LOCAL WEDNESDAYS*: SPINACH GOAT CHEESE FRITTATA

       One of my most cherished possessions is my Grandma Isabelle's recipe tin. I love flipping through her old fashioned "American" recipes that call for lots of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. The tin is a food network of all of the great recipes she collected from her family and friends over the years and many predate me, like Fez's Spinach Casserole from 1971. There are recipes cut out from old newspapers and magazines, which show food trends of the time, like the article on bulgur wheat from Better Homes and Gardens in 1989. Pizza Bulgur Meatloaf anyone?  

     Recipes I have to try are Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Lentil Frankfurter Soup and Mrs. Keyser's Carrot Pudding, all written in Grandma's perfect handwriting. She was so organized and really had it all together, a trait I wish I inherited. I try to keep my recipe tin up to date, too, in case my Delicious account is lost or my blog disappears into the internet abyss. Going through all those recipes makes me very hungry, so I needed to prepare something to keep me from eating the index cards. (I was a glue eater as a child.) 

      I made this easy Spinach Goat Cheese Frittata, with farmer's market eggs, dairy, spinach and this awesome Queso Blanco garlic and parsley goat cheese from Patches of Star Dairy. It really might be one of my best yet.  

Local Spinach Goat Cheese Frittata

Bag of Spinach, chopped 

1/2 onion, sliced thinly

6-8 eggs

1/4-1/2 C. crumbled goat cheese

1/2 C. milk or cream (soy is okay, too!)

Salt and pepper

In a pan, sautee the onion until translucent in olive oil. Add the chopped spinach, drizzle more olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper. When the greens have wilted, set aside to cool. (Sometimes, I put them in the fridge of freezer.)

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk and salt and pepper. Stir in the cooled spinach and the goat cheese. (You might not need all the spinach; you want a dense amount of spinach with egg running through it. Either way, it will be good, it will just either be more eggy or more spinachy. After a few frittata's you get a feel for the egg/greens ratio.)

Pour the mixture into a heavy duty oven safe greased 8-10 in. skillet. (I coat it with non-stick spray.) You can either start cooking it on the stove top to get nice color on the bottom, then put it into the oven for about 25 minutes until its it firm in the middle, or bypass the stovetop step and stick it in the oven. 

Eat with Italian bread. 

DUCK EGG OVER SWEET POTATO LEEK HASH

  

     When I saw duck eggs at the Farmer's Market I had to have them. I wanted to really taste them, so I fried them over Sweet Potato Leek Hash.

     The eggs were not easy to crack open, but when I finally smashed it against the pan a few times, what came out was gorgeous. The yoke is huge, the size of a ping pong. The flavor is very different from chicken eggs. Its very eggy and tastes almost grassy.

     The hash is really tasty, sweet and oniony and nice when it soaks up the runny yoke. A nice hearty breakfast.

Sweet Potato Leek Hash
2 Sweet Potatoes diced very small
2 leeks chopped finely
1/4 red onion chopped finely
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Sautee the leeks and red onion until translucent then add the sweet potatoes and cook until soft and caramelized. Season with cayenne and salt and pepper.

KALE AND LEEK FRITTATA

    The frittata. The kale and leek frittata. So simple, but this one took so long. There are a few steps, one involving cooling the sauteed green before mixing with the eggs, the other remembering there is cheese in a frittata so you don't have to run out and buy some with the oven on waiting for that sweet frittata to start baking. 

    So I sauteed some leeks and garlic in lard. Yes lard, its excellent for sauteeing greens. Then added some peperoncino and the kale. A little salt and pepper, until the kale is soft. Cool the kale. In a bowl beat eggs, cream or milk, pecorino romano cheese, salt and pepper. Add the kale to this. You have to eyeball this. You might be left with some extra kale. Or if you don't have enough it will be an eggy frittata, but thats okay. I start the cooking off on the stove top in Grandma's cast iron pan, then after a few minutes I pop it into a 350 degree preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the eggs are firm in the middle but not overly dry. 

    Enjoy with a nice piece of Italian Bread and maybe a fancy salad on the side with some orange wedges. Oh and beer? How did that get into brunch? Oh well, it was nice.

RED-ORANGE CURRANT MUFFINS

     I bought one tiny basket of red currants from the Farmer's Market when we had our second farm breakfast, thinking the six of us could get through those littly "poison berries" as Stephanie so suspiciously called them as she waited for a guinea pig not to die before she tried one. So no one died, but we still didn't finish them. No problem, give me a few days with them, but still, I only ate a few here and a few there. These little suckers are super pretty, but a little tart. I can't eat them voraciously as I can say cherries or blueberries. 

    So what to do. Waste no want not. I searched the interweb and came upon a lot of jams and sauces for meats with currants, and lot of recipes that called for pounds and pounds of currants. Then I found an orange currant cake. Getting somewhere. But I had just made a peach cobbler the day before and its just ridiculous to make so much dessert. Then I found in a comment on this horticulture blog a recipe for red currant muffins from Anne P, who has this knitting/spinning/chickening/mothering/chocolate blog. I was planning on straight using the recipe then just adding some orange zest because that sounded nice, but the batter was cookie dough dry (a metric to US measurement conversion might have cause this), so I had to moisten it a bit and I ended up entirely morphing the recipe.

     So I would aptly call this a recipe inspired by Ann P from that long blog above. Thanks Anne!

Red-Orange Currant Muffins

1 1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 C. milk

1/4 C. orange juice

zest of 1 orange

1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil

1 C. red currants

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl. In another bowl cream the sugar with the eggs, then add the milk, the oil, the orange juice and the orange zest. Gently fold in the red currants. Bake in greased muffin tins for about 18-22 min in a preheated 350 degree oven. 

FARM BREAKFAST 2

      Our first Local Farm Breakfast was such a success we decided to invite a few of our great friends over to share in another one with us. Not only is breakfast delicious, its such a laid back no-fuss meal, rarely shared with friends unless there is a sleep-over or group trip happening. I guess since it was noon, we could call it brunch, but there were really no lunch options. Mike likes this time of day for entertaining because unlike our 2am mojito gatherings we really aren't bothering the neighbors. And when we get together with two of our favorite couples, Matt and Amy and Lee and Stephanie we laugh out loud the entire time. (These peeps are so talented, so check out their work if you have time)

    Aside from the pork menagerie from Flying Pig Farms: 2 types of bacon, no nitrate and smoked, and breakfast sausages, which were all out of this world, we also had Spelt Pancakes, a Kale Frittata and Cinnamon Buns which I psychically knew Lee would bring over from Sette Pani in Brooklyn. Cinnamon buns were originally on the menu, but when I looked up some recipes, it was ALOT of work. So what a nice surprise for Lee to thoughtfully bring over what I was craving. And for "breakfast dessert," Mike suggested we head over to Eddie's Sweet Shop for homemade ice cream but since thats rather insane we enjoyed fresh cherries and currants from the Long Island City Farmer's Market. For drinks we offered bellinis, iced coffee and Mike's favorite, Iced Goji Berry Tea from Yogi Teas.

     The Spelt Pancakes, which I usually make with soy milk, I made this time with a mixture of heavy cream and water, since no soy or regular milk was available. They were decadent and delicious, but I think they come out much fluffier and lighter with the soy. Matt was making pancake tacos filled with sausages. So Tex-Mex, Matt!

     My pride of the entire breakfast was the Kale Frittata. First, the Kale was homegrown in the yard from little sprouts I bought from the Rooftop Farms and I had managed to keep them alive and thriving. In the frittata, the kale tasted delicious, perfectly creamy and cheesy with nice bites of the fresh garlicy kale enveloped in the thick farm fresh eggs from Tellos Green Farm. Mike was raving about the frittata the entire day, "the kale frittata was actually really good," which makes me very happy because for Mike to say anything as green as kale was tasty is a complete culinary success for me. Maybe it was the heavy cream I used in it.

     What a wonderful day it turned out to be lounging in the back yard with wonderful friends and enjoying a completely local farm fresh breakfast! 

KALE FRITTATA

7 eggs, beaten

3/4 C. romano or any grated cheese

1 C. milk or heavy cream

1/4 C. chopped cooked bacon (optional)

1 C. kale sauteed in olive oil or the bacon drippings, with peperoncino and garlic

Salt and Pepper

Beat the eggs, milk, cheese and salt and pepper. After the kale and bacon have cooled fold them in the pour the entire mixture into a heavy pan, preferably the pan you cooked the bacon in. Cook on the stovetop on medium heat for 5 minutes then back for 30 min in a 350 degree preheated oven.

GOING BIG AND GREASY

You know that something delicious is on the table when your stovetop looks like a greasy mess. We had some leftover pork sausage and ground meat from the Ludlow, VT Farmer's Market, plus some supermodel eggs, so I made this greasy hash topped with a sunny side up egg. 
     I chopped up some onions, garlic and potatoes really finely. Mike helped because he hates the texture of onions so he was motivated. Then I sauteed the onions and garlic with peperoncino, broke up the meat and browned it, then added the potatoes and sauteed everything until it was soft. I made sure to scrape up the greasy crispy bits from the bottom of the pan cause it would be a shame not to eat that. Salt and pepper. Then, just a sunny side up egg on top and there you have the "going big an greasy" breakfast.

SPELT PANCAKES WITH WHITE PEACH SAKE REDUCTION

     I am so excited about how these pancakes turned out so light and fluffy with a satisfyingly warm and soft bite and a really wholesome nutty flavor. I wanted to make use the new Whole Wheat Organic Spelt Flour I just bought so I figured I'd just substitute it for regular flour. The Farro in the Herb Farro Salad I made a few posts ago is also known as spelt. I remembered that Grandma had a whole wheat flour recipe called "Dorothy's Pancakes" in her recipe tin so I fished it out. Here is the original recipe. 

    I didn't have wheat germ, so I substituted almond meal, which has a really nice texture and nutty flavor. I used soy milk instead of buttermilk, but the buttermilk really might have taken these up another entire notch! I also added baking soda for the fluff factor and olive oil, just because well do I need to explain? I basically changed the entire recipe, for the good because these are the best pancakes I have ever made and I am sure you can just as easily substitute regular flour for spelt with great results. I also wanted to make use of the one ripe white peach I had, so I made a buttery sake reduction with a bit of cinnamon. 

    I really am finding that food photography for the blog is so difficult because my tendency is to rush through the shots because I am starving and Mike is always pacing around waiting for his daily rations. When its something more vegetable based, he usually stays away but pancakes, forget about it. He was hovering over me playing his guitar and I thought the hunger combined with the strumming was going to give me an aneurism. But the soft warm buttery spelt pancakes calmed my soul.

SPELT PANCAKES WITH PEACH SAKE REDUCTION

1 C. spelt flour

5 TBSP. almond meal

1 TBSP. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 TBSP baking powder

1 egg

1 1/4 C. soy milk

1 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil

Mix everything but don't over mix and let sit for 5 minutes. Cook on a warm griddle until golden on both sides. 

Serve with peach sake reduction.

PEACH SAKE REDUCTION

1-2 ripe white peaches, sliced

2 TSBP butter

2 TBSP sugar

1 TBSP sake

1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash salt

dash cinnamon

In a small saucepan simmer everything on low heat until reduced to a light syrup. Pour hot over warm pancakes.

Read more about why spelt is so good for you at the World's Healthiest Foods website.

PEACH SLAW & KIELBASA HEART ATTACK ON A PLATE

This super mellow peach slaw is perfect for an easy summer day and great with grilled goodies like kielbasa or hot dogs.

 

PEACH SLAW

1 fresh peach

1 fresh tomato

2 inch of a fresh cucumber

1/4 red onion

2 TBSP chopped mint

1/4 C. sliced pecans

Salt

Pepper

1 tsp. dried thyme

DRESSING

1/2 C. olive oil

1/4 C. balsamic vinegar

2 TBSP. honey

Salt

Pepper

Julienne the all the veggies. Toss with dressing.

KIELBASA HEART ATTACK ON A PLATE

Whenever my parents make fried potatoes they call it heart attack on a plate. Bring on the heart attacks! This is a great way to use some leftover kielbasa or any sausage and some leftover potatoes. Just caramelize a quarter of an onion and a half of a pepper in olive oil in a cast iron if available with some hot chili flakes if available. Toss in some sliced grilled kielbasa and cooked potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy with Peach Slaw. 

MIKE'S RUSTIC FRENCH TOAST WITH SAKE ORANGE SYRUP

When my dad comes over he forgets his belongings, like keys, glasses, etc. Yesterday when we were making the fava pasta he forgot an entire loaf of rustic Italian bread. I was going to make plain old toast this morning but Mike came up with the idea of making french toast. Mike is a bread battering expert. He gets it from his dad, Robert who always makes us delicious french toast and omelets when we visit Mike's parents in New Jersey. Mike was full of compromise this morning and used soy milk in the batter and even some cinnamon. For the syrup, I segmented an orange and reduced it with some sake, honey, brown sugar, a tiny bit of vanilla and plain old Aunt Jemima Syrup to thicken it. I would have used Pure Maple but we were all out. The subtle orange flavor mingling with sake took it from plain country french toast to something I would imagine getting at an exotic bed and breakfast or at a fancy brunch. And we made it right at home in our pajamas with ingredients from our own cupboards. Next time I will use some nutmeg in the batter, and maybe a grapefruit or a blood orange and some orange liquor in the sauce. 

Dosas in Amagansett

My work often takes me to the Hamptons, NY and when I am there I stay in Amagansett, a great town halfway between East Hampton and Montauk. I always find myself there on Wednesday mornings, when every shop in the town is closed, except the Hampton Chutney Company, where for breakfast we eat dosas with warm chai tea.

A dosa is basically a gigantic Indian sour dough crepe, made with rice, so its gluten free.

When the question of portion control rears its unwelcome head at my meal, I always look at my plate and think, okay all that has to fit in my stomach. What is the rule? Your stomach is the size of about a fistful of food. But stretchy? At easily a foot long, dosas are rule breakers, and when we opt not to share one to get it closer to that fistful, we justify it with, "but are really light." 

The warm crispy dosas are filled with anything from traditional spicy potato masala to calamata olives, tomatoes, onions, arugula and goat cheese. There are 14 dosa combos on the menu and each are served a choice of the following fresh chutneys: cilantro, curry, mango, tomato, peanut or pumpkin. Cilantro, my favorite, so fresh and mildly sweet is also sold in a to-go tub so I can take it home and put it on everything from rice to apples. 

Pictured above: Mike, Yui, Miguel and the "Charlies" enjoying some Breakfast Dosas, filled with scrambled eggs, spinach, roasted tomato, jack cheese and avocado.

If you're not out east, there are two in locations NY. Go to Hampton Chutney Company for more info.

Thanks, Miguel for letting me borrow your amazing Canon 5D to take these photos!

GRANOLA, GRAPEFRUIT, BANANA, AND HONEY

Most mornings a simple breakfast is what I need. Few store bought granola bars cut it, so I experimented with making my own for the first time. I have such a variety of nuts in my fridge, it was the perfect time to try. I always start out on the Food Network, because there are tons of reviews and I can find out what works and what doesn't. I went with a Peanut Butter Granola Bar from Emeril and made a few tweaks. For example, I used a pre-toasted bag of rolled oats that was slightly sweetened and berry flavored from Trader Joe's (of course). Instead of dairy butter I used the Earth Balance. Whole chopped raw almonds replaced slivered almonds, and I omitted the pumpkin seeds, the raisins and the brown sugar since the granola was already a bit sweet. What I ended up with was a few irregularly shaped "bars" and a lot of delicious granola crumbles that I can sprinkle on everything. I want to experiment more with savory granola bars. Ideas: chile-lime with coconut, masala chai with coconut milk, pistachio with rosewater, pumpkin spice. 

Pictured: Peanut Butter Granola Bar, Grapefruit and Banana drizzled with Honey 

DAIRY FREE CREPES WITH LINGONBERRIES

We can all agree that food poisoning equals the worst couple of days of your life. The one and only time that I was rendered incapacitated from food was when I had crepes at a place that I now call, the Crapeteria. For a while the very idea of crepes made me nauseous, until I went to Paris. I took a break from my five croissants a day habit and opted one afternoon for crepes. Instead of ordering sweet, I ordered savory and was very disappointed. So I made myself feel better with another croissant. Then in Moab, Utah, of all places, I discovered the wonderful Lingonberry, served to me at the Jail House Cafe as a topping for my pancakes. This Swedish berry jam is sweet and tart and perfect for crepes. One weekend I found some lingonberries in Honesdale, Pennsylvania at the Alpine, a German Butcher. When I got back to the house, I tried to make them. I hit another bump in the road. Butter.  I should have known better than to follow a Paula Dean recipe: "All right ya'll, we're gonna start with a whole stick a butter." The crepes came out really well, buttery, and I think I had a mini heart attack. For the record, we ate them all. After adjusting the butter content, omitting the sugar, and making it dairy-free, I figured out this easy recipe, that I make almost every Saturday morning.  And, after searching the local farmer's market in Union Square for more lingonberries and not having any luck, the lovely lady at Beth's Farm Kitchen, which offers a variety of local jams, told me that they sell lingonberries at IKEA, near the swedish meatballs. I haven't tried them yet, because I seriously stocked up at the Alpine, but when I get some curtains, I will let you know how they are.

DAIRY FREE CREPES

3 Eggs

1 1/3 C. Soy Milk 

3/4 C. Flour

2 TBSP. Earth Balance Buttery Spread

1 pinch Salt

Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl. Don't over mix. Its okay if its lumpy. Let the batter sit for 20 minutes. Melt a little butter in a round non-stick pan heating on medium. Ladle about 1/4 C. of the batter onto the hot pan and roll the pan around so the batter spreads so its  thin and even. When it starts pulling from the sides, flip it, using your fingers or a spatula. Serve with lingonberries or any jam.

Other toppings: 

Sugary lemon butter (juice of 1 lemon, 1 TBSP sugar, 1/2 TBSP butter - melted) 

Maple Brown Sugar Bananas (1 banana, 1 TBSP maple syrup, 1 TBSP brown sugar - sautee until melted and gooey) 

Photo Background: Crazy Collage Shopper Bag from BlueQ.com. Designed by Charles Wilkin.

INDIAN POTATOES WITH AVOCADO

Nothing is easier and more energizer than a potato and avocado power breakfast or lunch. I already had some rosemary roasted potatoes on hand (recipe to follow), but you can do this with any potatoes you have, boiled baked or raw. You can even microwave raw potatoes for a minute or two to soften them up and quicken the cooking time. Serve with avocado and tomato chutney or if its for breakfast, oranges or sliced grapefruit drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper is great. 

INDIAN POTATOES

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds 

1/2 tsp black cumin seeds 

1/4 tsp tumeric 

1/4 tsp curry powder

1-2 cooked or raw potatoes sliced very thinly (I used Russet Gold but any will do)

1/4 to 1/2 an onion sliced finely

1 garlic clove sliced thinly

S&P

Sautee black mustard seeds and cumin in olive oil until the seeds start to pop. Add turmeric and curry along with onions and the garlic. Let the onions soften and caramelize. Then add the potatoes and salt and pepper. Sautee until the potatoes deepen to a golden brown. This will take only a few minutes if the potatoes are pre-cooked and maybe 10-15 minutes if they are raw. Serve with tomato chutney. 

AVOCADO

Scoop and slice an avocado. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika.

I used Trader Joe's Tomato Chutney. Its just right. 

ROSEMARY ROASTED POTATOES

2-3 potatoes

2 TBSP dried rosemary

2 TBSP olive oil

S & P

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Half or quarter the potatoes (peel on or off) and season with rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes until fork tender. 

All of the ingredients in this recipe are on the World's Healthiest Foods List.

YOU PUT THAT IN YOUR OATMEAL?

Is it just me or does apples and cinnamon in your oatmeal make you gag? Next time you want to go savory instead of sweet in the morning, try drizzling Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sea Salt onto your oatmeal. Not only does the flavor of the olive oil hit home, but the texture of the sea salt makes it a little fancy. This works as deliciously with Cream of Wheat. I learned this basic from Rocco. He puts olive oil on everything, and lots of it. I think his car runs on olive oil. 

Cow Salt Lick: Fishes Eddy