Ham, Egg, Green Onion and Cheddar Brunch Puff

Here’s an easy casserole for an easy Sunday brunch or, if you are like me, makes a great breakfast any day of the week. It’s just cheesy comfort. Note to self: Assemble this casserole the night before, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight for a quick and easy breakfast/brunch.

Ingredients:

4 cups diced leftover bread—you want drier bread for this (I used a piece of leftover French bread)

2 green onions, diced

1 cup diced ham

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard

7 large eggs

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

Spray a 1.5 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Spread the bread cubes in an even layer in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the green onions over and then the cheddar and then the parmesan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mustard, eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Slowly pour over the other ingredients in the dish. Push down so that the bread is completely submerged in the egg mixture. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, pushing down on the top occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. While the oven is preheating, remove the baking dish from the fridge and let come closer to room temperature. Cover it loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  

Remove from the oven and serve hot.

Tomato Soup

Purity and simplicity in a bowl, that’s what this soup is. There’s a lovely, deep flavor from the tomato paste and onions that just elevate this humble soup. Put on your flannel PJs, pull up some pictures of cute animals on the internet and have a bowl of this soup. All will be right with the world. PS-if you like your tomato soup smooth, you can certainly puree this with a hand mixer. I personally like the bits of tomato and onion.

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

½ of an onion, finely diced

1 clove of garlic, grated or minced

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 (28 ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes in their juice

1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree

1 ½ cups vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: In a large pot, heat the butter and oil over medium-low to medium heat until the butter melts.

Toss in the onion and cook about 3 minutes until the onion is soft, but not browned.

Add the tomato paste, stir and cook until the paste gets a deep red color—about another 3 minutes—stirring often so it doesn’t burn. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the whole tomatoes with their juice, the tomato puree, the veggie broth and the sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 45 minutes or more, stirring a few times to break up the tomatoes. The whole tomatoes should have broken into large bits at this point. If not, cook and stir a little longer.

Taste and add salt and/or pepper.

Andouille, Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo

Here's a beauty of a dish to serve to a crowd. This might look like a lot of work, but it really goes together easily. This gumbo is rich and deeply flavored owing to that beautiful roux. This is just mildly spicy, so feel free to ramp up the creole seasoning or add some cayenne if you wish. 

Ingredients (serves 8):

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 pound fully cooked andouille sausage, sliced into coins

1 ½ cups dry white wine, divided

½ cup canola oil

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 medium onion, diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with the juice

3-4 cups vegetable broth

2-4 teaspoons creole seasoning (like Tony Chachere’s®)

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon file gumbo (in the spice aisle of the supermarket)

1 bay leaf

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked white rice for serving

Fresh parsley and sliced green onions for garnish

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the oil on medium heat in a large Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot.

Season the chicken thighs with a little salt and cook in the oil until browned on all sides. Remove the chicken and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done throughout. Remove the chicken from the oven, dice it into one inch chunks and set aside. PS-you can turn off the oven now—you won’t need it anymore.

Add a splash of wine to the Dutch oven and scrape up all the brown bits. Add the sliced andouille sausage and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they are brown. Remove the sausage to a plate and add another splash of wine and again scrape up any brown bits.

Add the ½ cup of canola oil to the pot and then slowly whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly until this roux gets just a bit more tan than peanut butter (about 10 minutes).

Toss the onion, celery and green pepper into the pot and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Note: the roux will become darker during this stage.

Add in the garlic and just stir for a minute. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, creole seasoning, file gumbo, remaining wine and bay leaf.

Return the chopped chicken and sausage to the pot and bring to a boil. The mixture should thicken nicely at this point.

Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for one hour. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Stir in the shrimp and cook just a few more minutes, or until the shrimp is opaque. Ladle into bowls over scoops of white rice and garnish.

Magic Vanilla Custard Cake

You may have seen one of the thousands of variations of this cake on the interwebs. I did, so I had to try it. I looked at a bunch of recipes and chose what I liked about each one and then added more vanilla because I absolutely love vanilla. The name is true-this cake is, and tastes, magical. There is a firm yet dense layer on the bottom; a custard layer on top of that and then the lightest of cakes on top.

Ingredients (serves 9):

4 eggs, separated

2 teaspoons vanilla

1¼ cups powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

½ cup unsalted butter-melted and slightly cooled

2 cups milk (room temperature if possible)

1 cup flour

Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting

Strawberries for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Note: this requires a little bit of coordination with mixers. I used my stand mixer with a very clean bowl and the whisk attachment for the egg whites and used a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer for the rest.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Spray an 8 by 8 inch cake pan (square works best) with cooking spray and set aside. (My 8 by 8 was a little too full, so if you have a 9 by 9, that might work even better. Me? I put some in a ramekin for a ‘cook’s treat’)

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, set aside.

Beat the egg yolks, vanilla and powdered sugar until pale yellow.

Beat in the melted butter and then the flour until thoroughly mixed.

Slowly beat in the milk.

Fold in the egg whites-a bit at a time-until all the egg whites are folded in. Don’t overmix—it’s fine to have a few little bits of egg white in the mixture.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-60 minutes. The time may vary, but start checking at 40 minutes. If the cake is very jiggly, cook for another 10 minutes and check again. If the top is getting dark while the cake is still super jiggly, cover the top with foil and cook on. When done, the cake will be just barely jiggly in the center. This cake has custard in the middle, so it will be slightly jiggly when removed from the oven. Mine was perfect at 50 minutes baked on the middle rack.

Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar. Cut into 9 pieces and serve with strawberries. 

Cheesy Beef, Hash Brown and Mushroom Casserole

Sometimes, you need a meal that is going to reach down and warm your soul. Kale and quinoa aren’t going to cut it on those days, even though I love both of them. This is the ticket—it is a hearty, warming casserole perfect for a cozy night in.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

½ of a medium onion, diced

1 cup chopped mushrooms

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 (20 ounce) bag of frozen hash browns, thawed

1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup (undiluted)

1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup milk

Salt and pepper to your liking

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Cook the ground beef, onions, mushrooms and Worcestershire in a large skillet until the beef is browned. Drain off any excess fat and set aside while you prepare the rest of the dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the hash browns, soups, sour cream, milk and 1 cup of the cheddar. Add salt and pepper.

Stir in the ground beef mixture and pour into the prepared pan. Smooth into an even layer and top with the remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling and gorgeous.  

Spicy 3 Bean, Poblano and Corn Soup

In the Midwest, we are gearing up for a cold February week. I wanted to get a jump on it and make this wonderful, mildly spicy soup for workday lunches. This is very soothing on a cold day-- the refried beans give it a creamy consistency that comforts the soul. Like I said, this is mildly spicy—you can taste the heat, but it isn’t overwhelming. If you are a real pepper-head, you might want to sub some of the poblano with jalapeno or serrano peppers and add some hot pepper sauce. If you are a fan of Penzey’s® spices, you might want to add a teaspoon of Arizona Dreaming to the soup—it makes it even better. By the way, this soup is low fat, high fiber, vegan and gluten-free. Win!

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 cup chopped onion

¾ cup chopped fresh poblano pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (16 ounce) can refried beans (vegetarian, fat free—any kind will work)

1 (10 ounce) can tomatoes with green chiles (like Rotel®)

1 (15.5 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

3 cups vegetable broth

½ teaspoon cumin

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

Salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion and poblano and cook for a few minutes, or until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add in the refried beans, tomatoes with green chiles, kidney beans, black beans, vegetable broth and cumin. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the cover and add the corn. Cook for 10 minutes and taste. Add salt as needed.

Low fat muffins with pineapple, orange, carrots and dates

Now, here’s a muffin to get your day started right. This is such a good marriage of all kinds of fruit and some carrot for a little bit of something different.  They are low fat, have no refined sugar and are gluten free. They even have protein from the almond meal/egg white combo and are loaded with fiber. I like these because they are so flavorful and dense, which really fills me up and satisfies me much more than a light fluffy muffin would do (but I like those, too!).

Ingredients:

1 small, ripe banana, mashed

½ cup crushed pineapple

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

3 dates, seeded

½ of a large orange, washed and seeded (leave the peel on)

½ cup shredded carrots

½ cup liquid egg whites

1 Tablespoon honey

1 ¼ cup oat flour (just grind 1 ½ cups of oatmeal to a powder)

1 cup almond meal

1 teaspoon ground flax seed

1 teaspoon chia seed

Pinch salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cardamom

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with liners. Spray the liners and set the muffin pan aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the banana, pineapple and applesauce. Whir the orange and dates in the food processor until completely broken down and add them to the banana mixture.

Add the carrots, egg whites and honey to the bowl and mix until well combined.

In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together the oat flour, almond meal, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and baking soda.

Dump the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes. They are done when you can stick a toothpick in and it doesn’t come out doughy.