Frittatas by the Dozen

I love fresh farm eggs and so when I was invited to a brunch a few weeks ago and had just picked up two dozen eggs at the winter farmers market in Wayland, an egg dish seemed a natual choice.  Quiche is my go to brunch dish and the tart pans stood at the ready but I shunned them in favor of a frittata.  Actually, several dozen little frittatas with cheddar cheese and mushroom and shallot Duxelles.   A number of people attending the event are watching their weight and reducing fat so I made one batch fat-free by using egg white and fat-free ricotta cheese and added a bit of red pepper.

I baked them in muffin cups and placed a round piece of rye bread in the bottom of each buttered cup (non-sick spray was used for the fat-free version).  The rye bread lent the dish a bit of sweetness and body when they were unmolded. 

Try this with your favorite frittata recipe for your next brunch and watch your frittatas disappear by the dozen!

Potato Muffins

My Dad used to make potato puffs as a fancy and easy to serve alternative to mashed potatoes for large dinner parties.  Everyone loved them. 

Over the years, I have adapted the recipe;  adding a sweet potato version, making them with matzoh for passover,  and  baking them in muffin tins rather than scooping them onto a baking tray.  The first time years ago that my best friend’s daughter tried them she called them “potato muffins” and, although they are not really muffins, the name just stuck. 

The basic recipe is white or sweet potatoes mashed with butter and for white potatoes a little milk.  The mashed potatoes are then chilled and mixed with eggs and plain bread crumbs until stiff enough to hold their shape.   Then the real fun begins. 

I mix the sweet potato version with a bit of honey and spices and top with pecans.  Sometimes I mix in a little crushed pineapple and top with cinnamon sugar.

For white potatoes, I add cheddar cheese, sour cream, and a sprinkle of paprika on top.  Sometimes I add wasabi and green onions.  Anything that tastes good in a baked potato would probably work well in your muffins.

This weekend I am making mini potato muffins with bacon and goat cheese for a cocktail party.

I hope you will try these and let me know if you come up with any great new flavors!

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

I created this salad to showcase the variety of produce available at the farmers markets in November in Massachusetts.  I served it at  the Public Radio Kitchen Meet Up, Eat Up event last week. 

 

You can substitute any root vegetables that you find at the market but I used:

Kimball Fruit Farm Carrots (yellow, apricot, bright orange) and Onions
Grateful Farm Fennel bulbs
Busa Farms Beets (gold, red, and purple), Carrots, and Red Leaf Lettuce
Four Town Farm Macomber Turnips

The vegetables were all roasted in the oven until tender and then dressed while still warm with the fig, lemon, ginger dressing below.  I then chilled everything overnight.  To serve the salad, the vegetables were arranged over red leaf lettuce and a bit of extra dressing was drizzled over the entire salad.  This would make a lovely light supper with a selection of New England cheeses, a crunchy loaf of bread, and a nice glass of white wine.

 Fig, Lemon, & Ginger Vinegar Dressing
3 Tbs Fig Jam (homemade or store bought)
1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbs Water
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp Crystalized Ginger (finely chopped)
1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
¼ tsp Lemon Zest

Blend all ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk or in a food processor
Chill until ready to serve

Fireplace Beans for Thanksgiving–warm tummy, toasty toes…

A simple sack of dried beans, a bottle of beer, a warm fire (or oven) and a good  night’s sleep are the recipe for classic New England comfort food.  The idea of cooking and baking in the fireplace has always seemed so inviting to me.  One hundred and fifty years ago, in the agricultural center that was Arlington, MA, I imagine an exhausted farmer’s wife tending the kitchen fire, soaking the beans saved and dried from the summer.  She could not even dream of something so magical as my restaurant style range and convention oven and yet her I was at least for a moment wanting to take her place. 

I will save details of fireplace cooking for another post, but you can also easily do this recipe in the oven overnight and either way it is a wonderful taste of another time.  You can use traditional white navy beans or many other types.  I decided on some beautiful red beans we found at Christina’s in Cambridge.  I chose to make a vegetarian recipe which works better for some of my family but some pork would be a lovely and traditional addition.  I hope you will enjoy the recipe below!

Fireplace Beans
1 pound White or Red Beans
1  quart Vegetable Stock
1/2 large Onion-sliced
1 bottle Lager Beer
4 oz Tomato Paste
1/4 cup Buckwheat Honey
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbs Brown Mustard
1 Tbs Cider Vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Soak beans overnight or boil for 10 minutes and soak for one hour.  Discard water.  Simmer beans in vegetable stock and onion for about two hours or until tender.  Drain beans and onions and reserve stock.  In a medium size cast iron dutch oven, mix the cooked beans with all remaining ingredients plus a cup and a half of the reserved stock.  Set the covered dutch oven on a cooking trivet or fire bricks over ash and coals in the corner of the fireplace or a place in the middle of a 225 degree oven.  Tend the fire as needed if cooking in fireplace.  Cook for about 8 hours, checking once or twice to make sure the mixture is not too dry.    If necessary, add a bit more of the cooking stock.  After 8 hours, remove the lid and sprinkle with a bit more brown sugar and cook for an additional hour.  Serve warm.  This recipe reheats very well and the flavor gets better the second day.