My New Love, Focaccia- Two Ways
May 19, 2011
Over the last few weeks, several batches of focaccia made their way through my oven. Each batch took on a different personality. I topped one with oven-dried figs, walnuts, and blue cheese as an appetizer, another I brushed with garlic oil and served as a side dish. Another batch I made into a simple pizza and the last I topped with apples and cinnamon sugar for breakfast. Anyway you top this bread, it is delightful.
Besides its versatility and incredible taste, this bread is also very convenient to make. The dough rises twice, then rests in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours. When you are ready to bake, just pull a dough ball from the fridge, stretch it out, and top it as you please. Twice I served this bread for brunch. Usually I do not even consider a yeasted bread for brunch, because of the time it takes to rise, but since rises the day before, it is easy to pull off for a meal any time of day.
Though I have topped this bread many ways, my favorite remains brushing it with a garlic infused olive oil, sprinkling it with fresh herbs, and scattering coarse salt over the top. The outside becomes crunchy and brown, but the inside stays chewy and moist. The garlic flavor permeates the whole flatbread and the salt provides a crunch. It was a great accompaniment to our Huevos Diablos con Chorizo the other morning. Topping it with thinnly sliced apples is a close second, for a sweet version that is suitable for both brunch or dessert, though I would sweeten it up a bit more if serving it for dessert.
These recipes were submitted to Yeastspotting.
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Huevos Diablos con Chorizo
May 15, 2011
This month’s Charcutepalooza Challenge was meat grinding. Oh, I really became excited about this one. I recently picked up a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen aide and have been tapping into the meat lover within making loads of sausage and meatballs. You see, my grandfather was a butcher and though my father chose another career, he is a meat enthusiast. I come from the kind of family that doesn’t consider a meal complete without some form of meat. (That would explain why I was nearly disowned during my 6 years exploring vegetarian and veganism.) But back to meat grinding, it is so easy and the product is sensational!
Last year, we began purchasing pork by the half-hog from our fabulous young cousin who raises them for 4H. There are so many reasons to buy fresh, local, conscientiously-raised meat, not least of which is that the quality is superb. For this challenge, I ground a pork shoulder and made chorizo following Michael Ruhlman’s guidance in Charcuterie. Though I have made a number of different types of sausage, chorizo is one of the most satisfying. I think that is because I generally have a difficult time finding a chorizo that I can still put in my cart after I read the ingredient label. The concept of using an entire animal is a good one, though it seems factory-based sausage companies have a different idea of what is suitable for consumption than most home cooks do. This chorizo is deeply flavored, full of completely recognizable fresh ingredients including lovingly raised meat, and is super lean.
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Bacon Breakfast Strata
May 6, 2011
Though brunch provides the allure of a relaxed meal to share with friends and family, casually sipping on Bloody Marys, the harsh reality is that someone has to get all the food ready to eat early in the morning. Beside being insanely delicious and versatile, stratas assemble the night before, so serving a crowd in the morning is a cinch! In our family, we routinely have overnight gatherings and I often make a strata. All the work is done the day before. Sometimes I even put the oven on delay start, so it will preheat while I sleep. When I wake up in the morning with a house full of guests, all I have to do is slide the dish into the oven and make some coffee.
You can make a strata with almost anything. The eggs and bread are standard, but the vegetables, cheese, or meat that you add are completely up to you. Bacon Breakfast Strata happens to be one of my favorite combinations. Brown off the bacon, saute the onion and mushrooms, then mix everything up with a pile of bread and cheese and pour egg and milk over the top. It is easy. The bread absorbs the egg and milk overnight and puffs up in the oven. The interior texture is light and almost creamy, while the top browns and creates a cheesy crunch. It is delightful.
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Crepes with Warm Berry Sauce and Lemon Curd
April 10, 2011
The countdown to summer has officially begun. Summertime is that special time of year when I hang my teaching hat and spend my days tickling my children, swimming, running through the hills, and of course canning the bounty of the season. So in these final weeks before summer is here, now is the time to clear out the pantry and make room for another season of dutiful and celebratory filling of jars. While some canned goods, such as jam, may be stored for longer, I always aim to eat my preserved foods within one year. Lemon curd is best eaten within 3 to 4 months, after which time the curd may darken, but still be safe to eat for one year.
There are many lovely ways to enjoy lemon curd, but not many that I feel justify me to eat it for breakfast. Thanks to the ever versatile crepe, I now feel free to indulge myself! This crepe recipe is directly from Julia Child’s The Way to Cook. They are incredibly easy to make and so good. For this special breakfast, I filled the crepes with lemon curd and topped them with a warm berry sauce made from frozen berries. The tangy lemon, sweet berry, and buttery crepe make for a beautiful and tasty treat. It is just the thing for a special weekend breakfast or brunch.
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Eggs in a Basket of Greens
March 27, 2011
Spring is officially here! Despite the heavy rains of late, there are signs of renewal all around. At our tiny homestead, the fruit trees are blooming, the shrubs sending forth new growth, and the chickens are beginning to really pump out the eggs. Our five chickens lay almost year round, with a solid month break around the winter solstice. Now they are back to laying enough that we can count several egg meals a week.
What better way to welcome spring than to enjoy a pure egg, the ancient symbol of renewal, atop a bed of fresh spring greens? These two signatures of spring work together beautifully to make a special breakfast or a light dinner. Saute the greens and mushrooms with a little onion and garlic, then crack the eggs right into a depression in the greens mixture. The egg will set and hold the greens together to form an attractive little basket. The dish is beautiful to present, incredibly nutritious, and very tasty. Serve with home fries or toast.
Eggs in a Basket of Greens
serves 4
4 eggs
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
4 cups chard (or other green), washed
1 Tablespoon butter
Lay the chard leaves flat, cut out the stem. Stack the leaves neatly and roll lengthwise into a neat bundle. Thinly slice the bundle to create thin strips of chard (This is important because the long strips get a bit tangled in the pan and contribute to the basket effect).
In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter and add onion, garlic, and mushroom. Saute 3-5 minutes until softened. Add chard and season with salt. Cover pan and cook for 5-10 minutes until greens have wilted and begun to soften. Stir mixture to evenly distribute all the ingredients.
Make depressions in the greens mixture for each of the eggs. Crack eggs into the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until egg white it set, but yolk is still runny (approximately 10 minutes). Scoop one “egg basket” on each plate and serve with toast or potatoes.
Here is a printer friendly version of the recipe: Eggs in a Basket of Greens
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