Services

I was not raised religiously, though for a great deal of my life lived in a place where 60% of my peers were church-going of some sort or another. Most of my friends growing up were either evangelical christian or Mormon and as a result I was constantly in the process of being saved.  Unfortunately (for me) I turned out to be (in their eyes) unsaveable. Despite tens of trips to church services, church camps, and church youth groups I remain unsure about the nature of my relationship with God and/or Jesus (as well as my and my families impending afterlife). Thankfully, my churchless parents understood the importance of a few traditions, namely the importance of eating together.  Thus, leave it to a Hill to form a "service" revolving entirely around food, in this case a weekly gathering celebrating my Grandmother BettieJean's waffle recipe. To be fair, church service involved one other (perhaps more key) element, the teaching of that great prophet, Jackson Browne.  Every Sunday morning (or at least many Sunday mornings) I was awoken by Lives in the Balance or The Pretender blaring on the stereo (which at the time was annoying to my sleep loving body and Debbie Gibson listening ears).  All was made better by the sweet smell of waffles in the iron. Hence was born The Church of Sunday Morning Waffles and Jackson Browne Music.

This tradition has actually survived the longest of any of our family traditions. If ever we are home on a Sunday we hold services; my sister-in-law, Laura actually made my father a defacto "pope" hat. They (my brother Josh and Laura) held regular services when they lived in San Luis Obispo, while Jay and I have formed a splinter cell up here in Seattle: The Church of Sunday Morning Frittata and Jackson Browne Music (we don't own a waffle iron, I am ashamed to admit).

Well yesterday morning we held services and true to form listened to JB's acoustic album while I prepared my most basic frittata.  You can pretty much add any vegetable you like in this recipe, most often I add spinach. Just add the spinach right before you add the egg.  If you are using a heartier vegetable simply add it earlier:

Basic Frittata

makes 8 slices

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 large white potato, thinly sliced

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

6 medium eggs

1 cup lowfat milk

1/2 cup shredded parmesan reggiano

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a 9" cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, potatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes until onions are just starting to brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Combine milk and eggs and whisk thoroughly. Pour egg mixture into skillet and cook for one minute. Transfer to the over and cook for 20 minutes until the frittata is cooked through. Sprinkle cheese over the top and move to the broiler. Broil until cheese is bubbling. Let cool for 5 minutes and cut into 8 slices.

Asceticism is for Ascetics

I thought that the Potato Soup was simple, but this recipe has set a new bar for simplicity for the month. Jay wanted to try a soup that involved poached eggs and I found a tempting recipe on Epicurious for eggs poached in a garlic broth. The thing is, poaching eggs is harder than it sounds. All conditions have to be ideal and the slightest variation in the freshness of eggs, temperature of the water, or the temperature of the eggs can mess the whole process up and the recipe I found had this elaborate precess for poaching the eggs in the broth in a small 6 inch circle created by a round of bread. This sounded unnecessarily complicated to me. Jay practiced all weekend to be able to achieve the perfect poached egg and introducing new obstacles seemed like a bad idea. In addition the recipe sounded a little on the plain side. So I adjusted technique and recipe slightly to achieve something with a little more "interest". Despite these adjustments Jay still felt like it was a soup for ascetics, granted a tasty soup for ascetics. I recommend you serve it as a first course or along side a substantial side unless you want a very light meal. Strain the leftover broth and use for your next soup!

Garlic Broth with Poached Eggs

3 tbsp olive oil

3 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled

8 cups water

2 tsp + red pepper flakes

1 cup kale or other green, sliced thin

8 slices of a baguette, stale is fine

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 fresh eggs

water

2 tsp white vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot heat 1 tbsp olive oil over low heat. Cook garlic cloves slowly until the garlic is lightly browned and softened. Add water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 40 minutes until the garlic is very soft. Remove cooked garlic with a slotted spoon. With a fork mash garlic into a paste. Add 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, salt to taste, and set aside. Season broth with remaining red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil again and add kale. Cook for 2 minutes until kale is just soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep broth warm but not boiling.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Brush both sides of bread with olive oil and place in the pan. Cook each side until just toasted. Remove from pan and spread one side with a bit of garlic mash. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with cheese. Cook under a broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove and set aside.

Crack eggs into separate small glasses and bring to room temperature. In a deep skillet heat 3-4 inches of water to a boil. Add vinegar. Lower to a slight simmer. Dip cup into the water allowing the water into the cup but not allowing the egg out. Slowly drop egg into the water and draw errant edges together. Cook for 3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon. Place in the warm broth while you prepare the rest of the eggs. It is difficult to cook more than two eggs at the same time as the water cools with each addition. It is easiest to cook 2 at a time and reheat water in between.

To serve, split the kale between two bowls. Add two eggs each on top of kale. Pour broth over to fully cover and top with two pieces of bread.

breakfast for dinner

Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner? As a kid that meant waffles for dinner, obviously something to which to look forward. As an adult my tastes run more savory (even at breakfast for breakfast) and breakfast for dinner usually means eggs. There are a lot of fantastic and easy ways to cook eggs (see the make-ahead post from February) and one of my favorites is a frittata. Last night I decided to experiment a little and try something different, something Debora Madison calls a skillet pie. It's basically an egg and cheese pie cooked in a skillet. I took her recipe and modified it a little - to add some texture - and got a smooth and cheesy dish that was a very satisfying but also very simple.

Skillet Pie with Mushrooms

serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 small red onion, diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup ricotta cheese (I used nonfat cottage cheese and it worked just as well)

1/2 cup grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 eggs

1/3 cup milk

2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp dill

1 cup shitake or crimini mushrooms

1 tbsp butter

1/2 cup cheap red wine

1 tsp marjoram

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a medium (6-8" diameter) cast iron skillet. Saute onions and garlic over medium heat until brown. While that cooks combine cheese in a bowl. Whisk in eggs until well mixed. Add milk, flour, dill, salt and pepper. Pour into skillet and cook in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.

While that cooks, stem the mushrooms and slice into thick slices. In a small skillet melt butter and add mushrooms. Cook until just soft. Add marjoram and wine and simmer until reduced by half. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve skillet pie on a bed of lightly braised greens topped with mushroom wine reduction.

Midwestern Make-ahead

I have many friends from the Midwest and I have to admit that a) being from California and b) being an almost vegetarian means that Midwestern fare is about as foreign to me as hummus is to a West Virginian. There are many things I fear in Midwestern cuisine; I have a innate distrust of cream of mushroom soup, I detest canned vegetables (with the exception of canned tomatoes - which everyone knows is actually a fruit anyway), and I tend to prefer my tater tots untainted by ground meat. That being said, I was pretty excited to try what my friend from Michigan calls a Make-Ahead, which I believe roughly translates to "a breakfast casserole that is prepared the night before cooking". I had envisioned a sort of scrambled egg/sausage/cheese/ hash brown concoction but was pleasantly surprised to find that it is more accurately compared to a sort of savory bread pudding. Having now tried it I have to admit it might have been the most filling breakfast food I have ever experienced and should only be served in cases of extreme hunger. I am pretty excited about the idea though and plan to experiment a little more with the savory bread pudding concept - perhaps even applied to dinner...


Make-ahead

1 lb ground breakfast sausage (veggie works fine)
one small onion, diced
oil for cooking (if using veggie sausage) 
8-12 slices white bread (depends on thickness of slice) 
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Saute onion in pan till soft. Add sausage and garlic and cook until brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Whisk eggs and milk together in a bowl. Add salt and pepper.
Tear bread into chunks and place on the bottom of a 9"x 12" baking pan. The bread should cover the bottom of the pan about 1 in deep. Cover bread with cooked sausage. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the pan. Slowly and evenly pour egg mixture into pan. Cover and let sit overnight refrigerated.
Heat oven to 350 degree. Cook for 40 minutes or until egg is cooked through.