Smoked Salmon Waffles

A recipe with smoked salmon is sure to grab my attention. So are ones with cute stacks of things made in mini versions. There were a lot of great ideas in Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table, but these savory waffles were first on my list of things to try. There are two ways you could go with these waffles. You could make whole waffles, cut them into quarters, top them as you please, and serve them in one, single layer. They’d be great as small bites for a cocktail party. Or, as I did, you can make mini waffles by just placing a spoonful of batter in the center of each waffle square assuming you’re using a square waffle maker. Then, the mini waffles can be topped and stacked into towers for brunch. The toppings here are creme fraiche, smoked salmon, and chopped chives, but in the book, salmon roe is also shown as an optional topping. You could get creative and use these as vehicles for all kinds of things though. For instance, the pate de jardin made by Kocurek Family Charcuterie that I brought home from the farmers’ market was another delicious thing to set atop these waffles. The batter for them was made with chopped green onions, chives, and smoked salmon in it, so the savory flavors ran through each bite.

Making the batter was as easy as it always is for any pancake or waffle. Flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper, in this case, were whisked together. In a separate bowl, milk, eggs, and melted butter were combined and then added to the dry ingredients. Everything was stirred together but just barely. As usual, some lumps are fine. Last, chopped smoked salmon, green onions, and chives were folded into the batter. I heated my waffle maker, and mine happens to make kind of big dents in waffles rather than little, dainty ones. In this case, a daintier dent might have been nicer, but mine worked well enough. When the machine was hot, I spooned a bit of batter into the center of each of the four waffle squares. They cooked for the usual amount of time which for my machine is about six minutes. When they were all done, I stacked three mini waffles per serving with creme fraiche and more smoked salmon between each layer.

There’s enough butter in these waffles to give them good, rich flavor which fit well with the salty, savoriness of cured salmon. Salmon, chives, and creme fraiche is a mix that works every time. Sweet, syrup-covered waffles are a welcome treat at brunch too, but having a buttery, crisp waffle without the sugar was a fun change of pace. One other suggestion from the book was to offer these with various toppings in a build-your-own setup for a party. I like that idea too, and I’m already thinking of more topping ideas.

Sour Cherry and Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Easter morning is all about sweets and treats and the beginning of a day of indulging. That makes it a great day for coffee cake, and I had a list of options from the March issue of Living magazine. These recipes were all shown with possible variations, and the one that caught my eye was the sour cherry and cream cheese version of the yeasted coffee cake. The dough was rolled up just like when making cinnamon rolls, and then it was swirled into a spiral before baking. The filling was to have been fresh or thawed, frozen sour cherries, but neither were available. Instead, I used dried sour cherries that I plumped in some orange juice. The brioche-type dough was easy to make, handled very well, and expanded nicely in the oven. I didn’t realize the cream cheese filling mixture would bake into the dough when spread thin. That did make the cake very tender and delicious, but clumps of cream cheese here and there would have offered more of a cheese Danish experience. I’ll try that next time when fresh cherries arrive and I make this again.

To start the dough, yeast was added to warm milk, and sugar, an egg, and an egg yolk were combined and then whisked into the yeast mixture. That was added to flour with salt in a mixer. It was mixed with a dough hook while butter pieces were added. It looked like it would never come together, but letting the machine do its thing for about eight to ten minutes resulted in a smooth dough. It was left to rise for an hour and a half, and then the filling was made. Meanwhile, I covered a cup and half of dried sour cherries with orange juice and let them sit. Then, softened cream cheese was mixed with an egg yolk and confectioners’ sugar. When the dough had doubled in volume, it was rolled out into a big square. The cream cheese mixture was spread across the surface leaving about an inch border all around. As I mentioned above, some clumps of cream cheese might be interesting rather than spreading it completely evenly. I drained the soaking dried cherries and sprinkled them across the cream cheese layer. The dough was then rolled up into a log shape which was turned into a spiral. The spiral-shaped cake was placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet and covered with plastic wrap. It was allowed to rise for half an hour before being baked. The baking started at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes, and then the temperature was reduced to 325 degrees F for an additional 15 minutes. When the cake was cool, it was drizzled with a confectioners’ sugar glaze.

I was so happy with the pretty shape of the cake, it might not have even mattered if it didn’t taste good. And, of course, it tasted great too. Rich and lovely yeasted brioche dough studded with chewy, dried sour cherries was a fitting cake for Easter morning. I’m sure I can think of some other mornings suited to this treat too. For instance, aren’t Tuesdays deserving of coffee cake? They should be.

Vegetarian Scotch Eggs

I've been fascinated by the idea of Scotch eggs for a while now. Traditionally for Scotch eggs, hard-boiled or soft-boiled or even pickled eggs are encased in a sausage mixture, coated in breadcrumbs, and fried. Since I don't eat red meat, I'd never attempted to make them or even tasted one. Then, along came this lovely vegetarian version with an outer layer made with beets. They couldn't be more perfect. The beets give the outside a good contrasting color to the white and yellow of the egg inside. Just in time for Easter, I found these on Mess in the Kitchen the other day and headed straight to the kitchen. The beet mixture was actually first imagined as a veggie burger and then was used for coating Scotch eggs. I made just a couple of changes to the recipe so as to use what I had on hand, and I was beyond thrilled with the results. The mixture held together very well, and the outside fried to a crisp around the soft-boiled eggs. Not only do you get a tender soft-boiled egg surround by a crispy, tasty, fried coating, there's another bonus to making Scotch eggs. You know how fresh eggs can be difficult to peel after boiling? If there are any uneven surfaces on the eggs after they're peeled, you'll never see them once they're coated with the beet mixture. Everything about these eggs made me very happy.

I decided to go with soft-boiled rather than hard-boiled eggs thinking that the eggs would cook a little more in the hot oil causing the yolks to set, and that's exactly what happened. I used the smallest ones from the carton I had, but you can really use any size of eggs you'd like. I placed five eggs in a saucepan, covered them with water, added a pinch of salt, and brought the water to a boil. As soon as the water bubbled, I turned the heat to low, covered the pan, and let the eggs cook for eight minutes. I drained the eggs and peeled them while still warm, and they were fresh enough to still be difficult to peel but, delightfully, that didn't matter here. For the beet mixture, I peeled two medium beets and chopped them. The beets were placed in a food processor with a chopped leek, about three ounces of firm tofu that I squeezed a bit to remove some water, two chopped green onions, about three tablespoons of flaxseed meal, a quarter cup of toasted breadcrumbs, two peeled and chopped cloves of garlic, an egg, and salt and pepper. The mixture was processed until a paste developed. If the mixture is too dry, try adding a tablespoon or two of water, and if it's too wet add a little more breadcrumbs. The beet mixture was pressed around each egg, and I had extra which I formed into two veggie burgers for another day. Once the eggs were encased in the beet mixture, I rolled each one in some remaining breadcrumbs before frying. I fried them, two or three at a time, in about an inch of grape seed oil in a saucepan, turning from time to time, for about five minutes total.

Did I mention how much I enjoyed these eggs? I already want to make them again for a party and use quail eggs for a daintier portion. They'd look great cut in half and lined up on a serving tray. Or, I could imagine going the other direction and using duck eggs. One Scotch duck egg cut in half with some smoked salmon on top of each piece would make a lovely brunch meal. Obviously, I'll be making this recipe repeatedly.

Tuscan Squash Pie

In my last post, I mentioned the Cooking Away my CSA group. The information shared by this group will reveal what’s offered in different areas at different points in the season, and it’s great for getting ideas about how to use the vegetables we receive. When I receive a lot of one vegetable and need ideas, I reach for Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. I go straight to the index, look up whatever that vegetable is, and find several options influenced by different cooking styles from around the world. Here in Austin, it’s already that zucchini time of year. I’ve received zucchini and yellow squash in my last couple of CSA pick-ups, and last week, there was also a big, pretty pattypan squash. I find pattypans are a little firmer or maybe thicker-skinned than other summer squashes, but I tend to use them as I do zucchini. So, when I looked up zucchini in the World Vegetarian index, I found Tuscan zucchini pie and decided it would be just as good with pattypan squash.

In making this pie, I went rogue with a few of the details. Obviously, I made a substitution for the main ingredient. I also added some red bell pepper because I had some that needed to be used, and I thought it would look as nice as it would taste. And, even though the ingredients were supposed to have been split between two eight-inch pans, I piled them all into one 12-inch tart pan. A custard was made from eggs, flour, milk, and water. To that, minced garlic, sliced scallions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg were added. In the introduction to the recipe, there’s a suggestion about adding some grated parmigiano reggiano if you’d like. Of course, I’d like, so I most certainly added the cheese. The sliced squash and bell pepper were arranged in the tart pan in two layers, and the custard was poured over top. I reserved a little grated parmigiano to sprinkle on top, and then drizzled on olive oil before baking.

To serve, a second drizzle of olive oil was suggested for each piece, but I used leftover basil oil instead. Although this is a custard pie, it’s not heavy at all and the vegetables are the main attraction here. The custard served to just barely bind the sliced squash into a cohesive whole. The scallions and garlic added great flavor, and in my opinion, the parmigiano should have been included in the recipe rather than mentioned as an option. This was a nice dinner with salad and garlic toast on the side, but it would work well for brunch too. The amount of custard could be easily scaled up, and several other vegetable combinations come to mind that might be used here. It’s essentially a crust-less quiche, but with these particular vegetables, and just a few tablespoons of grated cheese, it was a perfectly light, summery meal.

Easter 08 Menus

Brunch:
Breakfast Bread Pudding with organic, pure maple syrup
Roasted Asparagus with Parmagiana Regiano
Scrambled Farm Fresh Eggs from the Austin Farmers' Market
Mixed fruit salad

--Brunch was very Ina Garten-inspired. I followed her recipe for the breakfast bread pudding. I think next time I'll slice the bread a little thinner.

Dinner:
Artichoke, Leek, and Goat Cheese Dip with crudites and crostini

-This is a recipe from the March issue of Cooking Light. I revised it as follows:
1/2 c low-fat plain yogurt
3 oz goat cheese, softened
1/4 c sliced leek
1-14 oz can artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
1/3 c grated Pecorino Romano
2 t fresh lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
1 T chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste

- rinse and drain the artichokes well and squeeze excess liquid from them
- combine yogurt, goat cheese, Pecorino, and leeks in a food processor and process until smooth; add lemon juice and zest and pulse to incorporate; add artichokes and pulse to roughly chop; transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in salt, pepper, and chives; chill until ready to serve

Halibut with Lemon Pepper Sour Cream Sauce
--This recipe is from the March issue of Bon Appetit and was intended for salmon. Here's my rendition:
For marinade:
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
2 T olive oil
1 T finely chopped leek or shallot
-combine all ingredients in a shallow glass dish

For sauce:
3 T sour cream
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 t lemon zest
1 T finely chopped leek or shallot
Salt to taste
Lots of pepper

-pre-heat oven to 425°
-place two halibut fillets in shallow glass dish with marinade and chill for 15 minutes to one hour turning every eight minutes or so
-heat additional olive oil in a sauté pan over high heat; season halibut with salt and pepper and place presentation side down in sauté pan; let cook without touching for 3-4 minutes; (a spatter screen is handy here); turn fillets and place sauté pan in oven for 3-4 minutes depending on thickness of fillets
-serve with seasonal vegetables and drizzle sauce over top

Sauteed Farmers' Market Spring Vegetables (oyster mushrooms, asparagus, carrots, leeks)

Meringues Chantilly


--This is from Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home by Ina Garten. (I should have cut the recipe in half since it makes 12.) I used a little less sugar than was listed for the meringues and the whipped cream because the berries were perfectly sweet. Unfortunately, I didn't have a large star tip for piping, so the meringues have a smooth edge, and they browned just slightly in the oven but were extremely delicious.