hippie breakfast
posted by bitchphd
I have a theory about breakfast: either you are a savory (egg) breakfast person, or you are a sweet (grain) breakfast person. Yeah, yeah, there's exceptions--maybe you love your eggs, but you'll go a long way for a cinnamon-raisin bagel. But *in general*, I think people tend to lean one way or the other.
I myself am a sweet breakfast person, when I bother to eat breakfast at all. I like the carbs in the morning: pastry, french toast, granola and berries. My exception is yogurt and berries, ideally in a blender, but that's still "sweet," if not grain-based.
A lot of the time, though, your carb breakfasts seem kind of pathetic if you're out for brunch: who the fuck goes out to brunch and orders goddamn oatmeal and yogurt? If it's something that's easy enough to make myself (i.e., requires virtually no preparation at all, which might be the attraction of the sweet carby breakfast, come to think of it), I'm not going to pay someone else to plop it in a bowl for me. So generally I'll order french toast and bacon, or something like that.
But. There's this breakfast joint in Minneapolis that's absolutely fucking amazing, and one of the absolutely fucking amazing things they do right is make a "porridge" that I order every damn time. Sometimes, when I'm home in California, I fantasize about this goddamn porridge. Which is based on wild rice, and has nuts and dried berries and god only knows what they do to it, but my god, it's good.
So yesterday I was puttering through the expensive yupped-up organic-type grocery store in town, which I visit about once a month to stock up on yer yupped-up organic-type groceries (primarily produce and bulk grains, neither of which you can get at Trader Joe's. Oh, and also Nancy's cream cheese, which I've introduced PK to and which he, being the brilliant child he is, recognizes as vastly superior to all other cream cheese.)
Anyhoo, so in the bulk grains section there was this "organic mixed wild rice" stuff. I like wild rice, and I kind of eyeballed it, thinking "hmm, what could I make with that?" And then it hit me: I could try to reproduce the porridge from Hell's Kitchen.
So I bought a couple cups of the organic mixed wild rice, and then I puttered about getting some dried cranberries and organic pumpkin seeds, finished my shopping, came home and made a damn good dinner of ribeye steak,* roasted carrots, grilled artichoke hearts, and a big puffy oven-baked pancake thing (the introduction of which into my repertoire I blame entirely on M. LeBlanc, to whom I am grateful, as it is much quicker than rice or potatoes). Anyhoo, so while the carrots were roasting I started on the porridge, which cooked while I did the rest of the dinner, and then after eating I finished it up by stirring in the cranberries and pumpkin seeds and some other goodies I found in the pantry.
We had some this morning. It's not quite the same as the stuff at Hell's Kitchen? But goddamn, it was good. I actually wanted seconds.
*PK had requested steak for dinner as I was heading out to the grocery store, and I spotted a couple of grass-fed organic slaughtered by being petted to death rib-eyes and thought, okeydoke, there's dinner. Never let it be said that I do not spoil my child rotten.
A Bitch of a Good Porridge
wild rice mix (you actually *can* get this at TJ's)
2x as much water as rice
1/2 as much milk as rice
some nutmeg (I used about 1/2 tsp, I think)
salt
Bring the rice, water, milk, salt, and nutmeg to a boil on the stove--not the regular way, by boiling the water first and then adding the rice, but by just tossing it all in a saucepan. Then turn it down and let it simmer, covered, for about 45 minues. Basically the proportions are a guideline: I used 2 cups of rice, 4 cups of water, and 1 cup of milk and it turned out about the right texture (soft but with some tooth to it), but I'm sure one could use more milk and less water, etc. You want more liquid than you would usually use for rice, is the point. And obviously keep an eye on it and give it a stir occasionally; it would suck if it burned, 'cause wild rice is expensive.
Once it's a proper porridgey consistency, take it off the heat and add whatever variety of dried fruit and nuts you've got in the house. I added:
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. dried blueberries
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. walnuts, which I toasted in a pan along with the pumpkin seeds before stirring them into the porridge.
You can, of course, eat it immediately, or you can do like I did and make it while you're cooking dinner, then put it in the fridge overnight and reheat it in the microwave the next morning. Stir in some warm milk and some honey (or brown sugar, or maple syrup, or whatever). Way tasty, especially for such a hippy-type breakfast.
Roast Carrots
carrots
olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh dill or parsley or rosemary, if you like
Cut the carrots in 2-inch long slices and put 'em in a bowl. Pour some olive oil over them and salt and pepper them generously. Add the rosemary, if you're using it, then stir it all up so the carrots are coated. Put them in a single layer in a pan or on a baking sheet in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes. Stir in the dill or parsley at the end, as they're more delicate than rosemary.
Obviously if you put these in and then get started mixing up the puffy pancake, thte timing works out pretty nicely. Plus, since you're turning the oven up when you put the pancake in, the carrots will finish roasting a little quicker, though they might be slightly softer.
Puffy Pancake Type Thingy
per person (you can skimp a little if necessary: I tripled this recipe for the three of us, and there was definitely pancake left over):
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (maybe add a tbsp of cornstarch, if you're serving this with savory foods)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Melt the butter in a cast-iron skillet on the stove. Throw the other ingredients into a blender (or whisk in a bowl), then pour them into the melted butter. Put the skillet into the oven at 475° for about 12 minutes (longer, obviously, for bigger pancakes. Keep an eye on it; once it's high and puffy with maybe a little melted butter on top, it's done). You really do have to pretty much serve this right away or it'll lose all its puff, so don't start it until everything else is virtualy done. Does a nice job of sopping up meaty pan drippings....
I cooked the rib-eye steak and artichokes following the directions in this video. I, personally, did not have the pan hot enough, so it took a little longer than the video suggested, which threw my timing off and made the puffy pancake go flat. So I highly suggest that you not fool around on the "pan must be HOT" instructions therein (or that you be willing to just cover the meat and let it rest next to a warm stove while the pancake bakes).
I myself am a sweet breakfast person, when I bother to eat breakfast at all. I like the carbs in the morning: pastry, french toast, granola and berries. My exception is yogurt and berries, ideally in a blender, but that's still "sweet," if not grain-based.
A lot of the time, though, your carb breakfasts seem kind of pathetic if you're out for brunch: who the fuck goes out to brunch and orders goddamn oatmeal and yogurt? If it's something that's easy enough to make myself (i.e., requires virtually no preparation at all, which might be the attraction of the sweet carby breakfast, come to think of it), I'm not going to pay someone else to plop it in a bowl for me. So generally I'll order french toast and bacon, or something like that.
But. There's this breakfast joint in Minneapolis that's absolutely fucking amazing, and one of the absolutely fucking amazing things they do right is make a "porridge" that I order every damn time. Sometimes, when I'm home in California, I fantasize about this goddamn porridge. Which is based on wild rice, and has nuts and dried berries and god only knows what they do to it, but my god, it's good.
So yesterday I was puttering through the expensive yupped-up organic-type grocery store in town, which I visit about once a month to stock up on yer yupped-up organic-type groceries (primarily produce and bulk grains, neither of which you can get at Trader Joe's. Oh, and also Nancy's cream cheese, which I've introduced PK to and which he, being the brilliant child he is, recognizes as vastly superior to all other cream cheese.)
Anyhoo, so in the bulk grains section there was this "organic mixed wild rice" stuff. I like wild rice, and I kind of eyeballed it, thinking "hmm, what could I make with that?" And then it hit me: I could try to reproduce the porridge from Hell's Kitchen.
So I bought a couple cups of the organic mixed wild rice, and then I puttered about getting some dried cranberries and organic pumpkin seeds, finished my shopping, came home and made a damn good dinner of ribeye steak,* roasted carrots, grilled artichoke hearts, and a big puffy oven-baked pancake thing (the introduction of which into my repertoire I blame entirely on M. LeBlanc, to whom I am grateful, as it is much quicker than rice or potatoes). Anyhoo, so while the carrots were roasting I started on the porridge, which cooked while I did the rest of the dinner, and then after eating I finished it up by stirring in the cranberries and pumpkin seeds and some other goodies I found in the pantry.
We had some this morning. It's not quite the same as the stuff at Hell's Kitchen? But goddamn, it was good. I actually wanted seconds.
*PK had requested steak for dinner as I was heading out to the grocery store, and I spotted a couple of grass-fed organic slaughtered by being petted to death rib-eyes and thought, okeydoke, there's dinner. Never let it be said that I do not spoil my child rotten.
A Bitch of a Good Porridge
wild rice mix (you actually *can* get this at TJ's)
2x as much water as rice
1/2 as much milk as rice
some nutmeg (I used about 1/2 tsp, I think)
salt
Bring the rice, water, milk, salt, and nutmeg to a boil on the stove--not the regular way, by boiling the water first and then adding the rice, but by just tossing it all in a saucepan. Then turn it down and let it simmer, covered, for about 45 minues. Basically the proportions are a guideline: I used 2 cups of rice, 4 cups of water, and 1 cup of milk and it turned out about the right texture (soft but with some tooth to it), but I'm sure one could use more milk and less water, etc. You want more liquid than you would usually use for rice, is the point. And obviously keep an eye on it and give it a stir occasionally; it would suck if it burned, 'cause wild rice is expensive.
Once it's a proper porridgey consistency, take it off the heat and add whatever variety of dried fruit and nuts you've got in the house. I added:
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. dried blueberries
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. walnuts, which I toasted in a pan along with the pumpkin seeds before stirring them into the porridge.
You can, of course, eat it immediately, or you can do like I did and make it while you're cooking dinner, then put it in the fridge overnight and reheat it in the microwave the next morning. Stir in some warm milk and some honey (or brown sugar, or maple syrup, or whatever). Way tasty, especially for such a hippy-type breakfast.
Roast Carrots
carrots
olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh dill or parsley or rosemary, if you like
Cut the carrots in 2-inch long slices and put 'em in a bowl. Pour some olive oil over them and salt and pepper them generously. Add the rosemary, if you're using it, then stir it all up so the carrots are coated. Put them in a single layer in a pan or on a baking sheet in the oven at 400° for 20 minutes. Stir in the dill or parsley at the end, as they're more delicate than rosemary.
Obviously if you put these in and then get started mixing up the puffy pancake, thte timing works out pretty nicely. Plus, since you're turning the oven up when you put the pancake in, the carrots will finish roasting a little quicker, though they might be slightly softer.
Puffy Pancake Type Thingy
per person (you can skimp a little if necessary: I tripled this recipe for the three of us, and there was definitely pancake left over):
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (maybe add a tbsp of cornstarch, if you're serving this with savory foods)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Melt the butter in a cast-iron skillet on the stove. Throw the other ingredients into a blender (or whisk in a bowl), then pour them into the melted butter. Put the skillet into the oven at 475° for about 12 minutes (longer, obviously, for bigger pancakes. Keep an eye on it; once it's high and puffy with maybe a little melted butter on top, it's done). You really do have to pretty much serve this right away or it'll lose all its puff, so don't start it until everything else is virtualy done. Does a nice job of sopping up meaty pan drippings....
I cooked the rib-eye steak and artichokes following the directions in this video. I, personally, did not have the pan hot enough, so it took a little longer than the video suggested, which threw my timing off and made the puffy pancake go flat. So I highly suggest that you not fool around on the "pan must be HOT" instructions therein (or that you be willing to just cover the meat and let it rest next to a warm stove while the pancake bakes).
Posted at 12:12 PM
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