Breakfast Croquettes

I took a couple of weeks off from work to enjoy the holidays and visit with family.  One evening, I'm sitting at the kitchen table with one of my brothers and we are discussing food.  The topic turns to food stuffed inside of other food, something I find to be pretty magical.  A particular favorite of mine happens to be cheese stuffed tater tots.  Tater tots are already on my guilty pleasures food list and then you up the ante by stuffing it with cheese.  There is an upscale burger bar in Providence that serves gorgonzola stuffed tater tots.  Does anyone else hear angels singing?

Sorry, I watched Sherlock (the Cumberbatch Incarnation) last night.  Now I have a mind palace and it's stuffed with all things food.  Ha, stuffed!  Sorry, back to business. 

My brain started contemplating all the things I could stuff inside a tater tot and somewhere along the way breakfast hops onto the thought cloud. Then, voilà, the magic mashed potato breakfast croquette is born!

This recipe is not for the faint of heart, however.  Mainly because it is time intensive.  It doesn't really work if you try and stuff a raw egg inside of mashed potatoes.  Eeeewww, even my imagination can't make the idea less gross.  Therefore, first comes the mashed potatoes, then the egg muffins, and then you get to put it all together in food stuffed inside food amazingness.  It may take some time, but it is so worth it.

See...WORTH IT!

Mashed Potato Breakfast Croquette

Ingredients:

 

1/3 c. bell pepper - chopped (I used an orange bell pepper to add some color)

1/4 c. mushrooms - chopped

1 small onion - chopped

1 clove garlic - minced

4 eggs - beaten

6 good sized potatoes

2 Tbsp butter

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Enough milk to cut the eggs and make the mashed potatoes (Sorry, I never measure when I make eggs or mashed potatoes, I just add until I'm satisfied with the consistency.)

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

Step 1 - the mashed potatoes.  I chose 6 all purpose white potatoes, the largest in the 5 lb bag.  I peeled and cut them into cubes to boil them faster.  Once they were cooked through, I drained and transferred them to a large bowl.  I mashed them with butter and milk and a little salt and pepper.  My recommendation is to make them the way you would normally make mashed potatoes.  Once they are prepped, cover and put in the refrigerator to cool.

 

Step 2 - the egg muffins.    Preheat oven to 375F.  Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook onions for about 5 minutes, enough to soften them.  Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds then add the peppers and mushrooms. 

 

 

 

Continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the mixture from the oil and set aside to cool a bit.

 

In a large bowl, beat eggs with a bit of milk.  Add the sauted vegetables and mix well.  Fill muffin tins about halfway and bake for 25 minutes.

 

 

Step 3 - the fun bit.  Crank up the oven to 425F.  Take the cooled mashed potatoes and mix them with the shredded cheese.  Take the egg muffins and cut them into quarters.  Take a spoonful of mashed potatoes and flatten it into a disc,

 

place an egg quarter in the center,

and then cover with more mashed potatoes.  Finish by shaping it into a ball.

Mmmmm, I'm excited already!

Place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then brush with olive oil.

 

 

Bake for 30 minutes.  If you are not satisfied with the color (I wasn't), then pop them under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes.  Now, full disclosure, 2 cups of cheese to 6 potatoes is a pretty high ratio, so the croquettes did not really hold their shape.  I, however, am perfectly fine with this.  They were still amazing.

 

 

Putting them under the broiler for a bit added the nice golden color and ensured they were crisp on the outside as you bit in.  They were perfect.  Crisp on the outside, soft inside, and you could taste all the parts - potatoes, eggs, vegetables, and cheese.  They held their own, but worked perfectly together.  Additional seasoning was unnecessary, the small amounts of salt and pepper during cooking brought out their natural flavors.  These would be a fantastic addition to your next brunch buffet.





Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

This casserole goes down in the win column and my friends who partook of it at Friendsgiving agreed.  I always get a little nervous though when I serve food to others.  It's an irrational nervousness, I do realize that.  I've been cooking long enough and have a good sense of things that go well together, but there is always that chance that something comes out wrong.  And, if you have read my post about cooking with my father, you already know that me, cooking with orange juice, is a bit of a mixed bag, and this recipe called for juice of an orange.  I'm already feeling the cold sweats of fear as I imagine all the ways that OJ in the oven could cause a sticky smelly disaster.  But, as we have all figured out by now, I survived to tell the tale and bested yet another one of Maria Luisa's recipes.

What I like most about this recipe is its simplicity...sweet potatoes, apples, and orange juice.  That is really all you need.  There is a sweetener and spice thrown into the recipe as well, but those are not essential.  The standout flavor comes from the three ingredients I just listed and it's wonderful.  Maria Luisa did suggest adding liquor, but I decided that was unnecessary.  She also put this recipe in the Dessert and Candy chapter of her cookbook, which I decided was stupid.  Therefore, ignoring the alcohol addition was easy.  I might have considered it IF, IF, she had added it before baking.  She suggested sprinkling on Jamaica rum or kirsch before serving.  A) That's gross and adds nothing.  B) I was taking this to a pot luck where children would be dining with us, so no. C) Kirsch?! I'm not really sure why she wants us growing hair in unnecessary places.  Feel like getting crazy and throwing in an ounce of rum with the orange juice and then baking?  Go for it.  That would probably taste good...but after? No.

Setting aside Maria Luisa's general level of ridiculousness, this is a great recipe.  It's also a good beginner level recipe.  The ability to slice and peel is as skilled as you need to be.  Though, as I am writing this I am remembering a day when a dear dear friend of mine proved that peeling a potato does indeed require skill.  I stood, in abject horror, watching her massacre a normally hearty russet potato.  Before she could demoralize Mr. Russet any further, I yanked him from her grasp and told her that if she wanted to help, she could pour the wine.  Things worked much better in the kitchen after that.  As long as you are not her, you can make this recipe easy peasy.

Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Dolce di Patate e Mele

Ingredients:

2 lbs. sweet potatoes

3 apples - peeled, cored, and sliced fairly thin

Sugar and nutmeg - enough to sprinkle on as directed

Juice of 1 1/2 oranges

2 Tbsp butter - melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F.  Boil the sweet potatoes in water until tender, about 20 minutes.  When they are done, drain, let them cool for a bit, and then peel.  Peeling sweet potatoes is super easy and should not even require a peeler.  The skins will come off right in your hands.

Cut the sweet potatoes into slices, approximately 1/2 inch thick.  You will create the casserole in layers, in a buttered baking dish, starting with the sweet potatoes,

then adding the apples,

and then sprinkling on some sugar and nutmeg.

In total, I probably used about 1/4 cup of sugar and a single teaspoon of nutmeg.  Keep repeating until you have used all of the sweet potatoes and apples.  I ended up with three layers of each.  Finish with a sprinkling of sugar and nutmeg.

Then, pour the juice and melted butter over the top.

Place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

Yea, I had this vision of a dark brown and bubbly something but that's not what you get here.  The time in the oven is really just meant to soften the apple slices.  It tastes phenomenal and smells even better as it cooks, that I promise you.  If autumn could be captured in a pan, it would be this.

Minestrone Milanese

Soup, soup, soup, soup.  I really cannot find the right words to describe why soup makes me so happy, but it does.  It's comfort food at its finest, only made better when using fresh produce from the farmer's market.  Today's offering is Minestrone Milanese and this recipe will have you swimming in soup for the rest of the week.  Now that's an image!

The only hiccup in this, in all other ways wonderful, recipe was the need for salt pork.  What in the h-e-double hockey sticks is salt pork?!  Well, the what is not quite as difficult as the where.  Salt pork is salt-cured pork belly, basically.  The where is the difficult piece to answer since I do not believe it's been in a grocery store since Maria Luisa was compiling these recipes.  I hit up the World Wide Web to see if salt pork is something that can be made at home and, SURPRISE, you can.  Of course, my decision to make salt pork could not possibly go without its own hiccup.  I didn't really have the necessary ingredients for proper salt pork....seriously who sells juniper berries! And, what the hell is quatre épices?

My head was already beginning to explode so I just decided I was going to fake it.  My local grocer sells pork trimmings, which I decided was good enough.  I also decided that I could get away with a salt-ish pork concoction that involved sea salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, and a bay leaf.  I let that sit in the fridge overnight and decided that since I only need 1/3 of a cup for the soup that whatever I pulled out of the zip lock in the morning would suffice.  I have no idea what my "salt pork" did or didn't add to my minestrone, but since I decided my minestrone tastes pretty darn amazing I am a happy woman.

Once I got the whole salt pork situation sorted, I was able to get down to business...

Minestrone Milanese

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter

1/3 c. salt pork - diced

1 medium onion - chopped

2 medium potatoes - diced

1 lg carrot - diced

1 medium stalk celery - chopped

2 small zucchinis - chopped

1/2 head small cabbage - shredded (I used red, but that was because that was all the vendor at the farmer's market had.)

1 15 oz can red kidney beans - rinsed and drained

3 qts. beef broth

1 c. uncooked rice

1 Tbsp parsley - chopped

1 clove garlic - minced

1/8 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/3 c. Parmesan cheese - grated

Directions:

Melt butter in a large sauce pot.  Saute the onions in the butter, along with the salt pork, making sure not to brown the onion.  Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, cabbage, and beans.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stir occasionally.  

Add broth and potatoes.  Bring up to a boil then simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Increase heat to high, add the rice, and cook for 10 minutes.  Add the parsley, garlic, basil, and thyme, cook an additional 8 minutes.  Remove from stove and stir in Parmesan cheese and serve.

Just thinking about this soup makes me hungry.  I love chunky soups and this dish just hits the spot.  I do want to note that Maria Luisa actually took this recipe from a restaurant in Milan, Caffe Ristorante Savini.  Apparently it is still there.  Guess I'm adding Milan and Caffe Savini to my ever growing list of places to go.

Vegetarian Haggis

Well...I think it's safe to say that Italy has been thoroughly covered and will continue to be covered thanks to my [slight] addiction to cheese and carbs.  I have brought us over to Moldova.  I have even done my own twist on a British baker's twist of a Swedish recipe.  Where next?  Scotland and my take on a vegetarian haggis (no groans please).  Why haggis?  Really...because I can.  Plus, a friend spent some time in Scotland and we had enough discussions involving haggis that my interest was peaked.  Once my interest is peaked it is pretty much a guarantee that I will, eventually, get around to making the respective offender.

If I was being true to Scottish traditional food, I would have made haggis.  But since the USDA and several other agencies would have taken great offense to this, vegetarian haggis it had to be.  I did my research and came across a great article in The Guardian that gave a reason behind each of the various substitutions.  I also made additional changes.  The two most significant changes were molasses instead of treacle (you cannot get treacle in the United States, at least not that I've seen) and beer instead of stock.  Why use beer instead of stock?  Well, if you are asking this question sincerely, let me introduce myself.  Plus, when my friend was in the habit of making haggis, her recipe actually called for scotch.  She chose to use a porter instead.  None of the recipes I found used alcohol but I truly saw no reason not to make the substitution.  Since I wanted a vegetarian meal to pass as a meat dish, the heavier flavor of the porter was actually going to be very helpful.

Now, the result will certainly fool no one.  It is vegetarian haggis baked in a tin not the traditional version steamed in a sheep's stomach.  However, what you do get is a very hearty vegetarian meat(less)loaf.  Do not be put off by the smell while it is cooking on the stove, you will be pleased with the end result.

Vegetarian Haggis

Ingredients:

1/4 c. canned red kidney beans - drained, rinsed, mashed
1/4 c. pearl barley
2 Tbsp butter
1 large onion - chopped
1 large carrot - chopped
1/3 c. portobello mushrooms - chopped
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 c. steel cut oatmeal
3 Tbsp ground peanuts
1½ Tbsp dark molasses
1 c. Porter

Directions:

Boil the barley for about 30 minutes until tender but not completely soft.

Melt half the butter in a saute pan over medium heat and cook the onion until softened, approximately 5 minutes.  Add the carrot and saute, stirring, until both are soft and beginning to brown. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes to soften, adding the spices after a minute or so.

Add the beans, oatmeal, and ground peanuts.  Stir to coat with butter.  Pour in the porter and molasses. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until the mixture is very thick.  Not going to lie to you, this is where things no longer smell very nice.  Do not despair, it will get better.  My porter of choice for this was Samuel Smith Old Brewery Tadcaster The Famous Taddy Porter.  How could I resist a name like that!?

While everything thickens, preheat the oven to 350F.

Stir in the pearl barley and remaining butter, and grease a meatloaf tin. Give the mixture a little taste test.  If you are satisfied then spoon into the tin, cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 30. Leave for five minutes, then turn out and serve.

I realize some of us may not have a lot of faith in Scottish cuisine, but I promise, flavorful and hearty is what you get here.

Spinach and Mushroom Rollatini

As I have mentioned before, I am a bit of an over shopper.  This time around, I had an extra box of lasagna noodles in addition to the half a box I had left from the previous week's kitchen adventure.  I did not want to make just another lasagna so I decided I would go crazy and do rollatini instead.  At this point you are thinking to yourself "but wait...last week she said she used no-bake lasagna noodles.  How do you use those to make rollatini!?"  The answer my friends: hot water and a 7 minute pre-soak.  MAGIC!

The Spinach and Mushroom Rollatini recipe follows quite closely with the Italian Lasagna recipe.  The cheese mixture is almost exactly the same and I made my sauce the same just minus the meat.  Based on the amount of filling I put on each noodle, I was able to fit 12 total into the baking dish, so this recipe makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. chopped spinach - thawed and excess liquid squeezed out
2 c. sliced mushrooms
4 oz. creamy goat cheese rolled in black pepper
15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
shredded mozzarella
1 c. Parmesan cheese - grated
1 large egg
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 onion - chopped
2 Tbsp. partially dried basil
1 Tbsp. sugar
olive oil
1 1/2 pkgs no-bake lasagna noodles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender, about 10 -15 minutes.

While the mushrooms are cooking, boil several cups of water.  Fill a 9x9 baking dish about halfway with the water and begin soaking lasagna noodles. Soak each noodle for about 7 minutes then lay out on parchment paper.  If you are worried about the noodles sticking to the dish or each other, add a bit of olive oil.

Once cooked the mushrooms are cooked, set aside to cool.  Add a bit more oil to the saute pan and then cook onions until tender, about 7 minutes.  Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, 1/2 the parsley, and the basil.  Simmer until the sauce thickens up, about 10 minutes.  When I taste tested the sauce I found it to be too acidic for me so I added 1 Tbsp of sugar for balance.

In a large bowl, combine spinach, mushrooms, goat cheese, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg, and the remaining parsley.  Make sure it is well mixed, you want a fork full of everything in each bite!

No that you have all your parts, time to put it all together.  Spoon a little less than half of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  On one of the lasagna noodles, spoon out about 3 Tbsp worth of filling and spread across.

Sprinkle with the mozzarella and then roll.

Repeat until you have filled the dish.

Spoon enough sauce on top to cover the rollatini and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.

The result, in my opinion, is spectacular.  The cheese has a nice flavor and the mushrooms provide you with something you can sink your teeth into.  This recipe is also easily adjusted.  If you want something heavier on the vegetables, just reduce the amount of cheese.  The noodles will not get mushy even with the pre-soak and baking.