Took a weekend break from the usual yogurt and bran cereal to make this . . .


Breakfast Sandwich
Grilled mortadella and cheese omelet sandwich on a buttered/griddled sub roll. Definitely tastier than the yogurt (though, I really do love yogurt).

=R=

I finally had time and energy to return to our practice of baking for Sunday morning breakfast. I had a lot of chores going on so I went with something easy, but I also wanted to treat myself so I picked something that really appealed to me (unlikely most people at my house - I don't care for chocolate for breakfast)!

Earl Grey Lemon Yogurt Loaf (this fantastically met all my criteria):


- zorkmead

Right down the middle of the fairway . . .


Buttermilk Waffle
Directly from The Joy Of Cooking. With maple syrup, salted butter and powdered sugar. I'm not generally a fan of sweet breakfast but these were pretty good.

=R=

Fancy breakfast Sunday - Saffron Cinnamon Star:


Saffron in baked goods is new to me - I'm finding I really like it.

Sadly, there was one casualty in the valiant struggle to cook something awesome - queue the sad music:


- zorkmead

zorkmead wrote:Fancy breakfast Sunday - Saffron Cinnamon Star:


Saffron in baked goods is new to me - I'm finding I really like it.

Sadly, there was one casualty in the valiant struggle to cook something awesome - queue the sad music:


- zorkmead

it's time to replace that sad spatula with a wonderful one piece silicone one - they seem pretty indestructible. (and your saffron bread looks lovely)

Wow, that looks just like the one in Adventures in Cooking! Is that the recipe you used?

If you're cheap, Menards has these silicone spatulas for 99¢. They have an interesting balance, heavier at the business end so they don't flip out, apparently the handle has metal inside. I got the related slotted spoon the other day and am very happy with how it stays in the pan.

Thanks for the spatula suggestions JustJoan and TJR.

I checked out the beautiful Adventures in Cooking site - wow - that is some beautiful food! The recipe I made actually came from a site I ran across looking at recipes for Semlor: https://www.nordickitchenstories.co.uk/

I've actually tried several recipes from there with good success (although I do find the recipe writing a little confusing at times). I hope to try the Semlor buns soon (and the roasted cabbage with cauliflower puree, and the harrissa lentils with roasted vegetables, and the saffron hazelnut cookies, etc. . .).

- zorkmead

ronnie_suburban wrote:Right down the middle of the fairway . . .


Buttermilk Waffle
Directly from The Joy Of Cooking. With maple syrup, salted butter and powdered sugar. I'm not generally a fan of sweet breakfast but these were pretty good.

=R=

If I had the full 4 squares, and about 1/2 a stick of butter, it would just be absolute bliss, imo.

seebee wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Right down the middle of the fairway . . .


Buttermilk Waffle
Directly from The Joy Of Cooking. With maple syrup, salted butter and powdered sugar. I'm not generally a fan of sweet breakfast but these were pretty good.

=R=

If I had the full 4 squares, and about 1/2 a stick of butter, it would just be absolute bliss, imo.

Hehe . . . my waffle iron is only a 2-square unit, so in that respect, it'd save you from yourself!

=R=

zorkmead wrote:The recipe I made actually came from a site I ran across looking at recipes for Semlor: https://www.nordickitchenstories.co.uk/

Thanks for the link. A friend gave me a bunch of small blood oranges, so I made a version of the Blood Orange & Almond Cake from that site:

tjr wrote:Thanks for the link. A friend gave me a bunch of small blood oranges, so I made a version of the Blood Orange & Almond Cake from that site:

Wow - those are vivid blood oranges! I have some sitting on the counter, but I think I'm going to make cocktails with mine.

How was the cake? Maybe I should make it instead

- zorkmead

The cake rated "good but not great." I combined some aspects of the original recipe with the related gluten free one, precooking the orange slices in sugar syrup and making an orange syrup topping rather than a caramel. And I made a 2/3 batch.

We all really liked the texture of the almond meal + flour sponge cake along with upside down cake appearance. The color is definitely enhanced by pouring the very red syrup over the top. It's not a very sweet cake at all. The real downside was that the orange flavor is rather bitter. I think that comes from using the entire cooked chopped orange in the batter, rather than just the juice and zest as in other recipes. If I make this again, and I might, I'll go the juice and zest route (that would cut out the 1 hour required to boil the orange) and I'll simplify the preparation by cooking the slices in the juice syrup topping. I may also look for a recipe, or just work out my own, for a cake with a similar batter but maybe a caramelized nut topping or a different fruit. I was pretty curious about the gluten free version where the flour is replaced by cornmeal, too.

tjr wrote:The cake rated "good but not great." I combined some aspects of the original recipe with the related gluten free one, precooking the orange slices in sugar syrup and making an orange syrup topping rather than a caramel. And I made a 2/3 batch.

We all really liked the texture of the almond meal + flour sponge cake along with upside down cake appearance. The color is definitely enhanced by pouring the very red syrup over the top. It's not a very sweet cake at all. The real downside was that the orange flavor is rather bitter. I think that comes from using the entire cooked chopped orange in the batter, rather than just the juice and zest as in other recipes.
. . .

Thanks for the comments! I've tried a few 'whole fruit' citrus recipes in the past year or so and even though the recipe authors all promised otherwise, each one seemed unpleasantly bitter to me. I would have been tempted to try this recipe to see if boiling the orange would help. Again - I have to say I love the look of the vivid oranges in your picture.

- zorkmead

zorkmead wrote:

tjr wrote:The cake rated "good but not great." I combined some aspects of the original recipe with the related gluten free one, precooking the orange slices in sugar syrup and making an orange syrup topping rather than a caramel. And I made a 2/3 batch.

We all really liked the texture of the almond meal + flour sponge cake along with upside down cake appearance. The color is definitely enhanced by pouring the very red syrup over the top. It's not a very sweet cake at all. The real downside was that the orange flavor is rather bitter. I think that comes from using the entire cooked chopped orange in the batter, rather than just the juice and zest as in other recipes.
. . .

Thanks for the comments! I've tried a few 'whole fruit' citrus recipes in the past year or so and even though the recipe authors all promised otherwise, each one seemed unpleasantly bitter to me. I would have been tempted to try this recipe to see if boiling the orange would help. Again - I have to say I love the look of the vivid oranges in your picture.

- zorkmead

Yeah, the pith is always bitter. In spite of what anyone claims, there's no getting around that.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

zorkmead wrote:

tjr wrote:The cake rated "good but not great." I combined some aspects of the original recipe with the related gluten free one, precooking the orange slices in sugar syrup and making an orange syrup topping rather than a caramel. And I made a 2/3 batch.

We all really liked the texture of the almond meal + flour sponge cake along with upside down cake appearance. The color is definitely enhanced by pouring the very red syrup over the top. It's not a very sweet cake at all. The real downside was that the orange flavor is rather bitter. I think that comes from using the entire cooked chopped orange in the batter, rather than just the juice and zest as in other recipes.
. . .

Thanks for the comments! I've tried a few 'whole fruit' citrus recipes in the past year or so and even though the recipe authors all promised otherwise, each one seemed unpleasantly bitter to me. I would have been tempted to try this recipe to see if boiling the orange would help. Again - I have to say I love the look of the vivid oranges in your picture.

- zorkmead

Yeah, the pith is always bitter. In spite of what anyone claims, there's no getting around that.

=R=

I’ve used blood orange slices in several desserts, including the Burros Torte recipe, and never had any issues with bitterness. I don’t precook the fruit but I do slice it very thin and add a glaze and/or sugar to the top. Looking at the photo in the post, my first thought was that the slices were too thick to caramelize properly.

boudreaulicious wrote:I’ve used blood orange slices in several desserts, including the Burros Torte recipe, and never had any issues with bitterness. I don’t precook the fruit but I do slice it very thin and add a glaze and/or sugar to the top. Looking at the photo in the post, my first thought was that the slices were too thick to caramelize properly.

Blood orange is inherently bitter so the bitterness of the pith probably doesn't show up quite as strongly as it does with other citrus. And yes, your technique is obviously solid, too.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:I’ve used blood orange slices in several desserts, including the Burros Torte recipe, and never had any issues with bitterness. I don’t precook the fruit but I do slice it very thin and add a glaze and/or sugar to the top. Looking at the photo in the post, my first thought was that the slices were too thick to caramelize properly.

Blood orange is inherently bitter so the bitterness of the pith probably doesn't show up quite as strongly as it does with other citrus. And yes, your technique is obviously solid, too.

=R=

I’m one of those weirdos who LOVE bitter so I’m never a good judge of what’s too much but I’ve made desserts with blood orange slices frequently enough for more traditional palates and this technique has always worked.

boudreaulicious wrote:Looking at the photo in the post, my first thought was that the slices were too thick to caramelize properly.

A definite possibility. I used the gluten-free recipe's technique of poaching them rather than the original recipe's method of caramelizing due to the author's comments in the gluten-free recipe about the original being too sweet. The caramelized slices are specified as "sliced very thinly" and the poached slices as "3-5 mm", about 1/8" to 3/16". Perhaps "very thinly" means paper-thin, like sliced prosciutto. No danger of being too sweet with the caramel., either.

The real source of the bitterness, though, I think is from boiling and chopping a whole orange. My plan next time would be to zest, peel and section the orange before cooking, discarding the pith.

One more note: I had a bit of the cake left over and it got moldy in a few days. Never had that happen before with cake! Next time, whatever's left goes in the fridge.

tjr wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:Looking at the photo in the post, my first thought was that the slices were too thick to caramelize properly.

A definite possibility. I used the gluten-free recipe's technique of poaching them rather than the original recipe's method of caramelizing due to the author's comments in the gluten-free recipe about the original being too sweet. The caramelized slices are specified as "sliced very thinly" and the poached slices as "3-5 mm", about 1/8" to 3/16". Perhaps "very thinly" means paper-thin, like sliced prosciutto. No danger of being too sweet with the caramel., either.

The real source of the bitterness, though, I think is from boiling and chopping a whole orange. My plan next time would be to zest, peel and section the orange before cooking, discarding the pith.

One more note: I had a bit of the cake left over and it got moldy in a few days. Never had that happen before with cake! Next time, whatever's left goes in the fridge.

If you slice thinly and use some sugar, you don’t need to worry about the pith and you get the beautiful presentation. If you section the orange it’s a completely different visual —and a whole peeled orange section will be a very different (more liquid) texture as well.

boudreaulicious wrote:

tjr wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:Looking at the photo in the post, my first thought was that the slices were too thick to caramelize properly.

A definite possibility. I used the gluten-free recipe's technique of poaching them rather than the original recipe's method of caramelizing due to the author's comments in the gluten-free recipe about the original being too sweet. The caramelized slices are specified as "sliced very thinly" and the poached slices as "3-5 mm", about 1/8" to 3/16". Perhaps "very thinly" means paper-thin, like sliced prosciutto. No danger of being too sweet with the caramel., either.

The real source of the bitterness, though, I think is from boiling and chopping a whole orange. My plan next time would be to zest, peel and section the orange before cooking, discarding the pith.

One more note: I had a bit of the cake left over and it got moldy in a few days. Never had that happen before with cake! Next time, whatever's left goes in the fridge.

If you slice thinly and use some sugar, you don’t need to worry about the pith and you get the beautiful presentation. If you section the orange it’s a completely different visual —and a whole peeled orange section will be a very different (more liquid) texture as well.

Another approach would be to use a variety of orange with a very thin skin (and pith), such as a Valencia. You'll still get great orange flavor and a nice visual effect but less pith than in other varieties of oranges or mandarins.

=R=

boudreaulicious wrote:If you section the orange it’s a completely different visual —and a whole peeled orange section will be a very different (more liquid) texture as well.

I was thinking to peel and section the portion that's boiled, chopped and added to the batter. I think the chopped pith in the original recipes added much of the bitterness. Agreed, the top pieces should be slices to look right.

Open-face breakfast sandwich . . .


Plated Up
Kaiser roll, griddled mortadella, runny egg & 'merikan cheese.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Open-face breakfast sandwich . . .

Kaiser roll, griddled mortadella, runny egg & 'merikan cheese.

=R=

Sounds so good!

Breakfast this week was sort of a culinary flop (not an actual flop because people did eat it and did end up fed). This is a very dark and intense gingerbread cake which I've made before, but I 1/2d it and baked in a loaf pan. It fell like crazy in the middle and was oddly chewy. I figure I either mismeasured something when I 1/2d the recipe or it just doesn't work that way.





- zorkmead

Today, making use of last night's leftover misoyaki cod . . .


Misoyaki Cod & Potato Cakes
Leftover fish (chopped up coarsely), a couple of shredded russets, a couple of eggs, some scallions and a handful of panko (plus s&p). Mix together, form patties and shallow-fry in 50/50 evoo and avocado oil.

And after that, some leftover potatoes . . .


Bonus Hashbrowns

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zorkmead wrote:This is a very dark and intense gingerbread cake which I've made before, but I 1/2d it and baked in a loaf pan.

What makes it so very dark?

tjr wrote:

zorkmead wrote:This is a very dark and intense gingerbread cake which I've made before, but I 1/2d it and baked in a loaf pan.

What makes it so very dark?

I think maybe it is because the cake calls for 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1 cup molasses along with the usual spices. A full recipe only has two cups of flour. It also calls for stout, but I used a lighter non-alcoholic beer in this batch (stout tastes better, but I was using what I had). I've used lighter beers before and they don't seem to affect the color.

- zorkmead

Starting off March right with Irish Porridge bread!

Rolled oats, Irish wholemeal flour, chia seeds, pepitas, raisins, yogurt and just a few chocolate chips inside with apple butter to spread on top . . .




I really liked this, but when I was gushing (just a little, I promise) on Sunday morning about how good it was and how it was good for you too, I got a 'it tastes good for you' in response <<<>>> But I refuse to be swayed by someone whose favorite food is ketchup!

- zorkmead

zorkmead wrote:Starting off March right with Irish Porridge bread!
I really liked this, but when I was gushing (just a little, I promise) on Sunday morning about how good it was and how it was good for you too, I got a 'it tastes good for you' in response <<<>>> But I refuse to be swayed by someone whose favorite food is ketchup!

Damn! Tough room.

Over here, using up couple of remaining slabs of spam that didn't make it into yesterday's fried rice . . .


Spam & Cheddar Omelet
Toasted/buttered plain bagel from Beachwater Bagels via Middle Brow.

I'm definitely spammed out now.

=R=

I made a batch of savory crepes this week so I could have (leftover dinner party) beef bourguignon crepes for lunch. This wonky shaped crepe half made a great ham and egg breakfast:



- zorkmead

zorkmead wrote:I made a batch of savory crepes this week so I could have (leftover dinner party) beef bourguignon crepes for lunch. This wonky shaped crepe half made a great ham and egg breakfast:

That looks great.

Me, I'm also using up some leftovers, while channeling my inner Camellia Grill . . .


Chili Cheese Omelet
A fine use for leftover chili . . . and cornbread.

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