Breakfast With Friends

We really enjoy having company at Lowfields and this past weekend was no exception. It is also wonderful when they feel comfortable enough to cook in my kitchen!  My friend Kelli and her boyfriend Joe brought lots of treats and did a lot of cooking while they visited.  

After touring the farm on Sunday morning, Kelli made an egg strata for breakfast.  The recipe is from Cooking Light Magazine and I included it below.   In actuality, the prep work started the night before with lots of chopping and we all pitched in to help.  Breakfast with friends is a wonderful way to start the day! 

Brie & Egg Strata 
(From Cooking Light Magazine)
Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups diced unpeeled Yukon gold potato
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1 tsp salt, divided
3/4 pound ciabatta bread, cubed and toasted
Cooking Spray
4 ounces of Brie Cheese, rind removed and chopped
1 cup egg subsitute
2 large eggs
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 cups 1% low-fat milk
2 tblsp chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion, potato and bell pepper; saute 4 min or until tender.  Stir in tomatoes; sauté 2 minutes.  Stir in 1/2 tsp salt.  Combine onion mixture and bread.  

Place 1/2 of bread mixture into a 13x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with half of Brie.  Top with remaining bread mixture and remaining Brie.  

Combine egg subsitute and eggs in a medium bowl.  Add remaining salt, herbs de provence and pepper.  Add milk and whisk until well blended.  Pour egg mixture over bread mixture. Let stand for at least 30 min or even better - OVER NIGHT!  

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 50 min or until set.  Sprinkle with Parsley and serve immediately!  

Sous Chef Joe doing some chopping

Finished product up close

A very colorful breakfast! 

Perfection! 

Souffle!

When Nutmeg comes to visit, we always like to figure out a way to challenge ourselves by making something new and different!  We have been talking about trying to make a souffle for years but it always seemed so intimidating for both of us.   This summer, I saw an episode of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa which was all about eggs and she does a Spinach and Cheddar Souffle that actually didn't look too difficult!   And after watching the episode a few times for tips and reading a lot of "reader comments" online with the recipe, we decided to tackle it head on.  

The recipe called for spinach and cheddar but we used fresh herbs and gruyere instead since it's what we had in the kitchen!  The souffle recipe is such a great base that you could probably play around with it a lot and add different ingredients to your preference.   And you can make the base ahead of time (we did it while Cutty napped), which is great if you are entertaining! 

Prep work - separated eggs and scalded milk

The "base" - wisked until smooth and thick

Base with cheese and fresh herbs added

Time to beat the egg whites! 

Finished product!  

Served with a lovely glass of wine (of course!) and a mixed green salad

Gettin' Figgy With It

My two fig trees have had their first season of enough fruit for us to enjoy the delectable little delights!  Every morning when Nutmeg was here, we would go down to the barn for our other projects and always stop by the trees to go "figging"...   We decided that it was best to keep them simple and just top with goat cheese, some pepper and then drizzle with honey!  The perfect bite! 

Ours are still on the smaller side, but very sweet!  

The key was adding a little cracked pepper for heat

And then drizzle with honey... the perfect little bite! 

Breakfast

We love our farm fresh eggs and we love to share them with our friends ! We have loved seeing everyones recipes for a yummy start to the day.

Pixie Jokisch loves to cook with her parents.

This dish looked great and I had Pixies mother share her recipe-- Thanks Kim!

Dutch Blueberry pancake-YUM

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Blend together in blender
4 Large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup flour
1/2  teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4  cup sugar
1/4  teaspoon salt

Melt 2 tbsp butter in skillet- pour batter-scatter blueberries on top- Bake until puffed and cooked through 15 to 18 minutes- Garnish with blueberries and powdered sugar

Dad get up- breakfast is ready!!!!!

Happy Fourth of July

Holiday means festive eating -we love my sister-in-law Debbie's Oriental Chicken salad. Perfect for a hot day like the Fourth!

Digging in on the fourth

Recipe for oriental chicken salad

Grill 4 chicken breasts in oven and dice when cool.
2 packages of angel hair cole slaw
2 packages  of Ramen Chicken noodles
1 package sliced almonds
4 green onions chopped
Roast noodles and almonds in oven at 350 till brown about 10 minutes

Dressing
2 tbsp sugar
6 red wine vinegar
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp  salt
2 seasoning packets from the noodles
1 cup roasted peanut oil

Mix dressing and pour on to chicken, cole slaw and green onions.
Then top with noodles and almonds- mix thoroughly

Mixed Greens

We have already had a bumper crop of Baby Mesclun lettuce this Spring... we are eating it every night while it is tender and before the heat of summer arrives!!

Ready for salad! 

Super tasty! 

Shrimp & Grits

An easy go-to recipe when I am having friends over for dinner is my very own version of Shrimp & Grits.  As you know by now, I improvise a lot when cooking so this is not your traditional version of this dish!   I also do a lot of it ahead of time to cut down on kitchen time when friends are with me.  

Shrimp & Grits

1/2 lb.  bacon, cooked and chopped

1 TBS of cognac

2 bunches of green onion, chopped

1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, chopped

1 cup of chicken stock

1 lb shrimp, peeled

1/3 cup of Orange Juice

Quick cooking grits

1 cup extra sharp cheddar, shredded

Make ahead:  

Fry the bacon until it's extra crispy.  Towards end of cooking, add the cognac.  Remove bacon and put aside.  Saute onions, mushrooms & garlic in pan and once softened, add the chicken stock and bacon back in.   Let cool and store in container in the fridge until ready to put rest of meal together!    I also peel shrimp ahead of time and put in fridge. 

Dinner time: 

Cook grits according to directions and add cheddar cheese once done.  

Saute shrimp in OJ then add vegetable mixture once cooked through.  If you like a thicker consistency, add 1 tablespoon of flour.  

For plating, place grits down first and then top with Shrimp and sauce.  Garnish with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon!  

Shrimp & Grits prep

Delicious Shrimp & Grits

One Pot Spaghetti

When it comes to cooking, I am known amoungst my family and friends to be the queen of short cut cooking.  As I was making spaghetti sauce from my garden tomatoes, I noticed how watery the sauce was before adding any other ingredients to make my sauce.  At that point, I figured I would save a pot and just go ahead and boil the pasta in the tomato "water".   Once the pasta was done, it was so rich that I didn't even need to add any paste!   One pot cooking is definitely the way to go... 

Tomato "water" 

Finished spaghetti boiled in the tomato water

A little garnish

Ready for a perfect winter night's meal! 

The Perfect Winter Meal

With dreary winter days ahead, it's always comforting to have a hearty winter meal for dinner.  This could mean different things for different people but one of the staples for us here at the farm is the ever so glamourous meatloaf.    Obviously, with the fresh ground Lowfields beef, I feel our meatloaf is on a higher level than your average meatloaf.  The trick is to keep it simple so the beef doesn't get overshadowed.   One of the best things about making meatloaf for dinner is the leftover sandwiches the next day! 

Lowfields Meatloaf

2 lbs ground beef

2 small onions, chopped

3-5 cloves garlic, minced

3 eggs

1 cup breadcrumbs (fresh or store bought)

5-7 dashes of Pickapeppa sauce (or worcestershire sauce)

Mix everything together and put into a baking dish or on a cookie sheet.  Form into a loaf and cook at 375 for at least 45 min to an hour.   Let cool a bit before slicing and then serve with your favorite comfy side - in my case, it was roasted potatoes and a lovely salad! 

Ready to go into the oven! 

It may look messy, but only the most delicious things do! 

The perfect winter meal!  

A Farmer's Breakfast

Charlie is a creature of habit in many ways, but one thing that is constant when we are at the farm is his farmer's breakfast. Every morning for breakfast he has a farm fresh fried egg along with two sausages, a piece of whole wheat toast and a slice of smoked salmon.  What a wonderful way to start the day!

A farmer's breakfast for the farmer! 

Mrs. Edwards' Cheese Coins

Is there anything better than a warm yummy with cheese to go with a glass of something delicious?  Only if shared with good friends.   My friend Terry came to help me decorate and we whipped up a batch of his mother's cheese coins.  Perfection!  

Mrs. Edwards' Cheese Coins

2 sticks margarine       1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 cups flour                    1/2 lb. grated cheese (sharp)

1/4 tsp. salt                    2 cups Rice Krispies

Soften margarine (not butter); add cheese and mix (1/2 cup at a time and I use 1/2 white cheddar and 1/2 regular).  Add flour, salt and cayenne slowly and mix as you add them.  Add Rice Krispies a 1/2 cup at a time and mix. Roll into small balls and flatten with fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 min. 

Mrs. Edwards Cheese Coins

If Life Gives You Lemons...Use the Leaves!

We have begun to prune our lemon & lime trees in preparation for bringing them inside for the winter season and I decided there must be some uses in cooking for the leaves!    Below are just a couple of the uses for the leaves... I have found they are a great cooking accessory for a fresh but subtle burst of flavor.  I used them when baking chicken and also for some meatballs. I am sure there are many other uses that I am excited to discover!  

Rolando & Filiberto dig up all the citrus from our garden to pot and bring inside! 

I added lemon leaves to some chicken - it was subtle but delicious! 

I made some meatballs to cook and freeze and placed 1 leave under each meatball before cooking.  

Stuffed Peppers with Dirty Rice

Being that it's the middle of October and the weather is definitely starting to turn, we finally put our garden to bed last week and I harvested all the remaining tomatoes and peppers.   While I am preparing and freezing most of the tomatoes for the holidays, I wanted to use the bell peppers fresh and in a new way.   Being from New Orleans, I love dirty rice so I figured why not stuff the peppers with it?  Since my peppers were on the smaller side, I did them as a side dish, but if you have larger ones, it could definitely be the main course.  Keep in mind that everyone's version of dirty rice is different and most of it is based on what you have in the kitchen at the time. My dirty rice changes every time I make it!   

Stuffed  Peppers with Dirty Rice

Dirty Rice Mixture:

1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 pound of ground beef

Topping: 

homemade french bread crumbs

2 tsp olive oil

shredded cheddar cheese

Saute parsley, green onion and ground beef until cooked through and drain off liquid.  Mix with 2 cups of cooked basmati rice and stuff into halved bell peppers.  

Combine topping ingredients and top the stuffed peppers with it (with as little or as much as you like). 

Cook in a 350 degree oven until heated through and peppers are cooked but still firm, about 20 minutes. 

Stuffed Peppers with Dirty Rice

The Perfect Scrambled Egg

At Lowfields, we have a new way to scramble our free range delicious eggs... the Gordon Ramsey way!  I found this technique online and it truly makes the lightest fluffiest most perfect scrambled eggs you have ever tasted!  You will wonder how you ever ate them without this cooking technique.  

Here is the journey to the perfect scrambled egg:  

It all starts here.. 

The ladies free rangin'

Whisk, Whisk, Whisk!  

I added a little cream cheese & chives, put it on toast with chives and
served it with some salmon and sausage links - perfection!  

To-may-toe... To-mah-toe...

As the saying goes, you say to-may-toe, I say to-mah-toe...  and oh boy did we ever!  This season's crop of tomatoes from the garden went gangbusters.  Although late to start and ripen, we ended with a bounty bigger than last year.   There were too many to just eat as we went along, so I started the process of preserving them for the winter months.    The first batch I cooked down for sauce and then second batch I tried a new recipe that Nutmeg sent me for roasting them with garlic, fresh rosemary & thyme.     

The Tomato Bounty

Roasted with garlic, rosemary & thyme

Garden Pesto

We had many wonderful meals while everyone was here and most of it had elements of fresh vegetables from the garden.   I decided to make a garden pesto with some of the fresh carrots, onions and herbs.  Once combined, I kept it in the fridge and we started using it on EVERYTHING!  
  

Lovely fresh carrots, herbs and onions from the garden

Garden Pesto in process

Here are just a couple of the recipes created with our Garden Pesto!

Garden Pesto Cream Cheese Log
I always put out a little something to nosh on while the grill is going and with all the wonderful onions, carrots and herbs from the garden, I decided to make a pesto.  Not a typical pesto with pine nuts, etc. but more just the fresh herbs chopped up with onion and garlic.    Then all I did was add it to a log of cream cheese and top with some red bell pepper - VOILA!   A lovely pre-dinner noshing appetizer.  

Cream Cheese Pesto log served with crackers

Flank Steak Fajitas
We also have been in a fajita obsession as of late.  It's such a nice and easy lunch or dinner option and also a good use of steak leftovers if you have them.   We grilled a Lowfields Beef flank steak and sliced it thinly.  Then added it to a flour tortilla along with our Garden Pesto, cheese, avocado and tomato.  DELICIOUS!  

Flank Steak Fajitas

Saturday Night Supper - Brazilian Rice

May has been full of wonderful visitors to Lowfields!  Our friends Anna & Larry Davis visited the farm recently.  They own a brazilian restaurant in Oklahoma City so I coerced Anna into sharing some of her amazing Brazilian cooking tips/recipes.    A staple is Brazilian Rice and she graciously made it for us while they were here.

Ann & Larry with Charlie on a walk along Bremo Creek

Brazilian Rice

1 cup rice (TIP:  she rinses rice in water prior to cooking)

Olive Oil

3 cloves of garlic

Saute garlic and rice in olive oil FIRST and then add 2 cups of water to cook as usual.  This rice was amazingly fluffy and delicious!

Anna preparing Brazilian Rice for our supper! 

To complete the meal, we took sautéed some onions and added some chicken stock and then added some rinsed lentils.  Cook until lentils are tender then add some carrots and cook until soft.  Serve over the rice!

Saturday Night Supper - Brazilian Rice with Lentils & Carrots

Along with a salad made with avocado and radishes from our garden, this was a perfect Saturday Night Supper!  

Chocolate Custard

I'm always looking for easy desserts that take little time and also can use up ingredients I already have available at the farm.    We always have eggs and we always have chocolate so I decided to make a chocolate custard.  Originally I thought it would be a pudding but when I threw it all together and cooked it, I thought it was more custard-like.   

Chocolate Custard
12 pieces of your favorite chocolate - can be dark, milk, etc.  
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup strong espresso (left over from breakfast)
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar

Melt chocolate, butter and espresso in a double boiler until smooth.  Remove from double boiler and let cool slightly.  Beat egg yolks and sugar together and add to chocolate mixture.  Be careful it's not too hot or the eggs will scramble.   Place bowl back onto boiler and heat through until thickened.   Pour into glasses and chill for 5 to 6 hours.  Garnish with fresh berries and mint! 

Melting the chocolate, butter & espresso

I used my favorite candy that Rebecca sends me for my birthday
(thank you Rebecca!)

A perfect end to a meal