Fluffy French Toast

We drove down to Los Angeles for Steve’s appointment on Friday May 13 for a lung biopsy that the ENT Doctors insisted he get before they can diagnose what is going on with his throat. The appointment was for 8am so we stayed over on Thursday at our usual hotel , "The Royal Palace" in Westwood Village near UCLA and close to the VA as well. A palace it is not but they redid the rooms and it is pleasant and clean. Friday was a very long day with 7 ½ hours in the hospital. After lung biopsies you have to be observed for several hours to make sure the lung did not collapse then there was the long wait to put in the travel allowance and finally back to the hotel for a much needed rest.
Saturday we drove north, stopping in Santa Barbara for lunch at our fav place, The Brewhouse. They always have the best hearty soups as well as a plethora of sandwiches, salads and other main course lunch items. That day it was "Green Posole" chuck full of posole and pork. Homeward bound after lunch. It was still windy and cold but it was so good to be back in our own bed that night.

Neither of us can sleep very well. Steve gets these coughing spasms and is up practically choking. I was so worried as they told him to rest 3-4 days and if he couldn’t breathe or was gasping, to get to the emergency room as the lung probably had collapsed. Great. We made it through the night and he seemed fine.
Brunch was going to happen and we were both looking forward to our, now "ritual" Sunday mornings. As he sleeps I am up putzing around. I turn on the Cooking Channel to watch these guys cooking on beaches or in the street in foreign countries while sitting or squatting down and wonder why I watch that stuff. At least it is a diversion from the usual Food Channel bores.

I love to set our table. It is a simple presentation but choosing the place mats, napkins, plates and champagne flutes really sets the stage. The chairs are placed around the table so we both have ocean views as opposed to evening TV views.
While the food is simmering or baking away I make the bed and get dressed. Our bedroom is visible from the dining area and how gross it would be to sit and look at last night’s rumpled bed covers plus eating while in my sweats doesn’t do it either. .

I had a nice chunk of my girlfriend, Vilia’s, homemade cinnamon dried fruit bread and had been thinking about French Toast ever since I tasted it. My recipe is pretty much a “Souffleed” French Toast but I love that I called it “Fluffy“ back in the 80’s when I wrote the recipe. The eggs are separated, whites beaten to stiff peaks, yolks seasoned and beaten until thick then combined with the whites so it looks like souffle batter.

                                                             "Fluffy French Toast"
3 lg. eggs
1 T. sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cardamon or allspice
¼ c. heavy cream
4-6 slices good bread
1 T. butter
1 T. oil ( I use grapeseed as it has a neutral flavor)

Separate eggs. Beat whites with the sugar until stiff peaks form. Whip yolks with spices and cream until they are thick and lemon colored. Fold whites into yolks. Pour half of the batter into a shallow dish or casserole. Lay the slices of bread over it and spoon the rest of the batter over spreading it between the slices to coat thoroughly. Set aside for 20-30 min so the bread will absorb the batter.

In a large skillet, heat butter and oil. Saute the bread until it is toasted on both sides and puffy. Keep warm.

When I first made this I served it with “Mama’s Fruit Salad” from Mama’s Café in San Francisco. It was one of ours and our friends favorite brunches which is how this recipe has survived over 25 years. The fruit I cut up today was more “in season”, blueberries, strawberries, white peaches, nectarines, mango and a not quite in season melon. I tossed it with a few spoonfuls of my Roasted Rhubarb that is still hanging in there in the frig.

Trader Joe’s Chicken breakfast sausages were sauteed up in a little oil until browned then anointed with a douse of chicken stock and a sprinkling of my brown sugar-chipotle rub. I covered the little skillet and heated it until bubbly. Now don’t think this is weird, but when I have leftover cooked bacon I freeze it. So, having about 3 good looking spiced bacon slices fresh out of the freezer, I laid them over the top of the sausages and placed them in a 350* oven just before I started to saute the French Toast. The glazed sausages and the bacon heated perfectly without drying out or getting soggy.

I kicked up the Organic maple syrup from T.J’s by adding a handful of frozen berries and heating it so it turned into “Berry Syrup”.

We popped a bottle of the Orange labeled Blason de Bourgoune Cremant Brut Reserve from Trader Joe's and had a rather somber toast to Steve's health.

He just kicked back and watched sports of sorts on the flat screen. I prepped rhubarb for marmalade. Whole Foods in Westwood had organic rhubarb so I snagged a few lbs.
I follow a few blogs devoted to canning and preserving, Tigress in a Jam, What Julia Ate and Hitchhiking to Heaven. One of these days, I thought I better get in the game and share a few of my mils of recipes. Starting today I guess!

Huevos for Mother's Day

Today is Mother’s day and we invited our friend Sharon over to celebrate since her daughter lives in England, husband is spending today with his family and she would be alone. She is a lot of fun to have over and loves cooking and eating. As soon as she walked in the door with her “bag of bubbly” we popped it open, she sat on a stool at the stove top island and we start laughing and talking up a storm. I wanted to really make a special Brunch with lots of stuff today and one that my own Mother would have loved were she still with us. I came up with this menu:

Huevos Rancheros with black bean chili over corn tortillas

Sliced avocados and cilantro leaves for garnish

Breakfast sausages, browned and poached in Chile verde salsa

Plate of composed fresh fruit (no fruit hash today)

Spiced biscuits with Strawberry jam, Roasted rhubarb and sweet butter

Bottles of chilled sparkling wine-Prosecco and Cremant de Bourgougne

Hazelnut-cinnamon coffee & Raspberry Tea

I am on a kick to clean out my freezer and pantry of “older stuff”. There happened to be two bags of last season’s roasted heirloom tomatoes, a bag of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, last week's breakfast sausages and corn tortillas. Out they came to defrost overnight. I was not quite remembering the seasonings in the tomatoes but thought there was at least garlic so I could use them for my Salsa Ranchera. If anyone had seen these bags of soggy defrosted tomatoes they probably would have thrown them away. Not I!  I dumped the whole mess in the blender noting a few leaves of basil and, yes, roasted garlic and let it rip. Since I usually roast these tomatoes in olive oil there was that too. It looked hopeful as it smoothed into a dark reddish-orangey puree. The gold tomatoes contributed to the orange color and the dark caramelized skins made it dark. I heated a little peanut oil in a skillet and poured in the puree to cook down a little. Since it was quite thick to begin with I only had to heat it through. This was going to be transformed into Salsa Ranchera for a Huevos Rancheros brunch. I scooped out 2 cups of the puree into a pint Ball jar for another use and added chicken stock, a sprig of epazote and seasonings to the remainder. As it reduced and the pools of oil formed, I knew it was going to be a winner. This Salsa Ranchera is my go to salsa. It is good for said Huevos but also good to poach chiles rellenos in, and, as I did for many years, as a pizza sauce for “Joe’s Taco Lounge” Mexican pizzas in Mill Valley. The difference is using roasted tomatoes as opposed to fresh or canned. The salsa turned out spicy, earthy- sort of mole-ish. I have added a few notes to  this recipe to make it “earthier” if you want. 

Salsa Ranchera

1 28 oz can fire roasted (or not)tomatoes, drained-or use your own oven roasted tomatoes to equal 3 ¼ c.
½ small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
Opt. 1 small chile Serrano or ½ larger one
Vegetable oil
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper
Opt. ½ tsp. ancho chile powder
A few leaves epazote
2-3 c. chicken stock
½ tsp salt or to taste
Blend tomatoes, onion, garlic and chile, if used, in a blender until smooth. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the puree until it is slightly thickened. Add spices and stock. Cook to reduce, about 15 min. Season with salt.
Notes: For a smokier version, toast the onion, garlic and chile on a comal until soft and browned before adding to the blender.
The amount of stock depends on what you are using this for. A thinner salsa is required for Chiles Rellenos for instance. Somewhat thicker for pizza sauce and medium consistency for Huevos Rancheros. It freezes very well.

I had so much fun with this menu. The Salsa Ranchera was heated up in one of my Mexican Casuelas which I put on a diffuser over the gas burner. I forgot that I hadn’t used this casserole in awhile and should have soaked it in water before exposing it to direct heat. It heated up slowly and all was fine. Some where on a food show I saw a chef crack a bunch of eggs into a shallow bowl and slide the whole lot into simmering water to poach. Okay, we shall try this today! I cracked 6 large eggs into a shallow bowl and slid them into the bubbling salsa while Sharon and Steve looked on in amazement. A cover went on top and I timed them for 3 minutes. Since there were so many I knew they wouldn’t be done so I spooned some of the salsa over the top and put the lid back on and timed for another 3 min. They cooked perfectly and I was very careful to loosen them from the bottom of the casserole with a rubber spatula so they would slip out onto the waiting tortillas with ease.

Everyone into the salsa hot tub!

While the eggs are poaching heat corn tortillas for a few minutes on a sheet pan ( I used one per person). Sprinkle on convenience  product-Mexican shredded cheese or shred your own cheddar-jack cheese combo. Place them back in the oven until cheese is melted.
Place one tortilla on each plate, spread on some black bean chile, top with 2 eggs and spoon salsa ranchero over the top.

Easy Black Bean Chile
1 can organic black beans
1 can Herdez or other Salsa Casera
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. Mexican oregano
1 tsp. Ancho chile powder
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let simmer 15-20 min.

Meanwhile I heated some oil in a skillet and browned up the pork breakfast sausages. When they looked golden I poured ½ c. salsa verde over them, stirred up the browned bits and let this cook a little. Keep warm in a 250 oven, covered until ready to serve.

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No fruit hash this week! I cut up cantaloupe, beautiful strawberries, ripe mangoes and arranged them on one of my earthenware plates along with a big pile of local blueberries and some not so sweet local raspberries.
I kept the spiced biscuits warm in a colorful cotton dinner napkin. Slice one avocado onto a little plate along with some cilantro sprigs for garnishing the eggs.
I put out little pots of jam, butter and roasted rhubarb for the biscuits.

 Steve poured more bubbly and we sat down to enjoy our brunch.  These eggs were over the top good. The yolks melded into the smokey spicy salsa and the black beans brought another chile dimension to it all.
Our fruit was as sweet as could be and the chile verde poached sausages satisfied the carnivores.
Sharon is leaving next weekend for two weeks in Bangladesh on a mission to help children recover from Rotaplast surgery ( cleft palates). She will be one of the non medical volunteers that will comfort the children after surgery. This will entail long hours and who knows what kind of living conditions. What a fitting Mother’s Day tribute to a woman with a huge heart and a penchant for giving back. We wished her a safe journey with mucho hugs and kisses.
Did we really finish two bottles of sparkling wine? Whoa!!

Purple Haze'd

May Day!  When I worked in Chicago my former boss would recite this little ditty each May 1-"Hurray, hurray, the first of May, outdoor screwing starts today". Nice right?  He was Canadian, maybe that explains it... Anyway today is May Day Brunch Day.  I still have some flowers from my Easter bouquet which is nice since we were gone the better part of the week.
The Greater Los Angeles Veteran's Administration is our home away from home these days.  More tests for Steve's ailments.  We don't know what is going on but the Doctors ordered a battery of scans, grams and positrons.  He is back to having difficulties swallowing. We shall see what the results tell us at the end of this month.  Keeping the faith, friends!

Saturday we joined our friend, Vilia, on a drive out to the wine country in Paso Robles to pick up a wine shipment from a wine club she belongs to. The tasting room happened to have a couple of cheeses to sample.  One was Cypress Grove Chevre,  "Purple Haze".  It is a goat cheese round rubbed with lavendar and fennel pollen. Soo good in a goat-y, anise-y, sweet way. I bought a round and decided to use in an egg dish for brunch today.

 Out came "The Breakfast Book" by Marion Cunningham.  She has a really good souffle-like omelet she calls "Puffy Omelet".  I have made it before with good results.  As is my way, I like to overstuff things.  This is no exception. Where she calls for a few tablespoons of say, sauteed mushrooms and a little cheese, I have to saute mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, sometimes ham, then,  add cheese and herbs.  We like omelets that way. This my version for today.
                                          " Purple Hazed Omelet"
3 eggs, separated
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. butter
Filling:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. butter
¼ c. chopped bell pepper
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 mushrooms, chopped
½ roma tomato, seeded and diced
2 Tbsp. crumbled Purple Haze goat cheese1 tsp. chopped Italian Parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped fennel fronds plus some fronds for garnish
 (If you can, go outside and pick some wild fennel fronds and chop about 1 Tbsp. saving some for garnish.The Sicilian fennel is like a weed here in California. If not, fennel bulb is in farmer's markets and usually in commercial ones too. Save the fronds to use in vegetable dishes or this one!)Heat oven to 400*
Saute the chopped veges in the melted butter and olive oil, add the herbs and keep warm.
Whisk the egg yolks until blended. Sprinkle salt over the egg whites, beat until stiff but not dry. Combine yolks and whites until just incorporated.
In a non stick 10” skillet, melt 2 T. butter. When butter foams, pour the eggs into the skillet. Spread out with a spatula. Cook over medium heat until the bottom of the omelet just starts to brown. Pop the skillet into the oven, set the timer for 3 minutes and heat the brunch plates. When the omelet is just set, spread the cooked veges down the middle and sprinkle the goat cheese over them. Using a rubber spatula fold over and press down a little so the filling stays inside and the goat cheese starts to melt.
To serve, cut in half and garnish with a piece of fennel frond. This is very light and moist and benefits from "over filling" with savories.

To round out the menu, I made chipotle-brown sugar coated baked bacon.
Mix 2 Tbsp. brown sugar with 1 tsp. chipotle chile powder ( pretty easy to find this now days). Sprinkle over 6 slices of bacon on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. You can coat both sides if you want to!
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. check it and add a few minutes if it isn’t done.

Also on the menu were basic pork breakfast sausages. Usually I cook chicken or turkey breakfast sausages but this week it was the good ole sage-y pork! I put four of them in a little skillet with some water and slowly cooked them until the water evaporated, turning once. Pour some maple syrup over them, for a nice glaze, and pop them in the oven with the bacon. When they are done cover the skillet and keep warm.
Next up was Fruit Hash. This could have been the boring usual I guess, except this week I decided to keep the Goat milk and Fennel theme going by adding some goat milk yogurt and chopped fennel to chopped up mango, cantelope, pineapple, strawberries, banana and blueberries, finishing it off with a drizzle of organic maple syrup.

Salsa de Bruncha was in attendance: 1 cup mild salsa, 2 Tbsp. ketchup, 1 Tbsp. hot Mexican style salsa and a little chicken stock, heated until bubbly.  Steve loves this salsa and it makes everything go down easier.
We had Latetia’s Brut de Noir in sweet small cobalt blue champagne flutes from Tobin James Cellars winery.