Super Easy Apple Cake à La Mode

by Irene Tibbits
serves 12

4 ounces butter, or ½ cup

4 ounces sugar, or approximately a scant ½ cup

2 eggs

5 ounces flour, or approximately 1¼ cups

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 small apples

1 tablespoon cinnamon

¼ cup nuts, chopped

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter and stir with sugar and eggs. Stir in flour and baking powder.

Grease a round springform pan.

Clean apples and cut into wedges. Divide them into the mold and sprinkle with cinnamon. Spread cake mixture over the apples. Sprinkle with nuts and brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until golden on top.

Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or vanilla quark.

This is not a sweet cake on its own so it pairs well with ice cream.

Baked Eggs on a Bed of Roasted Tomatoes

from YummySupper Blog
via Karen Lonergan

serves 4

3 cups sweet cherry tomatoes, halved

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil leaves

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 eggs at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Scatter the tomato halves into a medium ceramic baking dish or cast-iron skillet. Bake them in the oven for 12 minutes, then take the dish out. (If a lot of liquid has cooked out of the tomatoes, carefully pour off a little liquid.) Top the tomatoes with Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with two tablespoons of the chopped basil leaves plus salt and pepper to taste. Then, crack the eggs gently onto the bed of hot tomatoes. You want to keep the yolks intact by centering the yolks on the roasted tomatoes, but don’t worry when the egg whites spill down around the sides of the tomatoes.

Return the dish to the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. You’ll know you’re done when the egg whites have set but the yolks are still soft. Sprinkle the cooked eggs with more salt, freshly ground black pepper and the remaining teaspoon of basil. Serve right away in shallow bowls.

Simple, tasty breakfast. You can substitute larger tomatoes, chopped into bite sized pieces. You can also broil instead of bake if you want to speed up the process.

Breakfast Pizza

submitted by Karen Lonergan

preparation time: 30 to 45 minutes overall

serves 6

A 12” Boboli Thin Pizza Crust or ½ pound Trader Joe’s Pre-made Pizza Dough

1 cup fresh spinach

½ bell pepper, thinly sliced

¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced

1 Roma tomato, sliced

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

6 eggs (an egg for every person eating the pizza)

2 slices of Prosciutto, cut into thirds

¼ cup green onions, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. If you are using a Boboli pizza crust, ignore the following steps and skip to placing toppings on the pizza.

Lightly flour a working surface and a rolling pin. Roll the Trader Joe’s dough out to about 12 inches and about ⅓ of an inch thick. Place a light dusting of flour or cornmeal on the bottom of a twelve inch pizza pan. Stretch the dough over the pan.

Top the pizza with the spinach, bell pepper, red onion, tomato, and cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the pizza. Crack the eggs on to the pizza and spread the pieces of prosciutto on top of the cheese layer.

Note: If you do not like a runny yolk, use a sharp knife to slice through the yolk. It will ensure the yolk is cooked all the way through.

Place pizza back in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 more minutes, just enough time for the eggs to be cooked through. When the pizza is cooked, let it cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Top with the chopped green onions and then slice the pizza into small squares.

Fresh ingredients make this remarkable!

Custardy Oven Pancake with Mixed Berries

Photo by Katy Lonergan

from Sunset Magazine, May 2011

submitted by Anne Halsted

preparation time: about 1 hour

serves 6

4 large eggs

5½ tablespoons honey, divided

1 teaspoon lemon zest

¾ teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

2½ cups milk

2 cups raspberries, divided

¼ cup butter, cut into chunks

1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced (or other fruit)

Set an ovenproof 12-inch frying pan, or 9 by 13-inch pan, in oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk eggs, ¼ cup honey, and lemon zest in a medium bowl to blend. Add salt, flour, and ¼ cup milk and whisk until smooth, then whisk in remaining milk.

Purée 1 cup raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Strain, discard seeds.

Remove pan from oven; add butter and swirl until melted and golden. Pour in batter. Pour raspberry purée over batter in wide ribbons. Reduce heat to 400 degrees F and bake pancake until deep golden, 30 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes to firm up (pancake will fall).

Combine strawberries and remaining 1 cup raspberries and 1½ tablespoon honey in a bowl; let stand at least 10 minutes. Add honey to taste. Spoon half of fruit over pancake and serve the rest on the side. Cut pancake into wedges. 

Easy Zucchini Bread

adapted from Food & Wine Magazine

submitted by Carol Hutchinson

preparation time: active 10 minutes, total 1 hour

serves 10

Butter for greasing pan

1 cup sugar plus more for coating pan

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

⅛ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup canola oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 pound zucchini, coarsely shredded (the bigger the zucchini the juicier making it extra moist)

Optional: chocolate chips (I throw just a handful in for the chocolate lovers)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan and coat with sugar. In a large bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking power. In a medium bowl, whisk the canola oil with the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add the shredded zucchini to wet ingredients. Stir the zucchini batter into dry ingredients.

Pour the zucchini bread batter into the prepared load pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the zucchini break cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Can be frozen for up to 2 months or refrigerated for up to 5 days. 

Sage Frittata

from The New York Times, adapted from La Zucca Magica, Nice
submitted by Anne Halsted

preparation time: 30 minutes overall

serves 4 to 6

6 eggs

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons day-old bread crumbs soaked in ½ cup whole milk

12 sage leaves, chopped

Salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a bowl, beat eggs with a fork. Add cheese, bread crumbs and sage and beat well, along with a pinch of salt.

Put oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, add egg mixture and cook until sides are browned and top almost firm, about 8 minutes. Turn, slide frittata onto a plate, cover it with another plate, invert plates, and slide frittata back into pan. Turn off heat immediately and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Sadly, La Zucca Magica has since closed.

Soy Sauce Eggs

Photo by Gabriel Stabile

from MomofukuNoodle Bar via the Seattle Times and MilkLife Cookbook

submitted by Kathy Lindenbaum

makes 6 eggs

6 tablespoons warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

¾ cup soy sauce

6 large eggs

Maldon or other flaky sea salt

Black pepper

Whisk together the water and sugar in a medium bowl to dissolve the sugar, then stir in the sherry vinegar and soy sauce. Taste and adjust sweet and salt levels, accordingly.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Carefully put the eggs into the boiling water and cook for exactly 6 minutes and 50 seconds, stirring slowly for the first 1½ minutes to distribute the heat evenly. Use a timer! Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. When the timer rings, transfer the eggs to the ice bath.

Once they are cool, peel the eggs while in the ice water, this helps ensure a porcelain-like exterior. Transfer the peeled eggs to the soy sauce mixture and marinate in the fridge for at least two, or up to six, hours, making sure they are completely submerged; if necessary top the eggs with a small plate to ensure submersion.

Remove the eggs from the sweet-and-salty solution (which you can save for another go next week). The eggs will keep in the fridge for up to a month but are best enjoyed within a couple days for deliciously runny yolks.

To serve, cut the eggs lengthwise in half and season with sea salt and pepper. Or ‘Cool Hand Luke’ them to impress your friends.

These eggs are beautiful!