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Baked Eggs with Chives and Cream

06.26.2013 by J. Doe // 1 Comment

The dishwasher is fixed – by which I mean, it has been replaced by a functional dishwasher. It was quite a thrilling moment for me, to load up a dishwasher and hear it fill with water and then stay full of water and, apparently, spray said water on the dishes. I literally stood there and watched it wash dishes.

No, you can’t really see what’s going on in my dishwasher. Yes, I really stood there, staring, enthralled, at a stainless steel rectangle making humming and splooshing noises. I’m easily entertained, and I’m okay with it.

At the end of the cycle, I removed the silverware and put it away next to the other silverware – the stuff that came out of the old dishwasher when it operated in Manual Mode (ie, I filled it with a bucket of water). Suddenly, my silverware was oh-so-shiny – possibly more shiny-seeming in light of the fact that the rest of my silverware, well, wasn’t. The casual observer might think my cleanliness standards are not up to par.

In the midst of my dishwasher woes, I had a houseguest, who I wanted to cook for; yet, I also needed to keep the dish-washing to a minimum, and I was confounded in my initial fallback position (I know – I’ll grill!) by a nonfunctional grill.

My guest, knowing my appliance woes, insisted a banana for breakfast was fine – don’t go to any trouble.

It’s true, a banana doesn’t require a clean plate to be served on, and thus no plates to be cleaned up after; nor does it dirty up any cooking pans, or mixing bowls, or anything really. But the whole idea left me thinking that the appliances had won the battle, and I refused to go down without a fight.

I found this simple little breakfast recipe for baked eggs with chives and cream over on the Fine Cooking site, and it looked like a winner, in part because it only involved one dish per person: the ramekin in which the eggs are baked and then served. The problem, of course, is that I didn’t own a ramekin the right size, but it was only a matter of time before I started buying clean dishes, so I solved that problem with some new FiestaWare.

These baked eggs are a superb brunch dish, with just a few ingredients and minimal mess. Just toss it in the oven, then broil to cook the top. The richness of the cream and the flavorful chives make the dish special, but the delivery of the sizzling dish makes for a wonderful, yet easy, presentation. I’m hoping to make them again, and play with different herb and seasoned salt combinations.

I overcooked these slightly at my guest’s request, but have reproduced the recipe here for a softer center. Keep in mind that the eggs do keep cooking for a bit after leaving the oven, and take them out just before the desired doneness.

Baked Eggs with Cream and Chives

 

Baked Eggs with Chives and Cream
 
Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
7 mins
Total time
17 mins
 
Author: Fine Cooking
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp butter
  • 4 eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • 1½ tsp chopped fresh chives
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven. Butter two 6-inch gratin dishes.
  2. Break two eggs into each gratin dish. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle chives on top. Drizzle 1 tbsp of cream into each dish, starting with the egg yolks and working outward.
  3. Bake until the eggs are bubbly and browned on the edges but not quite set, about 5 minutes. Turn the broiler on, leaving the eggs on the center rack, and broil for another two minutes.
  4. Remove eggs from the oven; they will continue to set. Serve immediately.
Notes
Bake eggs an additional minute if you like firmer eggs.
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3.2.1230

 

Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // breakfast, eggs

Dahlia Bakery Granola

04.28.2013 by J. Doe // Leave a Comment

Usually, when we expect one thing, and get something that doesn’t quite meet our expectations, it’s a disappointing thing – a wilty salad, perhaps, or a movie that seemed funny in the previews because they put the only funny part into the preview. It’s disappointing when that happens.

Other times, though, expectations are not set high, but low, for some reason. Perhaps a person seems a bit reserved, but then turns out to be very warm and open when you get to know them. Or, you try a new recipe for something you’ve done many times before – a kitchen staple, nothing exciting – and when it comes out of the oven, you realize what you’ve been missing every other time you’ve made it.

So it was this week when I finally got to borrow a copy of The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook from my local library – after waiting many months, and right after I manage to actually commit to a diet and lose a few pounds. So many temptations – donuts and coffee cakes and, well, you know. I thought I’d photocopy a few that looked good and save them for later, when my jeans fit, but there was one recipe, for granola, that I could work into my current daily calorie-counting regime. So this morning, I made it.

In a word, it was a revelation.

Yes, it has the usual crunch of a granola, and a nice sweetness from the maple syrup, to liven up my morning bowl of yogurt. But this granola was sweeter and more flavorful than any I’ve made before, for a couple of reasons. First, the addition of orange juice adds a nice citrus-y sweetness; but the orange juice also provides added moisture to the oat mixture which results in it forming better clumps than other granolas I’ve made. Cooking it a bit longer at a lower temperature may have helped in that regard too (though I note that it browned well in my oven at 40 minutes, rather than the 50-60 the recipe suggests). Another factor may have been that the dried fruits were not added until after the granola was baked; the fruit was more moist and chewy and added a superb contrast in texture to the crunchy grains.

I loved it, and it had the added benefit of getting The Child out of bed for me: She followed her nose downstairs and helped herself to several handfuls as the granola cooled.

Dahlia Bakery Granola

 

Dahlia Bakery Granola
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
1 hour
Total time
1 hour 15 mins
 
Author: The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook
Ingredients
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup steel-cut oats
  • ½ cup shredded coconut
  • ½ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup honey
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup diced dried apricots
  • ½ cup dried cherries
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, about 10 minutes. Remove hazelnuts from oven, wrap in a kitchen towels, and rub the nuts together until most of the papery skins have fallen off. Chop hazelnuts and set aside.
  2. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
  3. Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray and set aside.
  4. Combine the oats, steel-cut oats, coconut, hazelnuts, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the apricots and cherries, and whisk together until well combined.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well with a rubber spatula.
  6. Divide the granola between the two baking pans, spreading evenly. Bake until golden brown, 50-60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes so that it browns evenly.
  7. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the granola cool. The granola will still seem wet coming out of the oven, but it will crisp as it cools.
  8. When it is completely cool, transfer granola to a large clean bowl and stir in the dried fruit. Store in airtight bags or jars. Serve over plain or vanilla yogurt. Or milk. Or just eat it out of the bag.
Notes
The original recipe calls for sweetened coconut, but I used unsweetened and found the final product plenty sweet. I substituted sunflower seeds for sesame seeds because I mis-read the recipe on my shopping list, either is fine. And as noted above, my granola was done after 40 minutes, probably because my oven is quirky.
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Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // breakfast, granola

Blueberry-Banana Baked Oatmeal

03.25.2013 by J. Doe // 5 Comments

One evening, The Child comes into my office. She seems pleased with herself, and tells me she used her Amazon gift card from Christmas to buy a book and a hat for herself.

That’s great, I tell her, and ask what book she got. It’s a hardcover thing she wanted – some new release from her favorite series – and she’s excited about it.

I do realize she must have some money left – it was a large gift card from my father.

A little, she tells me, not much. The gift wrapping was expensive.

Gift wrapping? I inquire.

Yes, she tells me. The gift card was a present, so I made sure that what I got with it was gift wrapped. It took me a while to write something on the card, too.

I can’t wait to get it, she says.

I tell my father about this, and he’s very pleased. Awesome, he says: She gets it. She gets that gift-giving isn’t about the stuff, it’s about the ritual – the reading of the card, the unwrapping of the box.

I love my own rituals, too – most important my morning ritual of a large, strong cup of coffee each morning, in a quiet house – no tv, no music, and usually, nobody else awake. I don’t do anything in particular with the time, but my day is always a little bit off if I don’t have that slow, quiet time at the beginning – even if it’s just five or ten minutes.

I like my coffee with something, often a muffin, or on the weekend, a bagel. But lately I’m trying to watch my weight, and I find the best way to do that is to avoid the baked goods – though I do love them – and start my day with some oatmeal. It keeps me full through lunch, so that I don’t start eating things I shouldn’t.

I loved the Apple-Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal I tried recently, but since I had a hankering for some blueberry muffins, I switched it up a bit with some blueberries and bananas. The banana and oatmeal combo is a real winner – mellow, filling, and hearty; the blueberries add flavor and lighten the overall texture up just enough. It’s a nice, warming start to the day, and, like it’s Apple-Cinnamon cousin, doesn’t require any additional sweetening to be delicious.

IMG_9429

 

Blueberry-Banana Baked Oatmeal
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
40 mins
Total time
55 mins
 
Author: adapted from epicurious
Ingredients
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ⅓ cup maple syrup
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 tsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 ripe bananas, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 1½ cups blueberries (can be frozen)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Generously butter the inside of a 9-inch square baking dish.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the oats, walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
  3. In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
  4. Arrange the bananas in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the berries over the top. Cover the fruit with the oat mixture. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the oats. Gently give the baking dish a couple thwacks on the countertop to make sure the milk moves through the oats.
  5. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
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Categories // The Joy of Cooking Tags // bananas, blueberries, breakfast, oatmeal, recipes

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