Spring Vegetable-Mushroom-Tarragon Frittata Bites

When my work started recruiting for a "Top Chef"- style competition at the office, I might have gotten a little too excited. Especially when they announced that the "secret ingredient" was leafy greens!

I'd already decided to do an appetizer just because they're so easy to share, and since the goal was to encourage people to eat more vegetarian foods, I decided to make my dish vegetarian and dairy-free.

That was a hard decision to stick with after I decided to make the below Frittata Bites, because I knew I could kill it if I added prosciutto and goat cheese. Instead I included those in the end as optional add-ins, making this dish not only vegetarian, but also GF and DF! Pretentious? Perhaps ... but also inclusive while still being tasty!

Spring Vegetable-Mushroom-Tarragon Frittata Bites with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis
Makes about 40 Frittata Bites (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

Ingredients:

For the Coulis:
2 red bell peppers
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Frittata:
1 bunch Tuscan kale or other leafy green, tough stems removed
3 teaspoon sea salt, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for muffin tin
1 leek, white and light green parts thoroughly rinsed and chopped
1 pound mushrooms, diced
¼ teaspoon pepper
8 eggs
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped and separated

Directions:

For the Coulis:
Roast peppers (I cut them in half, discard seeds and stem, then broil skin-side up until the skin is completely black – or turn until charred all over on a grill or gas stove), then place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool enough to handle, at least 15 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium high. Add olive oil, then cook shallots until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor. Once peppers are cool enough to handle, peel and discard skin. Add to food processor, along with sherry vinegar. Blend until smooth, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Set aside or refrigerate while you prepare the Frittata.

For the Frittata:
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease mini muffin tin with olive oil.

Heat a large pot with 1 inch of water to boiling; add 2 teaspoons sea salt and stir in kale until just slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Remove to bowl of cold water to stop cooking. Squeeze kale dry, then chop.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high (I used the same one that I cooked the shallots in for the Coulis). Add olive oil, then cook leeks until wilted but not brown, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have lost their liquid and begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, stir in kale, then transfer to a bowl to cool.

Once vegetable mixture has cooled for at least 10 minutes, stir in eggs and 2 tablespoons tarragon. Spoon mixture into muffin tin, filling almost to the brim. (If you only have one muffin tin, refrigerate Frittata mixture while first batch is cooking. If you use two muffin tins, rotate racks halfway through baking time.)

Bake for 20 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to rest for 5 minutes. Gently lift frittata bites to cooling rack, then serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Coulis and remaining 1 tablespoon tarragon.

Optional non-vegetarian and dairyful add-ins:

2 oz. prosciutto, chopped
Before cooking leeks, saute prosciutto in olive oil until crispy, about 2 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Fold in with eggs and tarragon before cooking frittata.

½ cup goat cheese, crumbled
Fold in with eggs and tarragon before cooking frittata.

Savory Oat Risotto with Bacon, Kale and Delicata Squash

A three-day weekend with record-cold temperatures is a breeding ground for comfort foods full of stick-to-your-bones goodness.

That's exactly what I spent the weekend doing, starting with a Savory Oat Risotto with Bacon, Kale and Delicata Squash topped with a ramen-style egg care of one of my favorite new toys, the Joule sous vide machine.

Savory Oat Risotto with Bacon, Kale and Delicata Squash
1 small delicata squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups chicken broth
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 cups steel-cut oats
4 cups baby kale, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Roast squash until tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Heat broth in a medium pot. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, cook bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Saute shallot in remaining bacon grease until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add oats and stir until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Begin adding broth in increments, about 1/2 cup at a time until liquid is absorbed.

When all but about 1 cup of broth has been added to oats, stir in kale with second-to-last ladle of broth. Add bacon with final ladle; season with salt and pepper, then serve.

(So what was out stick-to-your-bones dinner, you ask? A delicious Porchetta-Spiced Pork Roast that I slogged through the snow for to gather fresh sage and rosemary. Well, technically, there was no slogging involved since the snow wasn't actually sticking, but I sure do like that image!)

Histamine Intolerance Chronicles Begin with Granola

I'll be the first to admit that things have changed a bit since I first started writing my blog. Since then, Mom has moved to Arizona and I started working at one of the healthiest places in the world, Bastyr University. Which means I no longer am able to ruin Mom's recipes since I don't really have them anymore, not to mention that I'm not making nearly as much fattening American food as I used to. I'm not really making any, actually, especially since I realized that dairy and me just don't get along.

I figured that out last year when I did an elimination diet, which I immediately regretted not blogging about since I enjoyed it so thoroughly. Apparently, that is not a typical reaction, and it probably would have been nice for me to share some of the recipes I flourished on for those eight weeks sans gluten, soy, corn, dairy, refined sugar, and alcohol and caffeine in moderation. My apologies!

Besides discovering a sensitivity to diary, the elimination diet also revealed a possible histamine intolerance, which is an entirely bigger animal that I'm just starting to wrap my head around. Please click on the above link or Google "histamine intolerance" to read more about it because there's no possible way I could even begin to explain it. I will say that I've had some serious skin issues potentially linked to eating foods high in histamines that I would not like to repeat, and many of the other more minor symptoms listed are also present.

The problem is, foods high in histamines are yummy! They include tomatoes, spinach, many nuts, cinnamon, curry, fermented foods, vinegar, cured meats, dried fruits, soy, dairy, chocolate, bananas, avocados, citrus ... the list of deliciousness goes on and on. I've cut out the ones that are easy to do, like eggplant and strawberries, but I haven't had the courage to do a full-on histamine-free diet yet.

However, I think it might be time. Basically, to do it well, you need to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and gluten-free grains. Now that it's springtime and fresh produce is abundant everywhere, including in my new raised beds, I think I can tackle this.

I should note that long-term, the goal isn't to cut out all histamine-rich and histamine-releasing foods forever. I'm merely trying to figure out if these foods really are giving me reactions, then limit them when possible — or take a Benadryl if I want to go all out!

Anyway, this is a recipe blog, not a oh-woes-me blog, so I actually do have a recipe to share. This diet isn't going to happen overnight for me, so I'm approaching it in baby steps, And this week, I jumped the first hurdle when I finally made a granola that is free of nuts, cinnamon and dried fruit. Maybe that doesn't sound like such a big step, but after five years of making virtually the same beloved granola, I just didn't think I could make one that tasted as good.

But by combining my tried-and-true recipe with some tips from Candied Ginger, Coconut and Quinoa Granola, I created something that fills me up and is delicious, served with a ripe mango or pear and some dairy-free milk.

Granola with Quinoa, Pumpkin and Sunflower Seeds and Cardamom

1-1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or other neutral oil)

1/4 cup melted honey (or other natural sweetener)
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet.

Mix oats, quinoa, seeds and cardamom. Meanwhile, whisk together oil, sweetener, water, salt and vanilla, then add to oats and combine well.

Spread the mixture evenly on the parchment, then place in the oven. Mix after 15 minutes, then check again at the 30-minute point. If granola is still moist, place back in the oven and keep checking in 10-minute intervals until mixture begins to brown.

Once granola is dry (but not burnt!), remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container.

The perfect waffles are (gasp!) gluten-free!

After all this time searching for the perfect waffle recipe, the one I've finally settled on doesn't even have any flour in it!

The recipe for Nourishing Grain-Soaked Waffles is from a Bastyr dietetic intern who shared it with staff and faculty this fall during the always-informative lunch-and-learn series. Both times I've gone to the series, I've stashed away the recipes with plans to make every tasty dish again. But so far this is the only one I've managed to get around to.

Which is weird, since this recipe involves a bit more planning than most of the others. Because there's no flour in the recipe, you instead have to soak two cups of grains in water overnight, and in the morning you just blend the grains with the remaining ingredients into a thick, gooey batter. Buckwheat groats and millet are used in the recipe, but we were told any grain combination would work.

The end result is a hardy, delicious waffle that's filling and actually nutritious, which is not something you would expect from a breakfast waffle!

Well, I'll fix that the next time I make them when I add some bacon and cheese in the waffle iron!

Adding flavor that's not sugar to oatmeal

There can never be too many recipes for creative ways to eat hot cereal.

Although my recent favorite is Maple Buckwheat Groats with Pears and Dried Currents, I may have found a new go-to with the above-pictured Oatmeal with Berry Compote.

I've actually been meaning to make this recipe since I posted it sans photo to the Bastyr recipes pages in February, both to see how delicious a cancer-fighting meal could taste and so I could finally add a photo to the recipe (which is why the photo on the link is identical to the above photo!).

It tastes good and it fights cancer? I'd be willing to eat this every day for that trade-off!

Belgian Waffle Epic Fail No. 1

Every once in a while, I'll have an incredible craving for a Belgian waffle, which I usually soothe by either forcing Bryan to join me for a continental breakfast during vacation or simply stopping by my work cafeteria. But after reading about Ham-and-Cheese Belgian Waffles in Bon Appetit, it became much more necessary to buy our own.

So far, the results have not turned out as planned.

Two days after our magazine-recommended model arrived in the mail, we've already experience Epic Fail No. 1. Seriously, it's not even as thick as the normal waffles Mom made when we were growing up!

There are a number of things I could have done wrong. First, I split the recipe so I would only have to use one egg, and one egg makes it a bit difficult to create "medium-soft peaks." Plus, I didn't have any soda water, so I simply substituted it with milk, and I used dry buttermilk instead of wet, which could have been just fine, but I guess I'll never really know.

Point being, I will actually follow the recipe for real next time. Let's hope that won't turn into Epic Fail No. 2!

Why would I need my own waffle iron?

This Christmas, we got a waffle iron for one of Bryan's sweet young bachelor stepbrothers, and I've been dreaming of buying my own ever since.

But no longer. I finally gave in this morning and got one of the Belgian waffles at the Bastyr Dining Commons, and not only did it soothe my craving, but it also soothed my guilt since I went for the gluten-free option.

There was a time when I planned on officially going gluten-free in 2012, but since I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, we'll see if it ever happens. In the meantime, I'll keep taking baby steps into a fully gluten-free diet. Hard to say no when the options look like this!

Leftover Christmas Ham, Day 1: Scrambled Eggs

It's Christmas Day, and we're already digging into our leftover Christmas Ham!

Although we're heading over to Mom's later today for a prime rib dinner, I decided a healthy meal of oatmeal just wasn't going to cut it when we have pounds and pounds of leftover ham calling out to us.

Mom asked me to bring over pretzels, my only contribution to our Christmas feast, so I got up early to get the dough started, then got cooking on the following Christmas Ham Scramble, served with Stephen's roasted potatoes:

Christmas Ham Scramble
1/2 cup ham, cut in small pieces
2 green onions, sliced
1 T. bacon grease or butter
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. Cougar Gold, grated

Saute ham and white parts of green onion in a large skillet until heated through. Remove and set aside, then place bacon grease or butter in same skillet and add eggs. Scramble until about halfway cooked, then add ham and green onions back to the skillet and fold together to incorporate. After eggs are cooked as desired, place onto serving plates, then top with Cougar Gold or any other cheese of your choice. Place in the oven to melt the cheese before serving, if desired.

Bacon makes everything better, like grits!

Since we had potatoes for dinner last night, I decided to mix things up a bit and make grits for breakfast instead of the usual eggs, bacon and potatoes we eat way to often on the weekend.

Once upon a time, I ate grits almost every day for breakfast, and that's likely the reason I eat them rarely now. But with gluten now off the menu (except when I cheat), I need to add as much variety to my carb repertoire as possible to keep my taste buds from craving bread and other wheatiful foods.

I followed the package directions, bringing 3 c. of water with 1/4 t. salt to a bowl, then slowly adding 1 c. of grits and stirring continuously for 5 minutes, turning the heat down to low. After removing the grits from the heat, I added 2 T. unsalted butter, about 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (cheddar is preferred, but I was too lazy to open a new package!) and pepper to taste, then scooped the grits into 2 serving bowls.

Top them with 1-2 eggs each, and chopped bacon, and you've got a flavorful breakfast that'll stick to your bones!

Biscuits and Gravy is better at home

Like nearly everybody who studies or works at Bastyr, I recently wound up giving up gluten — or at least trying to — to see if it would affect my health in a positive way.

There are numerous studies that associate wheat and related products with myriad health problems, and although I completely believe in all of those studies and am not even that huge of a fan of wheat products, it's dang hard to quit gluten and I failed miserably.

I feel like a horrible person for giving up so quickly, especially considering how many of my gluten-free friends have no choice. Eating gluten-free at home was a breeze. Sure, I love pasta and pizza, but I also love polenta and quinoa. However, going out to eat was nearly impossible, even in my neighborhood that boasts numerous gluten-free restaurants.

The laughable part of going gluten-free is that I gorged myself on wheat products both before and after quitting, simply because I knew I was going to have to quit. In the middle of my first week, all I wanted were biscuits and gravy. I tried to think of a way to make them that was gluten-free, but it sounded a little too tough for a novice gluten-free baker/cook. So as soon as I quit that diet, I was determined to make biscuits and gravy from scratch.

My Southern Buttermilk Biscuits were a little on the thin side, so I will have to work on flattening those a little less next time. And the gravy was a bit on the meaty side, so I think I will double the milk next time, and also add some fresh sage as Dan suggested.

Sausage Gravy
1 package Jimmy Dean's Sage Sausage
About 1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
Bacon grease as needed
Salt and pepper, to taste

Break up the sausage in a skillet and stir until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate saucepan or in the microwave. When sausage is cooked, removed with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle some of the flour in the pan to create a roux with the grease. I didn't have much grease in the pan, so I added about 1-2 T. of bacon grease.

Keep stirring roux with a whisk until the mixture is thick, but still somewhat liquid. Slowly add the milk in a steady stream and continue whisking to eliminate any chunks. Bring the gravy to a low boil and let simmer for a couple of minutes, until thickened. Add sausage, then salt and pepper to taste, and serve over warm biscuits sliced in half.

Why we never go out to breakfast anymore

Recently Bryan and I noticed that we haven't been to our favorite breakfast spot, Kona Kitchen, in ages. This morning, I figured out why.

It's just so easy, and delicious, to stay home and eat breakfast. Especially when I concoct meals at the gym, like this one!

Mai Ling's Kitchen Sink Skillet
1 medium eggplant
1-1/2 t. salt, divided
1 lb. fingerling potatoes
1 T. olive oil
8 slices bacon
2 c. arugula
4 eggs

Heat 9-by-13-inch glass pan in the oven at 400 degrees while you prepare eggplant and potatoes.

Cut eggplant into 1-inch chunks and place in a colander. Sprinkle with about 1/2 t. salt and let sit in the sink. Cut potatoes into 1-inch chunks and toss with about 1 t. salt and 1 T. olive oil. Blot eggplant with a paper towel and add to the potatoes.

Place potato-eggplant mixture in the oven in a single layer and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cut bacon into 1/2-inch pieces and cook in a large frying pan until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels. Meanwhile, cook the four eggs in the bacon grease.

When potatoes and eggplant are done, stir in bacon and arugula. Serve topped with eggs.

My frittata rules: eggs, onion and cheese

Last month Veronica and Julie came over for a much-needed brunch, and Julie was asking me for the frittata recipe we were devouring.

"What recipe?" I asked smugly.

But really, there is a basic recipe that my kitchen-sink frittata is based on: Chard and Salami Frittata from Bon Appetit.

Since the first time I made it, I've been playing with the ingredients to see what works. And I haven't ruined one yet. I've tried it with spinach in place with the chard, with very positive results. And although I've made it with salami plenty of times, as the frittata evolved into more of that kitchen-sink recipe, I started using bacon more frequently because it's such a mainstay in our kitchen.

But its evolution continues, and Julie got a special treat when I used pancetta for the first time, which gave it enough extra kick to make it worth waiting in the deli line again. But the eggs, onion and Parmesan cheese I'd never do without.

Frittata for Julie
6 eggs
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, divided
2 T. olive oil
4 oz. pancetta, cut in strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, sliced
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 bunch red chard, washed and cut in 1/2-inch ribbons

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix eggs, salt, pepper and 2 T. Parmesan. Set aside

Heat large cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Stir in pancetta and cook until curled and crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate lined with a paper towel.

Throw garlic and onions in skillet and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue cooking until mushrooms are cooked, about 8 minutes. Add chard in batches and stir until wilted, then add egg mixture and lightly mix to evenly coat the veggies. Sprinkle remaining 2 T. Parmesan on top.

Place skillet in oven and cook until lightly puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Slide a spatula around the edge, then invert onto a place. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Taco Omelet for dinner

I know I'm not alone in thinking that sometimes, eggs and other common breakfast fare are just too rich for the morning, not to mention that around the holidays the morning hours can be a bit rough.

Which is why I allow breakfast to make a regular appearance on the dinner table, especially since I'm still trying to master the Calphalon pans that I bought myself for Christmas.

Looks like I have the omelet down, eh? Yes, she's a beaut, and I didn't even have to use any grease in the pan, which was definitely a good thing since it was filled with leftover taco meat from our New Year's Eve Mexican fiesta.

I also added a bunch of spinach that I first blanched in about an inch of salted water until it was wilted (about a minute), then quickly rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking. While chopping the spinach and 2 scallions, I heated about 1/2 c. of leftover taco meat in a pan, then added the spinach and the white and light green parts of the scallions to heat them through.

That made enough filling for two very full 2- to 3-egg omelets, and don't forget to add a little cheddar cheese. Top them with sour cream, hot sauce and the green parts of the scallions, and you've got a breakfast for dinner (or for breakfast!).

Mexican Pulled Pork for breakfast!

I was trying to think of an appetizing way to style this Mexican Pulled Pork, but because I failed to make the cole slaw that usually accompanies this dish or add any other garnishes, this is what you get.

No, it's not pretty, and you know what, it didn't taste as good, either. So this morning, I decided to spruce up the pulled pork a bit: I heated some between two corn tortillas in my cast-iron skillet, slathered it with sour cream and Tapatio, then threw a fried egg on top.

Who needs cole slaw?

Granola: new and improved

Have I finally found the perfect granola recipe?

My first attempt actually stuck around for a while, at least until Tara let me try her Barefoot Contessa granola that was so much more flavorful. But I soon realized that I was the only person eating it, which meant not everybody thought it was scrumptious. And that's a lot of granola for one person.

Now, I already knew that "not everybody," meaning Bryan, wasn't a big fan of coconut. But for some reason, I thought that toasting it as the recipe calls for would mask it. But it turns out he's not a child who you can hide disliked ingredients from, which I figured out after he devoured this coconut-free Maple Granola with Dried Berries from Bon Appetit.

But hey, ya gotta love that Bryan for never complaining about the food I make!

Anyway, to be honest, the Bon Appetit recipe was good but it kinda bored me. So I decided combine it with the Barefoot Contessa recipe (minus the coconut, naturally), and the results are oh so pleasing. The extracts in the Bon Appetit recipe smell fabulous when it's in the oven, and I like that it uses a lot less oil by including water with the liquids. Here's what I came up with:

Mai Ling's Granola II

5 c. rolled oats

1 c. whole raw almonds

1 c. whole raw cashews

2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. canola oil

1/2 c. maple syrup

1/2 c. hot water

1 T. vanilla extract

2 t. almond extract

1/2 t. salt

1 c. diced dried figs

1 c. diced dried apricots

1 c. dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix oats, nuts and cinnamon in a 9x13 dish that's deep enough to hold all of the ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix canola oil, maple syrup, hot water, extracts and salt, then slowly stir in with the oat mixture. Mix well, then cook for about an hour, checking and stirring every 10-20 minutes. It's done when it's dry and crunchy, but not burned!

Add dried fruits (you can be real creative with this part), and allow to cool, stirring a couple of times.

Eggs Florentine tricks from "Breakfast Special"

Watch the full episode. See more Breakfast Special.

Last week I got sucked into "Breakfast Special," on PBS and although I could only drool over specialties like Scotch Eggs at Helser's in Portland, I decided to try to make the Eggs Florentine served at The Breakfast Club in Savannah, Ga., Hollandaise Sauce and all.

Ideally, we would have eaten this dish after a long, hard workout, but since time was not on my side over the weekend, we instead decided it make it after a long, hard night of drinking at Die Bierstube. I put Bryan to the task of whisking the Hollandaise Sauce while I put the tricks I'd learned to the test.

Rather than simply wilting the spinach and poaching the eggs separately, I threw freshly washed spinach onto a skillet, then broke two eggs directly into the leaves, put a lid on top and let the eggs cook.

Unfortunately, I either did not let them cook long enough or didn't turn up the heat high enough because they ended up a little runnier than I think anybody prefers, but it was still a good trick that I aim to perfect.

We placed the spinach-egg combo on freshly toasted English muffins, topped it with sauteed mushrooms and onions, and poured way too much Hollandaise sauce on top for a midnight snack that is literally to die for.

Check out the yummy end result. Delish.

Homemade Granola has the flavor of love

Over the weekend, I was talking with Mom and something she said brought me back to when I last lived with her and Charlie between school and jobs and traveling and such.

You see, the weekend before they were in our neck of the woods and decided to stop by PCC, where Mom picked up some seeds to make sprouts with. This weekend they were finally ready to eat, and now she just can't get enough of them. She kept going on and on about how delicious they are and how she's never had sprouts this good before, on her chicken salad sandwich, on salads, etc. Then I ruined her party by reminding her that we used to eat them all the time when I lived with her.

OK, she admitted that she simply forgot, and really, it's something we all do. Potsticker phases are a regular occurrence in our household, where for months we eat them nearly every weekend as a midnight snack, then they disappear for an equally long amount of time. This weekend I was struck with a popcorn phase, and the scent of fake butter still lingers in the microwave.

And the last couple of weeks I've been in a granola phase, something Mom got me into when I last was living with them, too. This time, though, I'm following her advice a little more closely and actually making my own. I'm not sure if it's any more healthy, but it's nice to know exactly what is in my granola, and that theoretically I could calculate the fat content.

So far, I've just used what I happen to have in my pantry, which has been equal parts raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and slivered almonds for the nuts, and 1/2 c. each of dried Bing cherries and dried blueberries for the fruit (raisin hater alert). And even though that combination is pure heaven as far as I'm concerned, I will broadening my granola horizons in the future.

Mai Ling's Granola
3 c. rolled oats
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 c. dried fruit
1-1/2 c. nuts
1/3 c. canola oil
1/3 c. honey
1/2 c. brown sugar

Spread nonstick aluminum foil over a jelly roll pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix oats, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl, then add dried fruit and nuts of your choice.

Meanwhile, heat the oil, honey and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir frequently. Bring mixture to a boil, and continue boiling for about 5 minutes, until it's bubbling and well-mixed.

Slowly add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients in increments, mixing well between additions.

Spread mixture over the prepared jelly roll pan and cook for 10-20 minutes in preheated oven. Stir once or twice to brown the granola evenly.

After removing it from the oven, stir it a couple of times while it cools to prevent it from keeping the shape of the pan.

The perfect pancake for any meal

Seriously, who doesn't love a little breakfast for dinner? Especially when there's bacon involved. No, I didn't just hop on the bacon bandwagon because of Bacon Salt, although I am a fan and the Mmmvelopes idea is intriguing indeed. But my doctor mentioned something about how bad butter is, so I've been substituting bacon fat instead (and no, I did not run that by her first!).

The combination of sweet and savory is just so dang nummy. I mean, how good does this Maple Bacon Bar look?

So when I decided I couldn't stand to look at those apples that have been in my fridge for I don't know how many months, I just couldn't get this always-perfect Big Apple Pancake from Gourmet out of my head. But why use 1/4 c. of butter when you can use bacon fat instead? It even melts faster and has less risk of burning, and it made my cast-iron skillet happy, too.

As for the flavor, delicious. Not much bacon flavor, but enough to give it an edge. And it smelled so good on the stove!

By the way, Sunset magazine just published its version of a similar Apple Oven Pancake, which I haven't tried yet. Sounds like it's time for a compare and contrast party!