To Start the Day

Rice, Rice, & More Rice

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  1. Rice in cupboard1

Our 2nd blog email is going out just as we’re about to celebrate our Golden Wedding Anniversary. The whole family is off to Colorado on Saturday to get introduced or re-introduced to my beautiful home state where we got hitched 50 years ago.  Unfortunately, the Presbyterian church where we were married was torn down shortly thereafter.  An inauspicious event.

Before I blog-on about recipes, let me tell you about our new page feature (see menu at the top) – Food for Thought.   In Food for Thought we’re posting articles that we’ve really enjoyed and found thought-provoking – and sometimes just provoking.  We promise to stay far far away from politics – unless/maybe/if/possibly it relates to food.  Our first article is about why today’s poultry is so flavorless.  I’ve been griping about that for years.

Now back to our blog:  Two weeks ago I couldn’t stop thinking about Curry.  Go GG Warriors!  Now I have another obsession – it’s rice.  RICE.  Maybe it’s because I was looking through old wedding photos and found this one.  There we were, 50 years ago, RiceThrowing2 starting our life adventure together – and being bombarded with rice.  For fertility? For wealth?  Apparently, Ann Landers said that we were just killing birds by that old custom, but that belief has been discredited.  Some of my FCHS Besties will recognize two very special mothers in that photo, and our Chino relations will see special family members.

But on to rice as our almost most-favorite food in our simplify-our-cooking efforts. …

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Sweet Potatoes

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SweetPotato1

I cannot possibly tell you how obsessed we are with sweet potatoes – but not just any kind or variety.  We have to have either Beauregard (a variety developed at LSU) or O’Henry.  In fact, we’re so crazy about them that Katie, our 87-year-old friend in Baton Rouge, routinely ships Beauregard potatoes to us from Louisiana.  And she puts them in a USPS flat rate box that gets so heavy that she has to have someone take her to the post office and carry them in for her (do you think we could be called abusive friends?).  And why the obsession?  Well, we can pop them in a hot oven (400 degrees) for less than an hour after absolutely no preparation, then slice them, add some butter and salt, and have the perfect baked veggie side-dish.  Then we use the leftovers for mashed sweet potatoes, warmed in the microwave – or sweet potato/black bean/cabbage, lime, and cilantro tacos – or my new favorite muffin, Sweet Potato Ginger Muffins, from Deborah Madison’s most-wonderful Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. 

And FYI – that’s an O’Henry pictured above.  It’s readily available – at least in Glen Ellen. It’s long, often thin with a very light skin color and yellow-ish flesh – very different than the ubiquitous Garnet (dark reddish skin, super dark orange flesh).  And, yes, Louisianans may call them yams.  But they’re not.

Sweet Potato Ginger Muffins

  • Servings: 12 muffins - though I actually made 16 with the batter; maybe we like small muffins?
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Adapted from Deborah Madison

Ingredients

  • 1/3 c finely chopped candied ginger (the original recipe says dates and raisins may be substituted – but I love the ginger in it)
  • 1/4 c oil (canola or peanut works fine)
  • 1/3 c molasses (I wouldn’t want to tell you how long I’ve had this molasses.  Do you think it gets old?)
  • 1 c mashed baked sweet potatoes
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1/2 c buttermilk
  • 1/2 c brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1 3/4 c flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 12 muffin tins (or line with paper liners). Mix together the ginger, oil, molasses, sweet potatoes, eggs, buttermilk, and brown sugar, stirring until the batter is smooth .  In another bowl combine the flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; use a whisk to mix the flour mixture well.  Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir but don’t beat.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake for 22- 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.  After they’ve cooled for a few minutes, lift each muffin out and turn it carefully onto its side in the tin and let it continue to cool – or move them all to a cooling rack.  Serve slightly  warm. These sweet potato muffins will freeze well and will keep (not refrigerated) for several days.

Recipe provided by Big Little Meals and Andy & Ann

Alton Brown’s French Toast

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French toast1
Alton Brown’s French Toast from the Food Network.

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Andy and I have had some serious disagreements about French Toast.  Since Andy does all the breakfast cooking (well, I do dish up granola now and then), he gets the blame when the French Toast doesn’t turn out perfect.  After years – maybe decades – of imperfect FT, Andy discovered this Alton Brown recipe, and, if done precisely, is both easy and just right.  Things do get better.

One note here: we always use a sweet, as opposed to a sour dough, french bread (from the Basque Boulangerie, if you’re local) rather than the suggested challah or brioche, but I’m sure they would be wonderful too.

A second note: we tried freezing the leftover finished slices of French Toast, and they freeze well!  Just be sure they’re cool when you put them in the freezer and don’t pile them on top of each other – until they’re frozen.  To defrost and eat I simply popped a slice in the toaster and it turned out great (though you might have to adjust the length of the toasting).

Alton Brown's French Toast

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown and the FoodNetwork.com.

  • 1 C half-and-half
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 T honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread. (note: we prefer to use sweet – as opposed to sour – baguettes sliced into about 16 slices)
  • 4 T butter

In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. This can be done the night before. When ready to cook, pour the mixture into a shallow bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 T of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan (or 5 or 6 if using a baguette) and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream, or, as we prefer, BigLittleMeals Strawberry Sauce!

Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann.

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