Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

We will be returning to Lake Lure for Christmas. It is exciting to contemplate cold snowy weather, a roaring fire and a fresh Frasier Fir tree decorated with our collection of ornaments from the past. One of our Christmas traditions has always been a breakfast casserole. I have experimented with many versions over the years and yesterday I experimented with this version from Bon Appetit. I love it. Most breakfast casseroles incorporate the bread cubes into the mixture. In this case there is a layer of sourdough baguette slices on the bottom and up the sides of the casserole. The outside slices get nicely crisp and the sausage, egg mixture is nestled in the center. It is full of green spinach and roasted red peppers which give it a festive appearance. This is what I will be fixing for Christmas morning. I have a feeling it will become our traditional dish for many years to come.

TORTA RUSTICA

16 1/4 inch thick sourdough baguette slices, cut on slight diagonal
1 Tablespoon butter
12 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese, divided
3/4 cup diced drained roasted red peppers (from 12 ounce jar)
6 large eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk (I used skim)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 X 8 X 2 baking dish. (I used a 12 X 8 X 3 inch dish and found it to be just perfect). Place 8 baguette slices in bottom of dish, press remainder of slices around sides.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium high heat. Add spinach, toss until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer spinach to strainer; cool. Squeeze spinach dry. Transfer to medium bowl.

Heat same skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage. Saute until cooked through, breaking up, about 7 minutes. Mix into spinach; mix in 1 cup sheese and peppers. Spread atop baguette slices in bottom of dish.

Whisk eggs in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in last 4 ingredients. Pour over spinach mixture and stir lightly with fork to distribute evenly. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over.

Bake torta until puffed and golden and center is set, about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Note: Most breakfast casseroles can be assembled the night before and baked it the morning. I have not tried that with this casserole. I will probably fry the sausage, saute the spinach, slice the bread and dice the peppers the night before and assemble the dish in the morning.

Printable recipe

We returned to Richlands, Virginia this past weekend. You may remember that our good friends Barbara and Jim live there. I posted about one of Barbara’s recipes here. The reason for the visit was a surprise birthday party for Barbara. It was a milestone birthday and one not to be missed. Unfortunately our husbands had planned a two week mototcycle trip that was to begin on the day of her birthday. But Jim could not bring himself to leave on her birthday, so a month of deception began. Barbara was convinced that the guys were leaving on Saturday morning. Jim packed his boots and jackets, loaded the bike, gave Barbara a token birthday present, apologized for leaving on her birthday and left. She was a good sport about it, but was depressed. While her Mother and Sister took her to a ficticious birthday lunch, Jim doubled back and everyone descended on her house and waited for her return. Her sister came up with a crazy excuse to turn around and go home and the surprise was a complete success. Here is Barbara’s real present.

They live on a mountain for heaven’s sakes, so what better present than an ATV. It is what every 60 year old biker babe should have. She is looking forward to riding the trails and visiting their log cabin on the old Kentucky Turnpike. What beautiful country this is. This is the view from their house.

After our last visit, in which I posted about Barbara’s beautiful new kitchen, Girlichef commented that I should have posted a picture of the kitchen – so here it is Girlichef.

Sunday morning the guys really prepared to leave on their trip. Barbara fixed a hardy breakfast of skillet biscuits, country ham, milk gravy and eggs. Skillet biscuits are a wonderful alternative to the biscuit challenged. According to Barbara you just follow the biscuit recipe on the self-rising flour bag, but add a little more buttermilk to make the batter of pouring consistancy and bake in a greased iron skillet until brown and cooked through. She inverted the biscuits on a plate and cut them into wedges. Breakfast was delicious and it was a fitting send off to the thoughtful men in our lives.

Julia Child was my Muse. I was married in 1966. After a brief honeymoon on the shores of Lake Michigan and time spent in Gatlinburg,Tennessee, we headed for Florida where my husband would be attending graduate school. Some of my constant companions in the car on the way south were my cookbooks. I was just learning to cook and it fascintated me. When Julia Child first appeared on television I was hooked. We eventually moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and I had the opportunity to take cooking classes from Irena Chalmers who had the most enticing french cooking school and shop. I bought my first copper pan and Le Creuset braising pot from her. She taught me many of the basics of French cooking and she is still teaching today at the CIA. But there was always Julia. I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1971.

I have been wanting to post one of Julia’s recipes all month because of her birthday on August 15th and the release of the movie Julie and Julia, but the box containing my copy of her book was in our storage building, buried behind furniture and rugs. I finally rescued it this weekend when we brought a load of furniture home for our remodeled lower level. It was good to see it again, looking worn and stained from years of constant use.

Last night I decided to make her spinach souffle. I did not start it until 6:00. I had already brought the eggs and frozen spinach to room temperature. I was confident; maybe a little cocky. I loved the movie Julie and Julia, by the way. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci were magnetic as Julia and Paul and the scenes of 1950’s Paris were mezmorizing. I wanted the whole movie to be about them. Amy Adams as Julie did her best, but I found her character sometimes whiny and annoying. Why couldn’t she have the joie de vivre of Julia? Cooking is supposed to be fun after all. I made my white sauce, grated the cheeses, squeezed the spinach dry and separated my eggs. One of the eggs broke strangely and I got a little yolk in the egg whites in the bowl of my Kitchen Aid. “Oh well, it was just a little”, I told myself. I added the egg yolks to the spinach mixture and turned on the mixer to whip the egg whites. I whipped and whipped and they refused to froth. It became clear to me that they were never going to whip and I was out of eggs. By this time it was close to 7:00. The grocery store in Lake Lure is twenty minutes away, but the gas station at the bottom of the hill is close. I ran to the car and negotiated the curving road to town. The gas station store had just closed at 7:00. I banged on the door like a crazy woman and the owner opened up for me. Unfortunately he was out of eggs. I had no choice but to continue around the lake to the Ingle’s store. I got back home at about 7:45 with a carton of cold eggs. I cleaned out the bowl of the Kitchen Aid, added the egg whites one at a time after first breaking them into a small bowl ( a good tip by the way ) and started the mixer again. The eggs immediately did what they were supposed to do. I folded them into the spinach mixture and poured the whole into my souffle dish, actually my charlotte mold. I learned a trick from Ina Garten to help a souffle puff. Run a spatula in a circle about an inch in from the edge all the way around and the center will puff. Finally I had the dish in the oven. I was exhausted and I didn’t know if the cold egg whites would hinder the souffle from rising. I was also a little cranky. Where had I seen that before? It was a humbling experience.

The souffle finally came out of the oven at about 8:45, fashionably late and not as tall as I would have liked, but looking and smelling delicious. As Julia would say, “Never apologize”. We dug in with gusto.

SOUFFLE AUX EPINARDS (SPINACH SOUFFLE) adapted from Julia Child with touches of Ina Garten

3 Tbls unsalted butter plus more for greasing souffle dish
3 Tbls flour
1 cup scalded milk
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling the dish
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
10 oz package of chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
4 egg yolks
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 6 cup souffle dish and sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese. Melt the butter in a heavy sauce pan and add the flour. Cook and whisk for about a minute. Add the hot milk off the heat and whisk until it is thick. Return to low heat if it does not thicken. Again off heat, add the two cheeses to the mixture. Separate the eggs in two bowls, discarding or saving one of the egg yolks. Beat the egg yolks. Slowly add the egg yolks to the cheese sauce while whisking. Add the seasoning and spinach and stir to combine.

Add the 1/8 tsp cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them until firm and glossy peaks form. Whisk one quarter of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten, and then fold in the rest. Pour into the prepared souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

The meal was perfect, eaten on the porch on a sultry evening. Even the shrimp were easy. I bought them already cooked from the supermarket. Thank you Meryl for selecting another great Barefoot Contessa recipe.

Printable recipe – Gazpacho

Printable recipe – Crisp Rosemary Flatbreads

A Charlotte Malakoff is made with Ladyfingers surrounding a filling of whipped butter, sugar, cream and strawberries. Sometimes the lady fingers are soaked in Kirsch. I chose not to soak them at all in this rendition. Another element in the flavoring is almonds; in this case ground almonds. Charlottes can be flavored with chocolate, pumpkin or peaches or any flavoring that appeals to you. If you do not have a charlotte mold you can use a souffle dish.