Winter Meal for Two

A comforting dish in the midst of this horrendous winter. I made this for dinner last night.

Sweet Potato, Feta, and Shiitake Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced 
• 2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 2 cups thinly sliced Swiss chard leaves (or watercress)
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried mint, optional
• 4 Tbs. crumbled feta cheese (4 oz.)
• 4 Tbs. black currants
• 2 tsp. lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel and cut sweet potatoes, etc.

2. Toss sweet potatoes with mushrooms, onion, oil, garlic, oregano, and mint (if using) in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

N.B. In the pictures, I tossed the chard as well. Based on its cooking time though, I think it would be better to put it in the dish as a bottom layer. Trial and error!

3. Put the chard in a baking dish. Spread the sweet potato mixture on top.  Crown with feta, currants, and lemon juice.

4. Cover dish with foil. Bake 20 minutes (or until potatoes are tender). Cool 
2 minutes before serving.

5. Serve over grains if you like. I made Israeli cous cous (as per the package directions).

What could be a better winter breakfast than hot coffee and orange cake? Molly whipped up this wonderful breakfast cake for us to enjoy.

Blood Orange Winter Cake
adapted from Andrea Reusing's Cooking in the Moment

serves 8 - 10

Oranges and Glaze:
3 blood oranges
2 navel oranges
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 c. sugar
1/4 t. kosher salt

Cake:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 c. semolina flour
2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. table salt

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a 10 inch round pan.

Grate the zest of an orange, and reserve zest for cake batter. Cut the orange in half and juice it; you should have 1/3 c. juice. Slice remaining oranges into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Combine orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and slices in medium saucepan and bring to a slow simmer over low heat.
Cook for 6-7 minutes, until centers of orange slices are starting to become tender and translucent, but not fallen apart. Transfer slices to a plate and continute to simmer syrup until it has reduced to 1/2 cup, 5 to 8 minutes. Set the glaze aside.

To make the cake, combine butter and sugar until fluffy. One one egg, then another. Add zest. In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add them, little by lithe, to the batter. Mix. Pour the batter into the pan and arrange the orange slices artistically on top of the batter. Bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for 35-40 minutes more, until the cake is an even golden brown and baked through.  Let cake cool until it is warm, and then poke holes all over the surface with a skewer. Brush the glaze over the top. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature and then unmold.

Sunday brunch.

Inspired by our recent trip to North Carolina, Molly fixed up some delicious cheesy grits with roasted tomato, mushroom, and soft-cooked eggs. I made the tomato soup side, crowned with a healthy dollop of sour cream. Having a friend over is always a good thing for us in one ways than one, since it forces us to have an overdue reckoning with the apartment clutter. In this case, long overdue!


Grits with Roasted Tomatoes, Mushrooms, and Soft-Boiled Egg

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Stone-ground grits

4 cups water

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons butter

Cheese, about 1 cup shredded (to taste)

1 pint grape, cherry, or campari tomatoes (something small enough to roast whole)

1/2 lb Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

1 onion (red or yellow)

4 eggs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take your eggs out of the refrigerator to allow them to come to room temperature. 

Bring the four cups of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Sprinkle in the grits while stirring so that lumps don't form. (Note: cooking directions may vary slightly from brand to brand for grits. I just follow the directions on the package (we gotthis brand as a gift from my brother for Christmas), and try to make enough for two people plus a little extra. Anything that's not eaten can be made into pan-fried grit cakes the next day, but that's not usually a problem in our house!

While the grits are cooking, wash, trim, and slice the mushrooms about 1/4 inch thick. In a mixing bowl, toss them with olive oil to coat, and salt and pepper. Arrange them on one side of a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil (to make clean-up easier). Leave the tomatoes whole but give them the same olive oil/salt/pepper treatment. Cut the onion in half and then slice into thin half-moon cuts. Toss with olive oil and arrange next to tomatoes and mushrooms.

Roast the vegetables for about 20 minutes, until they are cooked through and browned. The tomatoes should just about implode on themselves and be letting off their juice. The onions may be done cooking before the other vegetables; if they look like they're about to burn, take them off the baking sheet and set aside on a plate. 

In a small saucepan, bring enough water to cover your eggs to a boil. Once it's at a rolling boil, lower the eggs in one by one with a slotted spoon. Cook for five minutes, then set aside in a bowl of cold water.

Once the grits are cooked through, stir in the butter and cheese. I like to use a blend of sharp white cheddar and parmesan, but use what you like and have on hand.

Ladle a healthy serving of grits (about two ladle fulls is a generous portion, I find) onto the center of a plate. Arrange the roasted vegetables on top, then peel two eggs and slice them in half and add them to the pile.

Garnish with a little bit of left-over shredded cheese (if your wife hasn't eaten it already) and a few twists of freshly ground pepper.

Enjoy!

Pimm's and Poms

Mia finds the perfect resting spot.

The fun part of wedding planning!

When we started planning our wedding, one of the few things we agreed upon is that during cocktail hour we wanted to have two signature cocktails. Naturally, to help us devise these concoctions, we turned to Molly's friend Cooper, who has worked in the liquor industry since graduating NYU. He asked us a few questions about our flavor and alcohol preferences -- Molly loves an assertive, bourbon-based cocktail, while I tend towards a lighter, gin-based, palette -- and then set to work.

The resulting drinks wowed us. I thought I would share the recipes for each.

"Good Golly Miss Molly"

2 oz Bourbon

1/4 T Honey

3/4 T Lime juice

5 dashes of Lavender bitters

Muddled blackberries

Fresh mint leaves

Ice

Method: Combine the bourbon, honey, lime juice, and bitters. Muddle blackberries and mint and add to the bourbon mixture. Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a mint sprig. Huzzah!

"Kiss Me, Kate"

1.5 oz Gin

0.5 oz Rosewater

1 oz Grapefruit juice

1.5 oz Dolin Blanc vermouth

Perrier (or club soda)

Method: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled Collins glass. Top with Perrier or club soda. Garnish with an edible flower (rose petal, orchid, etc.). Enjoy!