Moroccan Carrot Salad

4 cups Carrots, peeled and sliced

1 Tbl Vegetable Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss carrots with oil, place on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake Carrots for 10 minutes. Place Carrots in a medium bowl.

¼ cup Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 Tbl Honey

½ cup Raisins

½ tsp Salt

½ tsp Allspice, ground

Add Lemon Juice, Honey, Raisins, Allspice and Salt to Carrots.  Toss until evenly coated.

Curried Cauliflower

3 cups Cauliflower, cut into ½ inch pieces

¼ cup oil

1 tsp Salt

1 ½ tsp Curry Powder

In a medium bowl toss cauliflower with oil, salt and curry powder. Place on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake Cauliflower for 10 minutes.

To assemble Tartines –

Moroccan Carrots

Curried Cauliflower

Tomato Head Hummus

Flour Head Bakery Knoxville Sourdough

Slice Sourdough, and spread slices with Tomato Head Hummus. Sprinkle with Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese. Top with Curried Cauliflower and Moroccan Carrots. Bake in 350 degree oven until cheese has melted and vegetables are heated through.  Serve immediately.

Carrots can be served at room temperature as a side dish with Chicken, Fish or Steak.

Mahasti’s interpretation of this classic brunch dish is perfect for the upcoming Christmas holiday. Think about preparing the biscuits, country hollandaise sauce, and breakfast sausage a day in advance so you can spend more time with your family on Christmas morning opening presents. Mahasti used sausage from Riverplains Farm in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

Click the photo below to watch Mahasti’s appearance on WBIR from last weekend.

For the Country Hollandaise

1 cup Mayonnaise

1 Tbl + 2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

2 tsp Cider Vinegar

With a whisk, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl, until smooth.

For the Knox Benedict:

4 Biscuits, Baked (can be baked a day ahead)

4 Eggs, Scrambled

Breakfast Sausage

Monterey Jack Cheese, Shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut biscuits in half and place the biscuits on a cookie sheet. Top each half with some of the scrambled eggs, followed by some breakfast sausage, and cheese. Top with about 1 tablespoon of “Mock Hollandaise.” Place the topped biscuits in the preheated oven and bake for 13 – 15 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Good morning! We’re sharing the recipe for the okra fritter brunch special we had over the weekend. It’s a delicious idea for any okra you might have from this year’s CSA. Be sure to catch Mahasti every first and third Saturday morning on WBIR for more great recipes using seasonal ingredients.

Here’s the link to last weekend’s segment.

½ cup red onion, finely chopped

1 cup fresh okra, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 large egg

1.5 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup yellow cornmeal

¼ cup flour

1 tespoon sugar

1/2 tespoon cayenne

1 tsp salt

About 1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Whisk egg in a medium bowl, then whisk in buttermilk, cornmeal, sugar, cayenne, and salt until smooth. Stir in okra and onion mix until everything is well incorporated.

Add enough oil to skillet to measure 1/4 inch and heat over medium heat until it shimmers. Cook rounded tablespoons of batter (6 to 7 fritters per batch), turning once, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Serve with a side of ranch dressing.

 

What do you get when you cross French toast, a waffle and a pancake? We’re calling it a UFO. Once the pita hits the hot griddle, they’ll expand and your breakfast will appear to be from out of this world (and taste like it too).

Mahasti’s recipe calls for a garnish of bananas. You can tell from our photo that we thought the sweetness of fresh strawberries would add another dimension to the plate. With blueberry season just around the corner, you’ve got another great berry available for brunch. Share your success with us on Facebook or Twitter. Bon appetit!

For the Waffle Batter:

½ plus 1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick butter, melted

In a small bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. In another small bowl, mix together milk, eggs and vanilla. Add the milk to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the melted butter and mix until all the melted butter is incorporated.

To Make the UfO’s

Waffle batter

4 pita rounds

4 bananas

Maple syrup

Butter for the pan

Heat a skillet over medium heat, place a little bit of butter in the skillet. Spread the melted butter around with a paper towel or pastry brush. When the skillet is hot, dip one pita in the waffle batter, flipping the pita once to coat both sides. Pick the pita bread up out of the batter and allow some of the batter to drip off. Place the pita on the hot griddle, when the excess batter starts to bubble and dry out (like a pancake) flip the pita over and cook other side. Flip the pita over once or twice until you are certain that the waffle batter has cooked all the way, about 3-4 minutes.

Top cooked pita with a whole banana sliced and maple syrup.

Serves 4-8 – depending on the size of your pitas you can share one between two people.

Flour Head Bakery’s pumpkin cranberry muffin is sure to add a little warmth to our lives on these gray, gloomy and wet winter afternoons. The sweetness of the cinnamon, brown sugar and molasses is balanced by the tartness of the dried cranberries. Try out this recipe the next time your home made brunch needs a little treat at the end. Yum Yum Yum!

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 eggs

½ cup packed light brown sugar

3 Tbl vegetable oil

1 Tbl molasses

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup milk

1 cup dried cranberries

¾ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup white wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, molasses, salt, spices, and milk.    In another bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder and baking soda.  Stir in the dried cranberries.  Add all at once the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently until all the ingredients are well combined. (do not over mix)  Let the batter sit, covered at room temperature for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Scoop the batter into greased or paper lined muffin cups.  Bake the muffins for 20 – 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from the tin and allow them to cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 12 muffins.

Mahasti presented this “good morning” recipe on WBIR Saturday, December 17th. Did you catch it? If not, the full recipe is posted below and, even better, both the Knoxville and Maryville restaurants will be serving these delights throughout Sunday brunch. Enjoy!

Tomato Head’s Brown Sugar Cinnamon Biscuits with Cream & Orange Caramel Sauce

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
5 Tbl chilled butter, cut into small pieces
¾ cup chilled buttermilk
1/3 cup brown sugar

Measure flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Add chilled butter and work into flour with fingertips or a pastry cutter until the butter resembles small beads. Add buttermilk and work flour into buttermilk until you have a soft dough. Turn dough no more than 10 times. Gather into a ball. With a rolling pin, roll out the ball of dough, on a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Scatter half of the brown sugar in the center of the biscuit dough. Fold one edge of the dough onto the sugared area. Scatter the remaining brown sugar onto the area that you just folded over. Fold the non-brown sugared area onto the newly covered brown sugar area. Gently lift the dough up and scatter a little more flour under the dough. Roll the dough back out to a thickness of 1”. Cut the biscuits out with a round biscuit cutter. Gather up any remaining dough into a ball and repeat, flattening and cutting the biscuits. Place the cut biscuits on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

For the Caramel Sauce
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup orange juice
½ stick butter

Place all the ingredients for the sauce in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Keep warm while biscuits are cooking.

To Serve

Heavy Cream

Pour a small amount of heavy cream onto a plate, if serving individually, or on a platter if serving family style. Place biscuits on top of cream. Pour caramel sauce over biscuits and serve immediately.

Makes 8 – 10 biscuits depending on the size of your cutter.

We’ve been doing a lot with biscuits lately. Maybe it’s because we’re ready for a little fall to come on in or we’re just enjoying how versatile truly delicious biscuits can be. No matter, Mahasti shared The Tomato Head recipe for Sausage Gravy on WBIR this morning , featuring sausage from Benton’s Bacon. (Hint…you can only get their sausage if you visit their store, and it’s worth the trip).

The recipe is fast, filling, and will have you smiling about your morning all day long. Can’t stand at the stove today? Simply come by for brunch, served 10am – 3pm, and we’ll have the biscuits and gravy ready for you.

Tomato Head’s Sausage Gravy
¼ lb butter
½ lb Benton’s or other breakfast sausage
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 cups warm milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

1 recipe The Tomato Head’s Best Biscuits

While biscuits are cooking:

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add sausage and sauté until sausage has browned. Add flour and whisk until all the flour is incorporated and no lumps remain. Slowly add the warm milk while whisking constantly. Lower heat to low – add salt and pepper and whisk constantly until desired consistency is reached.

Serve immediately over hot biscuits.

Mahasti presented the recipe for The Tomato Head’s Red Velvet Cake on WBIR this morning. Mother’s Day is tomorrow…got a gift, yet? Making something for mama is always a fine idea, and a red velvet cake says “I love you” slice after slice. If you’re just not a baker or comfy in the kitchen, consider bringing your mater to The Tomato Head’s brunch. We’ll be serving on Sunday from 10am – 3pm. After 3pm we’ll shift service to our regular menu. Happy Mother’s Day!

Tomato Head’s Red Velvet Cake

2.5 cups all purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ cup Dutch process cocoa
½ tsp. salt
1.25 cup sugar
1.5 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 Tbsp red food coloring
1 tsp cider vinegar
1.5 Tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper, grease the sides, and set aside.

Into a medium bowl sift flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Place eggs in another medium bowl and beat lightly with a whisk. Add oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Whisk to incorporate the ingredients. Add the sugar to the wet ingredients and mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Whisk well until all the flour is incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool in pan. Flip the cake out of pan onto a cooling rack. Peel parchment paper off bottom. Re-flip cake back onto a cutting board. Dust the top with powdered sugar. Cut into desired size squares. Serve with a side of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.