Brioche with Prosciutto, Gruyere and Egg

A lot has happened since I last posted. I went on a fabulous trip with my WWU best friends to Aracata and Sonoma, CA. We found out we were having a boy. Baby-moon to Arizona. My niece Hailey Silvia was born. The holidays. Numerous generous baby showers - our little guy was well loved and taken care of long before he arrived! And the biggest, most wonderful event of my life, Graham was born four weeks early on January 24. He's awesome. And the absolute cutest.

I'd love to get caught up with stories and pictures, but it's not realistically going to happen. This is a fresh start so moving forward we don't miss out on any more fabulous recipes or pictures!

My mom made this breakfast for us a few weeks ago on a boat trip to Roche Harbor and Curtis and I decided it's one of our new favorite dishes, so we made it for Mother's Day breakfast. Easy and incredibly delicious.

Brioche with Prosciutto, Gruyere and Egg
FOOD AND WINE / Suzanne Goin, A.O.C. wine bar

Tequila Sunrise

6 servings 

Six 1-inch-thick slices of brioche
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus softened butter, for brushing
6 ounces frisee, torn into bite-size pieces (3 cups) - we used arugula
1/4 cup lightly packed parsley leaves
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
6 large eggs
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, thinly sliced
12 thin slices of prosciutto (6 ounces)

1. Preheat the broiler. Brush both sides of the brioche slices with softened butter and arrange in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Broil the brioche 8 inches from the heat, turning once, until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes total. Leave the broiler on.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the frisee (arugula) with the parsley, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil. Season the salad with salt and pepper.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in each of 2 large nonstick skillets. Crack 3 eggs into each skillet and cook sunny side up over moderate heat, until the whites are firm and the yolks runny, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper. (I do step #4 first and then cook the eggs at the last minute.)
4. Top the brioche with the Gruyere, covering as much of the toasts as possible with the cheese. Broil 8 inches from the heat for about 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Transfer the cheesy brioche toasts to plates. Top with the salad, prosciutto and fried eggs and serve at once.

Our little Pit:

Graham just a few weeks old

And now almost 4 months old! 

Bocce Ball Tournament 2012

The theme: Team USA

Team Bilbo Baggins

Regulation

Stylin' Break

Love these two! 

Too bad no one has fun at these things

After midnight and still going strong!

Thanks for the Breidenbach's for hosting another awesome bocce ball tournament! We'll be back next year and plan to nail it!

Desolation Sound 2012

Our August boat trip was as good as it could possibly be with perfect weather every day, lots of swimming, family time, good food and relaxing! It doesn't get any better or more beautiful than this!

Beautiful drive up the Sunshine Coast

Welcome cocktails: Dirty Shirley's

Manson's Landing / Hague Lake + baby bump!

Entrance to Desolation Sound

The famous Peregrine Breakfast Tart

Roscoe Bay / Black Lake 

Booze Cruise outside Laura's Cove

We're going to have to make room for Baby Pit on this bench next summer!

Notice Murray, the life guard, ready to save Curtis

Project Cookbook: Blackberry Cobbler

My darling neighbor called me out for not sticking with my New Year's resolution. I'll admit, I've been a huge slacker, but would still like to cook my way through all my cookbooks and plan to be back at it this fall. And into next year!

I picked Tanner Road (neighborhood) blackberries and was tempted to run to the Internet for a recipe, but stopped myself and pulled a classic off the cookbook shelf: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

It delivered. A simple and delicious recipe for cobbler! And I made this back in August, but the blackberry bushes in our neighborhood are still loaded. So it's not too late! Or this recipe could be used with virtually any kind of fruit. And it's especially good warmed up and served with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Blackberry {Fruit} Cobbler

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup butter
5 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, cherries, rhubarb, blueberries, peaches, apples or pears
2/3 cup sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

Vanilla ice cream

1. For the topping, in a medium bowl stir together flour, the 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Cut in butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
2. For filling, in a saucepan combine 2/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Add 1/4 cup water. Stir in 5 cups fresh or frozen blackberries. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.
3. In a small bowl stir together the egg and milk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just to moisten. Transfer filling to a 2-quart square baking dish. Using a spoon, immediately drop topping into small mounds atop filling.
4. Bake cobbler in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted into topping comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream.

Recipe #8 from Project Cookbook: My 2012 (and beyond!) New Year’s Resolution to cook at least one recipe from every cookbook I own.

Project Cookbook: Rhubarb Star Anise Crumble

As I mentioned in my rhubarb thyme jam post, I came away from my most recent PCC cooking class raring to go and made this dessert immediately...which was back in June! So yeah, I'm a big blog post slacker and I hesitated to share this now since it's so late in the season, but my rhubarb is still growing. And Megan just did a post for a Rhubarb Gin Fizz (which means rhubarb posts are still in vogue). And if you don't have fresh rhubarb, you can tuck this away for next spring or use seasonal fruit such as fresh peaches or wild blackberries instead. The best part of this recipe is really the "crumble" anyway!

Becky (the awesome teacher) served the crumble with Snoqualmie ginger ice cream. Normally I'd be a purist and go with vanilla for a crumble, but the ginger ice cream was a perfect pairing.

My new favorite brand of ice cream. Every flavor is incredible! 

Becky mentioned in our class that the raw dough tastes just as good as the final cooked, dessert. She wasn't kidding. It was seriously addicting and because it had no raw eggs in it (not that that's ever stopped me before) I felt just fine eating several snitches of the dough.

I will be honest and say that rhubarb bars are still my all time favorite rhubarb dessert, but this was not only delicious but really unique with the ginger, citrus and star anise. And the crust was over the top. Some day I may try a hybrid of my two recipes using this crust!

Rhubarb Star Anise Crumble
Recipe from Becky Selengut adapted from a recipe developed by Jeanette Smith

Filling:
2 pounds rhubarb, washed and chopped into 1-inch chunks
3-4 pieces whole star anise
1 1/4 cups sugar
1-inch chunk fresh ginger, peeled
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Pinch of salt

Topping:
3/4 cup raw almonds, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder (yes, tablespoons!)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place all filling ingredients in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Simmer until rhubarb is soft and mixture is fairly thick, about 20 minutes. When cooked, remove star anise and ginger chunks. Lightly butter eight 6-ounce ramekins and divide the rhubarb evenly.

For the topping, lightly toast 1/4 cup of the almonds in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Pulse in the food processor with 2 tablespoons sugar and a pinch of salt until coarsely chopped. Set aside.

Grind the remaining 1/2 cup almonds in the food processor until fine. Mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a food processor with almonds. Place butter chunks over flour mixture and pulse until coarsely combine (about 30 pulses). Put in a medium bowl and gently stir in the buttermilk until just combined. Divide the dough and drop over the rhubarb filling to cover.

Sprinkle toasted almond mixture over the top. Place on cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes until bubbly and topping is browned.

Serves 8. 

Murray directing the photo shoot

Recipe #7 from Project Cookbook: My 2012 New Year’s Resolution to cook at least one recipe from every cookbook I own.

Project Cookbook: Rhubarb-Thyme Jam with Goat Cheese

My aunt Paula and I took another cooking class from Becky Selengut at PCC. The theme of this class was Fisherman's Spring and we started out with this rhubarb jam as an appetizer paired with a selection of goat cheeses and homemade black pepper and fennel breadsticks. We ended the meal with a rhubarb star anise crumble (my next post). Everything in between was amazing!

Our class was on a Friday night and I made the jam on Saturday because we had friends coming for dinner and the crumble on Sunday to bring to a BBQ. Both recipes were that good and easy that I couldn't wait to make them. The other recipe that made a huge impression on me was scallops with tarragon beurre blanc, which I'll be making soon for a date night at home!

Just like last time, Becky rocked. She's a very knowledgeable, funny and delicious chef with a cool background. Some day I'd like to take advantage of her private chef services. And because I came home with a packet of recipes that will join my cookbooks on my cookbook shelf, this counts as part of my challenge.

Rhubarb-Thyme Jam
Recipe from Becky Selengut

Makes about 1 1/2 cups jam
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

3 cups rhubarb, medium dice (from about 3 large stalks)
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 stick cinnamon (I didn't have a stick so I just put in a few shakes of cinnamon)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Put all ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, for about 30 minutes until thickened. Remove cinnamon stick and cool jam in refrigerator until ready to serve.

It will keep for 4 weeks in the fridge or for a long, long time in the freezer!

Serve with a selection of local goat cheeses (we just used a Kirkland Signature goat log) and crackers or homemade breadsticks.

Pairs well with Chateau St. Michelle's Eroica Riesling.

Recipe #6 from Project Cookbook: My 2012 New Year’s Resolution to cook at least one recipe from every cookbook I own.

Project Cookbook: Macadamia Nut and Basil Crusted Salmon

Blogger has been driving me nuts. I really could use a very simple “for dummies” blog platform because lately blogger has not been user friendly. At all. I loved the new modern templates they came up with that really showcased photos from each post, but with the new template I lost my reading list on the side.

My reading list and labels are much more important to me, so I was thrilled when I finally, FINALLY figured out how to change it back to the good ‘ol fashioned template. Hooray!

And Google +? Yeah, I’m on it, but I still don’t get it.

Now on to food!

Curtis and I eat salmon almost every week. Right now we’re in delicious Copper River salmon season, but throughout the rest of the year, I just keep my freezer stocked with Costco bags of wild salmon filets. Our favorite preparation is to marinate the fish in Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce, cook it in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes (I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it comes out perfect every time!) and then to serve it over stir fried veggies.

Luckily this is an easy preparation and neither one of us has gotten tired of it.

But, in the spirit of my cookbook project and because Curtis brought home a 2-pound “sample” bag of macadamia nuts, I decided to try this recipe from my favorite Hawaiian cookbook we picked up at Costco when we were in Kauai: The Hali’imaile General Store Cookbook. By the way, The Hali’imaile General Store, in my humble opinion, is one of the best restaurants on Maui. This recipe calls for Ono and they serve it with mango lime butter, but I used salmon and skipped the butter.

I still haven't organized my cookbook shelves since I started this project. But it will get done. Someday. 

I was lazy and chopped the nuts and basil in the food processor vs. by hand so it turned into a bright green paste. I’m sure if I had chopped it by hand, this dish would have been prettier. But this was quick and tasted great! And have you tried Trader Joe's wild rice mix? Even though it takes ages to cook it, it's our favorite!

Macadamia Nut-Crusted Wild Salmon 
Adapted from The Hali’imaile General Store Cookbook by Bev Gannon 

½ cup macadamia nuts, whole or pieces
2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
½ cup fresh basil
½ cup good quality mayonnaise (I used half non-fat Greek yogurt)
2 teaspoons Sriracha (Thai garlic-chile paste)
6 (6-ounce) salmon filets (or Ono or any other fish you like)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

To prepare the coating, place the nuts, panko, and basil in a food processor and process until fine. Spread on a plate. In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise and chili paste and mix well. Lightly season the fish with salt and pepper. Evenly spread a light coat of the chile mayonnaise on one side of each fish fillet. Coat the same side evenly with the coating.

Here the directions tell you to fry the fish over medium heat, crust side down, in oil for 3 minutes and then to flip the fish and finish it in a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes. Instead, I coated mine on both sides with the nut basil mixture and baked it in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes. And because it was pretty thick salmon, we ended up throwing it back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Verdict? It was really good and I’ll be adding this recipe to my regular salmon rotation!

Fun fact: One means “delicious” in Hawaiian

Recipe #5 from Project Cookbook: My 2012 New Year’s Resolution to cook at least one recipe from every cookbook I own.