You are here: Home / Archives for Recipes / Breakfast Foods

Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

November 30, 2011 by 14 Comments

 

Filipino food is some of my favourite  in all of the Earth. It’s not just because it’s great (although it is), but because for most of my youth, it represented the sum total of what was exotic in my life. Growing up in some of the most rural parts of Michigan it was nothing to run across scads of Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and other assorted Nordic names. I betcha I could pick up a Finnish phone book and rattle off the names like I was born there. My Grandpa was a pastor on a nearby reservation, so Native American names were run of the mill. Polish immigrants? Yep… here and there. Italians? On every street (as few and far between as the streets were.)

Then there was my mom’s friend, Tecla. She was from the Philippines and was most emphatically not Nordic. She was always dressed to the nines while most of us were in parkas and mukluks.  She sat down on the edge of the piano bench when my mom played and belted out the latest love songs that were on the radio. Her nails were always long and filed and dramatic and brightly coloured. She was most definitely not the same as everyone else around us and she was exciting. Most thrilling of all was her food. It was so different from everything else I had ever eaten -adobo chicken, lumpia, tocino, pancit- it was bursting with flavour and boy was it good. Even better, she shared it her mouthwatering dishes with us every chance she got. To this day, my last supper meal* includes lumpia.

*Are you familiar with the “last supper” game? It’s simple, but it tells you a lot about people (and vice versa.) All you do is consider what, of all you’ve ever eaten or would like to eat, you would request for your last meal if you could choose anything. So how about it? What would you have for your last meal?

While the wonderful world of Filipino food obviously rocks the savoury, I would be remiss if I didn’t wax rhapsodic about one of the easiest and most head-explodingly delicious dishes they have to offer: Champorado.

Champorado is, in short, chocolate rice porridge (or rice pudding, if you will.) It’s rich. It’s filling. It’s creamy. (Although you don’t add milk  unless you want to while serving. That creamy texture comes courtesy of magical rice.) It’s chocolatey. It’s breakfast. It’s snack (I dare you to serve this to your kids and then try find a more popular after school snack. Go on. I dare you.) You don’t have to know how to do anything more complicated than measure, boil, stir, scoop and eat. FFFTW (Filipino Food For The Win!)

As if all this wasn’t already enough, consider this. You can whip up a huge pot of Champorado and keep it in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator. Scoop out enough for a serving and gobble it up cold, or reheat it with a splash of evaporated milk (as it is usually served), half and half or plain old milk.

Every single time I make Champorado, I get the song “Desperado” stuck in my head, but I walk around the kitchen singing it this way at the top of my lungs: “Chaaaaaaaam-poh-rah-doh! Why don’t you come to your senses…” I don’t recall Tecla ever doing this particular tune, she was more of a “Wind Beneath My Wings” kind of lady, but somehow, I think she would approve.

Thank you, Tecla, wherever you are…

Print
Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

On cold winter days, there's nothing like a breakfast, late afternoon or bed time snack of Champorado: a rich, chocolate laden rice porridge that comes to us courtesy of the Philippines. Eat it hot, warm, room temperature or cold, plain or the way most folks do with a good splash or two of evaporated milk, plain milk or half and half. This is comfort food extraordinaire!

Adapted from Tecla and Jun-Blog

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sticky or sushi rice, uncooked
  • 5 1/4 cups water
  • 6 ounces finely chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate chips. In other words, half a bag of most brands.)
  • 2 tablespoons to 1/3 cup of raw sugar (or granulated white sugar), according to preference
  • pinch of salt
    • Optional for serving:
  • evaporated milk, half and half, or plain milk to pour over the porridge

Instructions

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together the rice and water and the pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom. When it reaches the boil, immediately drop the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking, or until the rice is soft and swollen.

Turn off the heat, stir in the chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) and sugar, cover the pan, and let stand undisturbed for 5 minutes. When 5 minutes are up, remove the lid and stir vigorously until everything is evenly coloured and very chocolatey looking. Serve hot, warm or cold with a good splash or two of milk on top.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/11/30/champorado-chocolate-rice-porridge/

Are you on the hunt for more great Filipino recipes? Try two of my most trusted resources (great blogs, incredible recipes, beautiful photography):

Jun-Blog In his words, he’s a Philippine born, San Francisco based professional food and cookbook photographer, so you know his stuff is going to be gorgeous, but the recipes. Oh, his recipes. They’re mouthwatering and always great. I can’t recommend him highly enough!

Burnt Lumpia I’ve been a loyal reader of Marvin since long before I ever put fingers to keyboard here on Foodie With Family. He is always witty, always fun and his food is to die for. Plus, his pen name is Burnt Lumpia, for crying out loud. Lumpia. As in my death row meal. How could I not love him?

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Breakfast Foods, Comfort Food, Comfort Food, Filipino Food, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian

Baked Cider Pumpkin Doughnuts

October 6, 2011 by 9 Comments

When I promise an all desserts week I mean it. Here’s installment #2!

There are foods that I will beat down the door and jump over an old lady to get. Doughnuts are not usually one of them. I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth (contrary to what you might think considering the number of dessert recipes I’ve posted) and so I spend my “sweet capital” very carefully. Doughnuts, in general, are  too sweet, too gloppy, too much of everything. Just too too.

Every fall, though, I like to try an apple cider doughnut. The name is irresistible isn’t it? You say cider, I drool. And they’re usually okay. Often times they’re baked rather than fried and instead of a gloppy glaze, they have gone for a roll in a bowl of cinnamon sugar. I can manage one or two doughnut holes of the aforementioned variety before I have to back off. For me and doughnuts that equals indulgence.

My kids and husband, however, have never met a doughnut they didn’t inhale. My husband, in fact, calls them DARNITS. As in, “DARNIT! I ate another one!” And so, when I saw this the other day, I decided to try my hand at doughnut/darnit making. Using Food + Words’ recipe as a leaping off point, I leapt.

Being in possession of a great deal of apple molasses is a nice thing. It’s especially helpful when you decide you’re going to morph a pumpkin/beer doughnut recipe into a cider/pumpkin one. I wanted a hint of cider in the doughnuts but not enough to overpower the pumpkin. Can you think of two flavours that scream fall more than cider and pumpkin? I can’t.

I made dough. I rolled it. I cut it. I put it on pans. And then men (both of the little and mature variety) started trickling into the kitchen. “What are you OOOOOH! Mom’s making DOUGHNUTS!” “You’re making what? Oh. OH! When will they be done?” “Wow. Did we really clean that well?” (No. You didn’t. But you all are cute. Consider yourselves lucky.)

I baked. I dunked. I rolled in sugar. The doughnuts that is. I didn’t personally roll in the sugar although after doing a double batch of doughnuts I suppose it’s six of one/half dozen of another. Doughnut humour. Somebody stop me.

I snapped a couple pictures with a child or two hanging off of one leg, another one on my back and my husband and two eldest sons dancing from foot to foot in the background saying, “Is she done yet guys? How many pictures do you have to take?” I took three pictures then stepped away.

Locusts.

That’s what they brought to mind with the speed with which they descended on those doughnuts.

When they sat down for a breather, I hazarded a bite of a doughnut hole. They were good. No. They were great. They were light and just sweet enough. The pretty autumnal orange colour of the crumb delivered on pumpkin flavour with just a hint of apple cider. The nutty brown butter that held the crunchy cinnamon sugar to the outside was the perfect finishing touch. In short? It was a doughnut of which I could eat more than two. Darnit.

Some Important Cooking Notes:

  • This doughnut dough is very slack, very soft and very sticky. When first mixed up, it almost resembles a batter more than a dough. Be patient, allow the flour to hydrate as the dough rises. It should be workable after that first rise.
  • You will want to flour everything you work with very generously -counters, rolling pins, hands- don’t worry. Keep adding flour as you work with it.
  • You absolutely need parchment or a silpat on your baking sheet. There’s no getting around it! If you don’t use one or the other you’ll have a nasty clean up job ahead of you.
  • Use unsalted butter to make the browned butter. If you use salted butter, you’ll concentrate the salt in it and the doughnuts will definitely take on super salty as a finishing flavour.
  • These are best when served fresh and warm, but there’s not a thing wrong with storing them in an airtight container for about three days. And if they make it that long you know you’re not in my house.

Print
Baked Cider Pumpkin Doughnuts

Yield: 12 large doughnuts and 30-40 doughnut holes (depending on size).

These doughnuts embody fall flavours with their beautiful spiced pumpkin orange crumb, hint of cider flavour and cinnamon sugar coating. Serve hot with cider or coffee for a seasonal treat.

Adapted from Food + Words

Ingredients

    For the Brown Butter:
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick/ 4 ounces by weight) unsalted butter
    • For the Doughnuts:
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiled cider
  • 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup bread flour
    • For the Cinnamon Sugar:
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Begin by preparing the dough:

Warm milk to just above room temperature using the microwave or a saucepan. Pour into the work bowl of a stand mixer, gently stir in the boiled cider and the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, use the batter attachment on your stand mixer to blend in the sugar, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, egg, egg yolks, and pumpkin puree. Mix on medium for at least 1 minute to be certain everything is evenly combined and smooth.

Turn off the mixer, switch to the dough hook, and add all of the flour at once. Start on low (to avoid the dreaded flour POOF) and gradually move up to medium high where it should stay for 4-6 minutes, or until you have a soft, sticky batter-like dough.

Butter a large mixing bowl or pan generously and scrape the dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about 1 hour at average room temperature.)

After an hour, line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment or silpats and set them aside.

Generously flour your work surface and your rolling pin. Turn the dough out onto the counter and dust the top with flour. Knead for no more than 1 minute to deflate the dough.

Roll it out to about 1/2-an-inch thickness and use a 3-inch diameter round cutter to cut large doughnuts and a 1/2-1-inch thickness round cutter to cut the hole from the center. (Or use the small cutter to do a gigantic batch of doughnut holes!) Carefully transfer the cut doughnuts to the lined sheets with about 2-inches of space between each doughnut (or 1 inch between doughnut holes.)

Re-roll the scraps and cut more doughnuts. Repeat until you've used all the dough.

Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. Take care not to let them rise too long or the yeast will exhaust its activity before it gets to the oven and you'll lose the light texture you're trying to get.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

To Make the Brown Butter

While the oven preheats, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat, swirling it to keep it from scorching. The butter will bubble and pop. As soon as the butter smells nutty and you can see lightly browned milk solids in the pan, remove the pan from a burner and set in a place to cool just slightly.

To Bake Doughnuts:

Bake the doughnuts in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Bake the doughnut holes in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until just golden.

To Assemble the Doughnuts:

Toss the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon together in a bowl. Set the cinnamon sugar next to the brown butter. Working with one doughnut at a time, dunk into the brown butter and flip to coat. Lift with a fork to allow the excess butter to drain away then drop into the cinnamon sugar. Toss to cover all surfaces with the cinnamon sugar, transfer to a plate, and repeat with the remaining doughnuts and doughnut holes.

Eat.

Darnit.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/06/baked-cider-pumpkin-doughnuts/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Desserts, Holiday Food, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian

Mounds Bar Rice Pudding | Coconut, Almond and Dark Chocolate Rice Pudding

October 3, 2011 by 15 Comments

How does everyone feel about a week of desserts? I for one feel great. And since I’m the head honcho here (well, the only honcho at the moment) I say we’re having a week of desserts. Here is installment #1!

I’m going to be in some very deep trouble for writing this post. I just know it.

As I made this last night -stirred the pot, dipped my finger in and tasted, sniffed the steam- I became increasingly convinced that I was doing something evil. It was my Doctor Frankenstein* moment. I had created a monster. How bad could a dessert be?

*Frahn-kehn-STEEN! Thank you very much.

If I were to tell you that I had created a rice pudding that tasted exactly like a melted Mounds bar, what would you say? *

*Howzabout “Oh sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found you! At last I know the secret of it all!”?

Oh my goodness.

This is dangerous.

Deadly.

I mean, really, think about it.

Rich, smooth, coconut rice pudding topped with toasted almonds and coconut, shaved dark chocolate and whipped coconut cream… This rice pudding is seriously puttin’ on the Ritz. Are you capable of resisting it? I made double batch of it last night and let’s just say it’s no longer here.

The fact is that the boys and I ate it for breakfast. Then lunch. We’re having it again for dessert tonight. I needed to develop a strategy to deal with this*.

*”We’ve all of us got to behave normal.”

My strategy involved making everyone else eat it so a shortage in the key ingredients would develop and I’d have to cut back our consumption of it by necessity.

Never mind. I can’t do this to you. Don’t make it. Run away. Run far, far away to the land where Mounds Bar Rice Pudding has never existed. Where you’re safe. Where you only eat fruit for dessert. Where you don’t whip the cream from full-fat coconut milk into a frothy topper that could also be dolloped into your hot chocolate or hot lattes or directly onto your tongue.

Wait! Where are you going?… I was going to make espresso!

A little serious advice. When you go buy the coconut milk for this recipe, try to avoid the pre-sweetened ones and the low-calorie or lite versions. They just don’t pack the flavour-oomph necessary to deliver the goods here.  And if you go whole hog and add the whipped coconut cream, you absolutely, positively need that full-fat coconut milk or the process will fail after the first step. The other sorts cannot deliver the fluffy, creamy texture that the good stuff does.

Don’t cheat and use another kind of rice here. Arborio rice is the sort used in risottos, which makes it spot-on for rice pudding. Creamy, creamy, creamy; that’s what you get with arborio!

One last note: Don’t be scared by the forty or so minute cook time. As long as you walk into the kitchen during the commercials on Jeopardy to stir it once in a while, you’ll have this ready in time for viewing Young Frankenstein,  Psych,  Top Chef, Mad Men or whatever show or movie makes you giddy with anticipation.

Print
Mounds Bar or Almond Joy Rice Pudding | Coconut, Almond and Dark Chocolate Rice Pudding

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

This rice pudding, when warm, tastes like a melted Mounds or Almond Joy candy bar. Creamy coconut rice pudding, topped with a decadent array of toasted coconut and almonds, whipped coconut cream and shaved dark chocolate is how the ultimate in comfort foods meets the ultimate candy bar.

Ingredients

  • 1 can coconut milk (unsweetened)
  • 1 can evaporated milk
  • Whole milk or half and half
  • 1/2 cup arborio rice
  • ¼ cup raw sugar
  • vanilla bean, split and scraped
  • a pinch of salt
  • shaved or chopped dark chocolate
    • Optional Toppings:
  • Whipped coconut cream (see recipe below)
  • Toasted coconut
  • Toasted sliced almonds

Instructions

Pour the coconut milk and evaporated milk into a four cup measure. Add enough whole milk or half and half to measure 4 cups evenly.

Stir together the milk mixture, rice, raw sugar, vanilla bean (both the bean halves and the scrapings), and salt to a medium sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium high heat.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently, then lower the heat to medium low and allow it to simmer for 45-60 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid is thickened. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

Let it cool several minutes, covered, before transferring to serving dishes.

To Serve Warm (my preference):

Top the warm pudding with shaved or chopped dark chocolate, whipped coconut cream, and toasted coconut for Mounds bar pudding or add almonds with everything else for Almond Joy pudding.

To Serve Cold:

Cover the portioned pudding with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding. Chill for at least an hour (but up to 3 days in advance) before serving. Top the chilled pudding with shaved dark chocolate, whipped coconut cream, and toasted coconut for Mounds bar pudding or add almonds with everything else for Almond Joy pudding.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/03/mounds-bar-rice-pudding-coconut-almond-and-dark-chocolate-rice-pudding/

Print
Whipped Coconut "Cream"

Coconut cream is unbelievably decadent. When you take into consideration that it is a one-ingredient (at most, two) recipe, it is mind-boggling. Rich, creamy, and smooth as silk, this cream is equally at home topping desserts, hot chocolate, stirred into lattes or just eaten with fruit. Bonus: You can serve this to your vegan, lactose-intolerant friends.

Ingredients

  • 1 can full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk (I like Thai brand.)
    • Optional: 1 teaspoon confectioner's sugar

Instructions

Put the unopened can of coconut milk into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Do not shake the can.

Open the can and scoop the thickened coconut cream from the top of the can into a mixing bowl. (You can reserve the remaining coconut water to drink, add to cocktails or cook into other recipes.)

If you choose to add sugar, do so before using a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip the coconut cream until it is smooth and creamy.

Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use. This is good for up to a week in the refrigerator.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/10/03/mounds-bar-rice-pudding-coconut-almond-and-dark-chocolate-rice-pudding/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Desserts, kid food, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , ,

Roasted Red Pepper Spread | Gardener’s Delight Eggs

September 22, 2011 by 10 Comments

And POOF! Just like that, summer was gone. I am fully aware that it is still technically summer but the tell tale signs are all around us: breath is foggy in the morning, cozy socks are back at the front of the sock drawer, scarves and jackets are shaken out of storage, and the produce at the farmers’ markets is taking a definite pumpkin-y turn. This, my friends, is fall.

That giant cosmic yawp you just heard came from my ever-optimistic beloved husband who views the turning of the leaves as a personal metaphor for mortality. This is the same man who spends the first official day of summer in mourning because it means that the days will grow shorter until the year ends. Poor guy. Don’t feel too badly for him, though. He lives with a compulsive baker and we all know that bread makes everything better.

Some of us, though, are not-so-secretly rejoicing. I’ve rustled up my fingerless gloves and my woolen caps for my morning strolls. I’m thrilled that I’m no longer sweating buckets near (not over, perish the uncouth thought) my canning pots. In fact, I’m upping the canning program in order to help keep warm until my husband finally acknowledges that summer has flown the coop and fires up the wood stove*.

*Firing up the wood stove is like my husband throwing the white flag of surrender and admitting that one more summer is behind him.

In the meantime, I will keep filling jars with little tastes of summer for my soon-to-be hibernating husband to put on his fresh bread. Jams and jellies are wonderful, but nothing beats cracking open a vibrant, ruby-hued jar of savoury garden goodness when the brisk wind is blowing and the sky is gun-metal grey.

Roasted Red Pepper Spread is just the thing to banish chills to the body or soul. You can’t help but smile when you see the bright red jars with flecks of basil peeking out at you. And when you open it? It’s everything wonderful about summer encapsulated in one little jar. The silky smooth, thick red pepper spread with the full taste -courtesy of tomatoes, garlic, onion, and red wine vinegar- is at home dolloped on fried eggs, spread on toast, as a pizza sauce, or as a dip (either alone or stirred into mayonnaise or softened cream cheese.)

While my poor husband may never recover from the suggestion that winter is soon to follow, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer the following tip; if you tie a simple gold, silver or raffia ribbon and gift tag around the top of the jar, it makes a beautiful and tasty (and perfectly colored) Christmas gift. Red and green and good taste. What could possibly be better?

The recipe yields around five eight-ounce jars, but can easily be doubled or tripled. I recommend an automatic doubling of this recipe if you intend to give it as gifts, because once you taste it you won’t want to part with it. That is as incontrovertible a fact as the passing of the seasons.

Print
Roasted Red Pepper Spread

Rating: 51

Yield: About 5 eight-ounce jars

Roasted Red Pepper Spread is just the thing to banish chills to the body or soul. It’s everything wonderful about summer encapsulated in one little jar. The silky smooth, thick red pepper spread with the full taste -courtesy of tomatoes, garlic, onion, and red wine vinegar- is at home dolloped on fried eggs, spread on toast, as a pizza sauce, or as a dip (either alone or stirred into mayonnaise or softened cream cheese.)

Adapted from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Ingredients

  • 5 ¾ pounds sweet red bell peppers
  • ¼ pound fresh cayenne peppers (or other red-hued hot peppers) (If you don’t like heat, use an additional ½ pound of sweet red bell peppers.)
  • 1 pound plum tomatoes
  • 1 small onion, unpeeled and uncut
  • 3 large cloves garlic, unpeeled and uncut
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons, packed, thinly sliced (chiffonade) of fresh basil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar (I prefer raw)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat the broiler in your oven. Spread the peppers, tomatoes, onion, and garlic cloves in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast under the broiler, turning frequently, until the peppers are softened and blackened all the way around, and the tomatoes, onion and garlic have some black spots on them. The more thoroughly blackened the peppers are, the easier they are to peel. Transfer the peppers and tomatoes to a paper bag, fold the top down three or four times to seal it, then let cool about 15 minutes, or until the produce is cool enough to handle. Set the onion and garlic on a cutting board to cool as well.

When the peppers and tomatoes have cooled, use your hands to rub the skins off as well as you can. Don’t panic if a bit of the skin remains. Cut the peppers open in order to remove their stems and seeds. Rip the peppers into strips and put into a blender or food processor (in batches if necessary) and process until smooth. Pour into a stainless steel stockpot and repeat the process with the tomatoes.

Peel the onions and garlic then finely chop both. Add this and the remaining ingredients to the purees in the stockpot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Lower the heat to medium low and continue a gentle boil, stirring often, for about 20 minutes, or until the spread can be mounded on a spoon.

You may either refrigerate the red pepper spread at this point, or freeze it in single serving sizes, or can it to make it shelf stable.

To can the spread for long-term storage:

Ladle the hot spread into prepared 8-ounce jars leaving ½-inch of headspace. (For information on how to do this, click here ) Use a stainless steel chopstick or butterknife to remove any air bubbles. If the level of the spread lowers after air bubbles are removed, you can add more hot spread.

Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp cloth, put the lid in place, and screw on the rings until fingertip tight. Place on a rack in a canner, cover with hot water, and bring to a boil with the lid on the canner. Once the water reaches a full rolling boil, begin a 10-minute timer (15 minutes for pints). When the timer is done, remove the lid from the canner, turn off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes before carefully transferring the jars to a towel or rack on the counter to cool, undisturbed.

When the jars are completely cool, remove the rings for storage, wipe the jars clean and label. Store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/09/22/roasted-red-pepper-spread-gardeners-delight-eggs/

Would you like another good reason to have this on your shelves? I gotcha covered! This is my current favourite breakfast.

Print
Gardener's Delight Eggs

This almost instant breakfast delivers a hugely satisfying punch of flavour courtesy of big, bold, smooth, garden-fresh Roasted Red Pepper Spread dolloped on fried eggs with pan-fried tortilla rounds. This breakfast will keep you going for hours.

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 flour tortilla, cut into quarters or rounds (with a biscuit or cookie cutter)
  • 2 tablespoons Roasted Red Pepper Spread (see recipe above)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: Fresh basil, thinly sliced (chiffonaded)

Instructions

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet. Crack the egg and slide it onto the skillet near one edge. Place the tortilla rounds or wedges along the other side of the skillet. Flip the tortilla rounds when they begin to lightly brown. Toast the other side and transfer to a serving plate.

Cook the egg, flipping once if desired, to your preferred doneness. Use a spatula to place the fried egg on top of the toasted tortillas. Top the egg with the Roasted Red Pepper Spread. Sprinkle with fresh basil, if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/09/22/roasted-red-pepper-spread-gardeners-delight-eggs/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Canning, Condiments, Food Preservation, Gifts, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Homemade Larabars

August 30, 2011 by 77 Comments

I was a little late to the energy bar party.  It was a matter of semantics. Energy bars. That’s really not a very appetizing name. In fact, it sounds like some futuristic food substitute (i.e. Soylent Green. F.Y.I. That’s people, people.) Ew.

There’s another little wrinkle. You see, energy bars sound like healthy food for health food’s sake. If you tell me to eat something just because it’s healthy, I’ll ask you to pass me a stick of butter and a fork. I’m contrary. I’m sorry. I do try to reform, but it’s me on a cellular level. I’m the original rebel without a cause.

Here comes issue number three. I’m cheap. We’ve been down this road before once or twice. I’ve walked many a time past the gigantic displays of energy bars -Larabars, Clif, Luna, Grouchy, Sleepy, Dumpy- and laughed derisively at the prices. A buck or more a bar? HA HA! In order to get one for everyone in my family I’d have to spend nearly ten dollars. Ten dollars for one snack? Not happening.

So, given all this information, I would’ve been the last person I would expect to perfect a homemade energy bar.  Here’s how it happened.

Somehow or another, I found myself with a bunch of dates that were nearing the end of their usefulness. I remembered my step-mom making raw cookies a while back and thought I’d give it a whirl. Literally. Because they’re made in the food processor. Ba-dum-bum. I’ll be here all week folks. Tip jar is on the piano.

One thing led to another, dates in the food processor led to chocolate chips and almonds and before I knew it, I was pressing an ugly but delicious paste into a parchment lined pan and whacking the whole thing into the refrigerator to get firm. The next morning, I pulled the parchment wrapped slab-o-dates/almonds/chocolate out of the pan, cut it into squares and called my small regiment of taste testers to the room.

I blinked, as humans are wont to do, and when I opened my eyes, there were mere crumbs left on the cutting board and I was surrounded by big-eyed, finger-licking, hollow-legged, teen and pre-teen boys who were not-so-innocently inquiring as to whether or not I had a second pan hidden somewhere in that refrigerator. As a matter of fact, I did. Because I had foreseen this possibility, I pressed the mixture into three separate pans but I sure wasn’t going to tell THEM that. No way. I wanted it to last more than one day.

The next day, I cut up the two remaining pans into bars and took them to the farmers’ market in Angelica to share with the other vendors. As the adults scarfed the bars much in the same way my kids had, I heard one vendor say, “These taste like Snickers bars. Are you sure they’re good for me?”

I’m sure.

So where does the Larabar of the recipe title come into all of this? A friend asked me what was held the bars together. When I told her it was a base of ground dates she exclaimed, “OH! It’s a homemade Larabar!” A quick perusal of the Larabar website proved my friend correct. And here I eat crow on the first two reasons I avoided energy bars. But I maintain my cheapness with pride and this recipe helps me do that. Cheap, yummy and healthy? I’ll eat to that.

Count me among the converted. For those of you who, like me, have balked at the whole energy bar fad, let me tell you why this is handy to have around. Tuck one or two in lunch boxes or bags, grab one when you’re ravenous and still hours from a proper meal, slide one into a sandwich bag and then into your jacket pocket to sustain you on long fall walks or hikes, or just plain nibble when you get peckish. It’s mainly fruit and nuts with a little dark chocolate thrown in to boot. How can you lose?


Print
Homemade Larabars

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 30 servings

Serving Size: 1 1/2-inch x 2-inch square, approximately

This Larabar clone tastes more like a Snickers than health food. Just four ingredients -dates, chocolate, almonds and natural nut butter- combine to create a decadent tasting snack treat that will deliver a major energy boost.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups whole, pitted dates (moist ones work best)
  • 2 cups raw or toasted whole shelled almonds
  • 1 cup chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter (or sunflower or cashew butter), divided (or more, if necessary)

Instructions

Line a 9-inch x 13-inch straight sided pan with a piece of parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the long edges. Set aside.

Fit a food processor with a metal blade. Add the almonds to the processor and pulse until they are uniformly finely chopped (think fresh bread crumb texture.) Add the chocolate chips and pulse again until the chocolate chips are also finely chopped.

Pour the chocolately nuts into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Add half of the dates to the food processor and process until a paste forms and clumps together in the workbowl. Open the food processor and add in 1 tablespoon of the nut butter and half of the chocolatey ground nuts. Replace the lid and process until evenly combined. Scrape into the prepared pan.

Repeat with the remaining dates, chocolatey nuts and nut butter.

When all of the ingredients have been thus processed, wet your hands and use them to press the mixture as evenly over the bottom of the pan as possible. Fold the excess parchment over the bars to cover them and use something flat and heavy to press down firmly on the mixture until it is smooth.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before moving onto the slicing.

To slice:

Use the excess parchment paper like a sling to transfer the now-firm bars from the pan to a large cutting board.

Cut into desired size (I prefer 30 squares) and store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container. An unrefrigerated bar will be good for 48 hours, covered, at room temperature.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/30/homemade-larabars/

 

 

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Camping Food, Healthy Foods, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian

Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

August 26, 2011 by 147 Comments

Here is the cake that upended my tidy little world. This is a Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not fond of cake or frosting. (Here and here, for starters…) As a little girl, I watched “Pollyanna” over and over. I’m talking about the original nineteen-sixty Disney film. It was one of the twenty five movies available for rental in the small movie  section of the Glen’s Market in Gaylord, Michigan where we shopped.  Despite my dislike for cake, I dreamed of the giant slab of cake she scored at the fair. That towering layer cake called to me like no other cake could. And for the most  of my life, I resigned myself to the fact that while that Pollyanna cake looked so good, no cake measured up to the promise it offered.  That is still true except. for. this. cake.  And who do I blame thank for this earth shaker? My friend, Krysta. She, without a word, sent me this link. No word of warning, no heads-up. No. Just a link. She knows my feelings on snickerdoodles so she sent it my way. She didn’t know it, but she delivered my Pollyanna cake to me.

All of a sudden, in my brain at least, I was Hayley Mills wandering around a small town fair with the world’s largest slice of layer cake and a sunny disposition. I might’ve even belted out the National Anthem and poked at the little prism dangling in my kitchen window. It was as good as I thought it would be.

The cake itself is a cinnamon vanilla butter cake. (I died a little bit just typing that…) It is moist, it is cinnamon-y. I’ve never had a cake like that. It is layered around and slathered with the only buttercream I have ever craved in my life; brown sugar cinnamon butter cream. (A little more dead now…) It is smooth yet still crunchy with sugar. It has little bursts of brown sugar and cinnamon and it is smoothed out with half and oh-my-goodness half. People. The buttercream. It must be stopped.

Who’s in?

Here are some tried and true cake baking and decorating tips to help you get the most polished finished product before you polish off your finished product.

  • To butter two pans easily, smear the pans with the butter wrappers you used for the cake itself (use more soft butter if necessary.) *If you choose to use parchment, too, butter under AND over the parchment for easiest release.
  • To flour those pans neatly, toss 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour into one pan, swirl it around over the second pan then tap the excess into the second pan. Repeat the process with the second pan, then tap the excess into the garbage.
  • When dividing cake batter between pans, use a scale to get them as close to even as possible. No scale? Scoop it in with a measuring cup.
  • Smooth the top of the cake batter into the pan and tap firmly on the counter several times before baking to settle the batter evenly.
  • Rotate pans front to back and side to side mid way through baking.
  • Cool the cakes COMPLETELY before slicing into layers. Do not hurry this or you will regret it immensely while you cry over your broken cake.
  • Before slicing your cooled cakes into layers, use a large serrated knife to even up the top of the cake. (In other words, to slice off any dome that formed while baking.)
  • Before you move your cake to the plate you’ll use to frost and serve it, lay four strips of parchment or waxed paper around the edges. Center the cake on the parchment strips. This will help you frost the cake rather than the plate. When you’re done frosting, pull the strips straight away from the cake. Ta da! Professionally done. Go you!
  • Make sure each  layer of frosting/cake is level before adding another level. It is much easier to adjust as you go along than to try to fix everything with frosting.
  • When the cake is assembled, refrigerate for at least an hour (preferably more) before attempting to slice into wedges. If you skip this step, the cake is likely to shift around on the frosting and look like it was thrown together by drunken monkeys.
  • If you forget all of these steps it really won’t matter because you’ll still have this cake. Pour yourself a nice hot cup of coffee or tea and enjoy it anyway!

Before you rub your eyes and question me, that is not a typo. Yes, there really ARE 4 1/2 sticks of butter in the buttercream. I told you it must be stopped.

Print
Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

The name says it all: Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream. This is the well-loved snickerdoodle cookie rewritten as a moist cinnamon vanilla butter cake layered and surrounded with a smooth, decadent buttercream laced with sweet ground cinnamon and brown sugar.

Gently adapted from Always With Butter

Ingredients

    For the Cake:
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 sticks butter (8 ounces by weight), softened to room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups fine or superfine sugar
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed to room temperature
    • For the Buttercream:
  • 4 and 1/2 sticks butter (or 1 pound, 2 ounces by weight), softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 8-9 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup of half and half, plus more if needed
    • Optional:
  • Whole cinnamon sticks for garnish

Instructions

To Bake the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Butter and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in colour.

Beat the eggs in one at a time, fully incorporating each egg and scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

Add about 1/3 of the milk, beat to incorporate, then 1/3 of the flour, again beating to incorporate.

Repeat this process, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until all of the milk and flour are added and mixed in evenly.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake, rotating midway through, for about 35 minutes or until the cake tests done.

Let the cakes cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes before turning out onto the racks to finish cooling.

To Make the Buttercream:

Beat together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until fluffy and pale in colour.

Add 6 cups of the confectioner's sugar and the vanilla extract and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until it is fully incorporated.

Scrape down the bowl and add the half and half. Beat to incorporate again.

Add another 2 cups of the confectioner's sugar and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until fully incorporated. Check the consistency of the buttercream. If it needs to be thicker, add the remaining confectioner's sugar. If it is too thick, add more half and half a teaspoon at a time, beating after each addition, until it reaches the consistency you like.

To Assemble and Frost the Cake:

Level out your cooled cakes and cut each into two even layers.

Place one layer on a cake plate then add a layer of buttercream, spreading to the edges and evening out as you go. Repeat with the remaining layers.

Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream.

If desired, garnish the top of the cake with whole cinnamon sticks.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing.

Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/26/snickerdoodle-cake-with-brown-sugar-cinnamon-buttercream/

Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Cakes, Desserts, Instructional, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Spinach Bacon Cheddar Munchy Cakes

August 23, 2011 by 17 Comments

My name is Mrs. Bacon Onion Cheddar-Spinach, but you can call me Mrs. Spinach. I loved spinach so much that I married it.

Er, not really, but you get the point.

Spinach. Sigh. This is a bittersweet story. For years, I didn’t cook spinach as much as I’d like because my kids -most of ‘em anyway- didn’t really like it. I put it on pizza (well, one of the several pizzas I make whenever I make pizzas), made the occasional spanakopita, etc… but I’m the kind of person who could happily eat spinach nearly every day and here I was eating it once a week.

And then I went to Oklahoma. What does this have to do with spinach? Let me tell you.

My kids went to stay with a friend of mine who is nothing less than a living saint*. When I came home, one of the founding members of the “no-green-stuff-in-my-food” cabal approached me and asked, reverently, “Mama? Can you please ask Mrs. Danner for her quiche recipe? That was the best thing ever.” When I answered that I would and asked what kind of quiche it was, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather when he answered, “Spinach!”

*I think we’ll all agree that a woman who agrees to watch all five of my sons and my dog (ages five through thirteen) in addition to caring for her own four children, feeds them, goes for hikes to rivers with them, helps remove leeches from them (thereby providing dinner [and all other moments] conversations for the following month), lets them watch Doctor Who, delivers them home fully alive, and still speaks to me afterward is a living saint. I think her first miracle was getting my kids to eat spinach. That counts, right? Three cheers for Mrs. Casda Danner!

The brain, it boggled. Because honestly, his answer implied both a.) that he liked it and b.) that he was aware that he had actually eaten and liked spinach. I pursued the subject…

“Who ate the spinach quiche?” I asked. All but the baby. “And who liked it?” Again? All but the baby. Holy moly. The next day at the playground, I quizzed my friend about how she accomplished this great deed. Her answer, and I’m paraphrasing here, was that people try to serve spinach to kids all wrong. She told me, “Everyone serves it wilted with vinegar, ” [totally true on my part] “when what they should do is serve it with generous amounts of butter, cheese or cream.”

I told you she was a saint, but she not only is beatified, she’s brilliant.

And so.   While wasting incredible amounts of time researching on Pinterest, I stumbled upon a very tempting picture of broccoli cheese bites. “Self,” quoth I, “You ought to try something like that… but with spinach.” I channeled Casda, combined wild amounts of Cheddar cheese, spinach and bacon (because where Cheddar cheese is, bacon should be!) and inspired by the aforementioned broccoli cheese bites, I achieved spinach-to-children’s-mouth success.

These Spinach Bacon Cheddar Munchy Cakes (so dubbed by my eldest son after I struggled with what to call them) are packed with all the culinary joy that results when spinach, bacon, and Cheddar get together. It’s hard to believe something so satisfying can be thrown together so quickly. More good news? These little beauts are very inexpensive. Omit the bacon and you have a vegetarian friendly entree or hearty snack.

A batch of these disappeared at light speed. And guess who tried it? The baby! And guess who liked it? Everyone! Including the baby!

We all opted for sriracha to accompany our munchy cakes. This one is mine. See the ladylike, evenly placed hot sauce dots?

This? This one is my husband’s. No pretty dots for him. No-siree-bob. Man. Need. Much. Sriracha.

All I know is this; I probably won’t win any health food awards with this recipe and I don’t care. They’re just so tasty.

Print
Spinach Bacon Cheddar Munchy Cakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

When bacon, Cheddar and spinach come together in these savoury snack cakes, smiles are inevitable. Even the pickiest eaters tucked into these with gusto!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove most of the liquid
  • 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I prefer extra sharp for this.)
  • 1 1/2 cups fine dry bread crumbs (seasoned or plain)
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1/2 pound of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
  • 3 tablespoons finely minced onion
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder (I prefer Coleman's.)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
    • Optional:
  • Hot sauce for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°.

Line a baking sheet (or two, depending on size) with parchment paper.

Stir all ingredients together until even.

Scoop about 1/4-1/3 cup of the mixture (an amount about equal to the size of a plum) and form into a patty. Place patties on prepared pan.

Repeat until all of the mixture is formed into patties.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping the patties after about 15 minutes, until they are all golden brown and crisp on the outside.

Serve hot, warm or cool with your preferred hot sauce.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/23/spinach-bacon-cheddar-munchy-cakes/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Eggs, kid food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , ,

Fancy-Pants Bacon Jam, Spinach, Egg and Asiago Breakfast Pizza and a Giveaway!

August 16, 2011 by 84 Comments

Updated 8/19/11: Winner announced below the contest rules!

Sometimes you just know something is going to be good. Sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back. Today’s lunch was one of those moments.

While digging madly through the cupboards to find fast lunch ideas for my already starved* children, I realized I was out of bread, cheese, tortillas, apples, and all sorts of other things I rely on to fill their hollow legs quickly.

*Or so they said repeatedly and loudly while clinging to my legs.

Thankfully, a perusal of the refrigerator revealed a big bucket of my special no-knead semolina pizza dough and some leftover cooked spinach. Serendipitously, they were resting right next to a fresh jar of bacon jam and a dozen fresh eggs from our chickens. I knew I had the ingredients to make a great lunch but what I didn’t know was just how epic and satisfying that lunch would turn out to be.

I found that I was on auto-pilot setting when I noticed I automatically pre-heated my oven to four hundred and seventy five degrees without thinking after setting the bucket of dough on the counter*.

*That is the temperature at which I cook all of my pizzas, but this is the subject of an upcoming post. Oooh, spoilers! A tease and a Doctor Who reference all in one sidebar. I’m not proud.

Apparently I was making pizza for lunch. Well, why not? I decided to go with the auto-pilot. I rolled out the dough, spread on a little bacon jam and topped the jam with spinach that had been squeezed dry, topped it with a little grated asiago and slid it into the hot oven. Four minutes into cooking, I gently slide a cracked egg on top of the spinach. When the egg was set, I removed it from the oven…

…showered the top generously with more asiago and shook an indecent amount of hot sauce over the whole thing. I cut it in half, paused for a quick picture, admired the runny yolk, and there was a knock at the door.

Sigh.

Half an hour later, I was able to dig in. I can honestly tell you this tastes incredible at room temperature… I’m equally certain that it would taste most amazing hot, but at least I can tell you it’s better than just okay when cool.

The pizza crust has a crackling crisp underside due in part to the (hubba hubba) semolina flour in it. The insides are chewy. The upper crust takes on a deep golden brown and then we get to the bacon jam. Oh, bacon jam. Do you guys remember my bacon jam recipe? I didn’t think it was possible to love it more than I already did when I wrote that post but I was wrong. Every single way I’ve used it has made me love it better.*

*I guess maybe that one time I tried to use it as perfume didn’t work out really well… But everything else? Golden.

The salty, smoky, meaty, sweet, perfect umami bacony goodness that is bacon jam on pizza crust topped with spinach (hello, lover), an egg that I just took out of the coop this morning and a shower of finely grated asiago cheese? You could say this auto-pilot lunch was inspired. So, I thanked the source of all inspiration and blessings and ate my really excellent cold lunch pizza.

Pssst. I’m sharing my pizza dough recipe with you here today so you can get it in your refrigerator and use it both for this recipe and upcoming ones. This is a big hint. BIG HINT.

Now. Another giveaway! And hoo-doggy it’s a hot one. The generous folks at Smuckers offered to send one of Foodie with Family’s readers a pretty amazing gift basket. And when I say pretty amazing I mean four seriously pretty pink and green striped ice cream REAL (as in not plastic) bowls, an ice cream scoop, some of their new ice cream toppings (Blueberry and Hot Caramel) some of their classic toppings (Hot Fudge), some sweetened condensed milk (Used to make their dead easy 3-ingredient ice cream for which they include the recipe!) and -wait for it- a $75 gift certificate to Cooking.com.

So what does this have to do with a fancy-pants breakfast pizza? What goes better with pizza than a milkshake, I ask you? Not a thing, as far as I’m concerned.  And if I accidentally dolloped some of that caramel sauce into the blender with my ice cream and milk then I might have accidentally really loved it, too. I highly recommend accidentally doing that. Happy, happy day.

What do you need to do to enter this contest? This is one of my patented super complex entries. Leave a comment. Tell me what you like to eat with your milkshakes, what you would do with the $75 gift certificate, what your favourite ice cream topper is (Smuckers or otherwise), about the time you poured Magic Shell over your brother’s head, or what you like on your breakfast pizza. That’s it! Not too shabby for a chance to win all those goodies, eh? The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here on Friday, August 19th.

Our winner is:

TiffH Well here in Oklahoma I love me a Strawberry milkshake with crinkle cut fries from Braum’s Ice Cream. And as far as cooking gift card I would get the ice cream maker I’ve been wanting (cuz I don’t have one) and use it with all that spiffy Smucker’s ice cream toppings and bowls… yeah! Can you overnight me some of that pizza because it looks delicious, and the egg on top genius!

TiffH, email me your mailing address and whatnot and I’ll send that right onto the folks at Smuckers!

Oh, and do me a favour? Since they’re being so generous, show them a little love and head on over to their website. They have some pretty fine dessert recipes posted!

Print
Fancy-Pants Bacon Jam, Spinach, Egg and Asiago Breakfast Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

This inspired breakfast pizza is topped with the salty, smoky, meaty, sweet, perfect umami bacony goodness that is bacon jam on pizza crust, spinach (hello, lover), a fresh egg, and a shower of finely grated asiago cheese. While it looks and tastes like a big deal, it's incredibly simple to make.

Ingredients

    Per Pizza:
  • 1 navel-orange sized piece of Semolina Olive Oil Dough (see following recipe) or favourite pizza dough
  • 2 tablespoons Bacon Jam warmed to slightly over room temperature
  • 1/4 cup cooked spinach, squeezed to remove most of the liquid
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated asiago cheese, divided
  • 1 egg, cracked into a shallow bowl or measuring cup
    • Optional for serving:
  • hot sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475°F with a pizza stone in place (if you have one.)

On a clean, floured surface, roll or press out pizza dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick in the center and slightly thicker around the edges.

Gently spread the bacon jam from the center of the dough to within 1/2-inch of the edges, taking care not to stretch the dough. (Heating the jam ahead of time helps it to spread more easily.)

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the asiago over the bacon jam and scatter the spinach over the top.

Sprinkle semolina or cornmeal over a pizza peel (if using a pizza stone) or a baking sheet (if no stone is available.) Transfer the dough, carefully, to the dusted peel or pan. If using the stone, slide the pizza directly onto the stone, if using the sheet, slide the sheet directly into the center of the oven.

Bake for 4 minutes then open the door of the oven and pour the cracked egg directly into the center of the pizza. This is easiest if the bowl or measuring cup is held right next to the pizza to minimize the egg running.

Bake an additional 8-14 minutes or until the egg is done to your liking. I pulled mine when the whites were firmly set and the yolk was still mostly runny.

Transfer the pizza to a cutting board, sprinkle with the remaining asiago cheese.

Serve hot or cold with hot sauce, if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/16/fancy-pants-bacon-jam-spinach-egg-and-asiago-breakfast-pizza-and-a-giveaway/

Print
No-Knead 10-Day Semolina Olive Oil Pizza Dough

Prep Time: 15 minutes

This is, without a doubt, the best pizza dough I've ever made and eaten. The fact that it is no-knead and incredibly simple to make adds to its already ample charms. It bakes up as a beautifully crisp bottomed, chewy pizza crust but can also be made into pita bread and focaccia. It's like the bass-o-matic of pizza doughs!

Inspired by Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg.

Ingredients

  • 5 1/2 cups room temperature water
  • 3 tablespoons instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar (raw or granulated)
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 11 cups (2 pounds, 15 3/4 ounces by weight) all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups (11 ounces by weight) semolina flour

Instructions

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil and water in a 12 quart capacity bucket. (This recipe can be halved if you do not have a large enough container.)

Stir in the flour until no dry pockets remain. You do not have to knead it, but I find the easiest way to have it thoroughly mixed is to wet one hand and forearm and use that one to mix it in completely.

Cover lightly (Do not put a lid on tight. Trust me.) and let rest at room temperature until the dough has doubled and collapsed. (Or at least until dough is very, very puffy.) This takes a less than 2 hours in warm weather and more than 2 hours in cool or cold temperatures.

You can use the dough immediately. If you have leftovers, you can store them in the container, lightly covered (again, do not use a tight lid!) for up to 10 days. If you need to store the dough beyond that time, divide into individual pizza sized servings. Freeze in re-sealable plastic bags that have about a teaspoon of olive oil smeared around inside each for up to 3 months.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/16/fancy-pants-bacon-jam-spinach-egg-and-asiago-breakfast-pizza-and-a-giveaway/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Bread, Breakfast Foods, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: , , , , ,
«Older Posts
Newer Posts»