Serving a hot breakfast is pretty easy if you plan ahead. Make 2011 the year that you feed your family something homemade and healthy for the first meal of the day!

Candy Cane Toffee Crisps

My Grandpa Ted had pointed out to me many years ago that matzo and Carr’s Water Crackers taste and feel the same. A Carr’s Water Cracker, however, has the aesthetic advantage of being perfectly round. He loved to make super-chic-but-not-at-all-pesadich matzo brei hors d’oeuvres with them for this reason. Then it dawned on me: I could make matzo brittle year-round with Carr’s crackers! Once I got going, I knew I was on to something: use crushed candy canes instead of nuts. I never loved candy cane bark as much as the idea of it. But if candy cane bark could be on a toffee coated cracker, well, that I could learn to love. And, boy, do I!

I served these Candy Cane Toffee Crisps Saturday night at my annual holiday party, affectionately called “Matzo Ball & Mistletoe.” They were truly the perfect December fusion sweet treat, and one that both Tara and Jen have asked me to share. So, here it is:

Candy Cane Toffee Crisps

1 sleeve Carr’s Water Crackers
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Place the crackers on the sheet pan in a single layer and set aside.

In small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. It will bubble and look frothy. Pour the mixture evenly over the crackers to coat them completely. Place the sheet pan in the oven for 8 minutes.

Remove the sheet pan from the oven and sprinkle the crackers with the chocolate chips. Turn the oven off and return the pan to the oven for 5 more minutes, until the chocolate chips are soft and melted to the touch.

Remove the sheet pan from the oven and gently spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee-coated crackers. Using a small offset spatula, remove the individual crackers to a cooling rack. Sprinkle with the crushed candy canes and cool for 30 minutes before storing in the refrigerator.

Photo by Aimee Herring for AOL

The photo basically says it all: they are moist, chewy, and packed with dried fruit. The currants are even better than raisins for granola bars because they are half the size with just as much flavor. How could these granola bars get better? My colleague, friend, and food stylist, Erin Merhar, loved the recipe so much that she added in one of her favorite ingredients (and one of mine, too): peanut butter. The result is an even better granola bar. Thank you, Erin! Here is Erin’s recipe that uses my original recipe as a base:

2 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
1 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. wheat germ
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c. chopped peanuts
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. peanut butter
2 T. maple syrup
1 T. vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with wax or parchment paper. Stir together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, currants, apricots, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl, being sure to break up any clumps of sugar or dried fruit. Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, mix the honey, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown.

Remove from the oven and lift the wax or parchment paper from the pan. Let the granola slab cool for 5 minutes before removing the paper and cutting into bars.

Cool completely before eating or wrapping.

It might seem strange to think about food for a holiday about fasting, but that’s just what I did when AOL asked me to write some recipes for Yom Kippur – break-the-fast, that is. Stranger still, I am STILL thinking about it! (Well, let’s face it…it’s not that strange, especially if you know me.)

Should I make some blintzes with cherry sauce, or just some chocolate chip rugelach? I do make the blintzes fairly often, as it is hands down my son’s and husband’s favorite breakfast. My Great (and great) Aunt Candy will be serving her legendary kugel, so I can cross that off my list. I already prepared some pickled herring with apples and walnuts as a Rosh Hashanah hors d’oeuvre; but maybe I’ll pick up some matjes herring from Russ & Daughters. If I end up with leftover smoked salmon I absolutely will make a “lox, eggs, and onions” quiche.

What is your favorite break-the-fast food?

The following recipe for my Lavender Vanilla Bean Tea Biscuits with Rosewater Icing is a new favorite. As soon as these shortbread cookies leave the oven a sweet perfume pervades the kitchen. Fragrant and mildly floral, they are an unexpected treat for a summertime garden party, paired with a tall glass of herbed tea or crisp lemonade. It is important to use the seeds of a vanilla bean instead of the more typical extract so that the natural and rich flavor shines. The dried lavender gets a little boost from the optional rosewater icing.

for the cookies:
1 cup sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter at room temperature
2 eggs
seeds of one vanilla bean
1 teaspoon dried lavender, crushed
2½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

for the optional icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk or water
1/2 teaspoon rosewater

To make the cookie dough, beat the sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla bean seeds, and lavender in a large mixing bowl until fluffy and well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and then stir it into the butter/sugar mixture. Divide the dough in two equal parts and roll into logs in plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for at least one hour, or until chilled enough to slice.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Once the dough is chilled, cut the logs crosswise into 1/8 inch-thick circles and space an inch apart on a lined or greased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven to a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and rosewater together in a mixing bowl and drizzle over the tea biscuits once they are completely cool.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to one week once the icing has fully dried.

In my family, we eat matzo brei as an hors d’oeuvre. Yes, four courses of food isn’t enough for us. We like to get started with some herring, and just to make sure we can survive the abbreviated seder and don’t faint, we first feast on pieces of matzo brei topped with chopped liver or chopped eggs and onions, the princely pates of Eastern European cooking.

My grandfather, Ted, perfected this dish. Since matzo brei is traditionally a scrambled mess (in my father’s defense, it certainly is not the prettiest dish you’ll ever see), he thought to break matzo pieces into same-sized squares to create the perfect base for the chopped liver and eggs and onions. He soaked the pieces in water (so they become tender and flexible like a noodle), then stacked them in threes before dipping them in egg and rolling them in matzo meal (a course flour of ground matzo). The matzo meal coating transforms standard matzo brei into something extraordinary. Then frying the whole thing in schmaltz (chicken fat) imparts that extra depth of flavor and exceptional golden brown color.

Breaking the matzo pieces in perfect squares can be challenging. Check out this amusing video from Japan of all places on how to do it easily.

I learned this many years ago in school at The French Culinary Institute from Chef Henri Viain who told me that when he was a boy in France and he went on an interview for a stage (an internship), he would be asked to prepare scrambled eggs or roast a chicken. After all, if you cannot do that, what can you do? Exotic ingredients and offbeat combinations do not a competent cook make. It’s the foundations and clean execution of timeless technique that makes a real cook.

Watch master chef Andre Soltner make an omelet and then go make one yourself. Refer to my recipe below for step-by-step instructions. You’ll be on your way to competent cooking!

The ultimate omelet is French: rolled, as opposed to flat, and generally with a completely smooth, unbrowned surface, and slightly runny in the middle. Taste and preference prevail, of course, but this is the classic preparation. The key to making a superb omelet is scrambling the eggs first, then setting the omelet. Never overstuff it, or you’ll have a hard time rolling it. If egg white omelets are more your speed, try making the following recipe with 3 large egg whites and just one yolk. You’ll never go back to just egg whites again!

Essential equipment: small mixing bowl; fork; nonstick 8-inch sauté pan, flat wooden spoon
Essential technique: mise en place; sauté

for the omelet:
3 large eggs (ideally, room temperature)
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

for the filling, choose one of the following per omelet:
¼ cup grated cheese
3 tablespoons caramelized onions
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
2 button mushrooms, sliced

Break eggs into a bowl and mix well with a fork. Heat a nonstick 8-inch skillet over medium heat and add 2 teaspoons butter. When the butter foams, add the eggs and let them be, just until they start to set along the edge. Stir continuously with the back of a fork or wooden spoon until they are at a runny scramble stage. Spread them evenly in the pan. When the omelet is lightly set, stop stirring and remove the omelet from the heat. (The point at which you stop stirring is the key to having a smooth omelet.)

Place the filling in the middle of the omelet. Fold the edge of the omelet over onto itself, tilt the pan from the handle and lightly tap the pan so that the omelet moves down to the edge of the pan. Form the omelet with a wooden spoon.

Roll the omelet onto a warm plate seam-side down. Adjust the form if necessary by shaping with a clean towel. Serve immediately.

Makes 1 omelet.

So, what is the real soda bread like? I recently took a stab at Rachel’s traditional recipe (below) and thought it screamed ‘hearty’ from the outside in. Its nutty and earthy flavor is a far cry from the sweet bread we consider Irish Soda Bread here in the US. This authentic version has an honest, unambiguous taste of a rugged and rich homeland. Just good, old fashioned BREAD! And with a healthy spreading of salted Irish butter (I can’t live without Kerry Gold, by the way)…lets just say it won’t last long. But that’s ok. It’s easier than pie to make.

Thank you, Rachel, for enlightening us. ‘Tis definitely one of those rare cases where the truth doesn’t hurt!

Rachel Gaffney’s Authentic Irish Soda Bread

3 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 teaspoons rolled oats, plus 2 teaspoons rolled oats for sprinkling
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 quart buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add liquid ingredients. Mix together well, trying not to handle too much. Form a ball gently with your floured hands. Do not work this bread like traditional yeast breads. Sprinkle with remaining oats. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, make a cross in the bread with a sharp paring knife and bake for 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Seldom bought, mostly given by a publicist, publisher, or t.v. producer, the cookbooks in my collection are a bibliographic timeline of my culinary career. Tonight I flipped through some old favorites: Michel Nischan’s “Taste Pure and Simple,” which he gave to me the first time I ever worked with him a few weeks before the book hit stores; Tyler Florence’s “Tyler’s Ultimate,” which I read cover to cover the night before I worked with him for the first time on The View four years ago; and “Modern Mexican Flavors” by Richard Sandoval, one of the only cookbooks I have bought for myself post-culinary school simply because his food inspires me.

And then I stumbled upon Susan Herrmann Loomis’s “Cooking at Home on Rue Tatin.” The moment I cracked open the book I remembered why I first liked it so very much. It is written the way a cookbook should be – with depth, history, culture, anecdote, and nostalgia. All that, and the recipe writing is meticulous, the techniques tried and true, the French cuisine utterly authentic, AND she offers a wine recommendation with each dish. What a good book! The words and flavors jump off the page and it is as though you are right there with Susan Herrmann Loomis in her Normandy kitchen.

I had the pleasure of meeting the author once several years ago in New York when she was touring for her book. I listened to her talk, watched her cook, and tasted her delectable fare. She inspired me then, and she did again tonight when I landed on page 55 (see excerpt below). May her words inspire us all for a scrumptious 2010!

How to Eat Like the French

I am often asked how the French eat so well, yet look so thin and healthy. Here are some tips I’ve learned:

1. Buy ingredients as close to the source as you can. Go to a farm, a farmer’s market, a shop featuring farm ingredients. Buy organic ingredients whenever you can. They may cost more, but realize that their cost is the real cost of producing food, for most organic farmers don’t get government subsidies.

2. Serve a green salad with lunch and dinner.

3. Serve bread without butter at mealtimes.

4. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.

5. Avoid snacking between meals.

6. Always have seasonal fruit available. I often cut up fruit – apples, pears, melons, peaches – when my children are agitating for a meal and I haven’t quite finished preparation.

7. Serve vegetable soup often; it is a delicious and satisfying way to enjoy vegetables.

8. Have a glass of wine with your meal. Wine, particularly red wine, is believed to have health benefits when taken in moderation.

9. Avoid processed foods and soft drinks.

10. Don’t be afraid of your food. If you are comfortable with your food, you will enjoy it more and eat less.

11. Take time at the table so you can enjoy the meal you’ve prepared.