Start Your Morning Right With These Expert Recipes

Over the last decade, self-taught chef, author and James Beard Award finalist Valerie Gordon expanded her chocolate-covered toffee business to a multifaceted, multi-location culinary conglomeration that includes the sale of confections, pastries and cakes, and savory breakfast and lunch menus, as well as catering and collaborations with local businesses and organizations. Her flagship store, Valerie Confections, is the boutique sweet shop, while both Valerie at Grand Central Market and in Echo Park serve breakfast and lunch items that showcase her culinary influences beyond sugar. At Grand Central Market, you'll find French toast, breakfast hand pie, a breakfast bowl with fried eggs, and more. Head to the Eastside if you want dishes like kale and goat cheese bread pudding, hot muesli and a plate soft, silky scrambled eggs. And of course, you are encouraged to leave with a bit of dessert. Valerie in DTLA will soon undergo a small revamp, making more space for Gordon's famous chocolates, as well as an expanded offering of farmers market-inspired salads, sandwiches and sweets.
 
Those soft scrambled eggs, by the way, are easy to prepare at home. Chef Gordon shares that recipe, plus a couple more, in this installment of Ask a Local Chef. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so make it count. Try incorporating one or all of these dishes into your cooking repertoire this fall.
 
Valerie Confections
3360 West 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Multiple Locations
www.valerieconfections.com

Soft Scrambled Eggs

Serves 1
 
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon crème fraîche
- Fresh chopped herbs, divided
- Fleur de sel, for garnish
 

1. Melt butter in a small pan over medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche, herbs and fleur de sel.
3. When the butter has melted, reduce the heat to medium low. Pour egg mixture into the pan and slowly, continuously stir the eggs with a spatula until pillowy folds form.
4. Quickly remove eggs from the pan, they should glisten and appear like structured custard. Top with additional herbs and fleur de sel. Optional toppings might include thin slices of prosciutto, smoked salmon, caviar or any cheese.

Ricotta and Spelt Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
Serves 4
 
Mascarpone Butter Ingredients
- 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (4 ounces) mascarpone
 
In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone and butter together until smooth. Chill until you are ready to use.
 
Rustic Blueberry Syrup
- 2 cups (12 ounces) fresh blueberries
- ¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) maple syrup
 
Combine blueberries, sugar and maple syrup over a low flame in a saucepan. Remove from heat when the berries begin to swell, approximately 4 minutes.
 
Pancakes
- 5 ounces spelt flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (7 ounces) fresh ricotta cheese
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk
- ¼ cup (2 ounces) crème fraîche or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Unsalted butter, for cooking
- Fleur de sel, for garnish
 

1. Sift together spelt flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
2. Whisk together fresh ricotta, eggs, buttermilk, crème fraîche, vanilla, sugar and zest in a medium sized bowl. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
3. Heat a small fry pan over a medium flame. Coat the pan with a pat of butter.
4. Once the butter has melted, pour ½ cup of the pancake batter into the pan and smooth into a circle using the back of a ladle. These pancakes are slow-cooking. Wait until the pancake is completely covered with air bubbles before flipping, approximately 4 minutes. Flip and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Serve with mascarpone butter, rustic blueberry syrup and a sprinkle of fleur de sel.

Butternut Squash Bread

Makes 1 loaf (8 to 10 slices)
 
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash (6-7 inches long)
- ⅓ cup (2.36 ounces) canola oil, plus more if needed
- 1 ½ cups (7 ½ ounces) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons Spice Mix (page 44) or ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons (2 ½ ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (4 ounces) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
 

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9 ½-by-5 ½-inch loaf pan with nonstick baking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Halve the butternut squash lengthwise, peel it, and scoop out the seeds. Reserve one half for another use (or cook all the squash and reserve half the cooked squash for another use). Cut the squash into 1-inch cubes. Spread the cubes on the prepared baking sheet and roast for about 50 minutes, until the flesh is soft. Let cool completely.
3. Purée the squash with the oil in a food processor until smooth, about 4 minutes; if the squash is too dry to purée, add an additional tablespoon of oil. Measure out 1 ¼ cups of the puréed squash.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spice mix in a medium bowl.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
6. Mix the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl with a fork or small whisk. With the mixer on medium speed, alternately add the dry and wet ingredients to the creamed butter in batches, beating until the batter is smooth. Fold in the 1 ¼ cups puréed squash.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread completely on a cooling rack before unmolding. Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap or wax paper.