Don’t own a juicer and want to make healthy breakfast drinks? Great! All you need is a blender, good ingredients, and an imagination for flavor and texture. Here are a couple of my tips for making a great tasting smoothie:
Think about making the most of natural sweetness. I recommend you stock up on bananas and freeze the ripe ones. Grab a few bags of frozen berries and keep them in the freezer for any time smoothies. I love the organic mixed berries at Trader Joes.
Consider texture. Frozen bananas and frozen berries work great. Maybe you’d like to add soft tofu, Greek Yogurt (I’m a huge fan of Fage), a handful of nuts (cashews or almonds are the best), or even roasted sweet potato.
Add in some protein. Look for healthy ingredients like Kefir (I love lactose free Green Valley Organics) or unsweetened yogurt. See some of my suggestions up above.
Use a healthy liquid to tie it all together. I use coconut milk, almond milk, orange juice, and carrot juice to add flavor and/or sweetness.
Since doing a juice cleanse last week, I’ve been making a fair amount of smoothies and breakfast shakes to start my day. By skipping a big egg and toast breakfast, I’ve been able to stay away from caffeine, bread and pasta, meat, and processed sugars for over a week now. This clean way of eating has me feeling clean, healthy, and full of energy. Starting my day off right with a blended smoothie or a glass of carrot juice helps me get into my day with good clean energy.
Sometimes its fun to get adventurous in the kitchen and use already prepped ingredients for new recipes. This smoothie’s texture benefits from the sweetness and texture of sweet potato and the spiciness of fresh ginger. The best part is you don’t have to own an expensive juicer to make this smoothie. The ginger gives you the energy boost you’ll need (and may reduce your cholesterol!) and the sweet potato offers complex carbohydrates, potassium, fiber, beta-carotene, and vitamins C and B6.
Sweet Sunrise Smoothie
3/4 cup carrot juice
1/2 cup Kefir (your favorite flavor)
1/2 roasted sweet potato, without the skin
1 tablespoon unsalted cashew butter
1-2 inches of ginger, peeled and sliced (depending upon how spicy you want the drink)
6 ice cubes
Put slices of sweet potato and ginger into the blender with the carrot juice. Blend until not so chunky. Add the Kefir, cashew butter, and ice cubes, blend until smooth. If you want a thicker consistency, add more Kefir. For more liquidity, add more carrot juice. Enjoy.
I was in the deli meat section of Whole Foods when my husband asked if I’d be interested in joining him on a three-day juice cleanse. An answer came swiftly. “No way,” I said. “Not interested.”
He tried again by the salad bar.
“Come on. It’s just for three days,” he said. “I’ll go to the Pressed Juicery tomorrow and get all the juices we need.”
He pushed the grocery cart past the display of pre-made soups and a barricade of kombucha.
“No, thanks. Not my jam,” I said.
I slipped four of my favorite chocolate bars into our cart. I could not encourage an idea that had me going without dark chocolate and coffee for three days. Hadn’t I given up enough already?
Hans was quiet through the frozen food section. He held his tongue as we waited in line behind two chatty Asian women with a small basket of food. They stopped talking long enough to eye our grocery items. They want what we have, I thought. They think a juice cleanse was a bad idea, too.
The cashier waved us over. I unloaded kale, red quinoa, sweet potatoes, and low-fat yogurt onto the conveyor belt. My healthy choices edged towards to the glass of the bar code reader. My ego welled up and banged against fear. I live a rather healthy life. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke. So why on earth would I need a cleanse?
My husband gave one final pitch. “You have the week off. This is a perfect time.”
I pulled a five-pound turkey breast wrapped in butcher paper from the cart. “What about this turkey,” I said, running scenarios, dates, and health code statistics through my mind. There was a lot at stake here. I had plans and recipes. I couldn’t give up eating for THREE days!
“What about the turkey?” he said. “We’ll freeze it. Come on. It’ll be good for us.”
It was in that moment that I heard the sound. It was the kind and gentle tone my husband can get sometimes when he knows something about me that I don’t. Deep in there between the consonants and vowels was something good and important. Patience. Wisdom. Insight.
Love conquers fear
This moment was familiar. Wasn’t it just a few years ago when my husband suggested an idea so outside of my comfort zone, I automatically said no to it then, too? Wasn’t it just a few years ago when my life was upside down and needing some direction and my husband asked if I was willing to give up drinking with him for just one day at a time? Hadn’t my life been transformed by uttering the word, Yes?
I smiled as I handed the butcher’s bundle to the cashier. “Would it be okay if we didn’t get this turkey breast? I changed my mind,” I said. “Looks like I’m going to be doing a juice cleanse after all.”
There were no applause or sudden dancing. Just a grin of knowing from the man I love.
One of Three money saving recipes that will help you stretch your dollar!
Nowadays, most people’s budgets don’t have much room for the extras, especially big luxury items. If you have things in your life that you want to save your pennies for–a new car, a big piece of furniture, a trip to a food blogging conference, or even fattening up your savings account–stretching your dollars in the kitchen is important. Since eating out seems like an impossible indulgence with your hard earned bucks, you need to get crafty with the way you approach your daily costs.
Being frugal doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying yourself in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, I look at budgetary limitations as a formalized culinary challenge. I pretend I’m a participant on Iron Chef with the featured ingredient of NO MONEY! and see just how far I can stretch my menu with basic pantry items. I’ve found what works best for my budget menu planning is to keep two things in mind: 1) cook meals that can be eaten at any time of the day and 2) use simple pantry items as the base ingredients for dishes. When I cook a meal that can double as breakfast, lunch, or dinner, less time is spent in the kitchen and more time can be spent doing the things that need to get done.
Thanks to the great people at Foodbuzz.com, I’ve been given the opportunity to share with you a handful of easy recipes in this month’s Foodbuzz 24×24. My goal: help you save money so you can afford to do the things you want to do–like attend this year’s Food Buzz Conference in San Francisco. What’s even better, these three recipes make perfect road trip or airplane snacks so you can save your dollars at the airport when you’re flying (to San Francisco).
Homemade granola
Oats
Oats are a perfect inexpensive pantry item that can double as a main ingredient for several meals during the day. Oatmeal for breakfast, granola for a midday snack, or even as the crumble for a dessert fruit crisp.
This granola recipe is an equally tasty but less expensive version of a previous granola I posted on this site several months ago. This is my favorite version of this recipe because it costs less and leaves me room to spend money elsewhere. I eat this granola dry, as a snack, and sprinkle a handful over Athena’s Greek Yogurt for a decadent breakfast, lunch or dinner. Oh, and the granola is great over ice cream, too!
Chef’s tip: Use the left over oats to make oatmeal for breakfast the rest of the week.
1 cup whole cane sugar (I used Trader Joe’s organic evaporated cane sugar)
3 oz organic maple syrup
3 oz organic agave syrup
4 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cups coconut, unsweetened
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
Optional: generous pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 350º. Adjust the top rack to the middle of the oven. Whisk sugar, syrups, and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until almost smooth. In a large bowl pour syrup over the oats and coconut*. Stir gently with a wood spoon until it is completely mixed throughout. Pour mixture onto a sheet tray covered with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for twenty minutes, or until almost golden. Remove from oven. Let cool. Add dried fruit after you break up the granola into loose bits and large pieces. Enjoy immediately or store for later use.
Can be stored in an air-tight container for several weeks.
*if you don’t want your granola to be too sweet use less of the sugar/syrup mixture.
Potato and Egg Frittata aka Spanish Tortilla
Eggs
I don’t know if you’ll agree with me on this, but having breakfast for dinner is just downright fun. So when I asked Adam C. Pearson, my rock star food stylist friend, what kind of egg dish he would recommend I make for this budget post, he suggested I make a Spanish Tortilla. Turns out this dish–which took some explaining for me to understand that a Spanish Tortilla is basically an egg and potato frittata that’s served room temperature and sliced like a pie–is a perfect any time meal. This simple dish is a perfect thing to slice up, drop into a zip-lock bag and take to the office (or to the airport).
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Potato and Egg Frittata aka Spanish Tortilla
Contrary to the sound of it, a Spanish Tortilla doesn’t actually have any tortillas in it whatsoever–just eggs, potato and any other tasty ingredients you care to add.
6 medium potatoes, diced
1 large onions, thinly sliced
*1/4 cup diced ham (or 2 slices of thickly cut bacon, diced)
1/4 cup milk
8 eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Directions
In a large bowl, mix the potatoes and onions with a pinch of salt. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large non-stick frying pan. Fry the potatoes and onions on low heat. Cover with a lid for 5-10 minutes to let them soften. Turn up the heat for another 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the stove.
Meanwhile, break the eggs into a medium bowl. Add a pinch of salt and milk. Whisk until frothy. Add the potatoes and onion mixture to the eggs and mix well. Using a clean frying pan, heat the oil on a high heat. Pour in the egg mixture, move it around in the pan to help the eggs to rise. Fry until the bottom begins to brown. Being careful not to burn yourself, place a large plate over the top of the sauté pan so that you can flip the frittata. Slide the uncooked side back into the pan to cook the entire tortilla for another minute or two. Turn off the heat and let set in the pan for a few minutes. Serve sliced with green salad.
Chef’s tip: The extra 2 eggs can be used with a previous scheduled meal. Add a fried egg to a pizza, a hamburger, or a bowl of fried rice and suddenly you’re eating a luxury meal. Drop an egg into a bowl of simple chicken stock and you’re eating like an Italian Grandma.
*This dish is simply wonderful without the pork, but it certainly gives this dish plenty of great flavor. If you can’t find an affordable ham steak at your butcher’s counter, you can substitute the ham with diced bacon, which can be cut to order into two thick slices (so you don’t have to buy an entire package of sliced bacon) and kept at a reasonable cost.
Butter Lettuce and Turkey Sausage Pasta
Pasta
Pasta is one of the main bargain meal staples in most homes. No matter what you’re upbringing, you probably have a pretty good idea how inexpensive pasta can be when creating a satisfying meal. You don’t need to resort to jarred sauces or powdered cheese to create an inexpensive pasta dish, though. As a matter of fact, some of the most delicious pasta dishes can be made with just three ingredients.
This pasta dish’s unique ingredients makes for an exceptional meal that won’t taste like a re-hashed meal or yesterday’s leftovers.
Chef’s Tip: This dish is great warm or served cold. Transform any leftover lettuce you have on hand into a salad.
[print_link] Pasta with Leeks and Turkey Sausage
Modified from a recipe from Martha Stewart
1 box of pasta (shells or twists work best)
1 lb of turkey sausage
3-4 leeks, white and light-green parts only, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/4-inch slices, rinsed well, and drained
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons butter
1 head of butter (bibb) lettuce, washed and torn into pieces.
Course salt and Pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan, for serving
*Reserve one cup of pasta water
Directions
Bring to a boil a large pot of salted water for pasta.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook turkey sausage over medium-high heat. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon until browned, about 5 minutes. Add leeks to the skillet and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring frequently, until mostly evaporated, 2 minutes. Stir in butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
When pasta water is at a rolling boil, cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add the sausage and leek mixture. Toss gently to combine. Add the torn lettuce (use no more than 3-4 cups of torn lettuce) to the pasta with enough pasta water to create a “light sauce” that coats the pasta. Toss. Serve with Parmesan on the side.
I hope you’ve found some inspiration and useful advice that can help you use a handful of basic pantry items to stretch your budget, please your palate, and make you feel like you’re not skimping.
Some rather grandiose dreams spring to life from the enjoyment of a single morsel. At least, that’s how it works in this odd little brain of mine. One really good bite and an aspiring career is launched, imaginary restaurants are born, and desired franchises are launched.
Maybe you experience magical thinking, too?
It starts with a recipe and technique. You’ve worked on perfecting a particular food item for a long while and then, after much effort, art and science come together and make magic on the plate.
You regard what you created. You feel satisfied and proud. (And maybe a little bit hungry.) You take a bite. Your senses sparkle with excitement. Your mouth enlivens with activity. Neurons fire with glee.
Then, maybe a few moments later, someone across from you–a loved one or a cherished friend who joins you in this special meal–remarks “wow, this is really good.” Your beloved might continue and say something that stokes the fires of imagination even more with something inflammatory like the words “this is restaurant quality,” or “I’d pay good money for this.”
And then that’s it. Your pride rallies. Your over-active imagination kicks into high gear.
You picture the scenarios: you’ll start your own business, open a little bakery or a restaurant, begin a little catering company, quit your job, and do this thing you love so much for a living. You’ll cook, inspire, and change lives with a perfect scone, a great sandwich, a mouth watering steak, the perfect poached egg or an extraordinary dessert.
In the equation of life, I liked to put myself on the gaping side of the greater than symbol. To be greater than was the only option I could fathom. It was the strongest position to play. I was an army of one. I was the captain of my destiny. I was greater than any challenge. Should the test or dispute be too great for me, I ran from it. That’s why I avoided baking for so long. I walked away from the possibility of being less than a fallen cake, less than a dense loaf of bread, or less than a failed dessert.
But then I decided to do things a little differently. I started to run towards my fear. When I got too scared, I began to say so and ask for help. I might be strong, but I’m not bigger than the world around me. By admitting my weaknesses and owning up to my vulnerability rather than running away from it, I began to perceive the world in a new way. I started to see my life change. And not just in little ways. I stopped looking at fear as a closed door or a finite choice of NO, and began regarding fear as the gateway to the infinite possibility of YES.
It’s almost funny how I used to approach baking. I would reverse brag, and talk myself down about my inability to make a crust. I’d tell fictional tales based on fears about how I was constitutionally incapable of putting flour and butter together to create anything that resembled pastry. And yet, just the other day, I did just that.
All it took was a little whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose flours, sugar, salt, egg, milk, butter, fruit and a large dose of confidence. The result: a mixed wheat crust that’s earthy, light, and agrodolce (sweet and sour) from the balance of sweet berries and tart rhubarb. One slice to my friends and they rolled their eyes with delight because I proved myself wrong. I CAN bake. I do have the power to transfer love and comfort to their belly through something as beautiful as a Rhubarb and Mixed Berry Crostata.
I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised by the cascading changes that are happening. These little efforts are beginning to add up to something bigger. Ever since I commenced dealing with the core basics (flour, water, perspective, etc.), everything else has followed.
Facing my fear of baking (and everything else in between) is a pivot point that’s bringing about wide and sweeping transformation. With every crostata, each tea cake, and all the baked goods I pull from my oven I can feel my perspective shift from a finite point of view to one that’s much more infinite.
In a simple word I say “YES”, yes to the infinite possibility of it all.
[print_link] Rhubarb and Mixed Fruit Crostata
Based on a recipe published in Bon Appetit by Karen DeMasco, Locanda Verde
8-10 servings, depending on how you cut it
Crust
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
1 ½ sticks chilled, unsalted butter. Cubed.
1 large egg
1 tbsp whole milk
Filling
¼ cup cornstarch
3 cups ½” thick sliced rhubarb
1 small container of raspberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
Raw sugar or Turbinado sugar for finishing
For the crust:
Combine the flours, sugar, and salt in a processor. Blend for 6 seconds. Add butter and pulse until it is broken down into pea-sized pieces. Whisk egg and milk in a small bowl; add the mixture to the processor and pulse until moist clumps form. Gather the dough into a round ball and then flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 ½ hours. This dough can be made up to two days ahead.
For the filling:
In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 3 tbsp of water; set aside. Combine the fruit, rhubarb and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Stir often while the sugar dissolves and the fruit juices are released, about 4 minutes. Stir in cornstarch liquid and bring to a boil (rhubarb will not be tender and will not be broken down). Transfer mixture to a bowl. Chill until cool, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400˚. Roll out dough onto floured parchment paper until it reaches a 12″ round. Brush the dough with beaten egg. Mound the filling in the center of the crust and gently spread it out, leaving enough of a border for you to fold back the edges to form a crust. Gently fold back the edges (about an inch or more) over filling; pleat as necessary. Side parchment with crostata onto a large rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly, about 45 minutes. Let crostata cool on a baking rack. Cut into wedges.
Serve as a breakfast snack or, for a fancy dessert, add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
This is one of a series of essays dealing with my totally unrational fear of baking
Ever since Easter and Passover weekend I’ve been thinking a lot about the world ascension. The word has been looping dramatic arcs through my psyche ever since I took one of those deep, restorative, midday naps last weekend. For over an hour I took in the sleep of the dead. It was the kind of rest that soothes, calms, and heals the wounds of hard work.
When I awoke from my unconscious state, I found my refreshed mind chewing on a single word: Ascension. “Ascension,”my internal voice said to me. “Look it up.”
Though I was happy to go about my day and avoid the quiet nudge, the word wasn’t giving up on me. My mind looped: ascension, ascension, ascension. What was it about this word that needed so much attention? Ascension, ascension, ascension. The sound of the word grew louder and louder until I couldn’t resist its call any longer.
Finally, I surrendered. I gave over to a word.
Well, I mostly surrendered. Rather than commit to a full-fledged literary investigation that included the involvement of a certain large and weighted Webster’s Dictionary that lives on my bookshelf, I instead turned to my computer’s succinct internal dictionary. According to Encarta’s World English dictionary, ascension is not a word that’s included in the basic software. So, as an alternative, I turned to ascend for clues.
I was reminded that ascend means to climb up something, to succeed, and also means to rise up to a higher level. A mountain, a career, a situation, the physical life, or anything else that offers a good challenge can be ascended. A man named Jesus is said to have ascended from death on Easter day. Perhaps this is why the word came to me with such a force. It was just Easter weekend, after all.
But ascension isn’t a word that’s limited to mountain climbers and people of faith. Ascension can be used by all sorts of English speaking people who may or may not believe in the existence of God. So what does ascension have to do with me right now?
Lots of people have odd, irrational fears. I’ve seen good, strong people transform into a buzzing bundle of nerves once something like a cockroach, rat, spider, bee, or other insect came close to their person. I’ve witnessed friends go ghost white around certain kinds of people–like clowns, midgets, IRS representatives, nuns, and cops.
For me, it’s not the little bugs or people in costumes that make me nervous. What really sets my teeth on edge are electric mixers and ice cream makers. Whenever I see a recipe for a cake, cookie, bread, ice cream, or pastry I am held frozen in a moment of panic—because deep down I fear that the process of making the dessert will overload my brain and kill me.
Yes, that’s right. I have an irrational fear of baking*.
I’m an adventurous eater, but I’m also a creature of habit. I save my bold menu choices for dinner and rely on a handful of trusted culinary customs to ease into my day. I relish the repetition of a cup of coffee with a thick piece of toast with jelly, Greek yogurt with granola, a bowl of cereal, or a poached egg with kale. Sometimes, when I feel the need for easy indulgence, I eat breakfast for dinner.
Thanks to my friend Carrie Vitt and her brand new cookbook, Deliciously Organic(International Focus Press), I’m eating my favorite breakfast food all day long. I eat Carrie’s Granola with dried cherries and pecans when I wake up, as a between meal snack, for dinner, and—I’m loathe to admit–even sprinkled on top of a generous scoop of ice cream.
Carrie’s granola recipe is the perfect example of what is so wonderful about her new cookbook. Deliciously Organic is approachable, full of terrific ideas that aren’t impossible to take on, and stocked with simple adjustments that can make a huge impact on your health and happiness.
Deliciously Organic’s Granola with Dried Cherries, Coconut and Pecans is—by far—the easiest and most satisfying granola recipe I’ve ever made (and I make a lot of granola). Thanks to the presence of a good amount of organic coconut, Carrie’s granola recipe doesn’t call for any oil or butter. Maple syrup and organic cane sugar binds the oats together and creates big ol’ clusters (my favorite part of store bought granola) without requiring unnecessary (and unhealthy) ingredients. Even better, the prep and baking time doesn’t take much more than 30 minutes, which is fast and super easy!
Carrie brings her open personality to the page with bright and happy colors, friendly (and sophisticated) design, helpful tips, and gorgeous, light-filled photos from Helene DuJardin of Tartlette. Deliciously Organic offers readers valuable insights and culinary adjustments that can make a significant contribution to your health without requiring huge sacrifices.
You may not know this, but I run a very successful restaurant. Thing is, this restaurant isn’t one you’ve ever heard of, or even seen, because it doesn’t exist anywhere but in an undisclosed spot in my imagination.
My fantasy restaurant has no overhead, no ten year lease, no worries associated with the health department, no long hours, no grease traps, and food costs are something I occasionally ponder. In my make-believe eatery I serve rustic fare with warm service in a room with hardwood floors, a pressed tin ceiling, and a brick fire place. Then again, some days I’m serving fresh caught seafood and beer at a shoebox eatery with clean white tile, communal tables with red chairs, and industrial steel signage.
And maybe that’s the best thing about my imaginary restaurant. I can change things up whenever I want and it never costs a cent. Yet, no matter how menu changes and renovations my imaginary restaurant undergoes, one thing that stays constant is this one menu item: Perfect Poached Eggs on toast with Sauteed Kale.
I’m pretty certain that if I ever did open a bistro, this warm and comforting egg dish–two soft poached eggs lounging over a bed of sautéed kale and toast–would be the thing to turn customers into regulars. With anti-oxidant rich kale at its core, this breakfast feeds a winter morning’s hunger and keeps you going long after you finish that last bite.
Open most refrigerators in America and you’re likely to find an egg.
As food groups go, the egg is one of our most versatile ingredients. Prepare it simply, dress it up with common or elegant ingredients, manipulate it with good technique; the versatile egg has the ability change into something completely unlike itself.
An egg can be a snack, a meal, a condiment or a building block for something grand. In the home, an egg is a culinary hero. In professional kitchens, a poorly prepared egg can be a career killer. In my case, the egg marks my relationship with cooking.
Early in my days of cooking, I mangled even the simplest preparation. Later, I simply advocated my egg-cooking duties to boyfriends and feigned ignorance. A handful of years ago I gathered my courage and began cooking eggs with an experimental attitude. Now, after a year of serious cooking and culinary studies, I see a dozen eggs as an opportunity to step up to the stove and prove what I’ve learned. Sometimes, my eggs turn out to be really, really good.
This Eggs al Forno dish (Italian for baked eggs) is a recipe I developed after tasting a baked egg on toast that my friend Bryant Ng (former Chef of Pizzeria Mozza) pulled from a pizza oven. Though simple, the dish has all the bells and whistles: creamy soft eggs, crunchy fresh bread, the smoothness of a great olive oil and zing that only a well-made cheese can offer. Eggs al Forno is an effortless show stopper that requires great ingredients and a chef’s confidence.
I submitted this recipe to La Brea Bakery* and recently learned that they decided to feature it on their website recipe page. I include the recipe here with these suggestions: Hand select your ingredients: a great bread (wedge from an artisan bread like a sourdough, pullman or herb are good choices), a flavorful melting cheese (preferably Fontina or medium bodied sheeps milk cheese), a good finishing olive oil and maldon sea salt. Throw some prosciutto or bacon on top for some extra bacon love.
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Eggs al Forno (Baked Eggs) For Two
2 miniature casserole dishes (6×4 inches)
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter, softened
¼ of a La Brea Bakery Demi Baguette or regular sized Baguette (any variety), cut into 4 1-inch thick slices
¾ cup Fontina or mild cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven 500°F. Meanwhile, rub the inside of each mini-casserole dish with a portion of softened butter. This will prevent the ingredients from sticking to the dish. For each individual serving, place one or two slices of bread (in a single layer) on the bottom of the butter-lined casserole—making sure the bread fits snuggly—adding or trimming if necessary. Drizzle the bread with one tablespoon of olive oil. Then, add a sprinkling of half the grated Fontina cheese. Gently crack two eggs, adding them to the layer of grated cheese. Drizzle with one more tablespoon of oil. Repeat process for the other dish.
Place the two casserole dishes in the oven (you may place a cookie sheet underneath to protect your oven from bubbling ingredients) on the middle rack. Bake until eggs are set, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove the casseroles from the oven. Top each serving with one tablespoon of Parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Using oven mitts, carefully place each casserole onto a dinner plate topped with a folded cloth napkin (this will ensure a more stable surface for the hot dish to rest on). Serve immediately, making sure to warn your loved one of the dishes’ hot temperature!
Full disclosure: I do freelance copy writing for La Brea Bakery’s marketing department.
The beauty of an egg is its simplicity–simplicity embodied in its elegant shape and intelligent design. Inside the egg, there is a delicate liquid dance of light and dark—a golden orb of yolk suspended in a viscous, protective fluid. Combined, these elements are powerful enough to support a life. In the hands of skilled chef, the egg is the center point of a meal or the central ingredient behind rich sauces or a delicate soufflé.
Up until recently, I feared the egg.
My fear wasn’t based on science, agricultural politics, or some kind of bizarre food phobia. No, my fear was based on the power of one single cooked egg to confirm (or disprove, in my case) my level of skill in the kitchen.
If I can conquer all sorts of culinary challenges, my thought process would go, how is it an EGG can thwart me?
It an embarrassing thing for a food writer to admit, being afraid of cooking eggs. I mean, after years of cooking, brining, roasting, fish gutting and baking, I should have long ago gotten over this fear of an egg-centered breakfast. Granted, I kept my fear in the closet for years after mastering egg poaching, just so I could continue on living like a perfectly normal, food-obsessed woman in the kitchen. And now, after years of quiet observing and coaching (Thanks husband!), I am now happy to report I can now cook scrambled and sunny-side up eggs as well as fluffy omelets without breaking into a sort of culinary panic attack.
But for anyone like me that still may secretly fear they might undo any culinary status they’ve built up with friends and family by making a terrible egg dish, I offer the following fool proof dish that will wow any breakfast guest. This, by the way, also makes a great lunch when the cabinets and fridge are nearly bare. Oh, and feel free to increase the recipe, depending on how many guests you plan to impress!
EGGS AL FORNO Serves one
One monkey dish (small, 5 to 6” cassarole dish with “ears”)
One egg (or two if you like)
1 piece of bread from a rustic loaf (or baguette), cut to fit the dish
1 handful of a good cheese (fontina, perrano, or any medium bodied cheese), cubed
1 generous sprinkling of freshly grated parmesean (1/3 cup)
a healthy pinch of chopped sweet onion (or green onion, or chives)
a touch of olive oil (1 teaspoon)
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to piping hot 500 degrees. Put the piece of bread into the dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Surround the bread with the cheese cubes and parmesean. Add a healthy pinch of sweet onion around the bread. Crack the egg and lay it on top of the bread. Season with salt and pepper. Grate a tiny bit more parmesan over the egg. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 7 minutes, or until done.
Be very careful taking the baking dish from the oven! Place a folded cloth napkin on your plate before serving. For bacon lovers, a piece of fried bacon on top would be a perfect way to garnish the dish!
I wanted to write about fried green tomatoes. I wanted to write about the glory of using the heat of a fry pan and some oil to turn a hard, green, unripe market tomato into something completely unlike itself. Worked up the words to describe the process of finding ripeness and a hint of sweetness from the hard, unready-for-a-sandwich tomato. I thought about the simple recipe of tomatoes dusted with cornmeal and how they came to life with both crunch from the fried cornmeal and juicy goodness from the heat-induced ripeness. I wanted to talk about the juice of the tomato that ran down my chin when I bit into the fried wheel of goodness. I planned on writing about the revelation of paring this classic southern dish with a simple omelet made with nothing more than eggs, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper.
But then, I spoke with my landlord. After years of planning and making ready for the big step of becoming a dog owner, my husband and I began the paperwork for adopting a pet. Even though the owner of the building (our landlord’s mother) said yes over a year ago, our current landlord wasn’t so sure.
But… She says she’ll think about it.
So I say I’ll just sit here with my heart broken until she decides.
Fried Green Tomatoes and Parmesan Omelet makes 2 servings
For FRIED GREEN TOMATOES: One firm green tomato. Slice into 1/2 inch rounds 1/2 cup cornmeal 1/4 cup olive oil kosher salt
Sprinkle green tomato with salt on each side. Let sweat for a few minutes. Meanwhile, pour cornmeal onto a plate. When the tomatoes have sweated a bit, place the tomato slices (one at a time) onto the corn meal. Coat the slices with corn meal. Repeat until all tomatoes are ‘breaded’. Heat pan over medium temperature. Add enough olive oil to give a good layer of oil to cook in. Saute tomatoes until each side becomes a golden color. Plate and keep warm under a tent of tinfoil in a warm oven.
Meanwhile…
for PARMESAN OMELET 6 eggs (2 eggs and 4 egg whites) *or use the whole eggs if you’re not concerned about too much cholesterol splash of milk or half/half half a cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan salt and pepper
Whisk the eggs and a splash of milk (about 3 minutes) or until light and bubbly. Heat pan over a medium flame. Coat pan with a thin layer of oil. Add egg mixture when pan is good and hot. Use a wooden spoon to move egg mixture around in pan. After 3-4 minutes, when the egg mixture begins to firm up with cooking, add parmesan cheese. Turn on broiler to let heat up. When omelet is mostly cooked and just a little runny on top, put under broiler. The top should cook quickly and puff up under the heat. Serve immediately.
