Baked eggs

Oh Mark,
On a lark I followed you on twitter. And yesterday afternoon, your post simply titled the recipe baked eggs with prosciutto and tomato. And really, tomato in December? I don't think so. But I was in Morgan and York, so I picked up a few heavenly slices of prosciutto di parma and brought them home. Now, I'm dreaming of eggs with cream.
I took my prosciutto and lined the bottom of my bowls with it. Tossed in some locavorious asparagus pieces, a splash of cream, and some salt and pepper. On top, I cracked an egg and set the bowls in a 400 degree oven.
The creaminess, the saltiness, the eggyness. I thought about making another one for breakfast this morning. I'll probably make one for lunch.
First Orangette convinced me that Lima beans (which I love) taste better simmered in heavy cream. She's right. And now, I'm baking my eggs with it too.

Just a few cookies

We planned to bake some cookies. In just over six hours, and with six kids at times helping, and at times detracting we finished 8 types of cookies. Added to the few I had made last week, there are a lot of cookies in the house.

Clockwise from top: My mom's raisin bars, coconut macaroons, chocolate chip and orange chocolate (Martha Stewart, Cookies), Triple Ginger Cookies (Bon Appetit, Dec 2009), salted langue-de-chat (Gourmet, Dec 2007) to-be-baked sables -- cocoa with sea salt and pepper, and spice (Dorie Greenspan, Baking from my home to Yours), chocolate peppermint bark cookies (Bon Appetit, Dec 2009), Malted Chocolate Sandwich cookies (Martha Stewart, Cookies), sugar rolled Sables, lemon cranberry florentines (Bon Appetit, Dec 2009), Allison's rum balls. Not pictured: ruglelah (Dorie Greenspan, Baking from my home to Yours)

We had a little bit of taste-testing last night. Allen's partial to the ginger cookies, I like the florentines and the rum balls, and the rugelah, and the sables... It depends on my mood.

We're going to make cutout cookies when school lets out, and I want to make the chocolate cherry cookies that Marsha recommended. There are probably a few others too...

TWD: Sables

Let the holiday baking begin!

DB Cannoli

Cannolipoleon with pumpkin and homemade ricotta chocolate chip filling

DB: Cannoli

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

The filling's in the fridge, and the fried cannoli are cooling on a plate. Are you drooling yet? Photos to follow.

Thanksgiving

I didn't make the turkey this year. If we had eaten at home, I don't know if I would have made the turkey. But for our feast with friends, I had a few things to contribute. We brought:
Pecan and Goat Cheese Marbles


Brussels Sprout Slaw



Oreo Turkeys (which didn't stay together this well)

Puff Pastry Pepperoni Pinwheels

and Creamed Onions from the Joy of Cooking. We didn't eat creamed onions at the holiday table when I was a kid, and we certainly didn't eat brussels sprouts. But after our decade in St. Louis, sharing Thanksgiving with my aunt and uncle, I wouldn't have it any other way. Kiki always made this recipe, which might be as native to St.L as toasted ravioli. My one shortcut in this recipe is to use frozen, peeled onions.

Creamed Onions adapted from The Joy of Cooking

Boil water in large saucepan. Add 1 lb frozen baby onions and cook until just tender. Drain and set aside
In second saucepan, melt 1 1/2 tbsp butter. When butter has melted, stir in 1 1/2 tbsp flour and cook until lightly brown. Stir in 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups milk ( I used skim) and 1 cup evaporated skim milk. Whisk over medium heat until sauce thickens.

Put onions in shallow casserole dish. Cover with sauce. Top with 1 cup shredded Swiss Cheese.
Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes -- until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Thanks to epicurious and thrifyfun for the photos!

TWD: Holiday fruit cake

I love to give gifts, but only when I have found the right gift for the giftee. And sadly, it doesn't always line up with the gift-giving demands of the calendar and more often, with my budget. So right now, I'm all geeked about Nudo. That's right, it's open in my browser window right now as I ponder the fact that it's over my gift giving budget. But I digress.

My parents have always been gift givers. Christmas was, and still is, a big deal. For years, my dad baked loaves of bread for all of the neighbors and friends, and we'd head out on Christmas Eve to deliver them. When his schedule became too full, my mom would bake muffins, or make jam. And the reciprocity -- there were bottles of wine, and boxes of fruit and cheese, and poinsettias, from friends and associates. It's those tastes of the season that I remember -- and that have made me a loyal customer of Harry & David pears year after year. It brings a holiday giddiness that I have a hard time explaining.

I grew up not far Claxton, GA, which might be the fruit cake capital of the world. Claxton Fruit Cakes, too arrived many Christmas', bricks, or doorstops of a pound cake, loaded with red and green maraschino cherries and nuts. They took their place on the piano with chocolates and bottles of scotch. I imagine the shelf life of a fruitcake to be infinite, and honestly, I couldn't ever bring myself to take a bite.

Honestly, I wasn't psyched to see that Dorie had included a fruit cake recipe, but I whipped it up anyways. Added the maple syrup glaze, and send 3/4 of it off to work with A. I kept a wedge on the counter, thinking I take a picture. But with spur of the moment dessert guests, the cake was served. And enjoyed. I didn't want to tease you with a picture of the empty plate.