“Home Is Where the Eggs Are: Farmhouse Food for the People You Love” by Molly Yeh. William Morrow. 338 pages, $32.50.
When my grandchildren were still toddlers, I admit I often fed them hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches. But now that they have developed more mature pallets, I’m hoping to try out more exotic foods, sort of. I know that they still will always eat most any fruit, muffins, and spaghetti, but I’m frequently on the lookout for things they may not have yet tried that they might like. Enter this new cookbook by Molly Yeh, with its just perfect name.
The star of the Food Network show “Girl Meets Farm” and recipient of several awards for her cooking, Molly put this book together after she and her husband, Nick, had their first child. It reflects her ah-ha moment that “feeding a family is different.” She has embraced that idea that food has become “about building family traditions and memories, celebrating the everyday.”
This cookbook gathers recipes that Molly developed for feeding her husband and daughter, Bernadette, as well as some fancier fare for her job. I am definitely going to try lots of them out on my grandchildren, especially the one for Baked Egg Rolls, made by filling flour tortillas with meat and veggies and baking until golden brown since they are partial to finger-foods.
The first recipe included here is for scrambled eggs, enhanced by the addition of cream cheese and everything bagel topping. (Molly’s recipe for this popular mix is to combine equal parts of dried minced onion, dried minced garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, kosher salt to taste, and caraway seeds, if you like them.) I know my grandchildren like scrambled eggs, and these are especially tasty; they are not difficult to prepare, nor what they might call “weird,” their immediate reaction to new foods. (I will probably not douse them with the everything bagel seasoning, the scallion, or the dill.)
Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs
Quickly scatter on the cream cheese. When the bottom of the egg is set, use a spatula to pull one side of the egg in toward the other side, bunching up the bottom set part and letting the uncooked egg pool in the exposed part of the pan. Promptly push the opposite side of the egg back to the side where you started. Gently pull it around a couple more times until is just set and slide onto a plate. Sprinkle liberally with everything bagel seasoning and salt, if desired, and finish with the scallion and dill. Serve with ketchup, if desired, and toast. Makes one small serving. Double if you’re hungry.
The next recipe is for a French bread pizza that is topped with a creamy, lemony Caesar salad just before serving. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, as the salad give the cheesy pizza a delicious crunch.
Caesar Salad French Bread Pizza
Caesar Dressing
Preheat oven to 425.
Slice French bread in half lengthwise, but leave it connected on one side and place cut side up on a sheet pan. Brush inside of bread with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic, spread with pizza sauce, and cover with mozzarella. Sprinkle with oregano and chicken, if using, and bake until the cheese is melted and the edges are toasty, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the romaine with Caesar dressing.
Cut the pizza into four big slices crosswise, then top with salad and sprinkle with crushed red pepper, black pepper, and Parmesan. Fold over into a sandwich. Makes four servings.
Here is the recipe for the Baked Egg Rolls. I will serve them with some red sweet and sour sauce, which is tempting to my grandchildren.
Baked Egg Rolls
Heat large skillet over medium heat and add oil. Add onion, celery, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add beef and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Turn off the heat and stir in the coleslaw mix, stirring for a minute or two so that the cabbage wilts slightly. Add the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and loads of black pepper and mix to combine.
Scoop 1/2 cup of the mixture in a line across the equator of a tortilla, roll it up, and place it seam side down on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling, spacing them out evenly on the sheet pan. Brush the top with a thick layer of oil and bake until lightly golden; begin checking for doneness at 14 minutes. Let cool slightly and cut in half on the diagonal.
Serve with a dipping sauce of one part vinegar and one part soy sauce.
Makes 12 egg rolls.
When my grandchildren were still toddlers, I admit I often fed them hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches. But now that they have developed more mature pallets, I’m hoping to try out more exotic foods, sort of. I know that they still will always eat most any fruit, muffins, and spaghetti, but I’m frequently on the lookout for things they may not have yet tried that they might like. Enter this new cookbook by Molly Yeh, with its just perfect name.
The star of the Food Network show “Girl Meets Farm” and recipient of several awards for her cooking, Molly put this book together after she and her husband, Nick, had their first child. It reflects her ah-ha moment that “feeding a family is different.” She has embraced that idea that food has become “about building family traditions and memories, celebrating the everyday.”
This cookbook gathers recipes that Molly developed for feeding her husband and daughter, Bernadette, as well as some fancier fare for her job. I am definitely going to try lots of them out on my grandchildren, especially the one for Baked Egg Rolls, made by filling flour tortillas with meat and veggies and baking until golden brown since they are partial to finger-foods.
The first recipe included here is for scrambled eggs, enhanced by the addition of cream cheese and everything bagel topping. (Molly’s recipe for this popular mix is to combine equal parts of dried minced onion, dried minced garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, kosher salt to taste, and caraway seeds, if you like them.) I know my grandchildren like scrambled eggs, and these are especially tasty; they are not difficult to prepare, nor what they might call “weird,” their immediate reaction to new foods. (I will probably not douse them with the everything bagel seasoning, the scallion, or the dill.)
Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs
- About 1/2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 large egg, beaten very well with a
- splash of water
- 2 Tbsp. cream cheese, cubed
- Lots of everything bagel topping
- Flaky salt or kosher salt, if your
- everything bagel topping doesn’t
- provide enough
- 1 scallion, green part only, thinly
- sliced on a very steep bias
- 1 dill spring chopped or torn
- Ketchup, optional
Quickly scatter on the cream cheese. When the bottom of the egg is set, use a spatula to pull one side of the egg in toward the other side, bunching up the bottom set part and letting the uncooked egg pool in the exposed part of the pan. Promptly push the opposite side of the egg back to the side where you started. Gently pull it around a couple more times until is just set and slide onto a plate. Sprinkle liberally with everything bagel seasoning and salt, if desired, and finish with the scallion and dill. Serve with ketchup, if desired, and toast. Makes one small serving. Double if you’re hungry.
The next recipe is for a French bread pizza that is topped with a creamy, lemony Caesar salad just before serving. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, as the salad give the cheesy pizza a delicious crunch.
Caesar Salad French Bread Pizza
- 1 loaf French bread
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- Pinch oregano
- Grilled chicken, optional
- 9 ounces romaine, chopped
- Caesar dressing, see below
- Crushed red pepper
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Grated Parmesan
Caesar Dressing
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
- Zest and juice of half a lemon
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated
- Lots of freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 Tsp. kosher salt
Preheat oven to 425.
Slice French bread in half lengthwise, but leave it connected on one side and place cut side up on a sheet pan. Brush inside of bread with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic, spread with pizza sauce, and cover with mozzarella. Sprinkle with oregano and chicken, if using, and bake until the cheese is melted and the edges are toasty, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the romaine with Caesar dressing.
Cut the pizza into four big slices crosswise, then top with salad and sprinkle with crushed red pepper, black pepper, and Parmesan. Fold over into a sandwich. Makes four servings.
Here is the recipe for the Baked Egg Rolls. I will serve them with some red sweet and sour sauce, which is tempting to my grandchildren.
Baked Egg Rolls
- 1 Tbsp. neutral oil, plus more for brushing
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
- 10-ounce bag coleslaw mix
- 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 12 6-inch flour tortillas
- Rice vinegar, for serving
Heat large skillet over medium heat and add oil. Add onion, celery, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add beef and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Turn off the heat and stir in the coleslaw mix, stirring for a minute or two so that the cabbage wilts slightly. Add the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and loads of black pepper and mix to combine.
Scoop 1/2 cup of the mixture in a line across the equator of a tortilla, roll it up, and place it seam side down on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling, spacing them out evenly on the sheet pan. Brush the top with a thick layer of oil and bake until lightly golden; begin checking for doneness at 14 minutes. Let cool slightly and cut in half on the diagonal.
Serve with a dipping sauce of one part vinegar and one part soy sauce.
Makes 12 egg rolls.