Wishing we had more stored in the freezer

Mostly milk (thanks, Snowville), homemade turkey stock, herbs, and one last lonely local broccoli

Baked Eggs

I think one of the best things about a day off of work is having an unhurried  breakfast. Here’s a quick dish that you can make for yourself (and tastes fancy enough to serve to friends.) It’s reminiscent of the flavors in a dish that I used to get at Toulouse Petit, a fantastic breakfast place. Someday I’ll work on recreating that meal, but for now here’s the lazy version.

For 1 or more-

Butter a ramekin. Dice a small piece of ham and scatter it in the bottom of the ramekin. Crack your egg in. (Don’t scramble or stir.) Sprinkle Parmesan or other spunky, grated cheese over the top. Add salt and pepper. Drizzle on about 1 tbls. of cream. Bake your egg at 325F for 10-12 minutes. 

-If you’re baking an egg just for yourself, skip the post-breakfast scrubbing by using a muffin paper in the ramekin. (Don’t butter it, just crack your egg right in the paper.)
-Friends coming for brunch? Bake your eggs in a muffin tin.
-Make this recipe your own by adding herbs, leaving out the meat, or experimenting in any other way.

Make Your Own Peppermint Bath Soak

Here’s a luxurious gift to make and give someone. Co-workers have questionable dietary needs? Family members eschewing sweets and trying to be healthy? Sometimes it’s nice to make and give something that isn’t food. (Shocking, I know.)

If you’re lucky, you still have mint in your backyard. This year, sadly being without an established herb garden, I picked mine from our school playground. It was still alive and well, as we haven’t had a big freeze yet. About a week before I wanted to make my gifts, I snipped it and hung it upside down in a bunch to dry.  You can probably get everything else that you need at the grocery store or drug store. Epsom salts usually come in a bag or in a container that looks like a milk carton. I found my peppermint oil at a health food store (on sale!) but you can find it in most grocery stores too. Look for it in a tiny little bottle, probably shelved near candles or bath items. (Don’t look in the spice aisle – you don’t want peppermint extract.)

You can decide how you want to package and accessorize this present. I like the quilted jars because they’re beautiful and reusable for many purposes. You could add some peppermint tea, a tiny wooden scoop, or anything that might complete a little collection of luxury items. (It’s hard to resist this little cookie.) Here’s a gift tag that you can use, if you like.

Bath salt proportions:

1 cup kosher salt
1 cup epsom salt
1/4 cup baking soda
4-5 drops of peppermint oil
About 1 cup mint, dried and chopped finely

Since the proportions are easy to manage, this recipe is easy to enlarge to suit your needs. I measured the salts using a jar, according to how many gifts I wanted to make. (Get out the big bowl for this one!)

1. Assemble and organize your ingredients.
2. Mix salts and baking soda together.
3. Remove about 1 cup of your mixture to a small bowl and stir in the oil. Mix well. Add this back in to your big mixture.
4. Stir in the mint.
5. Package and give with love.

Much merriness to you all!

Macaroni, Cheese, and a lot of Broccoli

The small boy in my house is fickle. He’ll like something one day and purse his lips and refuse to eat it the next day. It’s my job, as a mother, therefore to get better at packing each meal with good stuff and making them count. (Right?) This baked pasta dish hides 3 pounds of broccoli.

1 lb. pasta (I’ve been loving the organic boxed pasta at Whole Foods for quick meals.)
6-8 oz. medium white cheese, grated
3 lbs. broccoli
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. chicken stock (or veggie stock, if you prefer)

1. Boil pasta for three minutes less than the recommended time. (It will finish cooking in the oven.) Set aside.
2. Wash and chop broccoli coarsely. Steam over boiling water for 5 minutes. Puree in a food processor until smooth. If needed, add a splash of milk to make blending easier.
3. In another pan, melt butter, then whisk in milk and salt. Heat until warm over medium. Over the heat, add grated cheese and whisk until smooth. Whisk in broccoli mixture.
4. Toss this sauce with the pasta and then spread it into a 9X13 pan.
5. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes until it’s toasty and brown on top.

Dedicated to all first graders (or anyone, really,) who think ‘macaroni and trees’ is a funny joke.

Squash Gnocchi

If you’re lucky enough to have come into a lot of squash, and you’re trying to make it disappear, try making gnocchi. Gnocchi is an easier and more flexible dish than you might think. You can hold it in the refrigerator or freeze it for later, which makes it a good candidate for holiday entertaining.

Serves 4

Gnocchi:
3 cups prepared fresh pumpkin
1 1/2 cups AP flour (plus more for kneading)
1 cup Parmesan
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1. Mix all of the ingredients together with a wooden spoon.
2. Sprinkle about 1/4 c. more flour on your board or counter. Knead the dough, pressing and folding over just a few times.
3. Cut the dough into four pieces. Roll each into a thick rope. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
4.  Lay the gnocchi out on a floured baking sheet. If you’re not going to cook them immediately, cover and refrigerate.
5. To cook, drop them into a pot of gently boiling water. Watch for the gnocchi to float. When this happens, cook for two more minutes. Use your skimmer or slotted spoon to remove from water and into pan with sauce.

Sauce:
6 tbls. butter
4 garlic cloves, sliced thickly
3 tbls. chopped fresh sage
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Parmesan to sprinkle on top

1. Melt butter over low heat.
2. Add garlic, sage, and spices. Cook for about one minute until fragrant.
3. Toss gnocchi in pan with sauce.

Notes:

• To freeze, pop your full baking sheet into the freezer for about an hour, then remove the gnocchi to a freezer container.
• In need of serious comfort food? I might try this, substituting sage for the thyme or a simple cream sauce with hazelnuts.

Easy Apple Cream Tart

There may be times in your life when you cannot seem to find your kitchen counter. There’s no reason that you should go tart-less. Try this one. It even has custard, in case you’ve had a really bad week. It takes only about twenty minutes to put together – no rolling out of dough, no fuss fruit.

Thanks, Mom, for the apples.

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Melt 2 tbls. butter in a large skillet over low heat.
3. Peel, core, and slice 3 apples.
4. Add the apples to the skillet and turn heat up to medium-high. Sprinkle 3 tbls. sugar over the apples.
5. Stir apples very gently, when you see browning occur in the bottom of the pan. (You should only have to stir twice, before the apples will be ready. It takes about ten minutes total.)
6. With a paddle attachment, cream 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy. Add 3 eggs, one at a time. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, pinch of salt, and one cup of AP flour.
7. You now have the batter! Spoon this sticky batter in the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan. With moistened fingers, spread it evenly and a little up the sides to make a crust. Lay your apples over the top.
8. Mix 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 egg yolk, and 1/2 cup cream. Pour over the top.
9. Bake for about 35 minutes. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving.

This is lovely served warm or cold. It would be a great brunch dessert, too.

From Local Flavors.

Roasted Squash Soup

I’m a big fan of easy soups. I’m also a big fan of the immersion blender. I’ve been making a lot of soups lately that involve an easy preparation followed by a ‘just blend it up’ step. This potato fennel soup was divine, for example. I must confess that I’ve always been a little intimidated by fennel as an ingredient, but this may have been my breakthrough recipe. The soup tasted complex and homey all at the same time – definitely a good dinner party recipe, if you’re lucky enough to score some fennel.

Being out of fennel and rich in squash, I went looking for something similarly easy to serve guests. Most recipes for squash soup that I read did not involve roasting, but I really wanted to bring out that caramelized flavor that you get from squash when it’s spent some time in the oven. So! Time to experiment. This is what I came up with. Happy fall!

About 12 bowlfuls

2 medium butternut squash
2 acorn squash
2 onions, peeled and quartered
about 2 tbls. butter
8 cups chicken stock
about 8 fresh sage leaves and a few sprigs of thyme
1/2 c. to 1 c. cream, depending on your preference
salt and pepper

1. Halve the squash and lay cut side up on a baking sheet. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Rub the cut side with butter and sprinkle with salt. Place the onions in the center of the baking sheet. Rub those with a little butter, as well.
2. Roast at 400F for 50 minutes. (Depending on the size of your squash, you might want to start checking the oven around 40 minutes.)
3. When the squash is done, let it cool for a bit until it’s not too hot to touch. Scoop the flesh out into your soup pot. Add the stock. Bring to a low simmer.
4. Time to blend!  (Clear the area of small children and put your apron on, because you just might splatter.) Put your blender on the medium setting. You may have to tilt your pot a bit to set up a good ‘whirlpool.’ Blend until smooth.
5. Before you’re ready to serve, blend in the cream. Heat for a few minutes.

Notes:

• To serve, make some nutmeg croutons by grating fresh nutmeg over warm croutons. Toss.
• This soup holds well over low heat or, if you’d like to make it ahead of time, it also reheats well. Add your cream right before serving, for a lovely texture.
• If you don’t have an immersion blender, go ahead and try your regular blender.
• Here’s another quick, blended soup: potato leek.
• We served this with an arugula salad with match-sticked apples, apple cider vinegar and Capriole goat cheese. The arugula was thanks to the young people at Permaganic. Check out their good work (and then go down to Findlay on a Saturday and buy something from them!)