Breakfast Pizza

 

Last night I made a pasta with broccoli raab  and great northern beans, and thought that I would make a pizza with some of the left overs.  This lovely breakfast pizza has vitamins K, A, C, D, E, manganese, vitamins B6 and B12, dietary fiber, folate, potassium, iron, and iodine just to name a few.

I made my pizza dough with bread dough actually and shaped it into a rectangle.  I then topped it with olive oil, mashed beans with rosemary and thyme (for the sauce), some kale and beet greens, fresh mozzarella, potatoes and an over easy egg.  I decided not to cook the egg with the pizza because I don't like my eggs overcooked and prefer them to be creamy.  

 

I like my crust with some color but I still want it to be on the chewy side, so I have a trick for accomplishing that which I reveal after Thursdays' dinner at the Duttons.  

 

The egg just made it a homerun.  Super good and easy to do when you have awesome ingredients.

Can you believe this?

 

 Since we made the decision a year ago to do our best to eat local organic and sustainable food, we've been eating better than ever.  We've been doing a CSA (community supported agriculture) for over a year and have fallen in love with the idea of buying directly from our local farmers and eating seasonally.  We recently changed CSA's and wanted to share the good news.

Let me start by saying that I have a personal bias anyway towards KMK farm in Kingsburg CA.  Kyle and his family remind me of this famous Thomas Jefferson quote: " Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virture."  If you ever get the opportunity to tour KMK farm you'll know what I mean.  The respect and love of the earth and for the food it bears is overwhelmingly present in all who work  to provide my family and others with soul nourishing delights.  So when I heard that Kristi was starting their CSA I knew that I wanted to be part of it.

I love this CSA because I get to choose what we get in it.  For our first box we ordered: baby lettuce heads, broccoli raab, fennel, parsley, dill, kale, romanesco cauliflower, swiss chard, stir fry mix, sorrel, thyme,  watermelon radish and two dozen eggs.  I was so elated when I saw the box that I couldn't stop smiling.  Look at what we got!  Insane.  We made a frittata  for breakfast with the chard and some scallions that I bought this morning from Kyle and I plan on a big salad for dinner.  I highly recommend that you contact Kristi at: thefarmersdaughter.csa@gmail.com and sign up.  You'll be all smiles too.

Spicy Tofu Bento Bowl

Made this tonight for our weekly vegetarian dinner and it was so delicious I had to share.  Vegetarian Times Magazine.

Spicy Tofu:
1/4 c low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 c chile-garlic sauce
2 Tbs. dark sesame oil
14 oz extra firm tofu ( I cubed it and let it drain on kitchen towel all day)
5 green onions, finely choppped
1/4 c plain yogurt
2 Tbs. lemon juice


Salad:
1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger ( I opted to grate vs. mince)
1 tsp. chile garlic sauce
cooked brown rice
mixed baby greens
carrot (optional)
cucumber, seeded and choppped (optional)
avocado, peeled and sliced (optional)
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Spicy Tofu: Whisk together the soy sauce, chile, and sesame oil in bowl.  Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Dip tofu in soy sauce mixture and place into oil.  Fry until nice and golden brown.  Cool the tofu.
Mix the onions, yogurt, and lemon juice in remaining soy-chile mixture.  Toss with tofu.

Make Salad:  Whisk the soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, and chile sauce in bowl or mason jar.
Place dressing on bottom of bowl.
Mound the rice on top.
Top with greens.
Shave carrot strips over top with peeler. (optional)
Top with tofu.
Top with cucumber and avocado. (optional)
Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.  (optional)

Enjoy!

My bread

This gorgeous bread was made using the book My bread by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste.  Lahey is the founder of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York.

Of all of the methods for cooking bread, I have to say that Lahey has turned me into a dutch oven believer.  The crust is bubbly and chewy, and the crumb is custardy and moist which is a nice contrast to the crust.  I love bread.

Thanks for starting me on this path Ethan.  I love it and hate how much I do.

Homework assignment #3

Finally completed my homework for the Seasonal Table.  Love this class and will be sad when I won't be able to sign up for it.  Maybe I'll sign up using Ryan's info?  I decided to make pizza, cake, and frosting from the book for vege Wednesdays and to celebrate Erica's birthday.  I decided not to post the recipes, but instead just tell you what pages they can be found in and what we all thought of it. The picture used was actually the cake with some mascarpone - espresso filling, vanilla ice cream, and a homemade marshmallow "ghoul."

Pizza dough page 60
Chocolate cake page 370 - 371
Simple frosting page 386

Artisan Bread

I bought a new bread book entitled Artisan Baking by Maggie Glezer.  I love this book.  It's a little more work than the bread from 5 minutes a day but really tasty.  I've made some focaccia and a boule so far, and have started my sourdough starter without yeast, thank you very much, with her help.  A great buy.

Fresh - Pickled Vegetables / Assignment # 2

I really enjoy pickles, so when I saw this I thought I would give it a try.  This is assignment # 2 for Seasonal Table.  Please read the comments to see what other people thought.

1 1/2 c white wine vinegar
1 3/4 c water
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 bay leaf
4 thyme sprigs
Half a dried cayenne pepper or a pinch of dried chile flakes
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
2 whole cloves
1 garlic clove peeled and cut in half
A big pinch of salt

Bring the brine to a boil in a non-reactive sauce pan.  Add the veges that you would like to pickle into the brine and cook until they are done but still crunchy.

* I actually decided to pickle some green beans and squash.  I steamed the green beans for 2 min and placed them in an ice bath for 2 min.  I prepped the squash by placing it in a colander with some salt for 1 hour then added it to the jar. *