Christmas Hash and poached egg

Packages are all, but one, on their way across the country and up and down the state of California. Cards are almost done.  I managed to get my local friends gifts wrapped and under my little tree.  I guess this will be my tree from now on. It used to reside in the kitchen as my little "beachy tree".

I do not intend to struggle putting up a live Christmas tree ever again by myself. It was hard enough for the two of us to get the thing in the tree stand and straight and still be talking to each other.  I kind of miss the fresh smell but certainly not the dead needles all over the place. 

I have been making brunch on Sundays when I am home ( just got back from 3 weeks in Australia) but nothing that I deemed worthy to write about.  Kind of re-doing previous posts recipes like Baked Eggs with an Attitude.  Now I bake the egg in a small shallow casserole for one instead of the skillet being extra careful not to overcook the egg.

Speaking of recipes, my 2013 goal is to try to figure out how to index the recipes on blogspot. I  may need a webmaster type of person to help out.  No one can just look at my blogs and have any clue as to what I cooked unless you open all of them up. I apologize.

Today I tidied up my dining room table to make room for my brunch.

It was a "re-do" but a little different Chicken Hash with poached egg, fruit compote and toast from  Valentine's day blog 2012 . Using the recipe for Chicken Hash for 2, (see if I had it indexed you could just click on it)  I substituted one small yam for the potatoes, added 2 mushrooms and a small green chile, chopped.  Not much of a change but what a difference! Actually it would be great without the chicken for a vegetarian option using water or vege stock instead of chicken stock to moisten the hash.
It was quite colorful and kind of  " Christmas ey". 

 

The egg was poached perfectly

 

It is a rainy day. I need to get my grocery list together for the Christmas dinner I am hosting for 8, immerse myself in football (Go Niners!!!)  and finish up the cards.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas with family and friends, or just by yourself.
See you next year.

An Unctuous little Brunch for Moi!

Unctuous, a word I rarely use but one that, to me, describes certain mouth feel-good textures and tastes if you like "fatty, oily" as one dictionary defines the word.

Marion Cunningham passed away last week at 90 yrs. young.  After reading several tributes from various newspapers ( NY Times, SF Chronicle and SF Gate Inside Scoop) I found out she actually checked out 5-7 years ago from Alzheimer's disease.  I often wondered what she was doing but never got around to "Googling" her. Our paths crossed a few times when I was a member of the "San Francisco Professional Food Society" in the 1980's.  It was a group of fun loving food and wine "professionals" and I use that term loosely as some of them were more professional eaters and drinkers than actually making a living in the culinary field. Anyway, the "meetings" were always held at different venues and were educational.  We had olive oil tastings, Truffle hunts ( the real ones, not chocolate), imported cheese classes, trips to Greenleaf, a San Francisco produce company, cooking classes and more. That was quite a few years ago and I didn't keep any sort of journal, regrettably. It was a time of budding cookbook authors, Marion Cunningham among them.  James Beard chose her to rewrite "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook".  She then went on to write "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book" and "The Breakfast Book " a charming collection of traditional American recipes with her twist on them. She created the menu for "Bridge Creek", a breakfast restaurant in Berkeley, CA.  I never got around to eating there but it was wildly popular. So I bought the cookbook instead, from a bookstore that was later shutdown and the owner arrested, accused of "fencing" books that were stolen. We all bought books there in the '80's and if he didn't have it he would get it for us. It makes me so mad now especially with the demise of small bookstores. 
I loved this book as it was my fantasy to one day actually cook and eat breakfasts/brunches. My careers required me to work weekends so the only time I would indulge in brunchy foods were holidays, Easter and Christmas being the main ones. My husband's idea of breakfast was an English Muffin slathered with peanut butter and a beer or just the beer.  Twenty years later when I stopped working on Sundays, I dusted off Marion's book and started cooking from it.  It is now pretty dog eared and opens to the egg section on it's own.  I honed my omelet making from her instructions, baked the "Featherbed Eggs" many times and the cream biscuits she learned in one of James Beard's cooking classes are sublime.

Look for this book and buy it.

In memory of Marion Cunningham I decided to try her "Shirred Eggs". I wasn't in the mood for a huge brunch anyway so this seemed perfect.  In the past this recipe didn't peak my interest. Maybe because it was too simple or I preferred other methods of baking eggs. If you have read my past blogs you can see that I love to get that chef's knife out and chop away as well as grate cheeses, cook breakfast meats, bake etc.
I chose the "Shirred Lemon Eggs" but added chopped bacon and a dash of Tabasco. These are eggs baked in ramekins with cream and cheese or other stuff as she points out and easily adjusted to one serving. It was amazing how yummy the lemon zest was with the eggs! The egg white melted into the cream, bacon and cheese with the yolk still runny. Unctuous! With a plate of composed summer fruits and cranberry-walnut bread, toasted, my brunch for one was served.

Shirred egg goes into the toaster oven

Brunch is served

One of my favorite little pages in the book is titled "Breakfast Table Civility and Deportment"
It is a 14 point list of do's and don'ts when serving and partaking in breakfast. Among them "Clean up before you come to the breakfast table: wash your face and comb your hair", "You don't have to get dressed" and "Don't lick your fingers or stuff your mouth with food".  All good advice but I choose to get dressed.

The book just opens to this page!

Shirred Bacon and Lemon Egg for one

adapted from "The Breakfast Book" by Marion Cunningham

Butter for ramekin

2 Tbsp. heavy cream

1/2  piece cooked bacon, crumbled ( I had this floating around in the frig. you could use ham)

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 Tbsp. grated mild white cheese

1 egg

dash Tabasco

salt & pepper

1/2 tsp. chopped parsley or chives

      Butter a 4 oz. ramekin ( I forgot to do this and it was fine but if you want to turn the egg out of the ramekin you need to butter it)

Pour 1 Tbsp. cream in the bottom, sprinkle the bacon, lemon zest and the cheese over the cream.

Crack the egg into another small bowl and gently tilt it into the ramekin.  Spread the remaining 1 Tbsp. cream over the egg. Sprinkle a few dashes of Tabasco, salt & pepper and the greenery of choice on top.

Bake in a 325 oven ( for one or two the toaster oven is perfect). After 12 minutes the egg should be done with the yolk still runny.



Brunch for the Mothers

I know, Mother's Day is long past but I hosted four wonderful women and made some new dishes to share. My brunching for one isn't all that interesting most of the time. I dig out leftovers from the freezer and sip on an already opened bottle of bubbly which is usually tossed out after brunch is finished. Like this-

Finally used up the blueberry pancakes from the freezer and the 3 week old Crement du Bourgogne not so sparkling wine

When I have the chance to entertain I can pull out all of the stops. It happened that my neighbor and friend Bonnie had her sister in law and sister in law's mother visiting. My other friend, Sharon, is usually left alone on Mother's Day as her daughter lives in England so I called her up to join us.

Bonnie teaches Sunday school so brunch would be a little later today which turned out great except I forgot to tell Sharon so she showed up at 10:15. We popped a bottle of bubbly and had a great time talking. I was almost done with the prep and I put her to work sauteing veges for the potatoes.

The menu consisted of        Herb and Mixed Greens Frittata w. Brunch Salsa
                                            Bobby Flay's  Smoky Paprika Home Fries
                                            Chipotle chile and brown sugar glazed bacon
                                            Maple glazed Chicken Apple breakfast sausages
                                             Bonnie's "Peel n Eat Shrimp"
                                            Seasonal Fruit Hash w. Greek Yogurt
                                            "Mr. Lou's Kicked up Coffee Cake"
                             and more bottles of Sparkling Wine than we should have all consumed, but we did!

My dining room table sits in front of a large picture window that overlooks my neighbors' homes, a large expanse of blacktopped roadway and best of all the Estero Bay ie Pacific Ocean. The cool ocean breezes can be downright blustery so it is rare that I have a brunch outside on the deck. Dinner time is usually calmer and that is ideal for outdoor dining.

The "mothers" among us which was all except me, shared stories about everything except their kids!
I loved it. Bonnie is a Cat advocate who volunteers for a local Cat shelter and has three darlings herself. Val works as an Event Planner in San Jose and does Interior Decorating for family and friends. Her mom, Melva is just a sweetheart who sipped cold coffee that she brought with.  Sharon has done many Volunteer projects connected with the Cambria Rotary, the latest being the Rotaplast Mission in India. We all followed the blog they posted about the children that were given their lives back by the surgery to fix cleft lips and or palates. Sharon comforted the babies and children after their surgeries among other tasks that made for long days.
I offered stories about my past kitties and some memories of Steve's antics.That opened a little Pandora's box about ex husbands as well. It was pretty funny.

The food was plentiful and loved by all. The most common comment was that the Coffee Cake would be considered dessert. Okay let it be dessert. We did not drink any coffee by the way except for Melva. I offered to make it but no one was interested. Why ruin the perfect buzz we had going!

Cheers! Bonnie took the picture so is not in it.

I have made this frittata before. It is in a really cool cookbook from 1991, "Verdura" (Vegetables Italian Style) by Viana La Place. The greens can be whatever you have on hand.

" Lettuce, Sorrel, Arugula  and Herb Frittata"

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
1 gal. Ziploc bag of lettuce (this is what I usually have on hand from the Farmer's market). This time it was green curly lettuce  but butter lettuce or even romaine would be fine- do not use iceberg!
1 small bunch of Sorrel (I grow this so always have it on hand) Viana says to add a little grated lemon rind in place of the sorrel
1 handful of arugula
8 eggs
1 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. chopped Italian Parsley
2 Tbsp. chopped Basil
1 Tbsp. bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. grated Asiago cheese plus more for the top.
salt & pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
Olive oil

     Melt butter in a medium saute pan. Add onion and cook over low heat 5 min. until tender.
Rinse cored lettuce and cut into strips while still wet. Wash sorrel and cut into strips.  Add lettuce to the onions in saute pan and cook until wilted adding sorrel and arugula in the last few minutes. Cook until all liquid has evaporated. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
    Break eggs into another bowl add milk and beat well.  Fold in the greens, chopped herbs, cheese and bread crumbs. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

There are a couple of ways to cook this.  Today I decided to bake it in a quiche pan.
Brush the pan with olive oil and pour the frittata mixture in. Bake at 375 for 20-25 min until set. Sprinkle with Asiago cheese before serving.

Bobby Flay is one of my fav Chefs. His recipes always work and are loaded with flavor. The Smoky Paprika Home Fries were splendid! You can find them here  I used yukon gold potatoes because that is what I had, he uses russets.

Emeril Lagasse provided me with the coffee cake recipe found here . I had a load of blueberries in the freezer which is why I searched for this recipe. Having said that you can use frozen in place of fresh plus I sneaked in 1 tsp. vanilla into the cake batter....don't tell.

Most of the other items have been posted on one of my brunch blogs so until I can figure out how to set up a recipe index you can contact me via the comments in this blog or email and I'll reply.
There was nary a scrap left but I sent the rest of the coffee cake home with them to get it out of my house!






                                            

A Virtual Brunch for my Buds

The best laid plans, so they say...One of my dearest friends and her husband were scheduled to fly from Rochester, N.Y. to San Luis Obispo last week. No easy feat as there are no direct flights. You have to travel through Chicago, Washington DC or who knows where else to get anywhere west of Rochester. After that it is cross country to either San Francisco, Phoenix or Los Angeles, change to a small commuter plane and zoom into San Luis Obispo Regional Airport. The chances of arriving on time are, well you can imagine.  My brother came out last August for Steve's memorial gathering and it took him 18 hours to get home.
Needless to say we were both very excited for the visit. They were to attend a wedding north of San Diego in Carlsbad on Saturday. We planned to drive down there in my Toyota RAV4, the traveling machine, with stops in Santa Barbara and wherever else I deemed worthy of a visit.
In one of her emails, Anne mentioned that she would love to have one of my brunches on Wednesday. I said sure! Nothing is more fun than brunch in the middle of the week as was proven when the Darlos were Here .
We would leave on Thursday for Carlsbad so Wednesday was a "free day.

Welllll, an email popped up stating that her husband, Steve, ( quite the coincidence that we both married Steve's) was admitted to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.  She said " we should be okay to fly out there when he is released". The question of the moment is when exactly can he be expected to be released?  Having been through a year of dealing with my Steve's on and off hospitalizations, there is no answer to that question.  Unfortunately he has some sort of infection that they are bombarding with antibiotics. In my mind I thought the chances slim that he would be strong enough to make the grueling trip out here.
They are not here and probably will not make the wedding.  In spite of the turn of events I thought I would write about the brunch I would have prepared on that Wednesday for the three of us.

 A one skillet eggy dish that has been a favorite of ours for many years came to mind along with the memories of the last time I made it which was March, 2009. This is from the journal I used to keep about our brunches.

March 1, 2009-Dutch Baby, baby

I have wanted to try this for 30+ years, ever since it was featured in a Sunset Magazine all of those years ago. It is a puffy, eggy pancake that looks like a souffle and collapses like one too.

Those were the days that we didn’t eat breakfast, only drank it. Coffee or tea during the work week, beers on weekends with the occasional English muffin. Sometimes I would have cereal. That was when a box lasted me way more than a month. I actually had cereal that turned bad. I didn’t know it until my little niece, Natalia, noticed that the rice crispies didn’t snap, crackle or pop. How embarrassing is that?
Anyway, Martha Stewart was on the Today show demo-ing a Dutch Baby Pancake. The blender technique looked easy and foolproof.  Let's give that a try. Here is the link for the recipe:  http://www.marthastewart.com/333957/dutch-baby-pancake
Sunset magazine had an article on Coffee roasted bacon that I wanted to try. Brunch was on!

Dutch Baby Pancake, made in my old Descoware medium skillet that I haven‘t ruined yet. In a previous blog I lamented about the time I walked away from my beauty large Descoware skillet while olive oil was heating and it cracked the enamel sending splinters spewing. This time I watched the melting butter very carefully. 

The presentation was pretty cool. Bits of butter, sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar and squeeze of lemon over all. Very yummy. Steve added Maple Syrup, not I though.
Coffee and brown sugar bacon- Sunset Mag. Feb. 2009, the timing was off in the recipe, so, using my experience from a few overcooked bacon episodes, I shortened the baking time and it came out perfect. Sunset's Coffee-Brown Sugar Bacon

Fruit compote- this was fun too. Kumquats, tangerine segments, kiwi, strawberries, fresh blackberries, a few frozen blueberries and raspberries. Toss together and microwave on medium for 30 sec., stir and keep going at 30 sec intervals until the frozen berries are defrosted. Everything melds together.

I had some leftover yogurt-rum dressing for the fruit which was basically yogurt, honey, rum & a little nutmeg.
Bubbly was one of  Trader Joe's Crement du Bourgoune Blanc de Noir, made with Pinot Noir grapes from Burgundy, France. I wasn’t impressed as it tasted a bit corked with the first sip but I decided it was just oakey. Steve only had one glass so I know it wasn’t his fav.

We both agreed this brunch was a keeper. Maybe I’ll bring it out for Easter brunch this year.

Fast forward April 2012. I would have made pretty much that same brunch but would have added a few dishes to embellish the table.  Sausage, for instance as well as a good sturdy coffee cake or scones. I know we would have had a great time laughing and telling old stories about the times when we were in college. She had an old Opal auto that she drove around. She called herself "An" in those days and was very active in the Democratic party when Robert Kennedy was a candidate. I was a cheerleader and we had another "bud" that we  hung around with but her nickname was "bummy". She liked to "Go-Go" dance in cages at a local club. She became a flight attendant and I think still is. We lost track as she was a little unpredictable when she started drinking but that is a whole other story.
I heard from Anne and they managed to make it to San Diego for the wedding but not without a trip to the emergency room in a Carlsbad hospital. Hope all is okay now that they are back home.
I'll keep the brunch on hold for another time, for sure.

Valentine's Day Brunch for One

Valentine's day was never one of our favorite holidays when we were newly married. So overdone with the heart cards, cheap candy boxes, overpriced flowers etc. We loved each other everyday so didn't need an official "holiday" to show it. As the years passed I started making "Valentine's day themed" dinners that we shared with friends. Sometimes it was heart shaped pizzas, other times I would make three or four course extravaganzas with the champagne and wine a flowin' . Steve would help cook and clean up (boy do I miss that!). We bought cards for each other, sometimes flowers and/or chocolate goodies. I bought him a bathrobe one year for God's sake!

This year I plan on sticking my head in the sand for V-Day. The cards are tucked away in a box of Valentine's decorations and will stay there until I can bring myself to dig them out again.
It has been 6 months since Steve died ( I can't believe it) and I am getting better at dealing with it but the cards are another matter. Oh well, I do have two days to change my mind.

Last week I went to Costco. Someone told me they had great sweet butter that made perfect pie crusts so I went to check it out. That is when reality hit me. Costco is NOT a store for  single peeps.  I bought the butter, all 4# of it, as well as a package of 6 lamb chops ( will have friends over) and one of their roasted chickens. Now I have to do something with the chicken!  I made enchiladas ( two of them), shredded some into my Easy Peasy Stir Fry and still have 3/4 of it left, so, this morning I decided to make Chicken Hash with a poached egg. We loved hash. I honestly thought I already posted a blog on hash as I have made it in various incarnations with lamb, roast beef, corned beef, turkey, chicken or shredded zucchini. Since I never posted any of them in a blog we'll start with this simple one.

Chicken Hash for 2

2 med. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and shredded. Place them in a bowl of water if not using them right away.
1/2 c. onion,chopped
1/2 c. red bell, chopped
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 c. shredded cooked chicken
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
Chicken stock or water
2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1 T. chopped parsley
1 T. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325
Heat butter and oil in a heavy oven proof skillet.  Saute onion and red bell pepper until soft.  Drain and squeeze the shredded potatoes dry in a dishcloth.  Stir into the onion-pepper mixture. Let cook 3-5 min. until potatoes start to stick to the bottom of the skillet.  Stir to scrap up crispy bits a few times. Cover skillet and cook over med-lo heat 10 min to soften the potatoes, adding 1/4 c.stock or water if they are getting too brown and sticking.  Season with salt, pepper and paprika.  Add shredded chicken,oregano, 1/2 T. parsley and lemon juice.  Taste for seasoning.
Place skillet, uncovered into the oven to cook for 10 min.

Leftovers can be frozen for another brunch if you are making this for one.

To finish off the plate, I poached an egg and placed it on top of the hash, garnishing it with fresh ground pepper and some of the chopped parsley.  A slice of wheat bread cut into a heart with a cookie cutter was toasted and buttered.

Fruit was a composed plate of strawberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, Cara Cara orange segments, a tablespoonful of roasted rhubarb and a few slices of dried persimmon.

Almost looks like the top of a fruit tart!

Bubbly was served and a toast was made to the wonderful life we shared together.