Depleted

I’m sick. I’m sick, and two very strange things happened to me today. After having consumed only soup for something ridiculous like 4 consecutive meals, I thought, I’ll bake a savoury tart. Wait. Those weren’t the strange things. I thought I’d bake a tart because I had some lovely eggs, and some mean blue cheese. So forward I marched, to start on some pastry, chill it, then begin thinking up ideas for filling, and what did I find? You might want to sit down for this. I was out of all-purpose flour! And butter! I know! Impossible right? Today was the end of the world. I am writing to you now from the afterlife. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking clearly I went to hell if it’s 40 degrees out and I had to make a crust out of twelve-grain flour and olive oil… but it wasn’t bad at all! I swear. I know I’m sick and my taste buds (or judgement) can’t be trusted but I’m telling you it was kinda… good. Do you think it’s the 40degree heat and flu medication? Who knows...

Emergency Tarte Aux Oignons

Crust
1C 9-grain flour
Just under 1/4c good Olive oil
¼ C ice water
½ tsp salt
1tsp dry rosemary

Filling
1 Large Spanish/Red Onion
2 Large Portobello Mushrooms
3 good eggs
½ C Milk (if you use skim we can’t be friends)
½ C Yogurt
1C Ricotta
¼ C Crumbled Blue Cheese (or more if you like more)
Salt and Pepper to Taste

In a mixing bowl mix together the crust ingredients to make a pliable dough. Wrap in plastic and chill for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cut Mushrooms in strips and Sauté with olive oil, salt and pepper. Caramelize the onion to your liking. Drain any liquid from the sautéed mushrooms and mix with the onion. Set aside.

With an electric beater (or whisk) beat the eggs until they increase a little in volume. Add milk, yogurt, and ricotta beating on medium speed. Taste and season. Remember no one likes an under-seasoned savory tart.

Take out the dough and roll it out to fit your baking vessel. If it’s cracking leave it out to warm up a bit. That should help. There’s no butter in there anyway so no point in keeping it so cold. Once your baking tin is lined with your dough, arrange the onion/mushroom mixture in there evenly, then scatter some crumbled blue cheese all over. Finally, pour the egg mixture over everything and give yourself a round of applause.

Pop your tart in the oven and bake 45-55minutes. When the tart is ready, it shouldn’t jiggle in the middle. You’ll know. How is it? Am I losing my mind or is the cracker-like crust kinda cool?

The Continuing Tale of the Challah

What does one 115lb girl do with two huge loaves of Challah? Deliver one loaf on bike to best friend. Then come home and proceed with the other loaf. Two slices at a time. Day one: Rice Crispy and Orange zest French Toast. Day Two: poached eggs and grilled tomatoes. I love brunch. You should come over and join me sometime!

Rice Crispy & Orange zest French Toast
2 thick slices of Challah (day old at least)
2 eggs beaten with a few tbsp milk
orange zest
1 tsp confectioner's sugar
handful rice crispies
butter

Whisk the eggs, milk, zest, and sugar in a shallow dish. Soak the slices of bread on all sides until all liquid is absorbed, then roll in the puffed rice, pressing down to secure them in the bread. Fry in a few tablespoons of butter in your favorite pan.

Optional: you can peal and segment your orange and cook it down with a few tbsp honey and more orange zest as a topping. heck you could even put some Grand Marnier in the mix.

Poached Eggs and Grilled Summer Tomatoes

2 eggs
1 tomato (sliced thick)
salt pepper olive oil
2 slices Challah (try not to burn yours like mine)

I used a stove-top griddle to get the best out of my tomatoes. You can use whatever you prefer. Cast iron works best I find. Poaching eggs isn't that hard either. Just get the water to a rolling boil and the bubbles will keep the eggs afloat. One good tip though, is to break each egg in a small vessel first so you can drop them in the water with ease.

I still have Challah left. In case you were wondering...

What Are You Gonna Put on that Bread?

This story starts a few days back. It was Thursday I think and everyone just seemed to do and say the wrong things. It's hard to explain. Small talk and unhealthy curiosity can really rub me the wrong way so I came home and thought, I'm gonna have a coffee, sit on the couch and do nothing for a while and then bake bread. I proceeded in that order and by the time the dough had risen twice I was starting to feel a little better about things. That yeasty smell in the kitchen was doing good things for me. By the time the Bread was baking and I was having my second coffee and scribbling in my book, I heard the ding ding of a message from a friend who asked the first good question of the day: "What are you gonna put on that bread?" By the time I'd waited for the loaf to cool and sliced into it and contemplated its fate, it seemed so obvious. Butter. So I let him know that was the decision and of course, he agreed it was a sound one. Things were feeling better already...


Recipe: Challah Loaf (makes two loaves)

1 1/4C warm water
2 tsp dry active yeast
4C (roughly) All Purpose/Bread Flour
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C Vegetable Oil
4 eggs
1tsp salt
Sesame or poppy seeds for the top

Whisk the water, yeast, one tsp sugar and 1/4c flour to get things bubbling. Set this aside for at least 10 minutes, but no more than 20.

Whisk in the sugar, oil, 3eggs (NOT 4) and salt. Add the rest of the flour one cup at a time mixing with a sturdy wooden spoon until the dough is coming together into one ball and not sticking too much. Transfer to a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes adding flour if needed, until the dough is round, smooth, elastic, and "cohesive".

Put the ball in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a reasonably warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk. About an hour. Maybe more.

Punch down and divide into 6 equal parts to make two braided loaves on a baking sheet that's either well-greased or parchment lined. Cover and let rise again until doubled and good looking. Preheat the oven to 325. Beat the last egg with a touch of milk or water and give the tops of the loaves a good egg wash, followed by seeds if you're into that. Bake 30-40 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when you tap them on the bottom. If the tops are browning too fast cover with foil and return to the oven.

Wait till they're cool if you can. It's hard but it's worth it... There's something else I did with my Challah that will have to be the topic for the next post.

Newness

This is Pipp. He is the newest addition to my family. he started out really small and has just moved into his bigger tin can. I have a feeling he's gonna need even more space soon. I've been trying to incorporate a lot of herbs into what I cook these days just to keep up with the ones I have in my kitchen. Soon I'm gonna have to resort to pesto-making, but it's still under control. Sweet basil in a savory crepe with cracked pepper and pecorino romano, which the cheese lady didn't let me pay for? So I went home for lunch today, you can probably tell. It was indulgent and brilliant.

All Purpose Crepes

2 eggs (get real farm eggs they're delicious)
1 1/4c good milk
1c sifted flour (a.p. or pastry will do)
pincha salt
1tsp sugar
2 tbsp melted butter or other oil you like

Mix the above ingredients really really well. If you feel like cleaning a blender, you could use that but I just used my big big whisk and burned some calories. The consistency should ideally be like heavy cream. If it's like custard, you need more milk. You want a runny batter with no clumps.

Chill covered for about an hour. I made mine in the morning before I went to work and used it at lunch. That worked just fine.

In a non-stick crepe pan/frying pan that has been lightly oiled on medium heat, cook 1/4c batter at a time. Swirl the pan to get a thin and even(ish) crepe but don't fuss. You'll wreck a few and get the hang of it. cook for a minutes or so per side, and use your own judgment for doneness, pans and batters vary, of course. If you're like me and you cooked way too many crepes, cook the ones you're not eating a little less and wrap and refrigerate them. Then when you want to eat one, you can heat it on the same pan and it won't brown too much.
So so good. I promise.

I couldn't resist. I had a sweet one with brown sugar and lemon, too.

Happy new year to all (and one year to us!)

Wow, The Salty Pear is a year old. How odd and exciting and fun to think that our little experiment and reminder to ourselves to write down our recipes has become something shared and beautiful and fun for our friends, family and everyone else. And it's lasted fifty-two months of photographs, picked up from the pharmacy, four apartments and three broken bodums, while keeping two cooks thoroughly happy and sated. We wish a happy new year to all! And resolve to keep cooking and posting, eating and reading, and not the least of all, enjoying it all.

We didn't manage to get much posted last month. Not that our holiday season kept us from the kitchen--- we managed to make chocolate barks, tarts, cookies, a roasted bird, nuts and all kinds of Christmas and Yalda treats. Not to mention all the scrumptious Canadiana winter snacks and the Persian pomegranites being in season--- so yummy. Maybe even more exciting, the promise of a present: there is a gorgeous little chrome, hand-crank pasta maker in our kitchen, tried and tested on New Years Eve. Expect a plethora of pasta recipes to follow shortly. But for starters, a wonderful, airy breakfast to start fresh in January.


Buttermilk Waffles and Strawberries (best served with Mimosas and Maple syrup)

Dry ingredients

1 1/2 C All-purpose or C & P flour
1 tbsp baking powder
a pinch of fine salt

Wet ingredients

1 1/4 C buttermilk (add a 1/4 C of yogurt and a tsp of vinegar into 1C of 2% milk if unavailable)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, whites separated and set aside
2 tbsp butter, melted
a pint of strawberries, sliced for garnish

Start by preheating your waffle iron (if you don't have one you're missing out -- ours only cost like ten bucks, just skip the next bad movie you were going to see in a theatre and treat yourself). Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Whisk melted butter, vanilla and egg yolks into buttermilk, or substitute dairy concoction. Form a well in the dry ingredients, and gently stir in wet ingredients with a fork. Be careful not to over mix, or you'll end up with an unaerated batter. Now, whisk your egg whites until they form stiff, erect peaks. If you have an egg beater or electric beater or whatever, go for it. Just make sure the whites are stiff. Then, quickly with as few turns as possible, fold the whites into the batter. Cook immediately, the iron should stop spewing steam to let you know they're done. Remove and serve when golden brown, topped with strawberries and syrup. Reenact a new years toast with OJ and bubbly, for fun. Enjoy and best in 2011.

Bourbon for Brunch?

The little town where we live now (because I go to school here) has been feeling, in all honesty, a tad lonely. We don't often think about this because well, we don't have to, but it's not always easy making friends. For the time being, though, we're both trying to be positive and not let the change of scenery and its confines hinder the things we really love and believe in doing. The closest I can come to a conclusion about all of this is that sometimes life rearranges around you in a way that you (even if momentarily) need to make yourself happy while you work your way toward something. This isn't self-deceit, it's honest and hard work and it requires creativity and humility. It's something like the opposite of escape to the sanctuary of the familiar. Food is a big way we keep our mental health; really. Taking time with food makes an unbelievable difference.

Caramel Bourbon Croissant Pudding à la Nigella

• 3 stale croissants
• 6-8tbsp sugar (white or brown)
• 2 tbsp water
• 125ml light/heavy cream
• 150ml milk
• 2 tbsp bourbon
• 3 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Tear the croissants into pieces and put in a small gratin dish (you can save one whole and put it on top of the pieces for aesthetics); a cast iron oval dish would work perfectly but use whatever you've got.

Swirl around the sugar in the water in a saucepan to help dissolve before putting on the stove over medium/ high heat. Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away, without stirring, until it all turns a deep amber colour (3-5 minutes). Turn to low, pour in the cream and whisk while adding the milk and bourbon. Take off the heat and, still whisking, add the beaten eggs.

Now you've got a bourbon custard, which you will pour over the croissants and leave to steep for 5-10 minutes depending on how stale the croissants are. If you have a whole one on top, poke holes in it and press it to make sure it soaks up enough custard.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the custard has set. Serve with Strong coffee and something light like citrus segments... Life is good.

Morning Magic

Some mornings you feel like a hot shower and a pot of tea with milk and sugar. Some mornings you want an espresso, a croissant, and a collection of short stories. And some mornings you want to take some time and make breakfast. It's different than wanting to eat breakfast. The pleasure is in the time you take to think about what you want to make, in gathering the ingredients from the fridge and cupboards, and in slowly putting it all together while sipping your coffee and listening to your favorite morning show on the radio. Here's a recipe for such a morning when you feel completely up for the simple yet precise work of making lovely and delicate crèpes and some suggestions for how you might want to dress them . Remember, though, as far as toppings go, the only recipe to follow is your own feelings cravings and moods...


Recipe: Simple Crèpes
2 large eggs
3/4c milk
1/2c water
1c flour
3tbsp melted butter
butter for the pan

Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth and evenly mixed (about 10sec), and refrigerate for 30min-1h. This gets rid of the bubbles so your lovely crèpes won't tear in the cooking process.

Heat a nonstick pan or crèpe pan on medium heat and coat with butter. Pour a ladle full of the runny batter in the middle and swirl to spread it thinly and evenly. Cook for about 30 seconds and using a spatula or something flat, flip and cook the other side for another 30 seconds.

The first crèpe is never good but it helps you gauge. Judging by the first one you can adjust the heat, the butter in the pan, and the amount of batter per crèpe. Continue cooking your crepes and stack them in a warm but not hot oven until you want to serve them. The batter keeps for 48 hours so you don't have to cook them all at once.

Suggested toppings:

˙Fresh lemon juice and brown sugar
˙Butter cinnamon and maple syrup
˙Nutella and fresh raspberries
˙Ricotta cheese and cherry preserve
˙Procuitto and fresh figs...

Clafoutis de Tomate

Good tomatoes are so exciting. You can put them in the simplest dishes and they will give it a certain quelque chose that's hard to explain. As a server, I'm so confused when I clear plates with untouched tomatoes and I always try not to argue with people who try to ask for their food without tomatoes. It baffles me, really.
There's a fruit market on my way home that had a few baskets of these gorgeous tomatoes a few weeks ago and I grabbed a bunch and tried to bike home extra carefully so as not to crush them in my bag. We all made it home safe, and was it ever worth the adventure. I think we put them on a pizza that night and the next morning I thought I'd make a tomato clafoutis, which I traditionally make with cherry or grape tomatoes but this time I just chopped my vine tomatoes and it worked out beautifully.

Feel free to use different cheeses, depending on your mood or fridge and whatever you do, don't forget to butter the dish before you get started!


Recipe: Tomato Clafoutis

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 pack cherry tomatoes- or 2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
4 tbsp snipped fresh thyme or rosemary (dry works fine, too)
3/4 cup coarsely grated sharp cheese or crumbled goat's cheese
4 extra large eggs
1/4 cup (75 ml) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp (45 ml) sour cream or good yogurt
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease a shallow ovenproof dish such as an enamel cast iron casserole dish or an enamel pie dish. Place tomatoes in the dish spreading them out. Sprinkle with herbs, a dash of salt and some cracked pepper. Add most of your cheese at this point. If it's grated, sprinkle it all over, and if it's small chunks, place them around the tomatoes. Save about a quarter for on top.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk with the flour until smooth. Add the sour cream, then gradually whisk in the milk to achieve a thin, smooth batter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the batter over the cheese and tomatoes, and sprinkle remaining cheese and an extra grinding of pepper over the top. Bake until it's set, nicely puffed and golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Don't be alarmed if your clafoutis deflates upon cooling, it's supposed to.

Serve with some nice buttered baguette.

Be very careful if you are serving this dish to kids, as cherry tomatoes stay hot inside and can burn their tongues.

In Praise of Pancakes

We pick up our prints at the photo place every week or so, and flip through them excitedly deciding which post we're going to do next and drool over images of food we've eaten the week before. The cycle feeds itself. We cook delicious food, and it often looks great so we photograph it, and another roll of film is developed and... you get the idea. Pancakes have turned up in many of these rolls. They are such perfect canvases for whatever mood you (or your pantry) happen to be in, and I have decided to be completely unapologetic about the fact that there will be multiple posts regarding these little round griddle things. Here's a simple one that goes perfectly with a press full of dark roast and the Sunday paper...



Recipe: Buckwheat Blueberry Pancakes (for two)
1 egg
1 c all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 c buckwheat flour, sifted
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c buttermilk (you can make this yourself by adding white vinegar to milk and letting it rest)
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c fresh blueberries
butter for griddle/pan

Sift the Flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In larger bowl, whisk the egg and sugar until frothy, then add buttermilk milk, vanilla, and melted butter and whisk until mixed. Incorporate the dry ingredients with the buttermilk mixture using a fork and do not beat or over mix. Small lumps are fine.

Allow the batter to rest for ten minutes.

Preheat the over to 200°F. Lightly grease a griddle or frying pan with enough butter to coat the surface and bring to medium heat. Dispense the batter using an ice cream scoop or ladle, forming small circles depending on how many pancakes you would like to make. Cook for a few minutes, press in a few blueberries, and when small bubbles appear all over the pancake, flip. If they don't detach from the griddle easily, they're not ready to flip yet. Cook for a minute on the other side, and remove. At this point you can keep the cooked pancakes in the preheated oven until you are ready to serve them.

When the pancakes are done (or if you can multitask, in a separate frying pan) toss a cup of fresh blueberries in a tablespoon of butter on medium heat for a few minutes until berries are hot and sizzling.

Top the pancakes with the cooked berries and finish with a healthy drizzle of you favorite syrup. Good morning!

Mmm, Latkes with an egg on top

Because we have both been so boringly engaged in our jobs lately (boo) the posts have been meager but luckily our kitchen is still plentiful and the food shall hopefully continue to find its way into other home's kitchens and onto everyone's plates. This recipe is for one of my all time favourite comfort/breakfast foods: latkes. One of the restaurant/bars I worked at was a place called The Free Times Cafe, a venue that's been hosting great jazz and blues and anything rock related for the last thirty years in Toronto, and the owner and proprietor, Judy, hosts a Jewish brunch every weekend with live klezmer music and kick ass all you can eat kosher buffet, where there are always a heaping plate of steaming latkes. I adapted this recipe from what I watched the cooks do at those brunches, which Judy calls The "Bella! Did Ya Eat" Brunch in honour of her late mother. Anyway, chow down on these fried starch fritters with a friend and an egg.

Recipe: Red potato latkes

8 medium red potatoes, grated
1 small onion, minced
2 tbsp flour
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp salt
1/2C cooling oil
sour cream, to top

Start by grating your potatoes into a medium sized mixing bowl, then draining off all excess liquid, squeezing down the potato with your hands to press out the last drops of moisture. Next, add the minced onion (if you have a food processor you could turn them to paste and it would work just as well and help bind the ingredients together). Repeat the second step, draining all excess moisture from the ingredients. Now dust the mixture with flour, and stir into coat any remaining dampness on the potatoes and onions.

At this point, you should have a bowl with a dry, slightly sticky ball of potato and onion (add more flour if necessary, but don't over do it or you'll end up eating dough). Blend in the beaten egg and salt until completely melded. Heat the oil to medium-high in a frying pan which should be coated in at least a quarter inch of oil, add more if necessary (and don't worry you'll drain of the excess grease after cooking). Form palm sized latkes in between your two hands again pressing out any excess moisture, then place directly into hot oil and fry on either side for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown. Pat dry with paper towel and serve immediately with sour cream and a fried or poached egg on top.

If you managed to keep all the moisture out these should be the crunchiest, tastiest latkes you've ever tried. Also, they are absolutely ridiculous with sour cream and our homemade applesauce if you have the time to try our stovetop applesauce recipe, which can be made well in advance.

Eggs baked in cream of cremini

We pulled this baked egg recipe out of Martha Stewart's Cooking School cook book because it was a technique neither of us had tried before and we're wondering why. And after eating the results we promise you'll be asking yourself the same thing. Also, why aren't there baked eggs on the billion and one brunch places that have sprung up across every gentrified neighbourhood from Toronto to LA? What's with that? We should all be eating them, they're tasty, delicate and creamy without being smothered in hollandaise (Blogger: why do you think 'hollandaise' is a spelling error? It's just a concoction of butter and egg yolk with a little lemon). Martha's method for baked eggs is also really easy to make and doesn't take very long.


Recipe: Eggs baked in a mushroom cream sauce with toast soldiers

4 eggs (one per person)
1 shallot, chopped finely
1C cremini mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2C cream (heavy, table, or half/half)
4 slices of bread, toasted


Preheat oven to 375. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a pan and heat over medium-high. Sauté chopped shallot for a couple of minutes until soft, then add mushroom and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the cream over and stir vigorously until it comes to aboil, then remove from heat immediately! (If the cream is left to boil, it will taste like a burnt latte, e.g. me and my apron after a shift at the cafe = gross).

Use remaining oil to grease four medium (4 to 6" across) ramekins and place them on a baking sheet. Crack an egg into each dish and spoon in a quarter of the mushroom-cream sauce into each. Salt, pepper and bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until the whites are cooked and the yolks are runny.

Toast soldiers are made by toasting sliced bread and then cutting them lengthwise into dipping sticks. Eat the baked eggs while they're still hot, and dip liberally. Depending on if you're a double-dipper or not, you may need more than 4 pieces of toast. Now dip in.

Brunch for Dinner?

I worked at a French restaurant where we made hundreds of savory tarts and quiches for breakfast, brunch and lunch, so when I made one at home last night it was so refreshing to crack 3 eggs instead of 50 and not to worry about whether we'd have the tarts ready in time for the brunch rush. We had ours for dinner because we wanted to, so feel free, tart-lovers, to make one of these whenever the mood strikes. Tart time is any time. There's quite a bit of creative freedom with this tart, as the filling is really up to you, or the contents of your fridge. The only rule is to sauté whatever vegetable you want to use, to get some of the juices out and avoid getting a soggy crust.
Recipe: Goat cheese and pepper tart

Pastry:
1 c all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 c vegetable/extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c cold cold water

Filling:
3 eggs
1/2 c yogurt
1/2 c milk
3/4 c chevre (goat's cheese)

Sauteed veggies:
1/2 a red pepper, cored and sliced vertically
1/2 a green pepper, cored and sliced verticaly
1/2 a spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 a roma tomato diced or a handful of cherry tomatoes halved
fresh basil roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil, for the skillet

This recipe is for a simple savory shell, but if you have pie pastry in the freezer, or a store-bought pastry shell, feel free to use that. First, mix the flour and salt with a fork. Beat in the liquids to thicken until it clumps in to a dough. Then grab dough with your hand and form a disc. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes while you prepare your filling.

To prepare the filling, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, milk, and 1/4 c of chèvre in a medium bowl. Mix in the chopped basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté all of your prepped veggies over medium high heat in a cast iron or non-stick skillet for 3-5 minutes, or until the edges brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

Roll out your pastry on a floured surface to match the shape of whatever tart shell you are using. It should be about 1/4" thick. Press the pastry into your shell, poke holes in the bottom with a fork and trim excess from the edges. Then, evenly distribute the vegetables into the tart shell, and pour filling on top. The vegetables should be submerged but still visible. You don't want to drown them. Next, put spoonfuls of the remaining chèvre evenly throughout. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden at the edges and the egg mixture has raised all over. And don't you worry if the surface deflates and flattens when the tart cools, it's supposed to.