Eggs-tatic for Easter Brunch |
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No need to hunt around for great recipes for your Easter Brunch: I have them right here for you. And because I love brunch so much, there are actually 5 recipes in today's newsletter! And, don't forget, towards the bottom of this newsletter I now have an ingredients and equipment section of the newsletter with links to products you may not have or that you can't find easily at your local grocery store. Amazon saves the day yet again! I really hope you do love these recipes. And, as always, if you ever make any of them, take pictures and tag me on Instagram @stirringisnotcooking. I want to see your beautiful food! |
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So many people love deviled eggs for Easter brunch. I've never been a huge fan. So I thought to myself "how would I eat them and enjoy them?" The answer was simple: pork. Because it's Easter, and that automatically equates ham to so many, I took the extra step of wrapping the sausage in ham before frying. They may seem like a lot of work, but I assure you - they are totally worth it! You don't even need a sauce with them because the ham holds in the moisture of the sausage, and the egg yolk mixture adds moisture too. I had to put them first because they were our hands-down favorite recipe of the lot this week! I do have you fry the eggs in oil first just to set the shape. Make sure you are draining them properly after you pull them out of the oil. This video shows you how! | | |
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Serves 4-6 Ingredients: 5 large eggs, divided 1 pound breakfast or Italian sausage, casings removed if needed 6-8 thin (deli-style) slices of ham 1 cup panko bread crumbs 1/4 cup all-purpose flour Canola or vegetable oil, for frying 3 tablespoons mayonnaise 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard (I like Maille Old Style) 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice Chopped chives, for garnish (see a trick here) Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Procedure: Place 4 eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Place on medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Immediately remove eggs from pan and place in ice water. Leave in ice water for 10 minutes, then peel eggs. Set up a breading station using one shallow dish of flour, one shallow dish of remaining egg, scrambled, and one shallow dish of panko. Divide sausage in to 4 pieces. Flatten each piece into an oval. With wet hands, wrap one piece of sausage around each egg, making sure egg is completely encased in sausage (wet hands will help the sausage not stick to your hands). Wrap each egg in ham (takes about 1 1/2-2 slices per egg). Dip each egg first in flour, then scrambled egg, then panko, shaking off excess after each “dip”. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 3” of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. When oil has reached 375 degrees F, add eggs, 2 at a time. Cook until golden brown on the outside (sausage will not yet be cooked through). Once eggs are cool enough to touch, cut each egg in half lengthwise and place, cut side up, on a sheet tray. Place sheet tray in preheated oven for 5 minutes (this is necessary to cook off the cross-contamination of the egg yolk from cutting the egg). Remove eggs from oven and carefully remove yolks and place in a bowl. Return sausage and egg whites to oven for 10-12 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through. While sausage is cooking mix together yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Place mixture in piping bag fitted with star tip, if desired. When sausage-coated eggs are done, remove from oven. Pipe or spoon filling mixture in to egg whites, garnish with chives, and serve immediately. |
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Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Galette with Parmesan Crust |
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What makes vegetables taste better? Cheese. What else? More cheese, obviously. While I used goat cheese for the topping of this free-form tart, you could also easily use blue cheese crumbles, or another cheese as well. You could also sub out the fresh oregano and thyme for Italian seasoning. Just make sure you use the amount for the dried herbs, or you will taste nothing else! The thing that makes this recipe great for brunch is that it tastes great at room temp too. So you don't have to worry as much about juggling oven space. If you have never shaped a galette before, I have a quick video here showing you how. This video features an apple filling, but it is the same technique no matter the filling! | | |
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Serves 4 Ingredients: For the crust: 1 cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup whole wheat flour ½ teaspoon kosher salt 4 ounces unsalted butter, frozen ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan ¼ - ½ cup ice water 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash For the filling: 2 small zucchinis, cut in to ½” pieces 1 yellow squash, cut in to ½” pieces ½ medium red onion, cut in to ½” pieces 1 medium red bell pepper, cut in to ½” pieces (learn how to cut a bell pepper here) 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano (or ½ teaspoon dry) ¾ teaspoon minced fresh thyme (or ¼ teaspoon dry) 2-3 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil ½ - ¾ cup crumbled goat cheese, or to taste Fresh basil, chiffonade, for garnish (learn what that means and how to do it here) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, as needed Procedure: Make the crust: Mix flours and salt in a medium bowl. Grate butter on the large holes of a cheese grater into the flour mixture. Add cheese and toss gently with your fingers to mix. Gradually add ice water just until dough comes together. Form dough into disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 20 minutes. Make the filling: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside. Place all cut vegetables on one of the prepared trays. Sprinkle herbs over the vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil, using just enough to coat the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly distribute all ingredients. Lay vegetables back in a flat layer on the tray and roast in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, stirring once, or until vegetables are softened and starting to form brown spots. Remove from oven, decrease temperature to 425 degrees F, and set vegetables aside to cool. Assemble galette: While vegetables are cooling, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a large oval approximately 1/8” thick. Place on remaining prepared tray. If vegetables are not yet cool, return to the refrigerator until they are cool enough to handle. Place cooled vegetables on disk of dough, leaving a ½”- 1” border all the way around. Sprinkle the goat cheese on top of the vegetables. Fold up the edges around the filling, leaving the center open. Gently brush crust only with egg and water mixture. Place in oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. |
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I love pate a choux. I make it constantly it seems. It's just so versatile! Want something sweet? Cream puffs and eclairs. Want something savory? Gougeres. Or these lovely smoked salmon bites! The idea behind them is a lox and bagel. That's why I use everything bagel seasoning on top of the puffs and put some of the usual "toppings" that come with lox inside the filling. The beauty of this dough is that if you want to cut the filling recipe in half, and do half of these puffs with ice cream in the middle, you can! Savory and dessert without dirtying extra pans! I just would leave off the seasoning on top of the ones you intend to make sweet. If you haven't made pate a choux before, it can seem intimidating. I assure you it is the easiest thing though! Here is a video on making gougeres, which is the same basic dough. You just won't add the mustard and the cheese to the dough (though I'm not stopping you). | | |
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Makes 20-30 bite-sized puffs Ingredients: For the “puff”: ½ cup water 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes ½ teaspoon granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt ½ cup all-purpose flour 2-3 large eggs, plus additional for egg wash Everything bagel seasoning, as needed For the filling: 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 8 ounces smoked salmon 2 tablespoons capers, chopped 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, or as needed 2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives (see how here) Procedure: Make the puffs: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, add water, butter, sugar, and salt. When water boils and butter is melted, turn off heat. Add flour all at once and stir to combine. Return to heat and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. When mixture is cool enough that the eggs will not scramble, add eggs one at a time and stir to combine. Do not overmix. As soon as mixture comes together, stop stirring. After 2 eggs are added, place a little dough between your thumb and finger and gently pull apart. If the dough stretches without breaking, you are done. If it does not, add another egg. Load mixture in to piping bag. Pipe rounds ¾”-1” in diameter on to a parchment-lined sheet tray. With a wet finger, push down “tails” that have formed. Alternatively, you can use a portion scoop. Brush lightly with egg wash made from 1 egg and 1 tablespoon water. Sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning. Place puffs in preheated oven and bake until golden brown and puffed, 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack to cool. Make the filling: While the puffs are baking, place cream cheese, salmon, capers, and cream in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until well blended. Add additional cream as necessary to achieve desired texture. Fold in the chives. Load into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip. Fill the puffs: When the puffs are cool, use a small serrated knife to cut them in half horizontally. Using the piping bag with the smoked salmon mixture, fill the bottoms of the puffs, then replace the top. Alternatively, use a round tip to fill from the bottom of the puff without cutting (use the tip to poke a hole, fill, and then remove). Serve immediately. Puffs will hold, unfilled, for one day in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Filling will hold for 2-3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container (it may need to be softened slightly before you pipe). If you are planning to hold the puffs for longer, they may be frozen, unfilled, in an airtight container for up to 3 months. The filling (unfortunately) will not freeze well. Thaw frozen puffs at room temperature (with small ones, it should take only 20-30 minutes at room temperature to thaw). |
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Brown Butter and Sea Salt Rice Cereal Eggs |
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You know you loved these as a kid. Admittedly, I still love them. But I made them slightly more "grown up" by browning the butter first and adding one of my favorite crunchy sea salts to it. I added fun colors, and I shaped them in the little 2-piece plastic eggs you can get everywhere this time of year. After having tried every way to color them, I can assure you that cutting the recipe in half or less and making small batches at a time and coloring the marshmallow mixture before you add the other ingredients is definitely the way to go. If you don't, the marshmallow starts to harden before you get to it and it's just a mess. Also, spray your hands! Use that stuff that I won't actually use on the stovetop because it ruins pans (but that is a whole different story), but it works great here. Also, I use Maldon salt in this recipe. If you have ever been confused about all the types of salt out there, here is a video I did showing some of the salts I have here at home and how they are used (yes, I know I have a salt buying problem). | | |
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Makes 18-20 small eggs Ingredients: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 4 cups mini marshmallows 5 1/4 cups rice cereal 3/4 cup toasted, skin removed, and chopped hazelnuts (see how to peel them here) 1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt (or other sea salt) Food color, if desired Pan spray or oil, for oiling hands Plastic 2-piece eggs, for shaping (optional) Procedure: Heat butter in a large saucepan set over medium heat until butter has browned. Turn heat to low and add marshmallows. Stir constantly until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat. If coloring, add food color. Add remaining ingredients and stir. With greased hands, shape into egg shapes. Alternatively, place in to greased eggs and close to create egg shape. Treats are best served the same day they are made. |
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If you asked me what my two favorite breakfast items are, I would be quick to respond with hash browns and runny egg yolk eggs. So, I thought, why not put the two together? I use russet potatoes and par-cook them, but you could easily use a bag of frozen hash browns if you like. This recipe also makes a lot. Just cut it down to how many you need! I have made as few as 2 of these (once the potatoes are par-cooked and shredded, they won't brown any more, so you can just put them in the fridge or freezer and make as many or as few of these as you want at once). I hope you enjoy! |
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Makes 1 dozen baskets Ingredients: 2 pounds russet potatoes 12 large eggs 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I like Maille) Butter, for greasing cups Chives, for garnish Finishing salt, for garnish (I used a red clay salt like this one, which is also seen in the salt video) Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste Procedure: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan with butter. Set aside. Cut potatoes in half. Place in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are approximately half cooked. Remove from water and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater. Alternatively, you can use a bag of frozen shredded hashbrowns. Press shredded potatoes into each muffin cup, making a “basket” with a hole large enough for the egg in the center of each. Season potatoes with salt and pepper. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until top edges of potatoes are starting to brown, and the outside of each basket is starting to brown as well (check by pulling one out with a butter knife or small offset spatula). Spread 1/8 of a teaspoon of mustard in the bottom of each cup, then crack an egg into each cup. Place back in the oven for 10-11 minutes for slightly runny eggs, or 15-17 minutes for hard cooked eggs. Garnish with finishing salt and chives and serve immediately. |
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Ingredients and Equipment |
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As promised, here is a list of ingredients and equipment I used making these recipes: Ingredients Mustard: There is only one mustard brand allowed in my home: Maille. This 4-pack gives you both mustards I used in these recipes. Salts: I used two different finishing sea salts in this newsletter. Maldon has a very distinctive pyramid shape and is very "clean" tasting. Alaea red salt comes from Hawaii and gives a better "crunch" for the potato basket dish, which helps give it nice textural contrast. Equipment Piping Bag Set: To make the salmon mousse bites, a piping bag set will definitely make your life easier, and it will also make the deviled eggs much prettier. I like Fat Daddios brand because the bag is virtually indestructible (I have one bag that I've had for at least 5 years), it will hold hot or cold things, and the tips have a rim to help prevent them from exploding out of the bag. I recently needed to add another bag to my stash (not replace, just add), and this is the only brand I even considered. Microplane: I like to grate my own Parmesan. The best tool for this in my opinion is a Microplane. It makes the cheese as fine as snow, so you get a lot of coverage for a little cheese. Or, in the case of the dough, it spreads remarkably well. Plus they have fun colors. Because you know I have a pink one! Food Processor: In my mind, there is only one food processor I considered when buying mine (I have used almost every brand for home cooks in previous jobs). Breville flat out makes the best. Yes, I know it's expensive, but once you push that cord back in to its holder so you never trip on it again and use the adjustable slicing blade, you'll never want to use another food processor again. And they never die. Plus, this one even has a blade for peeling potatoes! I assure you that one place I worked we beat them up more than you ever could, and they still kept going. That's why it's the one I own. Silicone Baking Mats: I love my baking mats. As a leftover habit from commercial kitchens, I never put anything on an un-lined pan (commercial operations use aluminum and once they are scrubbed they make weird gray marks on food if you don't line them). Since I don't like making a lot of extra waste, I use silicone baking mats (you may know them as Silpats - that's a brand name, like Kleenex). I even have them in two sizes so none of my pans ever has to go without one! Fry Thermometer: If you are going to make the Scotch eggs, you will need a thermometer. Standard meat thermometers don't go high enough, and there is just no way of "eyeballing" the right temperature of that much oil. You will either end up with very greasy food or burned breadcrumbs. Taylor is the one I have trusted for many years, and will continue to be the one I buy if I need a replacement. Cooling Rack: If you watched the video on frying, you know I advocate for draining your fried food on a cooling rack set over a sheet tray rather than paper towel lined plates. This keeps the bottom from getting soggy. I like stainless steel because it can also go in the oven, so it can double as a roasting rack in a pinch, and it also means they are dishwasher safe! Here is a nice, inexpensive one that is a two pack! |
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Are you making these recipes (or any of our recipes from previous newsletters)? Be sure to take a pic and tag us on Instagram @stirringisnotcooking. We'd love to see what you are up to! |
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