sprinklefingers

well. it’s been salad for dinner around here for far too long. even though i’m testing recipes at work and eating far too many baked goods concocted of brioche dough and extra butter, i’m still sick of salads when dinner rolls around.

[oh! dinner rolls! how i miss you!]

to combat all the greenery on the dinner table, i’ve made the one thing i know for certain isn’t a salad: breakfast for dinner. one of my favorite meals. of course i have trusted go-to pancake recipes, but this time i opted for a new recipe. for plain old buttermilk pancakes. no fruit, no flavorings - just buttermilk pancakes. (because adding fruit would be too salad-like. who’s with me?)

Read More

wow. it’s all biscuits all the time around here right now, isn’t it?

because i’m unsure of when my biscuit obsession is going to wane, you should probably join in and make these for yourself. the beauty of these biscuits is that they taste just fine but - more importantly - you can whip them up in 5 minutes with 3 ingredients that you most likely already have on hand. they make the perfect quick accompaniment to a dinner salad or soup and work perfectly as breakfast (don’t forget the butter and jam!)

no, they’re not the most delicious biscuits you’ll ever taste, but they’ll work just fine in a pinch.

in a rush biscuits
from southern biscuits - with a few of my changes to the method
yields 12 2 1/2” biscuits

you need:

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt

make the biscuits:

preheat the oven to 400. have some good quality butter and jam on hand for serving.

1. put the flour in a large, shallow bowl. make a well in the center and pour in the half & half and the yogurt. using either a fork or a good spatula, turn your hand in big circles to combine the wet ingredients with the dry. stir until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass. if your dough is too wet, sprinkle in a bit more self-rising flour. too dry? sprinkle in some extra half & half.
2. flour a board or your counter and dump the dough onto it. sprinkle your hands and the top of the dough with flour, then fold the dough in half and pat it out into a 1/2” thick round. sprinkle more flour on the dough if it’s sticky. repeat the fold and pat and inspect the dough: still clumpy? then fold it in half a third time and pat it out into a circle again.
3. if you like thicker biscuits your final pat should result in a dough that’s 1/2” to 3/4” thick. dip a 2 1/2” biscuit cutter in flour and cut out the biscuits WITHOUT TWISTING THE CUTTER. place the cut biscuits either in a buttered 8-9” cake pan (crowding them so that they butt-up against each other) OR place them on a sheet tray. the biscuits baked in the cake pan will have softer edges than those baked on the tray.
4. bake for 10 or so minutes or until golden. brush with soft butter upon exit from the oven.

of course, these aren’t going to be your typical southern biscuits baked with loads of butter, lard and buttermilk. but they certainly do fill a biscuit void in a pinch!

i’ll be back tomorrow to discuss flour storage. i know you can hardly wait.

i’ll admit it. prior to steeping myself in the world of southern biscuits, i was completely against self-rising flour.

even after reading the southern biscuits chapter devoted to self-rising flour i didn’t believe i had any use for the stuff. even after remembering that my sister’s husband (a real, actual southern man) always uses self-rising flour when he makes biscuits, i didn’t believe it. and then i made a batch of biscuits using my own homemade self-rising flour…and i started to believe it. THEN went out and bought a small bag of commercial self-rising flour and made biscuits with it.

ladies & gentleman: sold!

from this point forward a bag of self-rising flour will have a home in my freezer. not for general baking, but simply for biscuit-making. a great biscuit definitely deserves floury real estate in the freezer. honest.

now, if you’re not sure about all this self-rising business, i’m going to share with you now a recipe for homemade self-rising flour. you can whip it up in anticipation for tomorrow’s post where we discuss the simplest homemade biscuits, ever. the self-rising flour (especially if you have it on hand) makes the biscuits come together with three ingredients and ONE STEP…so, not only does the stuff make great biscuits but it also cuts down prep time? amazing!

make this flour. store it in your freezer. make biscuits in a flash.

self-rising flour
from southern biscuits
(in the book the ingredients are listed by volume, but i converted the volume measurements to weights and then increased the batch sizes. you’re welcome.)
yields approximately 8 cups

you need:

• 17 oz AP flour
• 16 oz cake flour
• 1 1/2 oz baking powder
• 1 1/2 oz kosher salt

make the flour:

1. sift all four ingredients together.
2. repeat the sifting.
3. repeat the sifting.

now you have self-rising flour! store it in your pantry if you’ll use it right away. if you’re simply keeping it on hand for quick biscuit making, store it in the freezer.

note: always give your flour a good stir with a whisk before using in recipes.

oregon berry season is right around the corner. while i feel like i’ve been waiting forever, it also seems like just yesterday (or was it last summer?) i was washing and hulling strawberries to stock the freezer for winter.

speaking of stocking the freezer: i just took the last of my last summer’s strawberries out of the freezer and embarked on a preserves journey with them. and because this treasure trove of last summer’s sweetness is so special, i decided to preserve them using a method completely new to me. so. exciting. (if you like watching paint dry.)

usually i cook my preserved fruits with sugar and lemon juice until they reach the desired jammy stage. but this new process involves a lot of waiting time. you mix the berries with sugar and lemon juice. you let them sit. you boil the mixture. you let it sit. and, sometime during all the sitting, you magically make the most authentic tasting preserved fruits, ever.

actually, it’s not magic that does it. it’s the waiting time. allowing the berries to sit in sugar draws moisture out of them. that moisture evaporates during the short cooking time. the results: you cook the fruit less, so it retains more texture, flavor and color. honestly, this is my new favorite way to preserve - i’m seriously looking forward to a summer full of it.

now, the following recipe should not be doubled. actually, it’s already quite large in terms of preserving and if you make it any bigger, you’ll end up ruining the fruit before you ever get it to a high enough boil to thicken it properly. and speaking of thick - i prefer my jams and preserves to be spoonable. loose yet full of fruit - with no need to reach for a knife to cut a wedge of jam out of the jar. besides, it’s much easier to eat a bowl of strawberry preserves using a spoon. [oh, wait, did i just admit that?] because i prefer my preserves loose, this recipe will yield exactly that: perfectly spoonable preserves. (oh, one more note: i call jam preserves and preserves jam all the time. of course, preserves have larger pieces of fruit and jams don’t. but we spread both/either/any on sandwiches, mix them into yogurt, plop them over ice cream and scoop them up into our mouths with spoons. jam? preserves? yes, please.)

another note: this preserves journey takes 3 days. you’ll basically start it friday night and then actually can the preserves on sunday. the actual work time is so short though - most of the time the berry mixture is just hanging out on your countertop.

in addition, as you will see below, i drew on a host of references to sort out my recipe for preserves. all are listed, all contributed some tip or idea that resulted in my recipe for true strawberry deliciousness. (if you buy just one of these books, make it christine ferber’s. i have such an enormous crush on her.)

practically no work strawberry preserves
yields 6 pints

references used:

• mes confitures (all hail christine ferber!)
• the complete book of small-batch preserving
• the joy of jams, jellies and other sweet preserves
• the river cottage preserves handbook
• the farmer’s wife canning & preserving cookbook

prepare to preserve:

1. gather your sterilized pint jars, lids and jar bands.
2. gather your canning tools - canning pot, rack, funnel, jar lifers, etc. refresh your canning memory here.
3. find your largest non-reactive pot. make sure it’s clean.
4. now, let’s jam!

you need:

• 5 1/2 - 6 lbs washed & hulled strawberries, left whole if small, halved if large
• 2 1/2 lbs granulated sugar (if you have vanilla sugar around, even better!)
• 4 oz bottled lemon juice (i always use bottled lemon juice to be sure the acidity is consistent.)

start your preserves journey:

1. in the non-reactive pot, layer the strawberries, topped by the sugar, with the lemon juice poured over the top.
2. put a lid on the pot and let it sit for 8-10 hours or overnight.
3. remove the lid from the pot and put it on the stove over medium heat. as soon as the sugar has melted, raise the heat to medium-high and bring the entire mixture to a boil. boil 3-5 minutes.
4. remove the pot from the heat, place a lint-free kitchen towel over the top and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
5. remove the towel and put the pot back on the stove top over medium heat. press a few spoonfuls of strawberries up against the sides of the pot to mash them slightly. (don’t mash all of the berries, just a 2-3 spoonfuls.)
6. once the berries have warmed up, increase the heat and boil the mixture hard (a boil that cannot be stirred away) for 3-5 minutes. 
7. ladle your preserves into your sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes. (remember, complete canning instructions here.)

see? your actual cooking time is really only 6-10 minutes total. you so totally can do this. pun completely intended.

and now, preserves in photos:

strawberries, sugar, lemon juice:



berries after sitting overnight:

berries after first boil and sitting 24 hours:



bottom of the pot - thick & sticky:



all canned up:



tomorrow i’ll be back to show you the sad truth of just how much of these preserves i’ve eaten this week. wait. wait. it’s not sad, it’s glorious.

well, here we are again. another soup post from me.

of course i’d love to be working on summery dishes - of course I would! but we’re in the middle of a rainy slump in portland and i just can’t imagine summertime delights when it’s dumping rain and completely soggy outside.

not too long ago i told you about a cookbook that i’ve been enjoying. it’s called chicken and egg. it’s a class-act cookbook. the soup we’re going to talk about today is from chicken and egg with a few of my own tweaks: instead of simply adding the onions to the soup with the majority of the other ingredients, i start the soup by cooking the onions until golden. i really like the way the onions form a golden & sweet base for the rest of the soup, and i don’t often like an onion in soup that’s simply been boiled. additionally i added a bunch of kale and a carrot to the soup…not for any reason other than we’re on that salad for dinner diet d-word i told you about and a bunch of kale and carrot in a soup should qualify as a salad. at least in my book.

red lentil chicken soup with kale
from chicken and egg by janice cole
makes one big pot

you need:

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 T plus 2 t ground cumin
• 1 t cinnamon
• 3/4 t allspice
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 quarts homemade chicken stock (store bought is fine in a pinch)
• 28 oz can plum tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups red lentils
• 1 1/4 t kosher salt
• 3/4 t black pepper
• a few pinches of red pepper flakes
• 1 bunch lacinato kale, thick parts of stems removed, leaves cut into thin ribbons

make the soup:

1. carve the chicken thighs into bite size chunks - about 1” pieces will be perfect. add the chicken pieces to a bowl and sprinkle with the cumin, cinnamon and allspice. mix the chicken to evenly coat with the spices. set aside.
2. open the can of plum tomatoes and, using your hands, pull the tomatoes out of the can and set them on a cutting board. give them a rough chop (you want them to be chunky) and then add them back to the can with their juice. set aside.
3. in a big soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. add the diced onion and cook until golden.
4. add the celery and carrot to the onion and let cook until tender.
5. next, add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
6. add the chicken pieces and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring to brown the chicken on all sides.
7. once the chicken is a bit browned, add the chicken stock, the choppy tomatoes with their juice, the lentils, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. stir the soup well and raise the heat to medium-high so that it comes to a steady simmer.
8. let the soup simmer for 20 minutes then add the ribbons of kale. 
9. let the soup simmer for 30 more minutes or until thick & hearty, stirring occasionally. 

because the soup contains chicken, lentils and vegetables, i serve it alone. a whole meal in one bowl!

this soup will keep well in the fridge for up to three days. it also will freeze like a dream. although it’s so good i don’t think any will make it to the freezer… 

i’m completely on the fence about the farmer’s market. i wish i liked it more than i do. because the smaller, more intimate market that’s in my neighborhood has yet to open, i headed downtown yesterday to portland’s largest…and i’m not 100% happy that i did.

first, i am all business when it comes to food shopping. i have a list. i know my favorite farms. i have exact change. and a bag to carry it all home in. but more times than not, i’m a magnet for what i like to call food tourists. people who aren’t there to buy anything in particular and simply like to stand right in front of me and stare at the potatoes/greens/mushrooms/asparagus/duck eggs/whatever with their mouths hanging open. i move to the left to inch around them and grab a bundle of miner’s lettuce, and they move in the same direction for god knows what reason. after enduring this for 5 or 6 stalls, i’m ready to wash my hands of the whole thing.

yesterday was no different. except food tourists weren’t thwarting my attempt to choose vegetables. instead, it was pâté. all i wanted was a block of coveted chop butchery pâté and i couldn’t get to it because there were literally 8 people all standing in front of the various meaty concoctions (literally) discussing what pâté actually is. the guy manning the stall looked miserable. we made eye contact, i asked for a house salami and a block of country pâté - his eyes lit up as he reached for my salami. as i was handing him my money he squeezed my hand a bit - i’d like to think the squeeze translated into this: “please help me. i haven’t sold a slab of pâté all morning because these 8 people have just been standing here blocking the view of all the paying customers. and they won’t stop asking me questions about fat content.”

i’m all for people educating themselves and being food-curious, really i am, it’s just that i wish they’d be slightly more aware that someone standing RIGHT BEHIND THEM is a serious shopper. make way for the paying customer, people!

all of this said, i went to the farmer’s market yesterday and came home with cheese, pâté and salami. and, as luck would have it, dan lepard’s saturday column is all about artisan cracker making. perfect.

it wasn’t until i found myself pregnant that i ate breakfast every day. actually, it wasn’t until i found myself pregnant that i did a lot of things like, say, burst into tears for no reason, take a daily vitamin and declare 5pm as my official bedtime. while the end result (my crazy kid) was worth the deprivation, one other positive thing* about pregnancy is the fact that breakfast became a way of life for me.

now the only thing that complicates breakfast for me is whether or not i’m going to go to the gym after eating it. for me there’s nothing worse than working out and burping up breakfast. [i know i’m not alone here, even if i am the only one who will say it out loud.]

the other day i knew i was going to spin class, but i was also dreaming of eggs. with caramelized onions. and cheese. so i risked that workout-burpy feeling and went ahead with it. i’m so glad i did.

scrambled eggs with balsamic caramelized onions and cave-aged gryuere
serves 1

[this is so easy to whip up on a busy morning if you’ve got a jar of balsamic caramelized onions in the fridge. if you don’t have a jar of them in your fridge, you should seriously consider it. they’re so delicious in this recipe, but really take salads and just about anything else to a whole new level. plus, they’re very easy to prepare and last for weeks in the fridge.]

you need:

• butter for the pan
• 2 large farm fresh eggs
• splash of half & half
• salt & pepper
• generous pinch dried fines herbs
• a few forkfuls of balsamic caramelized onions
• generous handful of shredded cave-aged gryuere

make the eggs:

1. heat a small skillet over medium and add the butter.
2. in a small bowl whisk together the eggs, half & half, salt/pepper and fines herbs.
3. once the butter has melted and is hot (but not browning), add the egg mixture.
4. give the eggs a few seconds and then add the forkfuls of onions.
5. once the onions are in, stir the eggs to scramble them and let them cook until they’ve almost reached your desired doneness.
6. add the cheese, stir a bit more - then remove the pan from the heat and plate the eggs. (if you leave the eggs in the hot pan (even off heat) they will continue to cook.)

i enjoyed these eggs with a slice of toasted & buttered whole grain bread. and, for the record, i only burped once during my workout.

*let it go on the record now that, while i love my kid more than life itself, i was probably the world’s most miserable pregnant person. the fact that i’m finding anything positive to say about it at all is blowing my mind.

i’m having a difficult time believing in summer. try as i might, i just can’t remember what it feels like to be hot. i also can’t remember the last time i put on sunscreen. additionally, i’ve lost all my open-toed shoes. and let’s not even talk about where my sunglasses might be.

because spring can’t even seem to get it together enough to let the sun shine for more than a few hours here in oregon, i’m still in full-on hearty soup mode. sure, i’d like to be getting all springy with my eating, but that’s difficult to do when the temperature still isn’t getting much above 49 degrees. damn pacific northwest.

back to soup: it’s easy for me to get stuck in soup ruts. we have a few we really like, and i make those soups all the time. but the soup i’m about to describe is a total departure from what we’re used to. caramelized onions. black beans. sweet potatoes. kale. all adding up to one delicious soup. in fact, it’s a soup even my kid ate (although he insisted we call it porridge and requested that i call him goldilocks throughout dinner. but, whatever. he ate it. and there were no bears in sight.)

black bean & sweet potato soup with caramelized onion, kale & sausage
serves 6-8 as a main course

you need:

• 2 T unsalted butter
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped small
• 4 small cloves garlic (or 2 large), chopped
• 2 t cumin
• 1 t coriander
• 3/4 t fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 2 quarts homemade chicken stock
• 2 large sweet potatoes (yams!), peeled and chopped into 1/2” pieces
• 1 bunch kale, stemmed and cut into thin ribbons
• 4-5 cups black beans, cooked 
• 1 lb bulk mild italian pork sausage

make the soup:

1. melt the butter in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. when hot, add the onion and cook, watching that it doesn’t turn too brown too quickly, until nicely caramelized - about 22-24 minutes.
2.  to the onions add the garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper, salt and cayenne. stir well and let cook about 1 minute until fragrant.
3. deglaze the pan with a splash of chicken stock. once the brown bits are scraped up and incorporated, add the rest of the stock. 
4. to the stock add the sweet potatoes, kale and beans. 
5. bring the mixture to a simmer and cover with a lid. let cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes.
6. while the soup is simmering, cook the sausage (with no added fat) over medium heat until nicely golden and cooked through. do not drain. set aside.
7. once the potatoes are tender, use an immersion blender to blend just a bit of the soup - you can certainly skip this step - i just love the way blending a bit of the soup adds body and texture to the final dish. (you could also simply blend a cup or two of soup in your normal blender and then add it back to the pot.)
8. once you’ve blended a bit of the soup and stirred it all back together, add the cooked sausage AND its pan drippings. stir well so that the drippings and sausage are fully incorporated.
9. let cook for about 10 more minutes to let the flavors meld - taking care to stir gently so that you don’t break apart your chunks of sweet potato.
10. taste the soup and adjust the seasonings - and, done!

i know it’s probably against your better judgement to add the sausage fat into the soup, but you really should do it. it takes a good soup to great.

i like to serve this soup in low bowls and topped with a small quenelle of full-fat sour cream. add a bit of bread and (french salted) butter and you can call it a meal.

it probably goes without saying that this soup freezes beautifully - it will hold in the freezer for up to 3 months. to eat, simply thaw and reheat.

i treated two pears rather unkindly.
purchased at home, they traveled to the beach. they sat on the kitchen countertop for five days, then, ripe as can be, they traveled back home…in a bag filled with apples and oranges.

to say they were bumped and bruised would be putting it lightly.

while i hate to waste food, these pears were really only going to be good for two things:
1. the trash
2. baking

i decided to go with baking.

poor bruised pear crumble
serves 2

[this sweet treat was a breeze for me to whip up because i always have a bag of crumbly top stowed in my freezer. i consider it a pantry staple.]

you need:

• 2 ripe pears, unpeeled but cored, and chopped into 1/2” pieces
• 1 T unsalted butter, diced small
• 2 t chinese five spice sugar or cinnamon sugar
• small pinch kosher salt
• 1-2 cups crumbly top, depending upon how much you like and what will fit in your dish. (i tend to use a lot of crumbly top!)

make the crumble:

1. preheat the oven to 350.
2. butter a small baking dish - 2 cup capacity would be perfect.
3. place the pears in the prepared dish and sprinkle evenly with the sugar.
4. dot the top of the pears with the butter and sprinkle with salt.
5. top the pears with your desired amount of crumbly top. you will want to press it down lightly so that it sticks to the top of the fruit…and so you can fit as much crumbly top as possible in the dish (that might just be me.)
6. bake for 30-35 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and the crumbly top is golden.

i tried to save our pear crumble for after-dinner-dessert, but it turned into an after-breakfast-dessert. we love crumble around here.

mini-break is over.
on the drive home from the coast yesterday my kid was in the back watching a movie (all hail the ipad and whoever invented that strap-thingy that attaches it to a car’s headrest,) and i was left to my own devices in the front seat…and that’s when i decided that as soon as we got home i was going to rearrange every single home accessory i own. (i am seriously so weird.)

so, i did that. i rearranged everything. and just that simple act of moving everything made it so that i didn’t miss the beach at all. weird. and lucky.

but now i’m here to give you some variations on the baked french toast we talked about yesterday…and yesterday i was at the beach. today i’m not, but that’s perfectly fine because all of the terrariums in the house are in different places and everything feels so new! (someone help me.)

so, yes. baked brioche french toast and her variations. let’s get on with it, shall we?

• replace the maple syrup with equal parts granulated sugar. this results in a sweeter french toast with (obviously) a less mapley flavor. you should definitely still serve it with maple syrup, but using granulated sugar in the recipe itself will certainly save you a few pennies.
• add 1-2 teaspoons citrus zest (first choice orange, second choice lemon) to the custard mix. orange zest would be especially delicious with the maple syrup.
• scrape a vanilla bean and add the seeds to the custard. you’ll definitely have to whisk well to distribute the seeds, but it will be worth it!
• if you’d rather not use an entire vanilla bean on this dish, instead add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. delicious!
• add a 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to the custard - i love the combination of nutmeg & custard!

another delicious suggestion: sauté some bananas in a bit of butter and sugar. serve alongside the baked brioche french toast. (apples or pears would also be delicious!)