April 2nd - Asparagus and Brandade Frittata - Chewy Fresh Ginger Macadamia Nut Cookes

Today is a holiday.  We were meant to go Snowboarding today but the wind is so strong out that half the chairs are not open on Cypress today.  I have a bit of a nagging cough right now so I thought it would not have been the best idea to spend the day in Gail force winds.

No rush for breakfast means a nice hot breakfast. We made an omlette/frittata with the Asparagus I picked up yesterday and the last of the Sweet Potato Coconut Brandade I made earlier this week.

Asparagus and Brandade Frittata

4 large Eggs
6 spears Asparagus chopped
1 Green Onion chopped
1/4 c fresh Parsley chopped
1-2 Roma Tomatoes
1/4 c fresh grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 t salt

Turn the broiler on medium/low with a rack in the highest position.

In an medium fry pan, heat some olive oil and sautee the Onion and Asparagus for a few minutes until softened.

Slice the tomato and set aside 2 slices for garnish at the end.  Add the rest, chopped into the span.  Sautee for 1-2 minutes.  Lower the heat to low/medium

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with one half eggshell of water, the Salt and half the parsely.  Pour into the pan. Move the Egg around slightly with a spatula to cooked the bottom.  Move it around like you are pushing a tablecloth that is spread across a table, allowing the raw egg to move to the bottom of the pan.

After a couple of minutes, when  most of the egg is not as jiggly,dollop some Brandade on the top in quarter positions.  Grate some the Parmesan over top.  Place under the broiler until it stops moving.

Garnish wit the tomato and some parsley.  Season to taste with more salt if you like and Pepper.  Nice, bright and fresh.  MMMMM

It is cold and windy and I have time so I am going to bake. I have wanted to make Ginger cookies with real ginger for some time so I have adapted a few different recipes to give a pretty punchy yet natural Ginger experience.  D thought it was a more suave Ginger trip than the store or bakery products.  Very chewy and comforting!

YUMMO Chewy Fresh Ginger Macadamia Cookies

Sift Dry:
1 c Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 c All Purpose Flour
1 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Ground Cloves (I only have whole cloves and so I ground 1 T with a mortar and pestal and then sifted out the ground bit and threw away the husks)
1 t ground Ginger 

Beat Wet:
3/4 c Butter
1 c Sugar
1 Egg
2 T fresh Grated Ginger (avoid the stringy bits, chop finely if you cannot)
1/4 c Molasses

1/2 c unsalted Macadamia Nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 355F

Sift the Dry in a bowl and set aside

In a mixer or by hand, beat the Butter and Sugar until fluffy.  Add the Egg.  Mix well.  Add the Molasses and Ginger and beat until well combined.

With the mixer on slow stir, add the Dry stuff slowly.  You will get a face full of flour if you rush this.  As well, you do not want to over mix or you will get tough cookies.  Well all the flour is mixed in, add the nuts and let stir a few times just to combine.

Spoon out 1" sized balls of dough on to a parchment lined baking sheet.  Allow 2" between balls.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  They make look puffy but don't worry.  They'll cool off flatter.

Lift the parchment paper on to a cooling rack.  They are too soft at this point to try to lift off the paper.  Allow to cool.  YUMMO!!!!

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Dinner was a the Banana Leaf Malaysian on Broadway with our out of town friend from Calgary. That will have to be for another post.