This recipe combines two delicious things: wine and cake! This cake is moist and flavorful, with a tender crumb and rich flavor- thanks in part to the “secret” ingredient: red wine in both the cake batter and the glaze.

Red Wine Coffee Cake
Makes 1 bundt cake

Ingredients:
•    1/2 cup butter, melted
•    3/4 cup sugar
•    1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
•    2 eggs
•    1 teaspoon cinnamon
•    1 teaspoon allspice
•    1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•    2 1/4 cups flour
•    large pinch of salt
•    3/4 cup red wine

Method:
•    Preheat oven to 350. Grease a bundt or tube pan liberally with spray, butter, or vegetable oil.
•    Using a mixer, combine melted butter and sugars and mix until well blended.
•    Add eggs and beat for about 3-5 minutes, until mixture is fluffy.
•    Combine orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, flour, and salt in a bowl. Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the wine and mix gently. Repeat twice until all ingredients are added and thoroughly mixed together.
•    Spoon the batter into prepared pan and spread to even out. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cake is done when a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
•    Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Flip onto baking rack and let cool to room temperature.

For the glaze:
Combine 1/2 cup red wine and 2 cups sifted powdered sugar in a small saucepan with a whisk over medium heat. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat and continue whisking until there are no lumps. Let cool 15 minutes then pour or spoon over the cake.

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Divine! Although I did dump it out and realize it wasn’t done yet, so I had to re-upside-down it, cook it some more, then re-un-upside-down it. It worked surprisingly well in the end although there was a period of severe swearing that involved liquid hot caramel magma all over the kitchen and my pants, but the cake looked good after all that so no big deal in the end.

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Here’s the how to: Chop potatoes and steak (or chicken, pork chop, meat loaf, whatev) into roughly equal size cubes (1/2 inch-ish). Chop a couple shallots or onions finely. If you’re like me, then for some odd reason your leftovers also fortuitously include a ziploc containing 5 cooked bacon slices and you should definitely chop those up as well. If you’re lucky enough to own a vegetable, like a bell pepper or broccoli or something, well then your fridge is better stocked than mine. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, then give that the chop chop as well.

Heat some butter (or lard, duck fat, olive oil, whatev) in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the potatoes- those should get crispy so they need to cook the longest. If you have some hard vegetable like broccoli then throw that in with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss or stir to brown the potatoes on multiple sides. When you’ve got some nice browning on at least a couple of sides, add the shallots (and your softer vegetable if you’re using one: I’m talking bell pepper or zucchini-type stuff) and cook another couple minutes until the shallots soften but not so long that they brown. Add the meat(s) and cook just until heated through, tossing or stirring, a couple minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust. If you really want to clog your family’s arteries, fry some eggs and put ‘em over the top. What the hell. You only live once.

I like to eat this with some Greek yogurt mixed in, but then again, I’m weird like that.

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I received an issue of Bon Appetit in the mail the other day. I have no idea why since I don’t subscribe to it or any other food magazines because if I did, then what would I read at my Mom’s house? I thank the magazine gods because in this particular issue Molly from Orangette wrote a story about British flapjacks and included a recipe. I give it four thumbs up: 2 for the story and 2 for the recipe.

To quote the article: “…about two chews in, the flavor came: deep and hearty, the way good oatmeal can be . . . You take a bite, and it tastes good, if a little wholesome. But you keep chewing, and in a second or two, the flavor opens up threefold, big and toasty and rich, and your salivary glands start going, and you think, This is delicious. I don’t know what this thing is, but I’m going to need another.” Amen, sister. That’s a perfect description of the experience.

Next time I’m going to adulterate them with dried cherries or chopped dates or coconut or nuts or all of the above.

Here’s the recipe.

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Cornbread can be too sweet or too mealy or too dry or too boring, but this cornbread is none of those things. I’m guessing it’s largely because of the copious amounts of bacon and bacon grease that go into it, but there could be other reasons. I like it warm out of the oven or lightly toasted. With all the fat in it, even I don’t need to put butter on it… and that’s saying quite a lot since I like to put butter on EVERYTHING. But it’s not solely enhanced by the pig products- it’s rounded out with caramelized onions and a measure of parmesan cheese just for the heck of it. So swine up your cornbread- one bite and you will wonder why you have spent all these years eating stupid regular non-porked cornbread.

Props to my friend Rodney for the bones of the recipe, who wants to try this with pork sausage instead of bacon and turn it into stuffing, which makes me ask, great, what time should I be there for dinner, pal?

Swinetastic Cornbread

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. thick cut bacon or pancetta, cut in small squares
• 1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tblsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• ¾ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• ½ cup milk or buttermilk
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup bacon grease (liquid) + more for greasing the pan and cooking the onions
• ½ cup grated or shaved parmigiano

Method:

• Cook bacon over medium heat until brown and crispy. Remove to paper towels with slotted spoon and set aside.
• Pour out all but about 2 tsp of bacon grease and reserve for later. Turn heat to low and add onions. Season with salt and cook, stirring often, until onions are caramelized, about 20-30 minutes. Remove and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a loaf pan or square 9×9 pan with extra bacon grease.
• Mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and parmesan in a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, mix sour cream or yogurt, buttermilk, and egg.
• Mix together dry and wet ingredients, being careful not to overmix. Add liquid bacon grease and stir to combine.
• Gently stir in cheese, bacon, and onions. Pour into prepared pan and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Serve warm or let cool and toast lightly before serving.

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This is a pretty heavy dish, obviously- sweet and filling. It’s definitely more of a Sunday brunch than a 7 AM weekday kind of thing. Mostly because you’ll go into a food coma after eating it and might need to lie down.

While I thought it sounded good as is, I has a vision that using cinnamon bread for the french toast would kick it into the next level. It’s best to use thin slices of the cinnamon bread for the best ratio of bread to filling. The sweetness begged for a salinated cured pork product so I served it with salty, thick-cut bacon. Elvis may have left the building, but he left behind some damn fine French toast.

French Toast a la Elvis

serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk (can use some or all buttermilk if desired)
• pinch salt
• 1 loaf cinnamon swirl bread, sliced into 12 pieces
• crunchy peanut butter to taste, about 10 tablespoons total
• 3 bananas, sliced in rounds about 1/8 inch thick
• butter and non-stick spray for cooking

Method:

• Whisk eggs and milk together.
• Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add about 1 tsp butter.
• Dip bread in egg mixture and cook on both sides until lightly browned. Repeat until all bread has been cooked. You will have to add more butter for each batch.
• Lay french toast on a tray. Spread about 1 Tblsp peanut butter on each piece of bread. Lay 1/2 banana’s worth of rounds on top of 1/2 the french toast and sandwich with a peanut buttered one.
• Heat a panini press and spray with nonstick spray. Cook sandwiches until browned and peanut butter is a little melty.*
• Serve immediately with salty bacon.

* If you don’t have a panini press, you can make these sandwiches and then put them, assembled, in a non stick pan. Weigh them down with something heavy so they get smooshed and browned.

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Market Eggs with Peas on Toast
serves one

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp butter
• 1/4 c freshly shelled peas
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 tsp chopped fresh dill
• 1-2 Tblsp fresh ricotta
• salt and pepper
• thick slice of crusty buttered toast

Method:

• Heat butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add peas, about a tablespoon of water, and some salt. Cook peas until water evaporates.
• Add eggs and lower heat. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, flipping with a spatula, until eggs are soft scrambled.
• Remove from heat and stir in dill and ricotta. Serve on top of buttered toast.

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If you’ve never had chilaquiles before, it’s a traditional Mexican breakfast dish that consists of fried tortilla chips coated in a green or red sauce, layered with scrambled eggs and chorizo, and baked with cheese on top. While it makes it something of a royal pain in the butt, the key to this recipe’s tastiness lies in frying up the tortilla chips yourself. If you have an avid and patient kitchen helper (even one who lacks culinary skillz), this chip-frying task would be a good time to call on them.

Chilaquiles are also commonly lauded as a hangover cure. To that end, Robert always makes this on the Sunday of our yearly Spring wine-tasting weekend. To protect his precious family recipes, I have made some key changes in this version! Robert: you can sleep easy knowing that while now everyone can enjoy some delicious chilaquiles, they will never be exactly the same as the ones you make.

Robert’s Chilaquiles
serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh corn tortillas
• 2 – 29 oz cans tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 Tblsp chili powder
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 3 chicken bouillion cubes
• 1 Tblsp flour, shaken in a jar with 2 Tblsp water
• 1 pound fresh Mexican chorizo
• 12 eggs, beaten well
• 1/2 pound grated cheese (Monterey Jack, mild cheddar, or shredded Mexican blend)
• 1 cup queso fresco, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste
• vegetable oil for frying

Method:

• Cut tortillas into chip-sized wedges. Heat about 1 inch of oil in a large saute pan. Fry chips in batches until golden on both sides, removing to drain on paper towels.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, garlic, and bouillion. Heat over medium heat until bubbling. Lower heat and leave to simmer. Stir in flour/water mixture and salt and pepper. Taste and add more seasonings if you wish.
• Continue simmering over low heat for about 30 more minutes, stirring to make sure sauce doesn’t stick to pot.
• Preheat oven to 350.
• Combine half of chips and half of sauce, tossing to coat well. Lay in 9×13 pan. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until chips have dried out a bit.
• While chips are baking, cook chorizo, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned. Add eggs, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until scrambled.
• Spread egg and chorizo mixture over chips. Mix remaining chips with remaining sauce and spread on top of eggs.
• Sprinkle grated cheese on top, then crumble queso fresco over the top.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese is melted. Serve with refried beans, Spanish rice, avocadoes, and sour cream.

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I made it as a dessert, which was OK, but I think it would be an absolute knock-out for brunch. Next time I’m going to cover the entire top with berries. I used big smooshy blackberries and wished I had one in every bite!

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I love the combination of berries and oranges, so I incorporated both orange zest and juice into the batter, along with some vanilla yogurt for tang and sweetness. Using the yogurt, which I always have on hand, also prevented me from buying a quart of buttermilk and only using 1 cup, then letting the rest rot in my fridge… which is what has happened every single time I have ever bought buttermilk in my entire life, without fail. Seriously, it’s a real problem.

You should feel free to play with the spices or flavors in this recipe to mix it up. Other combinations that would be delicious would be…

• replace the orange with lemon, and replace blueberries with raspberries
• replace the orange with lime, and replace blueberries with blackberries, omit the cinnamon, and add toasted coconut
• keep the orange and replace blueberries with chocolate chunks, with or without the cinnamon and ginger (I’d keep ‘em in)
• keep all as is but add chopped toasted nuts and/or a handful of granola in the batter

Spiced Orange Blueberry Pancakes
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• zest of 2 oranges
• 2 cups vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 pint blueberries, rinsed and dried
• butter for pan, and to serve

Method:

• Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
• Add orange zest, yogurt, juice, egg, and butter and stir to combine. (Batter may be lumpy.)
• Heat skillet over medium heat and add a small dollop of butter (about a teaspoon.) When butter bubbles, pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the skillet for each pancake. Sprinkle about 8-10 blueberries over each pancake.
• When pancake is golden on the bottom, flip and cook the other side until done.
• Repeat with remaining batter. To keep warm while cooking, you can put the cooked pancakes in a 175 degree oven while you’re finishing up.
• Serve warm with maple syrup and butter.

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