consigliato per te

  • in

    Brussels Sprouts, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Breakfast Casserole

    Loaded with eggs, bread, goat cheese, and veggies, this breakfast casserole, also known as a strata, is hearty enough to start the day. It would be equally welcome served with a simple green salad at dinner time, or as a side dish as part of a more lavish holiday feast.

    Photography Credit: Sarah Fritsche

    Every home cook has at least one dish they can practically make in their sleep. For me, that’s strata, which is basically a breakfast casserole made with layers of toasted bread, vegetables (or meat) and cheese soaked in an egg custard.
    It’s the perfect dish for breakfast, brunch, or dinner and embodies my favorite type of home cooking: rustic, adaptable, and easy to make ahead. All of which means less stress when mealtime rolls around.

    What’s in this strata?
    I make this vegetarian breakfast casserole with mushrooms and Brussels sprouts, flavored with a hit of onion, garlic, and thyme.
    For the bread, sourdough is my go-to. As for cheese, I love how the grassy tang and subtle barnyard funk of fresh chèvre plays with the earthy mushrooms and bitter sprouts, so I dot the strata with generous dollops of the fresh goat’s milk cheese.
    Strata is incredibly flexible, so once you’ve made a few, you can really start to have fun by playing around with different fillings, using other kinds of bread, or swapping out one cheese for another.

    Mix It Up: Ways to Adapt Breakfast Casseroles
    If goat cheese isn’t your thing, that’s fine! Don’t like Brussels sprouts? Leave them out! Not a fan of sourdough? Any rustic country-style loaf will work.
    Cheese Swaps:
    Crumbles of briny feta
    Grated Parmesan
    Smoked mozzarella
    Shredded Gruyère
    Emmental
    Vegetables Swaps:
    Double down on mushrooms
    Toss in a handful of spinach, swiss chard, or kale
    Use up chunks of leftover roasted delicata or other winter squash
    Bread Swaps:
    As a longtime San Francisco resident, I’m obligated to use sourdough in my recipes. Just kidding, but I really do love the tang of a good sourdough loaf and always have some on-hand in my kitchen.
    Tender and buttery brioche
    Croissants
    Country loaf
    Sandwich bread? If that’s what you have, use it!

    Strata: The Easiest Make-Ahead Meal
    Strata is best when served warm, but it’s also pretty dang good at room temperature. I don’t like to freeze my stratas, but in terms of time-saving do-aheads, you have options.
    Step by Step: You can toast the bread and sauté the mushrooms and sprouts one to two days ahead.
    All at Once: Assemble the whole shebang the night before you plan to bake it. For this method, once you’ve cooked the veggies in the skillet, assemble the strata in a 9×13-inch glass baking dish. Cover and store the baking dish in the refrigerator overnight (don’t worry; the bread loves the extra long soak in the custard). The next morning, set the baking dish on the counter while the oven warms up, and bake according to the recipe instructions.
    MORE SAVORY BREAKFAST CASSEROLES

    Brussels Sprouts, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Breakfast Casserole Recipe

    Ingredients
    8 ounces (1/2 of a 1-pound loaf) sourdough bread
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
    1 pound cremini or button mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
    2 teaspoons salt, divided
    1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
    2 teaspoons minced garlic
    1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
    Pinch crushed red chile flakes
    8 large eggs
    1 pint (2 cups) half-and-half
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    6 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

    Method

    1 Preheat the oven to 375℉.
    2 Cube and toast the bread: Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Spread the cubes evenly onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and toast in the oven until just golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.

    3 Cook the vegetables: Set a large cast iron or oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil. Once it shimmers, add the onions and cook until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes.
    Add the mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook until tender and most of their liquid has been released, about 7 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts, and another 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook until just tender and the pan is mostly dry, another 7 minutes.
    Stir in the garlic, thyme, and crushed red chile flakes; cook until aromatic, another 30 seconds.

    4 Add the bread: Add the toasted bread cubes to the skillet and toss until combined with the mushrooms and Brussels sprouts. Remove from heat and set aside.
    5 Make the custard: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.

    6 Finish the strata: Pour the custard over the top of the bread mixture and let sit for at least 30 minutes so the bread cubes can soak up the custard. Stir the mixture occasionally to make sure custard is distributed evenly. Dot the top of the strata with the crumbled goat cheese.

    7 Bake the strata: Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake the strata until puffed, golden brown, and set in the center, about 45 minutes.
    8 Serve: Enjoy warm or at room temperature with a salad or on its own.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

    Sarah Fritsche
    Sarah Fritsche is a San Francisco-based food writer and recipe developer. For over adecade she was a staff writer with ​The San Francisco Chronicle​’s James BeardAward-winning Food team, where she reported on the Bay Area’s food scene,interviewed culinary luminaries, including Nigella Lawson, Dorie Greenspan, andJacques Pépin, and headed up ​The Chronicle​’s test kitchen.
    More from Sarah LEGGI TUTTO

  • in

    Prime Rib

    1 Salt roast and let sit at room temp:  Remove the beef roast from the refrigerator 3 hours before you start to cook it. Sprinkle it with salt all over and let it sit, loosely wrapped in the butcher paper. Roasts should be brought close to room temperature before they go into the oven, to ensure more even cooking.
    2 Tie roast with kitchen string: If your butcher hasn’t already done so, cut the bones away from the roast and tie them back on to the roast with kitchen string. This will make it much easier to carve the roast, while still allowing you to stand the roast on the rib bones while cooking.
    3 Preheat oven, season roast: Preheat your oven to 500°F (or the highest temp your oven reaches less than 500°F). Pat the roast dry with paper towels (pre-salting should have made the roast release some moisture), and sprinkle the roast all over with salt and pepper.

    4 Place the roast fat side up and rib bones down in a roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer (oven proof) into the thickest part of the roast, making sure that the thermometer isn’t touching a bone.
    5 Brown roast at high temperature: Brown the roast at a 500°F temperature in the oven for 15 minutes.
    6 Lower oven temp to finish roasting: Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. To figure out the total cooking time, allow about 11-12 minutes per pound for rare and 13-15 minutes per pound for medium rare.
    The actual cooking time will depend on the shape of the roast, how chilled your roast still is when it goes into the oven, and your particular oven. A flatter roast will cook more quickly than a thicker one. A chilled roast will take more time than one closer to room temp.
    There are so many variables involved that affect cooking time, this is why you should use a meat thermometer. A prime rib roast is too expensive to “wing it”. Error on the rare side, you can always put the roast back in the oven to cook it more if it is too rare for your taste.
    Roast in oven until thermometer registers 115°F for rare or 120°-130°F for medium. (The internal temperature of the roast will continue to rise after you take the roast out of the oven.)
    Check the temperature of the roast using a meat thermometer an hour before you expect the roast to be done. For example, with a 10 pound roast, you would expect 2 hours of total cooking time for rare (15 minutes at 500° and 1 3/4 hours at 325°). In this case, check after 1 hour 15 minutes of total cooking time, or 1 hour after you lowered the oven temp to 325°. (A benefit of using a remote thermometer is that you don’t have to keep checking the roast, you’ll be able to see exactly what the temperature is by looking at the thermometer outside of the oven.)
    If the roast is cooking too quickly at this point, lower the oven temperature to 200°F.
    7 Let the roast rest: Once the roast has reached the temperature you want, remove it from the oven and place it on a carving board. Cover it with foil and let it rest for 15 to 30 minutes before carving. The internal temperature of the roast will continue to rise while the roast is resting.
    8 Cut away strings, remove bones, slice roast: Cut away the strings that were used to hold the roast to the rack of rib bones. Remove the bones (you can save them to make stock for soup if you want.)

    Then, using a sharp carving knife, slice meat across the grain for serving, making the slices about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick.

    9 Make the gravy
    To make the gravy, remove the roast from the pan.  Remove excess fat, leaving 1/4 cup of fat plus the browned drippings and meat juices in the roasting pan.
    Place the roasting pan on the stove top on medium high heat. Use a metal spatula to scrape up drippings that might be sticking to the pan.
    When the fat is bubbly, sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour over the fat and drippings in the pan.
    Stir with a wire whisk to incorporate the flour into the fat. Let the flour brown (more flavor that way and you don’t have the taste of raw flour in your gravy.)
    Slowly add 3 to 4 cups of  water, milk, stock, or beer to the gravy. Continue to cook slowly and whisk constantly, breaking up any flour lumps.
    The gravy will simmer and thicken, resulting in about 2 cups of gravy. (If you want less gravy, start with less fat and flour, and add less liquid.)
    Season the gravy with salt and pepper and herbs to taste. (See also How to Make Gravy.) LEGGI TUTTO

  • in

    Eggnog

    Homemade Eggnog is EASY to make! Plus, it doesn’t have all the fillers of the store-bought stuff. Just cream, sugar, eggs, and spices. Enjoy it spiked or without alcohol for a kid-friendly version. Continue reading “Eggnog” » LEGGI TUTTO

  • in

    Classic Stuffed Mushrooms

    These classic stuffed mushrooms are loaded with shallots, garlic, walnuts, breadcrumbs, and chopped mushroom stems. Sprinkle with Parmesan, pop them in the oven, and you’ve got a great appetizer for the holidays.

    Photography Credit: Sally Vargas

    A good stuffed mushroom recipe should be in every home cook’s collection. They’re easy to make, they’re great for parties, and the variations are endless!
    Video! How to Make Stuffed Mushrooms

    The Best Mushrooms for Stuffing
    Simple regular button mushrooms or the brown creminis are perfect for stuffing. Look for mushrooms with dry caps and gills (the feathery part underneath). Avoid mushrooms that seem slimy or have sunken brown spots.
    To prep for stuffing, scrub the mushrooms well, then just snap out the stems. They’ll come out easily; no need to use a knife.
    Ingredients for stuffed mushrooms
    This stuffed mushroom recipe is a classic. It is what you usually think of when you think of stuffed mushrooms—walnuts, herbs, garlic, chopped mushroom stems, breadcrumbs, and grated Parmesan.
    There is a reason everyone loves this combination. These stuffed mushrooms are hard to stop eating!

    The Best Way to Make Stuffed Mushrooms
    To make these stuffed mushrooms, first separate the stems from the mushroom caps, and chop them. Cook the chopped mushroom stems in butter with some shallots, garlic, and walnuts. Process with herbs and breadcrumbs and stuff the mushroom caps with that mixture.
    Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake until the cheese starts to brown and the mushroom caps release some of their water.
    Make Ahead Tips for Stuffed Mushrooms
    You can prepare the filling and stuff the mushrooms (without baking them) for up to 24 hours ahead. Just cover and refrigerate them, and then cook them right before serving. Once cooked, stuffed mushrooms do not hold up well for long periods.

    Suggestions and Substitutions for Stuffed Mushrooms
    Looking for more stuffed mushroom ideas? We’ve received many suggestions for variations on this recipe from readers over the years. Here are a few favorites:
    Sausage, cream cheese, chopped stems, Parmesan and garlic powder
    Duck or goose pâté (fois gras) topped with a small piece of bacon
    Cream cheese, spinach, and bacon
    Creamy chicken and white wine with a touch of garlic and tarragon
    Crab meat, cream cheese, and shredded Parmesan
    Onion, green pepper, pepperoni, garlic, the mushroom stems, parsley, oregano, a few Ritz Crackers
    Do you have a favorite stuffed mushroom recipe? If so, please tell us about it in the comments.
    More Ways to Love Mushrooms

    Updated December 21, 2020 : We added a new video to help you make the best stuffed mushrooms ever. Enjoy!

    Classic Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

    The recipe can easily be scaled up—doubled or tripled.
    You can use either cremini or regular button mushrooms. Scrub the mushrooms well first, then just snap out the stems. They’ll come out easily, no need to use a knife.
    For parties, make the stuffing and have the mushrooms cleaned and stems removed ahead of time. But don’t cook them until you want to serve: Once cooked, stuffed mushrooms do not hold up well for long periods. Bake some, serve and repeat.

    Ingredients
    18 to 24 button or cremini mushrooms, scrubbed clean, stems separated from the caps, stems finely chopped
    1 tablespoon butter
    2 small shallots, minced, about 2 tablespoons
    1 large garlic clove, minced
    2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
    Salt
    2 tablespoons chopped parsley
    1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence or dried thyme
    2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
    2 tablespoons sherry or chicken stock
    2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

    Method

    1 Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
    2 Make filling: Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the chopped mushroom stems and the shallots for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and walnuts and sprinkle with salt. Stir well and sauté 2 more minutes.
    Turn off the heat and add the parsley, herbes de Provence and breadcrumbs. Pour the sherry into a food processor, then the rest of the stuffing. Pulse several times to get a fine mixture, almost a paste.

    3 Stuff mushroom caps: Toss the mushroom caps with olive oil. Fill each mushroom with the stuffing, and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over each mushroom.

    4 Bake: Bake for 10 to 20 minutes at 375°F (190°C), or until the cheese browns a little and a little water starts to pool at the base of each mushroom. Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before serving.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

    Products We Love

    8-inch Chef’s Knife

    $18.00 on Amazon
    Buy

    Cuisinart 7-Cup Food Processor

    $117.00 on Amazon
    Buy

    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

    Elise Bauer
    Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family’s recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
    More from Elise LEGGI TUTTO

  • in

    Best Holiday Fruitcake

    This easy fruitcake is perfect for the holidays. It’s light, tender, and full of dried fruits and nuts. Sprinkle the loaf with brandy, or leave it out! Either way, this fruit cake is a welcome addition to the holiday table.

    Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

    Are you a fruitcake lover? Though this traditional holiday cake is often maligned (I guess some people don’t like candied fruit?), it’s wonderful when well prepared.
    This fruitcake is our family’s favorite, packed with dates, walnuts, raisins, and glazed cherries. Think raisin bread, on steroids. The recipe comes from the wife of a family friend, Patricia, who for years sent us a loaf every Christmas.
    We usually have to make at least two loaves—one to eat right away because we just can’t wait, and the other to sprinkle with brandy and save for Christmas day. These loaves also make terrific gifts.
    Video! The Best Holiday Fruitcake

    How to Make Fruitcake
    Fruitcake is really just like any other quick bread or loaf cake, only with a lot more fruit and nuts added. You make a simple cake batter, stir in the fruits and nuts, and bake until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
    The resulting cake is dense and looks like a beautiful mosaic when sliced, with fruits and nuts in every bite.
    You can sprinkle the cake with liquor (we like brandy), or leave it alcohol-free. The liquor will make the fruitcake more moist, and will help it last longer.
    Tips for the Best Fruit Cake
    Toss the fruits and nuts in flour before mixing them into the batter. This will help keep them evenly distributed throughout the cake during baking.
    Place a pan of water in the oven alongside the fruitcake. This will help with a more even, gentle cooking.
    It’s best to slice this fruitcake with a knife with a serrated edge, such as a bread knife.

    How Long Does Fruitcake Last?
    Fruitcake lasts longer than most other cakes because it is filled with nuts and candied fruit. It will last even longer if you sprinkle it with a spirit like brandy. Just keep it tightly wrapped.
    Without brandy, the cake will last tightly wrapped a week or more.
    With brandy, the cake can last a month or more.
    How to Store and Freeze Fruitcake
    Cool the fruitcake completely, poke a few holes in the top of the cake and sprinkle it with brandy if desired. Wrap the loaf tightly with aluminum foil and store it on the counter.
    To freeze, wrap the loaf in plastic and then in aluminum foil and freeze for up to three months.
    More Festive Holiday Treats

    Updated December 20, 2020 : We added a new video to help you make the best fruitcake ever. No changes to the original recipe.

    Best Holiday Fruitcake Recipe

    Best to slice this fruitcake with a knife with a serrated edge, such as a bread knife.

    Ingredients
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 cup (236 ml) full fat sour cream
    1 cup (130 g) chopped dates
    2 cups (280 g) raisins
    1/2 cup (75 g) chopped glazed cherries (can sub dried sweetened cranberries)
    1 cup (100 g) chopped walnuts
    2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour [divided into 1/4 cup (30 g) and 1 3/4 cups (130 g)]
    1/2 cup butter (1 stick, 113 g)
    1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
    1 large egg, room temperature
    Grated rind of one orange
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 to 2 ounces (30 to 60 ml) brandy (optional)

    Method

    1 Preheat the oven and prepare the pan: Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with greased parchment paper or brown baking paper, cut to fit the pan.
    Place one piece to run the length of the pan and stand up above the rim about an inch. Place the other piece or pieces to cover the other sides. When the cake comes out of the oven, you can easily remove it by holding the sides of the paper and lifting the cake out of the pan.

    2 Mix together sour cream and baking soda: In a small bowl, mix together the baking soda and sour cream; set aside.

    3 Toss the fruits and nuts with flour: Combine the dates, raisins, cherries, and nuts with 1/4 cup of the flour and toss to coat the fruit and nuts. Set aside.

    4 Make the fruitcake batter: Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the egg, then the orange rind, then the sour cream/baking soda mix.
    Add the flour and the salt and mix together. Combine fruit/nut mixture with creamed ingredients and mix well to distribute the fruit and nuts evenly.

    5 Bake the fruitcake: Scoop the batter into a prepared 5×9-inch loaf pan, and press down to even the surface.
    Place the batter-filled pan into the preheated oven. Place a separate pan of water in the oven either on a rack underneath the fruitcake or beside it. (The water will help with a more even, gentle cooking.)
    Bake at 325°F (160°C) for approximately 1 1/2 hours to 1 3/4 hours, or until the internal temperature is between 205°F and 209°F, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Water may need to be replenished during baking. If the top of the fruitcake is getting too browned as it bakes, tent it with some foil.

    6 Cool on a rack: Remove to a rack to cool for 5 minutes. Use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan. Let cool completely.
    Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then aluminum to store. If you want, poke a few holes over the top of the cake and sprinkle on a few ounces of brandy or bourbon. This will make the fruitcake more moist and will help it last longer.

    Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!

    This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.

    Elise Bauer
    Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family’s recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
    More from Elise LEGGI TUTTO

  • in

    Gingerbread Pancakes with Caramelized Pears

    This holiday season, start a new tradition with gingerbread pancakes. Rich molasses, cinnamon, clove, and ginger added to classic buttermilk pancakes make a short stack worthy of Christmas morning. Top with whipped cream and caramelized pears to make this an extra special treat. Continue reading “Gingerbread Pancakes with Caramelized Pears” » LEGGI TUTTO

  • in

    Easy Breakfast Casserole

    This easy breakfast casserole is adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand—cheese, veggies, meats—and can be assembled the night before and baked in the morning. Or eaten for dinner—your choice!

    On vacation, having too much fun to realize that nothing has been planned for meals, fridge mostly empty, remembering that uh-oh, I’m the one in charge of feeding my friend’s children that day.
    Oops!
    Open the refrigerator door, see half a dozen eggs, half a carton of milk, some cheddar cheese, leftover sausage from biscuits and gravy the day before, a little broccoli, a leftover ear of corn (cooked).
    Open the freezer and see half a loaf of sliced bread. Saved!
    Whew. I won’t have to reach for the boxed mac and cheese.
    Video! How to Make a Breakfast Casserole

    What is a breakfast casserole?
    Have you ever made a breakfast casserole?
    The basic ingredients are eggs, cheese, milk, and bread. It’s the easiest thing in the world to put together. We have a sausage breakfast casserole on the site that is one of my favorites.
    The great thing about a breakfast casserole is that you can add almost anything you want to the base. Italian sausage is my all-time favorite, but bacon or ham will do, too. Or make it veggie with zucchini, broccoli, basil, and onions.
    The first time I served this to the kids they insisted that it had to go on the website. The name they picked was “Open Fridge Breakfast Bake” because basically that’s what I did—opened the fridge, put everything I could find into a casserole dish, and baked it.

    How to Make a Breakfast Casserole
    To make a breakfast casserole you beat some eggs, add milk and cheese, add cubed bread, add “mix-ins” like mushrooms, veggies, sausage, and herbs, put it in a casserole dish and bake.
    Easy, right? The ingredients basically all come together in one big casserole pan, but there are a few steps I would recommend first:
    If you are using a lot of mushrooms, sauté them a bit beforehand to release some of their moisture.
    You can add cooked, sturdy veggies such as broccoli into the casserole, or put them in raw. If using raw veggies, cut them into smaller pieces and know that they’ll be crunchier if you put them in raw instead of cooked.
    If you are adding sausage or bacon, cook it first before adding it to the casserole.
    The proportions of ingredients are adjustable. If you add more eggs, it will result in a casserole that is more firm and less likely to deflate.
    Day-old or stale bread works best for a breakfast casserole, but if you don’t have any, just leave slices of fresh bread out on the counter to dry for a few hours, or put the slices in a low oven (200°F, 10 min) or toaster for a minute (just enough to dry them a little).
    What to Serve With a Breakfast Casserole
    Breakfast casserole is truly a meal in itself! It has starch (bread), milk, cheese, meat, and vegetables. It can be made for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
    Serve it with some sliced fresh fruit on the side for breakfast, or if making for dinner, a green salad. If you omit the veggies in the casserole, consider serving some sautéed vegetables on the side. Or if leaving out the meat, some crispy bacon or cooked sausages.
    Make Ahead Instructions
    Breakfast casseroles are almost designed to be made ahead. You can assemble the whole thing the night before, put it in the fridge (covered), and bake it the next morning. It’s minimal work when you wake up and a low stress breakfast if you have a group of people to feed.

    How to Keep and Reheat a Breakfast Casserole
    This breakfast casserole will keep for a few days in the fridge, covered. You can microwave it until it’s hot, one serving at a time, or you can reheat the whole casserole in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until it’s heated through.
    Do you have a favorite breakfast casserole combo? If so, please let us know about it in the comments.
    MORE EASY, LAZY BREAKFAST Casseroles

    Updated December 19, 2020 : We added a new video to help you make the best breakfast casserole ever! No changes to the original recipe. Enjoy! LEGGI TUTTO