Open-Face Egg Sandwich with Bacon, Asparagus, and Pesto

What could be a better start to Valentine’s Day than a delicious breakfast with some playful presentation?  This dish combines bacon, roasted asparagus, roasted green onions, bronzed sourdough, homemade pesto spread, and of course, a fried egg.  I love cutting this sandwich in half and letting the gooey fried egg run over the asparagus and bacon.  Topping each bite with bits of tomato cucumber salad adds a final fresh component to this irresistible flavor profile.

Ingredients 
4 slices sourdough bread
8 slices bacon
4 eggs

Spinach and Basil Pesto:
1 bunch spinach leaves
.66 container basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Roasted Asparagus and Scallions:
12 ounces asparagus, ends trimmed
4 scallions, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Tomato Cucumber Salad:
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ English cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup chopped basil
drizzle of fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 
To make the pesto:  Place spinach leaves, basil leaves, minced garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until a spreadable paste forms.  Set aside.

To roast the asparagus and scallions:  Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the asparagus spears and scallions in a 9x13 pan and drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Sprinkle salt and pepper.  Roast for about 20 minutes, or until they have browned.

To make the tomato and cucumber salad:  In a medium bowl, toss together the chopped tomato, the chopped cucumber, and the chopped basil.  Drizzle fresh lemon juice.  Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

To make the bacon and bronzed toast: Fry up bacon slices on a griddle over medium heat.  Once both sides have crisped, remove from griddle and place on a paper towel.  Don’t drain the bacon grease, use this pan to toast the slices of bread. Place the slices of sourdough bread on the griddle and bronze each side.  Take off heat once both sides have browned

For the fried egg:  melt butter in skillet on medium heat.  To get the heart-shaped egg, we cracked the eggs into Norpro Nonstick Heart and Pancake Egg Rings, then continued to fry just until egg white is cooked, or sunny-side up, roughly 1 minute.  You could also fry the egg normally and cut the egg into a heart shape.

To assemble sandwiches: Place 2 slices of bacon on a slice of the bronzed sourdough toast.  Place a few roasted asparagus spears and scallion on top of the bacon.  Spread a thick layer of spinach basil pesto.  Finally, top with the heart-shaped fried egg.  Serve salad on side.

Day 181 - Turkey! Dolma Stuffed Grape Leaves with Ground Lamb ~ Up Next, Turkmenistan

When I was pregnant with my second son, I had a whole slew of bizarre food cravings. I couldn't stand the smell of Chinese food (which I love), couldn't get enough mangoes, and Italian food of any kind was my preferred dinner. I also had a brief love affair with tuna subs (with pickles, of course). But the random craving that most stands out was an intense 15 minute binge on stuffed grape leaves a.k.a. dolmas. On one particular trip to the grocery store, the craving was so overwhelming that I single mindedly hunted down a container in the refrigerated section, ripped the oily package open in the isle and dug in, impervious to the bemused looks of my fellow shoppers. Okay - I was 8 months pregnant and way, way past the "isn't she cute" look -- I was huge, desperate and had no shame. So, although Turkey has virtually hundreds upon hundreds of incredible dishes of all kinds, I had to make dolmas, because, well, I have an emotional attachment to them and have never tried to make them...until now...........

Located in Western Asia (Anatolian Peninsula) and East Thrace in Southeastern Europe, Turkey is bordered by Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria as well as the Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus, Aegean and Black Seas. A democratic, secular, constitutional republic, Turkey's ancient cultural heritage maintains it's traditions along with a strong economic, military and regional presence, owing in part to it's strategic location at the crossroad of Europe and Asia.. The country's rich history includes, but is not limited to, Alexander The Great's conquests, Achilles' famed battle against the Trojan's in Homer's Iliad as well as the site where the Ottoman Empire fought legendary battles. Some of the world's most extensive remains of the Roman Empire are preserved in this beautiful country. One of the world's oldest continually inhabited countries, the vast majority of Turkish people are Muslim and speak Turkish, but Kurkish and Zazaki are also spoken by Kurds and Zazas who account for about 18% of the population. A little known fact about Turkey is that the tulip was first cultivated in the Ottoman empire.

Cuisine in Turkey is influenced by Ottoman, Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan traditions, but varies greatly by region. In the Aegean area, food tends to be lighter in it's use of spices and extensive use of seafood. In the Black Sea region, fish is a staple and to the southeast, Kebabs, mezes and bakalava are enjoyed. Still to the west, olive oil is used extensively, and is actually considered as a category of cooking all its own. Of course, stuffed grape leaves, or Dolma (means stuffed or to be stuffed), are regularly eaten in most households. When stuffed with a meat and rice mixture, they are served hot with yogurt and lemon. When stuffed with rice, they are generally served at room temperature.

Rice, pine nuts and mint for the filling - I used brown rice because that's what I had

 Grape leaves packed in water and salt - rinse, drain and pat dry

 Minced onions and garlic are sauteed in olive oil until soft

 Dried mint and dill 

 Finely chopped parsley - oops, I forgot to add it to the filling mixture

 Mix ground lamb with rice, onions and spices - I gave up on the spoon and used my hands

 1.Turn leaf shiny side down                                                                       

              2. Roll up

3. Fold one side over

                              4. Fold other side over

                                                                       5. Roll the whole thing up

Tower of Dolma Beauty

 Place dolma seam side down in a heavy dutch oven lined with grape leaves, add broth

 Place a heavy plate or weight on top of dolma to keep them from opening up while simmering

 Serve warm with lemon and yogurt - These are wonderful as an appetizer or main dish!

Dolma Stuffed Grape Leaves with Lamb (Recipe Courtesy of Epicurious)
*Can be adapted to vegetarian by omitting lamb and increasing rice to 1 cup*

1 lb ground lamb or beef
1 jar grape leaves
2 medium onions finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
3 T olive oil
2 T pine nuts
1 T dried mint
3 T minced Italian parsley
1 t dried dill weed
1/3 C uncooked long-grain white rice
2 C beef broth or bouillion
2 T fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges

Preparation


Sauté onion and garlic in 2 T olive oil until softened. Combine in large bowl with raw lamb or beef, herbs, rice, and pine nuts.

Unroll, wash and pat dry the grape leaves and trim off stems. With shiny side down, placed small amount of filling in center of each leaf and roll up, tucking in the sides. Arrange in layers, seam side down, in a large Dutch oven. Pour beef broth, lemon juice, and remaining T olive oil over the stuffed grape leaves, and lay a heavy heat-proof dish or press over them to keep them from unwrapping. Simmer uncovered 1 - 1-1/2 hours. Serve with lemon wedges - either hot or room temperature.

Makes 3-4 dozen, depending on size of grape leaves and amount of filling for each



© 2010-2011, What's Cooking in Your World? Sarah Commerford/All Rights Reserved

Oliveto's Whole Hog Dinner 2012

After experiencing one of the Whole Hog dinners at Oliveto last year, I couldn't wait to do it again. This time I brought along a friend Susie, who had just moved to the neighborhood. While it may seem like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and doing a whole animal dinner, the one at Oliveto is one of the oldest and surely one of the best. For one thing, it's a la carte, so you can eat and spend as much as you like. This year chef Jonah Rhodehamel focused the selections and there were more rustic options, but it's not all ears and trotters.


First up was a very hearty favata bean soup made from dried fava beans. Restaurant owner Bob Klein is the mastermind behind Community Grains and really knows his beans! The soup had tender chunks of braised pork, a chewy crouton and plenty of lift from a minty herbal puree. This is the kind of soup I would make and eat all week long.


Next up was a spectacularly good lasagna from Calabria called Sagne chine it had the lightest noodles and meatballs, plus a fresh and spicy tomato sauce and thin slivers of hard boiled egg. It was the most ethereal lasagna I have ever tasted. I was tipped off that a similar recipe is in My Calabria:Cooking with Rosetta cookbook so you may want to bookmark it. The recipe includes peas, and the Oliveto version does not.



The main course we shared was not the more common porchetta, but rather spit-roasted pork leg served with roasted carrots, turnips and greens. It was lean but still juicy, full of flavor. The chef told me he gets his pork from several sources including the sustainably raised ones from Magruder Ranch and Riverdog Farm.


After a palate cleansing salad of garden lettuce, we chose a pear strudel for dessert with vin santo ice cream. The leaves of the strudel with crackly crisp, because of course, they were slathered in strutto. Ah porcine goodness from beginning to end!

Note: There may be a few more seats left for this dinner 2/10/12, but call the restaurant to find out.

Oliveto
5655 College Avenue
Oakland, CA
510.547.5356

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Whipped Cream Frosting

These cupcakes are all about the contrast – a rich chocolaty cake topped with a whipped cream frosting full of vanilla flavor.  Mmm, vanilla whipped cream…Ok, so I’m not going to lie.  I’m pretty sure the cupcake is being used purely as a vessel for the whipped cream topping.  It is just so vanilla-y and light, we can’t stop eating it. 

Ingredients
Cupcakes
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
heaping ½ cup cocoa powder
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Easy Ganache
¼ cup coconut milk
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Whipped Cream Frosting
1 ½ cups whipping cream
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons sugar

Instructions
To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350.  In a small bowl, mix coconut milk and apple cider vinegar together and set aside.  In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, instant coffee, cocoa powder, and sugars.  In a medium bowl, mix together coconut milk and vinegar mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until combined.  Scoop batter into lined muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Once the muffins have cooled, make the easy ganache and dip the cupcake tops into it.  Once they have cooled again, make the whipped cream frosting and top the cupcakes. 

To make the easy ganache: Using a double boiler, or very carefully in a microwave, melt the chocolate chips with coconut milk.  Stir until smooth.

To make the whipped cream frosting: Using electric mixer, beat whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar until stiff peaks are formed.

Winter 2012 Fancy Food Show Cookies

At the Winter 2012 Fancy Food Show there were quite a number of truly great cookies. Last year I discovered Vin Tucci, biscotti made with wine, for pairing with wine and also Cookies and Corks cookies designed to pair with wine.


This year in the new products showplace I tried Napa Cookie Company's Wine Snaps. These thin little cookies have a nice crunch and buttery flavor with a spicy kick of black pepper. Red and white wine versions include wine in the recipe and are designed to pair with wine. Sturdy enough to top with cheese like a cracker, but sweeter. I love these cookies and I love this trend!



Another cookie that includes a beverage in the recipe as well as for pairing are Biscottea. Designed to pair with coffee and tea, they include a variety of ground tea and coffee in each shortbread cookie. Flavors include favorites like Earl Grey, Chai, Mint and even Rooibos. I liked the coffee ones too, that come in Espresso, Cappuccino and Mocha.


For a more classic pairing with tea, there is the traditional French Madeleine. Locally Donsuemor makes a wonderful version, several in fact, including chocolate, lemon and chocolate dipped. Widely available at coffee shops, these cookies come to life with a cup of hot tea. Packaged in a pretty box they make a nice Valentine's Day gift for someone suffering from French macaron fatigue.



For innovative shapes and decoration two cookies caught my eye. One was a line extension from Walker's, known for their shortbread cookies. Now they are making adorable scottie dog shaped shortbread cookies with a percentage of sales going to the ASPCA. I cannot imagine a dog lover not being utterly charmed by these!

Another company that was new to me, was Queen City Cookies. They make very decorative cookies that are sold as gifts. Rather than using nasty tasting fondant, they create lovely designs using molds and white or dark chocolate or buttery frostings and some are painted with great detail. Each cookie is also a gift card. The floral and "love" designs would make particularly nice gifts for Valentine's Day. Also worth seeking out are their savory rosemary shortbread with sesame and sunflower seeds. I really liked these a lot and could see pairing them with wine. A bag of them would make a great hostess gift.

For pure deliciousness, I saved perhaps the best for last. At Kitty Keller's booth I tried Les Sables & Palets de Mere Poulard (they are available at Market Hall Foods). These crumbly, rich cookies will transport you to France with their divinely sweet butter direct from Brittany. Melting and crumbly as sables should be, they come in flavors too like double chocolate and salted caramel. As if you need another reason to buy them, the colorful tins they come in are extremely gift worthy, decorated with Mont St. Michel and art nouveau flourishes. But I won't blame you if you keep both the cookies and the tin for yourself.

Bite Size Fruit Skewers with Champagne Chocolate Drizzle

This treat is almost designed for Valentines Day.  It is a simple little recipe that takes strawberries and melted chocolate to a new level of fun, flavor, and presentation.  The dark chocolate has been melted with cream and mixed with a little champagne, and along with the classic strawberry, we’ve added grapefruit and mint leaves for a richness of flavor.  These bite size little skewers from heaven are decadent, fresh, healthy, and romantic, and they only take about 15 minutes to put together.

Ingredients 
4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate
1 tablespoon heavy cream
7 tablespoons champagne
pink grapefruit, supremed and cut into small chunks
strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
sprigs of mint
toothpicks

Instructions
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with heavy cream.  Once melted, take off heat and add the champagne.  Stir to combine.

On each tooth pick, place a piece of strawberry, a piece of grapefruit, a mint leaf, then another piece of strawberry and another piece of grapefruit.

Drizzle the chocolate champagne mixture over the miniature skewers of fruit, or use as a dipping sauce.

Love begins in Winter

There's nothing more cozy than cuddling up on the sofa with a book and a box of chocolates on a chilly Winter day. And it seems I'm not alone in my love of pairing chocolates with a good read. For Valentine's Day this year one of my favorite chocolatiers Richart has combined a big box of chocolates with a book of short stories, from an award-winning writer Simon Von Booy. Even better, there are twelve specific chocolates that pair with passages from the book! The gift is called Love begins in Winter ($75), after the name of the book.

I haven't experienced any of the lovely pairings yet, but I spoke with Benjamin Auzimour in charge of Richart in North America, and he shared one of his favorites:

"Here's an extract that I like, about happiness, to be read while tasting a Petit Richart filled with salted butter caramel coulis, which will enhance the warmth of the feelings created by the scene. We can sense Simon's precise, concise, although almost impressionist style"

"when it started to get dark, Hannah and I left the shop. Bicycles were being wheeled home in the snow. Old women left bricks of cake on one another's doorsteps. The butcher was dressed up like Santa Claus.
Children peered out into the night from upstairs windows. And for several kilometers Hannah and I waded through snowy fields, past old gates and fallen tress, laughing and calling out as our bodies disappeared from view.
The shadows remained.
Gifts from the fallen, not lessening our happiness but guiding it, deepening it, and filling us with the passion we would need to sustain our love in the coming days."

If you don't know Richart chocolates, I highly recommend you try them. Richart not only makes some of the creamiest confections thanks to their intense conching process, but also takes a very thoughtful approach to chocolate called QuintesSense:

1. Knowledge of what you're tasting - background, origins, geography...
2. Sensory analysis
3. "Emotional" analysis - memories, feelings...
4. Finding the overall flavor of this very moment
5. Sharing it with others

They use Venezuelan criollo cocoa beans and make delicate confections using a wide variety of flavors, some that might seem unusual like flowers and herbs but always achieve balance and pure perfection, as far as I'm concerned.