More spuds! And what’s not to like about putting carbs in carbs! Yea, a potato pie with carbs nestled in more carbs and nope, I don’t regret a thing. This is delicious. A little sweet from the caramelized onions, salty from the machego cheese, hearty from the potatoes. Can be served on it’s own as a brunch dish or an appetizer, or as your carbohydrate along with meat and a salad.
(PS: don’t have manchego cheese? Asiago or Parmesan will serve you just fine too!)
So as we start the new year, here is one more “symbolic food” that I thought that I would make something with. The Pomegranate. This one is a bit controversial, to be honest. The oldest known symbolism of pomegranate is of fertility and abundance (all those little seeds!). Some cultures see it as a symbol for immortality and eternal life. And then there is the other extreme — some cultures see the fruit as a symbol of death. A lot of these are tied to religion, and as I am not the religious sort, I am going to just leave it as a spherical symbol (full circle) and abundance (all those seeds)! And it makes a really delicious, really easy to make jelly (I cheated and just used POM juice). Breakfast is served on a freshly baked piece of anadama bread.
Per usual routine, I seem to make a “Cinnamon Roll” type of things for around Christmas. This year, it is a raspberry roll (very little cinnamon involved), in this Bringebærsnurrer med vaniljekrem (Norwegian-style Raspberry Swirls with Vanilla Custard). While my version is sourdough, you could also make this with yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon yeast, up the milk to 1 1/2 cups, rest of the recipe is the same). I did an overnight cool rise and then finished them in the morning in time, in time for a late breakfast.
The other day, over on the Stonewall Kitchen website, I found Gingerbread Butter. Seemed interesting and you know me, a new ingredient to try. So I made one of my staples — shortbread / crumble bars. These are flavorful, taste “Christmasy” and have a nice “goes with a good cup of coffee feeling.
Gravenstein Apples are some of my favorites. They are “old school”, “antique” variety, allegedly from Denmark in the late 1700s so I am always super-happy when I find some. Thankfully, my local orchard does have a limited amount of Gravenstein trees, so when I went up to the farm a few weeks ago to PYO, I got some. And to make them last longer, I made Gravenstein Apple Jam. It’s seriously like having apple pie for breakfast on my toast, but it would also be great in oatmeal (like a make-your-own Apple Crumble!) and really, who wouldn’t want apple pie or apple crumble for breakfast!