Tag: Eggs

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JUDI’S RECIPES – WEEK 20 – OCTOBER 21, 2021

OCTOBER 21, 2021

Hello Everyone,

We are close to winding down, but there is still a wealth of wonderful fall veggies coming our way.

Today’s recipe is one for making stuffing with leeks. Since Thanksgiving is approaching, you might want to try it, although stuffing is great anytime.

Leeks are a member of the allium family. They are the mild sisters of onions, garlic, shallots, and chives. Ordinarily, only the white and light green parts are used in making most dishes, but you shouldn’t throw the green parts away.

STUFFING WITH LEEKS

1 small loaf (1 lb) day-old crusty sourdough bread

½ cup salted butter

2 leeks, dark green leaves removed, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced, and rinsed well (2 cups)

4 celery stalks, diced (1¾ cups)

3 garlic cloves, chopped

¾ teaspoon sea sal

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup chopped sage

Heaping ¼ cup chopped parsley

1 tsp chopped rosemary

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

2 cups vegetable broth (chicken broth is okay too).

2 eggs, beaten

1 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking dish.
  2. Tear the bread into 1-inch pieces and place it in a very large bowl.
  3. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, celery, garlic, salt, and pepper, and sauté for 5 minutes, turning the heat to low halfway through.
  4. Pour the leek mixture over the bread and sprinkle with the sage, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Use your hands to toss the mixture until the bread is coated. Pour the broth evenly over the stuffing and toss to coat. Add the eggs and toss again. The bread will feel wet. If it’s still a bit dry, mix in an additional ½ cup of broth. The amount you use will depend on how dry the bread is.
  5. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish.
  6. *If you are making this dish ahead, cover the dish with foil and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.
  7. When you are ready to bake, drizzle the olive oil on top of the stuffing and bake, covered, for 30 minutes. If the stuffing is still pretty wet, uncover the dish and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes to crisp the top a bit.

HELPFUL HINT: Cut the dark green leave off the leeks, put them into an airtight bag, and freeze them. They’re great in soups and stews.

ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT: It is important to tear the bread. Don’t cut it!

Enjoy!

Have a delicious week!

Best,

Judi

 

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JUDI’S RECIPES – WEEK 12 – AUGUST 24, 2021

AUGUST 24, 2021

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all safe and well on this post-storm day. We have been soggy, soggy, soggy!

How about a version of comfort food that will tickle your tastebuds? We are getting sweet peppers this week, and they lend themselves to a multitude of dishes. Today we’re going to pair them with eggs.

RING AROUND THE UOVO

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    1. Slice tops and bottoms off the bell peppers and finely dice them. Remove and discard the seeds and membranes. Slice each pepper into four 1/2-inch-thick rings.

    Combine the diced pepper ends with avocado, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, and 1/2 tsp of salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

    Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper rings, then crack 1 egg into the middle of each ring.

    4. Season with 1/8 teaspoon each,  salt and pepper. Cook, until the egg whites are mostly set but the yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Gently flip (using a wide spatula) and cook 1 minute more for runny yolks, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more for firmer yolks. Transfer the rings to serving plates

    5. Serve with the avocado salsa and garnish with additional cilantro.

    HELPFUL HINT: Crack each egg into a little bowl and then slip it into the pepper ring. This will prevent any shells from getting into your food.

    ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT: This dish is great with rice on the side.

I hope you enjoy this late-summer dish.

Have a delicious week!

Best,

Judi

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JUDI’S RECIPES WEEK 4 – JUNE 30, 2020

June 30, 2020

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to Week 4.

As summer progresses, we are beginning to get a greater variety of vegetables. This week begins the harvest of summer squash. Zucchini, pattypan, yellow squash – all pretty and delicious.

A noted food writer once said, “Zucchini is the vegetable about which the best thing you can say is that any fool can grow one”. While they are admittedly easy to grow, the farmers who grow them are not foolish at all. This is a delicious, nutritious vegetable, and very versatile to boot.

Today’s recipe uses zucchini to make a wonderful savory bread pudding with a Mediterranean slant.

ZUCCHINI BREAD PUDDING

  • 4 oz crustless stale whole-wheat bread or baguette
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 ½ cups low-fat milk (1 percent or 2 percent)
  • 1 ½ lbs zucchini, grated
  • 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 TBS chopped fresh dill
  • 1 TBS chopped fresh parsley, preferably Italian parsley
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 oz feta, crumbled (1/2 cup)
  • 1 oz Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)

 

  1. If the bread is not stale, cut it into 3/4 inch slices and then toast them. Cut 1 of the garlic cloves in half and rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic. Cut the bread into 1-inch dice, place in a bowl and gently mix with 1 cup of the milk. Refrigerate for 1 hour, mixing occasionally. Mince the remaining garlic and set aside.
  2. While the bread is soaking, put the grated squash in a colander and sprinkle generously with salt. Toss it well and let it sit in the colander in the sink for 15 minutes, then squeeze out the water.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rub a 2-quart baking dish or a 10-inch  tart pan with vegetable oil. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until it begins to soften. Add a generous pinch of salt, the garlic, and the grated squash. Stir until the garlic is fragrant and the squash is limp, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chopped dill and parsley, and remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Remove the bowl with the soaked bread from the refrigerator. Using your hands, mash and squeeze the soaked bread so the mixture turns to mush. Add the squash mixture and the feta to the bowl and stir together. Scrape the mixture into the oiled baking dish and top with the grated Parmesan.
  5. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with the remaining milk. Add about  1/2 tsp of salt, and freshly ground pepper. Pour this over the bread mixture and place the dish in the oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the mixture is puffed and golden brown on the top and the eggs are set. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes or longer before serving.

Serves 2.

HELPFUL HINT: This recipe may be prepared through Step 4 a few hours before you assemble and bake this dish. The baked pudding will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a 350 degree oven.

ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT: You can punch up the flavor of this dish by adding spinach, kale, shrimp, chicken or shredded pork.
Enjoy. And have a delicious week!
Best,
Judi
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JUDI’S RECIPES – WEEK 14 – SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Hi Everybody,

I hope your Labor Day holiday was great and that in all the variety of weather this weekend, you found something you loved.

This week, fall vegetables are beginning to arrive. Potatoes are here, as are leeks and the last week or so of tomatoes. The farm urges you to use them up. The winter squashes are arriving too; this week it’s delicata, one of the most delicious squashes of all.

So, let’s use those potatoes to make Tortilla Espagnola, one of Spain’s national dishes. I first sampled it in sandwich form on a train from Barcelona to Madrid. Yummy!

 

TORTILLA ESPANOLA

INGREDIENTS

8 large eggs

Kosher salt

2 cups  extra-virgin olive oil (see note)

1 1/2 lbs potatoes (I love Yukon Golds the most), peeled, halved, and thinly sliced crosswise.

3/4 lb onions, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, beat the eggs well, with a large pinch of salt until frothy. Set them aside.

2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet until it is “wavy”. Add potatoes and onions; they should gently (but not vigorously) bubble in the oil. Adjust the  heat to maintain a gentle bubbling. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and onions are tender, about 25 minutes. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a heatproof bowl and drain the potatoes and onions of excess oil. Reserve the oil.

3. Transfer the potatoes and onions to a heatproof bowl and season them generously with salt, stirring well to combine. Beat the eggs vigorously to make them frothy again, then scrape the potatoes and onion in and stir until they are thoroughly combined. Set aside for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, wipe out the skillet. Add 3 tablespoons of the reserved frying oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat until it is wavy. Scrape the egg mixture into the skillet and cook, swirling and shaking the pan rapidly, until the bottom and sides begin to set, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, press the edges in and continue to cook, adjusting the heat to prevent the bottom of your tortilla from burning, while it is starting to set around the edges, about 3 minutes longer.

5. Place a large overturned flat plate on top of the skillet and, in one very quick motion, invert the tortilla onto it. Add 1 more tablespoon of the  reserved oil to the skillet and return it to the heat. Carefully slide the tortilla back into the skillet and continue to cook until the second side is beginning to firm up, about 2 minutes. Press the sides in all around to form a rounded puck shape. Continue to cook the tortilla until lightly browned but still tender in the center when pressed with a finger, about 2 minutes longer.

6. Carefully slide the tortilla out of the skillet onto a clean plate  and let it stand at least 5 minutes before serving. The tortilla can be cut into wedges for a larger meal or into cubes for an hors d’oeuvre–sized snack. It is just as good, if not better, at room temperature. Leftover tortilla can be refrigerated up to 3 days.
HELPFUL HINT: This is a lot of olive oil, which can get expensive, but it’s necessary for properly cooking the potato and onion, and adds tons of great flavor to the dish. You can use a less expensive oil, since cooking neutralizes a high-quality oil’s nuances You can reuse the leftover oil in other dishes. You will find it quite flavorful, having been infused with the flavors of the onion and potato.
ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT: Flip the tortilla over the sink.
I hope you love this dishas much as I do! Enjoy, and have a delicious week.
Best,
Judi