The Doctor Knows Best

Who better to turn to than an almost-physician for great breakfast recipes! With harried hours and on-calls, I imagine breakfast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a great way to go. Claire from Cooking Is Medicine sent in four of her favorites to share this week. And okay, I'm definitely hungry now for all of them!

The first recipe from Claire this morning is for one of her Daddy's Specialties- Pancakes. I completely agree with her assessment that pre-made mix pancakes can't even begin to compare with the homemade version. I also love the idea of making the pancakes with buttermilk, and then adding just a dash of vanilla. I bet that vanilla puts the pancakes into awesome territory. Thank goodness Claire was there to save her roommate and friends from pancake-mix disaster.

I'm also beginning to think that Claire's Daddy has some kind of gift when it comes to preparing breakfast. I'm sure it was wonderful to wake up every Saturday morning to homemade pancakes from Dad, and then to have him branch out and do waffles to- I would have been in heaven. There's nothing like a good waffle- with all those perfectly square holes just waiting to fill with syrup or jam or sugar. I may just be pulling out the waffle iron today, because Daddy's Waffles look fantastic!

Daddy’s Waffles
¾ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 T sugar
1 egg, separated
2 T oil
½ cup milk
¼ tsp vanilla

Preheat waffle iron. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Combine liquids in a smaller bowl. If you want fluffier waffles, separate the egg and whip the egg whites separately while you put the yolk in with the wet ingredients. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. If you separated the egg, fold in the egg whites after mixing the dry and wet ingredients. Follow waffle iron instructions for cooking time. Daddy cooks ours about 3 minutes 30 seconds. Enjoy with your favorite topping: syrup, powdered sugar, whipped cream, fruit, jam.

Claire also frequently can be found whipping up many varieties of muffin on her blog. I adore muffins and don't make them near often enough. These blueberry muffins are pretty different from other muffin recipes I've seen. They're slightly flat- so they look more like a cross between muffin tops and biscuits. This recipe was enough to bring both of Claire's parents out of lurkdom to comment on how wonderful they are- so I'll take that as a high recommendation!

Blueberry Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles a crumbly mixture. Combine egg and buttermilk. Stir into the dry mixture. Blend in blueberries.
Dump onto floured surface and knead 4-5 times. Roll or pat to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a 2.5 inch biscuit cutter. Place of a baking stone or sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and drizzle with a glaze if desired.

And then we have the Christmas tradition that Claire grew up with- her family's Breakfast Casserole. How could this not be delicious- eggs, sausage, bread, cheese, all baked up together. It looks really good and I bet it smells fantastic baking up in the oven on Christmas morning-or any other morning for that matter. Thanks Claire for all the awesome breakfast recipes today! They all look so comforting and delicious, I think I need to go find that waffle iron now...

Breakfast Casserole

1 lb. sausage

6 slices bread, cubed

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon salt

pepper, to taste

Brown sausage and drain. In a 13X9 casserole layer cubed bread, sausage, and cheese. Combine eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper. Pour over bread, sausage, and cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 40 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.