Noodles or Crepes? Joys for Passover

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 (if pan is hot, less necessary)
Ladle or Squeeze bottle (the latter makes this so easy)
Spatula (or really delicate tongs)
Your Favorite Crepe Fillings (chocolate spread, fruit, jam, silan, syrup, 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. If using a squeeze bottle, pour batter in. Ladle or squeeze batter into center of pan, then 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. Stack onto plate to serve later, along with the side above, fresh fruit, chocolate spread (or chips).

As you make more, keep the batter well mixed, it separates easily (Shake inside of bottle or stir). Prepared crepes hold up well in the fridge, so make extra.

Optional other uses of this recipe:
Savory Crepes with roasted veggies
Make Egg Noodles: Roll up crepe tightly and slice into noodles for soup, tomato sauce, or bolognese, as pictured.

Creamy Garlic Avocado Dip

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Labne (I used Karoun Lite brand) If you can't find Labne, sour cream or greek yogurt will do.
2-3 Avocados
1-2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
(A little lemon rind too, microplaned in)
Spicy Garlic Blend (to taste): Dehydrated Garlic, Red Pepper Flakes and Salt


Directions:
Slice avocados in half, spoon into bowl (or labne container!) Mash Avocado along with Labne, lemon juice, spices and lemon rind.

Serve with cucumber slices, crackers (or mini-matzah's), chips, as a sandwich spread, or with fish. If you're doing paleo or gluten free, it'd go well with even more crudite or Mary's Gone Crackers!

Ok. So you'll tell me that this is not quite guacamole. I presume that's not a complaint. Enjoy!

Buttery Bourbon Couscous

Recently I was craving the butter that was in my fridge - so I hunted down a vehicle that would provide me with buttery goodness. I've served it as an all-in-one bowl meal with goat cheese and veggie sausage stirred in, or as a side to a meal with roasted broccoli and a big salad.

Ingredients:
4 cups Israeli Whole Wheat Couscous (this isn't easy to find, but I discovered mine in a market that has a huge section of items imported from Israel. Regular Israeli couscous can be found everywhere.)
1/3 cup unsalted butter (I used sweet cream butter) + 1 pat for added before serving.
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
1/4-1/2 cup Sliced Almonds
Dash of Bourbon (up to 2 oz)
Spices in abundance! 
Basil (I used two frozen Dorot cubes)
2 tbs Pereg "American Hamburger spice mix" - this includes Paprika, Black Pepper, Garlic, Salt, Coriander, & Cumin
1 tbs Zaatar
2 tbs Parsley (I had an abundance of dried parsley)
2 pinches Sumac
1 pinch Ginger

Cooking Instructions:
In a medium saucepan, toast the couscous over medium-high heat (I sprayed the pan w/spray oil first).
While toasting, boil 6 cups or so* of water to add to pan.
Once you add the water, also add dried cranberries so they can hydrate as well.
As the water comes back to a boil add butter, bourbon and spices.
Lower to a simmer, cover for 5 minutes. At 5 minutes, remove top, stir, add almonds, and taste - it probably needs an additional 1-2 minutes. For the bowl version, depending on your veggie sausage cooking instructions, you might be able to add them in to cook in these final minutes. Finally, add that last pat of butter as you fluff to serve.

Enjoy!

*I'm always generous with my water measurements in couscous, whatever the package says, I add about a 1/2 cup more. No one ever complains, and particularly if you aren't serving it immediately, or if reheating to serve later, the grain keeps absorbing moisture.

Maple Spice Blondies

Sometimes you have amazing celebrations, sometimes you promise to bake for an event, and sometimes you have both in one week.  So I made a double batch and this experiment was definitely successful, but below is for 1 measurement. Since I didn't have an I had whole wheat flour around in case I'd added too much liquid, but, as it turned out, the batter was just fine.

Ingredients:
1 Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix
1 egg
1 stick of butter
1/2 peel of large lemon, micro-planed (I use organi)
1/3 cup maple syrup (ideally grade B, but I only had A)
1/4 cup sabra chocolate-orange liqueur (or a tbsp of vanilla extract & tsp of orange extract, or tbsp of orange juice, or juice of the lemon)
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp all-spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

**Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place aluminum foil in 11x7 pan, overhanging on (at least) one side. Coat foil with butter or spray.

Soften/Melt butter (I used a pyrex mixing bowl and just got it soft enough to cream with the sugar by placing it in the oven, but I don't have a microwave). Add sugar and whisk together, along with maple syrup, sabra liqueur, egg, lemon peel, and spices. Typically, you'd stream the liquid ingredients into the solid, but I didn't want to dirty another bowl, so I stirred the cookie mix into the wet ingredients until they were thoroughly mixed. Pour and spread into pan, add extra chocolate chips on top.

Bake 30-35 minutes. I left it a bit mushy in the center... because cookie dough!

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.

Polenta Lasagna

Polenta purists will probably damn me for using this super easy packaged stuff, but Trader Joe's sells prepped polenta so cheap, it's hard to resist just keeping in stock in my own pantry. And for this recipe, the alternative is just unnecessary work.


1 package Polenta, sliced thinly (I use Trader Joe's organic precooked)
1 jar Roasted garlic tomato sauce (TJs had a great sale, otherwise I use brad's organic)
Dried Oregano, dried basil & some extra garlic
1-2 cups frozen chopped spinach (Trader Joe's has one that's pesticide free which is about .50 cheaper than organic)
3-5 oz various cheeses: I used fresh (soft) pecorino romano (made by the cheese guy), millers' parmesan and  sliced Colby jack (le petit femmes).
4-5 dashes franks hot sauce
I did also add my secret ingredient which is a dried chili beer rub made by Jaimie Gwen. It's good on everything... you can add some of whatever your favorite spice rub is, or just a few sips of wine or beer. Whatever makes you happy.

Preheat oven to 375(ish) - you're going to want to finish it for the last minute on 400-425.
Cook time: 20 minutes
Prep Time: 8-10 minutes
Serves: 6

Directions: 

Layering: Adding in spinach

Layer the bottom of a baking dish (I used a square 9x9 baker. I mean, I think it was 9x9. Please don't ask me to measure it!) with a small amount of sauce then place thinly sliced layers of polenta. Cover in sauce (1/3 bottle) top w/a Dash basil, oregano, (spinach*,) and parm then another layer of polenta. Repeat (possibly twice, depending on how thin the Polenta is or wide your dish is). Top with slices or shredded cheese.

*The Messy Way:
If the spinach is already defrosted or in small chunks you can smatter it about in each layer as you go. I happened to think of the spinach when I took ice out of my freezer and had actually baked the polenta originally without, and decided to add it. So I kinda stirred it in and ruined the layers, adding the Colby jack on top. No one noticed...it was pretty easy to even out, and it gave me a chance to make a lunch portion. The neater way, by the by, would also just have you add in the extra herbs, spices and hot sauce directly into the bottle of tomato sauce. Probably. I mean, I don't typically do things the neat way.


The "Single Serving" or Lunch portion:

Mini-size!

As I added in the spinach I literally spooned a "slice" worth into my little mini baker so that we could have something delish for lunch the next day. Added the spinach there too, and cheese on top. Glad that I did, since there wasn't an ounce left of the tray I brought over to my friend's for dinner! 


Other suggestions: Consider including dried or fresh mushrooms, broccoli, dried onions, black olives, or the like. Whatever you enjoy in lasagna, even ricotta would work. This was just my first attempt at this dish, I'm sure to be experimenting more, but the simplicity is clearly one of the reasons I loved it so much. If you use a bigger pan, it doubles easily. Beceause the polenta is precooked this is really about melding flavors an melting cheese.

Also, this would taste almost as good without the dairy, so feel free to make it vegan friendly if you have friends who are inclined that way. The flavor really delivers.

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!