[Molly] I'm making a slew of kid-friendly dishes,
you and your mini-mes are sure to adore.
Oh, yeah. Look at that deliciousness.
Like my crispy grilled bacon, egg and cheese in a basket,
with a crazy avocado dip for dunking.
Cozy chicken noodle hot dish to please the pickiest of eaters.
My kids are lucky.
And the cutest breakfast combination ever,
my blueberry muffin smoothies,
with moist mini muffin garnishes,
will rattle your taste buds in all the right ways.
Ta-da!
Do I know the Muffin Man?
I am the Muffin Man.
Look at these beauties.
Hey. This is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our farm
on the North Dakota, Minnesota border.
The place where I eat, sleep and breathe food.
Cooking with kids,
you either love it, or...
you like maintaining your sanity in the kitchen.
No judgements either way.
I have been... most of the time
so today I'm sharing some Bernie and Ira favs.
For a super satisfying sandwich,
I am making my bacon, egg and cheese, eggs in a basket
which is melty and knead-y and filling.
And I'm serving it with a creamy avocado sauce on the side.
To start, I'm crisping up my bacon,
and I'm actually, kind of, surprised
that the smell hasn't caused Bernie to run in here,
and offer to taste test.
Eggs in a basket is an egg cooked within a piece of bread.
And...
It's so delicious, because you get both a perfectly cooked egg,
and a toasty piece of bread.
The girls are going to love this.
Now that the bacon is crisp, I'll remove it to a wire rack.
So that any excess grease can drip off.
And I'm doing a rack as opposed to the paper towels so that it stays crispy.
All right. I'll build my sandwiches.
I have got sliced whole wheat bread,
because I sneak nutrition in wherever I can.
I'll make four sandwiches.
They are on American cheese,
'cause American cheese makes the best grilled cheese,
and the best breakfast sandwich.
And it melts fast, too, which is a important
any time you're cooking for a hungry child.
Eggs in a basket, was my favorite breakfast growing up.
There was a point of time where I had it
every single morning with mom.
Topped with another slice of cheese,
and then another slice of bread.
Okay. I've got my circle cookie cutter here,
which is not too big, not to small.
It's gonna be just right to cut out
a cute little grilled cheese from the center,
and then create the opening for the egg.
When you cut these out, you're left with...
the cutest little sandwiches
that'll become the tastiest grilled cheeses.
Cutting out bread with cookie cutters
is a fun way of playing with cookie cutters with kids,
that is also fairly clean.
Not as messy as...
getting out all the dough and getting it in your hair,
and on the counter.
It's a breakfast sandwich meets eggs in a basket.
And it's two of the best breakfast foods, combined into one.
Right. Back to my griddle. I'll add a couple of tablespoons of butter.
A good grilled cheese or eggs in a basket
does not hold back on the butter.
I'll place on the sandwiches,
and their circles.
So my method of cooking eggs and a basket,
is I get the bread on to the skillet,
I let it toast on the bottom,
flip it and then add the egg.
And then I'll allow the egg to cook most of the way
and then give it one last flip so top of the egg can cook.
They're getting toasty on the bottom.
The best way to toast bread is not do it in a toaster,
but to do it in a skillet like this,
in loads of butter.
I'll crack the egg right into the circles.
And if I'm making one just for myself,
I, sometimes, take the extra step of cracking the egg
into a ramekin before pouring it in the center,
just to ensure that I'm not breaking the yolk.
But...
I'm not gonna do that now because if I do break a yolk,
I'll just that one to the girls.
Oh, yeah. Four for four.
No yolks broken.
I'll let these cook on medium low until the eggs are mostly set.
And in that time, I'll make an avocado dip to serve on the side.
This will contribute a bright creamy element.
And veggies,
I'll toss it onto my food processor.
Starting with two-thirds of a cup of whole milk Greek yoghurt.
I've gotta have something tangy with my eggs,
whether it's ketchup or yoghurt.
Two ripe avocados.
The juice of the lime,
will brighten up the creamy mildness of avocado.
Avocado always appreciates some extra acidity.
A couple of good pinches of salt.
And I'll blend this until it's creamy.
That's it. Easy-peasy.
I love this texture. It's so creamy.
Get this into a serving bowl.
Green's my favorite color.
My sandwiches are looking good.
So the eggs are mostly set on top.
I'll give them a flip and cook for another few seconds for mine,
just to firm up the top.
For the girls, I'm gonna cook the yolks all the way through.
Ooh, these are gonna be so good.
It looks perfect.
I think this egg yolk is gonna be...
peak ooziness
I'll season with salt and pepper.
I like hot sauce.
A dollop of avocado.
The moment of truth.
Is the egg oozy enough?
Oh, yeah.
That's oozy. Look at that.
Mmm-hmm.
Oh, yeah. Bacon and cheese.
What's not to love?
These baskets are a slam dunk.
Coming up,
classic hearty chicken noodle soup hot dish-ified
for a double dose of comfort.
For a wildly comforting combination
of two of my kiddos' favorite foods,
chicken noodle soup and hot dish,
I'm making chicken noodle hot dish.
It's... basically, tuna noodle casserole,
but instead of tuna, I'm using chicken.
And adding in all of chicken's flavorful friends,
like lemon, nutmeg, dill.
The kids love it and so do I.
It's so good. And it also comes together all in one braiser.
To start, I'm slicing up some leaks,
which I love to use just as a change-up from the typical yellow onion.
It adds bright, spring-y flavor.
And leaks are fun to wash,
because, you know, they actually have a lot of little layers,
that sand and dirt get trapped in.
So you've gotta fully submerge them in the water
and then when you do that...
It's really soothing
to poke the rings apart.
You can already see some of the sand coming out.
This would also make a great activity for the kids.
Bernie, particularly, loves cleaning.
She didn't get it from me.
And then swish the leaks around,
breaking the rings up with my fingers,
so that the sand and dirt can fall to the bottom.
Okay. I'll get my veggies going.
So in my braiser here,
I'll melt four tablespoons of unsalted butter.
I'll get in my carrots and celery.
And then lift out the leaks.
I don't wanna strain them and pour the dirty water back over them.
Shake off any excess moisture, and then add them to the pan.
A couple of pinches of salt will help the veggies often.
Then I'll click these down.
So I thought of this concept, because I'm on this everlasting quest
to experiment with all the hot dishes in the world.
And...
I was just dreaming, one day, about chicken noodle soup
and how delicious it would be to add all of the flavors of chicken noodle soup
into hot dish form.
And it occurred to me that, like, "Oh, that's basically tuna noodle casserole,
"but with chicken."
I love this.
These are softened.
I'll toss in a couple of cloves of chopped garlic.
I'm gonna make my sauce directly in the braiser,
by building a roux, with a quarter of couple of all-purpose flour.
That's gonna thicken up my chicken stock,
and get that classic condensed soup texture.
I'll cook the flour for about a minute,
just to get rid of the flour-y flavor.
Typically with a hot dish, or opening up a can.
But...
taste really good when you make it from scratch.
A bit of fresh thyme,
contributes... some cozy herbiness.
I'll grate in some nutmeg.
Nutmeg and lemon are...
two of the sleeper hit ingredients of chicken soup,
because they don't steal the show at all,
they just add depth and it's deliciousness.
All right. Now for my liquids for the soup,
I'll first add my white wine, because you want all that alcohol to cook off.
And it'll leave behind just that bright acidic flavor
that balances out all of these other cozy flavors.
Hot dish has so many creamy, hard-y elements,
that you want to balance it out
with something bright and acidic.
I'll gradually add three cups of low sodium chicken stock.
And allow the roux to thicken it.
And then you gotta have cream and condensed cream soup.
So...
One cup of heavy cream will give this the richness that it deserves.
Oh, it's all coming together.
This is gonna be so good.
I'll season with Kosher salt and black pepper.
I like a lot of black pepper.
A tiny bit of lemon zest and lemon juice will perk this up.
I always add this right to the end of my chicken soup.
And some parsley and dill for freshness,
and grassiness.
Oh, yeah. Look at that deliciousness.
And it came together quickly, too.
I feel like I can manage making this
during the very short overlap between Bernie and Ira's nap.
Next, the most popular part of a chicken noodle casserole,
the noodles.
I'm using egg noodles, because...
they're so creamy and comforting and good.
And I cooked these until they're shy, about al dente,
because they will continue to soften in the oven.
Chicken soup,
with...
mostly noodles.
I'm here for this.
And for the chicken, I'm just using a chopped rotisserie chicken.
Rotisserie chicken has so much flavor in it already.
That is a full casserole.
Some peas,
one of Ira's favorite veggies.
They're so teeny and perfect for her teeny hands.
They're frozen, but they'll fall once they hit his hot mixture.
I'll fold this all together.
Okay. At this point,
it's really important to check for seasoning and also a taste test.
It's looking too good.
I have to make sure there's enough salt in it.
Mmm.
Possibly, one of the most comforting bites,
in the universe.
But it's just gonna get belter now
because all good hot dishes have a crunchy topping.
I'm gonna get crackers,
and drizzle them with butter,
which will help them get brown and crisp in the oven.
And then perform the holy grail of kids' cooking tests.
Ta-da.
I'll spread these evenly over the top.
These are the best crackers dunked into chicken soup.
That's why I'm going with the buttery crackers.
It's so good.
I'll bake this now at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes,
until the top is golden and the edges are bubbly.
I feel like an impatient kid, waiting for this.
-[clock ticking] -[timer dings]
It's hot dish o'clock.
Oh, yeah.
That looks so good.
Those buttery crackers smell heavenly.
I'll finish with fresh parsley and dill.
You could leave it off if your kid doesn't like green things on top.
I'm going in.
I gotta make sure it's okay for the kids.
Mmm-hmm.
Mmm.
Hundred percent.
It has it all.
It's creamy, it's noodle-y.
My kids are lucky.
Next...
The trick to making the most pristine mini-muffins ever.
They truly pop off.
In a perfect world for my kids... and me,
we gonna start with baked goods,
preferably some miniature ones that also pack some nutrients.
So I am making my blueberry mini muffins,
which will make the house smell delightful.
And I'll also make
super cute garnishes for some smoothies that I'm making later.
Better yet, it's a one-bowl batter.
I'll start with half a cup of sugar.
One whole egg, plus one egg yolk for added richness.
Bernie is just learning how to crack eggs.
Right now, she likes to crack the eggs, and then...
I split them open.
Think she's as squeamish about raw eggs as I am.
Some lemon zest,
which is really tasty with blueberries.
Some butter milk,
which will contribute important acidity.
If blueberries don't have acid mingling around them,
then they could turn green or grayish color in the oven.
A teaspoon of vanilla.
And then three tablespoons each of melted butter and oil.
I'm using both melted butter and some neutral oil in here.
Butter for flavor, but then the neutral oil to boost the moisture.
Miniatured baked goods, especially mini muffins,
they do have a tendency to dry out faster than you want them to.
So this added oil will help slow that down.
I'll whisk these together.
Mmm. Smell that vanilla.
Okay. For the dry ingredients,
I'll get one and a quarter cups of all-purpose flour.
One and a half teaspoons of baking powder.
Half a teaspoon of baking soda.
A quarter teaspoon of Kosher salt.
And then lastly, two tablespoons of hemp seeds.
Uh, I love to sneak some of these soft seeds
into Bernie's and Ira's baked goods.
It adds a bunch of nutrients, vitamin, fiber, protein.
And they're pretty much undetectable, texture wise, because they're so soft.
And they have an very faint nutty flavor.
Feel like a lot of being a parent is...
hiding things and other things,
hoping that they eat them.
I'll whisk this up.
I've got frozen wild blueberries here which we always have on hand.
The girls go through them by the poundful, because...
they're really delicious.
The wild blueberries are extra sweet.
And...
they're such a pretty bright blue all the way through.
Before dumping these into the batter,
I'll toss them with a tablespoon of flour.
And this is gonna help the blueberry suspend in the batter,
so that they don't all sink to the bottom.
And it'll also prevent some of their color from bleeding.
I'll give these a quick toss.
I don't wanna overmix and risk the batter totally turning blue.
Although, it wouldn't be that bad.
Bernie likes the color of blueberries.
I know, 'cause it's frequently all over her face.
I'll get my mini muffin tins.
And then divide the batter evenly between the tins.
This is one of Bernie's favorite things to do in the kitchen.
Bernie is very good at using a scoop.
I've been getting uniform amounts of batter quantities.
I'm very proud. I'll take credit for that.
Bernie gets very particular about certain things in the kitchen.
And sometimes I'm like...
"Urgh, Bernie, just eat the broccoli.
"It doesn't have to be that crispy.
"Or just, like, accept that we don't have any more ice cubes right now.
"Please, just drink room temperature or cold tap water."
Last one.
Now... all muffins need something on top,
whether it's a a glaze or a streusel.
Today, I'm keeping it simple with some turbinado sugar
You know, they're basically cakes that don't go to frosting.
So you've got to compensate some hot with some sweetness.
And you can use brown sugar,
or granulated sugar.
I particularly like using turbinado sugar
because it maintains its crunch.
So cute.
I'll bake these at 400 degrees for about 13 minutes,
until they're puffed and golden around the edges.
Mini muffins, mini bake time.
They're ready already.
So cute. They're so puffy and happy.
"Eat me," they say.
Gotta make sure they're good...
for the children.
Mmm. Mmm.
Perfectly moist.
Perfectly sweet.
Yes, I know the Muffin Man, and she is actually a woman. She is me.
Still to come,
blueberry muffin bliss becomes a smoothie.
In our family,
we make up the Grand Fork's chapter
of the world's smoothie fan club.
We make smoothies, at least, every other day,
which I'm all for, because...
they're so easy to make, easy to eat,
and easy to hide vegetables in.
So I am making my blueberry muffin smoothies,
which will go perfectly with our cute little blueberry muffins.
They got more flavor than the average smoothie.
[whispering] And more spinach.
I'll start by toasting up some oats.
Oats are such a nice addition to smoothies to bulk them up,
make them more filing.
My skillet is heating here,
over medium heat.
And I'll let these go for a few minutes,
until they start to darken in color,
and until I can smell them.
And this will contribute to the muffin-y nature of these smoothies.
And I love toasting them first,
because they bring out that flavor.
These are looking toasty. I'll get them off the heat,
and let them cool briefly while I get my other smoothie ingredients.
I'm starting with one and a half cups of frozen wild blueberries.
I think we keep the wild blueberry business in business in our family.
Ira could seriously sit in her high chair for, like, hours,
eating wild blueberries.
A handful of spinach.
A little bit of lemon juice...
will give the blueberries that brightness,
and help keep the smoothie blue.
One and a half cups of milk.
You can use any kind of milk.
And I always find that smoothies require a bit more liquid
than you think they're gonna need.
A quarter cup of yoghurt with some Greek creamy tanginess.
And this is unsweetened yoghurt.
A quarter cup of speculoos spread, which I love.
It's...
cinnamon-y and sweet.
Typically, I'll just use almond butter or peanut butter,
but I'm making these extra sweet and tasty,
because they're getting those mini muffin toppers.
I also really want a bite of speculoos right now.
So good.
Little bit of brown sugar.
Some cinnamon.
Tastes so cozy.
And teeny splashes of vanilla and almond extract.
And the oats...
by now they've cooled.
And I'll blend this until it's creamy.
I always lend my smoothies on high,
and for a little bit longer than you think you're gonna need,
because that'll help yield a creaminess texture.
So bright.
Oh, yeah. That's so smooth.
And it's Bernie's favorite color.
I'll grab my glasses,
and the cutest garnishes ever.
Oh, they're so creamy.
Stick in some straws.
And the best part...
[laughs]
Bernie and Ira are gonna love this.
Ta-da.
Here I go.
Cheers.
Mmm. Mmm.
That is delightful.
It's sweet and creamy.
And between the blueberry, and the oats and the almond and the vanilla,
it really does scream, "Muffin."
Did somebody say "Muffin?"