Mushroom, Cheddar and Chive Quiche

Recipe adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery

For the pastry: 
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing pan
1 egg yolk, broken up

For the filling: 
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 cups light cream
Pinch of grated nutmeg
2 cups grated Cheddar
3 tablespoons chopped chives.

Make the pastry: In a food processor, combine the flour, salt and butter so that some pieces of butter are left, about 8 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add half the egg yolk and 1/4 cup ice water. Stir quickly with a fork to bring the ingredients together, adding more water as needed. (If using margarine, less water may be required to moisten the dough.) When the fork cannot do any more, use your hands just to bring the dough together. Do not knead or press the dough; simply gather up the dry parts as quickly as possible. Wrap the dough in plastic film and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 8 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 11-inch round tart pan with butter. Dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll the dough to 1/8-inch thick, lifting and turning so that it does not stick to the surface. Ease the dough into the pan and up the sides, without stretching. Trim excess dough and chill for 30 minutes. Cover with foil and lay beans or pie weights on the foil. Bake until the pastry begins to turn golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Prepare the filling: In a frying pan, heat the oil and sauté the mushrooms and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have darkened and all the liquid released from them has evaporated. Season to taste. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs to break them up, then add the cream, a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg and beat until combined.

Place the cooled tart on a sheet pan. Scatter the cheese over the base of the pastry shell. Place the mushrooms over the cheese, then pour as much of the egg-and-cream mixture as you can without it spilling over the top. Sprinkle with chives and carefully transfer to the oven. Bake until the filling has set and is lightly golden, 35 to 45 minutes. Serves 8 as a main course.

Baked Apples with Oatmeal and Brown Sugar

Recipe from O, The Oprah Magazine

1 lemon , cut in half
4 large red apples
3/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons butter
1 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
Whipped cream , optional

Preheat oven to 375°. Squeeze juice from lemon halves into a large bowl with 2 cups cold water. Peel top third of each apple. With a small knife and working from the top of each apple, carefully carve out a large "bowl," including the core, about 2 inches in diameter, leaving the bottom of apple intact. Reserve all cut-away pieces. Place carved apples in lemon water. Chop cut-away apple pieces into small chunks, removing any core or seeds. Toss with 3 tablespoons honey and cinnamon; set aside.

Combine remaining 9 tablespoons honey with 1/2 cup hot water and stir until well blended. Stand apples, cut side up, in a 9" x 9" shallow baking dish. Place 1 teaspoon butter in bowl of each apple and pour honey and water mixture on top. Cover dish with foil and bake until tender, 25 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 1 3/4 cups water and a pinch of salt to a boil. Add oatmeal and apple pieces, and stir until mixture returns to a boil; reduce heat and cover. Cook until tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Remove apples from oven and carefully fill with oatmeal mixture. Top with brown sugar. Place under the broiler 1 minute, just until light brown sugar is bubbly and dark brown. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Bruce Paltrow’s World Famous Pancakes

Recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's My Father's Daughter

Yield: 3 dozen 5-inch pancakes

Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes + overnight resting

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons fine salt
3 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus more butter for cooking
6 organic large eggs
Up to 1 cup milk, as needed to thin batter
Real Vermont maple syrup, warmed

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk, butter and eggs together in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones whisking just enough to combine (small lumps are okay). Let the batter sit, covered, overnight. The next morning, heat up your griddle or favorite nonstick pan and slick it with a little butter. Add enough milk to the batter to thin it to the right consistency—the thicker the batter, the thicker and heavier your pancakes; the thinner the batter, the more delicate your pancakes—neither is wrong. Cook the pancakes on the griddle, flipping them after bubbles appear on the surface of the uncooked side. Let cook 2-3 minutes more, then remove, and eat with lots of warm maple syrup.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Honey-Nutmeg Butter

Recipe from Big Girls, Small Kitchen for the Huffington Post

Pumpkin Pancakes

These are easily made dairy-free. Just sub almond milk for the milk and a neutral oil for the butter. And, of course, skip the butter on top.

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar in a medium bowl.

In a separate small bowl, combine the pumpkin and the egg and whisk to combine. Add the milk, vanilla, and cooled melted butter, and whisk again to make a smooth mixture.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold until they are only just combined--a few lumps remaining are fine.

Heat a cast iron skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Using about 1/4 cup of batter for each, cook the pancakes until golden brown, flipping once, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Remove to a plate and serve immediately with Honey-Nutmeg Butter and maple syrup.

Honey-Nutmeg Butter

1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

Cream the butter with the honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon until slightly fluffy and even. Scrape into a small bowl and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before you're ready to use. Then, let it soften slightly.

Salsa Ranchera y Huevos Rancheros

Recipe from the Manhattan restaurant Hecho en Dumbo for The New York Times 

Yield: About 1 quart

1/2 ounce dried guajillo chilies, stemmed and seeded
6 ripe plum tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 green poblano chili, roasted, stemmed, seeded and diced
Salt

In a bowl, just cover dried chilies with boiling water and let steep until tender, at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. Drain off and reserve soaking water. Purée chilies in a blender, adding soaking water as needed to make a smooth paste. Strain to remove skin bits and set aside.

In a pot, combine tomatoes, garlic, 1/2 cup onion, cumin and 2 tablespoons of guajillo purée. (Remainder can be refrigerated up to 1 week.) Add 1/2 cup water, bring to a simmer, and simmer until tomatoes collapse, about 10 minutes. Purée in a blender, then pour into a skillet.

Bring to a simmer and stir in remaining 1/4 cup chopped onion, diced poblano chili and salt to taste.

This sauce can be used to prepare Huevos Rancheros. Simply heat oil in a skillet. Fry corn tortillas for a few seconds. Place on towels to drain and cover to keep warm. Heat the salsa in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, in the same skillet, fry the eggs. Place each tortilla on a plate. When eggs are cooked, place each one on a tortilla. Cover with salsa.

Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast

2/3 cup 1% milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4 slices hearty whole-grain bread

Combine milk, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl; whisk until well blended. Pour mixture into a pie plate or shallow bowl.

Dip bread slices into egg mixture and let stand 30 seconds to absorb the liquid. Flip bread over and let stand in mixture another 30 seconds.

Heat a nonstick skillet lightly coated with cooking spray or butter over medium heat. Add bread slices and cook for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Flip over and continue cooking for 1 minute or until done.

Garnish with berries or apple slices. Serve with real maple syrup.

Spirulina Super Food Smoothie

Almond Milk
Spirulina
Dates
Blueberries
Banana
Brazil Nuts

Blend and serve chilled.