a savory crostata

I was looking for something to make for dinner and I stumbled upon some fruit crostatas (a yummy looking dessert!)... and decided I'd make a savory one for dinner... we have a boatload of cherry tomatoes, half a bag of frozen spinach, a ton of yellow onions, some garlic, and some vegan "sausage" I've been meaning to use for a while. So I'm attempting to whip up some goodness.

There isn't any cheese in the house (if there were, we'd be enjoying goat cheese covered with a fabulous jalepeno strawberry jam a parishoner gave me during VBS week). Also, there's a storm rolling in so I don't feel like trekking to the store for one ingredient!So this is a cheeseless tart. It's readying itself, so I'll tell you what the ingredients are...

crust: 155g flour, 2 pinches of salt, chopped rosemary (about 2T worth), 2t sugar, and 6T butter, some ice water to make the dough come together. That was rolled out into an ovular shape, placed on a cookie sheet with the ends rolled up to make an edge.I cooked the crust for 10 minutes at 375.

the topping...

in one pan I caramelized onions, added the sausage, added a sweet cayenne pepper from the garden, and the half bag of spinach, plus a pinch of salt. spread this on the crust, then make two indentations with the back of a soup spoon in the middle of the tart (you're reserving this space for the eggs)

in a second pan I cooked chopped garlic and cherry tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and olive oil for about 15 minutes. I took the tomatoes and garlic out of the liquid and I spread this around on top of the green sausage mix. I cooked down the liquid to use as a garnish at the end.


I cooked the tart for 15 more minutes, then I pulled it out of the oven an dropped a raw egg into each indentation. Put everything back in the oven until the eggs whites set. I cooked it 17 minutes and got mostly cooked yolks,  Drizzle the eggs with the thickened balsamic vinegar mix leftover from the tomat's.

This was yummy. Next time I would remove sugar from the crust entirely and up the salt slightly. I will probably also try cooking 12-15 minutes after adding eggs to achieve the runny yolks I prefer.

For dessert we had blueberry cobbler cooked in my favorite cast iron skillet. In the pan: 2c bluberries tossed with 1T sugar, 1/2t cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, 2T flour, and 3 T  lemon juice. For the topping: 80g white wheat flour, 1/3csugar, 1/4t salt, 1/4t baking powder, 1t vanilla, dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, 1 stick melted butter, and 1 egg. Mix it all together and spread it over the blueberries. Cook 40-50 minutes at 375. Let it cool for 10 minutes. I drizzled the servings with fresh raw cream and honey. DELISH!

easy bread?

ok, I'm trying this no-knead bread craze out (i'll leave the hard work to Jess!)... I read a whole bunch of websites and blogs posting a variety of recipes and this is what I'm trying:

3 c King Arthur White Wheat flour
1T vital wheat gluten
1t salt
.5t yeast (not instant)
1t braggs cider vinegar
1.75c warm water

I mixed it up and covered it with the shower cap. Will check on it sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon.

I'll let you know tomorrow if it worked.

yummy pasta

sorry there aren't photos, I didn't know I'd like it enough to write it down!

I cooked 8 cloves of garlic in 1/4c olive oil along with 1/2 c walnuts--tossed all that in the food processor with salt and a cup of frozen spinach and set it aside.

brought 3.5 c water to a boil with 2 bouillon cubes. added 4 handfuls of orrechiette and cooked 15 minutes. Then stirred in my processed mix with the pasta and remaining liquid.

put the pasta in bowls and added a poached egg to each. salt and pepper. DEEEEEEElicious!

CAKE!

Yesterday we got married! (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Today we hosted a birthday dinner for our friend Loretta. We had lasagna for dinner and I'd been told that Loretta likes tiramisu. Now, I've never made tiramisu, and it ended up being a pretty busy weekend, so I decided to make a tiramisu inspired cake!

It was chocolate cake moistened with a coffee syrup. The filling was tiramisu's cream that is made with marscapone. (I added orange extract for an extra zing.) It was frosted with orange flavored seven minute frosting. Then I dipped lady fingers in the coffee syrup and lined the perimeter of the cake with them. To finish, I shaved dark chocolate with the microplane for a garnish.

Everyone really seemed to enjoy dessert, so it went fabulous as far as I'm concerned! :)

What a great weekend! HOORAY

almost married!

today we applied for a marriage license--WOOHOO!!!!!!! :) Now I'm baking my first ever coconut cake for a dear friend's birthday. life is good.

new and exciting!

today we discovered fresh ginger root at the farmer's market in dc! you can see what it looks like here...

unlike the cured stuff you find in the store, this is tender, oh so spicy, and downright delicious. So I made stir fry and it was most definitely a "visit the kitchen for seconds" meal.

since you've been gone...

Hello friends! I wanted to let you know we haven't disappeared from the face of the planet. Since our last post we have moved (and now have a kitchen 3 times the size of the little one) and are planning a wedding!

This week in the kitchen I've been experimenting (because I should be writing curriculum) with shortbread. So far I've tried a brown sugar lavender and a toffee chocolate chip.... both were good but have an unidentifiable aftertaste I don't really like... I've decided this is a) because our cookie sheet is due for a hardcore cleaning, or b) because I used earth balance (part of our attempt to use fewer animal products and enjoy a lower cholesterol diet). I know I know, a recipe is only as good as the ingredients you use, so this week I'll attempt shortbread again with my oh so favorite (oh so bad for me) butter!

I'll let you know how it all turns out. In the meantime, if you're looking for yummy recipes, check out smitten kitchen!