New Year's Breakfast Pizza

The morning after our New Year's Eve party we all needed a protein and bread filled breakfast. I was amazingly clear-headed after a night of drinks, 8 kids, 8 adults, fire crackers and sparklers, so I put my quick thinking to the test and came up with this deliciousness. I used my go-to no rise pizza dough, whipped up a white sauce and tossed on some left-over turkey. Voila! A New Year's breakfast feast. We served this up with some fresh fruit salad to balance it out.

Pizza Dough:
3 C flour
2 1/4 t yeast
2 T oil
1 t salt
1T sugar
1 C warm water

Preheat oven to 375. Mix all the ingredients together and pat into a pizza pan. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool gently while preparing the toppings.

White Sauce:
4 T butter
4 T flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 T milk

In a pan heat the butter until melted. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Whisk in flour until a nice golden roux forms. Slowly add in milk and bring to a boil, whisking, for a full minute. Remove from heat to let thicken. If it doesn't thicken, over medium heat add in 1 T flour and whisk. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toppings:
Cheese - I used a tangy cheese from Ireland, but a creamy goat cheese, or feta would work too.
Cherry Tomatoes
Turkey
*You could use anything for toppings - spinach, bacon, arugala, sausage, onions, etc. Experiment!

Lastly, take 8 eggs (or however many you want and will fit) and crack over the pizza. Make sure there is a nice high edge crust so the eggs don't run off the pizza. Sprinkle with a bit more cheese and any herbs you want. Bake 15 minutes for soft, runny eggs (watch carefully so as not to overcook them). Bake 20 minutes for hard eggs.

Eggs Benedict Deluxe

The team of Baked Baking came together again, this time with an added set of hands, and I think we created one of the best meals together yet. We had a house full of friends with hungry mouths and they played music while we created this delight. Overall, it was a very inspiring and delightful morning, and the flavors of this delicious meal still linger in my mouth.

I have not included amounts for the ingredients because it all depends on how many people you are making it for.

EGGS BENEDICT DELUXE

English muffins, toasted (1 per person)
Eggs (2 per person)
Prosciutto, thinly sliced (2 slices per person)
Shitake Mushrooms, sliced
Spinach (for 7 we used 4 cups of uncooked)
Asparagus, sliced into match sticks
Scallions, chopped
4 T butter
Garlic, sliced
Onion powder
Salt & Pepper
Gouda Cheese, sliced
Goat cheese

The first step is to poach the eggs, two for each person being served. Bring a large pot of water to boil, adding 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Once it's boiling, drop it down to a rolling simmer - right before dropping an egg into the water, use a whisk and create a whirlpool. Cook each egg for 2 minutes and immediately drop in an ice bath - a large bowl filled with ice water. To reheat eggs once the rest of the brunch is complete, drop each egg into simmering water for 30 seconds.

In a frying pan or on a griddle, cook the slices of prosciutto until crispy. Set aside in a warm oven wrapped in tinfoil.

In a large skillet, melt butter and toss in Shitake mushrooms, cooking until brown. Add in asparagus, garlic, cook for 5 minutes until soft. Next add in the scallions and spinach and cook until wilted, toss with onion powder, salt and pepper. Keep on low.



HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
This is enough for about 5 Eggs Benedict's.

4 egg yolks
10 T butter
1 T fresh lemon juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp white pepper
Salt to taste

Beat egg yolks and lemon in a stainless steel bowl until fluffy and they are doubled in size. Meanwhile, melt butter in small sauce pan. Temper the eggs with 1/2 the melted butter, stirring constantly.
Pour eggs and butter back in sauce pan and heat on low stirring constantly. Add spices, and season accordingly. Stir until done.

To construct the eggs benedict:

Toast the English muffins. Place the prosciutto on top of each muffin piece, then a piece of Gouda on top of it. Spoon vegetables on top, then a poached egg, drop a gob of goat cheese on top of it all. Cover with Hollandaise sauce. Serve with a side salad and a mimosa.

Get Your Flax On Bread

I don't usually post recipes as basic as bread, but this one was too good to pass up. I've been baking our own bread as of late out of necessity, and it's hit or miss with the quality. I am admittedly not the best baker, but I want to be. So I try, try and try again. Finally, I have completed a loaf of bread I can be proud of. I don't have any pictures, and my crappy camera wouldn't do it justice anyway, but trust me, it was gorgeous looking. This can be adapted with other flours, but I think the combination here works perfectly.

Get Your Flax On Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

1 C warm water
2 1/4 t yeast
2 T sugar
1/2 C flax meal
2 1/2 C unbleached white flour
1 T safflower oil
1 t salt

In a bowl proof yeast by pouring water over it and stirring in sugar. Let sit at lest 10 minutes, until the entire top of it is frothy. Add flax meal, flour, salt and oil into yeast mixture and knead about 10 minutes. You can use your bread machine for this part if you like. Grease a bowl and place dough in it, covered, somewhere warm and dark to let rise. When dough has doubled, punch it down gently and place it in a well greased bread pan. Set in warm dark place to rise again, until top is about an inch or two over the pan. Place in oven and turn oven on 375 to heat. The bread will rise a bit more as the oven heats up. Cook 25 - 30 minutes, until the top is a golden brown. Dump out of pan on a cooling rack and let cool completely before you cut.

Hurricane Soup with Dumplings

Last night, as Hurricane Sandy blew through New York and threatened the Maine coast, I was trying to cook soup before the power went out. I wanted to have something on hand that I could heat quickly outside on the propane stove if we lost our power, so I rustled through the fridge and cupboard and gathered a bunch of filling ingredients. Lucky for us, the power did not go out and we were able to have the soup tonight, cooked right in the kitchen. Originally this was just a hodge-podge soup, but when I went to heat it up for tonight, I thought I should add something special to it, to celebrate making it through the Hurricane. We were blessed here in Maine, unlike our friends and family in New York City, who are still without power.

This soup is really open to interpretation when it comes to the vegetables, but the combination here made for a delicious, rooty soup that stuck to our bones and warmed our bellies. The dumplings were a first for me - I have not only never cooked them, but I haven't eaten them since I was a child. I'm not sure why, but I always had an inversion to the mere thought of dumplings. Boy am I glad that I pushed myself past that and whipped up these bad boys tonight. What a perfect addition to any soup. I would strongly suggest cooking this soup, then letting it sit for a day. I didn't strain the fat from cooking the beef, so after sitting in my fridge all day, there was a thin layer of fat over the top. I stirred this back in and it made for a delicious, thick and hearty soup.

Hurricane Soup
serves 4

1T safflower oil
1/4 C onion, chopped
2 T garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 bulbs fennel, sliced
1 C carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 1/2 C black beans (I cooked mine the day before from dried beans, but you just use a can of black beans)
2 C spinach, chopped
1/2 C groats
6 C stock
1/2 C coffee
2 T dried Italian seasoning mix (parsley, oregano, etc.)
salt & pepper

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat and saute onions and garlic until garlic starts to brown. Add in ground beef and cook until brown all the way through - do not strain soup, keep the fat in there. Stir in fennel and cook 2 minutes. Pour in stock and coffee, toss in carrots and raise heat to medium high, gently bringing to a boil. Once it boils, drop it down to a medium low. Cook until carrots are tender, but not cooked through, just about 5 minutes. Add in groats and cook for 20 minutes until they are soft. Add in Italian seasonings, salt and pepper and black beans. If you are eating this tonight, cook for 5 minutes, then add spinach and cook for another 5 minutes. Drop in dumplings (recipe to follow), and cook, partly covered, at a  gentle boil, for 20 minutes. If you are not serving tonight, do not add spinach, but cover soup and put in the fridge. When you pull it out to cook, warm pot of soup over medium low heat until warm. Add the spinach and cook 5 minutes, then drop in dumplings as stated above.

Dumplings
(makes 10 golf ball sized)

1 C wheat flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
T butter
1/2 C milk
2 T Italian Seasoning
1/4 C shredded cheese

In a bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder and Italian seasoning. Cut in butter, and then toss in cheese. Add milk and mix thoroughly. Roll into balls and drop in gently boiling soup. Loosely cover the pot and simmer soup with dumplings for 20 minutes.

Shepherd's Pie for Food Day

Today, October 24th is Food Day - a nationwide celebration and movement for healthy, sustainable and affordable food. I decided that our dinner was going to be 100% local, to show our support for local farmers' and meat suppliers. We haven't had Shepherd's Pie in quite some time, and I know that it's my kids favorite. I happened to have some ground beef in the freezer from Bisson's Meat Market in Topsham, and a bunch of yummy veggies from our CSA at Little Ridge Farm, especially some delicious potatoes that would make a perfect topping for the Pie. I layered my pie in rotating fall colors for fun, too! But the best part about Shepherd's Pie is that there's no single rule for vegetables, just use what's in your house and what you enjoy.

Earlier in the day, I posted on Facebook that it was Food Day and asked everyone what they were doing to celebrate. Maggie, my partner in crime for Baked Baking, sent me a message from New Hampshire to say that she was making some Shepherd's Pie with venison! Without even planning, we were making nearly the same meal for dinner. I decided on the spot that we should each write down our recipe and post it on the blog. Even being a state away can't keep us from whipping up some yummy and inspirational grub. Here is my version of Shepherd's Pie. Maggie's will be coming soon. Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie
(serves 4-6)

1 lb ground beef
1/2 C BBQ sauce (I used my friend's No Susquehanna Sauce)
2 T soy sauce
1/3 C leeks, white parts only, sliced
1/4 C green sweet pepper, chopped
1 C butternut squash, boiled & mashed
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 C broccoli, chopped
2 C sorrel, chopped
1 C carrots, sliced
2 C potatoes, cubed
8 T butter
salt & pepper
2 cloves garlic
1/2 C cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella)
Water/Stock/Broth

Preheat oven to 350. In a skillet, brown ground beef, then add BBQ sauce and soy sauce, mix well. Place in greased deep dish pie plate. In same skillet, saute leeks and pepper until soft, then spoon over meat mixture. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, place peeled butternut squash in water/stock/broth, just until covered and boil until soft. Mash with 1 T butter and nutmeg and spread over leeks and peppers. In same skillet you cooked beef, heat 1 T butter and saute broccoli and sorrel until soft - sorrel will cook quick, just keep stirring until broccoli is tender. Spoon this mixture over squash. In same skillet, heat 2 T butter and toss in carrots, cooking until brown on all sides. Add in 1/2 C water/stock/broth and cook until liquid is absorbed. Spoon carrots over broccoli mixture. Bring a large pot of water/stock/broth to boil and add in potatoes and garlic. When potatoes are soft, drain and mash with 3 T butter and cheese, salt and pepper. Spread over the top of the pie and dot with remaining butter. Bake for 35 minutes.

Gravy
1/4 C onion, chopped
2 T butter
2 T flour
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 C stock/broth
1 T tahini
salt & pepper

In a small saucepan, heat butter and saute onions for 2 minutes. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Cook for another 5 minutes over medium heat. Add soy sauce and stock/broth and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Add in tahini and mix thoroughly. Use a food processor, blender or hand held mixer and puree gravy. Sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste.

Serve Shepherd's Pie hot, topped with gravy. Bon Appetit!

Huevos Ranchubby

The Baked Baking team was back in the kitchen again this weekend, raring to cook up something yummy. I sent Maggie a message about making savory crepes for our brunch, showed up with a bag of farm fresh veggies, and the rest just came together. This morning, tired from the night before and ready for a feast, Maggie and I hauled our sore, sleepy bones into the kitchen with nothing more than an idea - Huevos Rancheros in a crepe! I brought some rainbow chard, she had black beans and cheese...it seemed like the logical choice. The name emerged when we offered Maggie's husband a sneak taste of the lime infused crepes and he exclaimed: That was so good I got a chubby from it! So, ladies, if you want to help your man pitch a tent, then Hueves Ranchubby should be on your next brunch menu.

Before getting into the recipe, however, I'd like to explain Baked Baking's method of cooking. First off, we never have a full plan of what we are going to make. It's more like we have a general idea, we pillage the cupboards and fridge, we goof off, we mess up, and then voila, we serve food. The idea is to use up extras around the kitchen, and let the food take us where it wants to go. Along the way we will fill the house with laughter and love.

Huevos Ranchubby

(serves 4-6)

Filling:

1/2 C onion, chopped

2 C rainbow chard, chopped (stems sliced thinly and set aside

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1/2 C tomato, chopped

1 portobella mushroom, chopped

1 C black beans

1/2 C bacon, chopped

2 T butter

1 t salt

2 T lime juice

1/2 t pepper

1/2 cayenne pepper

1 T garlic powder

2 T cumin

2/3 C water

Lime-Infused Crepes:

2 eggs

1 C milk

2/3 C flour

1 1/2 t oil

pinch of salt

zest from 1/2 lime

4 T butter

...The Rest

8-12 eggs (plan for 2 per person)

1-2 t vinegar

1 C cheddar cheese, shredded

sour cream

salsa

1/2 lime

Poach eggs in boiling water and vinegar (instructions here), then set in a bowl full of ice and water and place in freezer. To reheat once the filling and crepes are done, simply bring a pot of water to boil, drop eggs in and cook 30 seconds.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except butter and mix with a beater until smooth. Add zest from lime and incorporate well. Heat 8 inch skillet over medium heat and melt a 1/2 T butter until it starts to turn golden. Pour in about 1/4 C crepe mix into skillet and gently tip it around so that the crepe fills out to the sides of the pan. Cook about 2-3 minutes, or until bottom is starting to brown. Gently flip over the crepe and cook another minute on other side. Set in a warm oven on a plate. Repeat until all crepes are made, leaving stack in the oven until ready to fill.

In a large skillet, heat 2 T butter over medium heat and add onions. Turn heat to medium low and cook until they are caramelized, stirring often. Add in chard stems and jalapeno, and cook 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, mushrooms, chard leaves and black beans. In a small bowl whisk water, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour into pan and bring heat to medium high. All this to cook until all liquid has been absorbed. Check flavor of filling and adjust as necessary. Push all the filling to one side of the pan and add bacon into empty side. Cook until just before it starts to crisp up, then mix filling and bacon together in pan.

Now to build Huevos Ranchubby's - lay a crepe flat and put 1/3 C filling in it, a poached egg, and a sprinkle of cheese. Roll one end over the filling and egg, fold the sides up over those, then roll towards other end. Continue this with all of the crepes, filling and eggs. Squeeze a bit of lime juice over them and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Baked Baking Presents....

This page is turning a new leaf. It will no longer be the simple musings of my day to day recipes, but a collaboration with my friend Maggie, as we take you into the silliness of Baked Baking. The idea emerged on Labor Day weekend, with a spur of the moment brunch, followed by dinner and Melon Risotto Rolls. Maggie is a self-proclaimed control freak in the kitchen, that doesn't like people getting in her way. I am the opposite, and find enjoyment in a clustered kitchen - but I'm also a control freak, and tend to end up doing most of the cooking myself, even if others are competent. But when we found each other, everything changed. There was an instant rhythm about our cooking styles that was apparent to everyone in the house. Baked Baking emerged from that.

Baked Baking Presents Brunch Casserole