Working through some fading inventory, I decided make some batter-style potato pancakes, very heavy on the green knob onions . . .


Plated Up
Not exactly green eggs and ham but in the ballpark. I normally prefer shredded style but I was very happy with the way these onion-forward, batter-style pancakes turned out. Pureed 3 russets and a half-dozen substantial knob onions in the food processor, then, in a mixing bowl, added 2 eggs, 1% salt, black pepper, a splash of evoo and a half-cup of matzo meal. From there, shallow fried the mixture in some peanut oil.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Working through some fading inventory, I decided make some batter-style potato pancakes, very heavy on the green knob onions . . .


Plated Up
Not exactly green eggs and ham but in the ballpark. I normally prefer shredded style but I was very happy with the way these onion-forward, batter-style pancakes turned out. Pureed 3 russets and a half-dozen substantial knob onions in the food processor, then, in a mixing bowl, added 2 eggs, 1% salt, black pepper, a splash of evoo and a half-cup of matzo meal. From there, shallow fried the mixture in some peanut oil.

=R=

I don’t see any sour cream or apple sauce.

Despite the fact that the zork house is in the middle of our very intense birthday season (3 birthdays in 7 days - yes really!) I wanted to bake something for zorkdad on Sunday - luckily for me one of his very favorite things is blueberry muffins:




King Arthur FTW:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipe ... ins-recipe

- zorkmead

Wanted to make a big breakfast in advance of a wedding later today, where I expect the food will be sparse and underwhelming . . .


Shiitake, Asparagus & Feta Omelet
Leftover/reheated hashbrowns and a slightly overtoasted (but not burnt) egg bagel.

Was great to get rid of the hashbrowns and the leftover veg. As for the wedding, I'm considering smuggling in a few slim jims just in case.

=R=

In the ugly, but tasty category, this weekend we had Upside Down Rhubarb Spice Cake:



I might be the only person who can kill a Rhubarb plant, but even I can't kill two! Or at least I have one that has survived long enough to yield 1 pound of Rhubarb. This cake was good, but the appearance bordered on un-appetizing - I doubt I'll be making this again.

- zorkmead

Another stab at potato pancakes, this time with yukon golds and some orphaned red onion from deep in the recesses of my produce drawer . . .


Potato Pancakes, Eggs & Tomato Salad
These tomatoes are from 3SG but our home garden is actually beginning to come on strong!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Potato Pancakes, Eggs & Tomato Salad

Looks delicious.

Are those duck eggs? Reason I ask is yolks seem to be sitting a little taller with firmer structure.

G Wiv wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Potato Pancakes, Eggs & Tomato Salad

Looks delicious.

Are those duck eggs? Reason I ask is yolks seem to be sitting a little taller with firmer structure.

Thanks -- just some chicken eggs (Vital Farms). They do tend to be very nice eggs. I cooked them in homemade rendered bacon fat in an open pan for a bit, then covered them for the last minute or so.

=R=

Some scones from the King Arthur website:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipe ... nes-recipe



The scones I have tried fall into two different camps. One camp has a bread-like texture and are a bit chewy, the other is more like a biscuit and are very tender and rich. These were from the bready camp. Not too sweet and maybe just a tad dry. I divided the mix-ins and made 1/2 blueberry and 1/2 chocolate chip. The blueberries were from Mariano's and just did not have much blueberry flavor. That is the 2nd time I've had basically tasteless blueberries from Mariano's this year.

- zorkmead

This morning's breakfast . . .


Cheese & Rando Meat Omelet
Bought one of the discounted 'mystery packs' of deli meat ends at Fresh Farms. I love these but I'm adventurous like that. Was hoping to sandwich them as I usually do but they were pretty chunky, so I chopped them up and offloaded them into today's eggs. Served with some buttered multigrain toast and a leftover/reheated potato pancake.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Bought one of the discounted 'mystery packs' of deli meat ends at Fresh Farms. I love these but I'm adventurous like that.

I used those to make German Wurstsalat. The first time I encountered this salad was a presenter from Culinary Historians. We went to Garden Fresh where she bought small amounts of various sausages at full price, Thereafter when I have made it, it has always been those packages of meat ends.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Bought one of the discounted 'mystery packs' of deli meat ends at Fresh Farms. I love these but I'm adventurous like that.

I used those to make German Wurstsalat. The first time I encountered this salad was a presenter from Culinary Historians. We went to Garden Fresh where she bought small amounts of various sausages at full price, Thereafter when I have made it, it has always been those packages of meat ends.

Sounds like a really good use for them -- and a smart plan -- especially if you can discern before buying that you're getting meat ends that are more or less the types you want.

=R=

Individual mixed berry crisps (fruit sprinkled with sugar and instant tapioca and topping made with equal parts brown sugar, flour, oatmeal and butter, a bit of salt and cinnamon):



- zorkmead

Using up the remainder of the leftover sauteed spinach and king oyster mushrooms from earlier in the week . . .


Spinach, Mushroom, Tomato & Feta Omelet
With a very nice homegrown tomato (maybe celebrity?) and some toasted/buttered mulitgrain bread.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Cheese & Rando Meat Omelet
=R=

Apparently the English word, "random" translates to "aléatoire" au Francais (per Googlé)

Use this knowledge as you wish. (Hopefully for your soon to open cafe and cookie shop's menu?)

You're welcome.

seebee wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Cheese & Rando Meat Omelet
=R=

Apparently the English word, "random" translates to "aléatoire" au Francais (per Googlé)

Use this knowledge as you wish. (Hopefully for your soon to open cafe and cookie shop's menu?)

You're welcome.

Hahaha - thanks!

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

lougord99 wrote:The advantage of buying a belly at Peoria Packing is that they are all out on the table and you can find the one with the fat to lean ratio you want.

Also true at Zier's because Dave will always get me a good one, and the provenance is superior. But Costco easily wins for convenience.

=R=

Just a FYI:

If you want a pork belly at Zier's, you have to order a week in advance.

I finally tried a recipe from the Great British Bake Off cookbook I got for Christmas (https://books.google.com/books/about/Th ... jLEAAAQBAJ)

Pain Suisse




So - I've never had a Pain Suisse before and don't know what to expect, but these had way too much chocolate to be served for breakfast (even for us). Otherwise they were really good. The recipe was straightforward to prepare and the brioche turned out tender and rich and had a nice lightness to it. I definitely would like to eat these again (just not before lunch).

- zorkmead

zorkmead wrote:So - I've never had a Pain Suisse before and don't know what to expect, but these had way too much chocolate to be served for breakfast (even for us). Otherwise they were really good. The recipe was straightforward to prepare and the brioche turned out tender and rich and had a nice lightness to it. I definitely would like to eat these again (just not before lunch).

They look damned good but yes, I understand what you're saying about the chocolate for breakfast component. Maybe lunch dessert?

This morning . . .


Cheese Curd Omelet
Bought a pack of cheese curds in Madison, WI last weekend and -- as an experiment -- I slipped a few of them into this 2-egg omelet. They were great. Ate this with a slice of toasted/buttered Caramelized Onion bread from Loaf Lounge.

=R=

Started out the cooking/eating day with an item I hadn't made in a few weeks . . .


Omelet
Smoked ham, cheeses & onion. Buttered rye toast. Felt good to use up the ham before it faded away.

=R=

Our weeks are sort of normalizing after a summer of a lot of coming / going / hosting and general chaos which means the return of more regular Sunday morning baking.

This week we had a loaf of pumpkin cornmeal bread - a favorite recipe that I've been baking for > 25 years!

Enjoy the bad photo courtesy of a gloomy Sunday morning . . .



- zorkmead

Still have plenty of homegrown tomatoes on hand, as well as the last vestiges of the hen of the woods the forager brought by last week, so decided to omeletize them . . .


Omelet
Sauteed hen of the woods, fresh homegrown tomatoes, Jarlsberg and crumbled feta. Toasted/buttered Italian hearth bread from Fresh Farms, which is surprising not bad for grocery bread.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Toasted/buttered Italian hearth bread from Fresh Farms, which is surprising not bad for grocery bread.

=R=

Fresh Farms makes some very good breads. We picked up a sourdough buckwheat loaf from Niles (Golf), and it's got great flavor, toasts up very nicely.

JoelF wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Toasted/buttered Italian hearth bread from Fresh Farms, which is surprising not bad for grocery bread.

=R=

Fresh Farms makes some very good breads. We picked up a sourdough buckwheat loaf from Niles (Golf), and it's got great flavor, toasts up very nicely.

My experience with their bread kiosk has been mixed but this one was definitely a winner. Nice to have a lead on another good one, too. Thanks!

=R=

This morning it was time to cook one of those things I like to cook more than I like to eat . . . pancakes. They were requested and I was glad to oblige . . .


The Rule Of Threes
3 eggs (they were small), 3 buttermilk pancakes and 3 slices of Taylor Pork Roll. I know many east-coasters, especially ex-pats, wax poetic about the Taylor Pork Roll. To me, as far as breakfast meats go, it is one. Not bashing but bacon, sausage and a good ham are all better in my book.


Close-Up
Pancakes were 80/20 AP/Whole Wheat. I lost a little bit of lift via the whole wheat flour but really nice flavor here. I'd make them more often but sweet breakfasts are just not my thing.

=R=

Using up some smoked ham, plus a few other odds and ends . . .


Breakfast Sandwich
Smoked ham, loose-fried egg, cheddar and pepper jack.

=R=

In a rare repeat - we had we had another loaf of pumpkin cornmeal bread - this time for the audience member who told me last time that, to their surprise, it would actually be really good if only it didn't have nuts



- zorkmead

I'm sure this has been done before but because I can't remember ever having seen it anywhere, I'm giving myself full credit for inventing it. Kind of a cousin of the Monte Cristo but not quite. Hot, girddled breakfast sandwich on savory french toast . . .


Smoked Ham, Salami & Cheese on Savory French Toast
This came to me while I was drifting off last night. Wanted to make a breakfast sandwich in the a.m. but the only bread I have on hand is a very hard and hearty Blonde Country Pan loaf from Hewn Bakery. I figured French toast-ifying it first (egg, milk, salt, pepper) might soften up the bread and impart some additional richness and flavor (spoiler alert: Yes on all counts.). Griddled the inner sides of the bread first, and built the sandwich with the 'raw' sides out. After that, griddled the whole thing until the exterior was crispy/golden brown and the inside was melted.

In the end, the exterior was lightly crispy and soft to the bite but not mushy in any way. So, it worked out pretty well, as I hoped it might.

=R=

And suddenly my grapefruit and whole wheat toast seem, I don't know, inadequate . . . .



- zorkmead

Found myself up early this morning with a perfectly ripe avocado. Made some sourdough toast, smashed 1/2 the avocado on both slices of toast, fried an egg (sprinkled with lemon pepper and chili flakes,) and made a sammie.
Was glad no one else was around to see me eat this mess but it was delicious.
Might do it again with the other avocado half tomorrow…