Cherry-Oat Custard

Top-notch eggs (i.e., eggs from hens who peck about in the dirt and eat bugs) are our best source of protein in terms of bioavailability and sustainability, plus they’re incredibly versatile from a culinary point of view.  The only caveat is that you can easily overcook them and therefore make them tougher than you’d like — I’m sure all of us have experienced Rubbery Scrambled Egg Syndrome at some point.  That’s the flip side of having so much protein in one little shell!  (The protein, by the way, resides in the egg whites, which is why the whites “cook” so much more quickly than the yolks.  I say “cook” because it’s really more of a coagulation process, but we won’t get overly technical about it.  For those who are interested in culinary chemistry, check out The Curious Cook by Harold McGee.)

Custards fall into the it-can-be-tricky category because they contain a high ratio of eggs to flour/sugar.  The good news, though, is that you can add a decent amount of flour to a custard — thereby making it less likely to overcook — and still have a nice custardy texture.  This recipe uses freshly-ground oat and Brazil nut flours, although you could just as easily use store-bought oat and almond/hazelnut flour.  The idea is to pair the cherries with oats and nuts in a custardy kind of way.

Cherry-Oat Custard

1/2 stick butter, preferably from grass-fed cows
3/4 cup buttermilk (do NOT substitute regular milk!)*
1/3 cup maple syrup, preferably Grade B
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
1/4 cup oat flour, store-bought or freshly-ground (you can grind your own steel-cut oats in a coffee grinder)
1/4 cup Brazil nut flour OR almond flour OR hazelnut flour, store-bought or freshly-ground (if the nuts are whole, chop them coarsely and then grind them in a coffee grinder)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
2 cups chopped pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
Juice from one lemon

Place the butter in a 9″ glass pie pan and then place the pan in the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees F. Watch for butter to melt — it should be melted well before the oven is fully heated. (You’ll probably start to hear the butter hissing as it melts and spreads across the hot bottom surface of the pan.) Remove pan and melted butter from oven and continue with the preheating process.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, the buttermilk, the maple syrup, the vanilla, and the eggs. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flours, the sea salt, and the baking powder.

Sprinkle the chopped cherries across the bottom of the pie pan. Quickly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ones, then whisk in the lemon juice. Pour batter over cherries and bake for 20 minutes or until the top is slightly puffed and golden brown. Serve as is or with a side of Greek yogurt. (The latter serving suggestion makes a great breakfast!)

Enjoy!

* The reason you need to use buttermilk and NOT regular milk is that the buttermilk is acidic while standard milk is alkaline. The anthocyanin pigments in the cherries (and in all dark purplish and reddish produce) will turn greenish-blue in an alkaline environment. That means that you need the acidity of the buttermilk and the lemon juice to ensure that your cherries retain their beautiful cherry color.  If you’ve made blueberry muffins in the past and wound up with greenish circles surrounding the blueberries, that’s because you had an alkaline batter.  But the good news is that berries/cherries-turned-green still taste great!

Vegetable Medley Stew

Now that summer is on the way, I’m thinking about gardening and veggies and mounds of fresh produce.  It’s still a little bit chilly out, though, so I’m also still enjoying warm dishes hot off the stove.

In keeping with the winter-to-spring transition, this Vegetable Medley Stew is a cross-seasonal dish — it’s warm and hearty like a winter stew, but is chock-full of veggies and could easily be lightened into a peak-of-summer soup by adding more broth and fewer grains.  Likewise, you could season the stew/soup with whatever fresh herbs you have on hand rather than using dried sage (although the sage imparts a subtle lemony tang).  And with the addition of grains and lentils, the stew is both fragrant and satisfying…and will be for several days, because the flavors will deepen as the soup sits in the fridge.  Just add more broth when reheating if the veggies and grains have absorbed too much liquid for your taste.

Vegetable Medley Stew
Serves at least 4 as a main course.

1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
32 oz. vegetable stock (or chicken or beef, preferably from pastured animals)
15 oz. diced tomatoes
1 zucchini (or yellow squash), chopped
1/2 cup dried lentils
1/2 cup steel-cut oats (choose gluten-free oats if you want this to be a gluten-free dish)
1 tsp. dried sage
Sea salt and freshly-cracked pepper to taste
1 cup curly spinach, coarsely chopped

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, sautée onion and carrot in a pat of ghee or butter for about 5 minutes or until onion is soft and translucent. Stir in stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze it and bring those caramelized flavors into the liquid. Stir in tomatoes, zucchini, lentil, oats, and sage. Simmer for 30 minutes or until oats and lentils are tender. If it looks like the stew is getting too thick for your taste and you’d prefer a lighter soup, add another cup or two of stock (or water).

Season stew with salt and pepper to taste, then quickly stir in spinach. Take pot off heat and let sit for 3 minutes to soften the spinach. (The stew will still be hot enough to “cook” it.)

Serve hot, garnishing each bowl with a spoonful of a creamy cheese such as fresh mozzarella or soft goat cheese if you’d like.

Enjoy!

Scottish Winter Stew

Americans eat oats for breakfast and in the occasional cookie.  Scots eat them for breakfast, too…and for lunch and dinner and everything in between.  They eat them in scones and stews and porridges and even with fish.  And why not?  Not only are oats one of the most nutrient-rich grains on the planet, they have a wonderful habit of transforming watery soups into thick, satisfying stews.  (Steel-cut oats or whole oats, that is — the rolled variety has usually had its outer bran removed, and much of that thickening power lies in the bran.)

Steel-cut oats are pretty easy to find these days; you might even come across gluten-free oats, which have been grown and processed in their own fields and factories rather than being grown and processed alongside wheat.  Given the plenitude and reasonable cost of oats — not to mention their flavor and versatility — we could take some valuable lessons from the Scots!  Besides, cold winter days seem a lot less colder if you have a pot of hot stew simmering on the stove. Roasting the vegetables is optional, but again, why not drive off the chill of winter with some warm, aromatic roasting? Slow-roasted vegetables will also add a deeper, more umami-rich flavor to your stew.

Scottish Winter Stew

4 stalks celery, cut into 2″-long pieces (do not cut down the centers of the stalks as this would make the pieces too small for roasting)*
1 large onion, cut into thick rounds*
4 carrots, cut into 2″-long pieces (only split very wide chunks in half; leave the tips intact)*
1 knob celeriac/celery root, cut into 1″ cubes (optional)*

In a glass pan (or several pans), toss veggies with peanut oil, sea salt, and freshly-cracked pepper. Roast at 375 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until veggies are a golden brown, stirring at 15-minute intervals.

While veggies are roasting, get the soup going:

3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin rounds
8 oz. shiitake or button mushrooms, sliced
1 large tomato, chopped
4 c. chicken broth, preferably from free-range chickens
2 tsp. (combined) of any or all of these spices: thyme, winter savory, sage
Roasted vegetables (see above)
1/2 cup uncooked steel-cut oats

In a large soup pot, sautée garlic in butter or ghee on medium-low heat for about 2 minutes or until garlic is softened and fragrant. Add mushrooms and tomato and continue to cook, stirring often, for about 5 more minutes. Add chicken broth, spices, and roasted vegetables.** Increase heat to high and wait for the soup to barely come to a boil; when it does, notch the heat back down to medium-low and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes.  (This can be your holding point if you’re making the stew ahead of time — just let it quietly simmer for up to an hour.  You may need to add another cup of broth or water to the stew before adding the oats.)

When you’re about 20 minutes away from wanting to serve the stew, add the oats and let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the oats are cooked through to your satisfaction. (I prefer mine to remain a bit toothsome.) Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

* If you’re sautéeing these veggies rather than roasting them, cut them into smaller pieces so that they will cook through when you pan-fry them.

** Also note that you can make use of any roasted veggie for this recipe: leeks, mushrooms, red peppers, corn, green beans…whatever you like and/or happen to have on hand. (A great way to use up leftover roasted veggies!)

Groats, Eggs & Maple Syrup

People are usually stunned when I say that I don’t have any cereal in my house, but there are so many great (read:  healthier) options out there!  From peanut-butter-banana-yogurt smoothies to toasted zucchini bread to scrambled omelettes, there are countless quick ways to prepare a tasty breakfast.  Some–like pumpkin bread or lemon-coconut muffins–can be kept for a week, so with a bit of forethought, your breakfast can be waiting for you when you wake up.  Others–like the groat-and-egg dish pictured above–can be mostly made in advance and only require about 2 minutes of prep time when you’re stumbling bleary-eyed around your kitchen.  (Check out this post to find out how to make your own granola.)  Even if making breakfast takes 10 minutes, it’s worth it to set the alarm back 10 minutes to give yourself time–the aisle in the grocery store with the most processed, sugary, unhealthy food is the cereal aisle.  It’s best to just stay out of it.  (And if you’re really desperate, polish off last night’s leftovers for breakfast!  It’s almost certain they’ll get your day off to a better start than will the contents of the heavily-refined, nutritionally-defunct boxes lurking in the center of the grocery store.)

[Note: groats are simply whole, unrolled oats--they look a little bit like barley. You'll probably find them next to the cereal grains, although they might also be placed with the wheat flours, millet, spelt, and other baking staples.]

Groats, Eggs, & Maple Syrup

For best results, soak groats all day or overnight in a bath of water mixed with a spoonful or two of yogurt. (Soaking whole grains increases their nutrient value; soaking them in an acidic medium like yogurt makes it even easier for your body to maximize what they offer.) If you’d prefer a gluten-free breakfast, millet or quinoa are nice substitutions. (Although oats don’t contain gluten, they’re usually processed in factories that process wheat and other gluten-containing grains, so oats are best avoided by those sensitive to gluten.)  After they’ve soaked for about 8 hours, dump the groats and their bath into a pot. Add enough water to cover the groats and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cover.

Note: being whole grains, even soaked groats require about 30 minutes of simmering to bring them to their required tenderness. You might want to soak and simmer a big batch of them so that you’ll have quick and easy leftovers. I soak and cook mine the day before I want to use them for breakfast so that they’re ready to go. (Test them at the 30-minute mark to see how tender/chewy they’ve gotten; if necessary, cook for another 5-10 minutes.)

Mix cooked groats with one or two raw eggs and sauteé over medium heat for a minute or two or until eggs are done to your liking. Drizzle with maple syrup and serve hot.

Enjoy!

The good news is, it’s very simple to make your own cereal. It consists of a mix of grains, nuts, seeds, and fruit. You can add spices and natural sweeteners (honey, agave, maple syrup) as you see fit. Here’s a basic recipe to try:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix together in a bowl:

3 cups of grains (any combination of quick oats, rolled barley, or wheat flakes)
1/2 to 1 cup of seeds (any combination of sunflower, sesame, pumpkin)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 to 1 cup of nuts (any combination of pecans, almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews)
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
Pinch of sea salt

You may have to mix the ingredients together with your hands. When thoroughly incorporated, spread out in a baking pan that has high enough sides to keep the granola from spilling out. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes with a wooden spoon to prevent granola from burning. Granola will turn golden brown and fragrant. Remove from oven and let cool. If desired, stir in dried fruit such as raisins, dried blueberries, dried apples, dried pineapple…whatever you like.

Experiment with adding a teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract to the mixture before baking to get a different flavor! You can also try shaking on some spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) before baking or when serving to add flair. Top with Greek yogurt, serve with nut milk (hazelnut is my favorite!), or splash with coconut milk–the choice is yours. The granola mixture will keep in an airtight container for several weeks.

Ceres, I’m sure, would be delighted with your breakfast!