Recipe: Spinach Strata

Spring is finally here!  And while there are still winter storage vegetables left to use there are also new vegetables becoming available weekly.
Spinach is one of this year’s first spring vegetables and we’ve been loving having it.  It’s an easy one to throw into whatever you’re having for dinner, either fresh or cooked.
In this dish it is just one of many flavours present, accompanied by sautéed mushrooms, onions, carrots, and a bit of bacon.  And everything in this dish is available from Baileys! 
A strata is sort of like a frittata combined with French toast.  You chop up stale bread, throw it in a casserole dish with vegetables and some meat (if you like), and cover everything with a mixture of eggs and milk.  Then you refrigerate it for a day or more allowing the stale bread to soak up much of the egg mixture.  When baked it takes on a bread pudding sort of consistency—very custardy—but in this case nothing like a dessert thanks to the savoury vegetables.

Spinach Strata
2-4 slices of bacon (optional, otherwise use oil to fry veggies)
½ onion, sliced thinly
½ lb mushrooms, chopped
½ carrot, sliced into very thin sticks, or grated
Several handfuls of spinach, roughly ¼ - ½ lb (or more!), chopped
Salt and pepper, herbs
½ loaf of stale or several-days-old bread, chopped into 1 inch pieces
8 eggs
2 cups milk (or mixture of milk and cream)
½ cup grated cheese (your choice, but something on the stronger side is nice)
Heat a frying pan or skillet and fry the bacon.  (If omitting the bacon heat oil in the pan).  Once the bacon is finished cooking remove it and chop it up (leaving the bacon grease for frying).  Add the onions, mushrooms, and carrots and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the veggies are nicely caramelized and the mushrooms have released some of their juices.
Add the spinach and salt and pepper and fry for another minute or two, until the spinach is wilted.  Mix together the eggs and milk.  Put the chopped bread into a 9x13 casserole dish, add the cooked veggies and chopped bacon, and pour the egg and milk mixture over everything.  It’s okay if some of the ingredients are not covered completely with the egg mixture.  Top with grated cheese, cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. 
Preheat the oven to 350◦F.  Bake the strata uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned on top.  Let the strata sit for about 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with different garnishes to add some more colour and interest, like salsa, hot sauce, sour cream and chives, etc.

Recipe: Potato Mushroom Pizza

Although Spring is finally beginning there is still a month to go before the first true spring vegetables arrive.  In the meantime I find it nice to keep cooking with the year-round vegetables.  These include all the wonderful root crops that have been stored since the  fall, as well as the ones that are grown in greenhouses or are simply grown indoors year-round, like mushrooms. 
So really this pizza recipe is one that can be made all year long!  You just need some potatoes and mushrooms, along with some dried or fresh rosemary and your favourite cooking oil or butter.  The roasted potatoes become the base for the pizza, so make sure they are thick enough that while they are crispy on the outside they are creamy on the inside.

Ingredients:
1 medium potato, sliced in thin rounds (a bit thinner than 1 cm)
1-2 tbsp. oil
Salt and pepper
Several sprigs fresh rosemary, or 1-2 tbsp. dried
½ pound Crimini or Button mushrooms, sliced thinly
2-3 tbsp. butter or oil
Pizza dough
Shredded mozzarella
Balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400◦F.  Toss the potato slices and half the rosemary with oil, salt and pepper.  Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast until the potatoes are beginning to turn gold but before they turn brown.
Meanwhile heat a frying pan over medium heat with the butter (or oil, but butter is better in this case…).  Add the mushrooms and remaining rosemary, a dash of salt and pepper, and fry until they have released their juices and are very fragrant.  Turn off the heat and add a few glugs of balsamic vinegar and toss the mushrooms around with it. 
Raise the heat of your oven to 500◦F.  Stretch your pizza dough (here’s a how-to video), and top the pizza with the roasted potatoes.  Cover the potatoes with a layer of shredded mozzarella followed by the fried mushrooms.  Make sure to get all the melted butter out of the pan and onto the pizza! 
Bake the pizza until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to turn gold.  Remove, slice, and enjoy!  For some extra decadence drizzle some truffle oil on top of the finished pizza.

Even More Asparagus

You’ve already eaten a lot of asparagus, but you don’t want to stop

Since asparagus is still in season, and still super delicious you might need another idea of something else to do with it.  Why not put it on pizza?  Strangely the first place I ever had asparagus on a pizza was in Honduras.  I don’t think asparagus is grown there so I’m not sure what inspired La Albahaca (“The Basil,” my favourite pizzeria in Tegucigalpa) to put canned asparagus on a pizza but I always ordered it, both because it was tasty and I never ate asparagus there otherwise.  So now I put asparagus on my pizza whenever I have it.  It works with frozen asparagus but is best with fresh asparagus (isn’t that true of all vegetables?). 

Asparagus Pizza, with Potatoes and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

·        ½ lb (250g) mushrooms, sliced

·        1-2 tbsp. butter

·        1 tbsp. maple syrup

·        1 small potato, sliced in ¼ inch rounds

·        4-5 asparagus spears, chopped

·        ½ - ¾ cup grated mozzarella cheese

·        ½ - ¾ cup pizza sauce (we just use leftover spaghetti sauce)

·        pizza dough

Preheat the oven to 400^◦F.  Heat a pan over medium-high heat and fry the sliced mushrooms with the butter and maple syrup until they are greatly reduced in size and nicely caramelized, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile place the potato slices on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes, then flip and roast another 10 minutes and remove.  Steam or boil the asparagus for 3-4 minutes.

Increase the oven heat to 500^◦F.  Stretch the pizza dough, top with sauce and cheese, then follow with the roasted potatoes and caramelized mushrooms, and finally the asparagus.  Bake the pizza until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.  Allow to cool slightly before slicing.

Need another asparagus pizza idea, try this one that we made last year and also featured rhubarb!

Jon Spee is a Bailey’s member who can be a bit obsessive about local food.  To make sure he doesn’t talk about it too much he writes about it instead at The Local Kitchener.

Cabbage Mushroom Toasts

Time: 30-45 minutes

Season: All seasons, best suited to fall and winter.

·        ½ cabbage, finely shredded

·        ½ pound mushrooms, thinly sliced

·        2-4 Tbs. butter

·        1 shallot, minced

·        1 garlic clove, minced

·        ½ cup water or broth

·        2-3 sage leaves, minced

·        ¼ cup heavy cream

·        Slices of your favorite bread

• Melt butter in a large skillet or dutch oven, add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.  
• Cook over medium-high heat until the mushrooms are softened and have released their juices, about 5-8 minutes.  
• Add the shallot and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.  
• Add a small amount of water or broth, about a ½ cup, and boil for about 5 minutes. 
• Add the cabbage and a bit more butter, and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage is soft.  
• Add the cream and sage and simmer a few more minutes, seasoning with more salt and pepper if you like. 
• Serve over slices of toasted bread.  
• If you want it a bit richer, spread butter on the bread and grill it over high heat in a frying pan, flipping it once to get both sides nice and crispy!  

This dish goes well with another vegetable side or salad and fresh or canned fruit.  It would also go nicely with a creamy butternut soup.

Guest Recipe Post by Jon Spee

The Local Kitchener

Adapted from Food and Wine