Beer, It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore: SSC's Breakfast Club Edition

One of the most unfortunate casualties of the on the go, hard working, school going, joke telling lifestyle is breakfast. Like beer, breakfast isn’t just for breakfast anymore for this crew, especially now when I, SSC resident photographer and scheduler, take the helm.



This week I took over Jamie’s kitchen to host Sanity Supper Club. Unfortunately, my studio apartment is no bigger than a breadbox, but she happens to have an amazing kitchen. Thanks again Jamie!

Now, I’m not going to lie, though I do love food, and always try to eat the best I can and what’s the point of food not being delicious at every meal? Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s just a big waste of caloric intake if it's not. However, breakfast at 6a.m. before work for me is usually coffee, cigarettes, somewhere between two and four ibuprofen, and if I’m lucky, some horrible fiber bar until lunch. I miss the sweet and savory breakfast food I made on lazy days in college, and at home on holidays with my family!


For this Supper Club I drew from my East Coast roots (I'm from Maine,) and borrowed some ideas from my family of farmers (mainly the sausage recipe, and chicken eggs,) to make a hardy New England style breakfast for this diverse bunch. With everything from good old blueberry pancakes, to smoked herring pate with cucumber, and all the breakfast themed cocktails and beers in between, the night was a calibration of all things A.M., without the hangover! (Well, hangovers this time were post rather then pre...)

Eggs were cooked to serve by Phoebe; Eggs courtesy of Cranky Rooster Farm, Cape Elizabeth Maine, (Thanks Mom!)

- Phoebe



Country Style Maple Pork Sausage Patties
These are super easy, and totally delicious!

3 lbs ground pork
half tablespoon of Kosher salt (hehe Kosher salt and pork)
tsp sage rub
tbsp maple syrup (or brown sugar if you’re a lame cheapo)
ground pepper
1 cup of water


Add all the ingredients together (be careful not to over salt). Fry a small test patty up in a frying pan just to make sure it tastes right, the add seasoning as you see fit.

Make sausage patties on a big plate, separate with wax paper or a paper towel. Refrigerate for about 20 min.

Fry those babies up until they are a little blackened on each side!





Blueberry Silver Dollar Pancakes
I will always love good old Bisquick pancakes, today I make them with blueberries!

Directions are on the box but here are some tips:
Add a bag of fresh blueberries, frozen works fine too.
Always add more milk then the box suggests.
The first two pancakes are always duds, don’t worry its not you.




Old Bay Seasoned Home Fries

4 Russet potatoes, cubed and boiled until halfway cooked
1 clove garlic
onion
Old Bay seasoning
Kosher salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
butter
1 tbsp bacon fat or 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Heat butter in a medium to large skillet on medium high heat until sizzling. Add sliced onions to pan and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the potato pieces, spread out as much as possible along the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle generously with salt, freshly ground pepper, and Old Bay.

Cook until nicely browned on the bottom, without stirring (about 7-8 minutes). Add 1 Tbsp bacon fat, or more oil to the pan. Gently flip the potatoes and cook until the bottom of the flipped potatoes are nicely browned.


Smoked Herring, Lemon & Herb Pâté

smoked herring skin and bones removed, flaked
cream cheese
lemon, zested and juiced
1-2 tbsp creamed horseradish, to taste
wheat toast sliced into quarters
sliced cucumber

Combine smoked herring, cream cheese, lemon juice and zest in a food processor, or in my case just mixed until it looks good.

Stir in any extra herbs that you would like (ie. parsley and/or chive) and horseradish. Chill until ready to serve.

Toast bread, slice into quarters, add dollop of Pâté, and place sliced of cucumber on top.
Yum!


Classic Bagel with Lox

Assortment of bagels, cut in to quarters (works great to serve as appetizers)
smoked salmon
sliced red onion
capers
fresh tomato
cream cheese

Toast bagels, slice into quarters. Put all that jazz on the bagel bites!



Jamie's Broiled Grapefruit with Yogurt Sauce

Grapefruit
4 grapefruits
cinnamon, to taste





Set oven to broil. Slice Grapefruit in half, or quarters. Place on Baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pop in oven: broil 7-10 minutes, until they looks slightly puffy and the skin is peeling away from fruit a tad.

Yogurt Sauce
1/4 c nonfat plain yogurt (Greek or European)
tsp honey or agave necter
fresh or ground ginger, to taste

Mix yogurt, honey or agave nectar and ginger. Serve on top of cooked grapefruit.



Christa's Kickass Coffee Cake

Cake
3 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1 pint sour cream
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c sugar
1/2 lb margerine

Topping
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13in x 9in x 2in pan.

Mix all topping ingredients in a small bowl. Blend all cake ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Pour cake batter into greased pan.

Dust topping on top of the cake batter and cut into batter. (This involves sticking a butter knife into batter and lightly swirling it around, sort of giving it a marbling effect. Don't do this too much, there should still be a lot of topping on top.)

Bake 45min.


Booze Pairings!

Better than a Mimosa
I have a rule that you never mix sparkling wine with anything since it is so
delicious on its own.. But this drink is so delicious, I made an exception.

1 part Vodka
1 part lemonade
2 parts bubbly

Stir Vodka and lemonade together in glass with ice and add bubbly!


Beer: Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout

Besides the fact that this beer was an obvious choice because it has breakfast is in its name, it also complemented nearly everything we ate that night from the sweet fruit and fluffy pancakes to the savory home fries and spicy sausage. And just like our meal, this beer was delicious with its hints of raisin, nuts and toffee. Interestingly enough, this beer was actually first brewed back in the early 1800’s for nursing mothers with nutrition in mind. Apparently, we were not the first to want to start our day with a beer!


Wine: White
Marquee Chardonnay $13.99

This is a truly unique chardonnay in that it has more than the typically exceptionable level of sweetness to it, but remains creamy and crisp. This wine has wonderful bright hints of melon and bananas, and more subtle coconut and pineapple notes, with a vanilla nose this wine goes great with breakfast fruits and pancakes. Sourced from the Yarrra Valley of Australian, the 2005
vintage was picked with great care and has been kept near the citrus spectrum of flavors (86 points in wine spectator, if that's what you're into). All that aside, this wine is truly unique!


Wine: Rose
Bonny Doon Vin Gris De Cigare $15

This wine will make a believer of any rose-hater. Although there is some red fruit on the nose, it is complex and interesting not just candied strawberries like others that shall not be named. It has beautiful minerality and texture in the mouth and enough acidity to make the wine balanced but not too much that it would clash with eggs and pancakes...


Wine: Sparkling
Gruet Sparkling Brute $13.99

Mimosa's of course are a staple of breakfast, but when breakfast happens in the P.M. weather it be noon or 9 i say lose the juice. The Gruet Brut has a great balance of everything you want in a sparking wine without the jacked up prices; ripe fruit, a little creaminess, and excellent crispness in the finish. Their big secret? it's made in New Mexico. You may say to yourself "New Mexico? meh," but trust me, its worth a try. It's the perfect pick me up if all the greasy deliciousness did not do the trick, and what better way to wash down home fries and sausage then bubbles?











Holy crap! Real maple syrup from Maine, straight out of the tree!...Also, some of our random antics.


Remember kids, if you're not getting drunk before 9am, you're not staying up late enough!

Cheers!
Christa, Rachel & Phoebe




About Phoebe

Phoebe is comedian, and wine shop manager, who is also somehow pursuing a masters degree in clinical social work. Though she has no real food credits on her resume, she's well versed in wine and food pairing. She was raised on farm fresh food in Maine, learned about Asian cooking during her time in Thailand, became a seafood fanatic living in Newport RI, and is now well on her way to becoming a full fledged foodie/functioning alcoholic in Boston.

Nobody Expects the Spanish Supper Club Edition!

Today's SSC is not just an excuse for a Monty Python pun. We actually didn't know what to expect. Jen took the night this week and kept us in the dark until the very last second, but as usual, we were pleasantly surprised. What lay before us was a smorgasbord of simple, satisfying and sultry Spanish food (Along with an excuse for a massive amount of alliteration,). Jen is also a bit of a health nut, so everything on the menu was not only delicious, but quite healthy, so we can all stay sexy (Ha! I'm unstoppable!).

Per usual, the night descended into devilish drunkenness where we discussed strippers/ the usefulness there of, our lack of actual careers and the various shenanigans that we had engaged in. Then we ate flan and decided to buy pregnancy tests. Get over it guys, we're modern women.


Beautiful Beet Salad

Salad
Romaine lettuce
roasted beets
apple
feta cheese

Dressing
Balsamic vinegar
honey
djion mustard
olive oil


Jen's Spanish Tortilla

A low-fat version of a regular Spanish tortilla, a bit like a fritatta, with steamed potatoes, instead of fried.

1 pound boiling potatoes, peeled if desired and sliced thinly about 1/8 in
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow or red onion, finely chopped
Swiss chard*
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (about 3/4 teaspoon)
6 large eggs



Steam the potatoes until tender, about eight minutes, and set aside.

In the meantime, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a heavy 10-inch nonstick skillet, and add the onions and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until tender but not browned, about five minutes. Add the potatoes to the pan, and toss together gently so that the potatoes don’t break apart. Season generously with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Stir in the potatoes and onions.

Return the pan to the stove, and heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Drizzle in a drop of egg; when it sizzles and cooks at once, scrape the eggs and vegetables back into the pan. Shake the pan gently while you lift the edges of the frittata, and tilt the pan to let egg run underneath and set. When the bottom of the frittata has set, turn the heat to low and cover the pan. When it's cooked place a large plate over the frying pan and flip the tortilla onto it. Return to the pan and fry the other side until golden brown.

*This is the basic recipe, so you can add any other finely diced vegetables or meats. For this meal blanched Swiss chard was added but mushrooms, spinach, ham or bacon would also work well.



Spicy Spanish Style Garlic Shrimp

1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, shelled and de-veined (Look for domestic farmed shrimp or Oregon pink shrimp.)
Sea salt or kosher salt to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped or thinly sliced
1 bay leaf, broken in half
Red pepper flakes to taste
2 tablespoons minced parsley


Sprinkle the shrimp with salt, toss and let sit for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy nonstick frying pan, and add the garlic, bay leaf and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to color, about one minute. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and add the shrimp. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through, two to three minutes. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.



Jen's cooking really reflects her
personality, also, her face.








Booze Pairings!

Wine: White
2009 Domaine Saint-Peyre Coteaux du Languedoc Picpoul-de-Pinet $10

This wine is an absolute steal! And as a bonus, it went perfectly with Jen’s Spanish meal… On the nose this wine was a beautiful mix of pear, mineral, and a hint of white pepper. In the mouth it was fairly high in acid but it had a hint of pleasant mustiness that added to the wine’s complexity. The sourness of the wine complimented the vegetables in the tortilla perfectly and even though it had lots of flavor, it definitely did not overwhelm the subtly of the shrimp.


Wine: Red
2009 D. Ventura Vina do Burato Mencia Ribeira Sacra

When most people think of Spanish red wine they usually think Tempranillo (Rioja) or Garnacha but there is another Spanish varietal that has long been neglected but tops our list, Mencia. This wine was light and fresh, which was wonderful for this meal because it did not overpower the tortilla or shrimp. This did not mean, however, that the wine was simple. Its aroma was an elegant bouquet of exotic red fruit, spice, dried flowers and mineral. In the mouth it was all that and more. It was absolute perfect with dinner but to tell the truth, this juice is so good I could drink it with just about anything (or with nothing at all)…


Beer: Blue Hills Brewery Dunkelweizen

This medium bodied beer from a local brewery in Canton had yeasty caramel notes in the front and then nutty banana bread in the finish. It was very drinkable and its sweetness, alcohol and hoppiness was perfectly balanced. It was light enough to pair beautifully with Spanish fare but it definitely did not lack in personality...


Cocktail

Sherry has long been dismissed as a cooking ingredient or just that weird mushroomy stuff. Well guess what? Sherry is back! The growing popularity of tapas restaurants in America has also been good for the fortified beverage and now it is the new hipster drink of choice. We thought we would celebrate its rebirth with a delicious sherry cocktail...
2 parts sherry
1 part brandy
½ part orange juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Shake in glass with ice. Strain into martini glass. Delish!



Cheers!
Christa, Rachel, Phoebe & Jen



About Jen

Jen has only recently learned how to use a stove to cook healthier
meals using fresh ingredients, mostly as a way to avoid having to go
outside to obtain meals during Boston winters. She still much prefers
great food cooked by others and especially enjoys traveling to more
exotic places and sampling the local cuisine.