Sunday Morning Coffeecake

This coffee cake is inspired by the Cafe Beaujolais Spicy Buttermilk Coffee cake, but it was adapted by my mom to be the best Sunday Morning Coffee cake out there! 

- 2 1/4c flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp ginger powder

- 1 1/2 c brown sugar

- 3/4 c oil (sunflower, walnut or coconut)

- 1 c chopped walnuts or pecans or rolled oats

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 egg, beaten

- 1 c buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 350. 

2. Grease a 9 x 13 x 2'' pan (or make a 2/3 recipe and put in a 8 x 8'' pan)

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, 1 tsp of the cinnamon, ginger powder, brown sugars, and the oil. 

4. Remove 3/4 cup of this mixture into another bowl and add the nuts and the other tsp of cinnamon. 

5. With remaining flour mixture, add the baking soda, baking powder, egg, and buttermilk. 

6. Place the buttermilk mixture in the pan. Put the nut mix evenly on top of it. Bake 40-45 minutes. Enjoy with coffee, tea, or milk!

Sriracha Peanut Tofu

This is a nice, simple recipe that uses only ingredients that anyone who cooks Asian food will already have on hand. It's quick to make and relatively foolproof- I like to serve it with the quinoa from the Sweet Chili Lime Tofu! My only criticism with this recipe is that it's a bit salty... I'm sure some more testing will help with that!!

- 16 oz extra firm tofu
- 2 Tbsp peanut oil
- 4 large garlic cloves, sliced
- 1-2'' ginger, sliced
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce (preferably low sodium)
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar (can substitute red wine vinegar)
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (add or subtract as needed!)
- 3 scallions, sliced
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
- Recommended: Quinoa from Sweet Chili Lime Tofu

1. If serving with rice or quinoa, get that started so it can cook while the tofu is being prepared.

2. To prepare the tofu, slice into bite-sized pieces- I like to cut it into 36 pieces. Lay the tofu slices in a single layer onto a triple layer of paper towels. Cover the tofu in another triple layer of paper towels, and then cover the whole thing with a heavy (preferably cast iron) saucepan. Let them drain for at least 5 minutes.

3. Combine all the sauce ingredients: soy sauce, vinegar, peanut butter, honey, water, and Sriracha. Set aside.

4. Place a large pan over high heat. After a minute, add peanut oil. After another minute, add the garlic and ginger. They will cook quickly, so remove them after 30 seconds to a minute, before they brown. You can throw them away or save them for use in another dish. Once the garlic and ginger are off, place the tofu into the saucepan and lower the heat to medium-high.

5. Once the first side of the tofu browns, flip them over. Once both sides are brown, lower the heat to low and add the peanut sauce. Stir the sauce over the tofu for a couple minutes until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and serve the tofu on top of the quinoa. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds.

French Onion Soup

Photo- Zig Hampel

Now that it's getting a bit colder out, I've been craving French Onion Soup! I don't eat beef stock, so this is not quite as sweet as traditional French Onion Soups. I actually prefer the chicken stock, but I may be biased! The key here is the slow-cooked onions... they're a game changer!

- 6 onions, quartered and sliced
- olive oil
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 4 bay leaves, snapped in half
- 6 springs fresh thyme
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 bottle red wine
- 3 heaving tsp of flour
- 2 quarts chicken stock (or turkey, if available)
- 1 baguette, sliced
- 1/3 lb Gruyere, sliced

1. To caramelize the onions, grease the bottom of a slow cooker with olive oil. Add the onions, and drizzle roughly a 1/4 c of olive oil on top. Mix them around so the onions get nicely coated. Slow cook for 12 - 14 hours. I do this overnight, stirring the onions around every couple hours until I go to bed, and then stirring again first thing in the morning.

2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the caramelized onions, bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Add the wine and boil the wine off for about 10 minutes, until it has all simmered off. Sprinkle flour around the mixture. Combine well.

3. Preheat the oven to broil.

4. Add the broth, one cup at a time, bringing to a boil after each cup. When it has all been added, let it simmer for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and the thyme.

5. Broil the baguette slices topped with cheese until the cheese melts and the toast browns around the edges.

6. Serve in a bowl or mug topped with cheesy toasts. Pairs well with wine, both red and white.