Lemon Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins

I love these muffins. They are moist, tender, and don't feel at all like a diet food. They completely satisfy my craving for comfort carbs but they are still healthy: low in fat and sugar, high in protein and antioxidants, and flavorful. They keep well and reheat well in the microwave and can be frozen.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

finely grated zest from one lemon

juice from that lemon, enough to fill half of a 1/3 cup measure

2% milk (or whole) enough to fill the remainder of that 1/3 cup measure

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup small curd low fat cottage cheese

1 to 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen partially thawed blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400°. Put cupcake liners in 12 muffin tins. NOTE: I use only the brown parchment paper muffin liners on these muffins because they tend to stick to regular liners. If you use regular liners, you may want to spray them with cooking spray. The parchment liners are absolutely the best for all muffins and cupcakes.

In a big bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Finely zest one lemon.

Juice the lemon and use enough to fill half of a 1/3 cup measuring cup.

Fill the remainder of the measuring cup with milk. Allow it to sit for five minutes to thicken into buttermilk.

Melt 1/4 cup butter.

Mix together the cottage cheese, eggs, melted butter, lemon zest, juice, milk, and vanilla either in a small blender like a Magic Bullet or with a stick blender like you see here. Mix it well until the cottage cheese is completely blended into a creamy consistency. If you don't have any blender, push the cottage cheese through a fine strainer then blend the ingredients.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture.

With a spatula, fold gently until almost mixed but some dry ingredients still remain. DO NOT OVERMIX as the muffins will be tough.

Add blueberries and VERY GENTLY fold into the batter so that you don't crush the blueberries and make the batter purple.

There will be a very slight bit of purple like in this photo, which is OK.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins and bake at 400° for 16-20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

Once cool they can be put into zipper bags or leftover containers and can sit on the counter for several days or can be frozen.

For three muffins

The color code breakdown.

Strawberry Breakfast Parfait

I recently did a post about a Breakfast Parfait that used mangoes. My husband doesn't like mangoes and they aren't always available so I was looking for other options. This week Whole Foods had organic strawberries on sale so I decided to adapt the breakfast parfait for them. You could also do the same with fresh blueberries when they are in season, or peaches or nectarines. Just make sure to adjust the calorie total for the fruit.

Breakfast Parfait: 361 calories for the whole thing

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats,
95 calories
1 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, 130 calories
2 Medjool Dates, 41 calories
1 tsp Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread, 26 calories
1-1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries, 69 calories

Make a granola mixture by melting the Earth Balance in a skillet and adding the oats. Stir over low heat till fragrant and golden. Finely chop the dates and blend in with the oats. Sprinkle cinnamon if desired. Add just enough water for the oat/date mixture to begin to bind together in clumps, about a tablespoon or two at the most. Stir over low heat just till water is absorbed. Set aside.

Dice mango. In glass, spoon about a third of the yogurt. Add about a third of the mango. Sprinkle a bit of the granola mixture. Repeat layers.

Orange Coconut Rolls

There's something about warm breakfast rolls straight from the oven. They give me those warm, fuzzy comfort feelings, probably because they take me back to mornings with my kids when they were smaller and life was not so complicated. These rolls came about because some coconuts floated by our boat at anchor and I spent an afternoon cleaning them, grating the coconut, and toasting it. The next morning I just happened to have an extra orange in the fruit basket, so orange coconut rolls it was. The recipe is out of the Red Star Yeast Centennial Bread Sampler cookbook, probably my favorite, but it's out of print. If you even find one and you like bread you should pick it up.

Ingredients

2-1/4 to2-1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1 package of instant yeast
3 Tbl sugar
2 tsp freshly grated orange rind
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
3 Tbl butter
1 small egg

Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbl butter
2 Tbl freshly squeezed orange juice
1 Tbl honey
1/2 cup coconut, divided
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

I don't have pictures for these earlier steps, honestly because some times I get making things and then realize, oh yeah I should be posting this one. You can read basic dough directions and see pictures in my Vienna Snack Loaves post if you need help.

In a large mixer bowl, mix one cup of the flour, the yeast, sugar, orange rind and salt. Mix it well.

In a saucepan heat up the milk, water and butter until it's 120°.  I use one of those infrared thermometers to measure the temperature because it's pretty critical. You can easily kill yeast if your liquids are too hot.

Add the liquids to the flour/yeast mixture and blend it at low speed by mixer or by hand until all the flour is incorporated. Add the egg and beat it for 3 minutes, either by hand or by mixer

Gradually add enough of the rest of the flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. If you're making this on a boat, the amount of flour can vary widely depending on the humidity. The dough should not be sticky.
Knead the dough on a floured surface until it's smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.

While you're letting it rest, make the topping. Combine the sugar, butter, juice and honey and heat it until it's blended and the sugar is dissolved. Reserve 3 tablespoons of it and put the rest of it in a greased 9-inch square pan. Sprinkle half of the coconut and the almonds over the topping. Keep the remaining sauce warm.

After the dough has rested, pat it out into a 12 x 9 inch rectangle. Brush it with the remaining warm sauce and sprinkle the remaining coconut over it.

Roll it up long side first, pinching it down in the crease with your fingers.

Pinch the edge to the main roll to seal it.

Using some dental floss or sewing thread wrapped around the loaf, cut slices from the roll. This recipe makes 9 large rolls and it helps to mark the slice points in the dough before you begin cutting.
The dental floss or thread makes nice cuts. If you try to cut it with a knife it will crush the loaf and you won't have nice, round rolls.

Arrange the rolls evenly in the pan on top of the topping mix.

Cover loosely with a towel and let them raise till almost doubled, about 30 minutes. It can take less or more depending on the temperature and humidity of your raising environment. Keep them away from drafts! A draft will make them fall. I usually set them on my stove while I preheat the oven.

Bake them at 400° for 15-20 minutes. Again, if you're doing this on a boat the times can vary widely due to different ovens.

Cover them immediately with foil and invert them onto a rack. Do not let them cool first as the topping will stick to the pan and not to the rolls. I have added a powdered sugar glaze here although it's not in the original recipe. You can make some with a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and just a few drops of milk. Drizzle it over and serve warm.

Lazy Morning Loaded Fried Potatoes and Eggs

Some mornings on a boat are better than others. There's the mornings where you're woken up by rain on your face through the V-berth hatch that find you scrambling to close all the ports before your laptop is soaked. Then there's the mornings you nearly get dumped out of the same V-berth by the Sunday morning jet-skiis careening around your hull. The mornings that you wish for when you begin your cruising dreams are the mornings where it's just cool enough to enjoy your coffee in the cockpit, and you have the time to fix a really great lazy breakfast. As a disclaimer, please remember that the name of this blog is Crusing Comforts, aka comfort food, and not about necessarily healthy eating...

Ingredients:

1 large Idaho potato or several small red potatoes
1-2 Tbl Butter
1 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp chopped garlic or 1-2 cloves smashed fresh  garlic
1/4-1/2 medium onion sliced thin
1/2-1 cup grated sharp cheddar
Crumbled leftover bacon (see the previous post on thinking ahead) or Bacon Bits
4 eggs
Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Salt

Directions:

Wash the potatoes well and pat dry with a paper towel. Slice them into 1/8" slices or 1/4" if you like them a little thicker. Heat a large cast iron skillet to high. Add the oil and butter. Add the garlic, onion, potatoes, and a liberal amount of Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Salt. (I talk about this salt all the time on this blog because I absolutely love it. If you try it and love it too, buy a couple containers for the boat because it doesn't last long! I've also heard they have a mixed-up pepper but I have yet to try it.)

Depending on the strength of your burners, you may have to reduce the heat to medium. You will need to stir the potatoes periodically, but don't handle them too much as they will break up into mush. Let them brown on the bottom, then flip them around and let them brown again.









When your potatoes are close to being done, just barely tender, heat a small non-stick skillet and fry your eggs to your personal preference. We're usually over-easy people, or I add a lid to sunny-side, turn the heat off, and steam the top.

While your eggs are cooking, add the cheddar and bacon to your potatoes and put a lid over them. Turn the heat off and let them sit to melt the cheese.

Serve with a dolop of sour cream if you want, a big glass of orange juice or some fresh strawberries and enjoy your lazy morning!

Pumpkin Coco-Nut Muffins

When we were in the Bahamas this winter, coconuts were everywhere for the taking. Any walk could yield a dozen coconuts if you were so inclined to clean them. We really like fresh coconut and snack on it like we do peanuts and fresh coconut, in particular, lends a sweetness and moistness to baking that you just can't find anywhere else. Toward the end of our two month stay (the reason for lack of posts here since internet there is not fast enough for pictures), we picked up an extra coconut and cleaned the outer husk off but kept the hard shell inside and took it with us back to the States. One of our good friends came to Nassau to make the crossing back over with us and the coconut happened to be residing in the aft cabin where he was staying. He happened to comment one day that the coconut seemed to be staring at him, and after taking a good look I had to agree. One thing led to another, and soon the coconut had a face drawn on and a name, "Coco". Well Coco met his demise this week since my food-allergy-prone grandsons arrived and required some coconut-laden breakfast treats.

Muffins are one of the easiest baked goods to make gluten-free so we have them pretty frequently when the kids are around. These muffins are extremely moist and flavorful and will be our favorite one now, changed occasionally with the addition of seasonal fruit, raisins, or dates. Whether you're gluten sensitive or not, these muffins are a great way to start out the day.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups oat bran
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 cup freshly grated coconut, divided in half
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 rounded tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup almond milk + 2 Tbl
2 Tbl coconut oil



Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and set aside.













Mix the egg, pumpkin, milk, and oil in another bowl and set aside.












Lightly grease the bottoms of 12 muffin tins with extra coconut oil.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until combined and the dry ingredients are incorporated. If the batter is dry, add the extra 2 Tbl of milk. Humidity plays a huge factor in muffin recipes and the amount of liquid required. Do not over mix. This is the number one mistake people make when baking muffins. If you over mix the batter, the muffins will be dense instead of tender.

Spoon the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining half cup of coconut on top. Bake at 400° for 18-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If your oven runs hot, check at 15 minutes. On the boat, it takes me 20-22 minutes. Ovens vary.

Coco, may you rest in peace.

French Breakfast Puffs

The key word in the title of this blog is "Comforts". The food on here is comfort food, pure and simple. Emotionally healthy, but diet food? Not so much. So there is the disclaimer. Now, on to breakfast this morning.

In my defense, it was cold on the boat. 43° outside, and 47° inside with no heater. Certainly not the vicious -20° wind chills my daughter eldest was experiencing in Iowa City, IA, but it called for some heat nonetheless. So rather than cold cereal, or even oatmeal, some sort of baked good was called for.

This recipe was given to me by my nephew years ago as part of a church youth group recipe book. I haven't made it in years due to our attempt to eat healthier, but I drew it out of the recipe stash today and simply refused to think about healthy and decided to focus on warm. Comfort food folks...

French Breakfast Puffs

3 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Coating:
6 Tbl butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp cinnamon


Mix flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in one bowl. Set aside.












Cream butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add sugar. Cream again. Add eggs and blend till mixed.











These puffs are mixed using an alternating method. Add 1/3 of flour mixture and mix until dry ingredients are incorporated...













Then add 1/3 cup of the milk and mix well. Repeat, alternating flour and milk, mixing well in between.









Divide into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until just turning golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.











While puffs are baking, mix cinnamon and sugar and set aside. Melt butter.

Remove puffs from oven when done and transfer to wire rack. While still warm, roll tops in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar.

Serve warm.

Crisp Cornmeal Waffles

It was one of those mornings that call for something warm wafting from the galley. I was standing at the galley porthole that sits over the stove, waiting for my coffee to drip into my cup. (Because I drink decaf and my husband drinks regular, we use a single cup drip coffee maker most of the time.) It was cool and foggy outside the porthole, warm and pleasant inside the boat. I decided we hadn't had waffles in awhile and dug out my cornmeal waffle recipe. These are wonderfully hearty, crisp waffles with a fabulous aroma. They mix in one bowl, keep well and reheat well, and are a good afternoon snack just cold. I use a stove-top cast iron waffle iron that works well on a boat stove but they can be made in an electric iron as well. If you're using a cast iron model in a boat, you have to remember to grease both the inside and the outside before you store the iron to prevent rusting. I usually grease a paper towel and sandwich it between the iron halves and put the whole greasy mess in a ziploc bag. Just wipe the outside before putting it on the burner so the grease doesn't catch fire.Waffle irons vary wildly in cooking time so you have to learn your own waffle iron's requirements.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 Tbl baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
3 Tbl vegetable oil
2 large eggs

Directions:

Put the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk together. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Preheat waffle iron and grease liberally. Use a 1/4 cup of batter for a small iron, 1/3 to 1/2 for a large one. If using a stove-top iron, put the batter in the iron, close, and immediately flip over. Check for doneness in 2 minutes and flip. Cook till golden brown. Serve them with butter and maple syrup.

Biscuits Supreme

These biscuits are wonderful, light, flaky biscuits that are great split with butter and honey, or as a base for biscuits and gravy, or chicken in gravy, or just about anything else you want to do with them. Since it was a chilly day today we had a crock pot of beef stew going all day and the biscuits would serve well with eggs for breakfast and then repeated with stew for dinner.

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk


Directions:

Sift the flour, then measure it and sift it again into a large mixing bowl. Sift baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and sugar into flour. I use a mesh strainer for sifting with a wire whisk and it works great. Living on a boat means using a lot of tools for multiple purposes that they weren't necessarily intended for, and the mesh strainer is one prime example.

Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with the wire whisk until it looks like coarse cornmeal.

Add the milk and stir it quickly with a fork until it comes together into a sticky ball.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it just a couple times into a smooth ball. Press the ball flat and into a circle about 10 inches across and about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.

Cut it with a biscuit cutter if you have one, or you can use a tuna can with the bottom cut out, or as you see here, a cup with a hole cut in the bottom. Cut as many as you can from the original circle of dough, then knead it together and press it out again and cut some more until you've used all the dough.

I got six very large biscuits out of this recipe. Transfer the biscuits to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 450° for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. I have to start mine out on the lower rack setting and halfway through move it to the top rack so the tops will brown. They should be golden brown when done.


These keep well for a day or two if you put them in an airtight ziploc, but truthfully they rarely last that long!