Banana Nut Oatmeal

The three people in our household are big, BIG fans of oatmeal for breakfast on a cold winter's morning. We typically stick to our simple favorites, but do like to fancy it up sometimes. Last week I was surfing around Serious Eats (a website that makes me want to head into the kitchen every time I visit) and saw this article that gave a couple of delicious-looking and yet simple oatmeal recipes. I gave the choice of which we would eat the next morning to Aaron, and he chose Banana Nut Oatmeal, and oh, how glad I am that we ate this, because it was an easy, delicious alternative to our normal weekday morning oatmeal.

Banana Nut Oatmeal

source: Serious Eats

I doubled the original recipe and made a couple of other tweaks based on food allergies and preferences. Altered, the recipe made enough for the three of us to have a nice-sized breakfast.

2 Tbsp. chopped pecans
1 large, slightly overripe banana
1 c. Quaker old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 c. milk (we used 1%)
2/3 c. water
4 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
A few shakes cinnamon
1 shake nutmeg
A few dashes Kosher salt

Mash the banana with a fork until it forms a wet puree. In a small pot, combine banana puree, oatmeal, milk, water, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. (Don't leave out the salt, it really helps enhance the other flavors.) Heat over medium until it reaches your preferred consistency, stirring occasionally. (I brought it to a simmer and cooked for five more minutes, which was perfect for us.) Top with pecans, and enjoy.

Oatmeal Scones

Aaron denies this, but he has had a major scone craving for a while now. We would be looking at a cookbook, and come across a recipe, and his eyes would roll back in his head, and with an acompanying Homer Simson drool, he'd moan, "Mmmm....scones...." The same happened when we saw scones on a cooking show, at the coffee shop, and a mix at the store. Yet he still claims he didn't have a yearning for scones. I made them anyway, and he's mighty glad I did. These oatmeal scones are delectable - great fresh from the oven, still light and fluffy the next day, dense and moist the third day. And that's as far as we got, because we were lucky they lasted that long. I cut them out with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, which would make them a great addition to your Valentine's day breakfast (or brunch, which is how we're celebrating). Next time I'm going to freeze half of them after shaping but before baking so that I can pop a couple in the oven on a busy morning and have fresh scones before I head off to a busy day at the office.

Oatmeal Scones

Source: Epicurious

Note: the original recipe claims this makes 30 scones, but I patted them out as written (they were about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick) and cut with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, resulting in exactly 12 scones.

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. old-fashioned oats

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, beaten to blend

1/2 c. buttermilk

1/3 c. dried currants (I left these out)

1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend

Additional sugar (I used turbinado sugar - red decorating sugar would make these extra Valentine-y)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Blend the first six ingredients in a food processor until the oats are coarsly ground. Add the butter, pulsing to combine until the mixture looks liek a coarse meal. Transfer to a bowl. Add in the beaten whole egg and the buttermilk. Using a fork, stir until just combined (do not overmix). This dough will be quite sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using floured hands, shape the dough into an 8-inch round. Using a floured 1 3/4 inch cookie cutter, cut out scones. Gather scraps, reshape, and cut out more scones. Transfer to the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg yolk and sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake the scones until golden, about 18 mintues. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Veggie Lasagna

My department at work is fairly small, and approximately half of us are vegetarians or prefer to eat vegetarian food when possible. So, when I agreed to make the main dish at our holiday party, I had to come up with something that would please meat eaters and vegetarians alike. I made The Pioneer Woman's Lasagna (delicious!) for the meat eaters and an adapted version for the vegetarians. It was delicious, and I'm glad because I'm still eating the leftovers I froze (I made two full-size lasagnas and 12 people showed up - the meat eaters took home leftovers, but the vegetarians not so much).

Here's my adaptation:

Veggie Lasagna

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables - I got the broccoli, cauliflower, carrot version

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar spaghetti sauce - I used a roasted garlic tomato sauce

1/4 c. chopped basil

1/4 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley

3 c. ricotta

2 whole beaten eggs

1/2 c. grated parmesan

4 c. mozzarella

1 pkg. no-boil lasagna noodles (you'll use about 1/2 a package)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Slightly thaw the frozen mixed vegetables and chop into small pieces. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the onion and bell pepper and sautee until the onion is transparent. Add in garlic and sautee for 30 seconds more. Add in the chopped frozen vegetables and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and set aside.

In the meantime, mix together the basil, parsley, ricotta and eggs. Set aside.

Spread a little of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Add in a layer of noodles (I think I used 3 across, so it didn't totally cover the bottom of the pan, but that's fine.) Top with a layer of veggies, a layer of the ricotta mixture, a layer of sauce, and a layer of mozzarella. Repeat the layers one more time, ending with the mozzarella, and then sprinkle the parmesan over the top. Bake for 60 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy!

Monday Meal Planning 2.8.10

It has been a long couple of weeks, for some reason that I can't seem to put my finger on, and I haven't had time to sit and think, let alone sit and blog. Add to that some general apathetic feelings toward my blogs lately, and that means I haven't been here. I'm coming around though, so I thought I would kick things off with a meal plan.

(Also to be noted - the macaroni and cheese experiment from the last meal planning post failed SPECTACULARLY. The whole thing was a curdled mess and we ended up just throwing the entire dish in the trash and ordering pizza. The black bean nachos were great, but nothing special like I wanted to try - just cheese, black beans, onions, green peppers and tomatoes on chips, baked until the cheese is melty, topped wtih pickled jalepeno, sour cream, and my new favorite food ever - Margaritaville salsa.)

We're still sticking with vegetarian eating for the most part (our new rules are - maybe once a week at home or a special occasion, or if we're eating out), and I'm also dieting, so the meals are lighter or filled with more vegetables so I can eat a smaller portion of the more calorie-laden meal that the rest of my family demands.
Anyway, here goes:

Monday: Macaroni and Cauliflower Cheese Bake, Roasted Broccoli

Last week I borrowed Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution from the library, and we spent the rest of the week drooling (not really) over the book. We're ordering our own copy post-haste, because this is a book I want to have on hand. Of course it also helps that Aaron and I both have kind of a crush on Mr. Oliver, and would eat pretty much anything he told us to eat. The book isn't very vegetarian friendly, but there are a few good non-meat dishes in there.

The broccoli is being roasted, because according to Aaron I can't steam broccoli right (he's mostly correct) and it typically ends up being mushy when I do try. So, roasting it is - just cut it up into bite-sized pieces, toss it on a baking sheet with a drizzled tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt and pepper. Then roast at 450 for 10 to 15 minutes until it's crisp tender (and delicious!).

Tuesday: Chickpea Korma on Pitas with Yogurt Dressing, Sauteed Zuchini

I'm adapting a chicken korma recipe from this month's Food Network Magazine (which I still love, but would probably love more if they could get their distribution better figured out) because the sauce sounds amazing but the chicken not so much. I'll post the recipe if it turns out. (I really hope it does!)

Wednesday: Veggie Lasagna, Garlic Bread, Salad

I made up a vegetarian lasagna recipe for the office Christmas party, and have been meaning to post it ever since. I froze some of the leftovers (it makes a lot, but could be easily halved), and we're eating those on the night I get home late because of Zumba class. It's easy and delicious! I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

Thursday: Lentil and Spinach Soup, Rolls

Another recipe from the Jamie Oliver book that I can't wait to try. I love lentil soup. I'll also post my rolls recipe shortly - they're called 60 Minute Rolls, a quick yeast roll recipe that my mom has made for years. So good!

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Food Network magazine had a little pull-out book of 50 pizzas either this month or last, so we're going to try out one or two of those. I'm thinking tomato, artichoke, roasted red pepper, and pepperocini. Okay, so that recipe's not in there, but I'll use their dough at least. And maybe make the meatball one too.

Tarragon Shallot Egg Salad Sandwiches on Grilled Brioche

So, this sandwich:

comes really, really close to the dish I was trying to recreate. So close, in fact, that I'd call it a success! I accomplished exactly what I wanted, and it is really good.

While in Chicago I ate a fan-freaking-tastic meal at a small plates vegetarian restaurant called Green Zebra. My meal consisted of several small plates, including: fresh burrata cheese with satsuma tangerines, salted cucumbers, pickled red onions, and pumpernickel crumbs; udon noodles in a spicy-tart broth with squash dumplings and greens; an ice cream tasting; and my favorite dish of the night - soft-boiled egg salad with tarragon on grilled brioche. I've been day dreaming about it ever since.

I started looking for ways to recreate it as soon as I got home, and while I never found a recipe for a soft-boiled egg salad, I did find a hard-boiled salad that sounded similar and a recipe for brioche (I suppose, if you lived somewhere other than where I live, you could just go buy a brioche, but, like I said earlier this week, grocery stores around here kind of suck, so I was on my own). I soft-boiled the eggs and used the salad recipe, and it is perfection. Exactly what I wanted. And so, so good. It's quite time consuming, but if you're bored or in the mood to tackle a somewhat difficult cooking task (as I often am on weekends) do this. You won't regret it.

Tarragon Shallot Egg Salad Sandwiches on Grilled Brioche

Adapted from Epicurious

For egg salad

4 large eggs

1/4 c. light mayonnaise

1 1/2 Tbsp. finely chopped shallot

3/4 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon, or to taste

2 tsp. white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

For sandwiches

slices of brioche

butter

Make egg salad:

Cover eggs with cold water by 1 inch in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. Boil one minute and then cover and remove from heat. Let sit 4 minutes. Flood pan with running cold water and let eggs sit for a couple of minutes until cool enough to handle. Peel eggs and finely chop. (This will be very messy with soft boiled eggs.

Stir together eggs and remaining salad ingredients in a bowl with a fork. (I stirred quite vigorously in order to get the yolks to blend into the dressing.)

Spread slices of brioche with butter and grill in a hot skillet until browned. Serve egg salad between slices of grilled brioche. You'll probably need a knife and a fork.

Golden Brioche

I have been on a bread making kick lately; partially inspired by the goal I stated a while ago on my to cook/bake list, and partially because I'm trying to minimize the amount of processed foods that come into my house. My transformation to crunchy hippie is nearly complete!

Anyway, this delicious, buttery brioche was made for the purpose of trying to recreate a sandwich I had in Chicago that knocked my socks off. I started it on Saturday afternoon at around 3 and it finished baking about 24 hours later, and if that's not a lot of freaking effort for a sandwich that took me about 2 minutes to eat, I don't know how to make more of an effort.

It was also totally worth it.

I was a little nervous it wouldn't turn out. I mean, look at these:

They were supposed to rise to fill the pan within two hours. That didn't really happen, particularly not with the pan on the bottom. I'd say they probably doubled in size, but that still wasn't nearly large enough. Since I didn't need three loaves of brioche (I didn't really need two either, but this was the best looking recipe I could find) I made the other third of the dough into bubble-top brioche rolls. These, at least, looked a little more promising in the pan:

(A note about the pan: it's as old as I am (if not older) and I inherited it from my mom when I moved into my first apartment. It's so well seasoned you barely have to grease it, and I love the size.

Anyway, the rolls turned out wonderfully, so I had a little more hope for the bread after that.

The loafs were totally different sizes; the small one never really rose, while the larger one took off once in the oven. They both taste even better than the rolls, though, so I don't care that they didn't rise like I expected. I would declare this recipe completely worth the three sticks (!)  of butter it contains.

(And here's a sneak peek at the reason I made the bread in the first place.)

Golden Brioche

Adapted from Epicurious

1/3 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1/3 c. warm milk (105 to 115 degrees F)

2 envelopes dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp from a larger container)

3 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, each stick cut into 4 pieces, room temperature (This last part is very important)

1 egg, beaten to blend with 1 tablespoon water (for glaze)

Place 1/3 c. warm water, warm milk, and yeast in a bowl of a standing heavy-duty mixer; stir until yeast dissolves (this took about 2 minutes). Fit mixer with dough hook. Add flour and salt to bowl; mix on low speed just until flour is moistened, about 10 seconds. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Beat in 3 eggs on low speed, then add sugar. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding next (dough will be soft and batter-like). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 7 minutes.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Lift up dough around edges and allow dough to fall and deflate in bowl. Cover bowl with plastic and chill until dough stops rising, lifting up dough around edges and allowing dough to fall and deflate in bowl every 30 minutes, about 2 hours total. Cover bowl with plastic; chill dough overnight.

Butter and flour 3 normal-sized bread pans (my two were different sizes, and I only have two, so that's also why I made the rolls). Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. For each loaf, cut one of the pieces into four equal pieces. Roll each into a short log, about the width of your loaf pan. Arrange logs crosswise in bottom of each prepared loaf pan. Cover pans with waxed paper. Let loaves rise at room temperature until dough almost fills pans, about 2 hours. (I let mine rise 3 hours and it had not almost filled pans, but it was time to bake them so we could have dinner at a normal time.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Gently brush top of loaves with egg glaze. Bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn loaves out onto racks; cool at least 1 hour.

(For the rolls, cut the piece into 6 equal pieces and each of those pieces into 3 pieces, which you then roll into balls, placing 3 balls in each cup. Allow to rise for about an hour or two, until the dough has risen above the rim of the pan by about 1/2 to 1 inch. Glaze with egg mixture. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack.)

If you'd like to freeze a loaf, cool completely then wrap each loaf in foil; place in resealable plastic bags and freeze up to one month. Rewarm thawed loaves wrapped in foil in 350 degree F oven for about 15 minutes, if desired.

Monday Meal Planning 1.25.10

We've made it to the last week of the month without eating meat! It really hasn't been too hard, save for a couple random chicken wing or cheese burger cravings. Come February, we're still going to keep this up for the most part, maybe eating meat for a meal or two per week. At least that's the plan; we'll see how it works out in reality. We just really would prefer to eat sustainably grown local meats if possible, and in order to afford that we have to cut back on our meat consumption quite a bit.

Anyway, this is the last week of our vegetarian month, so it's the last all-vegetarian meal plan that I have planned. Could happen again; we'll see. I'm also trying to prep some things ahead, and I'll share the plans below where applicable.

Monday: Black Bean Quinoa Salad, Fruit Salad

Since the quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) salad is supposed to be served cold, I'll make it on Sunday night (I wrote this yesterday to be posted today) so it can sit and the flavors can meld. Then all I will have to do is throw together the fruit salad on Monday night and dinner will be ready in mere minutes. I love when dinner is fast, because we're usually all starving when we get home. This will also mean fewer dishes Monday night, and fewer dishes is never a bad thing!

Tuesday: Peanut Noodles with stir-fried tofu, egg rolls

We're planning to use whole-wheat spaghetti for this dish, since our local grocery store kind of sucks and doesn't have udon or soba, or anything more exotic than whole wheat pasta really. I'm adding the tofu for more protein, and because Gabbie will eat it. The eggrolls are just frozen veggie egg rolls from the grocer's.

Wednesday: Tomato Pie, Broccoli Slaw

I love this tomato pie, but it is a little time consuming to be made on a week night. Therefore I am mixing up, rolling, and freezing the prepped crust, and chopping up tomatoes, on Sunday night. Then I'll only have to chop the onions and shred and mix the cheese mixture, assemble, and bake on Wednesday. And again - fewer dishes!

Thursday: Macaroni and Cheese, Peas, and fruit

I'm going to try something new here, so if the recipe turns out, I'll share it. It comes from a failed - texturally but not taste-wise - crockpot experiment, and I'm eager to see if I can make it a success by cooking it on the stove top first, then baking it.

Friday: Black Bean Nachos/Quesadillas

Another experiment I'll share probably next week - I'm using the black bean mash from another recipe, and we'll see how that works in nacho form. Since Gabbie can't eat the chips without choking (don't ask me how we know this - it wasn't a pleasant experience) she gets hers in quesadilla form. That will also allow Aaron and I to douse our nachos with pickled jalapeno slices with wild abandon. We both absolutely love spicy food!

Saturday: Soft-boiled egg salad on grilled brioche, veggies and dip

Yet another experiment, this one inspired by a delicious dish I had in Chicago last weekend. I'm baking the brioche today and freezing it. Then I'll reheat it on Saturday (we have plans for the day, otherwise I'd make it fresh then) for the sandwiches.

Sunday: Eggplant Parmesan, Salad, Garlic Bread

We have a new recipe for this I'll share later this week. It's messy and time consuming, but absolutely divine. You won't regret the effort, I promise.