Tag: breakfast

Gourmet Grilled Fruit! Why not?

Island grilled mangoes and papaya with a rum butter sauce, Exotic grilled pear salad with goat cheese and balsalmic drizzle…These menu items can be found in high end eateries all of over the world! They sound ultra sexy and complicated, right? They are not! These delicious tastes can easily be replicated at home in your kitchen!!

Restaurant taste at home!
Restaurant taste at home!

Fruit is made up of sugars and water. Grilling fruit takes out some of the water and caramelizes the natural sugars leaving delicious sweet fruit with a charred texture. This method is quick and easy, and the delicious grilled fruit leaves our taste buds craving more!

Hard fruits are easier to grill. They won’t get mushy and fall apart on you. My favorites are apples, pears and pineapple!

Grill fruit as an appetizer, side, salad topper or skewer it with veggies, meat or fish!
Grill fruit as an appetizer, side, salad topper or skewer it with veggies, meat or fish!

One of our breakfast favorites is grilled peaches! (With a squirt of whipped cream!)

Grilled Peaches

Ingredients:
(Yields 4 servings)

4 Sliced white and yellow peaches
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp.cinnamon
1 tbsp. nutmeg

Directions:

Clean grill grate and spray with non stick cooking spray. (Olive oil is too strong for these fruits and will leave a dull taste. If anything use a little butter.)

Dust fruit with the spice mix.

Because the peaches are juicy, they caramelize quickly! Don't leave them on too long!
Because the peaches are juicy, they caramelize quickly! Don’t leave them on too long!

Grill the fruit on medium heat until it is softened to your liking.(Pierce with a fork. The fruit should be cooked but still firm.) Approx. 4 minutes per side.

OR grill them in a frying pan! Peaches are soft enough to be cooked quickly right on the stove!

A breakfast treat! Hold the pastries!
A breakfast treat! Hold the pastries!

Don’t forget a fabulous cheese pairing! Grilled pears are delicious with goat cheese or a creamy fontina, while grilled apples are most delicious when served with Gruyere or Brie.

Enjoy!
Ciao!

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins! No eggs!

I always add chia seeds!! Especially for breakfast!
I always add chia seeds!! Especially for breakfast!
I always add chia seeds!! Especially for breakfast!

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 18 muffins
(Recipe adapted from Skinnygirl Bethenny Frankel’s skinny blueberry muffin recipe)

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups oat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 cup Almond Milk
3 ripe bananas, smashed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray muffin tins or line with baking cups.
Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and add wet ingredients.

Muffins are so easy! No mixer required!
Muffins are so easy! No mixer required!

Pour into muffin tin cups 3/4 full.

Don't overfill the tins! 3/4 full  is perfect as they will expand as they bake!
Don’t overfill the tins! 3/4 full is perfect as they will expand as they bake!

Bake for 20 mins. Turning at 10 mins.
Bake until golden brown on top and around edges!

The chunks of warm smashed banana are my favorite bites!
The chunks of warm smashed banana are my favorite bites!

Enjoy!
Ciao!

Spring 2014 Hot Food Trend…Gourmet Toasts! Salute!

Hot right now for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between, are the quickly trending gourmet toasts! Chefs are getting extremely inventive with a new spin on what was mainly a traditional totally boring breakfast staple.

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/slushed.html?m=1

Started in 2012, the toast trend is picking up momentum and is showing up in big city hotspots like The Shakespeare in New York City! They offer an afternoon toasts menu!
Started in 2012, the toast trend is picking up momentum and is showing up in big city hotspots like The Shakespeare in New York City! They offer an afternoon toasts menu!

Consider it the melting pot of appetizer and small plate chic, you cannot go wrong with a meal on a piece of toast. Call it portion control! For breakfast, indulge in almond butter on top of toasted whole grain bread smothered in bananas, a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of coarse salt!

Avocado screams Spring!!

http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2012/03/avocado-toast-with-chile-flakes.html

Avocado, mayo, and lemon is becoming very popular too!
Avocado, mayo, and lemon is becoming very popular, too!

Blue cheese and pears are amazing…drizzle honey and I am in love!!

http://myfancypantry.com/2012/11/18/pear-honey-and-blue-cheese-appetizer-toasts/

Served on a toasted baguette!
Served on a toasted baguette!

 

Julia Turshen, chef and coauthor of Gwyneth Paltrow’s “It’s All Good” cookbook shared her faves in People magazine’s April 28 issue!

BUFFALO
Toast country bread
Spread blue cheese
Top with celery
Drizzle with hot sauce

TAPAS
Toast country bread
Rub with garlic and a halved
tomato
Add slices of Manchego cheese
Top with a slice of prosciutto

Serve toasts as an appetizer or small plates for dinner while entertaining. Have kids? There are so many endless ideas with Nutella, peanut butter, almond butter, veggies, raisins, etc.  Maybe even cookie cutter the bread into cool themes or seasonal shapes!!

Enjoy!!
Ciao!!

Warm Apple Pie Oatmeal! A Special Treat For A Rainy Weekend Morning!

Warm Apple Pie Oatmeal

Ingredients:
2 apples chopped with skin
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tbsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. sugar
1 pat of butter 1/8 inch thick to coat pan.
1 cup water
1 cup Quaker quick oats

Do you have one of these apple corer dividers? So easy to use!
Do you have one of these apple corer dividers? So easy to use!

$9.99 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00004OCKT/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

Directions:

Put a frying pan on medium heat.
Coat pan with butter, it will melt.

Stir and coat apples well with the spices.
Stir and coat apples well with the spices.

Add apples and spices and cook for 10 minutes until apples soften.

This would also be delicious with pecans! I didn't have any this morning!
This would also be delicious with pecans! I didn’t have any this morning!

Add water and when it is simmering add oats.
Cook an additional 3-5 minutes!
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and serve!

Warm Apple Pie Oatmeal!!
Warm Apple Pie Oatmeal!!
My monkeys wanted theirs topped off with a squirt of whipped cream! Love them!
My monkeys wanted theirs topped off with a squirt of whipped cream! Love them!

Ciao!