Category Archives: Recipes

Baked Eggs in Hashbrown Baskets

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http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eggs-in-baskets-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eggs-in-baskets-recipe/index.html

I saw these Baked Eggs on the Food Network today and they look SO. GOOD. Let me break it down for you:

  1. Baked eggs, in all their perfect runny healthy goodness
  2. Melted gooey cheese on top of the eggs
  3. Sweet yet salty meaty thing on top of the cheese
  4. All enveloped in salty crispy potato hash

Are we on the same page now? I MUST make these.

What a great dish to serve for a brunch! You can make them ahead, pull them out of the oven at the right time, and serve easily while you get to sit down with your guests. Put out a bunch of accoutrements so your guests can ladle on whatever they like: bacon bits, sour cream, salsa, extra cheeses of different kinds, green onion, ketchup, olives and olive tapenade. So fun and so YUM.

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Back to Cookie Basics

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Have I mentioned that I’ve also been mostly off sweets since January? I decided that I was tired of having that craving for sweet desserts and, as I am definitely an Abstainer rather than a Moderator (information that has given me tremendous peace of mind – thank you Gretchen Rubin!), I had to quit cold turkey. Wintertime raspberries that are $5 per pint don’t seem so expensive when you’re fighting buying five cupcakes on the way home, so I made sure I had lots of fruit in the house every day so I could have something sweet after dinner. If I went out for dinner, I’d get a special glass of port or a nice cheese when everyone else got dessert so that I didn’t feel like I was missing out. That worked. After about a month I felt the craving was pretty under control, and after two months I stopped wanted sugary things – for the most part.

I love losing the cravings for sweets and not feeling beholden to the desire for sugar. However, I take short breaks from my sweet fast during which I can have whatever I like, and one of those breaks is now. This way, I don’t feel like I’m deprived forever. I know a break is coming up, and I know I can make it until then, when I can have whatever I like.

So on my first full day on vacation, when I had absolutely nothing I had to do, nowhere I had to be, and nothing I had to learn or turn in, I decided to go back to the beginning and make Brown Butter Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (recipe here).

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God, I love these cookies. SO good. Just so good. I came away awfully proud of myself for making them the signature sweet of BB&B. One batch made 22 cookies, and I once again ate nothing else for dinner. Which I feel fine about, since I’ll go off sweets again next week! Until then, I’m eating as much my tummy can handle.

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Sustainable Bakery

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The Economist

The Economist

I have never made bread at home, probably because I like immediate gratification and bread takes a reeeeally long time. This bakery is inspiring me to develop patience, though.

http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/bread-going-green

As customers trickle in and out, many comment on the bread, which tastes pure and anachronistic. It is the kind you wish you could make at home. “I’m so glad someone is making such wonderful sourdough here,” says an elderly man. The sourdough are proved – i.e., left to rise – for up to 48 hours, which allows the bread to develop in flavour and texture. “It’s also healthier,” explains Glendinning, “because as gluten matures it becomes more fragile and easier to digest, unlike supermarket breads.”

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Chocolate Blueberry Sauce

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I was eating some vanilla ice cream the other night and had the thought that it was a little boring and I wished I had a sauce with it. Then I realized I had blueberries in the fridge, and fifteen minutes later I had the loveliest sauce for my boring vanilla.

I’m minorly (read: totally) proud of myself.

Chocolate Blueberry Sauce

  • About a cup of fresh blueberries. This would work equally well with frozen, just use a little less water
  • ½ cup of water
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon cornstarch
  • zest of half a lemon
  • 2 heaping teaspoons cocoa (or to taste)

Stick all the ingredients  in a small pot and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Smash blueberries with the back of a spoon against the side of the pan until you get bored. (A potato masher would also work really well, but I don’t have one.) Add two heaping teaspoons of good cocoa and whisk it in. Let it simmer until it thickens to your preference.

Either eat it when hot, or put it in the fridge to cool down.  Personally, I couldn’t wait (hence, the meltiness in the photograph). I did have some the next day though, when it was cold, and it had thickened up even more and was SO good.

This would also be a wonderful sauce over brownies alone, ice cream with brownies, a meringue, pound cake, or even over coffee cake in the morning.

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Dinner Party of Blue, White and Chocolate – Part III

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For dinner, I paired Ina Garten’s Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli with her Sole Meuniere. Yes, I know you’re not supposed to put cheese with fish and I. Don’t. Care. I love parmesan in any situation, and the pine nuts and lemon on the broccoli matched perfectly with the lemon flavor on the sole.

It was a gorgeous meal, and honestly, so simple that I often make it for myself when I feel like putting a little extra effort into my dinner and making something special.

Sole Meuniere (adapated from Ina Garten)

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vege Sal
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 fresh sole fillets (3-4 ounces is a good size, but you can buy them as large as will fit in your pan)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Combine the flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon Vege Sal, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large shallow plate. Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels.

Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a large saute pan over medium heat until it starts to brown. Dredge 2 sole fillets in the seasoned flour on both sides and place them in the hot butter. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes. Turn carefully with a large spatula and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. While the second side cooks, add 1 teaspoon of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the pan (be careful that you don’t add much more than 3 tablespoons, or it will be too lemony). Plate the fish and pour any remaining sauce over them. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

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Dinner Party of Blue, White and Chocolate – Part II

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Here is my appetizer table from my most recent dinner party! I love presenting apps on a simple wood cutting board.

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Appetizers:

Click here for the recipe for the puff pastry tarts, adapted from Ina Garten.  This is a very Barefoot Contessa-heavy menu because her recipes are just soooo good and I can’t help it.

Instead of the large puff pastry rounds she recommends, I cut smaller squares from the rolled-out puff pastry and tucked them into muffin pan cups that I had sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. I pricked the bottom of the puff pastry with a fork so it wouldn’t rise, and then layered the onions, tomato and cheeses according to the recipe.

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Blue Cheese Crackers (adapted from Ina Garten)

Really these are thicker than most store-bought crackers. They have more of a Melba toast crunch to them.

  • 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature – make sure the butter is very soft.  Microwave for five seconds if you have to.
  • 8 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 12 ounces with rind), at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 extra-large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Using a mixer, cream the butter and Stilton together for 2-3 minutes, or until smooth and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, salt and pepper and mix until it’s in large clumps, under 1 minute. Add a few more tablespoons of flour if it is still extremely creamy (as mine was). Add 1-2 tablespoons of water and mix until it all sticks together (gather it together with your hands to see if it holds).

Dump the dough onto a floured board, press it into a ball, and roll into a 12-inch long log. Brush the log completely with the egg wash. Spread the walnuts in a square on a cutting board and roll the log back and forth in the walnuts, pressing firmly so the walnuts are pressed into the dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 4 days.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the log 3/8ths-inch thick with a sharp knife and place the crackers on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes, then remove pan from the oven and flip all the crackers, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Cool and serve at room temperature with a quince or fig jam, or cheeses.

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