Ham, Gruyere and spinach strata

 

Some weeks at our house Dave runs us out of bread by the time it's grocery shopping day, but more often than not, there's anywhere from a few slices to most of a loaf left. Since I hate food waste, stratas and bread puddings come to the rescue. They're the ultimate make-ahead food, and wonderfully adaptable: Other than the custard base and the ratio of liquid to bread, everything else is negotiable flavorwise. So whatever else you've got a partial jar of can go right on in. 

Ham, Gruyere and spinach bread pudding

Adapted from Eating Well April/May 2006

Ingredients

4 eggs

4 egg whites

1 cup skim milk (or whatever dairy goodness you've got on hand that needs using up)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

4 cups cubed whole wheat bread

5 cups chopped fresh spinach

½ cup chopped roasted red peppers

1 cup diced ham

¾ cup grated Gruyere cheese

Method

Wash spinach leaves and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover loosely and microwave for about 2 minutes until wilted. (You can do this in olive oil on a stove top, but you’d be adding a few calories along with that flavor. Oh well.)

Whisk eggs, egg whites and milk in a large bowl. Mix in mustard, pepper and rosemary. Stir in bread cubes, spinach, red pepper and ham.

Grease a 2-quart casserole or 11- by 7-inch pan. Pour mixture into the pan, pressing bread cubes below surface of the liquid.

(At this point you can cover the dish and refrigerate overnight or until ready to bake. Bring the pan to room temperature before proceeding.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes and then remove from oven. Top with the cheese that you’ve nearly forgotten about by now and bake for another 15 minutes or so until puffed and golden. Let stand for a few minutes so it sets up a bit before you try extracting it from the pan.

Rating: Another perfectly viable strata recipe. Since this is from Eating Well, you'll note that it never calls for any salt, but with the ham, you don't really seem to need any.  

Hash brown egg nests with ham and cheese

 

Denver hash-brown egg nests

Adapted from Rachael Ray Every Day, April 2017

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

16 ounces frozen hash browns

1½ teaspoon smoked paprika

2 ouces sliced ham, chopped

½ cup grated cheddar

8 eggs

2 ounces drained pimientos, sliced

2 green onions, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8 muffin cups with cooking spray or with butter.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. Add hash browns and cooked until browned and dry. Sprinkle with paprika. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide hash browns among 8 muffin cups. Press into bottom and sides to make a nest that leaves as much room as possible. Spray with additional cooking spray. Broil until browned. 

Remove from oven. Divide ham and cheddar among muffin tins, pushing down well. Crack each egg into a custard cup and then carefully transfer it to the muffin tins. Top with pimientos and bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes until whites are set. Remove from muffin pans and garnish with onions.

Rating: Just a step above OK, and rather putsy compared to their return on time investment. What's the point of using convenience foods if the result isn't that convenient? Better to bake the hash browns and use the remaining ingredients to make scrambled eggs. Or better yet, make these egg cups.

Or I might try again with this Martha Stewart recipe that looks promising.

Three ways to tell it's really spring

1. Rhodie, the great plant barometer, is not only unfurled, but blooming: Yes!

2. All the really gung-ho diligent people have already raked the winter coverings off their gardens, making me feel woefully inadequate and behind: Sadly, yes.

3. Sandcastle is open for the season: Yes, yes, yes!

Fish tacos and a front-row view of Lake Nokomis from the railing. Yep, it's spring. We survived another one!

Drink and a nosh: Great Gatsby and smoked salmon mousse

The "lost" stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald are going to be published this coming week. To get ourselves in the proper frame of mind, we'll be bingewatching "Z: The Beginning of Everything," about the fascinating but flawed Zelda.

Drinking also obviously seems appropriate when Fitzgerald comes to mind. Short of getting one of the delightful Zelda cocktails at the Commodore Bar in St. Paul, making the Gatsby cocktail seemed the next best alternative.

Great Gatsby
From seriouseats.com

Ingredients

2½ ounces freshly squeezed grapefruit (most of 1 grapefruit)

1 ounce Lillet Blanc

1 ounce vodka

1 orange slice for garnish

Method

Combine grapefruit juice, Lillet Blanc and vodka with ice and stir. Strain into an ice-filled glass and garnish with an orange slice.

Rating: Wonderfully refreshing, and dangerously drinkable.



Salmon mousse used to be the frugal appetizer that made use of canned salmon, or leftovers. Often it was made in one of those fish-shaped molds, with olives used for the "eyes." If I'd wanted to be entirely in keeping with the retro glam theme, I could have tracked down one of those molds that stylish housewives used back in the day. But it seemed a bit much for a gimmick I wasn't likely to make much use of.

Salmon mousse
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Everyday Food, December 2007

Ingredients
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons cold water
4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped

1¼ cups sour cream

1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over the cold water. Let stand for 5 minutes to soften. Heat over low heat, stirring, just until gelatin dissolves (it becomes quite clear). Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine salmon, sour cream and lemon juice in a food processor. Season with salt. Pour in gelatin with motor running and mix briefly to combine. Pour into 8-ounce containers and cover, making sure cover doesn't touch the surface. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Serve with crackers, toast points, or if you're being all G-free, pea pods would work as a dipper.

 

Rating: I wasn't sure what I would think about a dish that involves gelatin, it having been years since I tried such a thing. But it's not overtly gelatinous, it just gives it a more firm body instead of being a creamy dip. The smoked salmon is the most pronounced flavor, with some nice tang from the sour cream and lemon juice. We made short work of the first batch. It's a fast, make-ahead fix that you can pull out and people will inhale accordingly. Given its retro nature, I went with the most retro crackers I could find, but crostini would be a perfectly fine "modern" substitute.

Play along: It's not exactly period perfect, but it's mood perfect: To make yourself feel all Gatsby swank, listen to Shostakovich's Jazz Suites.

Burger with Manchego, Serrano ham and smoky pepper aioli

 

It's almost time for the Midtown Farmers Market to reopen for the season, so I'm cooking up the last lingering bits from last fall's stock-up. Down to my last package of good ground beef from Hilltop.

Smashed burger with Manchego, Serrano ham and piquillo-smoked paprika aioli

Adapted from Bobby Flay's "Grill It!"

Ingredients

½ cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 jarred piquillo peppers

2 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ pounds ground beef

Canola oil

4 hamburger buns

8 slices Manchego cheese

8 thin slices Serrano ham

Method

Combine mayonnaise, garlic, peppers, paprika and salt in a food processor. Transfer puree to a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Form ground beef into 4 patties. Season with salt and pepper. Brush with canola oil. Grill over hot coals until you’ve nearly reached desired doneness.

Spread aioli on insides of hamburger buns. Place a slice of cheese on both top and bottom, then ham. Top bottom with a burger, then top with top half of bun. Press down slightly on the top. Brush lightly with more oil. Place back on the grill top-side down and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until lightly browned. Flip over and cook for another minute or until cheese has melted. Or do what we did, which is chicken out and do this last step in a 350-degree oven where there was less danger of flipping them to pieces on the grill; no grill marks but a lot less potential for disaster.

Rating: I had considered just putting Manchego and ham on the top, not the bottom, but I’m glad I didn’t, because the combination of melty Manchego with the smoky pepper aioli was the best part. As usual with Bobby Flay recipes, it’s the side or sauce that steals the show from the meat. The smoked paprika was key in the aioli, so I wouldn’t substitute regular sweet paprika unless that’s all you can find. The aioli is an easy fix that could make a great addition to any sandwich. Dave's take: This would make a good brewer's burger. Perhaps we've been spending too much time in brew pubs.