It's all about the Crumble Topping

I had to make sure it wasn't poisonous.

About a week or two ago I made what a cookbook described as a tamale pie. Essentially it was a casserole of all things mexican: black beans, red peppers, tomatoes, etc., covered in a layer of what was supposed to be tamale but which ended up being more like cornbread. (that's the last time that I listen to a cookbook and buy corn meal when I know it should be masa) Nonetheless, it was tasty, but it left me with a pint of buttermilk. Yesterday was officially the expiration date of said buttermilk, and not wanting to waste it, I headed to my Williams Sonoma Muffin cookbook. Initially I thought I'd make some Vanilla Pear muffins, but soon realized I was out of the requisite pecans. I did have a pint of fresh raspberries that were about to die in the fridge if I didn't eat them soon. I tracked down a blackberry recipe that called for 2 cups of berries (I only had one) so I hit the freezer and pulled out a bag of TJ's frozen mixed berries.

The result? Bryan swears they must be really bad for you, given how good they taste. I claim that while technically probably not GOOD for you, I'm not sure I believe they're BAD for you either. You decide.

MIXED BERRY MUFFINS

Topping
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Muffins
2 Cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinammon
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh berries + 1 cup frozen mixed berries

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with butter.

Make topping by combining sugar, flour and zest. Then mix in melted butter and stir until crumbly.

Just-Barely-Mixed Batter

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients for muffins. Make a well in the center and add wet ingredients (but not berries). Mix together with a scraper. Make sure you just barely mix it all together, do NOT over-stir. Batter should be clumpy.

Add berries and barely combine.


Scoop into muffin tin.


Add crumble topping evenly amongst muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until muffins are slightly golden on top and springy. If your oven is as prone to hot spots as mine is, make sure to rotate the muffins halfway through the baking process.

Let cool 15 minutes on a rack. Unmold the muffins and dive in.


After I mixed in the berries the batter turned an intense purple color. I was surprised that the muffins, once finished baking, weren't the same purple color. Somehow they had returned to their dough-color in the oven. Magic. Or chemistry. Or both.

Christmas Morning Menu

After having spent all of Christmas Eve Eve shopping and cooking and then Christmas Eve cooking, I came down Christmas morning and fixed everyone breakfast. Mom will tell you that I woke up and came downstairs with a recipe in my hand. She's not lying. It's like a sickness.

CHRISTMAS MORNING MENU
Bagels with Cream Cheese and Tomatoes
Arugula, Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata
Potato and Onion Cakes (Martha Stewart)

The bagels with cream cheese and tomatoes are obvious so I can't even create a recipe. As for the frittata, I think it would have been better with fresh tomatoes, but the sun-dried were tasty anyway. There were 7 of us so I beat 15 eggs with a dash of cream, a handful of chopped arugula, a cup of shredded Fontina (or Monterey Jack, I can't remember now) and a couple of Tablespoons of chopped S-D Tomatoes. I heated Butter in a pan until the foam subsided, added egg mixture, lowered heat, covered and let sit for about 15min. Because it was so big, I didn't bother with flipping it, but set it under the broiler instead. This was served with hot sauce.

POTATO AND ONION CAKES
These are divine. I got the recipe from Martha's magazine.

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tin
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp Red Wine vinegar
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
1 small red onion sliced into rounds
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, coarsely grated
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400F. Generously butter a muffin tin. Sprinkle each cup with salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp sugar. Drizzle each cup with 1/2 tsp each vinegar. Put a rosemary sprig in each cup and cover with an onion round (I ended up with quite a few outer onion rings as the rings you use should be the size of bottom of the cup). Set aside.

Toss potatoes with chopped rosemary and egg yolk, season with salt and pepper. Divide among cups. Dot with butter.

Bake until potatoes are tender and well browned, about 30 min. Remove and let cool 5 min. Run a knife around the edge of each cup, invert and serve.

These are so much better than has browns because the sugar and vinegar caramelizes the onions perfectly. They have a ton of flavor and not nearly the butter of a normal side of breakfast potatoes. So good. I wish I had a picture. But there you are. I didn't take any over Christmas.