Book Club Brunch

The Picky Eater is not much of a book club fan- getting together, eating, and talking about a book when someone might not agree with your opinion is risky business in her book. As for the Chief Cook and Bottle Washer (i.e. moi), I am a well known book club dropout, mainly due to my lack of enthusiasm for reading books that I might not like, and the potential to be berated for not having read said book. But, for the last two years I have been a member of a compassionate book group- there is never a disparaging comment or even glance if you haven't read the book. The great conversation, multiple cups of coffee and yummy food more than compensate for our sometimes limited book discussion.

Today it was my turn to host, and a most enjoyable time was had by all attendees. With all the great book suggestions that two members brought, we had a tough time selecting our reading choices for the upcoming months. This was almost as challenging for me as it was to put together a menu, due to a couple of constraints, the first being that one member has a dairy intolerance (but, fortunately, butter is okay) and the other was that yesterday  I was out of the house from 7 am to 9 pm.

What was needed was a brunch menu that could, for the most part, be prepared a day or two in advance and didn't include any milk, cream or cheese. A quick cookbook consult reveals that milk, cream, and cheese are generally integral to most brunch dishes . So, out the window go all the usual suspects- quiches, stratas, pancakes, waffles, etc. Taking inspiration from two favorite cookbooks- From Julia Child's Kitchen and Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison, I came up with a provencal styled "Baked Eggs with Piperade & Potatoes," which was prepped Sunday morning and baked for 10 minutes after my guests arrived. It was accompanied by an old standby, a moist oatmeal cake with a maple syrup glaze,  that was baked at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, and a compote of fresh pears, dried apricots and cherries poached in apple juice that I prepared Friday night. Pretty good and not too much work, if I do say so myself.

Add a fresh baguette, tangerine juice, and coffee and you will have a splendid repast. Oh, and what about the books? For today's meeting we read Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (thumbs down for me); and in future months we will read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pursig, Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson (thumbs up!) and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Baked Eggs with Piperade & Potatoes

3 lbs. boiling potatoes, cut into 3/4" chunks
1/2 c. olive oil
1 tsp. Herbes de Provence or mixed Italian herbs
Salt & pepper

3 onions, quartered and sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 bell peppers, assorted colors (red, green, yellow, orange), halved, cored and sliced in 2" x 1/4" pieces
1 1/1 tsp. Herbes de Provence or mixed Italian herbs
6 Tb olive oil
Salt & pepper
8 eggs
grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Grease a large rimmed cookie sheet with 2 Tb of the oil. Toss the potatoes in a large bowl with the remaining olive oil, herbs, and a generous application of salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes out on the cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake the potatoes in the center of the preheated oven. After 10 minutes, then use a spatula to scrape and turn the potatoes on the cookie sheet. Toss again at 20 minutes, then bake another 10 minutes (30 minutes total) or until the potato chunks are cooked through and some have formed a crispy brown crust. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Turn the oven down to 400 degrees.

While the potatoes are roasting, heat 4 Tb of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium low heat. Add the onions, cover and cook them until softened, about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, fold in the peppers, garlic and herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute, stirring frequently, until the peppers are tender, about 15 minutes. Gently combine the potatoes with the onion-pepper mixture.

Use the remaining olive oil to grease a 9 x 13" baking pan or casserole dish. Evenly spread the vegetable mixture in the pan, then use a soup spoon to make 8 indentations in the vegetable layer to hold the eggs.

About 20 minutes before you want to serve the baked eggs, reheat the vegetable casserole for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully break one egg into each indentation, taking care to not break the yolks. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and bake for about another 5-10 minutes, until the eggs' whites are set. Serve immediately using a large spoon to scoop each egg and a portion of vegetables. Pass the grated parmesan cheese for diners to sprinkle on their eggs as desired.

Cider-Poached Fruit Compote
Don’t use ripe pears – they need to be as hard as the apples.

juice and zest of 1 lemon
4 c. apple cider or juice
1 3” cinnamon stick
1 t. vanilla
4 firm Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks
4 tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks
1/2 lb. mixed dried fruit – raisins, figs, apricots, peaches, cherries

Combine all the ingredients except the dried fruit in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so the liquid is barely simmering and poach the fruit for 20 minutes. Add the dried fruit and poach about 20 minutes more, until the apples and pears are tender, but not falling apart.
Serve warm or cold.
Serves 6.

Spicy Oatmeal Cake

2 c. boiling water
2 c. oatmeal
1/2 c (1 stick) butter , softened
4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. cloves
1 t. grated nutmeg
1 t. salt

1 c. raisins
                                                                                    2 c. chopped nuts
                                                                                    1/2 c. maple syrup
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Grease & flour a 10 c. bundt pan. Pour the boiling water over the oatmeal and let it stand for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cream together the butter & brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Stir the dry ingredients together, and stir into the butter-egg mixture. Beat in the oatmeal and then the raisins & nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 1 - 1 1/4 hours, until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and the top of the cake bounces back to the touch. (My oven is slow, and this takes forever to bake.)

When done, let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then take it out. Brush generously with maple syrup while the cake is still warm, then let cool before serving. This cake is quite moist and keeps well.
Serves 10-12.