Matcha Bowl & Honey Granola

In a hopeful effort to usher in springtime weather, I'm going to post two delightfully green recipes in a row. There's a considerable bit of snow still on the ground, but I've already started picking out seeds to start for this summer's garden and a plot in our backyard to try to bring them to harvest. Speaking of, I'm excited to share that the Springfield-Green County Library District just started a fantastic new Heirloom Seed Library program in which patrons may check out locally sourced heirloom seeds for free with their library card. The seeds are currently available for checkout at The Library Station and Midtown-Carnegie Branch Libraries. If you're living in Springfield and ready to get started, stop by these branches and visit the following online resources.

• Seed Catalog and Planting Guide - details available seeds with planting instructions.
• Seed Harvesting and Saving Instructions - provides detailed steps for returning harvested seeds, which is encouraged but not required. 

The inception of the Heirloom Seed Library will be coupled with events over the next few months on basic garden planning, community gardening and seed saving. Admittedly, I'm partial, but this is a really cool new service and I'm so proud of my co-workers for bringing this dream to life. If you're living in Springfield, I hope you'll take advantage of the chance to check out seeds from the library and connect with other growers in the process. 

Onward to a new recipe that I'm excited to share with you, a Matcha bowl! I had my first Acai bowl a few weeks back and was spellbound by the experience. The bowl contains a thick acai berry smoothie topped with granola, fresh fruit then drizzled in honey. As a quick aside, I'm missing you lovely #womenincoffee and my #USCoffeeChamps breakfast pal, Heather. This breakfast bowl is inspired by that experience, but with Matcha green tea as the focal point. The thick smoothie brings together frozen pineapple, frozen banana, coconut milk, matcha powder and honey. It's garnished with a simple homemade granola, fresh fruit, honey and cocoa nibs. If you've not yet cooked or baked with matcha powder, test it out in a bit of hot water to taste it. While the cocoa nibs echo some of the soft bitter qualities of the green tea, their fruitiness brightens the experience and the honey sweetness ties everything together. Consider this on St. Patrick's Day if you're looking into green breakfast possibilities. -Mallory

Matcha Bowl
Makes 2 matcha bowls
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 frozen banana
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoons matcha powder
2 tablespoons honey, divided
1/4 cup granola, recipe below
1/4 cup cocoa nibs
1 fresh banana
1 cup fresh strawberries

Blend frozen pineapple, frozen banana, coconut milk, matcha powder and 1 tablespoon of honey in a blender until smooth. Divide the smoothie between two bowls and top each with granola, fresh fruit, cocoa nibs and the remaining honey.

Quick & Easy Granola
Makes 4 cups
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup almonds, chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Combine oats, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan over low heat combine honey, butter and vanilla extract. Stir until the butter is melted. Pour onto dry ingredients and mix until everything is well coated. Spread out evenly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 25 minutes, stirring half way through. Remove from oven, let cool and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Butternut Squash Waffles & Bourbon-Maple Creme Fraiche

I like waffles best with some sense of savory. The butternut squash offers a hint of heartiness to these waffles, making them both filling and satiating. It's a nice way to slip squash (or vegetables in general) into breakfast. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Puree
Makes 1 1/2 cups from half of the squash
1 butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil 

Only about half of the squash is needed for the waffles. Reserve the remaining half for a separate recipe, or roast, puree, and freeze it for future use. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. 

Remove the top and bottom from the squash and slice in half, lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Roast the squash cut-side up on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the squash is extremely tender. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Puree the roasted squash in a food processor, blending until smooth and stopping to scrap down the sides of the food processor as need. The puree will be thick and dense. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the butternut squash puree for the waffles.

Maple-Bourbon Creme Fraiche
Makes just over 1 cup
1 cup creme fraiche
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons bourbon 

Whisk together creme fraiche, maple syrup and bourbon. Break up any clumps then refrigerate until the waffles are ready to serve. Skip the bourbon if you like and replace it with brewed coffee or additional maple syrup. 

Butternut Squash Waffles
Makes 12 waffles
2 cups flour all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butternut squash puree
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), melted
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 eggs

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, combine butternut squash puree, buttermilk, melted butter and maple syrup. Beat eggs in a separate bowl and whisk them into the wet ingredients. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Set aside and heat the waffle iron according to its instructions. 

When the waffle iron is preheated, pour in and cook 1/3 cup of batter until golden brown. Garnish with maple-bourbon creme fraiche and fresh mint leaves.

-Mallory

Herb Fried Chicken Biscuits & Apricot Mustard

This all started with craving for apricot jam and slowly transformed into an excuse to dish up fried chicken, which happens more often than not; I love fried chicken. I have very sweet memories from childhood of fried chicken and roller coasters because my family would venture to Six Flags St. Louis theme park once every summer and we couldn't do so without packing fried chicken. The tickets were awarded to my brother, sister and me for reading books throughout the school year as part of the 600-Minutes program- now it's called Read to Succeed. When lunchtime rolled around, we migrated back to the parking lot for a packed picnic lunch of fried chicken that we enjoyed cold from iced coolers packed in the family minivan. My mom fried the chicken the night before, so as I was lying awake in bed anxious for the next day's allures, the rich smell of fried chicken seeped into my room and pulled me even further from sleep. 

Getting back to today and the apricot decisions, I opted to postpone apricot jam until summer when I can get fresh, in season apricots from the market to bring to a sweet stovetop simmer. Instead, I put together an apricot mustard from dried apricots. The mustard seeds and dried apricots take a few days to hydrate in a bath of white wine and apple cider vinegar, but the result is glorious. The biscuits and fried chicken come together in less than an hour. 

Apricot Mustard
Makes about 1 cup
1/4 cup mustard seeds
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Soak mustard seeds and apricots in a glass bowl along with wine and vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak for 3 days at room temperature.  Transfer mustard seeds, apricots, white wine and apple cider vinegar to a food processor. Add salt, brown sugar and nutmeg and blend until the mustard reaches your desired coarseness and consistency.

Buttermilk biscuits
Makes 12 biscuits
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees fahrenheit. 

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour until it’s the size of small peas. Add buttermilk in a pool in the middle, then mix until just combined. Turn out the biscuit dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently by folding it in half, rolling out the dough, then repeating the fold and roll two additional times. Cut out biscuits using a 2-inch cutter, place on parchment-lined baking sheet, then brush them with melted butter.

Bake at 475 degrees fahrenheit for 12 minutes. Remove biscuits from the oven and cool on a wire rack. 

Herb Fried Chicken
Makes 12 biscuits 
Peanut oil
6 cloves garlic, lightly smashed with skins in tact
6 sprigs hard herbs: thyme, oregano, rosemary
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, each cut into 3 pieces
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon chili sauce or hot sauce (optional)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Fry chicken in three batches using a medium skillet. Add 1 1/2 inches of peanut oil to the skillet and set the heat to medium-high. Add garlic and herbs immediately so that they infuse while the oil comes to temperature. Meanwhile, pat dry the chicken and set aside. Whisk together greek yogurt, milk and chili sauce (if using) in medium bowl. Sift together flour, salt and black pepper in a separate medium bowl. Drench the chicken first in the flour, then in the milk and again in the flour. Then fry, baby, fry. The oil is ready to start frying when it sizzles from a drop of water. Fry the chicken for 3 minutes on each side. Check for doneness by cutting into the center of a piece, then adjust heat and cooking time accordingly. It's better to keep the heat in the medium to medium-high range and cook longer than to crank the heat and end up with burnt chicken. Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined plate, then serve with biscuits and apricot mustard.

-Mallory

Spinach Artichoke Dip with a Brunch-Ready Quiche

A few years ago when dining at a local Italian cafe, Mark and I had a sizable amount of leftover spinach artichoke dip. Our server shared that her favorite fix for leftover spinach artichoke dip is to fold it into eggs the next morning. As you might suspect, this is unsurprisingly delicious. Now I'm always a tad thrilled to make this dip for a dinner gathering just to set aside some of the batch for an upcoming breakfast or brunch. The dip fares well in the freezer, too, so there's not necessarily the urgency to use it right away. We've adapted this to omelets, scrambled eggs and frittatas, but our personal favorite is quiche, especially if we are hosting out of town guests.

You can stumble upon many enjoyable recipes for spinach artichoke, but I'm a hearty proponent of making a roux of flour and butter and turning it into a cheese sauce using a smoked cheese, like smoked gouda. 

6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
10 ounces fresh spinach
2 14-ounce cans artichokes, drained and chopped
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt 
2 cups milk
8 ounces cream cheese, softened and divided into 8 smaller pieces
1 cup smoked gouda, grated
1/2 cup parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. 

Melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add fresh spinach and let it cook down, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove the spinach from heat and drain the liquid, squeezing out as much as possible, then set aside. Heat artichokes over medium heat for 2 minutes, then set aside with the spinach.

Use the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter for the roux; substitute lard or bacon fat if you have it on hand. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the fat over medium heat then add flour, stirring continuously as the roux begins to change in color and texture, 2-3 minutes. Add salt then stir in milk, making sure to break up any clumps of flour. Add in cream cheese and smoked gouda, stirring until the cheese sauce is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in spinach and artichokes. 

Grease a 9x9 inch or similarly sized baking dish. Pour the dip into the baking dish and top with grated parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve hot with sliced vegetables, bread and/or tortilla chips. Reserve a cup and a half of the dip for an upcoming quiche.

Ready for the quiche? The crust takes the most preparation, so if you're short on time you can swap in a pre-made crust. 

Quiche Crust
Makes 1 bottom crust
4 ounces butter (1 stick), chilled
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
2-4 ounces ice water

Cut the butter into small pieces then set it in the freezer to chill for 10 minutes. Combine salt and flour. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or your hands. Crumble the butter into the flour until any remaining pieces are the size of small peas. The flour will look more like cornmeal or polenta at this point. Add the vinegar and 2 ounces of ice water. Combine with a spatula until a dough forms. Add more ice water as needed, one tablespoon at a time. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and set chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Roll out the pie dough on a floured surface and place in a buttered pie dish. Line the inside of the pie with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Blind bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights or dry beans, then bake for an additional 5 minutes. Set aside to cool and prepare the filling. 

Quiche Filling
Makes 1 quiche
1 1/2 cups spinach artichoke dip
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
3 eggs

Stir together spinach artichoke dip, cayenne and heavy cream in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl then add to quiche filling. Stir until well incorporated then pour into the cooled pie crust.

Bake for 35 minutes until the sides of the quiche are set, but the middle still slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing. 

-Mallory