This is the unexpectedly large loaf of brioche I made for Breakfast Party last week. It turned out pretty good.
This is a picture Jeremy took of it served as it was intended, sliced and covered in jam. If I hadn't decided on doing this the night before I might have tried to make french toast with it instead, but oh well.
Ingredients
24 to 30 pearl onions
4 chicken thighs and legs, or 1 (5 to 7-pound) stewing chicken, cut into serving pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
6 ounces salt pork, slab bacon, or lardon, cubed
8 ounces button mushrooms, quartered
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 (750-ml) bottles red wine, preferably pinot noir
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 medium onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
2 medium carrots, quartered
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 to 8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups chicken stock or broth
Directions
Cut off the root end of each pearl onion and make an "x" with your knife in its place. Bring 2 to 3 cups of water to a boil and drop in the onions for 1 minute. Remove the onions from the pot, allow them to cool, and then peel. You should be able to slide the onions right out of their skin. Set aside.
Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the chicken pieces, a few at a time, into a large (1 or 2-gallon) sealable plastic bag along with the flour. Shake to coat all of the pieces of the chicken. Remove the chicken from the bag to a metal rack.
Add the 2 tablespoons of water to a large, 12-inch saute pan over medium heat along with the salt pork. Cover and cook until the water is gone, and then continue to cook until the salt pork cubes are golden brown and crispy, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the salt pork from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, using the remaining fat, add the pearl onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and saute until lightly brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Next, brown the chicken pieces on each side until golden brown, working in batches if necessary to not overcrowd the pan. Transfer the chicken into a 7 to 8-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven.
Add the mushrooms to the same 12-inch saute pan, adding the 1 tablespoon of butter if needed, and saute until they give up their liquid, approximately 5 minutes. Store the onions, mushrooms and pork in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Pour off any remaining fat and deglaze the pan with approximately 1 cup of the wine. Pour this into the Dutch oven along with the chicken stock, tomato paste, quartered onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Add all of the remaining wine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the chicken in the oven and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the chicken is tender. Maintain a very gentle simmer and stir occasionally.
Once the chicken is done, remove it to a heatproof container, cover, and place it in the oven to keep warm. Strain the sauce in a colander and remove the carrots, onion, celery, thyme, garlic, and bay leaf. Return the sauce to the pot, place over medium heat, and reduce by 1/3. Depending on how much liquid you actually began with, this should take 20 to 45 minutes.
Once the sauce has thickened, add the pearl onions, mushrooms, and pork and cook for another 15 minutes or until the heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, remove from the heat, add the chicken and serve. Serve over egg noodles, if desired.
Cook’s Note: If the sauce is not thick enough at the end of reducing, you may add a mixture of equal parts butter and flour kneaded together. Start with 1 tablespoon of each. Whisk this into the sauce for 4 to 5 minutes and repeat, if necessary.
It turned out really nice, I thought. I served it over mashed potatoes rather than egg noodles. The "wine" flavor actually wasn't all that strong at all. Most of the flavor was like a brown gravy but it was more full than just a simple gravy. Really the Beef Marsala I made a little bit ago had a stronger red wine flavor to it. This was just rich and filling, though once I did get full I thought the gravy was a bit much. Probably should have just stopped eating before I got to that point.
1/2 lb pork sausage
1 onion-peeled & chopped
4 oz diced green chilies
10 large eggs
1/3 c. water
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
6 flour tortillas
1/2 lb shredded cheddar cheese
In a 10 to 12 " frying pan over medium high heat stir sausage,onion & chilies until meat is crumbled & browned, about 15 minutes. Drain off fat.
In a bowl beat eggs to blend with water,salt & pepper. Pour eggs into meat mixture in frying pan;with a wide spatula, stir over medium high heat,scraping pan bottom often, until eggs are set to your taste, about 3 minutes for creamy eggs.Lay flour tortillas flat on a counter. Spoon an equal portion of the meat & egg mixture in a band down the center of each tortilla to within 1" of opposite edges. Sprinkle mixture evenly with cheese. To form each burrito , fold the bare 1" wide tortilla edges over filling, then roll snugly from an open edge to enclose. Set burritos slightly apart,seams down, in a 10 by 15" pan;seal pan with foil. If making up to 1 day ahead,chill. Bake in a 2ooF oven until cheese is melted,15 to 20 mins;if chilled, bake in a 325F oven until hot in the center, about 15 mins.
This was my contribution to the Breakfast Party.
I used this recipe here but made a few adjustments. I used pear instead of apple, and where the recipe calls for rolling the strudel up before baking, I kept it flat and then cut it down to size once it was done cooking.
For the Filling:
¼ cup butter
2 lbs pear, peeled and diced
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup raisins
¼ tsp cinnamon
12 oz Havarti cheese with dill or caraway seeds, cut into ½ inch cubes
Dash pepper
2 Tbsp butter
2 leeks, cleaned well and sliced in rounds
2 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, cleaned well and chopped
¼ cup butter
2 lbs pear, peeled and diced
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup raisins
¼ tsp cinnamon
12 oz Havarti cheese with dill or caraway seeds, cut into ½ inch cubes
Dash pepper
2 Tbsp butter
2 leeks, cleaned well and sliced in rounds
2 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, cleaned well and chopped
For the Pastry:
½ pound phyllo dough
½ cup melted butter (for painting phyllo dough)
Large mixing bowl
Large sauté pan
Pastry brush - medium size
9 x 13” glass pan, greased (a greased baking sheet can be substituted)
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Sauté pears in ¼ cup butter, add sugar, raisins, cinnamon and stir until well blended.
Increase heat and stir until juices evaporate then, transfer to bowl.
Sauté leeks, shallots and garlic, add parsley, stir well.
Add mixture to bowl with pear mixture and then, add cubes of cheese.
Combine well.
Wrap in phyllo by layering a piece of phyllo pastry on baking sheet or in a 9 x 13” pan, use a medium size pastry brush to paint melted butter over phyllo sheet and repeat until you have layered 10 or so sheets.
Add filling to center of pastry and wrap as a package, finish by painting butter on top and sides.
Bake at 350°F for 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool to set on baking rack cutting into squares to serve.
I found that using phyllo dough is a bit tricky. It is important that it has at least 24 hours to thaw before working with it otherwise it will stick together and tear to tiny bits.
Also the cooking time is fairly precise. If you pull it out too soon, it will stay soggy from all the butter, but if you let it go too long, the phyllo dough will get brown and be too dry and taste burnt.
So that is what I made. It was good.
From allrecipes.com.
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 7 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, evaporated milk, and blend well. Mix in 4 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Add the shortening, and then the remaining 3 cups of flour. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.
- Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 1/2 inch squares. Fry in 360 degree F (180 degrees C) hot oil. If beignets do not pop up, oil is not hot enough. Drain onto paper towels.
- Shake confectioners' sugar on hot beignets. Serve warm.
