Adventures in cookery
In a little town not too far away, but not nearly close enough, there is a delightful farm-to-table restaurant with a menu to die for. I went first with ariadne1 and her Mama. I had duck confit, which I will never attempt to make. It was divine, and the rest of the meal was delightful. We went back again, and I ordered a breakfast casserole. This was not your typical, heavy strata, but rather a very light, incredibly rich concoction involving kale (sometimes chard), garlic lamb sausage, chevre, and butterkase cheeses, and an egg mixture to keep it all together. I fell instantly in love -- and I usually hate goat cheese.
I've been back to the cafe multiple times - especially as Angus found it as addicting as I did and gave me a good excuse to indulge when he was home last. I have tried other dishes, but that breakfast casserole haunts me. So, I decided to make something like it - but not try to recreate it exactly, as that could only end in disappointment. I used kale, local pork sausage, feta and havarti, oregano from my garden and Italian parsley from Ari's. I consulted two different recipes, neither of which was the one I thought I'd printed out. I used multi-grain French bread and added onions and garlic (both of which could have been in the original; I don't know, and it would be rude to ask). I let the concoction sit overnight, so the bread could absorb the egg & milk mixture, then baked it this a.m.
The good: it tasted great. All the flavors blended nicely and it baked up pretty.
The not so good: The bread was a little soggy. I didn't give it enough time to get stale. Conversely, I could have baked the bread until it was drier. So, next time I'll do that.
And maybe I'll get brave enough to try it with chevre and butterkase. :)
I've been back to the cafe multiple times - especially as Angus found it as addicting as I did and gave me a good excuse to indulge when he was home last. I have tried other dishes, but that breakfast casserole haunts me. So, I decided to make something like it - but not try to recreate it exactly, as that could only end in disappointment. I used kale, local pork sausage, feta and havarti, oregano from my garden and Italian parsley from Ari's. I consulted two different recipes, neither of which was the one I thought I'd printed out. I used multi-grain French bread and added onions and garlic (both of which could have been in the original; I don't know, and it would be rude to ask). I let the concoction sit overnight, so the bread could absorb the egg & milk mixture, then baked it this a.m.
The good: it tasted great. All the flavors blended nicely and it baked up pretty.
The not so good: The bread was a little soggy. I didn't give it enough time to get stale. Conversely, I could have baked the bread until it was drier. So, next time I'll do that.
And maybe I'll get brave enough to try it with chevre and butterkase. :)