Broccoli and Red Onion Scramble with Goat Cheese

If I didn't have a kid who was very allergic to eggs, I would make this once a week for dinner. Rachael Ray makes it as a frittata, but I'm too lazy to go and bake the darn thing. So, it always ends up being scrambled eggs with "more goodness" (as my brother, Tom, would say).

2 T olive oil
2 ½ c broccoli florets
1 T chopped fresh thyme leaves (4 sprigs)
½ large red onion, finely chopped
12 eggs
Splash of cream or half-and-half
Zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ lemon
8 ounces goat cheese

Heat 10 inch nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add broccoli florets, thyme, onion, salt and pepper. Cook for 6-7 minutes until broccoli tarts to take on a little brown color ans is tender. Beat eggs with salt, pepper, cream, and lemon zest. To the broccoli mixture, add crumbled goat cheese and lemon juice. Immediately add seasoned beaten eggs. Scramble all together.

Makes 4-6 servings.

I got my vegetables mixed up, so the picture has twice the vegetables of what the recipes calls for--still, it was quite tasty. I may just start making it that way all the time.

Hitting It Out of the Park

Yes, that's what I've done for a whopping 2 nights in a row--made 2 dinners that my kids LOVED. And, where did I get these recipes, you might ask?

From my lovely Christmas present, a subscription to Cook's Country. In February's issue, I found a recipe for meatloaf. I'm not a fan of meatloaf, but my kids love hamburgers, so I made this (before I read Jessica's article, darn it!). The glaze totally makes it!

Then, there was a 30 minute supper called "Chicken Lo Mein," made with lots of ramen noodles (Nate says, "Tell them to make sure they like ramen!"), some pre-packaged coleslaw (minus the dressing)--next time I'd use broccoli slaw instead, and chicken with a tasty sauce. This was a perfect "piano lesson day" dinner. I made the sauce and chicken beforehand, so all I had to do was cook the noodles, throw in the coleslaw, and dinner was done.

So, go to your library if you're cheap like me, or go buy next month's issue. (Next up, I'm trying the glazed roasted butternut squash.)

Flan

I got this recipe from the wife of a friend Nate grew up with. She just rattled it right off the top of her head and made it sound so easy. So, I made it for a party later. People loved it and gasped, "You made flan?! I thought it was so difficult!" This means that ever since people have told me flan is hard to make, I make this and am terrified every time that it won't turn out. Oh, the power of suggestion.

Flan
Daisy Weeks

Caramel:
1 C sugar
1 1/4 C water

Mix over heat until golden. This is the part where I've had trouble; I can't get the caramel syrup golden unless I melt the sugar over medium high heat (stir, stir, stir) until it's golden. Then, I add very hot water (slowly) and stir it in.

Mix in blender:
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
5 eggs
1 t vanilla
1/3 c milk

Pour caramel in a 9X9 or 8X8 or pie dish. Then, pour the milk/egg mixture over. Put the pan in a bigger pan of water. Bake for 50 min at 350 degrees. I'm very diligent about the time here because it's hard to tell when flan is done. When you shake it, it should move about as much as jello. Let it cool for 1-2 hours in the fridge, run a knife around it, and flip it onto a serving plate.

Prepare for lots of ooh's and aah's.

My Favorite Salad Dressing

Well, it is pretty much my favorite salad dressing, but it's also what it's called. This comes from the ONLY decent food allergy cookbook I have ever found. It's a top-8 allergy free cookbook. Now that we only have 3 of those, it's not my only cookbook, but I'll forever be grateful to Cybele for a year of meals that were so good that I didn't feel like I was eating Asher-safe food.

My Favorite Salad Dressing
The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook

1 small clove garlic, minced very fine
10 fresh basil leaves, chopped or torn
2 t Dijon mustard
1 T honey
2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 c olive oil

Blend garlic, basic mustard and honey in blender. Add rice vinegar and balsamic vinegar, mixing thoroughly. Then add olive oil slowly as blender runs.

Lahvosh Wraps

When I was about 8, Kate and I took a summer cooking class together from a couple of teenagers in the ward. It was so fun, but I think what I really liked was being in their fancy house and swimming after the cooking class.

The two recipes below are some from those classes in 1986 (yikes!) when wraps meant something very different than what we think of today.

Lavhosh can also be called "Cracker bread." They're giant (like 15" round) crackers, and they're kind of hard to find. I got one package at my local Safeway and opened it to find the crackers all broken. Not one was good enough to make the wraps. So, I went to my local Middle Eastern bakery (conveniently, that's it's name, too) and got some lovely whole ones.

As I made these, I realized there is no end of combinations of what can be made here. All you need is about 1/2 cup of a spread to help everything "stick." I made an advocado, bacon, turkey wrap Asher-safe by making a lemon soy mayonnaise (mayo made with soy needs a little something to take away the aftertaste. I recommend mixing garlic or lemon in to help). But, my favorite was a vegetarian wrap with blue cheese, 1/2 c mayonnaise, lots of veggies, and this vinagrette.

Still with me? Oh good! Here's the original recipe, but it's easy to make modifications. Just sprinkle whatever ingredients you like as you would when topping a pizza (see first picture).

Valley Wrap Chicken

1 large Lahvosh, softened (see below for my explanation)
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/3 c mayonnaise
5 ounces deli-sliced turkey
4 ounces jack cheese, thinly sliced or shredded (shredded--much easier!)
1 cup shredded lettuce or alfalfa sprouts
1/4 c toasted, sliced almonds

To soften lahvosh, get a large towel wet, not dripping wet, but good and moist. Place it on your kitchen counter and put 1 lahvosh on it. Fold half of towel over it. Tell your husband, so he won't put the towel in the dirty clothes (sigh...). Let it sit overnight or at least 4 hours to soften.

Put sesame seed side on counter. Mix sfotened cream cheese and mayonnaise together until smooth; spread evenly on lavosh. Arrange turkey slices to completely cover lahvosh. Layer cheese, lettuce. Scatter almonds over all.

Roll tightly in jelly-roll fashion. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours. Slice as you would a jelly-roll and enjoy!

Oh, and did I mention Asher is back on soy? No more $60 a can supplemental formula! And, a whole continent of cuisine has just opened up to us.

**again, Jessica--thanks for the pictures!

Italian Chicken Crock Pot

This is my favorite Crock Pot recipe. It is so easy to make!

1 stick butter (optional)
1 package of dry italian salad dressing mix
4 frozen chicken breasts
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 c. rice

Place the butter and chicken breasts in the crock pot. Sprinkle the dry italian seasoning on the chicken. (I made it without butter today, and I thought it tasted just as good.) Let this cook for 2 1/2 hours on high. Shred the chicken. Place it back in the crock pot with the cream cheese and cream of chicken soup. Let that cook for another hour. Serve over rice. (I think it takes about 5 total hours to cook if you do it on low.)

Warm Chocolate-Raspberry Pudding Cake

**Maybe I should make Jessica come over and take pictures of all the food I make!

Another Gourmet cookbook recipe. This is a little different than a traditional pudding cake recipe in that this cake has two separate batters. But, the bottom layer will become the frosting for the cake when you flip it over.

For frosting:
1/2 c seedless raspberry jam
1/2 c heavy cream
3 oz good bittersweet chocolate, chopped

For cake batter:
1/2 c boiling water
1/3 c plus 2 t unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1/4 c whole milk I used the 1% in my fridge
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/3 c seedless raspberry jam
1 c all-purpose flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
1/3 c white sugar
2 large eggs

Put rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Generously butter cake pan (9 by 2 inch round cake pan).

Making the frosting:
Combine jam, cream, and chocolate in a small heavy saucepan and bring to just a simmer, stirring occasionally until smooth. Pour frosting into buttered cake pan.
I was worried that like a traditional pudding cake this had to go into the oven right away. Due to fussy children, I learned that this is not the case.

Make the cake batter:
Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder in a medium bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk, vanilla, and jam. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt into another bowl.

Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and coca mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating on low speed until each addition is just incorporated.

Spoon batter evenly over frosting and spread it to cover frosting completely. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of cake comes out clean (frsosting on bottom will still be lidquid), 30-40 minutes. This is where I got a little nervous. My cake had cracked in the center and I could see pudding, but I wasn't sure if it was pudding or cake. I went the full 40 minutes and still worried that it wasn't done, but it turned out to be just a big, deep crack that was completely covered once the cake was inverted.

Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10-20 minutes.

Run a thin knife around edge of pan and twist pan gently back and forth on a flat surface to loosen cake. Invert a cake plate with a slight lip over pan and, holding pan and plate together with both hands, invert cake onto plate. (Frosting will cover sides of cake and run onto plate.)

Serve warm, garnished with raspberries, if desired. And, I would add a dollop of whip cream.