Voting Time!

It's been a bit crazy over here this past week... I posted on a Friday, Saturday and Monday!    Oh wait, is it only me that thought that was strange?  That's ok, I was a little thrown off with traveling and contest deadlines...   So perhaps to ease some stress you want to do me a favor?  Pretty please with sugar on top?  And a cherry?  Maybe sprinkles are your thing?  I could do that!  Ooh, how about salted caramel sauce?

All you have to do is click over to Marx Foods and vote for my Blueberry Cherry Crisp with Grains of Paradise Ice Cream!  See, that was easy, wasn't it?  Thanks a bunch!  I'm sad that the crisp is all gone...  as are my blueberries from last summer.

At least I still have some potato pancakes left from my awesome breakfast--yes they reheat well!  Just pop them in the oven and they'll be warm and crisp in no time :)

I'd be amiss not to mention my spicy peanut butter ice cream too, just in case you missed it!  Balanced out with some cinnamon shortbread, this would make for an excellent end to a curry or thai meal.



Thanks everyone, you're the best ;)    Hope everyone has a great week!

A Better Breakfast

I think it's no secret by now that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.   So when I heard of the Build A Better Breakfast with Eggs contest put on by Kitchen Play and the American Egg Board, I knew I wanted to come up with something delicious to enter!

My inspiration came from a recent (delicious) brunch at Zaftigs.  In my take on their Empire Eggs, a potato pancake is topped with spinach, smoked salmon and a poached egg.  The restaurant intends theirs to be served with a hollandaise sauce, but I opted to let the runny yolk be the sauce.  My taste buds were swooning again, and I'm glad I can recreate this at home any time I want :)

Potato Pancakes w/Spinach, Smoked Salmon & Poached Eggs
Recipe by Shannon, inspired by Zaftigs
Yield:  3 stacks

Feel free to use your own favorite recipe for potato pancakes, or use the traditional frying method if you prefer!

For the potato pancakes:
1 lg potato (Mine was ~14oz and I left the peel on)
1 sm onion (I used a ~4.5oz white onion)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1t kosher salt  (I might cut this back to 3/4t next time)
1/8-1/4t freshly ground black pepper
1/4t smoked paprika
1/2t baking powder
3T flour (AP or white whole wheat)

For assembly:
handful of baby spinach
3oz smoked salmon
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 400deg.  Bring a large pot of water to just under a boil over medium heat.

Using a box grater or your food processor, shred the potato and onion.  Using cheesecloth (or towel), squeeze out all the liquid you can from the potato/onion mixture.

Once the potato/onion mixture is good and dry, transfer mixture to a medium bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Form mixture into 3 patties (~1/2cup each).

Heat a cast iron skillet (or your favorite nonstick pan) over medium-high heat.  Once the pan is good and hot, add bit of oil (extra virgin, canola, coconut...) and once that has heated up, the potato pancakes.  Cook the pancakes 3-4min/side.  At this point, they should have a good crust on them, but as I formed them a bit thick I put them in the oven for another 3-5min to make sure they were cooked through.  (These potato pancakes can be kept in a warm oven until assembly)

While the potato pancakes are cooking, begin poaching the eggs in the water (should be barely simmering).  Add a little bit of white vinegar to the water (I didn't measure, this is supposed to help keep the white together).  Crack an egg into a small dish or ramekin, and slowly add it into the simmering water.  If your pot is big enough, repeat with remaining eggs.  For a nice runny yolk, cook for 3 minutes.  Remove eggs from the water with a slotted spoon.  If you do this ahead of time, the poached eggs can be transferred to cold water until you're ready to serve.

To assemble, transfer potato pancakes to a plate, top each with a handful of spinach, 1oz smoked salmon and then the poached egg.  Served with fruit for breakfast or a side salad for lunch or dinner!

Don't you want to dig in?

The Infinitely Variable Omelet

Omelets are a great main course. Perfect for breakfast but also satisfying as lunch, dinner or a snack.

Easy to make, infinitely variable, filling, healthy and affordable, they are warming and delicious.

Just about any ingredients that can be sauteed can be used as a filling. (Why saute the fillings? To eliminate excess water and caramelize the ingredients.)  I like mine with cheese, but that's a matter of personal choice.

For breakfast this morning, I made my wife a vegetable omelet with spinach and shiitake mushrooms while I had a bit of bacon in mine.

Bacon Omelet with Comte Cheese and Parsley

Use any kind of frying pan, but a nonstick pan makes everything easier and a nice crust forms on the outside of the omelet.

For a one-person omelet, use a 9" pan. An omelet for two requires a doubling of the recipe ingredients and a 12" pan.

Serves: 1

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 large or extra large eggs, farmers' market fresh

2 tablespoons milk, half and half or cream

2 teaspoons sweet (unsalted) butter

1 slice raw bacon, finely chopped

1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons onion, roughly chopped

1/4 cup grated cheese (comte, cheddar, munster, or swiss)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Method

Beat the eggs with the milk and set aside.

Heat the nonstick frying pan on a medium flame, melt 1 teaspoon butter and saute the bacon, parsley and onion until lightly browned. With a silicon or rubber spatula, remove the sauteed vegetables and reserve.

Return the pan to the flame. Melt the other teaspoon of butter, add the eggs, swirling them over the bottom of the pan. Season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle grated cheese on one half of the omelet. Spoon the sauteed vegetables over the cheese.

Let the eggs set and the cheese melt, about 2 minutes. Using the spatula, gently fold the "empty" side of the omelet onto the side that has the cheese and sauteed vegetables.

Slide onto a plate. Serve with toast or fresh fruit and a hot beverage.

Ridiculous II

Talk about the 11th hour...  My box of goodies from Marx Foods for the Ridiculously Delicious Challenge arrived when I was in Philly for work, so I returned with only a couple of days before I was supposed to post my creation.  And one of those I happened to be having some friends over for dinner.  A dinner which I was cooking...  oops.

A day to stew (and smell!) over the ingredients, most of which I had never used before!  I went back and forth between a few ideas, but eventually settled on one.  Oh wait, my ice cream maker bowl isn't in the freezer.  Oh, I need to chill the ice cream base ahead of time!  ...and I'm dog-sitting this weekend.  Eek.  Can I add some hours to the day??

I really wanted to play with the grains of paradise, which are described as being spicy, peppery grains with hints of citrus, cardamom or nutmeg depending on who was talking about them!  I decided to use them to flavor an ice cream, and then pair it with something sweet.  The sweet?  A blueberry crisp, studded with dried tart cherries and a little bit of Szechuan pepper just to make it a little interesting :) 

Blueberry Cherry Crisp with Grains of Paradise Ice Cream
Recipe by Shannon
Serves 2-3, easily doubled for an 8 or 9" sq pan

For the crisp filling:
2 1/2c blueberries (fresh or frozen, unthawed)
1/4c dried tart cherries
2T coconut sugar

pinch of salt

1/8t Szechuan peppercorns, crushed

2-3T flour (AP or white whole wheat)

For the crisp topping:
1/2c oats
1/4c flour (AP or white whole wheat)
1/4c coconut sugar
1/2t cinnamon
pinch salt
2T butter, melted
3T (heaping) yogurt (I used a goat's milk yogurt)

For the ice cream:
1 can light coconut milk
1/2c coconut sugar*(or white/brown sugar)
pinch salt
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
1t-1T coarse cracked grains of paradise
1T arrowroot (or cornstarch)

For the crisp:
Preheat the oven to 400deg.

In a large bowl, combine filling ingredients and mix well so the berries are evenly coated with flour.  Pour filling into a 4"square dish.

Add oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and mix well.  Stir in melted butter and yogurt and stir until mixture comes together.  Sprinkle over fruit.

Place baking dish in the oven and bake for 20-25min, until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden.  Let crisp set for ~15min after baking.  Serve warm or room temperature, with Grains of paradise ice cream.

For the ice cream:
Reserve 2-3T coconut milk.

To a medium saucepan add coconut milk, sugar, salt, vanilla bean and grains of paradise.  Heat slowly until mixture just comes to a boil.  To the reserved coconut milk, whisk in arrowroot (make sure there are no lumps).  Remove paradise coconut milk from the stove and stir in arrowroot slurry.  Let cool (refrigerate, can be prepared ahead of time...  if you have time!!).

When the base has cooled, it's ready to churn in your ice cream maker (according to manufacturers directions), making sure to strain the mixture before loading it into the bowl.  Serve with blueberry cherry crisp.

*If you're making this ice cream to eat on its own, I'd use 3/4c white or brown sugar

Anyone have fun plans for the weekend??

Things Are Heating Up!

Nick, Brandi, Sagan and Katrina are hosting another Peanut Butter Challenge (#10!), and I finally got around to submit an entry :)

Although it appears that I may have gone off the deep end...  I made a Spicy Peanut Butter Ice Cream.  I just had to try it ;)   Definitely interesting, I paired it with a cinnamon shortbread so it didn't swing too savory, and I could see it working at the end of a Thai meal!   There's a little heat, so it'll definitely warm you up :)

Spicy Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Recipe by Shannon

This came out with quite a kick, for a more subtle flavor substitute 1/2 regular peanut butter for the spicy variety.  You could also increase the amount of sugar in recipe, too!  For a textural contrast, I almost threw in some chopped crystallized ginger, but realized I was out, so feel free to use it if you have some!

1 can light coconut milk
1/3c spicy peanut butter (like this one)
1/4c sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/2t cinnamon
1T arrowroot (or cornstarch)
3/4t vanilla

Reserve 2T coconut milk.

Add the rest of the coconut milk, peanut butter, sucanat and cinnmon to a medium saucepan.  Heat over medium-low heat, until the sugar has dissolved and the peanut butter loosens.  Whisk arrowroot into reserved coconut milk until there are no lumps.  Just as the coconut milk comes to a boil, remove from the heat, stir in vanilla and reserved milk/starch mixture.

When the mixture has cooled a bit, run through the blender and then refrigerate until mixture is cold.  Run through your ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's directions.  Serve with a little something sweet ;)

Cinnamon Shortbread
adapted from Mare & RecipeGirl

1 stick butter, softened
1/2c mild-flavored oil
1/2c sugar
1/4c sucanat (or brown sugar)
1t vanilla
2c flour (all-purpose or white whole wheat)
1/4c cornstarch
1/2t salt
1T Vietnamese cinnamon (more if you're using another kind)

Preheat oven to 350deg.  Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer (or other).  Beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add oil and continue to beat until well incorporated.  Add sugars and vanilla, and mix well.

In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon).  Add to stand mixer and mix until a dough forms.  You can bake this off in a 9x13 pan or 2 8" cake pans, your choice.  I divided the mixture into two cake pans (sprayed with cooking spray).  Bake in preheated oven, 20-25min, until edges are beginning to turn brown.  Remove and place on a cooling rack until completely cool.  Cut into desired shapes and serve!  Store extras in an airtight container.

Would you try this ice cream?  Or should we just say that I've gone off the deep end?  :)

Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

Continuing with the meyer lemon love this week, I've got another winning recipe!  I made mini cupcakes for a friend's baby shower and fell in love.  In fact, I've made a few batches :)

Due to the use of coconut milk, these are vegan, if you're looking for that sort of thing ;)  Light and delicate in texture, the flavor was bright and not too sweet.  I topped them with a little lemon glaze, but it's up to you!

Meyer Lemon Cupcakes
slightly adapted from Love & Olive Oil
Yield:  12 cupcakes or ~32 mini cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup oil
1 cup full fat coconut milk  (full fat really is better!!)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of 2 meyer lemons
1 teaspoon meyer lemon juice
meyer lemon glaze, see below

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix. Whisk together oil, coconut milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth.

Prepare mini muffin tin with cooking spray.  Fill cupcake tins with ~1T batter (just about 2/3 full).  Bake for 10-12min or until golden (a toothpick inserted to the center should come clean).  Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.  [For regular size cupcakes, fill with 3T batter and bake 20-25min]

For a lemon glaze, I just whisked together ~1/2c powdered sugar and the juice of 1/2 meyer lemon.  Adjust with more powdered sugar or lemon juice to achieve desired consistency and drizzle over cupcakes.

Have you jumped on the meyer lemon bandwagon?

Meyer Lemon Curd

A hybrid lemon and mandarin orange, meyer lemons have such an interesting, complex flavor and I haven't been able to get enough!  My mom is a huge fan of lemon curd, so when I saw meyer lemons at costco, I immediately picked them up (without thinking about when I'd have the time to make it!).

Lemon curd might be the best way to showcase this flavor, and I especially loved this version I made using vanilla sugar.

Meyer Lemon Curd
adapted from Baking Bites

A versatile spread, try this lemon curd on toast, cheesecake, or your favorite quickbread!

1c meyer lemon juice (from ~5 lemons)
zest of 4-5 lemons
3/4c vanilla sugar*
3 eggs, RT
1/2T vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine lemon juice, zest and sugar.  Heat until sugar has dissolved, creating a lemon simple syrup.  Remove from heat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 3 room temp eggs.  s l o w l y drizzle in lemon simple syrup with the mixer on low speed (you don't want to scramble the eggs!).  Increase speed to medium and beat for 1-2min.

Strain mixture back into saucepan and heat over low heat until mixture becomes thick, whisking occasionally.  Just as lemon curd is coming to a boil, remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Once cool, transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge.

*To make vanilla sugar, I combined an empty vanilla bean pod and maybe 4-6c of granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor.  After a quick whirl, the vanilla bean had broken up and the sugar became finer (more akin to powdered sugar than granulated sugar).  If substituting regular granulated sugar in this recipe, you might want to increase the sugar up to 1c.

What would you put your lemon curd on?