Weekend Eats: Brunch for Dinner

Monday morning weigh-in: 177.5

That leaves less than 30 lbs to go. Let's hope this trend continues. :)

This weekend, we had guests over for dinner on Saturday. I had bought yellow crookneck squash at the farmer's market on Thursday, and decided I wanted to make something other than fried squash. Matt loves fried squash, but it's just not my favorite dish, and since it's the only thing I know how to make with squash, it was time to find a new recipe. That, and the red potatoes I had on hand made me think of brunch. I think its because potatoes remind me of hash browns, which leads me to eggs - and the thought of ooey gooey egg yolks entices me every time.

The final dinner (brunch) menu:
Baked Eggs
Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte
Al fresco Chicken Sausage - two varieties, Country Sage and Apple Maple, pan fried
Roasted Peaches with Honeyed Ricotta
English Muffins, toasted under a high heat broiler

Baked Eggs
Preheat oven to 350º F. Spray each cup in a muffin tin with cooking spray. Carefully crack an egg in each muffin tin, up to the number of eggs you want. I made 10 for four people, and had one left over. Bake in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes, to desired doneness. I baked them for about 13 minutes, and the white was done, and the yolk was almost done. I'll probably bake them a little less next time.

Squash and Potato Torte 
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Smitten Kitchen
I pretty much followed the recipe on Smitten Kitchen, but I added a bit of Ricotta, and prepared the entire recipe in a 10" stainless steel skillet. 

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup Ricotta Cheese
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds Red potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
12 ounces yellow crookneck squash or regular yellow or green summer squash, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
8 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray one deep 10" oven-safe skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside 1/4 cup sliced green onions. Toss remaining green onions, cheese, flour, thyme, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend.

Layer 1/4 of potatoes in concentric circles in bottom of 1 prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Layer 1/3 of squash in concentric circles atop potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture. Repeat with 1/6 of potatoes, then 1/4 of squash and 2 teaspoon oil. Dot with 1/3 of the Ricotta cheese (I tried to spread it, but that didn't work so well). Sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese mixture. Repeat procedure with the remaining potatoes, squash, oil, and cheese mixture, ending with the potatoes and oil.

Cover pans with foil. Bake until potatoes are almost tender, about 75 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until tortes begin to brown and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes longer. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and chill. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes. - I stopped after the first 75 minutes, and then put it back in the oven to rewarm and brown for about half an hour)

Cut each torte into wedges. Sprinkle wedges with 1/4 cup green onions; serve.  (Makes 8 servings)


Roasted Peaches
Adapted from Gourmeted.com
4 Peaches
2/3 cup sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash peaches and cut into wedges. Dip cut edges of peaches into a mixture of 1 part lemon juice and 4 parts water (I used lime juice, since I had it on hand). Mix sugar and cinnamon on a plate. Dip cut edges of peaches into sugar and cinnamon. Place in a 8x8 glass baking dish, and add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom. Bake for 20 minutes.


Honeyed Ricotta
2/3 cup ricotta
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of honey

Place ricotta in a small food processor and process until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract and honey (I just added to the processor and ran it a few more times). Transfer to a lidded container and chill until ready to serve.