Eggs Baked in Tomatoes

These are delicious and super easy. All you have to do is scoop, crack, bake and eat. They're also pretty filling - I made two for dinner but with some toast on the side one tomato will fill you up.

Romaine Pesto and Egg-Stuffed Tomatoes
Adapted from Gourmet*

6 tbsp pesto, any kind
6 large tomatoes (about 3 inches in diameter)
6 large eggs at room temperature
Parmesan for serving

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut off about 1/8 inch from top of each tomato with a sharp knife. You may also want to cut a sliver off the bottom then oil the cut bit so they stand upright better. Scrape out pulp and seeds with a spoon and discard them. Put tomatoes, cut sides up, in a 9-inch glass or ceramic dish and spoon 1 tablespoon pesto into each tomato. Crack 1 egg into each tomato and season with salt and pepper. Bake eggs in tomatoes until whites are set and yolks are still runny, 18 to 22 minutes. Grate some Parmesan on top and eat.

*The original recipe also included a instructions for making your own romaine-parsley pesto. As I find storebought pesto perfectly delicious and much simpler, I didn't bother making my own.

Coady

I haven't tried this yet, but I thought I would post it. I read about "Coady" sauce in the newspaper and googled it to find out what it is. It's a Newfoundland thing and I thought I'd share it.

If anyone tries it first, let me know how it tastes!

Figgy Duff

“Figgy” refers to the raisins and “Duff” refers to the dough mixture.

2 cups breadcrumbs
1 cup raisins
1 tsp. baking soda
tbsp. hot water
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup flour
½ cup molasses
1 tsp each of ginger, allspice & cinnamon


To make breadcrumbs soak dry bread in enough water to soften. Drain and squeeze bread to remove excess water. Break into crumbs and measure 2 cups. Mix crumbs, raisins, molasses and melted butter. Them combine baking soda and water to crumb mixture. Mix well. Grease 4-cup molds and pour pudding into the mold. Cover top with a piece of greased foil and fold over the sides of the mold to keep steam out. Place molds in a large pot and add boiling water till it reaches the halfway mark on the molds. Cover and steam for 2 hours or until firm to touch. Serve with Molasses Coady (below).

Molasses Coady

1 cup molasses
¼ cup butter
¼ cup water

In a saucepan, combine ingredients. Heats to a boil then simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Serve over Figgy Duff.

Tomato, Barley and Garlic Risotto

This is a really easy and delicious risotto. The only thing I found wrong with the recipe was the amount of garlic: it originally suggested using two whole heads, and even though I cut that down to a quarter of a head it was still pretty garlicky. Next time I think I'd use just two cloves.

Barley, Tomato and Garlic Risotto
From Yotam Ottolenghi's The New Vegetarian

2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
750g fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
200g (1 can) tomato paste
½ tsp smoky paprika
⅛ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp picked thyme
4 strips fresh lemon zest
1½ tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
270g (1 ½ cup) pearl barley, well rinsed in cold water and drained
Roughly 200ml water
20g chopped coriander leaves, plus extra to garnish (Didn't have, didn't use)
Black pepper
200g feta, crumbled roughly (Ditto)

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan and sauté the garlic quarters for about two minutes, or until golden. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, paprika, chilli, thyme, lemon zest, sugar, salt, barley and a ladleful of water; stir and bring the mix to a simmer. Cook over minimal heat for 50-60 minutes, until the barley is tender but still firm to the bite. You'll need to stir it from time to time, so it doesn't stick to the pan, and add water occasionally, making sure there is always just enough liquid left in the pot to cook the barley. At the end of the cooking, the mix should be runny enough easily to spoon into bowls.

Once done, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the coriander and some freshly ground black pepper. Add most of the feta, stir gently so the cheese doesn't break up too much and stays in largish chunks, taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Spoon into serving bowls and sprinkle with the reserved feta and coriander.

Roasted Chicken with Dijon Sauce

As soon as I saw this I had to make it, since I love mustard and happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of bone-in skin-on, since that's what I had in the freezer; if you do this cover the pan in the oven and roast for the lesser amount of time.

Roasted Chicken with Dijon Sauce
3 pounds chicken, with skin and bones
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 small shallots, thinly sliced
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream (I had milk and just boiled a little longer)
2 tablespoons smooth Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives or the green parts of scallions (didn't have, didn't use)

Preheat oven to 450°F with a rack in middle. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown chicken, skin side down first and turning once, about 5 minutes per batch. Don’t move the chicken until the skin is bronzed and releases itself.

Return all chicken, skin side up, to skillet and roast in oven until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter, then add shallots, wine, and broth to pan juices in skillet and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cream and boil until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. To thicken the sauce further, turn the heat to high and boil it until it reduces to a consistency you prefer. Whisk in mustard, chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken with sauce.

Cinnamon Buns

These are amazing. I want to make the sticky buns next! (Sorry, no description today - back to work!)

Cinnamon Buns
6 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
5 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp lemon zest or extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/8 - 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (6 1/2 tbsp cinnamon + 1 1/2 tbsp sugar)

Cream together the sugar, salt and butter. Whip in the egg and lemon zest until smooth. Than add the flour, yeast and milk. Stir until the dough forms into a ball, then knead until the dough is supple and tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little water. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat with oil. Cover and let sit at room temperature until doubled.

Roll the dough into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and about 14'' by 12'' (for larger buns) or 18" by 9" (for smaller buns). Sprinkle over with cinnamon sugar and roll the dough up into a log. cut the roll of dough into 8 to 12 even pieces (for larger buns) or 12 to 16 pieces (for smaller buns).

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the buns so that they are close but not touching, about 1/2 inch apart. Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into each other and nearly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 350°F with oven rack in the middle. Bake buns for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool about 10 minutes, then streak with fondant glaze while they are warm but not hot.

White Fondant Glaze
The recipe calls for 4 cups of confectioner's sugar; I think I used 1/2 cup. Make as much as you think you will need.

Confectioner's sugar
Milk
Vanilla or lemon extract (optional - I used vanilla but I think I would prefer plain)

Sift powdered sugar then whisk in enough milk to make a thick paste. Add flavouring if desired, then drizzle over buns.

Bonus Pic: Ciabatta, the recipe for which (as well as the above) can be found in The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Farmer's Benedict

This dish is based on a delicious twist on eggs Benedict that I had at the Elgin Street Diner a few weeks ago. The original dish swapped out the English muffins for a bed of pan-fried potatoes, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach and ham, topped with poached eggs and Hollandaise. My version is a little different, as I tossed in mushrooms instead of the ham and, being put off by the effort and stick of butter that goes into Hollandaise sauce, topped it with a slice of stinky cheese. I would really recommend the Hollandaise version as well, if you can be bothered to make it.

Farmer's Benedict
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 to 1 pound fingerling potatoes, quartered
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (Or ham or bacon lardons)
A few handfuls of baby spinach
Eggs

Boil potatoes until they are just tender but not entirely cooked. Meanwhile, saute mushrooms over medium-high heat until the liquid they release has evaporated. Add the potatoes to the pan, season with salt and pepper and saute until crisp on the outside. Add the tomatoes and spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted.

Top with a poached egg and Hollandaise or a melty cheese.

Win Cake

I had another dinner to go to so I decided to re-try the whole "baking a cake" thing. It couldn't have come at a better time, because I really wanted to try this recipe but I was a little anxious because I hate pears - good thing my friends don't mind acting as guinea pigs for my baking experiments! This one turned out great, so great that I was still wishing I hadn't left the uneaten half at their place a week later. Definitely a keeper.

This is one recipe where I have to admit that you will want a KitchenAid or electric beaters, as my weakling human arms couldn't get the eggs beaten quite well enough, not to mention that they were killing me after a few minutes.

Torta di Pere [Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake]
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, at room-temperature
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 pears, peeled, in a small dice
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust with breadcrumbs; set aside. [I just buttered it]

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick.

While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and cook it until the butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from the heat but keep in a warm spot.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more. Just as the egg-sugar mixture is starting to loose volume, turn the mixture down to stir, and add the flour mixture and brown butter. Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the flour, the remaining butter, and the rest of flour. Whisk until just barely combined — no more than a minute from when the flour is first added — and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over the top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes, or a tester comes out clean.