Wednesday 1 February 2023

A Cereal Breakfast Bread

 

I liked my porridge recipe so much, I decided to turn it into a filling breakfast bread! This is a play on cornbread. but is really very moist. It makes a great snack cake to have with a mid-morning beverage. Also great with a mixture of stewed fruit and fresh fruit on the side.

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup white cornmeal

¼ cup Semolina

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup Kefir or 1% milk

¼ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus oil to make up to 1/3 cup

1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, coriander

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

 

Directions

 

1.       Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8-in. square baking pan. Line the bottom with a square of parchment paper.

 

2.       Melt the butter then make up to 1/3 cup using a light vegetable oil.

    2. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, semolina, baking powder, salt, sugar and spices.  In another bowl, whisk together eggs, kefir/milk, sour cream, vanilla and oil Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Transfer to prepared pan/baking dish.Sprinkle the brown sugar over the rop.

    3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Monday 30 January 2023

A Filling Porrdige to start the day!

 

This is a multi-cereal based porridge that I like to start my day eating! It consists of fresh fruits, stewed fruit, nuts, steel cut oats, buckwheat groats, cornmeal, and semolina. It’s very filling and will keep you going until lunch. I stew the apples with brown sugar and whole cloves, allspice berries, cashew nuts, almonds, dried cranberries, cinnamon stick, and cardamom pods. The fresh fruits I like to use are raspberries and blueberries, but any fruit of your choosing can be substituted. The basic directions for the porridge are:

1.       Toast 1 tablespoon unsalted, raw pumpkin seed and 1 tablespoon of puffed millet. I use a wok and toast until the seeds start to brown slightly and “pop”. Remove and set aside.

2.       In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon cornmeal (I use the type used to make Polenta or Arepas), 1 tablespoon Semolina (cream of wheat), 1/8 teaspoon each of cloves, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

3.       In the same wok or fry pan, toast 1 tablespoon buckwheat groats until the start to brown slightly. Do not burn. Place that in a small saucepan with 1 tablespoon steel cut oats, 1 tablespoon dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon raw, unsalted cashew, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 9-10 minutes.

4.       Mix in the cornmeal and semolina, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer to thickness you like, using milk (any kind) to thin it out.

5.       Place in a bowl and top with stewed fruit, fresh fruit and toasted seeds and millet!

Friday 7 October 2022

Very moist Lemon Blueberry Muffins


 

These are jumbo sized, very moist Lemon Blueberry muffins that are delicious with a cup of your favorite beverage. They can be frozen and reheated. 

Ingredients

 ⅔ cup  sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup sour cream

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup applesauce

⅓ cup Plain, unsweetened Kefir

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

2 large lemons, zested and juiced

1 1/2 cups +1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup  blueberries, fresh

 

Instructions

 Preheat the oven to 375° and line 8 muffin cups with paper liners (I use jumbo foil muffin cups with paper liners).

In another bowl, blend together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Rinse the blueberries, drain then dust with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside

In a bowl, mix sugar, egg, sour cream, oil, kefir, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk until pale in color and slightly frothy. Mix in the lemon juice.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. There may be a few lumps. Don’t try to mix until smooth.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups until almost full.

Bake for 30-35 minutes on an upper-middle rack in your oven, until a tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool in foil muffin cups for 10 minutes, then remove foil, leaving the paper liner behind. Cool on a rack.