A Surreal Breakfast Spread for Creative Mornings Oakland

I got to kick off 2019 with one of the most mind-bending gigs I’ve ever done. My friend Trish helps run Creative Mornings in Oakland, which is a monthly morning meet up. Every event features a theme and an artist who pulls the curtain back on their process to help inspire the community. I was asked to make a breakfast with the theme surreal accompanying a talk by the artist Annie Wong aka Headexplodie.

What a perfect match. I loved coming up with a few dishes that would help start someone’s morning and make them feel like they weren’t quite awake yet. It was a dreamy breakfast-scape, but simple. I dressed banana muffins with squishy gummi eggs (and a few with gummi bananas). I covered the entire bar surface with a bounty of fruit and vegetable. You almost had to rub your eyes, “Was this real?”

Menu:
BANANA MUFFINS Dali-inspired marshmallow gummi egg SATSUMA ORANGES	PANCAKE BITES Thicc chocolate chip FERRY BUILDING CRUDITES Yogurt ranch dip

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Need a breakfast spread? Hit up @Randwiches on Twitter or Instagram.

#MadeWithLocalRoots: Roast Up Your Winter Veggies for Breakfast

As part of my Local Roots CSA, I'll be sharing easy ways to use up your produce. From prep to leftover hacks, I hope you learn to love cooking at home as much as I do!

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Roasting your winter root vegetables not only warm up the house, but they help you prep for a busy week ahead. With the hard part out of the way, you'll have supplies to chop up and easily toss into your meals.

Above, I have a simple spoonful of hummus, a fried egg and veggies that I already prepped the night before so I can I begin my day right away.

Here's how to prep the beets and parsnip from this week's share.

We got the beet!

Beets can be peeled and eaten raw if you slice them thinly with a mandoline. You can also mince them or run them through a grater before tossing them in a pickle brine for a quick pickle.

To roast the beets, wash and scrub them thoroughly in cold water, they are roots from the ground after all! Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss them in a little olive oil to coat and roast for 20 minutes, turn them with tongs and roast for another 20 to 25 minutes until they are fork tender. When I say "fork tender" that means the fork goes in without forcing it and slides right out without getting stuck. 

When they are done and if you prefer to peel them, put them in a container with a lid to steam off the skins. Alternatively, transfer them to a cool bowl and cover with plastic for 10 minutes. They will be easy to peel. Beware that the red beets will stain your hands and cutting boards! So wear powderless latex gloves if you have them. Or, you know...the pink looks kind of cool for a couple days.

Once prepped, you can eat them whole or slice them into coins for salad. If you don't think you'll eat all of them this week, submerge them into a pickle brine! They'll last a couple more weeks.

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A Parsnip is not a carrot

It looks like a carrot, kinda tastes like a carrot but it is not a carrot. Parsnips are woodier and taste a little sweeter. It can be eaten raw, but you'll have to chew through it. It is not crisp like a carrot.

You can roast a whole parsnip but be warned that the fat end will cook at a different rate than the skinny end. To combat this and to cook it evenly, I cut it into chunks (ideal portions for my meals!).

Similar to the beets, coat all sides with olive oil and roast at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes, turn them over with tongs and continue for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Let them cool for 10 minutes before biting into it. They get soft and sweet. Great for a grain bowl, eating with hummus or in a salad.

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Are you a member of Local Roots? Tag both @Randwiches and @LocalRootsNYC with the hashtag #MadewithLocalRoots when you use your produce. We want to see what you're making!

If you have cooking questions about anything you receive from your farm share, please ask me! I might have a few suggestions. 

Cure Your Mornings with this Savory Oatmeal

As seen on FeedFeed!

Here's a tip from issue #10 of Put a Egg On It. Cure egg yolks for two days in soy sauce for a custardy addition to oatmeal! This requires no skill except for cracking open an egg and separating the white from the yolk. 

Here I have a bowl of overnight oats with a cured yolk, chopped flowering mustard greens, garlic scapes, and sliced turnip. Sure beats a bowl of sugary oatmeal from a packet!

A Christmas Dream Come True with DIY Pepper Bacon

This past Christmas, I went down to Tampa to hang out with Eric's family. We met up with his brother Jeff, who was transporting a bunch of cooking tools to their parents' house. One of the hefty packages was a smoker! I couldn't contain myself. We set out a plan of smoking every since thing, from cheese to tomatoes, the Christmas beef roast and breakfast bacon. I've made bacon before and used nitrate salt (which can be controversial). This was my first opportunity to have a truly smokey hunk of meat for Christmas. 

First, we obtained a quality slab of pork side with the skin on. Three days before we would have Christmas breakfast, I put the slab in a large zipper plastic bag with the salt, sugar and pepper. I then placed the bag in a small sheet tray in case it leaked anywhere. When you have a lot of food to prepare, dad or mom can mistakenly stack things on top; so it's good to take the precaution.

Every 8 hours, I'd flip it over and massage the meat so the brine got all over. It starts dry but after a couple of hours, it starts to release water.

The day before Christmas breakfast, I drained the bag and patted the pork dry with paper towels. We stuck it in the hot smoker for about 4 hours, until the outsides were a little red and the internal temperature read 150 degrees F. 

Here it is, skin side up:

And the under side!

The side! Look at the stripes!

I let it cool in the open air and then wrapped it to rest in the fridge. The next morning, I cut thick slices and we par-cooked them in a cast iron on the range and finished them in the oven. It was a little too salty, but nothing a little egg and toast couldn't fix.

It's not crispy "commercial" bacon because it's cut so thick, but it does have this addicting cracklin rind that is fun to chew on.  My original brine proportions were 1:1 ratio of salt and sugar (measuring 1/2 cup each). I've adjusted the salt in the ingredient list below but if you fry up a piece and it's too salty, you can boil the other slices in water for 5 minutes to tone it down. Pat dry and store for up to a week (if it'll last that long). Or if it's not salty enough, add some in the frying pan.

Don't use any oil to cook these. It will have its own natural fat. You can also save the fat for frying other things later on!

Things you'll need:
2lb slab of pork side with skin 1/3 cup of kosher salt 1/2 cup of sugar Freshly cracked pepper	Large zipper plastic baggie Sheet pan Smoker (optional)

If you don't have a smoker, don't fret! The bacon is most of the way there after curing in the fridge. If you aren't against liquid smoke, you can brush a little on each slice before frying. Otherwise, it's still perfectly satisfying to slice up and cook without the smoking part.

What proportions do you use for bacon brine at home? Let me know so I can try it and adjust.