I’ve been away for a while, much longer than the week off that I’d planned on taking. I needed to take a break from the pace of the FCI kitchens and my internship, to travel up north for family time and to reunite with old friends, to cook without pausing to take notes or click the shutter, and to eat some amazing food at this seriously good, seriously charming neighborhood eatery, and this destination restaurant/shrine to local cuisine. We capped it all off by ringing in the New Year with champagne and Brian’s now famous paella, and then, before I knew it, I was right back in the thick of things and feeling very disorganized.

I try to take a realistic approach to making resolutions come January 1, avoiding things that I know are futile, like super-restrictive dieting, or resolving to stop compulsively biting my nails (been there, done that). Instead, I like to make lists comprised of a mix of goals and big moments yet to come in the year ahead. Today’s recipe for creamy, hearty breakfast quinoa parlays beautifully into two lists I’ve made this year: my personal list, and my EVK-specific list.

Personal List:

1. Eat (good, nutritious) breakfasts. Coffee alone does not count, neither do the little tasting bites of muffins, scones, quick breads, and biscuits that I (simply must) take while working on morning production at my internship.

2. Attend to household duties as they come up, to avoid last week’s no heat, broken dryer, tub that’s leaking into the neighbor’s apartment, shower handle coming off, thank you notes still not sent scenario. These things tend to spiral out of control.

3. Culinary school graduation date: July 13

4. Wedding date: August 29

5. Interview/trail date for internship at restaurant possessing more than one Michelin star (that will remain anonymous here): January 19

6. Work hard, be nice, etc.

Blog List:

1. More original recipes

2. Better photographs

3. More bread

4. Be less of a lone wolf in the blogging community

It’s going to be a very exciting year, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with EVK readers. Happy New Year!

Breakfast Quinoa

The cooks at the restaurant where I intern make a version of this for brunch, and they get bombarded with orders for it, especially on cold rainy or snowy days. I’ve never asked for the recipe, figuring that I could adapt my experience using quinoa in savory recipes for this sweeter, more moist breakfast version. I used what I had in the pantry to give the quinoa flavor and texture and I encourage you to do so too. There are a million variations for this recipe, which makes it a great base for eating day after day, with a variety of different additives.

Serves 2

The Base:

1/2 cup milk (1% to whole)
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup quinoa
tiny pinch of kosher salt

Optional add-ins (these are just examples) all to taste:

dried fruits: (raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots, cherries, figs)
nuts: chopped and toasted (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts)
fresh fruits of all kinds: stir in right before eating
dried, unsweetened coconut
drizzles: honey, maple syrup, agave nectar
spices: cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg
brown sugar

Rinse quinoa in cold water and drain thoroughly. Place the quinoa, water, milk, and small pinch of salt into a 1.5 – 2 qt. saucepan with a cover. Bring to a rolling boil, then lower the heat to med-low. Simmer for 15 minutes with the saucepan covered, then remove from heat and allow it to stand for 5 additional minutes (or until most, but not all of the liquid is absorbed and most of the quinoa is translucent in the center) with the cover still on.

Stir in add-ins of your choice to taste and serve immediately.

I feel the need to get one thing off my chest. Here goes. Really good granola, you know, the kind that has an amazing, crispy texture and those delicious nuggets where the oats and nuts fuse together with the baked goodness to form bits that you want to eat right out of the bag or box? The kind that is chock-full of fruits and nuts and is sort of like trail mix, only minus the chocolate, for breakfast?

No matter what the hippies tell you, that stuff is not really healthy per se, and unless you are Michael Phleps, Lance Armstrong, or someone training for a long distance race of any sort, you should probably not eat a big bowl of it everyday.

With that said, I think granola is outstanding in moderation. I like mine to be as much about the fruits and nuts as it is about the oats and clusters, and it’s my personal opinion that coconut really takes granola to the next level. There’s lots of healthful things in this granola – dried fruit, nuts, oats, and plenty of fiber.

The thing that makes it more of a once-in-a-while and/or in extreme moderation food is the oil and (in this case) butter that it’s baked in to make everything crispy. This homemade granola is soooo much better than the stuff you buy in a store, and with all those fancy brands out there tempting us, it’s more economical too. Making it for yourself removes it from the category of ordinary and everyday and makes it as special as a baked good, without all the hassle or mess. 

You can get really creative with the combinations of dried fruits and nuts you use, just be sure not to bake the dried fruits in the oven – just add them later on. In hindsight, I’d probably add the coconut (coated in some of the honey/oil/butter mixture) later – I found that it burnt a bit in the oven, although it still was very tasty.

Be sure to store in an airtight container, to ensure freshness for over a week.

Homemade Granola
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

• 2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries 
• 1 cup dried figs, quartered with stems removed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup good honey
• 3 tablespoons melted butter (salted)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Toss the oats, coconut and pecans together in a large bowl. Pour the vegetable oil, honey, and melted butter over the oat mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated with the liquids. Pour onto a sheet pan. Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add all of the dried friuts. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

Last night I enjoyed an easy Friday night of eating dinner at home and watching movies. Before we turned in, at around 11, I laid out my running clothes and set my alarm for the 10K that I had signed up to run in the morning. 

I desperately wanted to be pumped for this race. The problem is, I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting excited by running these days. I used to go out for runs and enjoy being outside, letting my mind wander and my feet move as the carefully selected tunes shuffled through my playlist. But so far this spring, it’s just been a hassle. My head races, and there’s no meditative rhythm. I spend the entire time arguing with myself in my head to keep going.

This morning, post alarm, I lay in bed and psyched myself up. Yes, I will have a good run today. No, I will not fear the endless hills on Central Park North. I will run like the wind. Bring on the pain. I will sweat! I will love running again! 

Minutes later, I saw just how hard it was raining. I stepped out on to the balcony and felt the chill. That pretty much killed it for me. I’d have to wait in the rain for an hour before I even left the starting line. This was the cold, miserable, wet-footed thought that broke the camel’s back as I headed back to bed.

Later on, when I woke up for the second time, Brian made us Matzo Brei. If you don’t know what that is, think of it as french toast made from matzo that is eaten during Passover. You soak the matzo in water for a bit to soften it up, then squeeze out the water and mix with eggs and, if you have it (we didn’t), rendered chicken fat (or melted butter). 

I’ve seen it cooked two ways, although Brian swears that his (which is really his mother’s via his grandmother) method of forming it into a big pancake and frying it in a little butter (or chicken fat) is the only acceptable method. I’ve also had it cooked the way one might cook scrambled eggs. I enjoy matzo brei with maple suryp, but brian likes to section his off into a bunch of different flavor quadrants – one for salt, one for sugar, one for apricot preserves, one for raspberry jam. It was totally delicious and so filling that I’m now, for the second time today, psyching myself up for (treadmill) running.

Matzo Brei
The Weisenthal way

4 unsalted matzo

2 eggs

Pinch of kosher salt

water

3 tablespoons chicken fat (or butter)

(suggested toppings) maple syrup, sugar, salt, applesauce, jelly, jam, preserves, nutella, and/or peanut butter

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of chicken fat or butter and cook until fully melted. Remove from heat.

Break the matzo into roughly 1/2 – 1 inch pieces in a large bowl. Cover the matzo pieces in water until completely covered for 15 seconds. Drain the water and squeeze out the matzo so it is damp but not dripping. Return the matzo to the bowl. Add eggs, the fat in the pan, and the pinch of salt. Use a fork to mix, until all of the pieces are uniformly covered.

Return the non-stick pan to medium heat and melt the remaining chicken fat or butter. Spoon the mixture in the bowl onto the pan, and form it into a pancake, filling the bottom of the pan. Cook until the bottom is golden brown and crispy. Flip and cook until both sides are golden brown and crispy. Remove from heat and serve immediately with desired condiments.

Come here often? If you do, then what you are probably thinking right now is along the lines of, “what’s with this chick and scones? Isn’t this, like, her third post about them? Is she obsessed?”  And if that’s what you think, you should know, you’re just scratching the surface of my OCD about this particular baked good. 

Biting into my first Veselka scone raised the bar for all other scones that I have encountered since. They have a cumbly, flaky texture with the crisp outside that gives with the lightest touch, and each crumb literally melts on your tongue. They pair with coffee like no other pastry I’ve known. It’s hard for me to do them justice, but this scene sort of sums it up.

The day I started commuting on the F train, it became necessary to place a personal ban on stopping at Little Veselka (the adorable satellite version of the restaurant that is right next to my stop) on the way to work, because I know the limits of my own willpower and that even one innocent stop for coffee would become a slippery slope, leading to the inevitable, “Hmm, why don’t any of my pants button?”

In short, I’m on a quest to find the secret and keep trying new recipes to just find a hint as to what makes the Veselka scone unlike any other. Anytime I don’t have ingredients for anything else in the house, or lack the inspiration to figure out something different, I seize the opportunity to test another scone recipe.

This time I decided to experiment with this recipe by Dorie Greenspan, because I had not yet attempted a cream scone, and thought that perhaps that ingredient would be the holy grail I was searching for.  The recipe was easy to follow and included a neat cutting technique that involved shaping the dough into circles and then cutting the circles as you would a pizza. Ms. Greenspan also provides a good primer on what to watch for when integrating butter and flour for optimal flaking (she likens the texture to that of a gravel road – the perfect analogy).

They also baked up beautifully and were delicious (they really were. Top notch.) and flaky as promised. I would have called them my favorite, if not for my obsession. They just didn’t do that melt-in-your-mouth crumble thing that I can’t get off my mind. And so – cue the sad violins – I press on. Having exhausted recipes from all of my trusted sources, I’m thinking that I’ll be needing to bring out the big guns – leaf lard anyone?

Cream Scones
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1 large egg

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbs granulated sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

¼ tsp salt

5 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

¾ cup moist, plump currants (I used dried cherries, because it was all I had in the pantry)

 Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

 Stir the egg and cream together.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. Add currants and toss a few times to integrate.

Pour the egg and cream over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, come together. Don’t overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that’s about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet. (At this point, the scones can be frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. Don’t defrost before baking- just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.)

Bake the scones for 20 to 22 minutes, or until their tops are golden and firmish. Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.

I got to know Amanda, who is now a dear friend, when we happened to be placed in the same college Spanish class during our sophomore year. This class, which was only available in painful, once a week, four hour long installments, had one saving grace, the man who taught it. Our beloved Professor Rendstrom, spent as much of the four hours teaching us how to navigate the subjunctive as he did speaking out against “the Man” while fingering the tip of his long, flowing ponytail. And when our much-anticipated half-time breaks finally arrived, Rendstrom would look up, reach for his pack of cigarettes, and say “OK. Smoke-um if you got-em”. Which of course has become a standing joke that Amanda and I share whenever our paths happen to cross.

This morning I embraced the sentiment of “smoke-em if you got-em” in my kitchen. Having been stuck in the house all weekend with some kind of icky respiratory illness, I hadn’t planned on meals and my only options were whatever was around. A quick survey concluded that I had three eggs, an avocado, a lime, and an onion (both on their last days), a bit of cilantro, a can of pinto beans, and a small amount of goat cheese of questionable age, that was thankfully free of mold. Smoke-em if you got-em!

I squeezed the lime over the avocado halves (for flavor and to prevent them from turning brown) and chopped them into small pieces.

I sliced the onion and put it in a saucepan over low to medium heat with a little sugar to make quick caramelized onions.

I topped the egg base of an omelette with all of the ingredients, allowed them to get hot, and there you have it. A perfect Sunday brunch, improvised.

Topped with a dab of hot sauce, it was tasty and satisfying and there was more than enough there for the two of us to share. Rather than provide you the recipe below, I will instead make a list of some other fun combinations that you might try, using ingredients you happen to have handy. 

The “Smoke-um If You Got-um” Omelette

Required:

3 eggs, beaten (less if it’s just you, more if you have additional people)

salt and fresh ground pepper

olive oil

Potential ingredients:

Beans – red, black, pinto, refried, even lentils or chickpeas

Cheese – really any will do, it’s your preference

Veggies – tomatoes, sauteed spinach, onions (caramelized or raw), green peppers, cooked broccoli, asparagus, roasted red peppers, garlic

Fresh herbs – dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary

Meat – chorizo, proschutto, salami, sausage, ham, bacon, pancetta, smoked turkey

Other: olives, capers, hot sauce, ketchup

There was talk of pancakes all week long with no action, so it was really only a matter of time until, well, these happened. 

And after a lot of weak justifications (“Isn’t it still technically Valentine’s Day?”) and with the obscenely large, rediculously cheap block of high-quality dark chocolate that I picked up the day before at the Chelsea Market burning a hole in my pantry, the chocolate part just sort of happened. 

Cherries and chocolate together make for one sexy pancake, don’t you think?  It still seems like such an oxymoron to me, for some reason.

But I have to believe that this whole obscene episode was meant to be, because as I so often do, I happened to reach for Mark Bittman’s book for some fast inspiration, and discovered a recipe for the lightest, fluffiest pancakes ever made. If not for the weight of the chocolate, they would have risen off the plate.

It’s the egg whites, beaten until they hold soft peaks, that are the secret.

If you fold them into the batter carefully, they hold much of their air, and keep things light from bowl, to ladle, to pan, to plate.

Guest photo credits to Brian, who was messing around with the new lens. As usual, he acted as head taster.

Except for this shot, which I took, post meal.

Fluffy Dark Chocolate Pancakes with Cherry Sauce
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

The biggest problem with keeping cookbooks in the bedroom is that some mornings, as soon as my eyes open, I’ll find myself with a rumbling stomach, gazing over at book after book containing endless possibilities for curbing my hunger. With blueberries burning a hole in my fridge and a running streak of 3 for 3 with the recipes of baking goddess Dorie Greenspan, I didn’t even need coffee for my brain to process the next logical step.

Because when the blueberries are this plump and beautiful (let’s ignore that this is January for the moment)…

And there’s an abundance of crumbly, buttery topping…

And a sunny lemon zest…

How could I possibly resist this super-easy recipe?

One of the best parts is making the “zested sugar” by rubbing the sugar and zest together between two fingers. It smells like fresh lemonade in your mixing bowl and creates a subtle citrus flavor that lingers with each bite.

Carefully fold the blueberries into this rather thick batter to keep them from bursting and turning your batter purple.

With a recipe this easy, the hardest part is waiting the full hour it takes to bake it (it may be a little more or a little less in your own oven). It was a wonderful treat, especially at the end of a week-long juice fast. Now that’s what I call breakfast! There was plenty left for Brian to take with him to the office, which is good, because who needs delicious cake in the kitchen to tempt them all afternoon?

Blueberry Crumb Cake
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

For the crumbs:

5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the cake:

1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (preferably fresh, or frozen, not thawed)

2 cups plus 2 tsp all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2/3 cup sugar

grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 and place the rack at the middle position in the oven. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

To make the crumbs: Put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. Scrape the topping into a bowl, stir in the nuts and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until needed. (Covered well the crumb mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

To make the cake: Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 tsp of the flour together in a small bowl just to coat the berries; set aside. Whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter and, with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. Don’t be concerned if the batter looks curdled — it will soon smooth out. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients.) You will have a thick, creamy batter. With a rubber spatula, gently stir in the berries.

Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Pull the crumb mix from the fridge and, with your fingertips, break it into pieces. There’s no need to try to get even pieces — these are crumbs, they’re supposed to be lumpy and bumpy and every shape and size. Scatter the crumbs over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.

It’s a working weekend in our household, which means that Brian was off to the office shortly after the alarm this morning, and I have been looking for ways to procrastinate on the elephant-in-the-corner project that is sitting in my laptop bag, smelling like a scary deadline. Rather than hit the ground running on that, I opted to bake for Brian’s team, who are working on a cool, top-secret project this weekend. To show my support for the team, I made some muffins that I thought would appeal to a group of programmers – the highly caffeinated kind. 

It is my responsibility to warm you ahead of time that these muffins received mixed reviews all over. Brian tried them right out of the oven and didn’t care for them – in fact, his exact words were “these taste like I’m eating a used coffee filter”. With that kind of review, I almost chucked them in the garbage. Later, I tried one myself and found their wispy mocha flavor and soft, fluffy texture to be sort of delightful. Then Brian told me that one of his colleagues thought so too. In conclusion, these are either your kind of thing, or they are not. We think maybe that they are better when they have had time to cool completely.

I used our Bialetti espresso maker to make strong espresso coffee for the recipe. Because these muffins were spur of the moment, I used an ice bath to accelerate the cooling process.

I was pretty excited to use my awesome new set of measuring cups for the first time this morning. Here is the 1/3 cup being used for the first time to measure sugar.

In addition to coffee, this recipe also calls for dehydrated, instant espresso. These muffins have some serious buzzzzzzzzzz.

The batter is really easy to make. I recommend that you start with some leftover coffee (very strong) from the day before. I also recommend melting your butter first thing, so it will be cool by the time you are ready for it. Also, the recipe calls for baking for 20 minutes, but pay attention, these took only 15 in my oven.

These muffins may or not be your thing, but they are easy and really worth trying, just in case they are. 1 out of 2 computer programmers agree.

Coffee Break Muffins
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp instant espresso powder 

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup strong coffee, cooled

1 stick (8 tbsp) butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

½ tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 400 F.

Mix together first five ingredients in a large bowl to combine—add brown sugar, making sure to break up any lumps.

Whisk together wet ingredients. Add to dry mixture just to combine—do not over mix. Lumps are perfectly acceptable in muffins.

divide evenly into lined or greased muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes (start watching around 15) or until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. Let the pan cool on a rack for 5 minutes before carefully removing the muffins. It is suggested that you allow the muffins to cool completely before eating.

Cranberries are mysterious fruits! These tart little guys are too often associated only with the gelatinous blob that graces the table come Thanksgiving. This is really a shame because they are a delicious addition to a variety of dishes, desserts, and baked goods. 

This morning when I awoke, the bag of cranberries that I bought a few weeks ago (yes, they keep almost forever in the fridge) was calling my name. It was way too cold to go outside, so I had no choice but to make muffins. Really, no other choice. (Errand credit to Brian, who did brave the elements once I realized we were out of sugar).

Chopping cranberries can be a bit like herding cats – but it’s not hard to figure out a system of pushing them along the cutting board and under the knife. Please note, you should not use a nice cutting board for this task – cranberries stain pretty much everything they touch.

Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs together using a stand mixer, hand mixer, or flat wooden spoon. Be sure to allow the butter to soften first, and periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Sift your dry ingredients together with a whisk and then add them, a half cup at a time, to the wet ingredients.

Mix the vanilla into the milk and then add it to the batter. Continue to mix until fully integrated, but no longer than that. Fold in cranberries and divide evenly into muffin cups.

Check on the muffins about 20 minutes into baking – in my oven that was all it took, although the directions say 30 minutes. 

Nothing like a good muffin on a cold weekend morning. 

Fresh Cranberry Muffins
adapted from Martha Stewart Living 

Makes 1 dozen

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped and mixed with a little sugar
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the chopped cranberries.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the cranberries. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.
4. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins on their sides in their cups, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.