Food to Share: Cheesy Brunch (And a GIVEAWAY!)

 *Write your favorite kind of cheese as a comment to enter the giveaway. Winner will be chosen at random and will receive a cheese package for two, including a gift certificate to The Bloomy Rind.*

I'd like to introduce you to a new series I will be writing. It's called "Food to Share." I recently read a quote by Shana Ahern that simply said, "Figure out what fascinates you about food." Well for me, it's sharing food. Why? Let's put this into practical terms. I don't want to down an entire pint of ice cream by myself at home because I don't have any other food for dinner. That's sad and shameful. On the other hand, walking to Jeni's to share an ice cream sundae with a friend is nothing short of a happy memory. Shared food is the best kind of food.

My favorite meal to share (because dessert doesn't count as a meal unless you don't eat anything else) is brunch: sleeping late, drinking early, eating fancy. What more could a girl want? I've decided to share a brunch recipe with you first. 

Now I got a lot of great presents this Christmas but one of the best was a butcher shop (I say, as if it opened just for me), complete with cheese monger Kathleen Cotter, owner of The Bloomy Rind! The Porter Road Butcher/Bloomy Rind shop is a dream come true. They carry a menagerie of local meats, cheeses, bread, honey, and coming soon, Sweet Betweens. 

Have I ever mentioned my predilection for cheese to you? Well it started early. I ate broccoli cheese casserole instead of baby food. For an entire year during my adolescence I ate only cheese: I would order slices of cheese for lunch instead of a sandwich at restaurants. Sometimes I still plan my meals around which type of cheese I've purchased that week. 

So you can imagine my delight when I saw Kathleen Cotter at the Nashville Farmer's Market for the first time this past summer. I couldn't believe my eyes and walked by her several times just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Then I walked up to her and accidentally said something very awkward: "I've been checking you out all morning!" She laughed. 

This dish is, and pardon my redundancy, delicious! It's small, but rich- just enough, or possibly a little too much depending on who you are, for two. Layers: spicy, fatty chorizo, topped with earthy and tangy mushrooms, and on top of that, fresh and sweet wilted leeks, and best of all- ooey, gooey cheese and an egg yolk on top. Sigh. I want some right now. Brunch food is good for dinner too, you know. 

Cheesy Brunch For Two

1 link raw chorizo

1/2t red pepper flakes

1/2 pint mushrooms

1T balsamic vinegar

1 leek, trimmed and roughly chopped

1/3 cup dry white wine 

about 3oz good cheese (if it slices or grates you got ripped off!) 

1-2 egg yolks

In a skillet, saute chorizo and red pepper flakes over medium to medium high heat until cooked through and remove from pan. Place evenly in ramekin. Chop mushrooms roughly and cook in sausage fat until ever so slightly golden brown. Remove pan from heat and add balsamic vinegar, stirring until none is left. Put mushrooms in even layer on top of chorizo. Wipe pan clean with paper towel. Add a touch of butter and oil to the pan and cook leeks over medium heat (with a pinch of kosher salt) until they just start to caramelize. Pour wine into pan and cook down until mostly evaporated. Layer leeks evenly on top of mushrooms. Slice cheese as best you can and put it on top of leeks. Last, put egg yolks(s) in the center of the ramekin on top of the cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and yolks are warmed through. Serve with toast. 

Tomatoes are Delicious: Savory Crepe Cake

I am very happy to welcome you, dear reader, to tomato week! In the next five days, I will be sharing three tomato recipes with you. Tomatoes are at the peak of ripeness here in Nashville; they are so good and we love them so much that we have a Tomato Art Festival. It has been voted "Best Festival" by Nashville Scene reader polls for the last four consecutive years. Yes, it's just that great. And it's this Saturday, if anyone's interested. 

"The tomato: a uniter, not a divider," I read on @TomatoArtFest when I woke up last Saturday morning. This rang especially true to me. When I was little, even my pickiest friends swooned when my Mom nestled a slice of sweet tomato between two pieces of white bread and a little bit of mayo. Everyone likes a good tomato. 

I knew I wanted to start my tomato week with a dish that would bring people together. What that dish was...well, that was up to the tomatoes. After waiting out Saturday's rain, I walked to the Nashville Farmers Market. Katie, who had a "love affair with a tomato" last time she visited, helped me pick out two heirloom tomatoes. One was bright red, the other golden yellow. Each weighed in at about a pound. As we walked home, we talked about all the things that make the flavor of tomatoes pop: eggs, basil, rosemary, bacon, cheese, pasta, olives, capers, artichokes...

With tomatoes as scrumptious as these, cooking them was out of the question; pairing them with something too bold (like olives) or too heavy (like brie) seemed sinful. 

We finally settled on a tall, rustic crepe stack and planned to eat it at brunch the next day. 

It was just right. I made the crepes with dark, earthy buckwheat flour. They were "thin as lady's undergarments" and sauteed gently in small pools of sweet butter until golden brown and ever so slightly crispy. I layered them simply with ricotta cheese and thick, juicy slices of tomato. The ricotta was chilled and sweetened with fresh, minty basil and smooth, creamy raw honey. The tomatoes were dressed with just a kiss of kosher salt. I especially liked how they peaked out of the edges of the stack, as if they were shy. I topped the whole thing off with warm, toasted pine nuts. 

The best part was cutting into it. The red and yellow tomatoes formed a beautiful mosaic on the sides of each slice. I served it with a piece of crispy applewood smoked bacon and a fried egg. All of the red and yellow colors seemed happy on the plate together. And we were happy with them. Happy and full. 

Katie, Andrew, Coy and I spent nearly two hours lingering over brunch. We talked and laughed; we took pictures; we sipped coffee. We enjoyed each other's company. 

Tomato Crepe Stack:

-serves six

4 large crepes (I used this recipe from Gluten Free Girl)

two tubs of ricotta cheese

fresh basil

4t raw honey

2 one pound tomatoes (preferably heirloom), sliced

kosher salt to taste

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Put one tub of ricotta cheese into food processor with a large handful of basil and honey. Puree until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup basil ricotta to dress the very top. Layer stack in the following order: crepe, plain ricotta, tomato slices, salt, crepe, basil ricotta, tomato slices, salt... repeat. Scatter pine nuts across the top. Serve immediately.  

Easy is delicious: Bean Bake

Yesterday I was thinking about coming home. Coming home always calls for food. Whether you're coming home for Christmas, from a late movie or from vacation- isn't it the nicest feeling knowing that someone cares enough to have something ready for you?

Last night my boyfriend went to the Predators game right down the street from my house so I decided to have something ready for him afterwards. I didn't have a lot on hand.

Every week when I go to the store or the Farmer's Market, I am completely entranced by the produce. This past week I bought parsnips. Why? Because they are the beautiful, off-white earthy color of a set of plates I want; I know, it's a girl thing. I also grabbed some vidalia onions; they remind me of summer. I have little patience for the gentle art of sautéing, so I threw everything in the oven together with salt and olive oil.

I remembered a post I had read by Jules Clancy of Stone Soup called Onion and White Bean Bake and I decided to make a similar dish. When my boyfriend came over, I heated up the bake. He told me it was delicious three times last night and once already this morning.

Easy Bean Bake:
2 vidalia onions, roasted and chopped
1/2 cup vegetables, roasted and chopped (I used one large parsnip and one small, raw carrot for crunch)
1 can white beans, drained
1/2 cup cheese, grated (I used goat milk gouda, my favorite)
2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary
splash of chicken stock
pepper to taste (you don't really need salt; the vegetables and the cheese are already salted)

Roast vegetables at 400 degrees until slightly caramelized. Give onions a fine chop and vegetables a rough chop. Mix everything together and place in a greased gratin dish. Top with a splash (1/4 of a cup or less) of stock and a little cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Broil the top until golden brown.

The best part of this story is that having food ready for him last night means that it is ready for me for lunch today!