Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I’ve packed my pots and pans, my Cuisinart and my Kitchen Aid.  I will see you back in my Lake Lure kitchen some time next week with lots of new recipes and thoughts on cooking, eating and living.  I may even offer tips on simplifying and getting rid of clutter.

For an interesting and funny read while I regroup, I have to send you to a couple of blogs that I found recently.  First, you have to read my blog post about making chocolate croissants here.  Checking my stats the other day, I saw a lot of hits on that post from a blog that I had never seen before.  Michelle has a blog called Diary of a Late Bloomer.  She is writing a daily blog about living curiously and attended a writing workshop where she met up with a guy named Todd who is also writing about his life.  It seems that the two of them share a birthday and an interest in blogging and decided to do a virtual experiment.  Each of them would cook the same thing in their kitchens at the same time,  They would  text each other during the process to see how each was doing and post about it.  The challenge was to cook a chick dish and a guy’s dish.  Michelle chose the chocolate croissants that were featured in the movie It’s Complicated.  She hit on my post and blogged hysterically about her experience in making croissants.  Todd’s 606 Diaries gives the “he said” version to Michelle’s “she said” version and is just as funny.  Who could not like a guy who puts yeast dough in the dryer to rise.  His choice for the upcoming guy’s dish was dishwasher lasagne and you can check out their later posts for that result.  But the croissant post made my day.  I hope it does the same for you.  By the way, I have a wonderful husband, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, but I own a mutt named Daisy and not a Cavelier King Charles Spaniel.  Also Zen is not in my vocabulary.  Thanks Michelle and Todd.  You are both talented and very funny bloggers.

St. Patrick’s Day is known for Corned Beef and Cabbage, but it is also known for Irish soda bread.  In this case I have made a brown soda bread.  The recipe came from Margaret M. Johnson, noted Irish- American cook and cookbook author.  According to her, the American version of soda bread is sweeter and more of a cake-like consistancy with raisins and caraway seeds.  True Irish soda bread, be it brown or white, is a hearty bread best served for breakfast with smoked salmon.  Her brown Irish soda bread is full of whole wheat flour, steel cut oats, and wheat germ.  It is a quick bread, relying on only baking soda and powder for leavening and uses buttermilk and an egg for the wet ingredients.  I had the ingredients mixed and the bread in the oven within 15 minutes.

Ireland is surrounded by some the cleanest water in the world and according to Margaret Johnson, seafood is one of the nation’s specialties.  One of her favorite Irish breakfasts is this Irish brown soda bread with smoked salmon and horseradish sauce.

Give this a try for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day.  May the luck of the Irish be with you.

BROWN SODA BREAD (Margaret M. Johnson from Cooking Light Magazine)

Cooking Spray
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup steel-cut oats (such as Mc Cann’s)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt).  Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture.  Stir just until combined.

Spoon the mixture into prepared pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Invert bread onto a wire rack and cool completely.

HORSERADISH CREAM (Epicurious)

1 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons white horseradish (about 4 ounces)
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill pickle
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

Whisk all ingredients in small bowl to blend.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

I am joining Kathleen of Kathleen’s Cuisine for her 3rd annual St. Patrick’s Day blog crawl.  Check out all of the St. Paddy Day recipes.

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Just when I mentioned in my last blog post how much I enjoy Mark Bittman in the online New York Times Dining Guide each Wednesday, he announces that he will no longer be a featured contributor to that section.  He will be missed in the dining section, but will still be at The Times in the opinion section.  That should be interesting.  He will also contribute recipes to The Times Sunday Magazine.   His latest book, The Food Matters Cookbook is being offered as a giveaway by Heather of Girlichef.  All you need do to enter to win is go to her link, post a Mark Bittman recipe and follow her directions to be eligible.

While reading his last article, I was taken with the list of his top 25 videos from the past 13 years with the Times.  That is one of the reasons I have enjoyed the online recipes.  Each one is accompanied by a video.

The one that really caught my eye was the recipe and video for the More Vegetable Than Egg Frittata.  We are trying very hard to eat our vegetables and we are not eating as many eggs as we used to.  Therefore his frittata made perfect sense to me.  There are just enough eggs in it to bind the vegetables together.  It is almost a vegetable pancake.

The version I made included a large sweet onion, a half of a green pepper and a 14 ounce bag of baby spinach that I blanched briefly in a little water, shocked in ice water and drained and squeezed very, very dry.  My herb of choice was fresh basil and parsley from my container garden.  But as he explains in his video, any vegetable or herb will do. The important thing is to have between 3 and 4 cups of vegetables to 3 eggs as opposed to 1 to 2 cups of vegetables to 6 eggs.

This breakfast made me feel good and kept me going all morning.

MORE VEGETABLE THAN EGG FRITTATA ( Mark Bittman )

2 Tablespoons olive oil or butter
1/2 onion, sliced (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 to 6 cups of any chopped or slice raw or barely cooked vegetables
1/4 cup fresh basil or parsley leaves, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or mint leaves, or any other herb
3 eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Put olive oil or butter in a 10 inch skillet ( preferably nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron) and turn heat to medium.  When fat is hot, add onion, if using, and cook, sprinkling with salt and pepper, until it is soft, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add vegetables, raise heat and cook stirring occasionally, until they soften, from a couple of minutes for greens to 15 minutes for sliced potatoes.  Adjust heat so vegetables brown a little without scorching. (With precooked vegetables like asparagus and squeezed dry spinach, just add them to onions and stir before proceeding.)

When vegetables are nearly done, turn heat to low and add herbs.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, beat eggs with some salt and pepper, along with cheese if you are using it.  Pour over vegetables, distributing them evenly.  Cook, undisturbed for a minute or so.  Put into a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until set.  Slide frittata onto a plate and cut into wedges.

But don’t go by just my example.  Here is Mark Bittman’s asparagus frittata video.

Mark Bittman has done much to bring to our attention the fact that food matters.  What we eat and the choices we make about the location and quality of  that food is important to all of us.

To read more about his recipes follow girlichef and Alex of A Moderate Life for their weekly Tackling Bittman series.  

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There is a giveaway over at Girlichef’s blog.  This month she is giving away a copy of Mark Bittman’s new book, The Food Matters Cookbook.  To be eligible for the cookbook all one needs to do is blog about one of Mark Bittman’s recipes.  To me that is a no brainer.  I love all of Bitty’s ideas and recipes.  I follow him every Wednesday in The New York Times.  His philosophy is that what you eat matters both to you personally, and in the long run, to the health of the world in general.  Eating seasonally means that the food you are eating is the freshest and finest that you can find.  Eating locally means that small businesses and farmers are rewarded and will profit from their crops so that they will continue with their time honored traditions, as opposed to the practices of corperate farming.  Eating whole grains instead of processed food will help our bodies remain healthy.  Food really does matter and we have it in our power to make a difference.

Take pancakes.  I love pancakes.  Most of the time I make them from scratch and  I have felt good about it.  But my pancakes are made with unbleached white flour.  If I am going to the trouble of making a calorie laden pancake, I might as well boost the nutritional value so that it is better for me. If you too care about keeping a healthy nutrition, read here about some of the best probiotics for gut health.

Last Wednesday Bitty broached that very subject in The New York Times.  His recipe for Cardamon-Scented Oatmeal Pancakes with Apricots and Almonds sounded delicious.  We have been watching our calorie intake lately and we are trying to eat better.  You notice I did not say we were on a diet.  There is a difference.  As a treat and a good way to start a lazy Sunday morning I made his pancakes.  They were like no other pancakes I have had before.  And because they were loaded with good things like oatmeal, crunchy almonds and dried fruit, I needed only two of them to be satisfied.  Usually the maple syrup is there to make the bland pancakes taste better.  These pancakes can almost stand on their own.  But of course, I used maple syrup; just not as much.  Mark Bittman recommends honey.  I used cinnamon instead of cardamom because it was what I had.  I also used dried cranberries instead of apricots.  You can adapt them to your own taste.  Enjoy.

CINNAMON-SCENTED OATMEAL PANCAKES WITH CRANBERRIES AND ALMONDS

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teapoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups cooked oatmeal
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Vegetable or olive oil for frying
Honey, for serving

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees.  Combine the flours, oats, almonds, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and milk; stir in the cooked oatmeal and the cranberries until just incorporated.  Add the oatmeal mixture to the dry ingredients and stir gently; don’t overmix.  The consistency should be that of thick pancake batter; add a little more milk or whole wheat flour as needed.
3. Put a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.  When a few drops of water dance on its surface, add a thin film of vegetable oil and let it become hot.  Spoon out the batter, making any size pancakes you like.  Cook until bubbles form on the top and pop, 2 to 3 minutes.  Carefully flip the pancakes and cook until they’re browned on the other side, a couple of minutes more.  You may have to rotate the cakes to cook them evenly, depending on the heat source and pan.  As they finish, transfer them to a plate in the oven while you cook the remaining batter.  Serve with honey or maple syrup.  Yield 4 to 6 servings.

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My thanks to Girlichef and Alex of A Moderate Life, who was the brainchild behind the Tackling Bittman blog hop. Girlichef will be doing a round up of Mark Bittman recipes the first part of February and Alex will also be featuring his recipes on the Tackling Bittman Blog Hop.

These are small.  They are just a taste of croissant, chocolate and raspberry goodness.  I did spend a lot of time actually making my own puff pastry at one time.  See this post.  But you know what?  The frozen puff pastry works very well.  I have been looking for a small pastry addition for my Christmas breakfast and I have decided that these easy turnovers are just the thing.  I would serve them with a breakfast casserole and a beautiful fruit tray.

The turnovers are filled with raspberry jam and chocolate.  I would recommend you buy a good quality jam because that will be the dominate flavor.  The milk chocolate is best if it is finely chopped so that it doesn’t make bumps in the pastry.  The recipe was in an old issue of Gourmet magazine which is still one of my favorite “go to” sources for all things delicious.

I love these!  Once the puff pastry is thawed it is a labor of love to cut and fill them.  Take your time and enjoy the morning.  The coffee is brewing and a crispy turnover awaits you.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY TURNOVERS

1 (17 1/4 oz.) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 large egg
1/3 cup raspberry jam
3 1/2 oz fine-quality mild chocolate, finely chopped

Put oven rack in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet into a 12 inch square on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, then brush off excess flour from both sides.  Cut into 16 squares.

Whisk together egg and a pinch of salt.  Place 1/2 teaspoon jam and 1 teaspoon chocolate in center of each square, then brush edges of squares with some of the beaten egg.  Fold each square in half to form a triangle, pressing edges to seal.  Brush tops of pastries with some of remaining egg and transfer to a lined baking sheet.  Chill on sheet while making 16 more pastries in same manner, transferring to second baking sheet.

Bake pastries, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden and cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Cool on sheets on racks 5 minutes.  Serve warm.

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