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

Asparagus on Toast with Poached Duck Eggs

Sometimes I wish I spoke French fluently. Because the title of this dish would surely sound less awkward in French. But if I went around calling it Asperge sur le Pain avec l’Oeuf de Canard, it would be way longer. Also, this dish has nothing to do with France. My husband votes for Duck Egg Supreme. I say only if we can pronounce it suprême.

In any case, this is similar to a dish that my mother made on occasion when I was growing up. It can be made with any kind of egg. It doesn’t have to be duck. We just happened to have some duck eggs lying around anyway, so I decided to try them out in this dish.

There is not much difference between duck eggs and chicken eggs. The two are very similar in taste and texture, but duck eggs tend to be larger, with a massive yolk. Because of this, I’ve found that poaching is a good preparation method, as opposed to frying, which can overcook the white in the time it takes for the yolk to set up. Duck eggs can also have a robin’s egg blue shell in some cases, but so do some chicken eggs.

Use a good bread crusty bread with an open crumb for the toast. I like the Francese from Iggy’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts – the same bread that my husband once proclaimed, naturally makes you want to bring the loaf to your face and inhale its aroma.

Asparagus has that almost alkaline bitter-sweetness, which brings out the subtle sweetness in the toast. Smoked paprika lends it’s salty savoriness. Break open the yolk to dip and it’s a celebration of the three simple ingredients. This dish is excellent for brunch, lunch or dinner.

Asparagus on Toast with Duck Eggs - Serves 2

2 eggs (duck or otherwise)
20 asparagus spears
2 slices of good, crusty French bread
water
smoked paprika (optional)

Heat about a half inch of water in a large skillet with a cover. Add asapargus and cook 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, lightly grease two ramekins, heat-proof cups. Heat about a half inch of water and another skillet with a cover. When the water comes to a boil, drop an egg into each ramekin. Cover and allow to cook 4 minutes.

While that’s all on the stove, toast the bread.

Drain the asparagus. Layer the toast with asparagus and egg. Dust with smoked paprika if desired.

Ingredient origins: Duck eggs – New Hampshire; Asparagus – Mexico; Bread – Massachusetts; Smoked Paprika – Spain

Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

I know, I know, I know. Sun-dried tomatoes are a un peu 1992, but I guess I’m a child of the 90’s. For years I really didn’t care for sun-dried tomatoes, so I missed out on it the first time around. They say your taste can change over time and in this case it certainly has. It’s hard to imagine not liking them now.

Goat cheese has a lovely tang and provides the perfect foil for the sweet sun-dried tomatoes. Olive oil lends a grassy flavor and creates a vehicle for cracker dippage.

This is a good spread to throw together for impromptu visitors, provided that you keep a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil on your refrigerator door and, like me, have a good goat cheese on hand at most times.

Sun-dried Tomato Spread – serves 4

4 oz. fresh goat cheese
5 – 7 pieces sun-dried tomato in olive oil, diced (about 4 T), + 1 T oil
2 – 3 T olive oil
a dash of finely ground sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Mash together using a fork.

Transfer to a pretty, pretty dish (as my mother says), using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl and get all the goodness.

Serve with a sliced baguette or crackers.

Ingredient origins: Goat cheese – Vermont; Sun-dried tomatoes – Turkey; Olive oil – Italy; Sea salt – Maine

Mushroom Spinach Quiche

Quiche is the every-meal. The any-time-of-day item that tends to show up in odd places. Brunch buffets, bridal showers, cafeterias, airport lunch counters. And in many cases, it’s not particularly great. I think the problem is that too often, especially in institutional settings, quiche is served pre-plated and cold, which is just smack in the face of what is, or can be a really good thing. Quiche is best served hot and fresh out of the oven. Freshly grated cheese also makes a difference, as pre-grated cheese usually comes coated in cornstarch which tends to dry out the custard.

The use of sour cream makes this quiche fluffy and light, with just enough vegetable goodness to make you feel like you’re having something relatively nutritious. The spinach fortifies the dish with added folate and vitamin A and the mushrooms take on an almost escargot quality as they steam, tucked away inside the egg mixture.

Coarsely grated, the Gruyere shows up in ostentatiously flowing strands from time to time, making this quiche the opposite of the dry, last resort cafeteria item and more the all-around crave-worthy star that it really should be.

And be sure to serve it hot and fresh, for goodness sake!

Mushroom Spinach Quiche – serves 8

1/2 recipe for pie crust (seen here)
5 oz spinach
1/4 C water
8 shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, finely diced
1 T butter
1 C Gruyere cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 C sour cream
1/2 t salt

Make the pie crust dough, roll out and spread in an 8 inch pie plate. Form the edges as desired. Refrigerate 10 minutes while the oven heats to 350 degrees.

Fill the pie crust with pastry weights and bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large covered skillet, steam the spinach in the water over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat when wilted, drain and press out any moisture. Allow to cool and finely chop.

Melt butter in a skillet. Add mushrooms and cook, covered for 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove cover and continue to cook 10 more minutes until moisture is almost evaporated. Allow to cool.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in sour cream. Add spinach, cheese and mushrooms and mix well.

Pour filling into the pie crust.

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until the center has lost its gloss. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Ingredient origins: Spinach – California; Organic shiitakes – Pennsylvania; Organic baby bellas – Pennsylvania; Butter – Maine; Eggs – New Hampshire; Sour Cream – Vermont; Salt – Maine

Sautéed Broccoli

When I was in school and living on my own for the first time, for some reason I was really concerned about scurvy. While all the other students lived happily on ramen and frozen pizza, I’d come home and steam broccoli as a snack between classes. Unfortunately, I overdid it on the steamed broccoli, and by senior year, I’d pretty much had it with broccoli in any form.

Now I’m in grad school and on a recent trip to the dining hall with my classmates, I was reminded of how fantastic raw broccoli can be with ranch dressing – though you don’t get much more processed than dining hall ranch dressing.

Since becoming reacquainted with my old green friend, I decided to try the simplest approach of sauteing with butter, salt and lots of freshly ground pepper. It’s so simple, I wasn’t sure if it would really be necessary to post, but it was so enjoyable and for some reason, I hadn’t thought of this method until about three weeks ago. So, I decided to go for it and share with everyone, because that’s the whole point here.

Allowing the broccoli to brown a bit in the butter adds a rich layer and a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper lends a nice robust bite.

Sautéed Broccoli (sometimes the name says it all) - serves 2

2 large heads of broccoli (about 1 lb), chopped
3 T butter
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in frying pan over medium high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the broccoli and lower heat to medium.

Cook, tossing occasionally to brown evenly, about 10 minutes.

Add the third tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper and cook an additional 5 – 10 minutes until the broccoli is tender-crisp and partly browned.

Serve hot.