A Memorable Brunch Skillet ala Pat B.

Memorial Day weekend
 

Holy moly! I haven't written a brunch blog since February. Shame on me, but, I finally have something worth writing about. I don't know about you but I love, love the Williams Sonoma catalogs. They used to pile up near my desk with notes like "Save-good brunch recipes" or "Do not toss out". My husband, Steve, was a great purger.  He was in heaven when we were cleaning out our Mill Valley house and I consented to recycle the 30 yrs of magazines that were filed away on metal shelving in our wine cellar, Sunset, Gourmet, Cook's Illustrated, Bon Appetit, Saveur, Metropolitan Home and others that are/were out of publication. Unfortunately it was sometimes damp down there so there was a bit of a musty smell to them that I didn't want to transfer to my new home.  He was practically skipping up and down the steps to dump those suckers in the bin. I have been much better about cutting out recipes or ideas and tossing out the magazines if you don't count the few years of Coastal Living that are stacked up in the guest room. 

Several years ago the Williams Sonoma catalog featured brunch recipes from various Chefs around the country.  One that caught my eye was "Blue Maxx Breakfast Skillets" from Chef Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station in Los Angeles. Of course you are supposed to purchase the perfect skillets for these from the catalog but I have enough cooking equipment and cut out the picture instead.  A local restaurant in town, Schooner's Wharf serves breakfast during the summer months and on their menu are Cowboy skillets. Last summer I split one with a friend, found it delicious and filed away the idea to try one of these days.

Memorial Day weekend was the perfect time to try out a breakfast skillet.  I looked up the original Blue Maxx Breakfast Skillets online and realized I had everything to re-create it but upon further inspection I decided it needed more and I would skip the hollandaise sauce.  I wanted to post this by Father's Day but I got distracted by my niece Jedel's graduation from UCLA which turned out to be a four day event. At least it isn't July 4th yet.

 

Pat's Breakfast Skillet

 

 

8 oz. red, white or gold  potatoes cut into 2" chunks

2 slices bacon cut into 1" pieces

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

1/4 med. onion cut into wedges

8 sm. mushrooms cut in half or if large quartered

2" sprig of rosemary

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. kosher salt
black pepper to taste
 

garnish:

1 small tomato cut into wedges

1/2 c. baby arugula

1-2 eggs, poached

 

     Preheat oven to 375. Place a 10" or medium heavy skillet in oven for 15 min.

Combine all ingredients except the garnishes in a bowl stirring so they are coated with the olive oil. Turn into the heated skillet and put back into the oven for 30 min. Stir tomato into mixture and continue to roast until potatoes are brown and bacon crisp 12-15 more min. Pick out the rosemary and thyme sprigs and if the garlic is too brown discard it too, but I think I ate it.

 

Place arugula in the bottom of a 6" heavy skillet or a little shallow casserole. Arrange the potato-bacon mixture over the arugula and top with poached egg(s).  I am a one egg gal. In place of the hollandaise sauce I simply spooned on some of my brunch salsa*.

 I accompanied this with stone fruit, berries, yogurt, rustic toast and of course, a glass of sparkling wine.

 

If you use 2 or more eggs, split this among small baking dishes to serve 2.

I could not eat the whole thing.

Note: Brunch salsa in my house is usually Trader Joe's red salsa with a little Sirachi, ketchup and water or chicken stock to thin it, heated until bubbly.

 

 



Superbowl XLVII brunch, sort of

Well, the 49ers are back in the Superbowl. Soooo happy. I busted out all of our 49er paraphernalia. We used to have season's tickets in the 1980's but that never got us to playoff games or a Superbowl so we just had parties in our Mill Valley home.  I think our spirits are still there as the nice people that bought that house are 49er fans as well, at least the husband is. The cooking continues as well. Yea Jennifer!!

This morning I continue the ritual of making brunch but it is only one dish. No bread, fruit or anything crunchy. I had dental surgery last week and have to eat soft food for awhile. No matter. I found a container of leftover Chicken-Yam Hash in the freezer, pulled out my always in the frig "brunch salsa" and an egg.

Displaying the 49er stuff was the fun part.  I made the tablecloth and we took it to a Superbowl party in 1995 in Berkeley. We went to with our close friends Puff and Weezie. Unfortunately it was Weezie's last Superbowl party. Everyone signed the cloth that somehow I ended up with. I bring it out every time the 49ers are in playoff games.  Today it will travel to Vilia and Mike's house for the party. Half of our little town will probably be there all bringing food and drinks.

My one dish brunch consisted of heating up the hash in a little cazuela, poaching the egg, heating up the salsa and assembling it. Hash, salsa around, egg on top, more salsa and a sprinkling of Queso Fresco ( you could use any cheese).
It was pretty perfect for what it was. A glass of bubbly topped it off.

Perfectly cooked egg, my favorite
 

 

For the party this afternoon, I am making Potato Taquitos. A simple filling of potatoes mashed with cheese and onions rolled up in a corn tortilla and fried. Decorate the platter with Queso Fresco and serve with a salsa. 
If I don't get going I'll be late for the party.
GO NINERS!!!!!

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.

Brunching with the "Darlos"

When I was 18 years old I met a girl who would turn out to be my life long friend. We hung out together in Rochester, buzzing around on her Honda 90 super sport motorcycle during our lunch hours from jobs in department stores. We drank alot of beer and danced to our fav band, The Invictas, at a local bar called "Bengal's" down on the lake. It was owned by the infamous "Tiny (300#) Bengal who loved all of us young cuties.
There was a group of us and we had our own language as well, sort of a short talk. We considered ourselves "buds". Our fav things were "darl". Our un-fav things were "wick". It was Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Animals, and Mod was in with Twiggy.  She once painted her apartment walls black and lime green and hung posters of George Harrison on the ceiling.  I called her Nasher and she called me Hen.  As the years passed, I moved to Cal while she got married and had 2 babies. They are still my unofficial niece and nephew. For some reason we always kept in touch. I would visit Rochester as most of my family lived there. We would get together and laugh our guts out and do stupid things after consuming many beers.
Now we are older, Nasher has a great friend, Anita who is like a sister to her. They raised their kids together, went through the heartbreak of some their family members and friends dying. One day they decided to take a year off and travel around the United States.  I thought it would be a distant dream but last June they were on their way.  They bought a 1983 Chevy pickup truck and restored a 14 ft. 1962 Shasta trailer. All turquoise with the original gull wings on each side. So cute and very compact. Their license plate actually says "Darlos" on it. They have a blog of their travels that you can check out too at www.cheapthrillsacrossamerica.com . If this link doesn't work, just google it.
Four months passed and lo and behold they were on my doorstep!  The timing was bittersweet. I really needed a break from my grieving over the loss of my husband,Steve. They would have loved to have been here to see him before he died but that wouldn't have been fun. Somehow it worked out and they stayed 2 1/2 weeks.  We had a blast!
They were up at the crack of dawn each day with coffee brewing and cigs burning as they sat on my deck planning the day. Off to the beach to collect sand dollars, shells, heart stones and whatever flotsam they deemed worthy of their beach bags.

What a haul!

After their beach foraging trips, Anita would make a breakfast of bacon and eggs, every day. I am a cereal/toast/fruit person so didn't partake also I ate a little earlier than they did.  Somehow we missed a few Sundays without me making one of my brunches. Time was running out so after a trip up to Carmel I decided to have brunch on Wednesday.  After all we were all available and sort of on vacation. It seemed so decadent to have a champagne brunch in the middle of the week. We had a blast! The Facebook comments were flying around cyberspace, especially from Mark and Michelle, Nasher's kids.

I decided bacon and eggs were not on the menu.  They squealed when I mentioned French Toast so that was settled.
My May 28 blog www.brunchingwithtwobythesea.blogspot.com gives the recipe for the "Fluffy French Toast" that is my "go to" when making this dish. Trader Joe's Chicken breakfast sausages were sauteed, glazed with maple syrup and popped in a warm oven.   Fruit du jour was end of the summer berries, nectarines, peaches and mangoes tossed with Cointreau. Bubbly was my old standby, Trader Joe's Blason Crement du Bourgogne, blanc de blanc (the orange label).

The table is set for brunching on Wednesday!

The only little glitch was using Trader Joe's Challah bread.  It needed to soak in the batter alot longer as the center was dry. I really like creamy centers in french toast.

No one cared but me. 

Brunch is served

And plated....

Mission accomplished!

Ricotta filled Crepes with Peach and Berry Compote

We have had to postpone our Sunday brunches while Steve receives treatment for cancer of the esophagus and lungs. This is squamous cell carcinoma and is the same type he had in his throat in 2009.  Right now he is receiving radiation to his esophagus. Soon after these treatments are finished we meet with the chemotherapy dept. for treatment of the lung nodules.
The prognosis looks promising. They have so many different chemo-cocktails these days and we are confident one will work for him. He is such a resilient man and has most of his 9 lives left!  Thankfully we are back in the Fisher House just like in 2009 only for a shorter period of time.
 We are kept busy with appointments, keeping track of Steve's medications and keeping him well fed. To further complicate the cancer Steve developed pneumonia the week before the 4th. He was released on July 3rd.  We are fortunate to have wonderful friends who opened their home to us until we could get into the Fisher House in Los Angeles. They went up to Cayucos to enjoy the 4th with family this year and, lucky for us, brought back our mail.  We got to rest in their home with two cute kitties, Dewey and Sam. A big thanks to Katie & Mike and their daughters, Natalie and Alea.
July 4th has just past without us in our little town. It is one of our favorite holidays. The population swells from 3600 to about 30,000 or more. There is an adorable parade (what July 4th parade isn't adorable?), bloody mary's flow, everyone has deck or beach parties and the fog usually rolls in just when the fireworks are to go off, leaving us listening to the distant boom booms.  I heard that it was clear and gorgeous up there this year, the fireworks were spectacular and our house sitter was having bloody mary's on our deck with friends, but...no sense feeling sorry for ourselves there is always next year. Okay we were pissed to have missed the party.
The "blog dujour" is from last year's brunch. I so loved the crepes that I thought it would make an interesting post. Don't be afraid to try crepes, they are easier than they sound and can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator overnight or frozen. I got an early start as this recipe yielded alot.
 Since I am not at home with my brunch recipe files, I have to rely on the link to the Sunset Magazine's recipe from the July 2010 issue for Peach and Almond Breakfast Crepes.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/crpes-with-warm-cognac-peaches-almonds-10000001995661


                                                    Post 4th of July Brunch, 2010
It has been a long weekend as the 4th was on Sunday and we were packed Friday and Saturday at Peachy Canyon where I work keeping the wine tasters happy. Not feeling too good today (the 5th) but I promised Steve brunch. Luckily I knew what I was going to make already.  I have been dying for pancakes which would be too dry for Steve so Crepes seemed a likely substitute. The July, 2010 issue of Sunset Magazine had an article on peaches, one of which was Ricotta Cheese filled crepes with peach compote. It was billed as a dessert but, hey, who says you can't have dessert for brunch or breakfast for that matter? The peaches are juicy and abundant this year. I had some dynamite raspberries and blueberries so added them to the white and yellow peach compote. Since I didn’t have any sliced almonds I added some chopped toasted pecans. Steve can’t eat nuts so I just put a few on mine. Why didn’t I taste them first??? Rancid!! I guess I had them in my little cupboard at the Fischer House in LA last year instead of the freezer and they went off before I could get them home. I used a very good ricotta for this but am dying to make my own one of these days.

I made the full recipe of crepes and layered them with plastic wrap, slipped the extras into a ziplock bag and froze them for later dishes. Since they don’t have sugar in them I can use them for cannelloni's or another savory crepe recipe.

Crepes filled with ricotta cheese

He loved this dish! The fruit compote was saucy enough and perfectly seasoned with cinnamon, sugar and Cognac. And.. it was a one plate brunch.

Steve opened a Witch Creek Winery “Cool Cat” sparkling wine which I could barely get down even though it is one of my fav bubblies. After the first sip I was fine and it was a good match with the crepes. 
I am just cruising today and drinking lots of water. The skies are overcast so no need to get too ambitious.

Indy 500 Scramble

When was the last time I watched an Indianapolis 500 race? Ten years ago or so. We were looking forward to it this year with a brunch!

Our good friend, Tommy O’Rourke, from Steve’s high school days in Chicago, was a regular in the pits. His father, Cowboy O’Rourke was a racer of midget cars( make sure you check out his bio. with this link). He was affiliated with the Indy 500 starting in the 1940's although he never actually raced in it. I think he was a on a team as a mechanic. His sons Tommy and Patrick accompanied him down there each year.  Tommy used to tell us hilarious stories about “Cow”.  It seems Cow crashed a “few times’ one of which left him blind in one eye. Well he never let on and continued racing half blind! I first met the legend when we moved from sunny San Diego to Chicago’s 18 degree January winter in the 70’s. A few of Steve’s old friends threw a Super Bowl party in a local hotel. It was also a welcome back party for Steve, even though we were only supposed to be there one year. All of the O’Rourke boys were there including their cousin, Billy Seguin. Cowboy O’Rourke had a cocktail glued to his hand most of the day telling stories. He knew how to get the crowd going. Before I knew it he had his hand in his pants with his finger wiggling outside of his open fly right in front of me. Everyone was falling down laughing . Scared the daylights out of me. Welcome to Chicago and get used to this type of behavior as I soon found out. One of the guys decided he needed the fire hose that the hotel had hanging on the wall in case of fire ( no fire extinguishers in those days) so he wrapped it around his person and put on his heavy winter coat and off he went. Luckily we didn’t have anything to do with renting the room because I am sure that bill was HUGE as they left it pretty trashed.

For many years those friends also gathered for Indy 500 bbq’s or just to get together for Memorial Day weekend if they didn’t actually go down there. Cowboy lived to the ripe old age of 83 and still chased the ladies around in his retirement home scaring the living daylights out of them. Tommy had to go make the peace so he wouldn't get evicted. The stories were priceless.

I have absolutely no idea what they eat at the Indy 500 but am pretty sure there are copious amounts of beer and booze.  These eggs would certainly pair very well with that venue with a few dashes of Tabasco sauce.

Today I decided to do “clean out the refrigerator” scrambled eggs with the usual suspects as side dishes, spring fruit and chicken breakfast sausages along with brunch salsa. It is getting harder for Steve to swallow but this seemed to go down okay.

"Indy 500 Scramble"

4 eggs
1 T. milk
Dash black pepper
Dash Tabasco
Whisk all together in a bowl and set aside.

Dice the following veges or substitute veges you happen to have on hand:
1/3 c. red bell pepper
1/3 c. green bell pepper
1/3 c. onion
1 large or 2 small crimini mushrooms. Saute all in a non stick skillet with butter and olive oil, until tender. Season with salt and a little pepper.

Dice up 1/2 fresh tomato.
Cut one thin slice of ham into thin strips about 1" x 1/4".  I usually have ham around for sandwiches.
Add to the skillet and heat until warm.

Have some chopped herbs on hand ie parsley, thyme, basil, rosemary (not too much) to the tune of about 1 T.
Add eggs to the vegetables along with 2 tsp. herbs and a little salt ( taste veges for salt first). Slowly cook them stirring constantly. Add 2 T. cheese, I used feta cheese, crumbled, today but any shredded cheese would do.
When the eggs are set, immediately plate onto heated plates.

Garnish with more cheese and the rest of the herbs.
Pass the Brunch Salsa and (for me) Tabasco sauce!

I love this time of year for fruit. Peaches, apricots, cherries, strawberries,blueberries and nectarines are showing their wonderful faces. A simple presentation is all that is needed to enjoy these fruits at their best. I got sooo lucky as the farmer's market had tiny Chandler strawberries. These are the most fragrant and tasty of all strawberries. I should have bought more but I did get a batch of ice cream out of them.

Chicken apple sausages were cooked as I usually do but with a maple syrup glaze this week.

We had 2 half bottles of bubbly left and they actually had a little life left in them so we polished those off.

Steve tuned the TV into the Indy 500 and enjoyed the ride!

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!!