Great egg-spectations .... har har.

Most mornings I wake up with fuzzy eyes and a slightly aching head, both of which nasty symptoms disappear within about a half hour of my first cup of coffee.  Needless to say, I don't accomplish much in that first, oh, forty-five minutes of the day.  Some mornings, though, I wake up hungry but patient and a little inspired.

Such was the case on one of the early brilliant spring mornings a few weeks ago, when I woke with an appetite and an idea.  Last summer, on our anniversary, my sister made Dan and me a tortilla espanola - eggs gently hugging delicious potatoes with a little oniony bite.  While I was in Germany, all those many years ago, one of the reliably affordable and filling menu options on brunch and bar menus all over the place was a Bauernfrühstück - eggs scrambled with potatoes (Bratkartoffel) and, basically, whatever was handy.  And then there's the frittata I used to order when visiting my sister on Beacon Hill.

All of these things represent the egg dishes that are un-eggy enough that I can eat a lot of them without wanting to ralph.  (I have a thing about eggs.  You will not see me waxing poetic about the perfect poached egg and I will not be topping my bowl of greens with a fried egg, even though abstractly these ideas have a strong appeal.)

...

In fact, it occurs to me that I've only ever eaten a whole fried egg once - and that was in the service of a near-fatal crush on a cruelly imperceptive man-child.  Otherwise do you think I would have eaten this?  I shudder to remember it.

...

Anyway, this one morning I woke up with a craving for something a little heartier and more toothsome than the oatmeal to which I've become so accustomed.

So I peeled some potatoes and cut them into chunks and set them to cooking.  When they were done, I threw some sausage (plain ol', ordinary ol' Jimmy Dean) into a pan with some roughly chopped garlic and let them go to town.  I then removed the sausage and garlic, leaving the fat in the pan.

Into the pan then went the potatoes (drained), some mushrooms (quartered), and some salt and pepper.  When those were all brown and beginning to crisp, I threw the sausage and garlic back in, then poured in three eggs beaten with a smidgen of milk.  I cooked that until the bottom was stable (i.e. I could slide it back and forth in the pan in one big chunk.), but the top was still liquidy, then I popped it into the oven at about 375 for about 15 minutes.

Once it was baked, I topped the whole thing with a heavy grating of parmesan and some roughly chopped thyme.

The eggs puffed up, the tastes all went together and the result was delicious.  The eggs bound all the other morsels together without tasting too much like eggs and the chunks of sausage and potato and mushroom solved the egg-texture-conundrum.  Sure, the end product of all this early-morning dithering wasn't really a frittata or a tortilla or a Bauernfrühstück, but it was damn tasty and I recommend you give it a try.

Obviously, if you like eggs, you should add a couple more.  And, you should throw in whatever's handy and tasty.  If you don't have mushrooms, don't use them.  Now that there are fresh veggies coming in, add those!  Asparagus would be delicious, as would peppers.  Basically anything.

So, you see, there's no real recipe this time around.  Consider this a mad-libs style recipe, maybe.

1. Cook potatoes.
2. Add [meat].
3. Add [something oniony/garlicky].
4. Add [any number of veggies].
5. Add [desired number of] eggs.
6. Top with [cheese].
7. Enjoy.

Bourbon Tasting Goodies: Braided Chocolate Sweet Bread

Last weekend we were invited to a bourbon tasting at our friends Sam and Andrea's house.  We're in a bit of a bourbon phase - delicious stuff, that - so we were really excited to go.  When I asked Andrea (that's her below, with all those little cups of bourbon) what I should bring, she requested something bready and filling to sop up some of the four different bourbons we tried that night.  I had just read a new post over at Smitten Kitchen and the recipe sounded awfully delicious and filling, so I plunged in.

I won't lie - I had issues with this recipe. I'm blaming the first (failed) attempt on dead yeast. Seems likely, in my kitchen. I may have overshot on the do-over, but so far, so good. Deb's suggestion on avoiding a sticky situation was well-conceived and, after seeing how tender and sticky this dough is, I give her full credit for saving me a vale of tears spilt over a ruined masterpiece.

I'll note the changes I made to the recipe after the first failed attempt, so you know how to go with me or go with the original, whichever you prefer.  My version will be in [brackets].  The instructions are based on Smitten Kitchen's, but I've heavily tweaked them.

Braided Chocolate Sweet Bread  
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from King Arthur

Sponge

• 6 T (3 oz) warm water
• 1 t sugar [2 t sugar]
• 1 1/2 t instant yeast [after my yeast failed, I threw in a whole packet, so 2 1/4 t]
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough

• Sponge (above)
• 6 T (3 oz) sour cream or yogurt [3 T sour cream AND 3 T plain, fat-free yogurt]
• 1/4 c (4 T or 2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs (beat one for the dough, reserve the other for brushing the dough)
• 1/4 c (1 3/4 oz) sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 c (10 5/8 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour [plus up to 1/2 c more, depending on humidity]
• [white sanding sugar for sprinkling]

Make Dough

1. Make sponge: Whisk together flour, water, and sugar.  Add yeast and stir gently to combine.  Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to proof for 15 minutes. 
2. I made my dough in a stand mixer (*I'm told it can be done without! See below.): Beat together sour cream, yogurt, butter, egg, sugar, salt and vanilla until well blended.  
3. Add the sponge and mix until well incorporated.  
4. Add the flour 1/2 c at a time and mix with the paddle until the dough is rough, but the flour is incorporated.  
5. Knead with the dough hook until a soft, smooth dough forms, about 5 minutes.  The dough should clear the sides of the bowl, but stick a little to the center of the bottom.  If your dough is too wet (i.e. doesn't clear the sides of the bowl, extremely sticky to the touch) add flour a couple of tablespoons at a time until the dough is cohesive.
6. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set somewhere warm to rise for 90 minutes or until roughly doubled (or maybe a little less).
7. While the dough rises, make the filling.

Sweet Cream Cheese & Chocolate filling

• 2/3 c (5 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 2 T(5/8 oz) sugar
• 2 T (1 oz) sour cream
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 T (1/2 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate

1. Chop the chocolate finely and set aside (not someplace too warm - i.e. away from your oven).
2. Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and flour in a small bowl and mix until smooth.  For this to work, your cream cheese and sour cream should both be room temperature.  
3. Set aside and check on your dough.

Assemble the beast

1. Deflate the dough and roll it out on a generously floured counter to a 10″ x 15″ rectangle. Transfer rectangle to a large piece of parchment paper.  You may need help with this - have someone slide the parchment under the dough rectangle as you gingerly lift it.  If you don't have a spare set of hands around, I don't know why you couldn't just roll the thing out ON parchment.  
2. Use a dough cutter or butter knife to mark two lines down the center of the dough, dividing it into three equal columns. Spread the cream cheese filling down the center section, leaving the top and bottom two inches free of filling. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate on top of the cream cheese filling.
3.  To form the mock braid, cut horizontal strips (i.e. perpendicular to your filling) about an inch wide down the length of the outer columns of you dough (the parts without filling). Make sure you have an equal number of strips down the right and left sides. Use the dough scraper or butter knife to do this.  Don't cut the parchment paper.  
4. To “braid”, begin by folding in the top and bottom strips, then folding the top flap down and bottom flap up over the filling. Lift the next dough strip and gently bring it diagonally across the filling. Be careful not to stretch the strips too much, as they will quickly become too thin and too long to do any good!  Repeat on the right side, and continue down the entire braid, alternating left and right strips until you are out. It should look roughly like a braid or a laced-up shoe.  
5. Tuck any remaining ends under and call it a day.  It does not have to be perfect.  It will be impressive any way you do it.
6. SLOWLY and carefully transfer the dough and the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic and set it aside to rise for 45 minutes, until quite puffy.
7. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F. 
8. After the rising is done, brush the loaf with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. 
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown. Depending on the depth of your oven, you may want to turn it midway through baking to ensure even browning. 
10. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

*Make dough by hand: Whisk together sour cream, butter, egg, sugar and vanilla in a large, wide bowl. Stir in sponge. Add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon as best as you can; you may need to get your hands in there to form it into a shaggy ball. Turn ball of dough and any incorporated scraps onto a counter and knead until a smooth, soft dough forms, about 5 to 10 minutes. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until quite puffy and nearly doubled.

Public Service Announcement: Banana Soda Bread

I'm not much of a bread baker.  Not for lack of interest or desire, but because of an insurmountable laziness (I know the 5-minute books are meant to be great, but really?  Five minutes a day?).  It seems like I would have to really overcome inertia to get some starter started.  And I'm probably never going to get it together enough to get up in the morning and bake the bread I started the night before.  And otherwise it's pretty much an all day project, right?

It's only a matter of time, really, until I get over it and start kneading and proofing and all that goodness.  I mean, one of my first jobs was at an artisanal European-style bakery.  Alas, I was too young to work as a baker (I begged, but strictly no under-18s allowed), but I caught the bread bug.  Add to that the time I have spent in Germany, where the bread is really divine.  I know - French breads and Italian breads are also great, but the graininess and heartiness and heft of German breads speaks to me.

In the meantime, however, I'm all about quick breads.  I haven't blogged about it, but I love making banana bread and fully intend to make some zucchini bread this summer.  And you all know, of course, about the recent Soda Bread Phenomenon.

A couple weeks ago, I was about to whip up some soda bread when I caught a whiff of overripe bananas and thought, why not?  And so my bananas and my Soda Bread (or Sweet Amandine's Soda Bread, actually) got together and made sweet, sweet love in my oven.  The result was staggering.  Divine.  Moist, yet hefty.  Grainy and crunchy on the outside, but a little fruity on the inside.  Oh, and I don't know exactly why, (perhaps the extra moisture?), but this soda bread rose so much higher than my other efforts!  No more flat, tough soda bread for me!  Spectacular.  Try it, friends.

Banana Soda Bread
recipe verry loosely adapted from Sweet Amandine

• 1 3/4 c all purpose flour
• 2 c  whole wheat flour
• 3 T instant oats
• 3 T packed dark brown sugar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 T (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 c buttermilk
• 2 bananas

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and butter a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. 
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to mix well.
3. In another bowl, mash the bananas (I like a potato masher for this job) and whisk together with vanilla and buttermilk. 
4. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles a fine meal. 
5. Add the buttermilk/banana mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine. 
6. Squish the dough into the prepared loaf pan, and bake until the bread is golden brown, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. It should take between 35 and 40 minutes. 
7. Slice, toast, and slather with butter to serve.

Good morning - and a new addiction

Oatmeal.

I've always loved breakfast food - pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs (as a kid, less so as an adult), muffins, bagels, and I've documented my deep love of biscuits and gravy more than once. Oatmeal, however, is a pretty new addition to my breakfast routine, but, oh, it's entrenched. It's not going anywhere.I enjoyed oatmeal for the first time in college - it was one breakfast food that never went wrong in good old Tyler House. Add some raisins, a little butter, some brown sugar and sometimes a tiny squeeze of lemon and it's delicious.
Last winter I lapsed into instant oatmeal. It's quick, but it's pretty nasty. Done with that.

Anyway, this is how we do oatmeal around here lately. It's good.

To-die-for Oatmeal

• 1 c Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 c milk (I use 2%)
• 2 c water
• 2 t butter
• 1/2 t salt

1. Melt the butter in a pan. Throw in the oats and toast them until they absorb the butter and begin to brown and smell nutty.
2. Just before the oats start to burn, add the milk and water to the pan. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat way down.
3. Go take a shower. Or check your email. Or read the front page of the newspaper.
4. Come back in 15 minutes. Add the salt, stir.
5. Go away for another 5 minutes. Then you'll want to be near the stove to be sure you get your oatmeal just the right consistency, stir it frequently so that it doesn't burn or stick, and smell the lovely, oaty scent of breakfast.
6. When it's done (or when you can't wait any longer), plop some oatmeal in a bowl. Garnish with your choice of toppings. I usually go for another little pat of butter (obscene, I know), a sprinkle of cinnamon and a spoonful of brown sugar. Or occasionally I just plop in some of my favorite preserves (lately, home-canned apple/pear butter or spiced plum jam). Or top it with raisins and nuts.
7. Eat. This recipe should serve two people rather large bowls of steaming happy.