Posted By Julia Clancy on Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 8:00 AM

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Julia Clancy

Iced coffee and maple walnut biscotti at Village Wine and Coffee in Shelburne

Biscotti are seemingly simple staples of coffee breaks. The durable, crusty cookies are used to soak up a cup of dark roast or cold brew sweetened with cream. With a bit of liquid, they become pliable and palatable. I’ve never liked them.

Let me rephrase that: I’ve never liked the ones found in many cafés, where biscotti sit for weeks in a glass jar becoming ever harder, ever drier and ever more “biscotti-like.” Biscotti get a bad rep next to tender-crumb scones and croissants, butter-permeated from the inside out. While toast springs from the oven warm and fresh and ready for jam, biscotti sit dejectedly in jars. But this is not how it was meant to be.

Tags: Village Wine and Coffee , biscotti , cookie , breakfast , coffee , cafe , Shelburne , Image , Image , Web Only

Posted By Hannah Palmer Egan on Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 7:01 AM

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Hannah Palmer Egan

Bread, tomato, egg

Ready for a sublime and simple tomato-season breakfast?

Head to Brotbakery in Fairfax, which is open  Friday afternoons, now through Thanksgiving. Grab a loaf of Hieke Meyer's masterful sourdough (also available at Burlington's City Market/Onion River Co-op on Wednesdays, and at Hudak Farmstore  in Swanton on Fridays).  Lop off a slice of bread; fry it in hot olive oil along with a crispy egg, sunny side up.

Cut a fresh-fresh, juicy tomato into hearty slivers; layer these over the bread and sprinkle with salt. Toss the egg on top; Scatter fresh basil if you've got it. 

Doesn't get much better than that, folks.

Breakfast Club is a series that explores what we eat in the morning. Do you have a favorite? Drop us a line at [email protected].

Tags: Sourdough , Bread , Breakfast , Recipes , Image , Web Only

Posted By Julia Clancy on Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 9:00 AM

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Julia Clancy

Homemade goat's milk ricotta

I’m a toast person, though it must be thick-cut — that’s my only requisite. Toppings might range from a rubbed clove of garlic and a couple fried eggs to a smear of peanut butter (creamy) and jam (raspberry). Depending on my mood and the weather, the toast may be decked with butter and honey or kept plain to dunk in coffee and cream. It’s a breakfast staple I’ve clung to since elementary school, when I’d eat white-bread toast — center first, crusts last — before the early morning walk. 

Lately, my favorite way to dress a slice is with a few spoons of tender, homemade ricotta curds. I learned how to make ricotta from a friend’s Sicilian grandma, and it’s dead simple. There are just four factors: whole-fat milk, salt, acid and heat. After that, you need a saucepan, a cheesecloth and 20 minutes.

If you have ever tasted supple, just-made ricotta curds still warm in their cloth basket, you most likely understand their power to propel you out of bed faster than the promise of dark roast.

Tags: breakfast club , breakfast , toast , ricotta , homemade , recipe , Image , vegetarian , Image , Web Only

Posted By Hannah Palmer Egan on Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 3:33 PM

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Hannah Palmer Egan

Chipped beef on toast, aka shit on a shingle

Most mornings, my breakfast involves one egg and a huge pile of sautéed greens, plus a handful of fresh salad greens. Sometimes I'll add a bit of cured pork product — I'll take any excuse to eat sausage, bacon or ham — and tortilla or grilled bread.

Tags: Adirondack Issue , Breakfast , Diners , Image , Web Only

Posted By Suzanne Podhaizer on Sun, Jul 3, 2016 at 1:23 PM

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Suzanne Podhaizer

Tomato and cheese frittata over spinach with micro-basil and a corn tortilla

When I have just a few minutes to make breakfast, I invariably make "eggs over stuff": a pair of sunny-side-up eggs on top of whatever I've got kicking around in the fridge. It might be leftovers from the previous evening's dinner, a green salad, corn tortillas with salsa — pretty much anything. In the time it takes the eggs to sizzle in the pan, I can assemble the other ingredients, and that's all there is to it. 

On the other hand, if I have a little extra time in the morning, I make "eggs under stuff." It's the quick-cooking lovechild of an omelette and a frittata. I put the oven on broil, crack and whip two eggs together in a bowl with salt, pepper and herbs, and pour the mixture into a pan coated with hot butter. Cook on the stovetop until the bottom is set but the top is still wet, and slide it into the oven. (Make sure you use an oven-worthy pan!)

Tags: breakfast , eggs , farmers market , tomato , frittata , cheese , Recipes , Image , Web Only