Cookies for Breakfast

 The little kid that still lives inside me became very excited when I saw this recipe on Dorie Greenspan's Substack newsletter. Cookies for breakfast just sounds like fun. These are full of all kinds of good-for-you things, but they are still delicious. Sweetie loves them because they are moist and chewy in the middle, not dry or crisp, although the outer edges are crisp enough for me to enjoy them.

As I usually do I made a few changes, mostly because I had millet flour but not millet and I also had flaxseed flour but not the whole flaxseeds. Because the millet is part of the topping and meant to be crunchy, I substituted some white sesame seeds for the topping part, then used the flour in the part that became the dough. The flaxseed flour became part of the dough, too. Below is a photo of an unbaked cookie. You can't really see the sesame seeds but they are there, along with the sunflower and pumpkin seeds, the dry unsweetened coconut, and a piece of dry fruit, probably a dried cherry.

The flavors are reminiscent of a granola that includes banana. When I make them next time I'm going to try substituting unsweetened apple sauce for the banana and maybe up the cinnamon a bit to see how that goes. It's not that I don't like banana, but I find it fun to see how things change with different ingredients. For part of the batch I also added some small M&Ms for the times when these would be afternoon tea cookies and so could use a bit of chocolate. Obviously you can change these up to suit your preferences...prefer dried apricots to dried cherries? Chop up the apricots and swap them out for some or all of the cherries. Like golden raisins better than dried cranberries? Same deal. For any of the dried fruit, just remember to refresh them if they are dry by soaking them for a few minutes in boiling water, then drain and towel dry. 

If you use a 1/4 cup measure to dollop out the dough, each cookie should probably be all you need for breakfast. I decided to freeze the extras so that I can have a cookie for breakfast whenever the spirit moves.

Nutty Seedy Breakfast Cookies, adapted from Pastry Love by Joanne Chang

3/4 cup (90 gr) walnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
1/2 cup (170 gr) maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 ripe banana, thoroughly mashed (about 1/3 cup, 100 gr)
3/4 cup (100 gr) raw unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
3/4 cup (40 gr) unsweetened flake coconut
1/2 cup (45 gr) raw shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup (45 gr) flaxseeds (I used 1/2 cup flaxseed flour in the dough mixture)
1/4 cup (50 gr) millet (I used 1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds in the seed mixture for the top and 2 tablespoons millet flour in the dough mixture instead)
1 1/2 cups (150 gr) rolled oats
1 cup (120 gr) dried cranberries
2/3 cup (100 gr) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (100 gr) dried cherries
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for 6-8  minutes in the preheated oven until light golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool and turn off the oven.

Melt the butter in a medium bowl. Whisk in the maple syrup and vanilla until well combined. Whisk in the eggs and the banana until totally homogeneous. Set aside.

In a large bowl stir together the pepitas, coconut, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds (or millet and flaxseeds). Remove 1/2 cup (50 g) and set aside.

To the large bowl with the most seeds add the toasted walnuts, oats, dried cranberries, whole wheat flour, dried cherries, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir well to combine.

Make a well in the center of the seed and flour mixture. Stir the egg mixture to make sure it is fully combined, then pour into the seed and flour mixture. Stir well to combine. It will be a soft batter, not stiff like cookie dough.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to overnight. The flours and seeds will soak up some of the liquid and the batter will be stiffer after refrigeration.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the batter from the fridge. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Wet your hands and scoop 1/4 cup of cough from the bowl. Roll dough in your wet hands into a rough but tight ball, dip the top of the ball into the reserved seed mixture (I used a pie pan to hold the seed mixture to make the dipping easy), and plop it seed side up on the prepared sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing balls about 2 inches apart on the sheet.

Press each cookie ball down with the palm of your hand to make them flat. See the second photo down to see how they should look. These make fairly large cookies...but you only need one.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes until golden brown at the edges and firm when pressed in the middle. Cool 1 minute on the sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool.

Using a cool baking sheet, repeat with the remaining dough.

Can be stored for 2 days in an airtight container.

Puff Pastry Tops a Chicken Pot Pie

 

There's a restaurant in Graton...the Willow Wood Market...that makes a delicious chicken pot pie with a pie top that I think is puff pastry. I've been known to make a delicious chicken pot pie myself, but I usually top it with a pie dough crust. A few nights ago I decided to try the puff pastry topper.

First I made the chicken filling part. Since I had already grilled chicken thighs, it was just a matter of chopping a few veggies like onions, celery, garlic, and mushrooms, and sautéing them to get things started. If you can make a white sauce from scratch then you'll have no trouble with that part. A key thing to remember is to add all the liquid at once and then stir like mad. The stirring allows the liquid to combine with the partly cooked flour/oil bits so that it all can turn into a thickened, silky sauce. When you first add the liquid it looks like lumps in a thin liquid, but keep stirring...a lot!...and you, too, will end up with a nice sauce to hold your bite-sized chicken pieces and the rest of the veggies. Don't forget to season the sauce and taste to make sure you have enough salt and pepper. I even added a bit more thyme to mine since it didn't seem to have enough herby flavor. 

The rest of the filling ingredients is up to you. I like the combination of cooked Yukon potato chunks, frozen mixed veggies, and some roasted red pepper (and extra frozen green peas!), but you could also use fresh or frozen green beans, asparagus cut into bite sized pieces, blanched broccoli florets, or even sautéed greens. Just keep the proportions similar. Rice could be substituted for the potatoes, too, or you could use boiled chunks of red potatoes or Idaho potatoes. See what you have on hand, then go with it to make this your own!

So we're down to the topper. Already made pie dough from the refrigerator section of the market is the easiest. You can make your own puff pastry or rough puff, but I found frozen puff pastry to be just fine for other projects, so decided to try that.

It was defrosted so I could unfold it, but I didn't roll it out any. I cut out a circle that would fit just inside of the baking dish. If I were to do it again, I would bake it until puffed on a baking sheet, then transfer to the baking dish with the chicken mixture to finish browning (as shown in the directions below!). The reason is that I put the raw puff pastry right on top of the hot chicken filling in the baking dish and returned it to the oven right away. The temperature was 425 degrees F and it should have puffed up fairly quickly. Instead I think that the filling kept it from puffing very far by making the bottom of the pastry too wet. It was still browned and lovely, but not as airy, nor crisp, as I would like. This is one reason why baking continues to fascinate me...I keep learning. The instructions below are how I should have done it!

Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Topper

1-2 yellow Finn potatoes, washed and cubed

3/4 cups chicken broth

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon, or to taste, minced garlic

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper

about another 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup milk I used evaporated milk, undiluted)

2  - 2 1/2 cups cooked, cubed chicken (I used grilled skinless thighs)

1 cup frozen peas

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
2 tablespoons roasted red pepper, cut into small pieces

1 sheet (half package) frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

In a medium pot with a lid, add the chicken broth to the cubed potatoes. Place over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender when pierced with the point of a sharp knife.

Meanwhile,  prepare the onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms. When potatoes are cooked, drain them, reserving the cooking liquid for another use.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Melt the butter in the pot the potatoes were cooked in. Add the onion, celery, mushrooms and garlic. Over medium heat, cook, stirring often, for 5-8 minutes or until onion is translucent. Be careful to not have the garlic burn. If this has been an issue for you in the past, add the garlic after the first 4-5 minutes.

Add the flour, poultry seasoning, dried thyme and salt and pepper to taste to the sautéed veggies. Stir for 1 minute to allow the flour to cook a bit.

In a large measuring cup, add chicken broth to the 1 3/4 cups mark (OK to use the potato cooking broth as part of this, or to just use fresh broth). Add the milk. Over medium heat, stir this mixture, all at once, into the veggie/flour mixture and continue stirring over medium heat until the mixture thickens slightly. It's OK if mixture bubbles a bit once it has thickened.

Add the cubed chicken and stir to combine.

In a microwave safe container, cook the peas and mixed vegetables for 1-2 minutes to warm. Add warmed peas and mixed vegetables to the pot with the chicken and sautéed veggies. Add the cooked and drained potatoes and the roasted red pepper pieces. Stir to combine everything, then spoon mixture into a greased 9" x 13" casserole or 9" round deep baking dish.

Cut the sheet of puff pastry into 9 rectangles, or one 9-inch circle if using round baking dish. Place pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet. Leave at least an inch between them (if using squares). Use a small pastry brush to paint the top of the puff pastry with the egg wash, being careful not to have the egg run down the sides. If using the 9-inch round, cut a 1-2-inch slash in the top in 4 places with a sharp knife to let steam escape.

Bake puff pastry in preheated oven. When pastry has puffed but is not yet brown, put the casserole into the oven to heat (put it on a lower shelf if you can).

When puff pastry rectangles are puffed and golden brown, remove them from the oven. Remove the casserole from the oven. Place the rectangles on top of the casserole mixture. Serve at once.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Pesto in a Quiche

I love making quiche for dinner and Sweetie loves eating it. The great thing about quiche is that you can put lots of different things in it and so it's a creative kind of pie.

This time I had some grilled chicken leftovers to use up, plus a few spears of fresh asparagus. I decided to do a flavor combination that has worked well for me in the past for a sandwich...chicken and pesto with roasted red pepper and Swiss cheese. I put all of those things in, plus some caramelized onion, the asparagus, and a couple large bella mushrooms, sliced. It was delicious, so I want to share with you! 

Pesto Quiche with Grilled Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Serves 4 - 6

1 9-inch pie shell, blind baked at 425 degrees F for 10-12 minutes (use favorite pie dough recipe or pre-made)
1/3 cup caramelized yellow onion
1 cup Swiss cheese, cut into ¼ inch dice
1 cup grilled chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 stalks fresh asparagus, ends snapped off, spears cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large mushrooms, sliced
3 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
1 ½ cups evaporated milk  or light cream
1/3 cup prepared pesto
¼ teaspoon salt
dash pepper
5 or 6 strips prepared roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Blind bake the pie shell in a preheated 400 degree oven, then set aside to cool.

Reduce heat setting on oven to 350 degrees F.

Caramelize the onion with a light coating of olive oil in a small crock pot or in a skillet and let cool .

Sprinkle the bottom of the pie shell with the onions and half the Swiss cheese, distributing evenly. Top with the chicken and the asparagus, then the rest of the Swiss cheese. Place mushroom slices around the outer edges of the quiche fillings. Set crust with fillings aside.

In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly with the pesto, then add the milk and beat with a fork to combine, add the salt and pepper and beat with a fork or whisk to combine.

Pour the egg/milk mixture over the ingredients in the pie shell.  There may be too much milk mixture if pie pan is shallow - don't overfill, to avoid filling running over.  Add the red pepper strips in a nice pattern on the top. Sprinkle with the pine nuts.

Put the quiche on a baking sheet. Place in the preheated oven and bake 30-45 minutes, or until set and lightly browned. (I find that setting on a parchment-lined small baking sheet is a good idea in case some of the filling spills over.) Cool for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

Mocha

Our weekend included a lovely brunch on Sunday with long time friends and, in the afternoon, tea and a game of Rubicubes with an artist friend of mine. I've been wanting to bake so the tea gave me a good excuse to bake a mocha loaf cake. I'm afraid that I over baked it just a tiny bit, so it wasn't as moist as I would like, but otherwise it was delicious, a perfect example of a nice pound cake.

The recipe is based on one I baked a while ago, a chocolate and coffee marble cake, but this time I skipped the marble part and went for mocha. The espresso powder went into the flour mixture, but, this time, I also changed out the chocolate chips for cocoa powder. The cocoa powder also went into the flour mixture. I also added the vanilla to the milk which made it really easy to mix; butter beaten, butter and sugar beaten, eggs added one at a time and beaten after each, then three parts of the flour mixture divide by two of the milk mixture.

Do watch that you don't burn the top (which can be tented with foil if needed) and check it earlier than the recipe calls for so that you don't over-bake as I did. With care you will end up with a moist, tender, fine crumbed delicious mocha loaf cake, too...tea and a game are optional, but nice. 

Mocha Cake

base on Double Chocolate Marble Cake in Dorie Greenspan's  Baking Chez Moi

Makes one loaf cake

2 cups (272 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon espresso powder

6 tablespoons cocoa powder (dark if possible)

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons, 6 oz. 170 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, at room temperature (I used soy creamer)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Stack two baking sheets or use an insulated baking sheet and on it place a 9x5-inch loaf pan that has been buttered and floured, with excess flour tapped out of it.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and espresso powder in a medium bowl. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a stand mixer bowl beat the butter on medium speed for 3 minutes, using the paddle attachment, or use a large bowl and a hand mixer to do the same thing. Add the sugar and beat for another 2-3 minutes. Scrape bowl and beater(s), then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each addition. Don't worry if the batter curdles.

 Make sure that the milk is at room temperature. Put into a small bowl and mix in the vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low. Scrape bowl and beater(s). Again on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions and the milk mixture in two additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until each addition is incorporated. Avoid over-mixing. Scrape batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread evenly.

Bake the cake for 70-80 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. do not overbake. Top may be cracked...that's OK. At about half way, check the cake and tent with foil if the top seems to be browning too quickly.

Cool the cake on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then unmold it, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature. Store at room temperature, wrapped well, for up to 4 days. Freeze for longer storage.

Spring

If you've been a reader here for long, you know that my favorite season is Fall, but Spring is right behind it. We are having such a lovely spring, full of days with sun, days with rain and everything in between.

Because it's been cooler than average, the seedlings are still in the sunspace waiting for the soil to warm up a bit for planting time. They are getting bigger and the squash are, in a misguided abundance of hope, flowering already. I do hope to get them planted out soon. The irrigation system and lots of pots are almost ready, too. Our gopher and weasel populations make it impossible to plant them out directly in the soil.

Flowers have been great this year. The bulbs have produced beautiful daffodils (see photo at top of post), tulips and even a couple of hyacinths. The lilacs are at their peak right now. Some of the roses, like bright red Altissimo,

have bloomed and more are just starting. 

The calla lilies have been blooming for a few weeks.

Yesterday I saw the first poppy bloom, but there are a bunch of those almost ready. I planted a seed mix in the winter that included poppies and it looks like they did well, so sometime soon I'll post photos of those. Today the first iris of the season bloomed and it's just gorgeous!

We had rain when the plums bloomed, so there won't be many of those stone fruits this year to eat. Had some rain during the time of the early apple blossoms, but the largest and youngest tree is blooming now and the weather is fine, so fingers crossed that we get lots of Red Gravenstein apples. Hard to tell with the pears, quince and persimmons because there was some rain but not much during their bloom. We'll see.

The olallieberries are just starting to bloom down by the road. They bloom and produce fruit a few weeks before the regular blackberries, so I always get a thrill when I see their lovely white flowers decorating the shrubs.

I wish I could say that I've been getting eggs from neighbors, but here are some like I got a few weeks ago.

For those who celebrate it, Happy Easter!  Happy Passover!  Happy Earth Day (in a few days)!

XO Elle  

Rice and Spinach Pie

This dish is very similar to the Moosewood Cookbook's casserole recipe that has similar ingredients, but turning it into a pie creates a different delight. For one thing, the rice crust turns crispy on the side near the pan but is soft and delicious, too, where it meets the spinach filling. Because there are eggs in both the rice crust and the filling, it all slices well and holds together for serving. It is fine as the main dish, but we had some salmon that we'd bought the day before, so Sweetie grilled that and I made the pie.

I was gifted this recipe from an old friend, Ginny, who is also my hairdresser. Her Granny Anne was an excellent cook and this was one of the family favorites...and one of the ones where the amounts were written out at some point. Like many cooks of her generation, Granny Anne was a skilled cook who often just threw things together, not measuring and not writing down a recipe. Ginny learned to cook from Granny Anne...her own mother was apparently a terrible cook! 

Granny Anne learned to cook in her late teens from a doctor's wife. It was the time of the Dust Bowl in the mid-West and Granny Anne's family were farmers in South Dakota. They lost their farm and, like many others, moved to California. Anne's father found her employment with a doctor's family. She was a hard worker, but her work up until then had been twelve hour days working the fields, not cooking. That's what she told the doctor's wife, who then asked her if she could read and write. Anne said she could, so the doctor's wife assured her that she could learn to cook...and then proceeded to teach her how! Anne became a fantastic cook and used to cook her extended family huge meals which included jellied salads, green salad, home made dressings, asparagus with hollandaise, broccoli with brown butter, freshly made Parker House rolls, plus a wonderful roast or a dish like this and also grilled chicken. And that's before serving dessert like a wonderful mocha pie. Ginny kept all her recipe books once she had passed and I hope to bring you more of Granny Anne's culinary delights in the future.

Some of the best recipes work by throwing things together...and it's sometimes impossible to go back and figure out all the measurements, ingredients, techniques and so on to recreate the most delectable ones. Glad that this one was a written down recipe, even if I wrote it up with more detail...but posted the original so that you can see how it was written by Granny Anne. Sweetie really, really enjoyed it! 

When I realized that I had better get going if this was going to be ready by dinner time, I also discovered that I didn't have time to cook the rice unless we were going to eat an hour late. Fortunately I had microwavable packets of already cooked rice...one of brown rice and one of long grain and wild rice. I heated both packets up, then mixed them together for the rice crust. I know that plain rice would have been fine, but I do think that the added flavor of the brown and wild rices just makes this even more wonderful. I couldn't find a chunk of Swiss cheese at the store, so I bought slices, then cut them thinly and cross cut them for the rice mixture. I had some left over, so I did the same thing and used that to top the spinach mixture before baking. The photo below shows the baked rice and spinach pie.

Granny Anne's Rice and Spinach Pie
8 servings

2 cups cook rice
2/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 egg, well beaten

10 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained of all excess liquid

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cottage cheese
3 eggs, well beaten

6 tablespoons thick cream or evaporated milk  (I used soy creamer)

1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground if you can)
a few drops hot sauce or 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Grease a 9-inch deep (at least 2 inches) pie pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the rice, cheese and egg. Place in the greased pie pan and use a flexible spatula (or clean hands) to spread the rice over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the spinach, melted butter and salt. Then stir in the cottage cheese. Add the 3 eggs and combine with the spinach mixture. Add the creamer or milk and stir to combine well, then do the same with the parmesan cheese. Add the nutmeg and hot sauce or cayenne and stir to combine.

Pour the spinach mixture into the pie pan over the rice mixture. Use a spatula to smooth the mixture into an even layer, leaving the rice at the top of the pie pan edges exposed.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the filling is cooked through.

Cool 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.

Below is the recipe as written by Granny Anne

It's NOT An April Fools Day Joke

Sweetie is so proud of my blogging that he has been telling people for a few months that I've had over 2 million pageviews. While that is flattering, it hasn't been true...but today it is. I checked just before I wrote this post and the analytics/stats showed 2 million and 91 pageviews!

It's pretty amazing that people are still looking at blogs given the huge number of other social media choices that they have. Blogs are now sort of old fashioned, but I'm very flattered that you readers are still turning to Feeding My Enthusiasms for great recipes, especially for bread and baking, and some fun fairy tales about baking plus a bit here and there about my life, kitchen implements, and my garden.

Please keep coming because it encourages me to continue writing, photographing and putting it all together for you. If you haven't used the Index, you're missing out on a great 'recipe box' because I have over 1,000 recipes. Don't know how to access the Index? Be sure you are in web view (which you can find on you phone by scrolling down to the last post and clicking on Web View), then look on the right side of the blog and you'll find the link just below the Welcome paragraphs where it says Recipe Link. Just click the photo. No photo? Try clicking in the middle where the photo should be. If you have trouble, you can always email me at plachman 'at'sonic'dot'net.

Thanks for being a reader of Feeding My Enthusiasms! Try a new recipe...be creative in the kitchen...have fun and be kind to yourself.

XO, Elle

Time For Quiche

Quiche is such a versatile dish that you can make many versions. The key is to keep the proportions about the same.

Sweetie loves quiche and it had been a while, so today I baked one that was a bit different than past versions, mostly so that I could use up leftovers.

This quiche is for Quiche with Chicken and Asparagus

To the partially baked crust I added cubed chicken that was leftover from the night before. It was chicken thighs and they had been grilled. There was only one left, but it gave just the right amount of chicken for the bottom of the crust.

Another element was fresh asparagus. I only had four fat spears in the fridge, but once I cut them on the diagonal in pieces about an inch long, I had another layer to put on top of the chicken.

The final layer was cheese. I finished up a bag of shredded Monterey Jack cheese, about a 1/2 cup, then added an additional 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar. I mixed them together, then added them to the quiche as the final layer.

The custard part is almost always the same; three eggs, 1 cup of milk, and various seasonings. This time I used two eggs and two egg whites...more leftovers since I had used the yolks for another dish. For the milk I used canned evaporated milk mixed with water for 1 cup, and then 1/2 cup of soy creamer. It made for a lovely, creamy custard.

For seasoning I used dried Thyme and a non-salt mixture from Penzey's spices called Mural of Flavor. The crust was partially baked at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, with foil and pie weights keeping it from puffing up. Once the layers of ingredients had been added, I poured on the custard, sprinkled the top with a couple teaspoons of minced fresh parsley, and put the whole thing in a preheated 360 degree oven and baked it until the center was barely jiggly and the crust was golden brown, about 24 minutes.

I'm not going to write out the full recipe, but it is based on a quiche I made another time and posted HERE. I didn't do the onions or celery at the beginning, but you could add extra flavor by doing that, too.

In other news, the garden is improving by the day. The early tulips are almost done and a few later tulips are starting to bloom. A lovely narcissus that I've never grown before popped up a number of stems in the last few days, so I brought them inside to enjoy, since it is likely to rain for the next three days. They add a note of sunshine and a light spring fragrance to our living room.

I've also been weeding and Sweetie has been getting the drip irrigation ready, plus new soil is going into planter boxes and large pots, all in preparation for putting out seedlings. That will probably happen in a week, once the rain is finished and things have warmed up a bit. This year I plan on planting more veggies that I have the last few years so it pays to get things ready and to have new planting mix so they get a good start.

Mushroom Add Flavor To This Pasta Dish

Yesterday I was looking for a container of yogurt in the fridge and while searching for it I discovered a package of mushroom filled tortellini pasta that was purchased almost a week ago. Since it seemed like a good idea to eat it while it was still edible, I decided that tonight I'd make some sort of dish with it.

Asparagus, which I bought at the market yesterday afternoon, seemed like the perfect thing to go with a pasta dish with chicken, mushrooms and onions. I didn't really have a recipe, but there was the pasta, the onion (although I only cooked half of it),about 8 oz. fresh cremini mushrooms, and about 8 oz. cooked sliced chicken breast. For the sauce to hold it all together and to moisten the pasta I had oat milk, a small amount of butter and a small amount of flour, plus some dried thyme, garlic salt, and pepper. That's all the ingredients needed.

It turned out really well. Because there were mushrooms in both the pasta and the sauce it was full of mushroom flavor. The thyme complemented the mushrooms as thyme usually does and the garlic salt and pepper was just enough to keep the sauce from being lackluster. I used oat milk because it didn't have any added sugar, so it was savory and creamy. Sweetie really enjoyed it!

This dish takes a bit of juggling since you are sautéing the veggies while getting the water to the boil for the pasta, then finishing the sauce before putting the pasta on to boil, then heating the chicken slices and cooking the asparagus at the end so that they are hot just as the pasta and asparagus are done. The good news that the chicken can be stirred into the sauce while the pasta cooks and if the pasta is done before the asparagus, just drain it and mix with the sauce, then cover until the asparagus if just easily pierced with a sharp knife.

Mushroom Pasta with Mushroom Sauce, Onions, and Chicken
recipe by Elle

Serves 3-4

1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced into half circles
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz. fresh cremini mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
garlic salt and pepper to taste

water

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup oat milk (other milk can be used, any kind of fat content you desire), at room temperature
8 oz. fresh mushroom tortellini (or use whatever fresh tortellini you can find)
8 oz. cooked, thick slices chicken breast

8 spears fresh asparagus, ends snapped off

In a large non-stick skillet (I use cast iron) sauté the onion in the olive oil, stirring frequently, until the onion is crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the sliced fresh mushrooms and stir to coat with the oil and onions. Turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover and stir. Return the heat to medium-high and continue to cook until the onions are translucent and the mushroom liquid has cooked off, about another 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently. Add the dried thyme, garlic salt, and pepper.

While the onions and mushrooms are cooking, bring a large pot of water to the boil.

Once the onions and mushrooms are cooked, stir in the butter until just melted. Sprinkle with the flour and stir vigorously until coated with the fat in the mixture, then stir in the milk all at once. Continue to stir until the mixture forms a sauce, another 2-3 minutes. Don't boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pan.

Put the tortellini into the boiling water. Stir gently. Let the pasta boil until al dente.

Heat the chicken slices in the microwave on a small plate. Stir the chicken into the sauce. Cover to keep warm.

Place the asparagus into a sauce pan wide enough for them to be in a single layer. Add a couple tablespoons of water, cover, and cook over high heat until just easily pierced with a sharp knife.

Drain the pasta when it is al dente. Stir it gently into the mushroom/onion/chicken sauce. Taste and adjust garlic salt and pepper, if needed.

Once the asparagus are done, plate the asparagus, then use a large spoon to serve the pasta mixture, making sure to include chicken slices and sauce in the serving.

It's Spring!

Warmed up yesterday to high 70s and today it will probably hit 80 degrees F - spring weather for sure. The garden is calling me daily now. The ground is still soft enough from recent rains that weeding is fairly easy and I'm determined to get as much weeding done as I can since the last couple of years were not good in that department.

Of course I have seedlings getting bigger in the sunspace. Tomato seedlings are mostly tiny, but the various squash seedlings are bigger. Might have to re-pot them soon since starting tomorrow the weather is back to winter...rainy and cold, especially at night. No point in planting out seedlings in cold soil...they just either sit there not getting bigger or, worse, rot.

The top photo is of some tulips I planted in the fall. They bloomed just in time for Sweetie's 80th birthday!

The photo below is of our magnificent oak tree just leafing out. It self seeded about 30 years ago and really is a joy to us because of it's beauty in all seasons.

No food bits today...just spring.

Vegan Roasted Onion Tart

 A savory tart that includes roasted onions and puff pastry is always a winner as an appetizer. As a matter of fact, it is usually the first thing to go at a party. That was the case for Sweetie's 80th birthday bash. I made two of them and they were gone before the party was an hour old.

I've made this kind of tart before, but this time I made it vegan...no animal products. I used Kite Hill non-dairy ricotta for the base of the filling instead of regular ricotta cheese. The puff pastry was the standard Pepperidge Farm from the freezer case, which, it turns out, is made with no butter or other animal products.

 My former recipe coated the onion strands with a honey and white wine mixture before roasting, but honey isn't vegan, so I substituted maple syrup. I did add some salt and some red wine vinegar to cut the sweetness a bit.

Last, but not least, I eliminated the bacon (not a vegan food) and bacon grease, but also the pine nuts...because I couldn't find my stash of pine nuts. I substituted a bit of olive oil for the grease and sunflower seeds for the pine nuts.

It was delicious! No one missed the bacon. Combining yellow and red onions for the filling made it more interesting to look at...and we do eat first with our eyes...the ricotta was creamy in your mouth and the puff pastry was delicate and flaky. Sooo good!

Roasted Onion Tart with Maple and Sunflowers
based on a recipe in the February 2011 Bon Appetit magazine

2 sheets frozen non-dairy puff pastry half of 17.3-oz. package), thawed (Pepperidge Farm works in the U.S.)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 large sweet yellow onions (about 1 pound), cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 medium red onion, (about 1/2 pound), cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

8 oz. non-dairy ricotta cheese - I used Kite Hill brand
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Few sprigs fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll out each sheet of puff pastry, in turn, on lightly flour surface to 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Fold 1/2 inch of pastry edges in toward center on all sides, forming 13 x 9-inch rectangle. Transfer pastry to large rimmed baking sheet. Press firmly on pastry edges with fork to form rim. Chill crusts. You will have two. 

Whisk maple syrup, wine and red wine vinegar and salt in large bowl. Add onions; toss to coat. Coat another large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray. Spread onion mixture in even layer on sheet. Roast 30 minutes. Turn onions over, allowing rings to separate. Roast until onions are caramelized, turning often for even browning, 30 to 45 minutes. (I cooked them until the least colored ones were pale gold, which meant that some edges were charred, but mostly the mass of onions was medium gold, not darker because they will still be browning while tart cooks later.) cool onions slightly. (At this point, and without leaving the oven on, I refrigerated the onion mixture, then brought it back to room temperature the next day for the baking part.)

When ready to bake, set oven temperature to 400 degrees F and preheat the oven. Let onion mixture come to room temperature. Mix non-dairy ricotta, garlic salt, nutmeg and dried thyme in small bowl. Using offset spatula, spread half of the ricotta mixture over one of the crusts almost to the folded edge. Arrange half the onions atop ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with half the sunflower seeds. Repeat ricotta, onions, and sunflower seeds on the other crust. Bake tarts until crust is light golden brown and topping is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Move baking sheets in oven top to bottom and front to back, as needed, to bake the tarts evenly. Sprinkle with fresh thyme and serve.

Makes about 12 appetizer servings per tart, so 24 for the recipe.

Sweetie's Round Number Birthday

Have not been posting lately because we are getting ready to host something like 55 people, at our home!, which is not a huge place, this coming Saturday for a blowout birthday party for Sweetie.

I've been planning and cleaning and ordering things and figuring out the menu and the seating, etc. plus actually making some of the food to be served...so there will be food posts soon.

Our daughter is making a special cake for him...and I baked the layers yesterday and put them in the freezer until she gets here. She is a cake artist, so it's bound to be beautiful.

I'm also creating a scrapbook for him and have received cards, photos, messages and things like that to go in it, plus I've culled old photos and scanned them, too. Lots of time in Photoshop and printing stuff out. Tonight I've been using the heavy-duty paper cutter to get the photos ready to be put in the scrapbook, plus I finished the first 8 pages or so.

We were supposed to have blowing rain on Saturday, so we figured out ways to protect our guests while still allowing some of them to be outside some of the time...and now it looks like the weather may be cloudy and a bit windy and cool, but not rainy! Yay!

There will probably be photos next week and I hope to post at least one of the things I made sooner than that. Thanks for your patience, dear reader.

A Quick Oatmeal Cookie Bar

I really enjoy having friends over for tea. I have a wooden tray, complete with a paper doily, that I keep at the ready on top of the microwave. It holds my favorite teapot, two saucers and teacups, cream and sugar, and a small plate from cookies. I often use my violet patterned tea cups and saucers. Sometimes I include a violet patterned teapot and matching creamer and sugar bowl, and a violet patterned cookie plate, for a full violet tea...just for fun.

Yesterday a friend, who is a hard working teacher with a long commute, and I were finally able to find a time to do tea together here. We're neighbors, too, so it seems absurd that it took so long, but she is also the busy Mom of two busy teens and her property has extensive gardens that need care.

The funny thing was that we didn't actually set the time until about two hours before we were having tea. I realized that I had nothing to serve with the tea, so quickly set about baking a quick cookie from Maida Heatter's original cookie book.

The appeal of the Oatmeal Cookie Bars was that they only had a few ingredients, that one of them was melted butter so no time needed to soften butter, and that they went together in a saucepan. I embellished them a bit with an extra 1/4 cup flour to help them hold together, plus some dried cranberries for color and flavor and chew.

These are pretty crumbly cookies, even with the flour. They are chewy and buttery and delicious, but fairly plain. Perfect with a humble tea, but not fancy enough for a fancy tea. Quick, easy, simple ingredients that you probably have on hand...what's not to like?

One tip...line your pan with foil and butter that. Another...pack the mixture firmly into the pan before baking. Another...let them cool until barely tepid before taking out of the pan and cutting...and use a sharp long knife.

Aspen Oatmeal Bars
adapted from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies 

1/4 pound (1 stick/8 oz.) butter
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking (not 'instant') oatmeal
1/3 to 1/2 cup moist dried cranberries

Adjust a rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan, or line with foil and butter. Set aside.

Place the butter and sugar in a medium-size saucepan. Stir over moderate heat until melted.

Remove the pan from the heat. Mix together the baking powder, flour and salt. Through a fine strainer add this mixture to the melted butter mixture and stir until smooth. Stir in the oats. It will be a thick mixture. Stir in the dried cranberries until well distributed.

Turn the dough into the prepared pan. Use a flexible spatula to press the dough into a smooth, compact layer.

Bake for 25 minutes. The cake will still be soft but it will harden as it cools. Do not bake any longer.

While the cake is still warm, cut around the sides with a blunt knife (like a butter knife) to release the sides, but then let the cake finish cooling in the pan. Use the foil to remove the cooled cake to a cutting board.

With a sharp knife cut the cake into quarters (I used a serrated long bread knife). Cut each quarter into bars or squares.

Any remaining cookies should be stored in an airtight container.

Baking in Redmond

 

Had a lovely time in Redmond with the family last weekend. One of the fun things that I try to do each time with my high-school aged grandson is to bake something. This time it was a pie baked in a cast iron skillet, in this case Apple Caramel pie. He peeled the apples and made the caramel. I cored and cut the apples into slices, mixed them with corn starch and microwaved them, lined the skillet with a ready made pie dough round, mixed in some caramel and loaded up the pie filling, then topped it with another pie dough round, sealed it, cut slits, did a cream wash and sanding sugar on top and baked it. It was delicious! A small scoop of ice cream and additional caramel drizzled on top made each piece irresistible. 

Another baking project, this time done with my daughter, was a multi-layered key lime pie cake. I'm including photos as we went along, but not a recipe because we found the recipe to be far from helpful for a few of the components. The key lime curd was wonderful and so were the cake and the graham crumbles, but two other parts were way too liquid. One was repurposed into cake batter and the other took a lot of additional ingredients to become thick enough to use. We were able to use that thickened ingredient plus some of the graham fine crumbs to make an icing for the top that worked well for flavor and texture, but it was quite a journey to get it all to work together. The cake itself was delicious and impressive and quite like a mash-up of key lime pie and cake. I'm not even going to mention the cookbook because I think that there were mis-steps made in stepping down the amounts of ingredients between the industrial version of the cake and the recipe in the cookbook. Not throwing any stones...it's pretty difficult to scale some recipes.

Piping filling over first layer of cake that has been brushed with lime juice. This filling ended up leaking...too runny!

The graham cracker crumbles...made in advance...get added next.

The lime curd, also made in advance, is put into the piping bag, then piped over the crumbles. This element was super delicious!

Isn't that curd yummy looking?

More cake, more Key lime juice, more runny filling, more graham crumbles.

Cake ...three layers... ready for the freezer.

Finished cake, ready to serve. An additional layer of graham buttercream and more crumbles were added and then more freezer time before serving.

Now we're looking forward to creating a multi-layered cake for Sweetie's birthday in mid-March, plus a few other treats, so there should be some recipes then to share...and photos!