 Many of you know I'm an innkeeper at The Pomegranate Inn in Portland Maine's historic West End and all breakfasts guests enjoy are my recipes from the cookbook. This matted award came as a surprise in today's mail! The Editor's Choice 2012 "Best Breakfast as an Art Form" in New England? What a huge honor and a fun category! Add Comment 
 I'm excited to be part of this year's "Meet the Chefs" - I'll have my torch and samples, come visit me Saturday, February 18th.  And if Durham New Hampshire is more convenient for you, I'll be there too, Saturday March 24th.  And starting in May, I'll be at the Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School teaching Brunch from my cookbook! Classes I'll be holding are May 27th, July 8th and August 12th. Schedule and menus coming soon! Another review from the Midwest Book Review, this time from Heidi's Bookshelf. Heidi made my day when she said "With literally shelves of cookbooks in my home, it's rare I find one I'd consider top-rated and the extra space for inclusion in our personal library. Fortunately, The Art of Breakfast lives up to its name in every way". WOW! Thank you, Heidi. I am so glad you got what I was trying to convey, with the education, experience and my love of teaching and sharing cooking with people! THANK YOU! 
Earlier this week I had the great honor and pleasure of doing a cooking demo for video and still shots and provided a few recipes for the Wild Blueberry Association of North America. It's to promote the health benefits of the wild blueberry (high in antioxidants) and so widely available that they can be used all year. Wild blueberries are only available for a couple months a year, but they freeze beautifully and are available in stores in the freezer section all year. They're versatile and delicious and the wild version, despite their tiny size, pack a large flavor punch. I did a wild blueberry banana smoothie, lemon French toast with wild blueberry maple syrup and a cheese blintz soufflé with wild blueberries. There will be some video and some how-to along with recipes after the first of the year. It was fun doing the taping and working with the crew! Stay tuned! 
 Scallion and Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs in Wonton This is a fun and delightful way to serve simple, scrambled eggs. Add salsa, cheddar, and some crumbled spicy sausage and you have a nice Latin inspired breakfast. Serves 4 16 wonton wrappers 12 large eggs 1 cup heavy cream 1 bunch scallions, trimmed 1 inch from top and bottom, using both white and green parts, sliced 1/8-1/4 inch thick one (8-ounce) package cream cheese ¼ teaspoon salt freshly ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a popover pan with butter or vegetable oil. Take 3 to 4 wonton wrappers for each popover cavity and line it, overlapping the wrappers. Be sure to get a wrapper into the bottom. Then spray the wrappers with vegetable oil. Bake until the tops are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Then cover carefully with foil and bake another 15 minutes. This allows the wonton wrapper inside the pan to continue browning without over browning the edges. Let the wrappers sit to cool a few minutes and place each on individual serving plate. Mix the eggs and the cream in blender for 5 seconds. Coat a large frying pan with butter or vegetable oil. Over medium heat, pour the eggs and scallions into pan and slowly cook until eggs are almost scrambled. Add the cream cheese in small dollops and continue to cook until the eggs are set, just another minute or so. Add salt and pepper to taste To serve, portion one-fourth of the eggs in each wonton cup. You could serve this version with salsa on the side with a few slices of ripe avocado and fresh heirloom tomatoes. Kitchen Tools: popover pans are designed specifically with a lip that forces the popover up and out to expand, creating the signature balloon shaped top. The pan works perfectly in this recipe since it's tall and holds the wonton wrappers in place vertically. 
Ricotta, Butternut Squash & Zucchini Crepes with Sage Brown Butter I love the combination of savory and sweet in this crepe. The sweetness of the caramelized onions and the sweet squash puree are a lovely combination. 12 Basic Crepes 1 whole Butternut squash 2 sweet onions 1 medium zucchini 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 15 ounces Ricotta cheese 1 cup cottage cheese 1 egg yolk ½ teaspoon salt 1 stick butter 2 large sage leaves freshly ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Halve and seed the squash and roast until soft, about 45- 55 minutes. Once cooled slightly, remove the skin. While the squash is roasting, dice the onions and dice the zucchini and sauté in olive oil until lightly browned and soft, about 10-15 minutes. Put the squash, Ricotta, cottage cheese, egg yolk and salt in food processor and mix until very smooth. Place 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each crepe. Add 1 tablespoon of the zucchini and onion mixture and fold in each side, creating small square pouches. Place seam side down onto a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining crepes. Cover and bake the crepes for 20 minutes until puffed. Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes. (Alternatively, you could pan fry them in butter and olive oil until lightly browned on each side and then place in oven for 10 minutes to finish) Heat the butter in small sauté pan over medium heat with sage leaves until the butter just starts to brown, about 10-12 minutes (it will first bubble, then brown) Remove the sage leaves. To serve, place two crepes on a plate and drizzle with the browned butter. Add freshly cracked black pepper to taste and top with a sprinkling of shredded Parmesan. 
Sour Cream Coffee Cake Serves 10 to 14 2 sticks plus 1 half stick unsalted butter, softened 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup sour cream 2 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 cups flour ¼ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1/4 cup chopped pecans Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the two sticks of butter and sugar in a mixer and beat with a paddle attachment for about a minute. Add the sour cream and eggs and mix until smooth. Fold in the vanilla, flour, salt, and baking powder. Pour just under half of the batter into a well greased Bundt pan. Melt the remaining half stick of butter. Mix it together with the cinnamon, brown sugar, and pecans, Pour the mixture on top of the batter in the center. Layer the remaining batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan. (If you’re making muffins or using 9x12 glass pan, reduce the baking time to 35-45 minutes.)  From "The Cookbook Shelf": The Art of Breakfast comes from the former innkeeper of the Kingsleigh Inn in Mount Desert Island, and provides a fine cookbook telling how to make a breakfast look lavish. From fresh fruit salads to egg dishes, this covers all the basics from prepping ingredients the night before to enhancing a simple dish with a sauce. Over 100 Maine-inspired dishes are easily reproduced by anyone and focuses on artistic-looking results. Dishes arranged by category include color photos for eye-popping interest. |   Your FoodMadam
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