Apple and Almond Butter Breakfast Sandwich

Ah, lazy days when breakfast is a many hour affair, enjoyed from my sweater wrapped cocoon on the porch, steaming tea in hand.  For me, this simple breakfast sandwich is the perfect thing to linger over.

 

To make:  Place a pan over medium heat.  Thinly slice some honey oat bread.  Slather both inside faces of sandwich with Justin's classic almond butter, top with sliced Pink Lady apples and sprinkle with ceylon cinnamon.  Spread butter on outside sandwich faces and toast until golden brown.  Enjoy with tea for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

Carmalized Onion, Saffron Dover Sole with Spinach Goat Cheese Fritters

Flipping through the latest issue of Saveur the other day, I saw a recipe for fresh anchovies, nestled between layers of sweet caramelized onions and baked.  Here in Boulder, fresh anchovies are hard to come by, but I was eager to try the technique nonetheless.  After discussing the matter with my local market's fish guy, I chose Dover Sole, the smallest wild fresh fish available.  It's mild flavor would be perfect to soak up all the goodness during it's saffron, sweet onion burial.

On a SIDE note (pun intended), Alexander and I were left with 5 pounds of spinach after a recent event, and despite our heroic consumption of the stuff, the bag has barely dwindled.  So, as with every meal of the last week or so, this dish will be accompanied by... SPINACH! 

The finished plate; succulent white fish sits atop a generous pile of sweet saffron onions accompanied by crisp, tender spinach goat cheese fritters.  

The method:

1.  Infuse a pinch of saffron in 1/4 cup hot water. 
2.  Place a roomy pan on medium low heat with a generous spash of good olive oil.  Slice one large (or two medium) yellow onions into thin strips.  Toss them in the pan and cook, slowly, for about 35-40 minutes until they are sweet, soft and lightly golden. 
3.  Meanwhile, wilt about 8 cups packed baby spinach.  I do this by placing the freshly washed, moist spinach into a covered pan on low heat.  Stir occasionally to prevent the bottom from sticking.  Let cool slightly, chop and place in a medium bowl.  Add 4 oz. goat cheese, a pinch of salt, and freshly ground black pepper.  Mix together and set aside.
4. Preheat the oven to 350.  When the onions are caramelized, add three cloves chopped garlic and a generous handful of quartered cherry tomatoes.  Cook until the tomatoes break down and release their juices, 3-4 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with saffron infusion, scraping up all the flavorful browned bits at the bottom of the pan.  Salt to taste.
5.  In a pie plate or other similarly sized baking vessel, place about half of the onion mixture.  Lay 4 small sole fillets over the onion, sprinkle with salt, then top with the rest of the onion.  Bake for about 25 minutes.  Pull back the onions carefully when checking the fish; you don't want to accidentally rake open your lovely fillets.  You don't have to be too concerned with over-baking here- the onions keep the fish very moist. 
 

6.  When the fish is almost done, fire up a skillet over medium high heat.  Grease with cooking oil or butter.  Form the spinach mixture into 3" patties, dredge both sides in flour (I used bob's red mill gluten free; rice flour or any other will work here), and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.  You should get about 8 patties.    
7.  Plate it up!  I like to spoon some of the saffron broth over the fish after it's on the plate, then sprinkle the whole dish with a bit of black sea salt.

This recipe feeds two people as a main plate or 4 people as a tapas-style dish.

Whiskey Apple Cake

A few weeks back, some friends and I planned a get-together in which we would open a bottle of nice whiskey and play apples-to-apples, arguably the best game on earth.  In my planner I wrote: Wednesday Night, Whiskey and Apples.  Thus began the slow process of self-subliminal messaging that culminated in this amazing cake:   

The cake is dense and chewy, with defiant apple flavor and the subtle undertones of rye whiskey.  Oat flour highlight its overall celtic quality. 

I modified a recipe for Sticky Spiked Double-Apple Cake in my favorite dessert cookbook, In the Sweet Kitchen, by Regan Daley. 

Spiced Whiskey Apple Cake

1.  In a small bowl, soak 1 cup raisins in 1/3 cup whiskey for 45 minutes.  Add 1 cup dried apples slices and let soak another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Do not drain.

2.  Preheat oven to 325.  Butter an 11" springform pan, or a 9x13 pan.  Line the bottom with parchment and butter the paper.

3.  Sift together 1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole grain oat flour, 1 1/2 t. baking soda, pinch of salt, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves.

4.  In another bowl, whisk 2 eggs with 1 cup dark, flavorful honey until well combined.  Add 1/2 cup olive oil mixed with 1/2 cup melted coconut butter (or 1 cup melted and cooled butter).  Blend well.  Fold in dry ingredients in two additions, mixing just enough to moisten most of the flour.  Add the dried fruit and whiskey mixture, along with 3/4 cup toasted chopped pecans and 2 diced medium tart apples.  Fold in with gentle strokes.  The ratio of fruit to batter is high.  Don't be alarmed.

5.  Scrape the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes to 55 minutes, or until cake begins to pull away from edges of the pan.  Cool slightly, remove from pan and cool completely.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Theoretically this cake should keep well.  We never found out...

Tartine de Sardine

Getting home from work the other day, ravenous yet uninspired, I accidentally discovered something utterly delicious.  It was another pre-shopping day.  I hopefully cracked open the refrigerator door to find the shelves empty besides a half bunch of wilting parsley.  Luckily, however, I had bread.  Good bread.  The kind you bite into and it bites back.  And, lost in the back of the ever faithful cupboard: wild sardines from Portugal, steeped in cayenne-infused olive oil.  The makings of a fine lunch, I decided smugly, and set to work.

Preheat Broiler.  Cut bread into thick slices.  Drizzle with olive oil from sardine can.  Broil until golden brown and sizzling, about 3 minutes.  Meanwhile, toss a salad in mustard vinaigrette.  Chop some parsley.  When the bread is perfectly toasted, place it on a crisp white plate next to the salad.  Top with sardines, parsley, and a healthy squeeze of lemon.  Sink your teeth in, relishing the feel of silky omega-3s dripping down your chin...

Blueberry Almond Muffins

When Sunday morning rolled around, gray and rainy, I instinctively pulled out my muffin tin.  What could better complete a quiet day of tea, sweatpants and good books than a batch of steamy, delicious blueberry muffins?

A couple challenges: we're out of flour and Alexander is not eating dairy.

No problem:  Almonds, ground in the food processor, form the base.  Equal parts olive oil and melted coconut butter provide the fat.

Preheat the oven to 300.  Grease or line 8 muffin cups.  Pulse a generous 3 cups almonds until ground.  Mix with: 2 large eggs, 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 c. melted coconut butter, 1/4 c. honey, 1 t. baking soda, 2 t. vanilla and a pinch of salt.  If the mixture is too thick, add a bit more olive oil.  Stir in 1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries. 

Scoop into muffin cups, filling almost to the top, and bake for 35 minutes until golden brown.  Slather with coconut butter and serve.  Perfect accompaniment to Rooibos Earl Gray with almond milk. 

Fajita Salad with Pineapple Cumin Dressing

I came home a few days ago aching for the zippy, fresh flavors of real Mexican food.  Luckily, my fridge provided just what I needed to satisfy my desire.  Crisp romaine lettuce dressed with pineapple cumin vinaigrette provided the base, while sautéed bell peppers, garlicky black beans, habanero salsa, fresh guacamole and the show-stopper, chunks of barely-charred pineapple, played around on top.

For the pineapple chunks and dressing:
   Fire up your broiler.  Cut the pineapple into large chunks, removing the skin and the core.  Over a large-mouthed jar or bowl, squeeze the core and the skin in order to extract the juice.  You should have at least 1/3 cup from a large, ripe pineapple.  Set aside.
   Place the pineapple chunks on a baking pan and broil until they get nice and brown (even a little black around the edges).  Flip over and brown the other side.  Remove from oven and let cool.
   Meanwhile, make the dressing: whisk 1/3 cup pineapple juice with 1/2 tsp cumin, a pinch of salt and about 1/3 cup olive oil.

For the Salad:
   Slice bell peppers into long strips and saute over medium high until they start to sweat.
   Warm up some cooked or canned black beans, tossing in 3-4 minced garlic cloves.  Season to taste with salt.
   Chop some romaine, and toss with dressing and a handful of chopped cilantro.  Top with beans, peppers, guacamole, salsa, pineapple chunks and anything else that inspires you (seared Mahi-Mahi; citrus-glazed chicken; sweet corn; toasted tortilla strips...)  

Handmade Unsalted Butter

A few weeks ago I came into a gallon of raw, farm-fresh cream.  After a couple batches of creme fraiche, several creamy desserts, and a lot of decadent earl gray tea, my fridge still boasted 3 quarts and I still had not, alas, gained the capacity to drink the stuff straight.  So the cream sat waiting for my next inspiration, slowly taking on that pleasant tang of age.  When the march swap came around, the cream was sweet and full of flavor, with a background sourness that made it perfect for butter.

So, I sat down with the remaining cream in an extra-large mason jar and started shaking.  The Internet promised that, eventually, my efforts would pay off, the fat would separate from the liquid and I could revive my tired body with spoonfuls of unctuous, sweet butter.  Alas, I'll never know- after half an hour, my arms wilting with fatigue, I gave up, plunged my immersion blender into the jar, and within 2 minutes - voila!

After settling down from the delight of actually making butter, I poured the contents of my mason jar through a strainer, reserving the buttermilk for later use.  I rinsed the fresh butter twice with cold, filtered water, pressing it into the sieve to release any extra moisture.  I then formed it into a long log, wrapped it in parchment paper and stuck it in the fridge overnight.  In the morning I took it out, cut it into smaller pieces, wrapped it decoratively and headed proudly off to the swap.  No surprise- my farm-fresh unsalted butter was a big hit!