Passover Sweet Treats

Marshmallow Treats

Non-Stick Spray
Marshmallows
Berries (or your favorite fruit)
Chocolate Chips
Mint Leaves for garnish, optional
Pie Tin


Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Spray tin (you may want to line pan with aluminum foil)
Toss Marshmallows into pan and, after 5 minutes, add in small pieces of fruit and chocolate chips.

Cook for 6-8 minutes longer, until Marshmallows are your favorite shade of brown.

Apologies the picture doesn't have mint or chocolate... This version was made to go into a crepe as a filling.
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 Passover Crepes (aka Egg Noodles)

6 Large Eggs
1 cup Tapioca (or Potato) Starch
1.5 cups Water (or Milk) a bit more or less to consistency that works for your desired level of thickness
1 pinch of salt
Large Non-stick pan, spray or oil
Ladle or Squeeze bottle (the later makes this so easy)
Spatula (or really delicate tongs)
Your Favorite Crepe Fillings (chocolate spread, fruit, marshmallows etc)


Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, whisk or stir with fork until blended. There may be a clump or two, but try to break it up as much as possible.
Heat pan to a high temperature.
Spread batter to coat pan.
Cook for 1-2 minutes, until edges start to release from sides and crepe can easily flip.
Continue to cook slightly less time on this opposite side.
Place onto plate to serve later, along with the side above, fresh fruit, chocolate spread (or chips).
Keep the batter well mixed, it separates easily

Optional use of this recipe: Savory crepes with roasted veggies or to serve as Egg Noodes: Roll up crepe and slice into noodles for soup, tomato sauce, or bolognese.

Egg-Filled Bread Bowl

If only every brunch dish was this delicious... it would be my only meal. I discovered something called a baked egg boat on pinterest a few weeks ago and it looked beautiful. Of course, as a breakfast food, it was made with bacon, and bread that's hard to find heckshered, so off I went to develop my own incarnation.  I served it at a post simchat torah brunch - but whether you're serving it as a hangover cure or beside bottomless mimosas, this is top rate.

Yes, that's on a "Got Milk?" plate. Oreo Cookie!

Ingredients:

6 Par-baked french rolls (Trader joe's has these, and I love them. If they're hard to find, french or italian demi baguettes is what was suggested .)
8 Eggs
6 Scallions (or garlic chives)
2/3 cup half and half
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
Colby Jack Cheese - 2-4 ozs
Mozzarella cheese 3 ozs
Spinach
Optional: Mushrooms (I used baby bellas/creminis), Smoked salmon (we were also having bagels and lox so I'll add this next time)

Also, an FYI: For the half & half, I used the fat free kind from Trader Joe's, I'm no expert when it comes to this version of dairy though, so I suggest that you use what you like or whatever you have on hand. Some recipes recommend creme, that's just too rich for me. Also, I didn't calorie/ingredient compare to see what they do to make the fat free tasty, but it is, so I really enjoyed. Only questioning that choice now, clearly.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Hollow out bread. To do this on the rolls, I cut a V into the tops of each for access with the most remaining bread. (Save breadcrumbs - I baked mine into a fritata, also pictured, but use for whatever you use breadcrumbs for... or if you've been super adept at the cutting process, add it back as a top to the bowl.)
Place the bread on a cookie sheet (or in a roaster pan. I used the latter) and take out a large bowl to break eggs in to (I always break eggs individually into a cup or small bowl first so that you can spot blood or shell) - Every 3 or 4 eggs I whisked together the eggs and the half and half, cayenne pepper, and then chopped scallions and added them in. Whisk a bit more, just so eggs are fluffy like you'd do for an omelet.
Take that small bowl and used it as a ladle to transfer egg mixture into rolls. Allow to sit for a bit (and absorb) as you slice cheeses, then add a bit more egg in, if there's room. Top with chopped defrosted frozen spinach and sliced cremini mushrooms. The pictured one I made w/out mushrooms because, you know, so many picky eaters, so little time.
Bake for 12-15 minutes (until the eggs aren't jiggly) and serve!

Enjoy!!  Tell me if you made a variation and how it came out! The one pictured is from the next day, and it withstood the journey. Also, I would have added salt and pepper but my kitchen wasn't back in one piece yet from the floor being redone, so I just went with what was on hand. It didn't feel like any flavor was missing though.

Pizza Style - Rocky Mountain Toast!

Warning: This is a whole lot of YUM!

I ate it so quickly, I didn't take a picture, so for now, you'll have to take a word that this slightly messy delight is a quick and easy treat.

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread - I used leftover whole wheat challah - centers of slice removed
2 eggs
non-stick spray (or butter)
shredded cheese (I used about 1/4 cup of 3 cheese pizza blend... but the more the merrier)
tomato sauce (I used barilla roasted garlic, about 3/4 cup)

In advance: prepare the eggs however you like them, I just crack them into a cup so they're ready to pour - having the yokes break after they cook is a super great treat. But if you want scrambled style, you can wisk them up a bit. Also if you'd like to butter your toast - go for it now - BOTH SIDES - I mean do it right if you're going to do it. (because of the cheese, I left out this butter step) cut out the center of the bread. Then...

Over med-high heat, warm a non-stick skillet and spray with non-stick spray. Put the bread in the pan and fill the hole with the eggs, after about 2 minutes, flip the bread and let the other side cook then sprinkle the cheese on top, cook for another minute and slide off on to a plate. Just toss the tomato sauce into the pan to warm quickly, then pour over the toast.

Enjoy!!

Rocky Mountain Toast (which is a campfire treat) is also known as egg in a basket, egg in a hole, one eyed monster, frog in a hole ... amongst other regional names - it's eggs and toast, pre-combined and it's delish. Try it and tell me if you have any great additions!

Amaretto Orange Blossom Challah French Toast Casserole

The girls and I call this Grown Up French Toast!

The recipe needs to be prepped about 8 hours prior to cooking. If you're planning a grown up breakfast for dinner, that means you can set it up before you start your day. If you plan to serve this dish for breakfast or brunch, just set it up the night before.

Grown up French Toast - Dressed with Tangelo Zest!

• 1 loaf of whole wheat challah
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups unsweetened soy milk (or skim milk)
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 1/4 cup orange blossom water*
• 1/2 cup amaretto
• 1 tbsp sugar in the raw (or more if you don't plan to add powdered sugar or syrup)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• Dash of cardamom
• Dash of salt

Cut loaf into medium thick slices.
Arrance slices in overlapping rows in a 9x13 pan sprayed with vegetable oil.
Combine remainder of ingredients in a bowl and wisk until blended.
Pour over the bread in the pan, making sure to cover all slices.
Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight (8 hours or longer).
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until puffed and lightly golden.
The flavors married with the maple syrup - so much so that I might try baking some in next time. I also had to warm this, so poured a little more amaretto over the top before putting it back in the oven at 200. Special thanks to my friend Sam for the low butter/dairy/fat content of this recipe. It didn't feel lacking at all.
*A note on Orange Blossom Water: This ethnic delight is used in north african and persian cuisine and can be found in some ethnic food aisles. Occasionally, I have seen it as an additive to bottled drinking water, which I've used as a sometime substitute. Alternately, you can use a splash of orange juice or triple sec. It won't be quite the same, but still tasty.

Frittatas: 3 ways

Everyone has different tastes - but these non-dairy frittatas are so easy to make that preparing a few variations are just as simple as one.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For vegetables, start with a big pan (I use my flat wok) so that you can make ingredients en masse. If you're going to go from stovetop to oven, make sure your pan is oven safe.

Mushroom and Onion Frittata

1lb cremini/baby bella mushrooms (I picked mine up pre-sliced at Trade Joes).

2/3 sweet onion

8 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

Spicy Garlic (Grinder Blend from Kirkland - or garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes)

Sautee mushrooms - I used the Pacific mushroom broth and sherry instead of oil.

Sautee onions. (Season with salt, pepper, garlic to taste.)

Place in baking dish, pour in egg and soymilk mixture.

Stir.

Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes or until eggs set. Typically, with a frittata one starts the egg setting process on the stove (it speeds up the process), but given that I making 3 to serve a day later, I went with this more foolproof method.

Because I made three different kinds I used the "cut once" method with this whole prep process. For eggs, that meant I did the cracking and mixing into one big bowl - 18 eggs in total with 12 oz of soy milk. Some pepper and salt. Because I had non-mushroom lovers amongst my guests (when will my friends grow up and embrace the delicacy?), I cooked those separately first and then all the onions at once, splitting them amongst the mushroom pan and then stirring in the spinach for the next two frittatas.

Lox, Spinach and Onion Frittata

1/2 lb Spinach

2/3 Sweet Onion

6-8 oz Lox

5-6 Sprigs Dill (or 1 tbs dried dill)

8 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

Add spinach into the sauteed onion mixture, until cooked through.

place in baking dish.

Add fresh dill and salmon in small pieces.

Pour egg mixture into dish. Stir and bake for 45 minutes.

Pastrami, Spinach and Onion Frittata

1/2 Spinach

2/3 Sweet Onion

2 Tbs Jack Daniels Mustard
1/2-3/4 lbs Pastrami

8 eggs

1/2 cup soy milk

Add spinach into the sauteed onion mixture, until cooked through. (I did two at once and divided)

Add in pastrami and mustard to the pan with onions and spinach and sautee a bit.

Place in baking dish.

Pour egg in mixture. Stir and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven, make sure the eggs have set (they shouldn't wobble in the middle), slice and serve.

I heard from guests and found that when the savory eggs wound up with maple syrup they married quiet well.

1/1/11 at 1:11 ... New Year's Brunch Menu

Recovery Brunch!

Here's the menu with recipes to come once the reviews are in:

Hearty Pea Stoup: Parsnips, Carrots, Potatoes, Onions, Rice oh my!

Chickpea Salad: Dressed with Balsamic Vinegar

Frittatas:

• Lox, Spinach, Onion with Dill
• Pastrami, Spinach, Onion with Garlic and Mustard
• Mushroom and Onions with Garlic and Hot Pepper

Baked Amaretto Orange Blossom Challah French Toast Casserole

Meyer Lemon Chocolate Red Velvet Cake

Hydration station: "Berry Detox" Iced Tea, "Calming" Iced Tea (Both Yogi Flavors), Seltzer with Lemons and Oranges, Chocolate Mint Soy Milk

Dehydration station: Blue Moon, Pink Elephant, Lindeman's Pomme, Original Sin Cider, Yogev Cab-Petit Verdot blend

Friends bringing:

Tater Tots, Brownies, Sorbet, Homemade Challah, Sparkling wine

Can't wait to dig in.

Happy New Year everyone!