to share.

Basically, I poached two eggs in plastic wrap and dropped into boiling water to create a nice round shape to the egg. While they were cooking, I very lightly (and I mean LIGHTLY) steamed the spinach just until it was not cold. (do NOT overcook – it should not be slimy).

I also made a Parmesan sauce of fresh grated parmesan, milk, and butter. I melted and blended it together, stirring frequently in the microwave.

It was amazing. Try it!

Quiche in a Tortilla

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I recently discovered these fabulous little uncooked flour tortillas by Tortilla Land at Costco. Since they come in massive bulk sizes, I usually buy them and freeze half. The other half, I use to make quesadillas and other random things. For example, this broccoli cheese quiche. The raw tortilla makes the perfect shell.

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Double Chocolate Espresso Banana Muffins

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I just made these HEAVENLY muffins this morning. They are much too good. I’ve already scarfed down two of them and I’m thinking about going back for a third. I really shouldn’t, but they are sitting there calling my name!

It’s the perfect way to use up overripe bananas, and all with ingredients that I usually have around the house!

Go make them. Now.

Double Chocolate Espresso Banana Muffins
(recipe & image from here)

  • 1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium-sized bananas)
  • 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup of whole milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon of strong espresso *
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 3 ounces of milk chocolate chips
  • 3 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir in the banana, sugars, butter, espresso, milk and egg. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and gently add in the banana mixture. Stir into just combined. Gently fold in the chocolates.

Fill each muffin tin about three quarters full and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Once cooked, move muffins to a cooking rack. The muffins can be stored in an air tight container for up to two days. Enjoy!

* TIP: You must brew the espresso before using it in your recipe. I had a friend make espresso cheesecake for us a long time ago and put in 2 Tbsp of espresso… grounds. We went out for ice cream. (hehe – I love you, M!)

Peaches Foster Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake

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Inspired by the plump, sweet peaches off my mom’s tree, my sister’s peach upside down cornmeal cake and the knowing how well rum would go with peaches – such as banana’s foster (wow that was a mouthful!), I decided to make my own version. Except I wanted to make it a bit lighter than the traditional heavy cake recipes usually found for cornmeal cakes. So, I looked up a few different recipes including ones from Martha Stewart and Cooking Light and made a cake of my own. I was really pleased with the outcome.

The cake has a sweet cornbread type flavor, warmed by the rum and brown sugar mixed with peach juice that seeped into the batter while it was baking. The best part was the outside edge where this sweet mixture started to bubble up along the edges of the pan, creating a crisp, sweet crust. I highly recommend serving it with some vanilla ice cream. It complimented the flavors perfectly. Enjoy!

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Crack Pancakes (aka Lemon-Cottage Cheese Pancakes)

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Pre-Script: Sorry for the absence and lack of blog posts recently. I’ve been traveling a LOT (I mean a LOT) for business and a vacation, so I haven’t been around much. I also haven’t been cooking much, which means nothing to blog about. However, these amazing pancakes lured me out of my dark cave and I just have to share.

Lemon-Cottage Cheese Pancakes. They are out-of-this-world good. My husband and I first had them when we went on our anniversary trip to Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa. We ate at the Big 3 Diner there at the Inn and got these pancakes as part of our breakfast. We were in heaven. We loved them so much we ordered them a second time, the morning we were checking out.


Big 3 Pancakes:

I then ran out on the internet to see if I could find the recipe. I DID! They are identical. I made them yesterday morning for brunch. My husband and I are calling them “Crack Pancakes”. They are entirely too good and too addicting.


My Pancakes:

We love them so much, we decided we need to show them off to our friends and have a brunch. (Yeah, we’re weird. haha!) :)

GO MAKE THEM! You’ll get addicted, too. (I cut the below recipe in half)


Lemon-Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Chef Robert Champagne of Big 3 Diner at Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa – Sonoma, CA
Adapted by StarChefs

Yield: 8 to 10 Servings

Juice and zest of 5 lemons
12 egg yolks
1 cup powered sugar
1 quart low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 egg whites, whipped into soft peaks
4 ounces clarified butter
Kosher salt to taste
Crème fraiche (optional)

In a large bowl, mix lemon juice, lemon zest, egg yolks, powdered sugar, cottage cheese, and flour. Fold in the whipped egg whites; add clarified butter and season to taste with kosher salt.

Serve garnished with a thinly sliced lemon twist and powdered sugar. On the side serve crème fraiche and warmed real maple syrup.