eggs on sunday

Now tell me…who wouldn’t want to devour a stack of blondies like that? This recipe is yet another one from my current favorite baking cookbook, Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours. It falls in the category of cookies where the ratio of dough to chunk is definitely tipped in favor of chunkiness - and I love it that way. The bars are like a dense, chewy peanut butter cookie, full of all different sizes of chocolate chunks (you chop them from a bar of chocolate; I’m a dark chocolate person all the way) and coarsely chopped salted peanuts. So you get salty and sweet in the same bite, which is a fantastic flavor combination. And since I happen to think doughs with chunks and nuts take well to being made with some whole wheat flour, I made these with all white whole wheat flour - so at least they’re a whole-grain treat! They freeze beautifully, and we’ve been eating them straight from the freezer with a cup of tea or hot chocolate. Utterly delicious!

Ingredients

Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (I use an organic, all-natural kind)
5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts
6 oz good-quality chocolate — I prefer dark, but use what you like.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line an 8×8 baking pan with aluminum foil. Butter the foil and set the pan aside.

Chop the peanuts and chocolate, and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the sugar and brown sugar and continue beating about 2 minutes, until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the 2 eggs, then beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and turn the mixer back on low speed. Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Dump the chopped peanuts and chocolate into the bowl, and mix on low speed just a few turns, until they’re distributed through the dough.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for about 40-50 minutes (check at 40), until the top is a light golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the pan on a rack until it comes to room temperature.

To cut, lift the foil out of the pan peel it away from the blondies. Cut into squares - you should get 16.

The February issue of Bon Appetit had a recipe for a spinach salad with avocados, oranges, and an asian-style dressing with ginger and sesame oil. In other words, it had my name written all over it. I’ve made it twice for us in the past week!

Like the two-tone green of the avocados against the emerald-green spinach? I sure do. The oranges are nice and sweet against the mild bite of the ginger in the dressing, and of course, I love anything with sesame oil as an ingredient! And to boot, between the avocados, oranges, spinach and ginger, this is one super healthy salad.

Ingredients

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2008.

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon (generous) Asian sesame oil
1 navel orange
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
1 Hass avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

Directions

Rinse and spin dry the spinach and set aside.

Peel and pit the avocado, cut it in half, and slice it into 1/2 inch wedges.

Stand the orange on its end and, using a sharp knife (chef’s knife is best), cut off the peel and pith, following the curve of the orange. Halve the orange vertically and slice it into half-moon shapes (see pictures above.)

To make the dressing, place the minced shallots and ginger in a small bowl. Add the rice vinegar, sesame oil, and vegetable oil, and whisk together. Season with coarse salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, place the dried spinach leaves, avocado chunks, and orange slices in a large bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette over, and toss to combine. Adjust seasoning again to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 4.

I found myself in a bit of a quandry this past weekend. It’s a well-known fact how much B and I love guacamole. We would honestly eat it a few times a week if we could…but avocados definitely aren’t local to upstate NY, and I feel these little pangs of guilt every time I buy a big bunch at the store. So it’s our occasional treat - and I had a big craving for it this past weekend, which probably was related to the fact that we had 5 big, plump, dark and ripe Hass avocados sitting in a bowl on our windowsill, beckoning to me. I figured I’d make guacamole for lunch, and after digging around a bit in my pantry, I found some other things to add to it to boost the nutrition level (though the original dip is, in moderation, quite a healthy thing.) So into my base recipe with avocados, tomatoes, scallions, garlic and lime went a can of drained black beans (good fiber!), a diced red bell pepper (vitamin C!), a handful of cooked & cooled frozen corn, and a big handful of chopped cilantro. It was a pretty big bowl of dip, and instead of devouring a bag of tortilla chips with it, I tried a recipe for homemade olive oil whole wheat crackers from 101cookbooks.com (they were a big hit, and so easy to make — definitely check out the recipe!) I made a few different kinds to go with the dip — some were covered with a dusting of cumin, some with a sprinkling of sesame seeds, and others with kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.

So, all in all, this turned out to be a pretty healthy and tasty weekend lunch. You could throw in a diced chili pepper or two to amp up the spiciness.

Ingredients

3 large avocados
2 tbsp minced scallions or onion
1 small chopped tomato
juice of 2 limes
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 can black beans (preferably organic), drained
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn, cooked and cooled
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Peel and pit the avocados. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and mash it with a fork in a bowl. Stir in the chopped tomato, minced scallions/onion, garlic, lime juice, salt, black beans, red pepper, corn, and cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Serve with tortilla chips or another favorite cracker or chip.

The new issue of Bon Appetit magazine arrived earlier in the week, and boy was it a good one. This was their “green” issue, so it was chock full of articles on buying organic and locally-produced ingredients, how to best cook grass-fed meat, cooking with winter vegetables, and baking with whole grains — all topics I’m really, really interested in right now. Not to mention an article about a working, organic farm near Siena, Italy where you can stay, eat, and learn about how they process and cure their own pork products, make their own olive oil, garden, etc. I had read about Castello di Spannocchia in The Boston Globe travel section about a year ago, and have filed it away for a future trip idea for B and I (though I think once I was there, I’d have a hard time leaving!)

I’ve had pistachios on the brain lately, and there was a recipe for brussel sprouts with pistachios and lemon that caught my eye. The way the sprouts were prepared was what initially interested me; the leaves are peeled off the sprout until you have mounds of the curved, petal-like greens. Then it’s just a quick saute in the pan with some toasted pistachios, shallots, and a squeeze of lemon to finish it off.

I thought these sprouts would pair really nicely with a pistachio-crusted cod recipe I had been working on lately…and with the cod, I’ve been making a creamy yogurt dipping sauce with herbs, garlic, scallions, and lemon zest. Just the sauce alone is worthy of eating by the spoonful.

The picture on the right at the top of this post is the other “seeing green” recipe I made this week: whole wheat linguine with cabbage, green beans and sicilian pesto. Besides the bright green savoy cabbage and green beans, there’s a parsley pesto with tangy capers, lemon and some other nice ingredients that really brightens up this dish and makes it really flavorful.

And finally, though not in the green color category, was a butternut squash and sage soup recipe from the issue that, with a few tweaks, I found to be delicious. I find a lot of squash soups are usually pretty thick, but I liked the consistency of this one — it’s a bit thinner, still rich with the pureed squash (and the addition of a teeny bit of cream at the end), and the sage flavor is present, but not too overpowering. A steamy bowl of the soup was great with a slice of crusty bread alongside (but then again, I think I say that about every soup, right?)

The banana bread pudding recipe kick started me on a dessert sauce-making spree. Mostly this is due to the fact that B and I drink a LOT of hot chocolate — and by “a LOT”, I mean almost every night. During the week we mostly use just some good Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa to make it, and stir in a bit of sugar; this is how we justify having something “dessert-like” every night but not having it really count. On the weekend, however, we have no-holds-barred seriously good hot chocolate. Lately this means we’ve used a number of different chocolate ganaches that I’ve made (and conveniently stored in these glass hermetic terrines that I adore, from The Container Store), and/or stirred in a nice spoonful of homemade caramel sauce. And of course, served it with a generous dollop (well, okay, sometimes it’s more like a pile) of softly whipped cream on top — the real stuff, of course. Oooh boy, do I love love love it!

Chocolate ganache is dead easy to make — it’s just chopped chocolate and hot cream (that you may or may not have flavored), stirred together until smooth and then cooled. You can also vary the amount of cream and, once cooled, roll little balls of the ganache into truffles (yum!). Caramel sauce is equally easy, though you do need to watch it to make sure the sugar doesn’t burn. Both recipes keep well in the fridge for weeks, so check out the recipes and try some for yourself - you’ll probably develop a hot chocolate fix like we have, but hey, there are worse things in this world than that!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve made this soup twice already - it’s that good! The soup by itself is very plain and basic, but it’s elevated tremendously by the addition of some herbs and garlic that are sauteed with olive oil and diced tomatoes. Served with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar in each bowl, the layered flavors in the soup are really wonderful. From the cookbook “Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen” by Deborah Madison.

Ingredients

2 cups white beans (cannellini or navy), soaked (see note below)

3 tbsp olive oil
1 celery rib, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
bouquet garni: 1 celery rib tied with 5 parsley stems and 1 thyme sprig
chunk of a rind of parmesan cheese (optional) 1 1/2 tsp salt

For garnish:
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp chopped parsley
3 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 can organic diced tomatoes, drained (or 1 cup seeded fresh tomatoes, if in season)
balsamic vinegar (for serving)

Directions

To soak the beans: there are two ways to do this. The first would be to place 2 cups of rinsed, picked over dried beans in a pot and cover with plenty of cold water; leave to soak for 6-8 hours or overnight. The method I usually use is to place 2 cups of dried beans in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and let soak in that water for another 1-2 hours. You should get a yield of about 6 cups of beans.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion has softened. Add the drained soaked beans, 10 cups of water, the smashed garlic cloves, the bouquet garni, and a chunk of the rind from a parmesan cheese rind, if you’re using. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium-low, and let simmer for about 1 hour.

Add 1 1/2 tsp salt, and continue to cook the soup for another hour. At this point, I usually like to blend the soup with an immersion blender until it’s pretty smooth; you could also remove a portion of the soup and do the same blending in a blender or food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the garnish: in a small saucepan, heat the olive oil until it’s very hot and shimmering. Add, all at once, the drained diced tomatoes, garlic, parsley, and sage. Stir for about 30 seconds, until the tomatoes are heated and the herbs are bright green.

Serve the soup with a good spoonful of the tomato/herb mixture in each bowl, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Makes about 8 generous servings.

This is a delicious (and nutritious!) soup, adapted from Moosewood Simple Suppers. I’ve added some garlic and a diced red bell pepper to the recipe, and use a bit more liquid than the original recipe had…you can adjust the amount of liquid to your liking. I prefer chard in this soup to kale, as I feel it doesn’t get quite so bitter; you can use any dark leafy green you like.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fennel
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or 1/4 tsp cayenne
1 bunch stemmed, rinsed and chopped swiss chard, kale, or collards
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can black beans
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 cups water
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions

Saute the onions and garlic over medium heat in a heavy large pot until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add the cumin, fennel, red pepper/cayenne, and greens; stir to mix. Sprinkle with salt and continue to cook until the greens are wilted but still bright green. Add the can of diced tomatoes (with the juice), black beans, corn, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes. Adjust the liquid if necessary, add some coarse salt to taste (it will need it), and stir in the chopped cilantro, if using.

You could serve this topped with crumbled tortilla chips and/or cheddar or jack cheese. Yum.

Serves 4.

While I was working on Harvard’s Cambridge campus, a friend and I went one day to the Faculty Club for lunch. The food there is quite good all-around, but the one thing I ate which has been burned in my memory since was their banana-chocolate chip bread pudding (which, by the way, you can serve yourself — dangerous — and top with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, or both. Needless to say, you leave in a sugar coma…but forever enamored with that dessert.) I like bread pudding in any form I can get it, really; I think it’s one of the best kinds of comforting, warming, rich desserts to serve on a cold winter’s night. Many times it’s made with the rich egg-y bread called challah (which, by the way, also makes a killer french toast), but you can use other kinds of bread too.

What started my gears turning on this one was the loaf of banana-nut bread that I had made last weekend; we had half the loaf left and while I do love banana bread for snacking, I started thinking about the banana bread pudding I’d had that day at the Faculty Club and thought I’d try to re-create a version of it at home. I started by cubing the remainder of the banana bread and toasting it in the oven a bit, mostly to dry it out a little. My thinking behind this was to prevent the bread, which was pretty moist on its own, from getting too mushy and soggy in the pudding — I’m not sure if it made a big difference or not. I then tossed the cubes of banana bread with some chocolate chips and diced fresh banana in a bowl, and divided that mixture among 4 well-buttered 10-oz ramekins (you could also use six 6-oz ramekins.) Next, I mixed up the custard to pour into the ramekins; for this I used the basic ratio of eggs to cream and milk (see recipe), and added some cinnamon and a little spiced rum for flavoring. After pouring this over the bread cubes in the ramekins, I let them sit for about 20 minutes on the counter to absorb the egg mixture, occasionally pressing on the tops to keep the cubes fairly submerged. The ramekins then went into a water bath to bake for about 50 minutes, and after they cooled down a bit, I inverted them out of the ramekins and served them with a caramel sauce I had made and flavored with spiced rum.

WOW. Picture creamy, dense, custardy uber-banana flavored cake, studded with occasional bits of melted chocolate, and a pool of caramel to drag the bites around in…it was fantastic! And slightly less sugar-coma-inducing than the original version — as I didn’t add much extra sugar to the custard (I figured the banana bread itself, combined with the caramel sauce, would provide enough sweet.) Add to that the fact that the puddings tasted even better the following day, and the fact that I still had some leftover caramel sauce to stir into hot chocolate or serve over ice cream, and this was a dessert that I’m definitely happy to have added to my list!

Ingredients

half a loaf of banana nut bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (you can try my banana chocolate chip walnut bread, or use another kind you like)
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 banana, diced
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp good vanilla extract
1 tbsp spiced or dark rum (optional)
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of salt

Caramel Sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350, and generously butter 4 10-oz. ramekins or 6 6-oz. ramekins.

Toss together the cubes of banana bread, chocolate chips, and diced banana. Divide this mixture among the buttered ramekins (or pour it into the 8×8 dish, if that’s what you’re using.) In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, rum (if using), cinnamon, sugar and pinch of salt. Pour this custard mixture over the bread cubes, dividing evenly. Use your (clean) fingers to gently press the bread cubes down to make sure the cubes on top get soaked in custard. Let them sit on the counter for about 20 minutes to absorb the custard.

Place the ramekins in a baking dish, and pour enough hot tap water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the tops of the puddings are puffed and a knife inserted into the middle of one comes out clean.

Remove the ramekins from the hot water bath and let cool on a cooling rack. To serve, I run a knife around the edge and gently invert to unmold the pudding, then flip it so it’s right-side-up on the plate. Serve the puddings warm, or you can let them cool completely, refrigerate them, and they’ll keep for several days in the fridge (unmold one, microwave on high for 2 minutes to reheat.)

Serve with Caramel Sauce or Chocolate Ganache drizzled over the top.

This is currently my favorite bruschetta recipe. I’ve adapted it a bit from the recipe used in the “Cooking Couples” class B and I took at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts (if you’re living in the Boston area and interested, we had a great time - I highly recommend it!) For the topping, you slowly cook down some onions until caramelized, then mix in some chopped dried figs, red wine, a little balsamic vinegar, and fresh rosemary. Pile this on top of some lightly toasted baguette slices, top with some crumbled goat cheese and a little more rosemary, and broil until the cheese is melting. They’re a delicious sweet-tart-savory bite that marry some of my favorite flavors. This recipe makes enough topping for 1 very large baguette, or two medium-sized ones.

Ingredients

1 large or 2 medium baguettes, sliced into 1/3 inch slices
5 tbsp olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
8 oz. dried figs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/2 cup red wine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
8 oz goat cheese

Directions

Place your oven rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat the broiler.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large saute pan. Add the sliced red onions and cook over medium heat until soft and golden — this usually takes me about 30-45 minutes. The goal is to cook them low and slow, to get them nice and golden brown from their sugars caramelizing, instead of using higher heat to brown the outsides before the sugars have been released.

Stir in the figs and garlic, then add the red wine and balsamic vinegar. Simmer this mixture, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated — anywhere from 5-10 minutes. Stir in the sugar and 1 tsp rosemary; season well with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Spread the slices of baguette out on a baking sheet and drizzle or brush with the remaining 3 tbsp oil. Bake the baguette slices until lightly toasted (watch them carefully to avoid burning) - this only takes a few minutes if you use the broiler. Remove from the oven and cool slightly, until you can handle them.

Top each baguette slice with a spoonful of the onion-fig mixture and some crumbled goat cheese. Season with pepper and scatter the remaining 2 tsp rosemary over the tops, then bake just until the goat cheese melts, about 5 minutes.

You could substitute barley or wheat berries for the farro. If you’d like to use farro, I order mine from Market Hall Foods, or I believe Whole Foods Market should carry it (if you have one in your area.)

Ingredients

2 3/4 cup (1.1 lb) whole-grain farro, cooked according to the directions on the package (I soaked mine in cold water for 30 minutes, then simmered for another 40 minutes or so.)

1 cup walnuts, toasted (see below)

2 medium red onions or shallots, cut lengthwise into wedges and layers separated
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
5 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 bunch Swiss Chard or kale, steamed until bright green and wilted

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup walnut oil
2 tsp dijon mustard

To serve (optional):
pomegranate seeds
crumbled goat cheese or feta

Directions

Cook farro in salted water according to directions on package (see above) and drain.

Toast the walnuts: spread whole walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in a 400 degree oven for about 5-10 minutes, only until they start to turn a deeper brown color and become very aromatic (watch out, they burn quickly! Stay close by and check on them frequently).

On another baking sheet, spread out the onions/shallots and cubed butternut squash. Drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with the thyme, kosher salt, and pepper, and roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the squash is tender (again, check on it periodically and give it a stir every so often to ensure even browning.)

While the veggies are roasting, steam the greens until bright green and wilted.

Make the vinaigrette by whisking together 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, and 2 tsp dijon mustard (to help emulsify.) You probably won’t use all of this, but it’s better to have a little extra so you can use the amount needed to properly dress the salad.

In a large bowl, toss together the farro, greens, and roasted squash and onions. Drizzle in about half the balsamic vinaigrette that you already mixed up, and stir the salad well with a large spoon to ensure even coating. Taste and see if it needs more dressing: if so, add some. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, crumble some goat cheese or feta cheese on top of the salad, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, if you wish.

Makes about 6 generous servings.