Father's Day Brunch: Three Cheese Mushroom Strata and Insalata Rucola

For Father's Day this year I made brunch for my in-laws.  My father-in-law spent several years living in Rome when he was younger with his father and step mother, so I am always trying to impress him by making my version of Italian recipes.

The first time I ever had strata was at a bridal shower that my mother-in-law threw for me.  She bought a delicious strata from a local Italian market to serve for brunch.  (If you're not familiar with strata, it's basically a brunch casserole in which bread is layered with cheese, eggs, and other ingredients to form several layers or "strata").  I loved the combination of cheese, egg, and bread all baked together and vowed to try my hand at making it one day. 

Here's my first attempt:

Three Cheese and Mushroom Strata

1 medium sized baguette, cut into cubes (as you would cut bread for dipping into fondue)
2 1/2 cups of milk
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of half and half
5 eggs
1 4 oz. package of chives, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper (to taste)
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
1 cup grated fontina

Cut a medium sized baguette into large cubes, as you would for fondue:

(I used a sourdough baguette from local San Diego bakery Bread & Cie):

Pour milk over bread and let sit, turning once to coat thoroughly, until bread cubes have absorbed milk (about 10 to 15 minutes):

While bread cubes are absorbing milk, wash baby bellas:

And shiitakes:

Remove stems and slice:

Melt butter over medium heat:

Add mushrooms and garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste:

Saute until mushrooms have absorbed butter and are tender (about 8 to 10 minutes) and remove from heat:

Heat oven to 350 F and spray a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish with non stick spray.  Place half of bread cubes in a single layer on the bottom of the casserole dish (they will not completely cover the dish):

Top bread crumbs with half of the sauteed mushrooms and garlic:

Top with half of the grated parmesan, fontina, and crumbled goat cheese:

Whisk half and half, eggs, chives, thyme, and salt and pepper together in a medium sized bowl:

And pour half of this mixture over bread crumbs:

Repeat layering with remaining ingredients (casserole dish will be full and bread cubes will be poking through the top, like so):

Bake for 1 hour, until cheeses have melted and bread cubes have started to brown:

For brunch, I served the strata with an Insalata Rucola (Italian for arugula salad) that I have based on the version at my favorite Neapolitan style pizzeria, Settebello.

Insalata Rucola

8 oz container of baby arugula
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
shaved parmesan (as a garnish)

Whisk olive oil and lemon juice together in a small bowl to mix:

 
Pour mixture over rinsed arugula and toss to coat.  Top with grated parmesan cheese:

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Father's Day!

Weeknight Wonder: Mustard and Brown Sugar Salmon with Oven Roasted Onion Potatoes

I don't know about you, but during the workweek I am always looking for quick and simple recipes that I can whip up with as few ingredients as possible that involve as little prep time as possible.

This week I came home from another 12 hour workday (exhausted, as usual) and was determined not to give in to my urge to order pizza or run to Chipotle.  I scoured my cabinets and fridge for something as quick, easy, and semi-healthy as possible to whip up.  Luckily, I came across a bag of these adorable little Dutch Yellow potatoes from Trader Joe's that I had leftover from a soup that I had made recently:

And a box of Lipton Onion soup mix:

If you've got potatoes, onion soup mix, and olive oil, you whip up these tasty potatoes in no time!

Oven Roasted Onion Potatoes

2 pounds small potatoes, quartered
1 packet Lipton onion soup mix
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (if you don't have olive oil, substitute vegetable oil)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Cut potatoes into quarters:

And place into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish:

Whisk oil and soup mix together in a small bowl:

And pour over potatoes.  Toss to coat potatoes evenly:

Place on center oven rack and bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and starting to crisp, like so:

To go with the potatoes, I made salmon, once again using the ingredients that I had lying around in the fridge and pantry.

Mustard and Brown Sugar Salmon

1 pound salmon filet
freshly squeezed juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup golden brown sugar

Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over salmon filet seasoned with salt and pepper:

Bake salmon in 425 F oven for 20 minutes.  Whisk mustard and brown sugar together in a small bowl until smooth:

(I used this mustard from Trader Joe's, but you could use any spicy brown mustard):

Remove salmon from oven and pour mustard/brown sugar mixture over baked salmon:

Turn on your oven's broiler (my broiler only seems to have one setting - Hi):

Broil salmon for about 3 minutes, until the mustard/sugar mixture starts to caramelize and bubble:

Plate salmon and potatoes and enjoy your 7 ingredient weeknight wonder meal!

Chilaquiles: The Best Thing I Ever Ate (Breakfast Edition)

You know that show The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network?  The one where famous chefs talk about their favorite meals?  Well whenever I watch this show, it always spurs a conversation in my house about what the best thing I ever ate was.  For someone who loves food and traveling as much as I do, trying to narrow down my favorite meals is usually no small task.

But I have to say that when it comes to breakfast, there is one meal that stands out above all others in my mind: the chilaquiles I had on my 29th birthday at Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah.  Even though I had lived in Utah for 4 years at the time, I had never heard of Boulder, Utah or Hell's Backbone Grill until I picked up Bon Appetit's May 2009 issue and read the article The United Plates of America: A Guide to the Best Things to Eat, Drink, and Buy in All 50 States (if you haven't read this article before, I recommend that you click on it - you just might discover something that you didn't know about in your own state too).  After I read the article, I googled Hell's Backbone and saw that it had also won acclaim from Fodor's, the New York Times, and Zagat and I decided that I absolutely had to eat there before I moved away.

So for my birthday we went on a road trip and camped in various parts of Southern Utah.  We ended up at Hell's Backbone on the morning of my birthday for brunch:

 
I ordered the chilaquiles and I was blown away.  Of course I had had chilaquiles before, but none this good.  Maybe it was just because everything tastes better when you've been camping.  Maybe I was on a birthday celebration high.  Whatever the reason, these chilaquiles were the BEST. THING. I. EVER. ATE!

Watching that show on the Food Network gave me a fierce craving for this delicious dish.  Since I'm 650 miles away from Hell's Backbone this morning, I decided that I had better just make some for myself.

Chilaquiles (pronounced chee-lah-kee-less)

vegetable oil (for frying the tortillas)
8-12 small corn or flour tortillas (if you don't have tortillas on hand, you can use tortilla chips instead)
salt (to season the tortillas with)
1 14 oz can of red chile sauce (if you can't find red chile sauce, substitute salsa or enchilada sauce)
6 eggs, scrambled
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
grated cheddar cheese (as a garnish)

Pour enough vegetable oil into a large skillet to cover the bottom and heat over medium heat.  Cut tortillas into quarters:

Once oil is heated, fry tortilla pieces in three separate batches for about 2-3 minutes per side (until starting to lightly brown and crisp slightly).

When you first put the tortilla pieces in the oil, they'll look like this:

After 2 -3 minutes, flip them over (they should be light brown and slightly crisp, like so):

Remove tortilla pieces from skillet and season with salt.  Drain tortilla pieces on a paper towel lined plate (to remove excess oil):

Remove excess oil from skillet and add red chile sauce:

Heat until just boiling, then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes to heat sauce through:

As the sauce heats, whisk 6 eggs and 1 Tbsp cream together in a medium sized bowl:

And scramble over medium heat in a separate skillet:

Once sauce has heated, add tortilla pieces, turning to coat:

Cook until tortillas start to soften slightly (about 3 - 5 minutes).  Remove tortillas and place at the bottom of a shallow bowl:

Top with scrambled eggs:

Drizzle with more red chile sauce:

Top with cheese and enjoy!