Emeril's Breakfast Stratta

My Mom used to make a breakfast stratta for certain family events.  I realized at Thanksgiving, during a conversation about Christmas morning breakfast traditions, that I have never made her stratta or any stratta for that matter.  

This December, while watching Rachel Ray, Emeril was a guest and what do you think he made?  A stratta! But it was tall because it was made with large cubes of bread rather than sliced bread.  It was the traditional "make the night before and bake in the morning" affair so I dedcided to give it a try.   Wow, it was delicious - and of course it doesn't hurt that it is made with Gruyere Cheese!

He calls his a Morning Breakfast Bake and he uses Canadian Bacon.  My family prefers Sausage so I crumbled sauage patties instead.  I did omit the garlic because I don't like garlic for breakfast but for brunch or "we're having breakfast for dinner" I would probably add it.  Feel free to swap out Shallots for the Onion.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 TBL Butter and to it add: 6 Crumbled Breatfast Sauage Patties and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring often. Add 1 Small Onion Diced and 1/4 tsp Salt and cook until the onion has sweated, about 2-3 minutes.  Have ready 1 pound of prewashed Baby Spinach.  Add half of the spinach to the skillet and once it is reduced in volume, add the other half.  Once it is wilted, remove the skillet from the heat.  

Butter a 9" x 9" x 2 3/4" - in other words tall baking dish.  Cut a Loaf of Bakery Bread (some suggestions are Italian, Sour Dough, Boulle or my favorite is Pane di Casa if you have a Harris Teeter) to 1 1/2 " cubes.  Grate 8 oz. Gruyere Cheese.  

Add the bread to the dish and top with sausage topping and grated cheese - preserving about 1/2 Cup of Gruyere for the top.  It works well to get the topping between the cubes of bread.  Just keep building until all the topping is gone and 3/4 of the cheese is used.   

In a bowl beat 10 Eggs,  2 Cups 1/2 & 1/2, 1 Cup Milk, 1/2 tsp Pepper, 1/2 tsp Nutmeg.  Gently pour egg mixture over the bread and toppings.  You may have to re-distribute any topping that got disrupted.  Press gently so the bread comes into contact with the egg mixture.  Top with about 1/2 Cup of preserve Gruyere.  Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.  

In the morning, remove dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.   Preheat oven to 400.  Bake incovered for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden brown and "set".  Let rest for 5 minuted before cutting into generous squares.  Serve with fresh fruit.  If you want to go crazy,  serve Vermont Maple Syrup along side of it for a light drizzle.  

Hopefully this dish will be part of your holiday tradition or your favorite "we're having breakfast for dinner" meal on that cold January night!  Enjoy!!

Lemon Chiffon and Raspberries

My son worked on a restaurant project for Health class.  He had to have at least 1 dessert that was GF which was one of many requirements he had to create to satisfy dietary needs.  He came up with Lemon Chiffon and Blueberries, so in otherwords, a crustless Lemon Chiffon dessert.  

For bookclub tonight I volunteered to make a dessert and decided I would steal his idea.  I found beautiful raspberries yesterday so I substituted them for blueberries though any combination of readily available berries will work.  I made the chiffon from the Blueberry Lemon Chiffon pie already posted on my site.  It's light, not overly lemony or sweet - it's just pleasant enough and I've made it many times to date.  I decided to make individual portions in ramekins mostly because they'll be easy to tranport and I have one for each person.  
This recipe made (10) 4oz portions.  

Place 4-5 Raspberries (I bought 2 pints) in the bottom of each Ramekin and place on a sheet pan.    

Zest and juice 2 Lemons so you have 1/2 Cup Lemon Juice.  

Heat a pot of water that can be used as a double boiler so that when you place the bowl in the pot, it's a tight seal and the water reaches the bottom of the bowl.  

I have a hand mixer as well as a stand Kitchen-Aide mixer, so I use my hand mixer for the yolks and the Kitchen-Aide for the Whites.  

Separate 4 Eggs into 2 bowls, the yolks go into your double boiler bowl.  

While beating the yolks, slowly add 4 TBL of Super-fine Sugar.  The yolks will become pale and thicker and will create a ribbon when you raise the beaters.  While beating, slowly add the lemon juice and stir in the zest.  The mixture will thin out at this point.  Place the bowl on your pot of water and continue beating until the mixture becomes thick and is very warm to the touch.  Remove from heat without over cooking it.  

Beat egg whites until foamy and add a few pitches of salt then beat until the volume more than doubles and has medium peaks (ones that fold over but hold that shape) when you remove the beater.  Slowly add 3 TBL Super-fine Sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy but not dry.  Fold whites into the yolks, adding small amounts at a time.  This should take 4-5 additions and you should be left with no whites showing and a consistent pale yellow color throughout.

Spoon or pipe chiffon onto the raspberries.  

When ready to serve, preheat oven to 400.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.  Serve at once or at room temperature. 

Linguine Carbonara

We had 2 snow days which has extented our New Year Holiday and left me motivated to try some new dishes! I figured Pasta Carbonara is perfect dish for a cold winter night.  

This one was pictured in Williams-Sonoma's Christmas catalog and caught my eye.  They used to print the recipes within the pages but now you have to go online and their test kitchen posts all of their ideas in their recipe section.  I had to do a bit of hunting but finally located the one I was looking for.

They used a fat spaghetti shape and I used Linguine.  I think both are suitable.  I read all the time about adding reserved pasta water to dishes but this is the first time I actually did it.  My family competely loved this dish and I can still imagine the delicious flavors, even now, so needless to say, this recipe is a keeper!  

I served it with a simple salad but you can pair this with all manner of things, a Grilled Veal or Pork Chop, Ribs, Boneless Chicken Breast, Italian Sausage, Cheese Toast, even Seared Scallops, but you get the idea, it's versatile! I can even invision adding Orange Zest to this dish for a new dimension.

This makes 4 servings and in my household more like 3 because 1 person, whom we shall not name, ate 2 of them!  Cut 6 Slices of Thick Smoked Bacon Crosswise into 1/2" Lardons.  (NOTE: Lardons are my new favorite Bacon shape!)  

In a preheated skillet, cook Bacon, stirring often, until crispy.  In the meantime, get a pot of water boiling for pasta and ready 2 Cloves of Garlic in the garlic press.  In a bowl, beat 2 Eggs and add 3/4 Cups Parmesan Cheese.  Mince 1 Tbl Fresh Parsley.  Once you remove the cooked bacon, press the garlic into the bacon fat and cook til fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.  Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and add to the dish with the bacon.  

When ready, cook 12 Oz Pasta til al dente and reserve about 1/2 Cup of Pasta Water.  Strain pasta and return to the pot.  Add the Egg and Parmesan Cheese mixture.  Toss to coat until cheese is melted.  Add pasta water as needed to create a sauce that just coats the pasta.  Top with the Bacon, Garlic and place in Pasta Serving Platter.  Serve onto pasta plates, grate additional Parmesan to order and top with parsley and freshly ground salt and pepper.  Enjoy!

My son took a photo using a filter and though I am typically against filtering my food photos and don't even edit them, I have to admit this one looks pretty appealing.  You be the judge.

Farm Fresh Eggs

It was my lucky day!!  I went to Simplee Gourmet in hunt of a new pastry cloth.  At the door was a young man, a member of 4-H, selling the eggs his chickens laid.  A dozen eggs for $3.50 which is a great price....and just look at these!  They are most the beautiful eggs I have ever seen.

The following morning, I scrambled a few and they were incredible.  I will have to let you know the hours you might find him there so you can buy some for your own kitchen.

The second day I fried one!  So delicious!!

I didn't partake, but Covey Farms had a farmers market of vegetables set up for purchase.   Meanwhile, a chef was behind the line cooking something that smelled delicious.  If you haven't visited Simplee Gourmet lately, (Hwy 21 - Covington, LA) you are missing out.  Their inventory of kitchen gadgets, cookware, serving platters, cutlery, dishes, glassware and more, has grown!  I can get lost in a place like that.

Valentines Day Breakfast

Show a little love with these yummy Manhole Eggs! I have been making these since I was a kid. I used either a a biscuit cutter or a glass to cut the hole. Many years ago, I began using a heart shaped mold and in one of Martha's recent issues, she used a heart shaped mold as well. Great minds think a like, lol!

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Butter both sides of 1 Slice of Bread. On a clean flat surface, cut out the shape of you choice. Butter the lower inside and outside edge of the cookie cutter and set aside. Brown the bread shape on both sides, turning once. Break open 1 Egg into a small dish and have it ready, the rest goes fast. Place bread in skillet and brown the first side. Turn over the bread so the brown side is up. Add your cookie cutter back into the hole. Add a 1/2 tsp Butter to hole and when melted, add the egg. When the egg appears firm enough to turn, remove mold and turn entire piece of bread in one careful motion. Cook for another minute or so. Serve at once!