Red Quinoa Strata with Roasted Mushrooms, Swiss Chard and Aged Cheddar Cheese

I planted bok choi, swiss chard, strawberries and fennel in my garden about a month ago despite telling myself that I would keep up only a small garden this summer.  When I purchased the starter plants, they looked easy enough to maintain but have proven otherwise.  I find that with my busy schedule I don’t have time to water, a few of the pots aren’t large enough, and bugs are eating my bok choi.  Last summer gardening was much more of a hobby than it is now!

And so I am experiencing the same with blogging.  I am cooking more now but my busy schedule has made blogging difficult.  Summer is quickly approaching but my style of cooking is stuck in winter.  My time seems filled with bridal showers, weddings, and special dinners (some of which I will share soon).

I cooked this Strata about a month ago, but it feels like ages now.  I have so much that I want to share about what is going on, but it feels that I must catch up first.  I must catch up on what I’ve blogged and try to catch up with fellow bloggers.

I am now beginning to see just a glimpse of what other bloggers experience when they have cookbooks to write, traveling for photography, or cooking for parties; though my time has mostly been filled with cooking for people I love and blessing them with good food.  Isn’t it exciting when much of your free time is filled with the things you love to do?

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1/2-1 cup cooked red quinoa (depending on how deep you want the “crust”)
• 4 thin thin slices of polenta
• 8 ounces large crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 stalks of rainbow swiss chard, chopped with stalks separate
• 2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 stalks of thyme
• 7 eggs
• 1/4 cup half and half or coconut milk
• 1 cup aged cheddar cheese, shredded such as Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Butter a 9″x9″ glass pan.
2. Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions.
3. Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread the mushrooms in a single layer over the parchment paper and sprinkle with 1-2 Tbs olive oil.  Cover with leaves of 1 stalk of thyme.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes until soft and lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and set aside.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 35o deg. F.
6. Heat 1 Tbs of olive oil over medium high heat in a large pan until the oil begins to shine.  Add the chopped swiss chard stalks and cook for 1 minute.  Mix in the remaining swiss chard until all the oil is absorbed.  Cover for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Steam will form when covered, helping the swiss chard to cook.  During the last minutes, add the remaining thyme leaves and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. In a medium size bowl, mix the eggs and half and half.
8. In another medium size bowl, mix half the mushrooms, half the swiss chard and the cooked quinoa.
9. Now layer the strata in the glass pan, first with the cooked quinoa mixture, then the polenta slices, then the egg mixture, then the remaining mushrooms and swiss chard, and finally the cheese.
10. Bake at 350 deg. F. for 25-35 minutes, until the egg is cooked, cheese is melted and the edges are browned.  The egg will look juicy and continue to cook when removed from the oven.

A goodbye brunch: buttermilk pancakes, mini pepper strata, and baked bacon

This morning we said goodbye to two very dear friends over buttermilk pancakes, strata, bacon, and mimosas.  There is no better way to see friends off than by eating brunch; especially when there is champagne, bacon, and maple syrup involved.  We’ve been neighbors for over a year; sharing the driveway, a patio, and a German Shepard.

One of my favorite tricks when baking is to use the most popular recipe on allrecipes.com.  I’ve found that you can’t go wrong when there are more than 1000 reviews.  Make sure you save the recipe if you really like it though, because it can be the dickens to find it months later.  These buttermilk pancakes were perfect.  If you are making pancakes for a large group, store them in a baking dish covered with aluminum foil at 300 and they’ll be nice and hot when served.

This is one of the most beautiful couples I know.  They taught us so much and exude joy.  We are truly blessed to have them as friends!

They are like parents to me.

We tried something completely different for the bacon.  Instead of cooking it on the stove, be baked it in the oven at 350 degrees F.  I’ve been told that to make the best bacon, you should start it in a cold oven.  This applewood smoked bacon really was something else.

A lot of photos of me are at the stove.  Kind of funny how that works out when you are hostess of a party.  :)

My favorite dish was the mini pepper strata.  I start with a base recipe and add cheese, meat, and vegetables.  I find a lot of inspiration while at the grocery store, just taking in all the possibilities.  The mini peppers held a lot of moisture and were well balanced by chicken sausage and white cheddar cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 bag of mini red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, sliced
• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 13 eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbs half and half
• 3-4 cups cubed french baguette
• 1/2 lb Vermont Cheddar Cheese or Grass Fed Sharp Cheddar, cubed
• 1 lb Chicken Sausage, flavored with apples, sliced
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 35o deg. F.  Line a 9×13 baking pan with butter and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large pan.  Add the yellow onions and stir until all the oil is absorbed.  Turn the heat to medium and cook until they just begin to brown.  Turn the heat to low and add the garlic and peppers.  Saute until the peppers are tender and the onion is caramelized.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and half and half until smooth.  Stir in the vegetables, chicken and cheese.  Add salt and pepper.  Fold in the baguette until well mixed.
4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes until the edges are brown and the egg is just a bit juicy.

One Domestic Goddess Restaurant Night

A few months ago I was photographing food in our courtyard and I thought, “this would make a great restaurant.”  We have a beautiful courtyard and have hosted amazing parties, but I thought it would be fun to make it into a restaurant atmosphere.  Blogging has encouraged me to share my love for baking and cooking with friends and what better way to share my blog than with a party.  The challenge would be to only serve food that I’ve posted to my blog so that 1. I get the chance to practice before game night 2. My guests preview the menu through photos 3. I introduce and expose my blog to a wider audience.

My friends were very supportive and gave me great tips for planning.  I reviewed my blog entries and realized that I needed more items that I and others would want to eat at a restaurant.  I started looking at restaurants differently and I wondered how they crafted their menu.  The last two months, nearly all my blog entries were with this dinner in mind.  It took so much planning and thanks to amazing friends we had a beautiful night.

We had two seating’s to give each party plenty of time to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.  We are blessed not only with space, but also with great patio furniture, so all I had to do was borrow a table.  We kept the decorations simple: lights, candles, flowers, and of course a fire pit.

An important item to this party was that all the dishes and most of the napkins were real dinnerware.  I wanted my guests to feel at home and so I begged, borrowed and stole to make it happen.  No…I was very blessed to find, be given and lent dishware.  One item that we were short on was wine glasses, but just the week before we celebrated my roommate’s boyfriend’s birthday in Santa Barbara and were blessed with many free wine glasses.

I am blessed with amazing friends and after a weekend in Santa Barbara I felt like I had known these new friends for much longer.

My friend who helped me cook also gave me tips for hosting.  These were my favorites (in my own words).

1. Find out what people are good at and ask them to help in that way.  If they find a way to invest, they will also receive something in return.
2. Prepare, prepare, prepare.  Make a list and have extra food.  Shop for the groceries three days before, bake desserts the day before, and be ready early the day of.  I didn’t do any of these perfectly, but everything still turned out great.
3. Keep your cool and be present with your guests.  I went to each group when serving desserts and asked if they were enjoying themselves.  Everyone was having a great time and I had a great time as well.

I have such talented friends and I loved the personal touches that they added.

A few items on the menu were:

Baked Almond Crusted Manchego Cheese with Dry Sherry Garlic Oil

Blue Cheese Burger with Caramelized Onions, Maple infused Bacon, and a Balsamic glaze

Tofu Tacos 

and Pumpkin Cheesecake

The night was topped off with:

Great servers.

Making new friends.

And enjoying a great atmosphere.

Portabella Mushroom & Garlic Chive Salad with walnuts and asiago cheese

I’ve been to a lot of brunches lately, and with each one comes an opportunity to expand my palate.  At a brunch last week my friend served grilled sourdough sandwiches with portabella mushrooms and a mixed green salad that he “threw” together.  So, I thought I would make something similar.  Today I went to an Easter brunch and had the perfect opportunity.

I wanted the salad to be light and simple, so I let the mushrooms be primary with the garlic and chives as complements.  The walnuts and asiago cheese added nice texture and complexity.  I finished off the salad with a drizzling of grapeseed oil, salt, and pepper.

The chives came from my garden and we always have garlic, a kitchen staple.

I smash the garlic against the cutting board with my palm, a technique that my roommate taught me.  It makes the garlic easy to peel and naturally breaks it up.  I chopped the garlic into large pieces so that it doesn’t burn and stands alone in the salad.

I chopped the mushrooms into large pieces so that they are distinct in the salad.

Heat 2 Tbsp of grapeseed oil in a large metal pan.  Add the garlic and stir until you can smell the garlic.  Mix in the chives and then add the mushrooms.  Saute until the mushrooms are tender, adding more oil as needed so the garlic doesn’t stick.  Be careful not to burn the garlic.  Set aside.

Fold the mushroom mixture into 1/2 to 2/3 bag of mixed greens.  Add asiago cheese and walnuts.  Drizzle grapeseed oil on top; add salt and pepper to taste.  My friends said it tasted great and was the perfect salad for a brunch.