Gruyere Strata

Strata is a savory bread pudding, made with eggs, milk and cheese. It also makes good use of yesterday’s baguette or any other thick-crusted bread that’s past its prime.

The important thing is to use a good strong bread and not wimpy sandwich bread, which will turn to goo when combined with liquid. Bread with a hard crust results in a pleasant, varied texture of soft custard, combined with toothsome morsels.

Gruyere lends its pungent flavor and aroma, making this strata reminiscent of fondue.

Gruyere Strata - serves 4

2 C milk
2 large eggs
6 C cubed thick-crusted French bread
1 1/2 C Gruyere cheese
1 t dry ground mustard
1/2 t salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the bread with two thirds of the shredded cheese. Pour into a greased casserole dish.

Beat the eggs with the milk, salt and mustard in a small bowl. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and cheese.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove from refrigerator and press down on the bread with the back of a spoon or spatula to submerge the bread. Top with the last third of the cheese.

Bake for 35 – 45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Ingredient origins: Milk – Vermont; Eggs – New Hampshire; Bread – Massachusetts; Gruyere – France; Ground Mustard – Maryland; Sea Salt – Italy

Lemon Tarragon Teacake

Teacakes. Is it not the most adorable word? It conjures images of flowery tablecloths, delicate china and smiling aunties.

Tarragon is a social chameleon. The Gatsby of herbs. It gets along just as well in sweet dishes as it does with its more common savory partners. This recipe demonstrates the former. Lemony, sweet and dense, Lemon Tarragon Teacake is the perfect showcase for tarragon’s delicate, mellow flavor. Confectionery sugar creates a nice crisp top.

For the full herb garden effect, try it with lavender, chamomile, jasmine or a similar floral tea.

Lemon Tarragon Teacake – serves 10

2 T lemon juice
2 eggs
1/4 C canola oil
1 C sour cream
3 C confectionery sugar
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3 T chopped fresh tarragon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, combine lemon juice, eggs, canola oil and sour cream. Mix in confectionery sugar 1/2 cup at a time.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold in the fresh tarragon

Pour into a metal loaf pan and bake for 55 -65 minutes until a wooden tooth pick comes out clean.

Blueberry Muffins

I really miss the farmers markets. During the summer months we keep the kitchen stocked with fresh local vegetables and fruits – especially berries. This time of year though, the only fresh berries around are very tart, bathed in pesticides and have traveled thousands of miles.

Rather than going that route, I like to either freeze a few pints in the summer when they are at their peak, or buy locally grown and packaged frozen berries. It sounds counter-intuitive, but frozen berries are not a terribly tragic option in the winter because they are packaged and frozen at their peak, and therefore retain their nutrients and flavor nicely.

I will say though, once thawed, frozen blueberries do lose some of their plumpness, so I like to bake them into muffins.

This recipe for blueberry muffins also calls for an optional half cup of walnuts to add texture and protein. Walnuts also offer vitamin E, omega 3 fatty acid and antioxidants. Combine that with blueberries and, dare I say, you may have a superfood muffin on your hands.

Blueberry Muffins – makes 12 medium sized muffins

2 C flour
1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1/2 C sugar + some for sprinklage
1/3 C sour cream
1 C milk
1/3 canola oil
1 1/2 C frozen blueberries
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)
Non-stick spray or desired grease for the pan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl – if you wanted to get really fancy, I suppose you could sift the ingredients together.

Using an electric beater, mix the egg, sugar, sour cream, milk and canola oil in a separate bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with the beater until just combined, getting rid of any lumps.

Stir in the nuts, if using and then carefully stir in the blueberries. Try not to disturb them too much so that the batter will stay batter colored, rather than turning purple. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that the contrast looks nice and the berries stay juicy.

Pour into greased muffin tin. There should be enough batter for each cup to be filled to the rim – this along with the reaction of the soda and powder should result in a nice muffin top.

Sprinkle the top of each with sugar – I like to use turbinado for this application because of the larger granules and nice golden color.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Ingredient origins: Flour – Vermont; Baking soda – unknown; Baking powder – Massachusetts; Salt – Maine; Egg – New Hampshire; Sugar – Florida; Sour cream – Vermont; Milk – Vermont; Canola oil – unknown; Frozen blueberries – Maine; Walnuts – California

Honey Raisin Granola

I started making this last Spring. We had quite a lot of oatmeal in the house and with the weather getting warmer, we were eating hot oatmeal less frequently. So, I decided to make it into a cold cereal that could be enjoyed in warmer weather. We really liked it, so I made another batch, bagged it up and gave it our friends, who also enjoyed it. I actually got a few requests for more. Packed in pretty jars, this granola makes a great homemade holiday gift.

The key is the coconut oil, which hardens at room temperature, so the granola keeps its clusters. Honey and brown sugar lend a comforting, familiar sweetness and the nuts add lovely satisfying protein. Almonds, pecans and walnuts work well. In this case I used a combo of walnuts and pecans.

Honey Raisin Granola – makes 12 cups

6 C rolled oats
2 C chopped walnuts, pecans or slivered almonds or a combination
1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 C honey
3/4 C coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 t sea salt
2 C raisins

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Combine oats, nuts and brown sugar in a large bowl. If your largest bowl isn’t quite large enough to get a good stir, try covering the bowl with plastic wrap or even a towel and hold it in place at the rim while you stir, to keep the granola from spilling.

In a separate bowl, combine honey, oil and salt (You may not need to melt the coconut oil if it’s warm in your kitchen. It turns to liquid at about 70 degrees)

Pour liquid over the oat mixture and mix thoroughly so that the oats are coated and begin to make clusters.

Pour the granola onto a large cookie sheet. Lining the cookie sheet with foil makes removing the granola easier after it has cooled. Cover with plastic wrap and press the granola so that it’s flat. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This solidifies the oil and helps to keep the granola clustered as it cooks.

Bake for 1 hour, 15 minutes, checking occasionally to see that it’s not browning. Using a spatula flip the granola, breaking it into manageable but large pieces. Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

Remove from oven. Allow to cool at least 1 hour. In a large bowl break up the granola, leaving some large chunks. Combine with raisins.

Distribute the granola into mason jars and give to lucky friends and neighbors. Keep some for yourself and serve with milk or sprinkled over yogurt.

Ingredient origins: Rolled Oats – Unknown (the company, whose name rhymes with “shaker totes”, is based in Chicago. I’m going to take a stab that the actual oats were raised on multiple farms around the midwest, brought to the nearest grain elevator and added to the tributary and then the river of grain that runs to the factory.); Walnuts – California; Pecans – Arizona; Brown sugar – Florida; Honey – Massachusetts; Coconut oil – Colombia; Sea salt – Mediterranean; Raisins – California.