savory bread pudding (strata) with spinach, mushrooms, and roasted garlic

Your new favorite make-ahead-of-time breakfast!

This is one of those great “no recipe” recipes, thanks to epi’s “How to Make Strata”. They recommend a ratio of 1 part milk + 1 part eggs + 1 part cheese + 1 part add-ins (optional) + 2 parts bread. Today’s add-ins are sauteed mushrooms with sauteed baby spinach and roasted garlic. But you can add almost ANYTHING. What about leftover stewed greens with leftover jerk chicken? Or leftover jambalaya with andouille sausage and bell peppers? Chorizo and salsa with roasted tomatillos or serrano peppers? Make sure to cook your add-ins ahead of time, unless it’s a fresh herb or something delicate and fresh. If you’re using something with high water content like spinach, make sure to squeeze it before adding it so the strata isn’t soggy. I’ll share my recipe, but don’t be constrained by this: almost any cheese, any meat, any veggies would be amazing in this!

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1 part milk + 1 part eggs + 1 part cheese + 1 part add-ins (optional) + 2 parts bread

1 loaf bread, cut into bite-sized cubes

milk and/or cream (can even add cream cheese! I did, because I had some in the house, inspired by Melissa Roberts for Gourmet magazine)

soooo many eggs (I used maybe 9)

1 pack mushrooms

1/2 head garlic

1 pack spinach

3/4 brick of Swiss (or cheddar, or whatever,) or to taste, shredded

a little blue cheese, grated parmesan, or whatever you have in the house

thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, or whatever you like

salt and pepper

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toast bread in a 250 degree oven until crispy, ~5-10 minutes

roast garlic at 450 until paper is burnt, remove cloves from paper

saute mushrooms and spinach. season

butter your baking dish, and begin to layer ingredients. pour custard mixture over the ingredients. top with cheese, if desired. cover baking dish with foil, and rest between an hour and 24 hours.

preheat oven to 350. bake ~20 minutes wrapped in foil, then remove foil and continue baking for another 15 to 30 minutes depending on the size of your strata. epi says it’s set when the center no longer jiggles.

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recipe by epi

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This is REALLY good. Not only was it easy to make, it was very affordable, kept wonderfully in the fridge all week, and made me excited to eat my veggies! I can’t wait to try this with broccoli and sharp cheddar, or fresh dill and asparagus. & I think the Serious Eats suggestion for a French onion strata sounds incredible… but it is just begging for some veggies….

You are only limited by your imagination here. The internet suggests ham-and-cheese stratas, as well as some really wild-sounding variations like tomato-and-basil, butternut squash and prosciutto, and, believe it or not, a reuben strata with sauerkraut and pumpernickel bread. What’s your favorite savory bread pudding?

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soy-cured eggs and rice (tamago kake gohan / tamago no shoyu-zuke)

Today, I am sharing one of the breakfasts I eat regularly. It’s one of the fastest and most satisfying breakfasts I know. Pure comfort.

ingredients

fresh or leftover rice
raw egg yolk, or soy-cured egg (see below for recipe)
splash of soy sauce
seaweed flakes, or roasted seaweed (optional)
splash of leftover miso soup (optional)
sesame seeds or Japanese rice seasoning blend (optional)

process

Heat rice. Add rice to bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients on top of the rice and mix til fluffy. Eat.

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soy-cured egg

Soft-boil eggs. Peel. Sit them in a water/soy sauce/sugar for some number of hours. If you want them sooner, heat the marinade before curing eggs. These look beautiful when finished, like a tea egg or other pickled egg.

from rasa malaysia

soy-cured egg yolks

Rest egg yolks in soy sauce/tamari, mirin/sake, and a pinch of sugar for some number of hours. (8? 12? Does it matter? Just depends how strong of a tamari flavor you want.)

from wild greens and sardines

ham dan / salt-cured egg yolks for grating (!)

Rest whole eggs in a blend of salt and sugar. You can add dried onion or garlic for flavor. Ensure yolks are completely covered in the mixture. Chill in fridge for four days, turning often. Brush off excess seasoning and gently dunk into water. Finish curing on your oven’s lowest setting for an hour or two, or in a dehydrator. This method of preserving egg yolks allows them to be kept unrefrigerated for up to a month.

from bon appetit; more info at taste cooking

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tagged “rotation” because I eat this absolutely all the time. Haven’t tried the salt-cured yolks, but the tamari-cured yolks and tamari-cured whole eggs are delicious. A nice way to mix up your savory breakfast routine!

springtime niçoise style salad

niçoise salad is amazing and versatile. ever tried it with asparagus? i can’t get fresh green beans in april, so i made an asparagus niçoise style salad for the spring.

the best part is, none of these ingredients are necessary. any leftover vegetables would be great in here. swap out whatever you have or don’t have, and build your dream salad. it’s a great way to use leftover boiled potatoes.

– 1 bunch asparagus
– medium-boiled eggs (the internet said 7 minutes for medium-boiled eggs. but they came out soft-boiled. delicious but not the same.)
– diced artichoke hearts
– chopped olives (use what you have in the house; they don’t have to be nicoise olives)
– leftover boiled potatoes (i used purple fleshed potatoes that were on sale at the co-op and they were beautiful contrasted with the bright green asparagus and bright yellow yolks)
– (optional: tuna or anchovies, if you eat fish)

dressing:
dijon mustard
apple cider vinegar
a few pinches of minced onions or garlic
any fresh herb you have in the house
pinch of salt and pepper

roast asparagus in olive oil on 425 until it cooked but still crunchy, just eight minutes or so

cut everything into bite-sized chunks, like for potato salad or egg salad, top with vinaigrette, and serve.

don’t be constrained by this recipe. get creative! next time, i’d love to add some radishes for crunch. epicurious says to add raw red and yellow bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, and tons of parsley. david lebovitz uses fresh cucumbers, fresh fava beans, fresh basil, and a half a head of lettuce. others call for capers, celery, salmon and sugar, baby beets….

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recipe modified from all the recipes cited above, created by friedsig, and, mostly inspired by this bon apetit recipe that planted itself into my subconscious

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artichokes and asparagus are two of my favorite foods. here you can eat them at the same time!

it’s nice to have a new quick lunch for the week with just a little weekend meal prep. if you make the vinaigrette and roast the asparagus and boil the potatoes and eggs on a weekend, you can construct this salad in five minutes. also, a great seasonal salad: use tomatoes and cucumbers in an august salad, and asparagus and radishes in an april salad. it’s also nice to have a unifying theme, and feel like, “i am eating nicoise salad,” and not, “i am eating this hastily assembled pile of leftovers”

oven-poached (shirred) eggs

I recommend these simple, no-fail eggs (or oefs en cocotte, the heavy cream version). The only downside is cleaning out the muffin tin.

They’re not at all greasy or chewy. This method would be great for making eggs for a large group.

If you need to surprise someone with breakfast on valentine’s day and need something you can’t possibly mess up, this is a good one. Serve with grits or toast if you like, but eggs are never limited to breakfast. They’re great on a bed of greens for lunch, or with mustard and crackers for a snack, or on top of your stir-fry or steak.

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attempt one

preheat oven to 350
pour a little grease into a muffin tin
add a bit of boiling water into each
crack an egg into indentation
sprinkle a little salt and pepper on each egg
if you like, add herbs or cheese

cook 12 minutes if you like over medium – more if you like eggs over hard; less if you like eggs over easy
(your oven may vary! watch them carefully)

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adapted from epicurious

eggs benedict

2 English muffins
4 slices ham each slice 1/8 inch thick
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
1 pinch Meyer lemon zest (or any lemon zest)
1 sprig fresh marjoram or sage (or not)
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice (or any lemon juice)
salt to taste

Poach eggs
Poke the tines of a fork into the sides of the English muffins, working your way all the way around the muffin to split them in half. Toast until lightly browned.
Fry the ham until browned, but not tough or chewy
Start the Hollandaise sauce as soon as you start poaching the eggs. Setup a double boiler by finding a heatproof bowl that sits on the rim of a pot, then add 1/2″ of water to the pot before covering it with the bowl. The bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water.
Add the egg yolk and butter into the bowl and turn on the heat to medium. Whisk together until there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth.
Add the lemon zest, marjoram and salt and then slowly add the boiling water while whisking constantly (it may be helpful to have someone pour the water for you). Continue whisking until the mixture is thick and creamy (about the consistency of thin gravy) or if you have an instant read thermometer it should read 160 degrees F (71 C). Do not overcook it or it will get lumpy.
Use a towel or oven mitt to remove the bowl from the pot, then whisk in the lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasonings to taste. The Hollandaise Sauce needs to be used immediately or it will clump. If you need to hold it, you can periodically warm it in the double boiler while whisking to maintain a constant temperature between 150 and 160 degrees F.
To assemble your Eggs Benedict, put the toasted English Muffins on plates, top with a slice of ham, top with a poached egg, then finish with a generous blanket of Hollandaise Sauce. Garnish with paprika and serve immediately.

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In the original recipe, there are words of wisdom regarding timing:

“The most important part of making Eggs Benedict is the timing… The timing takes some practice to nail, but if you’re a newbie, I’d recommend toasting the bread and searing the ham while you wait for the water for the poached egg to boil and prep the ingredients for the sauce. Then, as soon as you lower the eggs into the water, start making the sauce, which should be done right around the time you pull the eggs from the water.”

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wonderful recipe and unnecessary capitalization by no recipes

perfect poached eggs

really into poached eggs lately. looked up how to get the whites to stay together. seems easy enough, and i hate wasting all those bits of egg white!

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Heat the water: Add enough water to come 1 inch up the side of a narrow, deep 2-quart saucier. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 2 teaspoons white vinegar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, crack 1 very fresh cold large egg into a cup. Use the handle of a spatula or spoon to quickly stir the water in one direction until it’s all smoothly spinning around.

TIP: Use this whirlpool method when poaching a single serving (one or two eggs). For bigger batches, heat the water, salt and vinegar in a 12-inch nonstick skillet and do not stir.

Add the egg: Carefully drop the egg into the center of the whirlpool. The swirling water will help prevent the white from “feathering,” or spreading out in the pan.

Let it poach: Turn off the heat, cover the pan and set your timer for 5 minutes. Don’t peek, poke, stir or accost the egg in any way.

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from tv

how to fry an egg

really?

according to this very compelling photoseries, a very gross-sounding cooking method – immersion frying an egg – is the best method.

i’m disgusted and intrigued like the original poster, and i’ll definitely try it.

vegetarian welsh “glamorgan sausages”

glamorgan sausages are a traditional welsh dish.

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25g/1oz butter
115g/4oz leeks, trimmed, finely sliced (prepared weight)
175g/6oz breadcrumbs (make them yourself by toasting stale bread and crumbling it!)
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
150g/5oz Caerphilly cheese or Welsh Cheddar, finely grated
2 free-range eggs, separated
1 tsp English mustard
½ tsp flaked sea salt
5 tbsp sunflower oil
freshly ground black pepper

melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the leek gently for 8-10minutes, or until very soft but not coloured.
Put 100g/3½oz of the breadcrumbs, the parsley, thyme and cheese in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Beat the egg yolks with the mustard, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper in a separate bowl.
Remove the frying pan from the heat and tip the leeks into the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and mix together well with a large wooden spoon until well combined. Divide the leek mixture into eight portions and roll into sausage shapes.
Whisk the egg whites lightly in a bowl with a large metal whisk until just frothy. Sprinkle 40g/1½oz breadcrumbs over a large plate. Dip the sausages one at a time into the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs until evenly coated, then place on the baking tray. Chill the sausages in the fridge for 30 minutes.

fry on medium heat 10-12 mins, turning regularly.

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edit 10/7:

no thyme, parsley, or leeks in the house. subbed in fresh cilantro and mint, dried basil, powdered onion and garlic, and a pinch of coconut powder, and dipped them in corn flour instead of breadcrumbs.

tasted sort of like crunchy fried cilantro bread, and sort of like something weird you’d get at a carnival from the deep-fried corn flour taste. not bad; curious to try them cooked in a real deep-fryer and with the leeks.

great way to use old stale bread. it would be fun for kids, too, since squishing is a required part of the cooking process.

sweet fermented rice pancakes

i’m making pak thong kuih – a lacto-fermented rice dessert.

for the first two parts of the recipe, some of the “starter” is removed. what to do with all that extra yeasty sweet rice?

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super fast and easy sweet and sour fermented rice pancakes

from goop to plate in less than ten minutes.

ingredients

+ a fistful of yeasty sweet rice leftover from fermenting pak thong kuih (or substitute leftover cooked plain rice – maybe with a little lime juice? i’ll have to try that.)
+ a fistful of mashed sweet potato
+ two pinches of coconut powder
+ one pinch of corn starch
+ one egg (increase corn starch for a vegan version)
+ a pinch each of fennel, cayenne, seasoned salt, coriander, and two pinches of ginger and black pepper
+ a tablespoon or so of date syrup

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fry on medium heat like any pancake or burger.

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serve with applesauce

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i invented this recipe tonight, and i couldn’t be happier with it! hopefully the honeycomb dessert is good so i have a reason to ferment more rice, because this was a quick, easy, awesome snack!

oeufs en cocotte

this post made me laugh for a number of reasons.

mostly, i was laughing because i happen to be visiting a house that actually has ridiculous things like ramekins, cream, and Parmesan. and fresh rosemary in the middle of winter! ah, mom.

this recipe would be easy to alter, i think, to use less expensive ingredients. comment with your own, if you try it!

here’s what i did

1. boiled a few cups of water in a pot.
2. preheated oven to 400.
3. greased a ramekin with butter and poured a thin layer of cream over it.
4. cracked two eggs into the ramekin.
5. salted, peppered, and nutmegged the raw eggs.
6. poured a dash of cream and a little grated Parmesan on top of the eggs.
7. poured boiled water into a small pyrex.
8. sat the ramekin inside the pyrex and baked the whole thing for 25 minutes.

the recipe said to do it for 15, but i checked every five minutes and it still looked swimmy on top.

when i tore into it, the eggs were somewhere between hard-boiled and soft-boiled – i’d stick with the 15 minute calculation next time.

delicious! the water gives the eggs a velvety texture, and i like the creaminess.

wonder if this would work with whole milk?

it was a wonderful treat, but between the time required and the cost of the ingredients i’d save this for a special occasion.