I go through cooking phases. Hard. So, I’ve made granola before. I thought that the granola I was making was the bee’s knees. And it’s great classic granola– oaty, fruity, wholesome. But I was wrong. I think that I may found my new, absolute favorite (mind you, I say this now) granola.
It has cornflakes in it. Cornflakes! Isn’t that sort of brilliant?

One breakfast cereal begets another. I love it.
I had never thought of using cornflakes until I read this granola article, and this recipe, in the Dining and Wine section of The New York Times about a month ago. I’ll abbreviate the article, and tell you that granola is all the rage again– you know, everything old is new again. Now I will implore you to make this granola by writing that I have made and eaten this cornflake granola, in one way or another, three times since the article [...]

It all started when my dear friend’s mother sent me some blue cornmeal from Arizona. The cornmeal was from Native Seeds, a non-profit in Tucson that safeguards ancient seeds, and promotes the use of these heritage seeds in the American Southwest. The small sack that I received was Tamaya Blue Cornmeal– and it’s pretty amazing.

Sure, I had cooked with regular cornmeal before. I am even planning on having an entire mini-chapter on American cornbread for the bread book. But I had never done any cooking with blue cornmeal before. Well, over the weekend, this changed, and I fell hard for blue cornmeal.
I have found that sometimes, when cooking with regular cornmeal, it is more of a desired texture that I get than a, actual flavor or taste. This was not the case with my blue cornmeal. Yes, it has the pleasant grit of cornmeal, but it also has a wonderfully [...]

I’m back in Connecticut now, but here’s one I baked while I was in California. Chocolate-Cherry Swirl Bread.
Pin It

This is what we had on New Year’s day at my house:

And it was perfect!
The holiday season is over, and as much as I heartily welcome it each year; I am always ready to bid it farewell in January. Having the holidays fall on a a Tuesday this year really messed with my head. I can only handle merriment once a week and it’s usually on the weekend. Therefore, Monday felt like Saturday, and Tuesday was Sunday for sure! And Joe’s special is the perfect food to eat on a lazy Sunday– which is why we had it on New Year’s day. (Got that?)
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area I remember Original Joe’s, I don’t however remember Joe’s Special. Maybe that’s because when I was a kid, I didn’t like eggs. Yup, I wouldn’t eat them, especially scrambled, as they are in this dish. I am still quite [...]

I am Adrienne Kane and I am a waffle snob. I like them light and crisp– airy almost. When they come out of the iron, and before they hit the plate, and steamy condensation sets in, the waffle must be dry and toasty, never soggy and chewy. I have found the only way to get the texture that I am seeking is with yeast. I thought that I had found the ideal raised waffle, that was until I looked back to 1896, and found one that I liked even more.

Sometimes oldies are goodies, and in the case of these raised waffles, from the Original Boston Cooking-School Cook Book 1896, this recipe is really old, so it must be really good. Right?
My first foray into the land of raised waffles was with Marion Cunningham. I had no problem waiting the requisite eight hours to let the yeast proof, and the batter [...]

This is a picture of the two pies I brought down to Washington, DC with me last week– in that horrible heat wave that struck the East Coast. These pies were cooling on my kitchen counter in Connecticut ready to make their debut at the NPR studios in DC. They were covered in pure white, flour sacks, nestled in the backseat of my car, and transported, out of Connecticut, through New York, down through Jersey, skipping through Delaware, stopped in traffic in Maryland, and finally, on to Dupont Circle.
There they stayed overnight, sitting on a hotel windowsill, until they were tasted the next day by Linda Wertheimer, host of NPR’s  Morning Edition. Ms. Wertheimer didn’t simply have a sweet morning snack, these pies played an integral part in my interview for the show. We talked pie! And the interview began with a sampling of these two pies from my book.
The [...]

Do I like bacon? Yes.
Do I LOVE bacon? Not really.
Do I find it physically painful for throw away food? Absolutely.
Do I love a new cookbook? You betcha.
What about magazines? Sure thing.
When needed, do I take Metro-North Railroad? On occasion.
Do I then complain about my bum falling asleep due to the uncomfortable seats? Every time.
What do almost all of these questions have in common? They led to me the making of bacon jam.

Not being the type of person that is absolutely ga-ga for all things bacon, bacon jam is not the sort of preserve that I would normally make. But as with virtually any food, there is a story behind it– here’s mine.
I had gotten the new book, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, a little while ago. (It’s very charming, by the way.) I enjoyed thumbing through it, trying to decide which recipe to try first. Fast-forward a few [...]

I’m smitten with a lowly flour.
It all started last year with a trip to upstate New York. I went to the teeny-tiny, mill town of Penn Yan. It was quaint. But what do you do in a mill town except buy flours and grain? Not a whole lot. So, I filled the trunk of my car with stone-ground polenta, finely milled pastry flour, groats, and buckwheat flour.
The buckwheat flour was excellent, nutty, chewy, and somehow fluffy. I made filling buttermilk pancakes and delicate crepes– enjoying every mouthful. A few months after my trip, my supply quickly diminishing, a dear, like-minded friend moved away.  He left behind a cache of baking ingredients for me. As I was unpacking my new muscavado sugar, whole wheat pastry flour, and vanilla paste, I found his supply of buckwheat flour. Great minds and hungry bellies think alike!

With my supply replenished without a trip to the [...]

As a sit at my desk writing this I’m looking out the front window. Cars are speeding by, going home for the evening. Their headlights are on. I can’t see the drivers. It is dusk…
It’s also 4:30. Really?
Gag me. Daylight savings time has just ended.
I’ll get over it. It just takes me a few days. The highlight of standard time is, of course the fact that the mornings are a little brighter. (And it’s a good thing, I was beginning to feel like a farmer when my alarm went off.) Bright mornings mean bright breakfasts, and that to me means granola. Granola that’s just the slightest bit naughty.

How is this granola naughty you might ask? By the addition of cocoa nibs– roasted and cracked cocoa beans. I love a good nib. They give you a hit of chocolate flavor, without being sweet. In fact, I have always thought that they [...]

Hello.
My word, it’s been a long time. A really looooooooong time. And it’s my fault—that’s right—you can place the onus squarely on me. I guess you could say that I’m not too great about keeping in touch. Apologies.
I have an excuse, a rather good one in fact. But first, I’m going to butter you up—with muffins.

Muffins can be a tricky thing. Purchased on-the-go from a non-reputable coffee joint they can be a leaden, flavorless mass. Bought from a vendor at your local farmer’s market and they can have a crunchy sugar-coated top and chewy oats within. But when you are searching for the best muffin, when running to the farmer’s market, or even the bakery simply won’t do, you need to make them yourself.
This classic blueberry muffin recipe is actually based on a Sour Cream-Peach Muffin that I found in Jim Fobel’s Old Fashioned Baking Book. You will notice that [...]