Chicken Pot Pie-2

Recipe number two for chicken pot pie. I liked it better than the first recipe. I roasted the chicken with the Roast Chicken with Herbs recipe and saved the drippings. The topping for the pie was gluten-free. I got that recipe from Silvanas Kitchen. Here is my best guess as to how I made the filling.

1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
Other veggies
2 C cooked chicken, cut into small cubes

Saute onions, celery, and carrots till the onion is slightly transparent. Add chopped mushrooms and saute just a bit. Then add frozen peas and any other vegies you want. I added some left over roasted potatoes cut into cubes. Then add your cooked chicken. Pour this into a baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

1/4 C chicken drippings (from your roasted chicken) or butter or oil
1/4 C GF flour mix
3 T corn starch
3 C vegetable stock

Mix the flours and fat together over medium heat till smooth. Then add the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer till thickened. Add to the vege mixture.

GF Crust for topping

1¾ cups (245g) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (117g) butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg (58g), lightly beaten, plus 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

In a food processor, combine the flour blend, salt and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the beaten egg; pulse until the dough almost forms a ball. Remove the dough and gather it into a ball.

Place a piece of plastic wrap on a clean surface. Lightly dust with flour blend and place the dough on top, sprinkle with more flour and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a shape that will cover your baking dish. Remove the plastic wrap on top of the dough. Flip the dough on top of the pie filling and remove the plastic wrap. Trim any excess dough, crimp crust edges together. Brush the dough with the egg wash and make 3 slits on top. Place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips); bake until golden, about 1 hour.

**I forgot to take a photo before we dove in. This is my favorite chicken pot pie so far.

Cranberry Nut Bread

I was able to save the cranberries we received for our Thanksgiving box until now! I love cranberry nut bread and made some this morning. I juiced 2 oranges to make the 3/4 C of juice.
Recipes abound on the internet for this. I used a recipe I found on allrecipes as my base. Below is the recipe amended a bit.

2 cups spelt flour (half wholemeal, half white) 1 cup sugar (organic) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 6 T butter

1 egg 3/4 cup orange juice 1 t grated orange peel 2  cups fresh cranberries- coarsely chopped 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put into another bowl. Beat egg, orange juice and peel; stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Pulse the cranberries ever so slightly. Add them and the chopped walnuts to the bowl and mix gently.

Spoon batter into a greased and floured 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

 **Delicious! Crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. Great balance between the tartness of the cranberries, the crunch of the walnuts, and the orange juice and zest.

Buttermilk Pecan Pie

I remember eating a buttermilk pecan pie and loving it. I found this recipe before Thanksgiving and thought we'd give it a try. Next time, I'll use a mixture with brown sugar. I baked it on top of a gluten free pie crust. I have amended the recipe below as I made it (more pecans and tapioca for flour)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 9" unbaked pie  shell 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugar, adding 1/2 cup sugar at a time.
3. Blend in vanilla. Stir in eggs one at a time. Combine flour and salt; add a small amount at a time.
4. Stir in buttermilk.
5. Sprinkle pecans in bottom of pie crust, pour custard over the pecans, and bake 1 hour and 30 minutes.
6. Best served at room temperature.

**Careful not to overbake this pie- it will get too dry. Yummy!

Old English Fish Pie

My daughter is coming home for Thanksgiving and she loves this dish! I highly recommend the cookbook this recipe comes from, 50 Ways with Fish, by Katherine Blakemore.

1 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled
1 oz butter
1 1/2 C milk
12 oz smoked fish
8 oz fresh fish (haddock, cod, or ling)
1 bay leaf
1 blade mince (I use a pinch of ground mace)
6 black peppercorns
1 T cornstarch
3 T chopped parsley
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/4 C sharp cheese

Cook the potatoes in lightly-salted water for about 20 minutes or until soft. Drain well, then mash with the butter and 3 T milk.

Put fish into a pan with the remaining milk, bay leaf, mace and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover pan and let stand until fish is cool enough to handle.

Strain the milk into another pan, discarding the bay leaf, mace blade, and peppercorns. Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water, add to the milk, bring to a boil stirring continuously. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Flake the fish, removing any skin and bones, add to the sauce with the parsley and eggs Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer the mixture to a deep ovenproof dish, top with the mashed potatoes, running the prongs of a fork down the length of the potatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Cook in a preheated oven (400F) for about 25 minutes until topping is browned.

 **Yum!

Frittata with swiss chard, onions, and mushrooms

Frittatas are pretty simple and easy to make on a busy week night. You  just need some eggs and fillings.
Last night I made one with

5 eggs, beat lightly
1/4 small onion, diced
4 mushrooms, chopped
4 leaves chard, chopped

Saute the onion a bit, then add the mushrooms and the chard. Pour the eggs on top and let them sit and cook over medium heat for a bit. Then put the skillet into the oven on broil. Broil till the top gets puffy and the frittata is cooked through. Keep your eye on it- it doesn't take too long.

**Not much to look at, but delicious!

Meatloaf with chili sauce

This recipe was requested by my daughter. I used my home made ketchup mixed with a heaping teaspoon of sriracha chile sauce. You can find this recipe on the Martha Stewart site.

• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 slices white sandwich bread, torn into pieces (I used gluten-free)
• 1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup chili sauce, plus 1/4 cup for glaze
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. In a large bowl, pour milk over bread; let soak, about 30 seconds. Add sirloin, pork, onion, garlic, 1/2 cup chili sauce, parsley, Parmesan, eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until combined; do not overmix or meatloaf will be dense.
2. Divide mixture in half. Gently pat each half into a log, and place each log in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Do not press down or into corners.
3. Bake 50 minutes. Brush tops of loaves with remaining 1/4 cup chili sauce; continue cooking until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 160 degrees, about 10 minutes.
4. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes. Turn loaves out of pans; slice each into eight 3/4-inch-thick slices.

 **Very nice. Make sure to use a thermometer so it doesn't overcook and get dry.

Mini Skillet Meatloaves

Since I didn't end up making the eggplant stir fry, I had some LPO ground pork thawed and needing to be used. I found some ground beef in the freezer from Whole Foods, so I decided to do a quick meatloaf. These are very quick since they are made individually. You can find the recipe on the Food Network site.
Below is my version (I used less sugar than in the original recipe).

• 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (GF)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 small onion, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (chipotle is nice)
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
• 1 1/2 pounds meat (ground beef and pork)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Directions

Mix the breadcrumbs, milk, parsley, egg, Worcestershire sauce, onion, chili powder and garlic in a large bowl. Add the meat, season with salt and pepper and mix with your hands until combined. Shape into six 3-to-4-inch oval loaves.

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the loaves and brown about 3 minutes per side.
Whisk the ketchup, sugar and vinegar in a bowl and brush a few tablespoonfuls over the meat. Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet, cover and simmer over low heat until cooked through, about 15 minutes. (This time depends on how thick your loaf is- so watch it)
Transfer the loaves to a plate.


Per serving: Calories 380; Fat 24 g (Saturated 8 g); Cholesterol 111 mg; Sodium 800 mg; Carbohydrate 16 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 23 g

 **This were great. Very similar to the hamburgers that I make. Very quick and easy.

Roasted cauliflower quiche with nut crust

I adapted several recipes to come up with tonight's dinner. The crust is from The Vegetarian Adventure cookbook by Rowan Bishop and Sue Carruthers. The quiche is an adaptation of something I ran across called Hippie Pie on food52.com.

There are three distinct steps in this meal. You can always make the crust and roast the cauliflower in advance.
First- start the cauliflower roasting (20 min). While it is roasting, make the nut crust and get it chilling.
Second, when the cauliflower is ready, cook the crust. While the crust is cooking (10 min), make the quiche.
Third, when the crust is ready, throw the quiche into it and bake it (35 min).

Nut pastry
1 1/2 C ground almonds
1/2 C whole meal spelt flour
1/2 C plain spelt flour
1 T parmesan cheese
1/2 t salt
5 1/2 T chilled butter
1 egg

Place the nuts, flours, cheese and salt in a food processor. Cut the butter into pieces and process briefly, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and process again, using the pulse button, just until the mixture begins to 'ball'.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (if time permits).  Preheat oven to 410F.
Roll out to fit a quiche pan, prick with fork and bake at 410F for 10 minutes, then allow to cool.

Quiche

1 small cauliflower, cut into thick slices
1/2 large onion, diced
4 oz greens, chopped roughly (Swiss chard, spinach, etc.)
1 T fresh herbs (marjoram, oregano, etc.), cut
1/4 C fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 C milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 C grated cheese (make a mixture of three different- e.g., fontina, parmesan, romano)

Place the cauliflower on a jelly roll pan, brush with olive oil, then toss with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes.

While the cauliflower roasts, saute the diced onion, add the herbs, salt and pepper and slowly cook till carmelized.

Wilt the greens, squeeze out the excess moisture and stir in the parsley.

Beat the eggs and milk together.

Mix the cheese together.

When the crust is ready, scatter the chopped greens on the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle in 1/3 of the cheese. Pile on half the cauliflower and onions and sprinkle with next 1/3 of the cheese. Put the rest of the cauliflower mixture in the quiche. Slowly pour the egg mixture over everything and top with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 375F for 35 minutes. Watch that the cauliflower tops don't burn- if they are getting too brown, cover with foil.

**Here it is going into the oven.

**Just out of the oven. Really nice flavors. Not your ordinary quiche.

Quinoa Burgers

Always on the look out for a great veggie burger! I saw this online- modified it by not adding the sugar originally called for and adding a scallion and bumping up the cumin a notch.

2 cups cooked quinoa

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or other variety, if you prefer)

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated (OR 1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed)

3 eggs ( 4 eggs if using zucchini instead of carrot)

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 green onions, including white parts

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Olive oil for frying

.

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.  Measure 1/4 cup and form into patties about 1/2 inch thick  - mixture will be slightly sticky.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.   Makes approx. 10 burgers.

Making the burgers...

**Delicious! I'll be making these again!

Smoked turkey, potato, and andouille hash

This is a recipe from the Harry's Roadhouse Cookbook, a recent birthday gift (!). Harry's was one of our favorite restaurants when we lived in Santa Fe. I have adapted the recipe and what I cooked is below.

1 lb diced smoked turkey (I got it from Rudy's)
3 C diced potatoes
1/2 C diced yellow onion
2 roasted green chiles (hot), diced
5 oz Andouille sausage, diced or into small balls
1 1/2 T butter
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t oregano
2 T chicken stock
2 T heavy cream
poached eggs

Chop turkey, potatoes, onion, chiles and sausage into 1/4 " dice. Parboil potatoes in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 minutes or so. They want to be parboiled- not cooked through (or they'll end up mushy in the dish). Drain and cool.
In a cast iron skillet, saute the onion and chiles until they start to soften. Add the sausage and cook for about 5 minutes, until it starts to brown; then add the turkey and seasonings. Cook another 5 minutes, then add the potatoes, stock, and cream. Stir and scrape the bottom of the skillet. When the liquids are absorbed, the hash is ready. Spoon into bowls and top with poached eggs.

**Here it is before the eggs. This dish was delicious! I served it with a mixture of watermelon and honeydew. The melon's sweetness was a nice balance to the spicy of the hash.

Salmon and Sweet Potato Cakes

My family isn't wild about sweet potatoes, so when I came across this recipe (with many rave reviews) I thought I'd try it. It comes from the food network and Rachel Ray. To be fair, it calls for making an agrodolce relish, which I didn't make. I had run out of steam at that point.

Salmon and Sweet Potato Cakes with Agrodolce Relish and Arugula

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
• Salt
• 3 (6-ounce) pieces salmon fillet
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 bay leaf
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning, a palmful (recommended: Old Bay)
• 1 1/2 cups cracker crumbs (recommended: Saltines)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 small ribs celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 rounded teaspoon sugar
• 4 cups arugula or baby arugula leaves

Directions

Put the potatoes in a small pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Salt the water and cook until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, then return the potatoes to the pot and mash.

Meanwhile, put the salmon fillets in a skillet with the wine, bay leaf, and enough water to come up to the top of the fillets, but do not cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to a simmer and poach until opaque about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the skin and transfer the salmon to a bowl. Flake the fish with a fork and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the bowl along with the seafood seasoning, half of the cracker crumbs, the egg, thyme, hot sauce, scallions, and dill. Mix to combine. The fishcake mixture needs to be just firm enough to mold into cakes. If its too wet, add a few more crumbs.

Heat 2 skillets, side by side, 1 with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (2 turns of the pan) over medium heat, the other with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (a turn of the pan) over medium-high heat. Form the salmonmixture into 4 (4-inch) patties, coat in the remaining crumbs, and then add them to the first pan. Cook the fishcakes until light golden, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Add the red onions, celery, and garlic to the second pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook 2 minutes more. Stir the vinegar into the sauce, then sprinkle the sugar over top and toss to coat the tomatoes. Andarugula.

Arrange the fish cakes on individual serving plates alongside the arugula. Top with the agrodolce relish and serve.

**I had to make quite a few changes- red onion and chives for the scallions, lemon pepper for the Old Bay, spelt bread crumbs for the saltines, canned salmon for the fresh, and dried dill for the fresh. I'll have to make them again using her recipe with the relish next time!

Zucchini Tart with feta

I saw this recipe in an old issue of Saveur. They have it on their website, too.

SERVES 6

New Zealander Lynne Curry, who provided this recipe, serves this tart by the slice from her stand at the Matakana farmers' market.

1  10" × 13" sheet frozen puff pastry, 
   thawed and chilled
12 small zucchini (about 2 1⁄2 lbs.), trimmed
Salt
3 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped, strained in 
   a sieve, excess moisture pressed out
1 cup (4 oz.) crumbled feta cheese
1⁄2 cup ricotta
2 tbsp. chopped basil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Fit pastry into a 9" × 12" baking sheet, pressing it against sides. Score around bottom inner edge of pastry (beside crease where bottom meets sides), being careful to not cut all the way through, with a paring knife. Prick bottom of pastry all over with a fork, line with a sheet of parchment paper that fits in bottom only, and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake until edge of crust begins to puff and color, about 25 minutes. Remove weights and paper. Bake until bottom is golden, 6–8 minutes more. Let crust cool.

2. Grate 4 of the zucchini on large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Add 1 tbsp. of salt, toss well, and set aside to let weep for 30 minutes. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel and wring throughly to remove moisture.

3. Meanwhile, slice remaining zucchini into 1⁄4"-thick rounds. Working in batches, blanch rounds in a large pot of boiling salted water for 1 minute. Drain and spread out on a paper towel–lined sheet pan; set aside.

4. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. (Spoon out 1 tbsp. and reserve.) Add onions and cook until soft, 5–6 minutes. Add grated zucchini and cook, stirring often, until just beginning to brown, 5–7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl; let cool.

5. Stir tomatoes, half of the feta, ricotta, basil, and salt and pepper to taste into zucchini mixture. Stir in egg and spread mixture evenly in crust. Arrange zucchini rounds, slightly overlapping in rows, like tiles, on top. Bake for 15 minutes, then brush top with reserved butter. Continue to bake until crust is deep golden, 10 minutes more. Let cool to room temperature, then sprinkle remaining feta over top. Cut tart into squares.

**I used spelt filo dough instead of the puff pastry (so I didn't do step one). I also did not parboil the zucchini (step 3). I put them on raw. It was a nice dish- the basil and ricotta were good additions to the layer under the sliced zucchini.

Rhubarb buttermilk muffins

Finding myself with more rhubarb than I knew possible- I made rhubarb buttermilk muffins. I combined two recipes. The one below is adapted from one I found on the Rhubarb Compendium.

1/2 cup salad oil
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups finely diced rhubarb
1/2 cups pecan pieces
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 t cinnamon

Topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp melted margarine

Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 12 jumbo-sized muffin cups.
• Combine the liquid ingredients in large bowl: oil, egg, vanilla, buttermilk. Beat until well mixed. 
• In another bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pecans and salt. Add this mixture all at once to liquid mixture and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix. Add the rhubarb.
• Fill prepared muffin pan 3/4 full with batter. NO more than this!
• Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of batter in each muffin cup.
• Bake in preheated oven on center shelf 15 to 20 minutes.

**So I overfilled my muffin tins. The muffins spilt way over (into the oven- uch). The cinnamon topping sank into the middle of every muffin. Good grief! They are delicious, though.

Green Salad with tuna and poached egg

Seems silly to post about a salad, but there you go. It is a meal! The Black Russian tomato came from my garden.

Lettuce
Cucumbers
Carrots
Avocado
Tomato
Tuna
Poached egg

For the dressing, I did a 2 to 1 ratio of balsamic vinegar to olive oil, threw in some italian herbs, salt, and pepper.

**Wonderful!

Zucchini fritters with pesto

This is a nice recipe- very simple. You can find it online in many places.

1 lb zucchini, grated
3/4 C flour
1 egg, separated
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Pesto- either home made or bought.


Put the grated zucchini in a sieve and sprinkle with plenty of salt. Leave for 1 hour, then rinse thoroughly. Dry well. OR put the grated zucchini in a kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess water.

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the enter, then add the egg yolk and oil. Measure out 5 T water and add a little to the bowl.

Whisk the egg yolk and oil, gradually incorporating the flour and water to make a smooth batter. Season and leave for 30 minutes (I don't do this step)

Stir the zucchini into the batter. Whisk the egg white until stiff, then fold into the batter.

Fry the fritters in oil until golden brown.

Serve with pesto.

**This isn't my favorite zucchini fritter recipe, but it is simple to make in a pinch.

Potato encrusted salmon

Found this recipe today and thought I'd give it a go. It indicated that the recipe is courtesy of Chef Bryan Woolley. It calls for spinach, but I didn't do that part of the recipe.


4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 cups grated potatoes, rinsed
2 eggs
2 tbsp Italian style bread crumbs
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 cups raw spinach

1. Rinse salmon and pat dry. Divide the brown sugar and the whole grain mustard between the salmon fillets.  Cover each fillet evenly. Set aside until ready to use.
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk the eggs together.  Add the bread crumbs, and grated potatoes. Mix together.
3. Divide the potatoes evenly into 4 parts.
4. Using your hands, press the potatoes onto the flesh side of the salmon.
5. Heat a non stick skillet to medium high and add about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Sear the potato side of the salmon in the hot pan until golden.  Turn salmon over and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes to finish cooking.
6. While salmon is baking off in the oven, add the spinach to the sauté pan you were using for the salmon.
7. Lightly wilt the spinach.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Divide the spinach between four plates and serve the potato encrusted salmon over the spinach.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve and enjoy!

**I plopped the potato mixture without the salmon directly into the frying pan to sear it. I left the salmon on the baking sheet and then put the seared potato patty on top of it. This method kept the salmon from drying out. If I cook this again, I'll put some herbs into the potato mixture. I used very little brown sugar and it was still a bit sweet for me.

Zucchini pancakes with semi-dried tomatoes and marinated feta

This recipe came from a newspaper- I can't remember the source. I looked for it on the web, but couldn't find it.

2 C grated zucchini
4 eggs
1/4 C+  flour
1/2 C parmesan (can sub feta)
pepper and salt
1/2 t nutmeg (optional in my opinion)
2 T chopped mint
1 t sea salt
olive oil

Place zucchini in a clean, dry towel and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. Place into a medium sized bowl with the eggs flour, parmesan, pepper, nutmeg, mint and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon.

Heat a heavy-based fry pan over medium heat and add oil (optional depending upon your pan). Using a third-cup measure per pancake ladle mixture into the pan and cook each pancake 2-3 minutes on each side till golden brown and cooked through.

Serve with feta and sun-dried tomatoes.

**I one and a half timed the recipe- it made 7 very large pancakes. Delicious and easy.

Salad with tuna and egg

First tomato from the garden on this salad. Poached egg, tuna, and capers. Delicious!

Spinach Bread Pudding with Lemon and Feta

With a lot of family coming into town for graduation, I need a good breakfast casserole for one of our meals together. I saw this recipe in Food and Wine and decided to give it a try. It seemed lighter than many breakfast casseroles that I have seen. I have yet to find one that I would make twice. So I'll make this one in advance...just to check!

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the dish
8 ounces whole wheat bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 ounces baby spinach, finely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 large eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon chopped oregano

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly oil a medium baking dish. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until dry but not browned. Let cool, then transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the spinach and 1/4 cup of the feta.
2. In another bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with the mustard, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the eggs and beat until blended. Add the milk and season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes and stir until they are evenly moistened. Transfer the bread mixture to the baking dish and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight.
3. Sprinkle the remaining feta on the bread pudding and bake in the center of the oven until risen and set, about 40 minutes. Turn on the broiler. Drizzle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and broil until the bread pudding is golden and crispy on top, about 2 minutes. Scatter the oregano on top, cut into squares and serve. 

**Very nice. It took twice as long to cook it. I will definitely serve this for brunch. 

Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing

This comes from another blogger, The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

• 3 whole Eggs
• 7 slices Thick Cut, Peppered Bacon
• 1 whole Red Onion, Small
• 1 package Mushrooms, White Button
• 8 ounces, weight Baby Spinach, Washed Dried And Stems Removed
• 3 Tablespoons Reserved Bacon Grease
• 3 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Dijon Mustard
• 1 dash Salt

Preparation Instructions

Cook eggs: cover with water, bring to a boil, then turn off heat and allow to sit in water for 20 minutes. Drain off water and add ice on top of eggs.
Fry bacon until crispy/chewy. Remove to a paper towel.
Remove 3 tablespoons grease and set aside.
Add 2 add’l tablespoons of grease to a separate skillet over medium heat.
Slice red onions very thinly, then add to skillet. Cook slowly until onions are caramelized and reduced. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Slice mushrooms and add them to the same skillet. Cook slowly until caramelized and brown. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Chop bacon.
Peel and slice eggs.
Make hot bacon dressing: Add 3 tablespoons bacon grease, vinegar, sugar, and Dijon to a small saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk mixture together and heat thoroughly.
Add spinach to a large bowl. Arrange onions, mushrooms, and bacon on top. Pour hot dressing over the top; toss to combine.
Arrange eggs over the top and serve.

** Although it was delicious, next time I would use a different oil than the leftover bacon grease.