When mom is out of town or dad is out town, breakfast for dinner!  But when Gourmet group meets, is brunch for dinner off limits? Absolutely not. Come on, you can wear your pajamas.

Breakfast for Dinner, Menu for Ten:

• Mango Bellinis
• Tomato Basil Quiche Recipe Baked in cute Quiche pans from Target (For the brave, try Bouchon Quiche Recipe, out of this world, but check out our tips!)
• Individual Parmesan Hash Brown Cups (Super simple, super tasty, have two!)
• Granola, Yogurt, & Berry Parfait Recipe (w/ Homemade Pecan Maple Granola Recipe)
• Maple Pecan-Crusted Bacon Recipe (well, the meal centers around this)
• Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake Recipe

Delegating these recipes to your friends or family and then setting everything up on a table with crock-pots or warming plates can help this dinner serve-itself all-night-long.  I’ve found that one of the hardest parts about having a dinner party is the fact that you are running around your own house getting all of the food prepared and served and not getting to spend time with friends.  Not to mention, you’re exhausted from cooking, before your friends even arrive!  With this menu, you need 4-5 cooks to complete the dinner.

Cook #1 (The Host):

• Al Pastor Sandwiches with Chipotle Coleslaw from Sunset Magazine

Cook #2:

• Mike Mills’ 17th Street’s Tangy Pit Beans – from the great Peace, Love, & Barbecue Cookbook

Cook #3:

• 7-Layer Taco Dip with Homemade Tortilla Chips

Cook #4 – (The Baker):

• Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
  

For Recipes ->

Chipotle Coleslaw Recipe

from chipotle-coleslaw-10000001622432/”>Sunset Magaine

Ingredients

This salad recipe is a restaurant recreation based on a salad that I had at Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant in June.  It was awesome!  This is definitely one of my favorite recipes of the summer, so far.  I looked in the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook and realized that the peach and mache salad was based on the Field Greens Salad with Pecans, Croutons, and Ranch Dressing recipe + garlic in the dressing, peaches in the salad, and Feta cheese but no croutons.

Peach, Feta, & Mache Salad with Creamy Garlic (Ranch) Dressing

Serves 10

* You can limit the salad greens you use based on what you have.  I used radicchio, butter lettuce, and mache.

• 2-3  peaches, sliced with skin on
• 2 heads frisee
• 1 head of raddachio, torn into bite sizes
• 1 head butter lettuce
• 2 heads of Beligian endive
• 2 handfuls of mache

• 6 oz. crumbled Feta cheese
• +pecan halves (optional)

Big Sur Bakery Ranch Dressing (+ Garlic)

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise (see instructions below)
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 whole scallion, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon minced chives
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For dressing combine buttermilk, creme fraiche, and vinegar in a spouted measuring cup.  Put the mayonaise in a bowl, and slowly pour in the buttermilk mixture while whisking vigorously.  Add the shallots, scallions, parsley, and chives, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Let the dressing sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours.

* I added garlic to this recipe, about 3 cloves minced.  The dressing on the salad at BSB was called a Creamy Garlic Dressing.  The next night I took what was left over of the ranch dressing and added Gorgonzola to it to create a blue cheese style dressing for an apple fennel salad.

Homemade Mayonnaise

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 cups rice bran oil or canola oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

To make mayonnaise in a food processor, put 1 tablespoon water, the egg yolks, a few drops of lemon juice, and the Dijon Mustard in the processor.  With the processor running, gradually add a few drops of the oil.  Continue adding the oil in a thin stream-you want to do this slowly to ensure that the oil is fully emuslified into the yolks from the get-go.  Once you’ve incorporated about 1 cup of the oil (the mixture should be very thick at this point), add another tablespoon of the water and a few more drops of lemon juice.  Season with the salt and pepper, and continue to slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup oil while the processor is still running on high speed.  Transfer the mayonnaise to a glass jar or plastic container until ready to use.

The mayonnaise will keep for up to 3 days under refrigeration.

We get greens every single week.  So this week, it was time to find another creative way to ingest more greens.  I googled, “Creative Kale Recipe” and an interesting one came up from a blog that tried to recreate a dish from M Cafe in Beverly Hills.  Folks started commenting on the blog post that they love this signature dish from M Cafe.  So I then looked for the actual recipe and found a video online about how to make it as well as the restaurant recipe from M Cafe.  This is a very interesting, delicious, and unique greens recipe!

Directions

Blanch the Kale (could make a few bunches of greens)
Remove the Kale from the stems.
Add a pinch of Salt to a pot of boiling water, then blanch the Kale.
Remove the Kale from the boiling water and shock it in a container of ice water.
Finally, squeeze the excess water out of the cooled Kale.

Spicy Peanut Dressing
Place all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend it until it comes to a smooth consistency.

Drizzle the dressing on top of the Kale and mix the two together.  Garnish with chopped red onions and chopped peanuts.

* You could cut this recipe to about an 1/8 of the ingredient proportions and have enough for one bunch of kale! It makes a lot of dressing!

* I cut the recipe to 1/3 and it still made a ton of dressing. You can then refrigerate it and use it as a chicken marinade or as a dipping sauce.

We’ve made this LA Times Al Pastor recipe twice, once for camping and once for a party.  The great thing about it is you can make it in advance and heat it up later!  You can even cook it up in the oven and then shred it and put it in your crock-pot to keep it warm for a long partying night.  The crock-pot is the secret to having the taco bar open and ready for the guests all night long!

This is an adapted recipe from Raúl Morales for the oven by the LA Times. I used a variety of dried chilies from a Mexican market (or Whole Foods).

Al Pastor Recipe

(Party-Size Recipe Serving for 20-30 people)

Marinate for 24 hours

• 6 California chiles
• 2 Ancho chile
• 2 Guajillo chile
• 2 Cascabel chile
• 2 Chile de árbol
• * I just used a whole variety of about 3-4 different kinds of dried chiles, some of the above and some others.
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 3  teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon achiote (seasoned achiote paste * for color)
• 2 onions, sliced thin, divided
• 10 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt, cut into 15 chunks
• 1  pineapple, peeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick,and cut into quarters

Boil the dried chiles and bay leaves in a pot for 5 minutes.  Then remove the stems, seeds, and bay leaves.  Place the hydrated chiles in the food processor with the orange juice, pineapple juice, white vinegar, cinnamon, salt, pepper, garlic, garlic salt, oregano, and achiote paste (optional) and blend until smooth.

Cut up the pork into 15 chunks and place in  resealable plastic bags (we used 3) and pour the marinade over top and marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

Heat the oven to 350F.  Use three, 9″x13″ glass baking dishes or two roasting pans.  Place the cut up pineapple on the bottom  of the baking dishes and the onion slices over top.  Then place the marinated meat chunks over the pineapple and onion slices but make sure that the meat does not come up above the sides of the baking dish or roasting pan.  Cover the pans with foil and bake for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours until meat pulls apart easily.  It took our meat with three pans in the oven at once about 2 1/2 hours.

Note from Recipe Online: Put the meat on a rack in a baking pan, baste it with the pan juices and place under the broiler to crisp the edges of the meat, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook for a few more minutes.

Remove the meat and let it cool enough to be able to pull it apart.  Then place the shredded meat in a crock pot to keep it warm.  Slice up the pineapple and onion slices to mix-in with the shredded meat. Set up your toppings for the taco bar and go to town!

Another Slow-Roasted Pork Taco Recipe from the NY Times (less ingredients & quicker to make).

This recipe, Bob Mill’s Wilted Lettuce, came from our Peace, Love, and Barbecue Cookbook by Mike Mills, Amy Mills Tunnicliffe. This is one of our absolute favorite cookbooks and we use it all of the time particularly for summer BBQ’s.  So as you can imagine, a BBQ cookbook may have some kind of pork in every recipe, even the salads!  Yep, we love bacon!  Along with the bacon, you can use any and all lettuce types that you have on hand for this recipe.

To look at some other recipes from Peace, Love, and Barbecue : Recipes, Secrets, Tall Tales, and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue check out:

Bob Mill’s Wilted Lettuce Recipe ->

• 6-8 slices of bacon, cut up into pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic, or 1 clove minced
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 bunches leafy lettuce (Bibb, oak Leaf, black-seeded Simpson, red leaf, field greens, arugula, mizuna and any others)
• 1/2 large red onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 large eggs, hard-cooked, peeled, and sliced
• 2 or 3 radishes, thinly sliced

Brown the bacon in a skillet until crisp and place on a paper towel to drain.  Leave the bacon fat drippings in the skillet.

Add the sugar, vinegar, water, salt, and pepper, the garlic and celery seed to the skillet with the bacon drippings.  Simmer over medium heat until blended.

Grab your lettuce and tear into pieces.  The recipe reminds you that cutting lettuce, instead of tearing, can cause the edges to darken.  Put the lettuce pieces into a large bowel and crumble the bacon on top.  Drop the sliced red onion rings on top of the lettuce and get ready to pour the hot dressing over the salad greens.  Now, pour on the hot dressing and perform a quick toss.  Then place a plate over the top of the salad to let it it steam for a minute and wilt the lettuce leaves.  Remove the plate and add the eggs and radishes and toss the salad again before serving.

These are simply sinful and super easy to make!

Oreo Truffles Recipe

• 1 (16 ounce) package OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) package Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 (8 ounce) packages Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted (higher quality works best)

1. Crush 9 cookies in food processor until finely smashed and set aside. Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs.  Mix cream cheese with cookies.  Roll the cookies into roughly 40 or so 1-inch balls.
2. Dip the balls in chocolate (higher quality chocolate tastes better). Place on wax paper and crumble cookies on top or drizzle white chocolate over top.
3. Refrigerate until firm.  Store covered in fridge.

* I have to give credit to Amy for introducing me to this recipe and for making the truffles pictured above.

Rutabagas are mysterious vegetables that I had no idea what to do with.  You have to boil the hell out of the rutabagas to get them tender.  The smashed rutabaga recipe tastes a lot like mashed potatoes but it feels so healthy and clean!

Mashed Rutabaga Recipe   ->

• 2 pounds peeled rutabagas, cut in large chunks
• Salt
• Butter

Peel the rutabagas, and cut them into chunks. Put them in a pan of cold salted water, cover, and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer until very tender, 30 to 40 minutes (seems to take forever). Drain the rutabagas, return them to the pan and heat for 2-3 minutes. Smash the chunks with a potato masher or fork, and add the salt and butter.  They taste great!

This is a really tasty soup.  We shredded some Parmesan to put on top and also crunched up some saltines.  We thought it was better a day or so after it was made.

Creamy Leek Soup Recipe ->

• 8 medium leeks (3 pound), trimmed, leaving white and pale green parts only, and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 small boiling potato (6 ounces)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth (24 fluid ounces)
• 3 cups water
• 1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 California
• 1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chilled heavy cream (we didn’t use cream)
• + Bacon – 3 cooked slices (we added this to the recipe)

Wash sliced leeks in a large bowl of cold water, agitating them, then lift out and drain well in a colander.

Cook leeks, onion, carrot, celery, salt, and pepper in 4 tablespoons butter in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Peel potato and cut into 1/2-inch cubes, then add to onion mixture along with wine, stock, water, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir in parsley and simmer soup, uncovered, 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf and keep soup at a bare simmer.

Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, then add flour and cook roux, whisking, until golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add 2 cups simmering stock (from soup), whisking vigorously (mixture will be thick), then whisk mixture into remaining soup and return to a simmer, whisking.

Blend soup in 4 batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), about 1 minute per batch, transferring to a 3- to 4-quart saucepan. Reheat if necessary, then season with salt and pepper.

Beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until it almost forms soft peaks. Serve soup topped with cream.

Pizza Dough Recipe Here!  Toppings Recipes to Come!

I found this recipe in the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day Cookbook.  The Master Recipe: Boule (Artisan Free-Form Loaf) recipe can be used for pizza dough or anything really.  This is a no-knead bread book and involves mixing your ingredients and storing them to rise a few hours.  Sometimes we make this full batch and let it stay in the refrigerator for a few days and make a pizza every night for a few nights!

John took it upon himself to master this pizza dough and has made it many a’ times.  The first pizza crusts had a bit of a sweet taste for a while.  After some experimentation, John happened upon the solution.  Reducing the amount of salt by half did the job!  Zach and I can be harsh critics at times, and this pizza dough rocked our world!

For home pizza you must have:

• A Baking Stone or Pizza Stone
• A Wooden Pizza Peel

Pizza Dough Recipe   ->

FROM: The Master Recipe: Boule (Artisan Free-From Loaf) recipe for Pizza Dough

• 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100F)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
• 3/4 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt (original recipe is 1 1/2 tablespoons)
• 6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with a scoop-and-sweep method
• Cornmeal for dusting pizza peel

Mixing and Storing Dough:

Mix: Put all ingredients together in your mixer with the dough hook.  Mix it until dough is uniform.

Rise: Allow the dough to rise with a lid (not airtight, we use a damp towel over a mixer bowl, held with a rubber band) that fits well to your container/bowl.  The dough should rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or flatten on the top) for about 2-3 hours, depending on the temperature of the room.  You can actually let it rise up to 5 hours with no problems.  Fully refrigerated dough is less sticky to work with.  After it rises you can put it in the refrigerator.

Baking: Preheat the oven to 450F with your baking stone in the oven.

• Prepare your toppings.
• Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut or pull off a 1 pound (grapefruit size) piece.
• Let dough come to room temperature on a floured or corn-mealed surface.
• Flatten the dough with your hands and stretch it. You can even use a rolling pin to roll out the pizza on a board. Make sure to use plenty of flour to dust the dough and rolling pin.
• Place the rolled-out dough onto a liberally cornmeal-covered pizza peel.  (John stretches the dough out in his best pizza tossing impression without throwing anything)
• Put your toppings on top (don’t over sauce, the dough won’t cook as evenly).
• Slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in the oven from the pizza peel.
• Bake 10 minutes @ 450F or until the crust is brown.