HUEVOS A LA PLAZA DE MERCADO

Seven Spoons Tostada . Sprouted Kitchen

There has been some well-deserved chatter about Tara'sbook. I'm adding my cheers and high-fives and big hugs because it is remarkable and sincere and just dang good. You see, Tara and I were working on our books at the same time, and I felt like I had a pal struggling along side. Thousands of miles away she may be. But I knew then, in those texts, that this girl cared far too much to be producing anything less than wonderful. She took this project seriously and it comes through on each and every page. It's not just that the recipes are unique, but she writes head notes and directions more beautifully and thorough than any I've seen. I feel like I can hear her talking me through it - anticipating my questions. That is what makes a great cookbook author. I skimmed through the book soon as it came and am currently spending evenings doting over every word because I just love how she writes. I'm throwing down a good amount of praise but this book deserves it. I have made the raspberry rhubarb rye crumble twice now, subbing strawberries in for the raspberries on her forewarning that it is quite tart and I wanted to reign that in a bit. This may be her debut in the cookbook world but it sure doesn't read like it's Tara's first rodeo by any stretch.

I can make a breakfast tostada. I know my way around an egg and a good sauce but these! These were just really special and have me jonesing to host a backyard brunch. I generally don't go futzing with charred vegetable sauces and fresh salsas first thing, but think these are the perfect to make the night before. Even a few days prior. You can't shortcut this step because the sauces are what make these exceptional. I've been thinning out the charred green onion one with more citrus and using it as a green salad dressing and am using some of the salsa for a brothy tortilla soup tomorrow night. I'm just saying they're really great. 

So proud of you, Tara. xo

Seven Spoons Tostada . Sprouted Kitchen

Seven Spoons Tostada . Sprouted Kitchen

HUEVOS A LA PLAZA DE MERCADO // Serves 4

Recipe from Seven Spoons: My Favorite Recipes for Any and Everyday by Tara O'Brady

The sauces took a bit more time than I would spend on an average morning breakfast but are worth every moment. Consider making one or both the evening before and this dish will come together in minutes. 

• / RED SAUCE /
• Small bunch of cilantro, leaves and tender stems
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 jalapeno, mostly seeded and chopped
• 1 can (15 oz) whole, fire roasted tomatoes
• (4-6 ounces chorizo or sausage - this is included in Tara's recipe but we skipped the meat here)
• Salt and pepper, as needed

• / CHARRED GREEN ONION DRESSING /
• 6 green onions
• 2 serrano or jalapeno chiles
• generous pinch of smoked paprika
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, not nonfat
• 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise (or more greek yogurt but the mayonnaise makes for great texture)
• small bunch of cilantro, leaves and tender stems
• zest and juice of one lime
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper

• / EGGS + TOPPINGS /
• mild olive oil or ghee for cooking the tortillas and egg
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 4-8 eggs
• 2 avocados pitted and diced small
• baby tomatoes, halved
• 4 ounces queso fresco
• Mexican-style hot sauce
• 2 limes, cut in wedges

To make the red sauce, in a blender, combine the cilantro, shallots, garlic, jalapeno, tomatoes and their liquid and buzz to make a puree. 

Tip the tomato puree into a hot pot with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and bring it to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring regularly, until the sauce is thickened and tastes cooked. Around 30 minutes. Check for seasoning and keep warm. 

For the green onion dressing, heat a large, cast-iron skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook the green onions and chiles, turning often, until charred all over. About 10 minutes. Let the vegetables cool on a plate. Trim the roots off the onions, as well as any leathery parts of the green end. Stem the chiles and remove some, most or all of the seeds depending on your spice preference.

In a blender or food processor, buzz the green onions, chiles, paprika, yogurt, mayonnaise, cilantro, lime zest and juice, agave and oil until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Chill for at least an hour for flavors to develop. 

Heat a touch of oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Working in batches, warm the tortillas (or over an open flame if you prefer). Keep the tortillas warm in a preheated oven. Cook your eggs to order. Assemble your eggs over a warm tortillas with some of the red sauce, avocado, sliced baby tomatoes, queso fresco and some fresh cilantro. Drizzle on the green onion sauce and hot sauce if using. Tara suggests throwing them under the broiler for a quick minute just to give everything one last char. Serve the eggs right away with lime wedges on the side. 

The sauces can be kept covered in the fridge for a week. 

Seven Spoons Tostada . Sprouted Kitchen

BUTTERMILK BERRY CRUMB CAKE

Buttermilk Berry Crumb Cake . Sprouted Kitchen

I'm reading a few different baby books. I read a little of one or the other each night. Just enough to gather a bit of advice I find helpful, tell Hugh about it, and then doze off. One is about pregnancy, and while I have gotten pretty lucky by way these 10 months go, these last few weeks have been more trying in regards to how I feel physically. So tired and fatigued merely from the task of carrying around a mini person in my mid-section all day. While these books bring up pretty obvious points, I am fascinated by how innate and instinctive the qualities are that take over in the last month or so. The nesting, cleaning, preference to withdraw a little bit... In my moments of fear and angst, I try to remember how natural this is, how we've been making babies since the beginning of time. Maybe part of some womens' nesting includes cooking, but I assure you it is the absolute last thing I feel like doing. Ironically, our cookbook manuscript is due next week so food is powering through this kitchen regardless. Head down and go. I also really wanted to stay in the habit of having people over and enjoying a meal with friends, so this season has been... intresting. 

We have friends coming for coffee tomorrow, another couple for dinner, and my parents here helping in the yard on Saturday (yea, about that whole final month recluse deal...). I needed a breakfast snacking cake that would last through a few days of visitors. While I do prefer it, my grain-free baking is hit or miss, so I went a more traditional route for this recipe. This cake has a tight crumb, almost dense in the most charming of coffee cake ways. A cake that requires you to take small bites between sips of coffee. We ate it with some loosely whipped cream and extra berries because if you're going to have cake, you must really have cake. Maybe even a la mode for the evening crowd. However, aside from the personal whipped cream preference, this coffee cake is relatively lowfat with some of its classic butter content being replaced by the mashed banana. It's these everyday sort of cakes I like in my back pocket for cooking and non-cooking days alike. 

(update: for the few of you that asked in the comments. I have really liked the Dr. Sears books. I read The Pregnancy Book and The Vaccine Book by them and have The Baby Book as well but have only read the first two chapters. A friend recommended The Birth Partner and while dense and detailed, it has a lot of information for natural childbirth. I just started Happiest Baby on the Block and while it's a bit corny, I think there are some helpful tidbits.)

Buttermilk Berry Crumb Cake . Sprouted Kitchen

BUTTERMILK BERRY CRUMB CAKE // Serves 8-10

Loosely adapted from 101Cookbooks

For the sake of substitutions, I think you could replace the buttermilk with a non-dairy milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice. As for making it gluten free, I would try a blend of almond meal, oat flour and flaxmeal but I hesitate to given proportions without trying it myself first. I am sure an all purpose GF flour would be worth a shot as well. 

I still don't completely trust the oven at our new place so you'll have to report back if you try this and come up with a different baking time. My oven and thermometer say different things and I don't exactly trust either. Bare with me. One day I will fix its uncertainty or my lack of faith. 

• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup / half stick unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup muscavado sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• little grate of fresh nutmeg
• 2 cups mixed berries, chopped small, divided
• / crumble /
• 1/4 cup / half stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup natural cane sugar
• 1/4 cup muscavado sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of salt

Buttermilk Berry Crumb Cake . Sprouted Kitchen

Preheat the oven to 325'. Line a springform pan with parchment and grease the bottom and sides. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix well to combine and set aside. 

In another bowl, mix the white whole wheat flour, all purpose, muscavado, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and stir to mix well. Add one cup of the berries to the dry mix and toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine in as few stirs possible. Being careful not to overmix to keep the cake tender.

In another bowl, make your crumble. Mix the softened butter, oats, flour, cane and muscavado sugars, cinnamon, ginger and salt together and mash everything with the back of a fork to combine. It will be sandy in texture. 

Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the remaining berries on top. Distribute the crumble on top of the berries. Put the springform on a baking sheet (just in case it leaks, I prefer to play it safe) and bake on the middle rack for 55-60 minutes until golden on top and you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. The cake is fairly low in fat, be careful not to overbake and dry it out. 

Buttermilk Berry Crumb Cake . Sprouted Kitchen

MUSHROOM, MILLET + LEEK FRITTATAS

It can be tested and approved that a solid majority of our friends are either getting married or having a baby this year. I remember thinking last year that 2013 was going to be quiet on the celebratory front, but it has proven otherwise. Once we get back from our trip in April, every weekend seems to be booked with an event. Which reminds me, I need to keep my eyes peeled for dresses. It is impossible to find a dress when you really need one. It's true. In all the talk of showers, my brain starts piecing menus together. I made frittatas for a brunch shower last month. They are so perfect for feeding a group. They're inexpensive, easy to make, go well with baked goods, maybe a simple salad, fruit and mimosas. Am I selling you my shower menu? Something tells me you are familiar with the goodness that is eggs.

After yet another handful of trail mix yesterday, I huffed that I was bored of my routine foods. I go in phases, tending to burn out on something I really loved at one point. It's nice to have something at the ready for snacks or a quick meal to-go when needed. I find the lentil meatballs are good for this. I don't think I have used millet here yet, but now is as good a time as any to bring it in. It is part of one of my favorite salads from the cookbook. It is gluten free, seeing as it is actually a seed, has protein, B vitamins, fiber and is highly alkaline. You can use it anywhere you would use rice or quinoa as it takes on any flavor you'd like, much like those two will.I cook millet with a simple 2:1 ratio. It cooks quickly by bringing the rinsed grain and liquid to a boil, turn down to a simmer, cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Fluff, cover again and let it absorb the steam for optimum puffy texture. All said and done, the millet takes around 15 minutes. So glad to have these ready for early work days or pre-morning workout when I am easily persuaded to stay home and cook breakfast instead... which will very likely still happen.

MUSHROOM, MILLET + LEEK FRITTATAS // Makes 12

I add a bit of grain (seed) here to make them a more filling grab-n-go breakfast or snack. You could use quinoa or even rice as a substitute.

I am a big fan of sheeps feta, the conventional stuff is usually made of cows milk and doesn't hold a candle to the real thing. Yes it's a bit more expensive but a little goes a long way. Trader Joes has an excellent one from Israel in a green/yellow package.

Lastly, I'm not sure I would suggest using muffin liners, but let me know if you try. I find that with items this wet, you loose half the food getting stuck to the paper.

• 9 eggs
• 2/3 cup cooked and cooled millet
• 1/4 cup cream or milk (coconut milk would work too)
• 1 tsp. sea salt, divided
• 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 8 oz. mushrooms, stems removed, roughly chopped
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 leeks, cleaned, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp. chopped chives, parlsey, thyme or mix of these (plus more for topping)
• 8 oz. sheeps feta

Preheat the oven to 350'. Grease a standard muffin tin.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper and red pepper flakes until well blended. Set aside.

In a pan, preferably non stick, over medium heat, add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Yes, dry pan. You saute them around until they sweat off their excess water. They will release water, dry back up and THEN add 1 tsp. oil and saute another minute. Remove and set aside. Heat another tsp. olive oil in the same pan, saute the leeks with another pinch of salt for 8-10 minutes until just browned. Add the leeks to the bowl of mushrooms, add the herbs and cooked millet and stir to combine. Once the veggie mix is relatively cool, add it to the egg mixture.

Fill the muffin tins a generous 3/4 of the way full, the mixture should last you all dozen tins depending on the size of your eggs. Top each with some crumbled feta and bake on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes. The center should be slightly underdone and will finish cooking as they rest. Garnish with any remaining chopped herbs. Allow them to cool for at least ten minutes before gently twisting them from the tins. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.