Brunch » The Saucy Coq

PEAR CARDAMOM BUTTER

Photo by The Saucy Coq

“THIS IS NOT BUTTER” you might say if you were with a group of your snobby friends. Call it what you will, but this Pear Cardamom Butter is very, very good. Think apple sauce here, but more interesting.

You can make a butter from almost any fruit by just stewing it down with some liquid and sugar until it has reached a very thick consistency. Apple butter is likely the most common form, but this Pear Cardamom Butter is fantastic. You can have it with granola in the morning, serve it with pork chops or jerk chicken at dinner, or have it with peanut butter! What else would you use it for?

I found this recipe on www.shutterbean.com and tried it out last week to give to my sister for her birthday (Happy Bday Harmony!). I will definitely make it again, but might not cook it down so much as this recipe only gave me four (half-pint) jars full. I am not going to give a lesson on canning because there are much better teachers out there. Namely, Google.

Pear Cardamom Butter

6 pounds pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

I use my Dutch Oven for jams and sauces, but use whatever you’re used to. Get a nice heavy pot on the element and fill it with all of the great smelling things that you’ve prepped. Pears, lemon, sugar, salt and all of the spices. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Lower the heat, and continue to stir. You really want the pears to break down, so try helping them along after about 15 minutes with a wooden spoon or potato masher.

After about an hour, remove the pot from the heat and blend the pears with an immersion blender in the pot until you’ve reached the desired consistency. My immersion blender actually broke (albeit a year ago) so I just used my blender. Save yourself the mess and use an immersion blender if you can.

Return the pear butter to the heat, and simmer over medium-high heat for 20 minutes longer, or until butter mounds on a chilled spoon.

Ladle butter into sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Check for air bubbles, wipe the rims and seal.

Place the jars in boiling hot water for 10 minutes. Note that you really don’t have to have all of the proper canning tools to do this. I only preserve things every once in a while so I just stick with using regular pots, kitchen tongs and a funnel. The only important step is to be sure you sterilize the jars properly. There are many sites out there to read up on the canning process if you like.

If you’re going to make just a fraction of this recipe to use within a couple of days, you don’t have to worry about the jarring process. Spoon into a nice serving dish and enjoy the fruits of your labour! Yes, I went there.

WEEKENDER BRUNCH: PORTOBELLO EGGS w PANCETTA

Leaving for the holidays tomorrow for a week means we’ve been spending the last couple of days trying to piece together meals and snacks from the food on hand in our kitchen, rather than buying food that will go bad. Knowing I wasn’t going to want to wake up this morning and head out in the snow for food, I needed a plan last night. We had a few eggs, a bit of the homemade Basil Pecan Pesto and some parsley on hand…just needed a medium to serve the eggs on. Typically, I’d pick up a nice fresh baguette from the store, but we weren’t about to eat a loaf of bread in one sitting. So, I headed to the store and bought two huge portobello mushrooms and a few slabs of 1/4 inch thick pancetta.

We have a little indoor grill that I used to cook both the mushrooms and the pancetta, but if you don’t have one, you can use a grill pan or even the oven.

Portobello Eggs

Vegetable Oil
2 large portobello mushroom caps
Glug of olive oil
Pinch of salt
2 slices pancetta, 1/4 inch thick
3 large eggs
2 additional egg whites
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Hot sauce
Fresh cracked pepper
2 tbsp basil pecan pesto
2 tbsp fresh parsley or basil, chopped fine
2 tsp freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Coat a grill or grill pan with a bit of oil. Remove the stem of the portobellos and with a spoon, gently scrape out the gills (dark inside) of each mushroom cap. Brush both sides of caps with oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill mushrooms over medium-high heat until juices begin to release, about 7 minutes per side. Transfer each mushroom to a plate, top side down.

On the same grill or grill pan, cook pancetta over medium-high heat until it begins to get crispy and you get some nice grill marks, about 5-6 minutes per side. I actually placed a big heavy cast iron pan on top of the pancetta for two reasons: it helps the fat render from the meat and it will help to keep the pancetta slices flat, rather than curling up. Place 1 slice bacon onto each mushroom cap (and the other on the plate if you like).

Whisk eggs, egg whites, dijon, hot sauce, a splash of milk and a pinch of pepper until well combined in a bowl. Melt a bit of butter in a medium nonstick skillet and heat over medium-low heat. Add eggs and scramble until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with S&P.

Divide eggs among mushroom caps. Drizzle 1 tbsp pesto over each; top with parsley and 1 tsp Pecorino.

Good brunching!

GINGER FIZZ COQTAIL

Hello to my fellow foodies on this fine December Friday. This week’s Weekender Brunch is cleverly disguised as an alcoholic beverage!

Since I started this website a couple months ago, I’ve begin to uncover a plethora of fascinating and seductive food blogs that have existed under my fingertips for years. One of my favorite new food sites is Tastespotting. I love it for the layout, great photos (they only accept great photos; I’ve been rejected 4 times now) and as a means of discovering other great food blogs. Amongst all of the site surfing I’ve done from Tastespotting, I found a recipe for Fresh Ginger Beer on Coconut Raita‘s website that I borrowed and added to.

Now, there’s something funny about ginger beer that I realized after making a pitcher of it; it has achieved the unlikely distinction of being as refreshing a summer drink as it is a comforting winter drink. The crisp ginger seems to cleanse your palette and cool you down in the summer, yet its earthy-spiciness provides the necessary kick to warm you up 6 months later.

You can omit the Ginger Liqueur here for a non-alcoholic version, but I didn’t tell you that.

Ginger Fizz Coqtail

8 oz fresh ginger (big 7 inch piece)
Peel of 1 lemon; juice of 3 lemons
Handful of Kumquats, sliced thin
4 heaped teaspoons of Muscovado sugar
1 litre sparkling mineral water
Ginger Liqueur (Domaine De Canton Ginger Liqueur is the only one I know)

Remove the skin of the ginger and grate coarsely into a large bowl with a cheese grater. If you didn’t already know, the easiest way to peel ginger is with a spoon. Was that your mind that was just blown?

Using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler, shave the peel off of one lemon into large strips taking care to avoid the pith (will add unwanted bitterness). Add the lemon peel and the juice of all three lemons into the bowl.

Add the Muscovado sugar and stir the mixture thoroughly taking care to remove any lumps of sugar. Muscovado sugar is a variety of brown sugar that is unrefined and has a strong molasses flavor/color.

Add the sparkling water to the bowl and stir.

Put the bowl in the fridge and let the flavors infuse for an hour or so (if you can wait that long). Using a fine sieve, to filter the ginger and lemon peel, pour the mixture into a jug filled with ice. Add in the Kumquat slices.

Pour 1 (or 2 if you like) oz of Canton Ginger Liqueur in to a glass and fill with the Ginger Fizz, making sure you get a few slices of Kumquat in the glass.

Brunch in served!!

EGG IN THE HOLE: HANGOVER EDITION

Round three of The Saucy Coq’s Weekender Brunch, and for this one I’m going with a good ol’ hangover breakfast. For some reason, which was probably no reason at all, I was extremely hung a couple Saturdays ago. Advil wasn’t working. Water wasn’t working. Another drink didn’t work. All I needed was a good, heavy, buttery, greasy breakfast to do the trick.

I went with a spin on the classic Egg-in-a-hole breakfast. I hadn’t actually had this for years until I made it two weeks ago so it was hard to tell whether it was the actual food or the nostalgia that cured my hangover. I used brioche bread for a nice buttery, fluffy texture and covered it with a grated sharp cheddar and chopped chives for a kick.

To finish the breakfast off with a little dessert and knock the hangover out early in the 3rd round, I whipped some strawberry jam together with some fresh ricotta cheese and topped the brioche round that was cut from the bread. That was a little slice of Narnia right there.

Also, not pictured above: 3 awesome slabs of thick-cut maplewood smoked bacon, potato rosti and a tall latte.

Egg-in-a-hole: Hangover Edition:

2 slices brioche bread, 1.5 inches thick
unsalted butter
2 large eggs
Handful of Swiss cheese, grated
fresh chives, finely chopped

2 heaping tbsp fresh ricotta cheese
1 tbsp jam of your choice

Butter the slices of bread on both sides. Using a ring mold (or just a knife if you don’t have one) cut a hole out of the center of the bread. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and melt a little knob of butter until foamy.

Place the slices of buttered brioche in the pan, along with the center circles you’ve cut out, and gently crack one egg in to each hole in the slices. Allow the egg and bread to cook until golden brown on the bottom; probably about 3-4 minutes, but have a peek at the bottom after a few minutes to be sure you’re not blowing it. Once it’s nicely browned, flip the slices over. As soon as you flip it, drop some shredded Swiss cheese on the egg to melt. Now, if you want the egg medium, which I do, you’ll only want to leave it for for another 30 seconds or so. Just long enough to cook the white and brown the bread. Again, these are just guidelines since every stove and pan is different. Best to just poke the egg with your finger and see what you think.

Take the slice out and plate it. Top with chopped chives.

FRUIT MOE’UHANE: FRUIT PUTS ON ITS SUNDAY BEST

Here we are again, Friday. Seems like just seven days ago I was posting the first weekender brunch of Saucy Coq’s French Toast. I am a huuuuge fan of breakfast. It is without a doubt my favorite meal to eat. I never really understand when people say they are not hungry in the morning…I find it hard to believe. You’ve just gone 6 or 8 or 10 hours without eating anything at all. All that moving around, flipping over, dreaming in bed, how could you not have worked up an appetite? What are you hiding?

Sadly for me, breakfast during the week is limited to a bowl or two of cereal (for which, by the way, my tastes have remained unwavering since I was yay big; Weetabix, Cheerios, Just Right). But, there it comes. Can you see it? Just ahead there? I think its Saturday morning. Hi Saturday. You come here often?

I made this fruit concoction up one time a couple of years ago and haven’t made it again until recently. Not sure why. It’s absolutely delicious and looks pretty great if you’re trying to impress whoever you’re waking up with. We all know that melon makes for a cheap fruit salad. You get a ‘side of fruit’ with breakfast at a restaurant and its 5 cubes of dry melon and a grape. And, I bet the menu is at least 7 pages long. Here I just use the melon as the supporting cast for the breakfast.

Berries are the way to go and this is the way to prepare them:

Fruit Moe’uhane

Serves Four.

2 ripe Honeydew melons
1 lb strawberries, washed and cleaned
1 lb blueberries, washed
2-3 peaches, sliced
2 tbsp sugar
2 cups low fat cottage cheese
1 tsp orange blossom water
½ tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup triple sec
Coconut flakes, toasted

Mix the sugar with the strawberries, blueberries and peaches in a bowl and let macerate overnight. Stir the orange water and cinnamon with the cottage cheese and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, mix the fruit with the triple sec and refrigerate for another hour or two.

Slice the melon in half on a diagonal and scoop out seeds. Cut a small slice off the bottom of the melon so it stands up at an angle (see photo) on the plate. Spoon the cottage cheese in to the melon, spilling it out on to the plate. Don’t be neat about it. Top the cheese with the fruit, and sprinkle some coconut flakes over top.

Good morning!

THE WEEKENDER BRUNCH: SAUCY COQ’S FRENCH TOAST

I hereby declare Friday’s the official day for brunch posts on The Saucy Coq because brunch is my favorite meal. This is most likely due to its close association with the weekend. I’ll be posting a brunch on Fridays that you should make on the weekend.

Remember when America was replacing “French” with “Freedom” on menus? Do you remember that s**t?? Freedom Toast. Because France wasn’t worthy of the egg soaked bread meal. As an homage to this fine blip on the radar of American history, I’m making French Toast with French Baguette. And, I’m drinking it with a Latte, which sounds French, but is actually Italian. But, whatever.

Saucy Coq’s French Toast

1 french baguette, sliced on a bias in 1 inch pieces
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange blossom water
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
8 slices thick cut smoked bacon
1 pint of blackberries
Good quality maple syrup
Raw cocoa (optional)

I love cooking my bacon in the oven. Seems to come out so much better than in a pan. Most of the fat drips off and the bacon stays straight and crisp. Works very well for thick cut bacon like this. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan with tinfoil and lay the bacon out on a metal rack on the pan. Bake in the oven for ~20 minutes, until the bacon is crispy. I use the metal rack out of our microwave.

Crack the eggs in to a mixing bowl (minus the shells) and beat together with the milk, vanilla, orange water and cinnamon.

If your bowl is big enough, drench all of the bread in the egg mixture and let soak for 5-10 minutes, otherwise, transfer egg mixture to a large shallow baking dish and cover bread.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Melt 1 tbsp of butter (for each batch) in the pan until foamy. Cook French toast until golden brown on each side (about 5 minutes each side). You’ll notice the French toast I made is a bit too dark. Still tastes great, but I probably left it in a bit too long.

Transfer to a plate. Top with a pad of butter, fresh blackberries, grated cocoa and good quality maple syrup.

Now, here’s where things get sticky. You’ll notice I said “good quality” maple syrup above. I’m serious. Don’t mess around here. If you’re going to make this, wait until you’ve bought some really good syrup. Not EZ Plastic Squeeze Bottle brand. I grew up in Northern Ontario, Canada, near St Joseph’s Island. After 18 years there, I moved to Montreal, Quebec for 10 years. If you’re not familiar, St Joseph’s Island and Quebec produce the two best Maple syrups in the world. Chew on that!

Top ‘o the mornin!

FOR A GOOD TIME CALL APPLE POMEGRANATE SALAD

This salad of pomegranate seeds, crisp apple, roasted hazelnuts and peppery watercress is a very refreshing, light and flavor-packed dish. Goes great with any protein and tastes even better the next day.

My girlfriend and I were in London a couple of weeks ago and, as per usual, hunting for good food was a big part of the bill. We were very successful. And by successful, I mean that no vegetables were consumed. If I recall, there may have been some baby spinach in some ravioli I had and maybe some plantain with my roast suckling pig, but that’s it.

In typical post-vacation-depression style, we made an attempt to replenish our supply of essential vitamins and minerals. I set out for fresh, healthy, low fat, high nutrient foods. I’ve made this salad a few times and it seems to fit any season. Light and refreshing enough for the summer and hearty enough for the winter.

Pomegranate’s are in season (in the Northern hemisphere) from September to February. They really are a fascinating fruit. Historical and religious significance; sweet and tart at the same time; and may be helpful in reducing heart disease factors, systolic blood pressure and viral infections. Oh, they also fight dental plaque and are very high in fiber. Take that other fruit.

Apple Pomegranate Salad

2/3 cup hazelnuts, blanched*
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil (I used peanut this time and it still tasted great)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons fresh pomegranate juice, plus seeds from one pomegranate
1 tablespoon sherry (or sherry vinegar)
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium apple, diced
1/2 lemon, for juicing
1 bunch watercress

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet; toast, stirring once, until fragrant and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop nuts, and toss with 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil and salt. *If you don’t have blanched hazelnuts, you can put them in boiling water for two minutes, plunge them in ice water, then pinch the skins off. In other words, buy blanched hazelnuts.

In a small bowl, combine, pomegranate juice, sherry, rice vinegar, and salt. If you have them on hand, it would be very sophisticated and wise of you to add in some diced shallots here and let sit for a few minutes; about one shallot would do. Since I have no class and had no shallots I didn’t use any. Whisk in olive oil and remaining 1 tablespoon hazelnut oil.

In a large bowl, toss apple and pomegranate seeds with dressing; season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Gently toss with watercress. Arrange salad on a serving platter, and garnish with hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

I served this over some nice pieces of seared white fish and browned brussels sprouts. Give it a try with some red meat and let me know how it works out.

Enjoy!

ANYDAY POACHED EGGS ON TOAST AND VEG (CHEDDAR DOESN’T HURT)

When I was the much younger, much pickier kid I’ve already told you about, one thing I did happen to like was eggs. I loved when I’d get ‘treated’ to poached eggs. For some reason, I remember having them only for special occasions, but it was most likely just a weekend. Special enough of an occasion. It’s probably because, even now, I think of poached eggs as a rather ‘decadent’ way of eating eggs.

We used to have one of those egg poaching pans. This shallow, light-weight aluminum pan with three round plastic eggs cups inside. Boil an inch of water, drop the eggs in, put the lid on, and wait five minutes. The lid would come off the pan and undoubtedly burn me.

Now, I don’t have one of those crafty pans. And, I don’t want one. The eggs come out resembling something like an Egg McMuffin. More importantly, there’s no room in the kitchen for another piece of niche cookware.

Poaching eggs is very easy and you can have them for breakfast, brunch, lunch, high tea, supper, dinner and midnight snack. So, learn to make them properly.

Poached Eggs on French Bread and Sauteed Veg

Serves One

2 large eggs
3 cups water
1 tbsp white vinegar
Pinch of salt
Ice
French Baguette

Add a couple inches of water, enough to cover the eggs, and a pinch of salt to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. While the water heats up, crack your eggs in to separate, small bowls to avoid breaking the yolks when you add the eggs to the water.

Once the water is boiling, add the vinegar and turn the element down until you have a slow simmer going in the water. If the water is too hot and boiling too fast, your eggs will break. Next, add the vinegar to the water. Vinegar helps the egg to hold its shape by causing the outer layer of the egg white to congeal faster. Otherwise you’ll get a web of white egg in your water. Personally, I actually like the taste of a bit of vinegar on my poached eggs, and have even added tarragon vinegar before for a bit of a twist. Recommended.

I like to give the water a spin with a spoon before I drop the eggs in. Literally. Just start moving the water around in a circle until there’s a little eddy in the middle. Then, drop your eggs in one at a time. The spinning water helps to further bring the egg whites together giving you nice, firm balls (ahem).

Most people like hard egg whites and a soft yolk, which takes about 6 minutes with this method. But, I generally just judge by feeling the egg. Lift one out with a slotted spoon at about 5 minutes and give it a little squeeze. It’ll be easy to tell how cooked the egg is. BUT, the most important part of this process to remember is that the eggs will continue to cook once you take them out. So, remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place in to an ice bath when they’re to your liking to stop the cooking.

I happened to have some veggies (zucchini, asparagus, onion) that I BBQ’d with herb oil left over from the night before. I brushed some baguette slices with a bit of olive oil, toasted them in the oven, and topped the toast with the veggies and put the eggs on top. A few shavings of sharp cheddar, some cracked black pepper and some Hawaiian black salt, and, goodnight sweetheart.

FROZEN GRAPES w CHOCOLATE & CHEESE – THE LAZY DESSERT

Leafing through one of Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks a while back, I saw frozen grapes. Oh. Just perfect Jamie. Bring my world crashing down? Turns out, I’m okay. Did not affect my life in any way except for some good grape eating times.

The consistency of frozen grapes is in the ballpark of a nice sorbet. I find the best grapes to freeze are Muscat and Concord grapes when they’re in season as they both have a nice balance of sweet and tart. The size is also perfect*. They will however most likely have seeds in them.

This is a really nice easy dessert served along with some dark chocolate and good cheese. I like to rinse the grapes off before I put them in the freezer so they have a bit of ice on them. Put them in the freezer for 3 hours or so before you want to eat them.

* As a side note, I’m going to complain. When the f**k did grapes get so big? What happened? Look at these grapes we got the other day! I was full after like 4 grapes. Everyone likes a plump fruit, but I shouldn’t need a knife and fork to get through a grape. I give it a year before I’m posting about some carrot I took down with a tree trimmer.