Fresh for summer, our breakfast menu offerings range from healthful to decadent with an emphasis on fresh and in-season whenever possible. Plus, upon request, we do our best to accommodate folks with dietary including vegetarian/vegan and gluten-free.
We hope to see you at The Morning Star!
Wishing you a lovely summer …
it is a rainy Memorial Day Weekend here in Manhattan, Kansas. So I thought that a White Chili would be a good dish to serve – fun & casual, flavorful & warming, but not too heavy. I hope that you are having a great weekend!
White Chili
This flavorful dish is what is traditionally referred to as a white chili (because no tomatoes are used in the base). This vegetarian version, though, is more of a light golden color.
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. crushed garlic
1 sweet yellow onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 c.)
2 stalks celery, chopped (about 1/2 c.)
1 Anaheim pepper, chopped (about 1/2 c.)
5 sweet mini yellow peppers, chopped (about 1/2 c.)
1 jalapeño, minced (about 2 T.)
1 (15 oz) can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. frozen yellow corn, semi-thawed
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. white pepper
3 c. boiling water
2 “Not-Chick’n” bouillon cubes
4 oz. low-fat cream cheese
1 ripe avocado, diced (for garnish)
juice of 1 lemon
1 c. chopped ripe tomato (for garnish)
2 – 3 T. cilantro leaves, stemmed and chopped (for garnish)
cheddar cheese, shredded (for garnish, optional)
Enjoy! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
Bananaberry Smoothie
(serves 2)
1/3 c. light coconut milk
2 T. fresh orange juice
1 medium size frozen banana, peeled and cut into slices (about 3/4 c.)
1 c. mixed fresh berries (sliced strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and/or blueberries)
fruit for garnish
Place coconut milk, orange juice, banana and berries in blender and process until smooth. Pour into serving glasses and garnish with fruit. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
• A mix of red berries and dark berries produces the best color.
• This recipe makes a smoothie that is thin enough to drink. For a thicker smoothie, use frozen berries.
This is a simple dish to make – done in the amount of time that it takes to cook a box of spaghetti – but it has a delicious combination of flavors and is very rich and satisfying.
Spaghetti with Spinach
Ingredients:
8 oz. package of spaghetti (gluten-free is ok)
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. dry white wine*
1/3 c. finely chopped yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced (about 1 T.)
salt
red pepper flakes + extra for the table
several large handfuls of baby spinach (about 2.5 oz. by weight), washed and larger stems removed
2 oz. (about 2/3 c.) fresh grated Romano or Parmesan cheese + extra for the table
3 marinated peppadew peppers, coarsely chopped
Directions:
Buon Appetito!
* I served the pasta with Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina and so used that in the dish.
I recently came across a recipe for Cornish Hevva cake on FrugalFeeding.com and thought that it looked delicious and also that it sounded like it had an interesting history behind it. I loved the image of the fisherman’s housewives starting to bake as soon as the lookout called that their husbands were returning home. So I made a mental note to give “the cake” a try sometime.
I made a gluten-free version which produces a sweet, crumbly biscuit. It reminded me of a very thin version of Scottish shortbread with dried fruit. It went very nicely with a glass of milk – for my first piece, which I ate before it had any time to cool – and also with a cup of tea later on.
Ingredients
1 1/3 c. (scant) gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/4 c. granulated white sugar + extra for sprinkling
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
pinch salt
7 T. + 1 t. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
8.5 oz dried blueberries
3 T. whole milk, approximately
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a large baking sheet.
2. Whisk together flour, 1/4 c. of the sugar, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
3. Using your hands, work butter into dry ingredients.
4. Mix in blueberries using a large spoon. Then slowly stir in milk until mixture forms a crumbly, stiff dough. (It holds together like a dough when pinched.)
5. Scrape sides of bowl and transfer the dough to the center of the greased baking sheet. Lightly pat into a disk, then roll out to just under 1/2-inch thick.
6. Using a paring knife, score the top of the dough to resemble a fishing net. Sprinkle with a little more sugar.
7. Bake cake for 25 t0 30 minutes or until there are no raw spots. (Because this is gluten-free, it doesn’t really get golden brown.)
Notes
I made a few minor changes to Nick’s recipe on Frugal Feeding
• I substituted dried blueberries for currants, because I was out of currants.
• I substituted gluten-free flour (Glutino brand gluten-free all-purpose flour) for the plain flour, because I wanted a gluten-free version.
• Nick’s directions call for rolling the dough out on a floured surface, then transferring the dough to a greased baking sheet. I just rolled it out directly on the greased baking sheet. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to mix in any more flour since I had used a substitution and wasn’t sure how that would affect the recipe.
• I sprinkled the sugar on before baking because I thought that would work fine.
• I forgot to cut the pieces on the diagonal for serving. Old habits. I’ve made a mental note to correct that next time – but the biscuits were still delicious!
• I think that American cooks can probably go ahead and use the whole 8 T. of butter that come in a stick. I weighed ingredients to convert from metric measurements and the butter measure came to 7 T. plus 1 t. For my first time making the recipe I wanted to stick to the original measures. If using 8 whole tablespoons of butter, one could probably also use a full 1 1/3 cup of flour. I’ll try that next time.
Thanks for introducing me to Hevva Cake, Nick!
A light, but flavorful and warming soup to start your new year!
Orange Carrot Soup
4-6 Servings
Ingredients
3 T. extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 c. diced yellow onion
salt
fresh ground pepper
2 T. semi-dry white wine, divided
4 c. diced, peeled carrots
2 t. smoked paprika
1 t. ground cinnamon
4 c. vegetable (or chicken) broth or bouillon*, divided
3 T. honey, divided
1 – 1 1/4 c. fresh-squeezed orange juice, to taste
zest from one of the oranges (use a course-textured zester)
croutons or Greek yogurt, optional
*I use 2 “Not-Chick’n” bouillon cubes dissolved in 4 c. boiling water. “Not-Chick’n” can be found in the organic foods section of many grocery stores.
Directions
Enjoy! Happy New Year!
The combination of chopped onions, celery and carrots, sautéed in olive oil (to make what Italians call soffritto) or in butter (to make what the French call mirepoix) is wonderful for adding flavor to sauces, soups, stews and stuffings. Around the holidays, I keep soffrito or mirepoix in the refrigerator so that I have the aromatic vegetables already prepared to make holiday cooking easier.
I generally use about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of butter or extra virgin olive oil per cup of raw vegetables, adding a dash of salt and pepper. To the onions, I also add a splash of dry white wine. For this minestrone, I prefer olive oil to butter, but either will work. If you have soffritto already made, you can substitute 3 cups of it for the vegetables in this soup and reduce the olive oil to 1 to 2 tablespoons.
Fire Roasted Tomato Minestrone
This is a delicious, stew-like minestrone … flavorful and filling for the winter months. If you prefer a more brothy soup, you can thin this with a little vegetable or chicken stock.
Ingredients
• about 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 c. diced onions
• 1 c. diced celery
• 1 c. diced carrots
• 1/3 c. dry white or red wine
• 2 28-oz. cans diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes – or 1 can diced, 1 can crushed (do not drain)
• 1 15-oz. can cannellini beans (white kidney beans) or great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15-oz. can red kidney beans or black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 T. dried oregano, crushed
• 1 T. paprika or smoked paprika
• 1 t. dried thyme, crushed
• 1/2 t. sea salt
• fresh grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, optional garnish
Directions
(1) If you do not have soffritto already prepared, start by sautéing vegetables in olive oil, one type at a time, using about 1 – 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper, per cup of vegetables. I like to add a splash of dry white wine to the onions. Cook briefly until crisp-tender.
(2) Add prepared vegetables, wine, about 1 T. of the remaining olive oil, tomatoes, beans, and spices to a large pot (6-8 qt). Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the minestrone comes to a simmer. Reduce heat and cook at a low simmer, continuing to stir occasionally, for about 15 minutes. (So that the vegetables remain crisp-tender, don’t overcook.) Taste. Add more olive oil, wine, or seasonings if desired. Ladle into warm bowls to serve.
Serving suggestion: At the table, grate a little cheese over each bowl of minestrone – but not for vegans. Serve with warm bread and a glass of wine.
Pumpkin Dried Cherry Quick Bread
Ingredients:
2 c. all-purpose flour or white rice flour
1 T. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground mace
1/2 t. salt
1 c. packed pumpkin puree
1/2 c. canola oil
1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk
2 lg. eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. granulated white sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
3/4 c. dried cherries+extra for garnish
confectioner’s sugar
Directions:
Enjoy!
*The pan that I use is a non-stick fluted cake pan that is a little bit over 8 cups in volume.
Have a lovely day!
Happy National Cheesecake Day on July 30th! I decided to mark the occasion by making one of my favorite cheesecakes – Banana Chocolate Crumb Cheesecake!
Banana Cheesecake
This is a soft, not-too-sweet, delicately flavored banana cheesecake with a dark chocolate cookie crumb “crust”. The custard recipe comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s banana variation of her Cordon Rose Cheesecake in The Cake Bible – a truly excellent cookbook.
Make 1 day ahead
Ingredients (at room temperature)
1 lb. (2 8-oz. pkgs.) cream cheese
1 c. granulated white sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt
2 c. sour cream
2 large, very ripe bananas, enough to make 1 c. mashed
3 T. fresh lemon juice, strained
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 c crushed dark chocolate wafer cookies (use gluten-free cookies for a gluten-free cheesecake)
Prepare Pan
1. Butter the inside of an 8″ springform pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the inside of the pan – just smaller than 8″ in diameter. Butter the paper and then place it in pan.
2. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent seepage from the water bath.
3. Have ready a larger baking pan – I use a 9″-square brownie pan – to use as a water bath for baking the cheesecake.
Directions for Making Cheesecake Custard
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Using a mixer or large food processor, beat together cream cheese and sugar until perfectly smooth. Scrape bowl. Beat in vanilla and salt, then sour cream. Scrape bowl. Mash bananas together with lemon juice. Beat bananas into custard. Scrape bowl.
3. Pour custard into prepared springform pan. Place pan in larger baking pan. Pour in 1″ of very hot water. Bake cheesecake for 45 minutes. Turn oven off, without opening the door, and leave cheesecake in oven for one hour. Remove cheesecake from oven and from water bath. Remove foil from pan. Plan pan on a cooling rack and let cheesecake continue cooling at room temperature for one more hour. Cover pan with plastic wrap. Chill cheesecake in refrigerator overnight.
Serving
1. The next day, wipe outside of cheesecake pan with a hot, damp towel. Run a thin spatula around the inside of the pan. Release the clasp on the springform pan and remove the outside of pan. If there is condensation on the cheesecake, lightly pat it dry with a paper towel. Invert cheesecake onto a flat plate or a small cutting board covered with plastic wrap. Remove parchment paper.
2. Pat cookie crumbs onto bottom and sides of cheesecake. Re-invert onto serving plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until serving. Garnish and serve.
Suggested Garnishes
• Whipped cream, chocolate shavings and banana and/or strawberry slices.
• Whipped cream and hot fudge.
• Whipped cream and dark cherries.
• For Banana Split Cheesecake, serve with whipped cream, banana slices, strawberry slices, pineapple chunks, chopped walnuts, chocolate sauce, and melted strawberry jam.
Enjoy! Happy National Cheesecake Day!
Happy National Donut Day!
Strawberry Shortcake Donuts
1 3/4 c. + 2 T sifted all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/3 c. granulated white sugar
2 t. baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 c. buttermilk
2 lg. eggs, beaten
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 t. fresh lemon zest
3/4 c. finely chopped ripe strawberries
Lemon Glaze
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 6-mold donut baking pan with oil. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, butter and lemon zest. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until mixture is smooth. If the mixture is too stiff, slowly stir in a little bit more buttermilk. Fold in strawberries.
4. Divide the batter between the donut molds. Spread with the back of a spoon. If needed, run your fingers under cold water, shake them off lightly, then finish shaping donuts with your damp fingers. The batter will stand above the donut pan. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until done to the touch.
5. Remove donut pan from the oven and place on a baking rack to cool for just a few minutes. While the donuts are resting make Lemon Glaze, recipe below. After a few minutes, turn donuts out upside down onto serving plates and then glaze. The donut holes will have slightly filled in on what was the top and is now the bottom of each donut. Top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream if desired. Serve while donuts are still warm. Enjoy!
Lemon Glaze
1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 t. fresh lemon zest
Directions: Slowly stir lemon juice into confectioner’s sugar until perfectly smooth. Stir in lemon zest.
Have a great weekend!
This recipe is loosely based on the Cinnamon-Dipped Donuts recipe that I posted a few years ago which originally came from Frugal Feeding.
A Taste of Morning 