Author Archives: baxterandmain

two brunch dishes courtesy of Martha

Posted in breakfast by

Since it has been so long since I’ve posted I thought I’d give you two recipes for the price of one.  Bargain!

Amongst other tasty delights for Easter brunch I made a spinach and fontina cheese strata.  I’d never made a strata before but it was so easy I’m not sure why it took me so long.  A strata is a cross between a bread pudding and a lasagna, in other words, cheesy carb-y deliciousness.

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I began by cooking down some spinach and onions in a little olive oil, slicing pieces of a slightly stale loaf of French bread, and grating cheese.  (Apologies for the poor quality of the photos.  I forgot my camera so used my phone.)

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Then, like you would do with a lasagna, you start to layer everything up.

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Then you mix up some milk and eggs and pour them over the whole shebang.

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One of the things that is great about this dish is that the milk and egg mixture needs to soak into the bread for at least eight hours which means you can assemble it the night before you serve it thereby making it a breeze the next morning when you want to serve it.  You just add a little more milk and egg mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Unfortunately I did not have a photo of the strata after it baked but I can assure you it was golden and bubbly and lovely and well-enjoyed by all.

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The second recipe I am sharing with you is a bit of a cheat as I shared a similar recipe with you previously.  But one can never have too many candied bacon recipes…

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This is even simpler than the strata.  You lay bacon strips over cooling racks placed in parchment-lined baking sheets and then sprinkle with brown sugar and freshly cracked black pepper and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until crispy.  Voila!

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It was the first dish we ran out of at brunch!

Spinach-And-Fontina Strata (from www.marthastewart.com)

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt, divided
  • 2 pounds spinach, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • Unsalted butter, for dish
  • 1 pound challah loaf, sliced 1/2 inch thick
  • 8 ounces young Italian fontina cheese, grated, divided
  • 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/3 cup), divided
  • 8 large eggs, divided
  • 2 2/3 cups whole milk, divided
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Fill pan with as much spinach as will fit; cook, stirring, adding remainder a handful at a time as space allows. When all the spinach is wilted, stir in pepper and nutmeg. Drain spinach in a sieve. When cool enough to handle, squeeze excess moisture from spinach by hand.
Butter a 3-quart baking dish. Place a third of the bread in a single layer in dish. Top with half the spinach mixture and a third of the cheeses. Repeat layering with a third of the bread, remaining spinach mixture, and a third of the cheeses, then top with remaining bread.
Whisk together 6 eggs, 2 cups milk, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and carefully pour over bread. Cover with parchment, and gently press down with hands until egg mixture soaks through top of bread. Cover parchment with foil, and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, remove strata from refrigerator, uncover, and let stand 30 minutes. Whisk together remaining 2 eggs and 2/3 cup milk, and pour over strata, gently pressing between layers of bread with a spoon or spatula to ensure that egg mixture seeps to bottom. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake until puffed and golden brown in places, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.
Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon (from www.marthastewart.com)

  • 16 slices (about 1 pound) bacon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper; place a wire rack on top of each sheet. Arrange bacon in a single layer on the two racks. Evenly sprinkle with pepper and sugar.Bake until bacon is crisp and browned, rotating sheets halfway through, 30 to 35 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels.

spring has sprung

Posted in Uncategorized by

My sincerest apologies for the long delay between posts, though a lot has happened over the past two months: namely, I left Wisconsin and moved to Indiana for a new job.  Though I never previously imagined myself as a resident of the state of Indiana it puts me exponentially closer to my home state of Michigan which is very exciting.  Also, I’ve already identified a handful of very good restaurants in the greater Fort Wayne area.  Who knew.

 

 

 

tahini chocolate chip cookies

Posted in cookie by

I love sesame seeds and while I’ve mostly had them in savory foods, I am starting to really appreciate them in sweets too, as evidenced by this ice cream and this cake.  A while back I bought myself a lovely cookbook that has a recipe for chocolate tahini cookies and since tahini is just ground sesame seeds I thought this seemed like a really great idea.

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The recipe in the cookbook called for a few gluten-free flours that I do not currently have in my arsenal so I instead took inspiration from it and adapted a traditional chocolate chip recipe instead.

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I had a few mostly empty bags of chocolate chips and chunks so combined forces in these cookies and actually like how the texture turned out as a result.  Love those happy accidents!  Instead of traditional salt I used fleur de sel (fancy French sea salt) which gave it a little extra bite as well.

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Tahini kind of reminds me of peanut butter but not as sweet.  I don’t know that I’ll be smearing it all over a piece of bread anytime soon but think it will be great as a substitute in baked goods.

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These cookies are a nice twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie.  They are not quite as sweet and have the subtle sesame seed flavoring that I found to be very nice and I think you will too.

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Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (inspired by recipe found in “La Tartine Gourmande” by Beatrice Peltre)

  • 1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tablespoons), softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 white sugar
  • 4 tablespoons tahini
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (sea salt)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; add the eggs one at a time until well blended.  Blend in tahini until incorporated.

Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add to the wet ingredients and stir until well blended.  Stir in vanilla until combined and then stir in chocolate chips.

Place small rounds of dough two inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until brown.  Let cool and enjoy.

roasted spaghetti squash with parmesan and herbs

Posted in vegetable, vegetarian by

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I love squash and cook with it frequently though had never ventured into spaghetti squash territory until a week or so ago.  I was more comfortable with butternut and acorn but will for sure be testing other varieties in the future.  It’s all so delicious!

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First you roast the spaghetti squash for about an hour and a half and then let it cool before cutting it through the middle length-wise.

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Then you scoop out the seeds and discard or roast if you are feeling so ambitious.

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Next you take a fork to pull the squash out of the shell.  It comes out very easily in stringy spaghetti-like strands, in case you were confused about how it got its name.

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This type of squash doesn’t have a whole lot of flavor on its own so it makes a great base for sauces and is a great pasta substitute for those who are gluten-free or trying to avoid wheat in general.  This particular recipe calls for very simple ingredients like shallots, garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley and parmesan cheese.  It results in a very comforting and filling-in-a-satisfying-not-stuffed-way dish.

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Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan and Herbs (from Everyday Foods magazine)

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 shallots, diced small
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 6 cups Roasted Spaghetti Squash
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
  •  Coarse salt and ground pepper

To roast squash: preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a small sharp knife, prick squash all over. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until tender when pierced with knife, about 1 hour 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. When cool enough to handle, halve lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Scrape squash with a fork to remove flesh in long strands.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium. Add shallots and garlic and cook until softened, 7 minutes. Stir in thyme and rosemary and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add squash and toss to combine. Cook until warmed through. Stir in parsley and Parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

sweet potato and sage butter casserole

Posted in sidedish, Uncategorized, vegetable by

“No one who cooks cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”  Laurie Colwin from “Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen.”

This came from the foreword of a book my mom gave me for my birthday last year and even though I haven’t read further than the foreword yet I know I am going to love the book already based on this line alone.

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Today I share with you this simple and quick (and delicious) recipe for a sweet potato casserole featuring one of two herbs I’ve managed to keep alive in my apartment: sage (the other being rosemary.)  It comes from a cook who is often with me when I am alone in my kitchen: Martha Stewart.

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Sweet Potato and Sage Butter Casserole (recipe found at www.marthstewart.com)

  • 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus 1 ounce (2 tablespoons), melted
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (from 3 slices white bread, crusts removed)

Place sweet potatoes and potatoes in a large saucepan; cover with water, and season with salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 9 minutes. Drain; pass through a ricer into a bowl.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1 stick butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat; add 2 tablespoons sage. Stir butter mixture and milk into potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 2-quart casserole dish. (Mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)

Combine breadcrumbs with 2 tablespoons melted butter and remaining 1/2 tablespoon sage. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

Top potato mixture with breadcrumbs. Bake, uncovered, until bubbling around edges and breadcrumbs are golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. (If browning too quickly, tent with foil.) Let stand, uncovered, for 10 minutes.