Prosciutto

As I am a college student, I am really, really poor.

As I am Pennsylvania Dutch, I am also really, really frugal. I believe the expression is “tighter than a fish’s ass.” (Thanks, Mrs. Church.)

But I am also a serious foodie. You all know this. I love expensive meals at restaurants, good cheese, and can be very particular about the quality of ingredients. It creates somewhat of a problem. Laura (my roommate) and I have been very careful about how much we spend for groceries—between the two of us, the first week we spent about $20, the second about $25.

And do you know where we spent that extra $5 the second week, and on what? That’s right. At DiBruno Brothers, on prosciutto.

Prosciutto, for those of you who don’t know, is an Italian cured ham that is sliced ultra thin. It practically melts in your mouth and is one of the greatest things ever to happen to food. This having been said, they charge about $20 a pound for it.

It was so worth it.

This recipe gives prosciutto a form and function as a cup or crust for a baked egg. It’s great for breakfast, but two of these at dinner with a side of homefries can be a really filling meal. Baking the cherry tomatoes gives them a really delicious roasted flavor, too.

This recipe also calls for cheddar. I found that kind of boring. While I was at DiBruno Brothers, I asked the fromagier for a suggestion. First he said Pecorino Romano (a fine choice), but I was hoping for something that would melt better. He gave me a Cacio (de Lazio), which is just a young Pecorino. It’s a semi firm sheep’s milk cheese and, aside from being absolutely delightful melted, it’s a great table cheese.

Individual prosciutto, spinach and egg “pies”

From Sara Foster's Casual Cooking

Olive oil for greasing muffin tins
6 thin slices prosciutto
6 large eggs
1 c spinach, roughly chopped
1 oz cheddar (or Pecorino Romano, or Cacio), shredded (1/4 c)
12 grape tomatoes, halfed

Preheat the oven to 350. Using a paper towel, grease six cups of the muffin tin with olive oil.
Line the cups with the prosciutto slices. Crack 1 egg into each cup. Sprinkle spinach and cheese. Top with tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until egg whites are firm and yolks are starting to set but still soft in the center. Set them aside to cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the prosciutto cups to loosen.

An affirmation.

I was recently talking to a good friend about affirmation. We all have those moments when we're suffocated by uncertainty about what we're doing, even if we're normally very secure in ourselves and vocation.

My friend Courtney made these muffins a few weeks ago and referred to them as "Cody's Muffins". If that isn't an affirmation--that what I love to do, I also do well--I don't know what is.

These are the infamous banana chocolate chip muffins, arguably my most popular variety, which are sometimes topped with walnuts (that get all nice and toasty on top). The batch pictured I made for Matt one morning, and he brought them to his friend Joel, Joel's grandparents, Joel's girlfriend and his roommate. He also had about three himself. They got a little bit more brown than I like, but no one seemed to notice but me.

I also used dark chocolate in this batch, but everything from milk to peanut butter to semi-sweet to white will work.

Cody's Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Makes between a dozen and fifteen, depending on the size of your muffin tins and your generosity among the cups.

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces (2 handfuls, about 3/4 cup I'd guess) chocolate chips

2 large eggs

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 very ripe large bananas (approximately 1 pound) mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

An extra banana

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Microwave the butter until melted. Let cool in microwave.

2. Whisk the flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Mash the bananas with a fork or potato masher (you need to get your hands on one, pronto) in a large bowl. Add the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and butter. Whisk together well.

4. Using a wooden spoon, mix the dry ingredients and chocolate chips with the wet just until combined. Batter should be a little lumpy.

5. Using two teaspoons or a 1" cookie scoop, spoon batter into muffin tins with cupcake liners (I've also just greased the pan well--if you like a little bit of a crispy muffin bottom, this is for you) until 3/4 full.

6. Slice the banana into 1/2" slices. Place on top of each muffin (Only do this if you'll be eating them the same day! The taste doesn't change but the look still does. They're also delicious with a little brown sugar, or a lone chocolate chip, on top of the banana. These muffins don't need much decorating, though.)

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the muffin, comes out clean (aside from any melted chocolate, of course).

8. Let cool on wire racks, then wrap in a dishtowel and store at room temperature.

These'll last a few days on the counter, but I highly doubt they'll last even one.

Pancakes.

My Uncle Dave is an architect. I think he missed his life's calling as a short-order cook. Every summer, for the week my family is at the shore, he cooks breakfast. When we were younger, he'd shape pancakes into daschunds and Mickey Mouse ears (actually, he stills does that). He's also brave in his flavor choices. Chocolate chips, obviously, are a favorite. This year he treated us to apple-cheddar and pecan pancakes. He also makes a killer omelet.

Last fall I decided that pancakes would be a good idea. I grabbed this recipe from who-knows-where, wrote it down in my sketchbook, and it worked like magic. The pancakes contained no water or oil, but rather vanilla, butter and whole milk. If you're already familiar with "mix just until combined", you can make a fantastic pancake. Pancake batter, like muffin batter, is supposed to be a little lumpy.

I make a fantastic homemade pancake mix, but I cannot, for the life of me, shape and flip a pancake. These, again, are one of my creations that tastes better than it looks. Uncle Dave certainly has me beat. I can't offer you any tips besides use a thin, metal spatula and try not to flip the pancake onto the floor, or worse, your shoe (it happens).

(Magic) Pancakes.

Makes a stack.
1.5 c flour

3 Tb sugar

1 Tb baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 eggs

1 1/4 c milk

1/2 t vanilla (eyeball it. I like a lot of vanilla, you should know this by now)

3 Tb butter

Half a bag of chocolate chips (optional)

1. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in one bowl.

2. In another bowl, melt the butter (let it cool a little bit as to not curdle the eggs!) and add the eggs, vanilla, and milk. Whisk it good.

3. Make a well in the flour mixture. Pour the wet ingredients in and mix just until combined with a wooden spoon.

4. Here's where things get messy. Drop about 1/4 c of batter at a time onto a greased skillet on medium heat (already hot). Add the toppings (like chocolate chips) as the first side cooks. When it feels loose, flip it (it should only take a minute and a half to two minutes). Flip it. It should only take thirty seconds to a minute to cook the second side.

I just want to remind everyone that pancakes are especially good at night. In fact, that's when most people I know request them.

I am, admittedly, a few posts behind. It is finals week. But that also means there is more comfort food coming out of my kitchen than I know what to do with.

Breakfast

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

It reminds of Muffin Mondays in high school, "Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson, my Uncle Dave's diner food at the shore every morning, the strata scene in The Family Stone and the reason you go to church.

I don't eat much in the mornings, which is why I think I fell in love with muffins. You can have variety, they're filling, and easy to take with you. I have made over 52 varieties of muffins. This pumpkin muffin, which is so fitting now that fall has finally arrived (and I can't find my winter coat and still need to knit myself some gloves), is pretty fail-proof. The secret is the pumpkin pie spice and (lean in close) not overmixing the batter. Mix just to combine. Mix just to combine. Mix just to combine. Let some lumps be, use a wooden spoon, try to limit yourself to 15 or so turns around the bowl. Otherwise, you're screwing with the gluten. Mixing just until combined will yield fluffy donuts have nice muffintops.

This pumpkin muffin recipe is near and dear to my heart, and first appeared in Gourmet magazine in November of 2006.

Pumpkin Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15-oz can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1.25 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F. Put liners in muffin cups.
Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1.25 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then stir, preferably with a wooden spoon, in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture (the caramelized sugar will give you a nice crunch). Bake until puffed and golden brown and a toothpick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

I knew I wouldn't have time to bake this week, so my mom bought me 5 donuts, and a cruller for Matt, at Yum-Yum, where they make their own donuts.
I played with the self-timer on my camera this morning. The fact I had chocolate icing all over my face was not to be missed.