A Leftover Weekend

This weekend we didn’t do much cooking (which is why we don’t have a recipe to share), because we decided it was time to “shop” our own fridge and freezer. Here’s what we ate…

• For a quick weeknight dinner, we defrosted some homemade pasta sauce from the last big batch we made (we typically make it like our pizza sauce, plus onions) to top a fresh pot of pasta.
• Toward the end of last week, before the heat wave started here in California, we pulled some vegetarian chili out of the freezer, which was enough for two meals each.
• Friday night we tried a new Mexican restaurant for take-out, then finished it up Saturday as burritos. (Joe tried his first horchata!)
• We made a Sunday-morning frittata with leeks from our CSA and a simplified version of Joe’s breakfast potatoes, and we’ll eat some of the leftovers tomorrow.
• For side dishes, we had lots of salads featuring CSA veggies.
• This morning we had poached eggs on top of English muffins out of the freezer, plus some freezer jam we had just defrosted.

What leftovers did you eat this weekend? Our bellies are full and our freezer is organized—success!

Easy cheesy brunch eggs!

This recipe is pretty famous in our circles. It is the easiest, most delicious egg casserole we’ve ever tried, and we think you’ll love it, too. It’s exactly the kind of recipe we get excited about because it’s: simple and fast to make, a crowd-pleaser, hearty and filling but not over-the-top rich, and prime candidate for leftovers.

Yesterday we had friends over for brunch, which was the perfect excuse to make our favorite egg dish. It was so yummy that we forgot to stop and take photos.

A few notes on the recipe: The original called for a full pound of jack cheese, which was just a little too much for us. We’ve cut it in half, though 3/4 pound works, too. Megan’s mom has a different approach to the cheese overload: she uses 12 eggs instead of 10. You can also use two little cans of chiles for some extra flavor.

Brunch Eggs (print recipe here)

Ingredients 

• 10 eggs
• 16 ounces cottage cheese
• ½ pound grated jack cheese
• ½ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 4-ounce can green chiles

Directions

Beat the eggs. Stir in the other ingredients. Bake in a buttered 9×13 dish at 375˚ for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown on top. Let set for about 10 minutes, then cut and serve with avocado, salsa, and sour cream.

Leftovers

These eggs make fabulous leftovers. Store, covered, in the refrigerator up to a couple days, then just use a microwave or toaster oven to reheat.

Toffee Party Squares

These little cookies are super easy to make, and are deceptively delicious. The title still mystifies us, as there is no toffee involved, but we haven’t been able to come up with anything better. This is another one that comes from Megan’s mom.

They are lovely to make the night before a… you guessed it… party, because the chocolate needs time to cool, and because they’re much less time consuming than individual cookies. The most labor-intensive part is probably the chopping (you can avoid this by using chocolate chips if you prefer, though we find we can get better quality chocolate by the bar).

Megan whipped these up last week for her overworked, stressed students, which seemed to cheer them up, at least for a class period. We hope they’ll bring you a smile too! They taste great with a cool glass of milk or a nice latte.

Toffee Party Squares (print this recipe here)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups sifted flour
• 6 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate (or chips)
• ½ cup chopped nuts (we recommend walnuts)

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, then continue beating for another minute. Add flour, and stir until combined. Spread the dough onto a 13×15 or 14×17 sheet pan (you’ll probably want to use your hands to push and flatten the dough). Bake at 350˚ for 15 minutes, until just starting to turn golden brown. Turn the oven off, sprinkle the chocolate evenly on the top, and pop back into the warm oven for a few minutes. When the chocolate begins to melt, spread it evenly to cover the dough. Sprinkle the nuts and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Leftovers

These should stay fresh in a covered container for about two to three days. They do not need to be refrigerated.

Curry Dip for Your Crudités

Do you ever feel stumped about what to serve at parties or bring to potlucks? Here’s an easy answer: vegetables! We always think of chips, cheese, desserts, and drinks, yet those poor veggies are too often forgotten.

The simplest way to please a crowd is a simple yet abundant crudités platter. Just fresh, raw veggies sliced into strips and arranged around a nice dip. Ranch is an easy winner, but we love this Curry Dip for something a little different. It has a beautiful color, and a fresh quirky flavor.

The original idea came from Megan’s mom, who got the recipe from a cookbook she bought in the ’70s at a bed and breakfast in San Francisco. This B&B hosted a wine tasting with appetizers every afternoon, and this was one of her favorite items served. To be honest, when Megan first saw the recipe, it sounded a little strange. But since trying a bite, she’s been convinced too! No joke: every time we serve this, we get asked for the recipe. We’ve altered it a bit since the ’70s original, but in essence it’s just about the same.

The flavors in this dip will only get richer with time in the fridge, so it’s an easy thing to make ahead for a party. Got leftovers? That’s the best part! It will make a great snack for at least a week. Or try Joe’s mom’s twist: curry chicken salad.

Curry Dip (print here)

Ingredients

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 3 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons grated onion
• dash garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions

Whisk together all ingredients. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to come together. The dip tastes even better the next day.

Serve with carrots, celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes, and your other favorite dipping vegetables. Great for parties!

Leftovers

The dip will keep, refrigerated, for at least a week.

Or try a curry chicken salad with shredded cooked chicken, halved grapes, and chopped celery on a croissant or roll.

Homemade Iced Vanilla Latte(ish)

Yet another heat wave in California + the start of the school year = prime time for an icy caffeinated treat. Don’t mind if I do!

Come afternoon, this quick drink is one of our favorite ways to use up leftover, lukewarm coffee that’s still lingering in the pot. A snap to make, just a bit of caffeine for a boost, and not too sweet… Behold: the homemade iced vanilla latte (“ish” because, well, technically this is probably an iced vanilla café au lait, since we’re not using espresso, but… latte just sounds better, doesn’t it?).

How do you use up leftover coffee? If we don’t use it in this recipe, we usually refrigerate it in mason jars to drink as plain iced coffee within a few days.

Homemade Iced Vanilla Latte (for one, but easy to scale up or down)

• 4 ounces coffee, cold or room-temperature
• 2 ounces milk, cold
• 1 teaspoon homemade vanilla extract
• 1½ teaspoons sugar (depending on your taste)

Pour all ingredients into a glass. Stir until sugar dissolves. Add lots of ice and enjoy!

Roasted Peppers and Goat Cheese

A lovely, easy-yet-impressive summer appetizer. We recently made this with homemade goat cheese and took it to a potluck picnic—our friends raved about it! It is simple, delicious, and beautiful. To make it “to go,” we simply used a small Pyrex pan as the platter, and used its lid for transporting. We found that the texture of the leftovers got a little strange, so we recommend eating this all in one go… though you shouldn’t have to much trouble with that!

Roasted Peppers and Goat Cheese (print recipe here)

Ingredients

• 3 bell peppers in a mix of colors
• 1 tomato
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, separated
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Pinch of sugar
• 8 ounces fresh goat cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
• Bread, for serving

Directions

Rub the peppers and tomato with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, then roast them whole at 450˚ (we did this in the oven, but they would also taste great on the grill), turning often, for about 20 minutes, until they are charred and soft. Put them in a bowl and cover. While they are steaming, mix the remaining oil with the vinegar, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Crumble the goat cheese on the serving plate. Then peel, de-stem, and chop the peppers and tomato. Stir them into the dressing to coat them. When cool, spoon the mixture over the cheese and top with the fresh oregano. Serve with bread.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Jenifer!

Sun Tea

We’ve been having a serious heat wave in the Bay Area, which has put us in the mood for as many cool and refreshing drinks as possible. Sun tea is a top choice! It’s fool-proof and much healthier than sodas or fruit juice.

To make sun tea, simply fill a glass jar or jug with water. Add your choice of tea and let the jar sit in the sun for a few hours, until the tea looks (or tastes) strong enough to you. Remove the tea leaves or bags so that the tea won’t get too bitter, and refrigerate the tea until chilled. You can have some fun with adding things, too—try lemon slices, honey, sugar, mint leaves, cinnamon sticks, etc.

For this batch, we used loose-leaf chai plus honey, which is delicious served with or without milk. We also like to blend black and green tea, or black tea and something decaf. We love putting honey in most batches. Did you know about all the health benefits of honey? If you’re in the Bay Area, you should try this delicious local honey. Dissolving the honey takes a bit of stirring, but the slight heat from the sun can help this process along.

Your tea should keep in the fridge for about a week. Enjoy, and stay cool!

Simplified Bruschetta

This, um, “recipe” is so simple that it’s almost embarrassing to call it one. Yet bruschetta is also the kind of dish that seems kind of fancy, like you could only get it pre-made or in a restaurant (and even then, how do you pronounce it? Hard C, and come off as pretentious? Or SH sound, and worry that you’re uneducated? Tough decisions here, people).

The solution: Chop up a few of those gorgeous tomatoes from your farmer’s market or your garden (no, store-bought will just not do), smother ’em in the good stuff, and serve with crusty bread. Shortcut 1: We don’t cook the tomatoes at all. They taste amazing. Shortcut 2: If we have fresh bread, we don’t even bother to toast it. But if you want to, you can brush sliced bread with olive oil and crisp it in the toaster oven or under the broiler for a few minutes.

Ta-da! So, without further ado, the… “recipe” (print here)

Ingredients

• Tomatoes
• Fresh basil
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt
• Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

Chop tomatoes and basil, mince garlic, and place all, including the tomato juices, in a mixing bowl. Coat with olive oil, drizzle with about half as much balsamic, and sprinkle with salt. Mix. Taste test and adjust ratios, if needed. Serve immediately with crusty bread, or store in the refrigerator for a few hours to give the flavors time to develop. This will store covered in the refrigerator for a few days.

 Notes

You’ll notice this recipe doesn’t have any amounts—that’s because it’s a taste-as-you-go experience! You can whip this up for lunch for one, or make a huge batch for a party. You should customize to the saltiness, tartness, and garlicky-ness that work with your tomatoes and your taste buds. Start with a little of each ingredient: you can always add more.

We don’t cook our tomatoes or toast our bread, since we like the freshness of all these flavors. The balsamic vinegar will also soften the tomatoes a bit. If you prefer, you can brush sliced bread with olive oil and crisp in the toaster over or under the broiler for a few minutes.

Peach-Strawberry* Crisp

Do you ever wonder the difference between a crisp, crumb, crumble, cobbler, and buckle? We do. And it appears that there are different opinions on the matter.

Let’s go with the most logical differentiation and call this a crisp (the topping is crispy, because it has oats). Anyway, you won’t have much time to call it anything because your mouth will be full of sweet goopy fruit, crunchy topping, and cool smooth ice cream.

This dessert is so easy to make, requires pretty basic ingredients that you probably already have, uses up almost any ripe or overripe fruit that happens to be sitting in your fruit bowl, isn’t overly sweet or rich, and just gets tastier if you make it the day before. Perfect for a party.

This time around, we used peaches (skins off) and strawberries. In the past we have used mixed berries, strawberries and rhubarb, a single berry, mixed berries, or a mixture of stone fruits. What about something more unique, like strawberries and basil? blueberries and goat cheese? peaches and mint? Go for it, and let us know how it turns out. Just adjust your sugar ratio based on how sweet the fruit is (you’ll definitely need to taste test; isn’t it the best when a recipe encourages you to do that?). You can also scale up or down pretty easily; to be honest, I use the measurements more as a guide than as a rule.

Serve warm or room temperature—à la mode, of course! Freshly whipped cream is a pretty stellar topping too.

Peach-Strawberry* Crisp (print here)

Ingredients

• 6 cups peaches and strawberries,* sliced
• ¼ cup sugar (or less)
• 1 cup flour, separate (¼ cup and ¾ cup)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ¾ cup oats
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 stick butter, chilled 

Directions

Combine fruit, sugar, ¼ cup flour, and lemon juice. Toss and pour into a 9-inch pie dish or a small casserole dish. Combine the remaining ¾ cup flour, oats, brown sugar, and spices. Cut in the butter (or use a cheese grater) and mix until you have small moist clumps. Sprinkle over the fruit mixture. Bake for one hour at 375˚, until the fruit mixture bubbles and the topping is dark golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or freshly whipped cream.

Notes

Adjust the amount of sugar to the natural sweetness of your chosen fruit, and to your own taste buds.

* or any fruit

Warm Apricot Cups with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Honey

Don’t you love apricot season? These bright, tangy, velvety little guys have been in abundant supply in our CSA these past few weeks. While we love buying dried apricots for our Summer Orzo Salad (preferably sulfur-free), late spring/early summer means we get to devour them fresh. How beautiful is this color?

Sometimes apricots on their own can be a little too sour. Cooking them for just a few minutes seems to bring out more sugars, and the goat cheese and honey balsamic add a sweet and savory component. Try these as an appetizer or side, or throw them on the grill!

We enjoyed ours with toast, alongside homemade lentil burgers and sautéed green beans for a delicious and fresh summer supper.

Warm Apricot Cups with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Honey (Print here)

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 3 apricots, halved and de-pitted
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon balsamic
• 6 tablespoons goat cheese
• 1 tablespoon roasted and salted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup arugula

Directions

Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, carefully place the apricots, open side down, into the skillet. Cook for at least 5 to 7 minutes, adjusting a couple times to prevent sticking. While the apricots are cooking, whisk together the honey and balsamic. When the apricots are soft and browning, remove from heat and place them open side up on a plate. Fill each “cup” with approximately one tablespoon of goat cheese, drizzle with the honey balsamic, sprinkle with the sunflower seeds, and top with arugula.

We recommend serving immediately, with toast or fresh baguette. They make an impressive appetizer or a great side dish.

Notes

This recipe is very customize-able, and the measurements are just suggestions that can suit your preferred tastes. Cheese lover? Add some extra. Prefer pistachios? They’d taste great too. Hate arugula? Leave it off completely, or sub your favorite greens.

This recipe also scales up or down beautifully, depending on your crowd and appetite.

BBQ season and apricot season might come hand-in-hand in your region. Lucky you! Try these on the grill to wow your guests.