by jphilo | Jan 2, 2013 | Recipes
Though I love egg bakes, known as “stratas” in more refined circles, I’ve been steering clear of them since being diagnosed with a dairy allergy. But a recipe for a vegetable heavy strata in USA Weekend magazine provided the vision and gumption needed to create a dairy free egg bake that tastes good. Thankfully, the end product was delicious. In fact, delicious enough to satisfy breakfast and brunch guest who are allergy free.
Savory Vegetable Strata
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced (about 3 cups)
cooking spray
1/2 of Costco brand roasted garlic baguette, cubed* (about 5 cups)
12 large eggs
2 cups almond or rice milk (or a combination of the two)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
10 ounces chopped broccoli, steamed until tender but still firm, or 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
4 ounces imitation mozzarella cheese shreds (1 cup)
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
If using fresh broccoli, steam it and set aside to cool. Heat half the oil in frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, 3–5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and allow to cool.
Heat remaining oil in same skillet over medium-high heat and cook mushrooms, stir occasionally, until water evaporates and they begin to brown, 5–7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Coat a 9 X 13** baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange bread cubes in the bottom. In a large bowl beat the eggs, milk substitute, and mustard until well-mixed. Add the vegetables and cheese substitute. Pour mixture evenly over the bread, so liquid soaks into bread uniformly. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°. Uncover strata and bake until top forms a light brown crust, 60–70 minutes. Serve immediately.*** Serves 8
*Or use a regular baguette and add 3 cloves of minced garlic to the onions during their last minute of cooking. Just be sure the baguette is dairy free.
**This makes a big panful. I divided it between 2 smaller pans, then baked one and froze the other. Even so, we had leftovers.
***The original recipe called for 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese to be stirred into the milk/egg mixture. Hiram sprinkled Parmesan on his helpings and said it did the trick.
by jphilo | Dec 26, 2012 | Recipes
The Christmas baking frenzy was short-lived at our house. It lasted from after lunch until just before supper. Once the flour dust cleared, 12 dozen caramel rolls lay cooling on wire racks. Shortly thereafter, 10 dozen caramel rolls were wrapped in foil and waiting to be delivered to neighbors and church staff members. 1 dozen went into our freezer, and the remaining dozen were dessert that night and breakfast the next morning.
Below is the sweet roll recipe I’ve used for decades. It’s from the 1979 Better Homes and Gardens All-Time Favorite Recipes cookbook given to me by Elsie Philo, my mother-in-law. This Christmas, I made 3 double batches (I almost always double it), and the final double batch was dairy free. (The dairy free substitutions are in parentheses.)
These rolls take some time to make. When the kids were little, we made them whenever school was called off because of snow. Sweet memories, indeed!
Basic Sweet Roll Dough
3 1/2 to 4 cups unbleached flour (I used half whole wheat bread flour)
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk (1 cup water for dairy free)
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening (use lard rather than butter for dairy free)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
In large mixer bowl, combine 2 cups of flour and the yeast. In saucepan, heat milk, sugar, shortening, and salt until mixture is warm (just begins steaming) and shortening is melted. Add to flour in the mixing bowl. Add the eggs.
Beat on low speed of electric mixer for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Using dough hook on mixer, stir in as much remaining flour as possible. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes). Shape into a ball.
Place ball of dough in lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover. Let rise in a warm place until double (45–60 minutes). Punch dough down. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Continue as directed below.
Caramel-Pecan Rolls
Basic Sweet Roll Doug
3 tablespoons butter, melted (margarine for dairy free)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (Earth Balance or coconut oil for dairy free)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter or margarine and corn syrup in a saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until shortening is melted and mixture is blended. Distribute mixture evenly in two 9×1 1/2 round or two 8×8 square pans or one 9 x 13 cake pan. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Roll sweet dough into a 24×16 inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter or butter substitute. Combine 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon over dough. Starting from long side, roll up dough jelly-roll style. Seal seam. Slice into 24 rolls.
Place rolls, cut side down, in prepared baking pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (about 30 minutes). Bake at 375° for 18–20 minutes. Cool about 30 seconds. Invert onto racks covered with foil and remove pans. Makes 24 rolls.
by jphilo | Dec 19, 2012 | Recipes
Oh my, it’s good to be home after a long weekend out of town. Hiram and I came back a day early because nasty weather’s on it’s way. The good news is that we’re already unpacked, the laundry and grocery shopping are done, and our wonderful cleaning lady made the house shine while we were gone. The bad news is that all our gallivanting left no time to try new recipes.
Thankfully Deborah Vogts, who blogs at www.CountryatHeartRecipes.com, featured one of my recipes on Monday. This heirloom recipe for wild plum pudding was passed down from my pioneer great-great-grandmother. She created the recipe to take advantage of the plentiful wild plums on the Iowa prairie. Click here to learn how to make wild plum pudding and how to adapt it to 21st century ingredients. Deborah’s blog is packed with good recipes you won’t want to miss.
FYI for non-dairy readers: Substitute a cup of soured almond milk (top off a scant cup of almond milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar and let sit 15 minutes) and use coconut oil or butter substitute for the shortening. You’ll never know the difference between this variation and the original recipe.
by jphilo | Dec 12, 2012 | Recipes
How can it be Wednesday and time for another recipe already? We were given several acorn and butternut squashes, which Hiram loves. Me, not so much. But, I do hate to see food go to waste. So the hunt is on for new squash recipes so Hiram doesn’t get tired of all this free food. Today’s recipe is my variation of one found at the Taste of Home website. Once the amount of butter increased to 4 tablespoons, the dish received Hiram’s coveted seal of approval.
Baked Butternut Squash
1 butternut squash, about 2 pounds
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
5 teaspoons brown sugar, divided
Preheat oven to 350°. Cut squash in half lengthwise; scoop out seeds and discard. Brush squash halves with butter. In a small bowl, combine the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper; sprinkle over squash halves. Place 2 teaspoons brown sugar and one tablespoon room temperature butter in the cavity of each half. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar over cut sides of squash.
Place in an 11-in. x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-25 minutes longer until squash is tender when poked with a fork.
by jphilo | Dec 5, 2012 | Recipes
My brother brought baked stuffed apples to our Thanksgiving feast. The mixture of flavors and textures made them absolutely delicious. He served them as a side dish, but they could also be served as dessert.
The recipe came from a Christmas magazine put out by Hy-Vee, an Iowa-based grocery store chain. I can hardly wait to make them. The apples were plenty sweet, so I’ll cut the amount of sugar in the syrup by a substantial amount.
Baked Stuffed Apples
2/3 cups water
2/3 cup sugar (I will cut this to 1/4 cup)
9 tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 apples (Gala, Rome Beauty, Jonagold, or Granny Smith)
lemon juice
Heat oven to 350° and grease the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Combine water, sugar, and 3 tablespoons butter or margarine. Heat and stir until sugar dissolves and syrup comes to a boil. Add vanilla and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine cranberries, pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in 6 tablespoons butter or margarine until combined. Set aside.
Cut apples in half across the equator. Cut out core. Stuff apples with cranberry filling, packing tightly and mounding on top. Place apples in baking dish. Pour syrup around apples. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, Remove foil and bake 15 minutes more. Don’t overbake!
by jphilo | Nov 28, 2012 | Recipes
Today’s recipe for cranberry-apple sauce is one my mom made for Thanksgiving for many years. Now that she’s done cooking, the responsibility falls upon who ever hosts the family meal. This year, the gathering was at our house, and I almost forgot about the traditional sidedish. Thankfully, I remembered two nights before the feast–in the middle of the night no less–and visited the grocery store in the morning to nab a package of Ocean Spray cranberries.
The recipe on the back of the bag was a big help since Mom never passed along her version. But she always added some chopped apples and then cut down the amount of sugar. Her directions were spot on, and the cranberries served in the cut glass bowl she loved were a big hit. Only a couple spoonfuls remained, and they added an extra bit of flavor to the baked oatmeal served for breakfast the next morning.
Cranberry-Apple Sauce
1 12 oz. package fresh or frozen cranberries
2 apples, peeled and chopped
2/3–3/4 cup sugar, depending on your taste
1 cup water
Put water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cranberries and apples and return to a full boil. Lower heat to a low boil and cook for 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl. Chill for 2–3 hours before serving.
