#newbreakfastweek

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Tartine’s Sourdough Brioche

I brought out the big, buttery guns for the end of New Breakfast Week.

You know that recipe that you bookmark, flip to over and over, read, and read again, but never make? The sourdough brioche in Tartine Bread was mine. 

(I’m posting this late, and there is New Breakfast Week afterparty is at 8am, so please turn to page 144 in the book for the six-page long recipe.)

I’ve gotten pretty good at the country bread and variations on it, but at the brioche, I balked. It required the use of a stand mixer, a leaven and a poolish, and a nerve-racking amount of eggs and butter (given in grams, of course).

But it wasn’t even that bad. I like to think it’s because I’m a more practiced, patient person, but sometimes with bread, you just get lucky. I halved the recipe – that’s stlil five eggs and two sticks of butter. And I mixed it all by hand. A stand mixer has nothing on toddler mom arms.  

And in case you were also wondering, sourdough brioche really does taste different than regular brioche. More buttery than eggy, with the slightest tang and a hint of yellow birthday cake. It felt a little like we were eating cake for breakfast, too. 

But what Azusa made, now that is a cake. Here’s hoping we do another New Breakfast Week soon, and cappuccinos even sooner. 

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Eggs Poached in Ramekins

I watched Jacques Pépin poach an egg like this and had to try it.

Mistakes were made.

The egg, cooked in a ramekin in a pan of boiling water, should have been unmolded on top of the bread, which should have been toasted and buttered, so that I could call it a crouton like Jacques did. 

Also, I did not bake the bread, which bothers me. And I used only one herb (chives), and had no other vegetables(?!) to add. (We did have the best California Keitt mango of the season on the side.)

It’s a neat way to poach an egg, though. Faster, too, since less water needs to boil, and maybe less messy. But what I like most is what the 2 year-old likes most: the cooked egg is a perfect circle.

Speaking of perfect, this was Azusa’s breakfast today.

Eggs with Herbs Poached in Ramekins Adapted from Jacques Pépin Makes as many eggs as you like

butter eggs herbs such as chives, tarragon, chervil, about 2 tsp per egg toasted and buttered bread for serving

Set half an inch of water to boil in a large saucepan (one with a cover). Butter the ramekins and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Press the herbs into the bottom and sides of each ramekin. Crack an egg into each. 

Place the ramekins in the pan and cover. Gently boil for 4 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Run a knife around each egg to unmold. Serve on top of a crouton.

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Heidi Swanson’s Giant White Beans with Kale

Of course I was going to put an egg on this, but really, it didn’t need it. 

I wish I could tell you what kind of giant white bean I used, but the bin was mislabeled. And later, I will go into too much detail about cooking beans from scratch. 

But for now, all you need to know is, cooked this way, the beans taste like In-N-Out French fries. 

After the light frying in olive oil, they’re deftly layered with kale, garlic, toasted walnuts, nutmeg, lemon and Parmesan, but not too much of anything. West ate the walnuts first, kale last. Everything, except a few beans he said were “weird.”

Azusa also made vegetables for breakfast: Shiitake and Shimeji Mushroom Okayu and Rice with Okra and a Poached Egg. Are we moms or what.

Pan-Fried Giant White Beans with Kale Adapted from Heidi Swanson via Food52 For 2.5

1/2 a bunch of dinosaur or lacinato kale, stems removed 2 TB extra-virgin olive oil 2-3 handfuls of cooked large white beans (no weird ones) 1/4 tsp salt 1/3 c. walnuts, lightly toasted, coarsely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed 1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated zest of 1 lemon scant 1 TB lemon juice 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Chop or tear the kale into bite-sized pieces. Wash and shake off excess water.

In the biggest skillet you own, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the beans in a single layer and stir to coat. Cook until light brown on one side, about 3-4 minutes, then flip the beans. Cook this side for another 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. 

Stir in the kale and sait, cook just until the kale wilts, about one minute. Stir in the walnuts and garlic, cook for 10 seconds. Stir in the nutmeg and cook for 10 seconds. Stir in the lemon zest and juice Remove from heat. Serve dusted with Parmesan.

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Kim Boyce’s Seeded Granola

Since West hasn’t napped since he turned two, I’ve had put him to work in the kitchen. 

We made this Seeded Granola together for New Breakfast Week. I measured, he poured, then enlisted the honey bear to help clean up the mess. The recipe comes from Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain, which I’m so sure is on your bookshelf, I’ll just tell you it’s on page 134.

This is not your usual granola. No nuts, just seeds – pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds. Oats, wheat germ. Cayenne pepper. 

Then you cook butter, brown sugar (I used muscovado), and honey for what seems like too long a time, until it’s dark and shiny. Then you hurriedly mix it into the oats and seeds, before your toddler gets his first sugar burn. 

The end result is the ideal granola: big, glassy shards that stay crisp in milk. The cayenne brings out a bit of savoriness, but not enough to make adding milk and fruit weird. Stephan thought it tasted like Greek sesame candy, which also means he ate it. 

West liked the granola, but he also liked the raw wheat germ. 

Azusa, my co-conspirator in this new breakfast challenge, also walked the sweet/savory line this morning with these Caramelized Onion Muffins. Fingers crossed she has leftovers. 

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Peach Chia Shake

Truly, I have found a soul sister in Azusa. She also has a 2 year-old, who West is so over the moon about, he says she can sit in his chair.

We hang out Wednesdays and sometimes Saturday mornings at the Pasadena farmers market. (Sometimes without the kids, but don’t tell them, and especially don’t tell them about the Mother Moo popsicles.)

Azusa cooks. Obsessively, of course, with cookbooks, scans of cookbooks, online bookmarks, carefully chosen ingredients, and the most thoughtful meal plans. We have much to discuss. Over coffee, of course.

Our poor, neglected blogs come up often – hers is the elegant, Japanese home cooking blog, Humble Bean.

So this is our plan: 5 new breakfasts this week, and 5 blog posts to go with. (Before midnight, so I had better type faster.)

Here’s where I confess I have been making the same breakfasts over and over and over.

This Peach Chia Shake is from Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen, which Azusa introduced me to, and which we refer to so often we now just call it “the book.” It’s summery, smoothie-like, and Stephan refused to try it.

How’s that for shaking things up.

Peach Chia Smoothie Adapted from Amy Chaplin For 2 (even though I halved the original recipe)

1 TB chia seeds 3/4 c. almond milk 1.5 (a little over 1 lb) large peaches, pitted and quartered 1 TB coconut butter or extra virgin coconut oil 1 tsp raw honey, or to taste

Put the chia seeds in a large jar. In a blender, combine the almond milk, peaches, coconut butter, and honey. (I also added a pinch of salt.) Blend until completely smooth.

Pour half of this mixture into the chia seeds. Shake or stir well, making sure no seeds stick to the bottom of the jar. Add the rest of the mixture and stir or shake well again. Chill in fridge for 2 hours or overnight.