Food-rific weekend

I love that food is always more than just food. It's friends and family coming together for a shared experience.

Friday, Jack, Jossie and I dropped off a meal to a new friend, who is a beautiful person inside and out, and mom to a 2-year-old daughter and newborn twin boys. Oy! You can check out her blog here. I love bringing new parents brunch (because, honey, you ain't going out to brunch anytime soon with a newborn), and this dish is over-the-top in every way:

Savory breakfast bread and sausage strata
Adapted from Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster's Market by Sara Foster
Serves 8 to 10

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 lb breakfast sausage, de-cased (your butcher can do this for you)
1 5 oz bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves
2 1/2 cups milk
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
6 cups 1 1/2-inch cubes day-old French bread
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (about 6 oz)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 oz)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Melt the 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the sausage and cook for 4 minutes or so, breaking into pieces as it cooks.  Stir in the spinach and saute until it is just wilted, about two minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, and drain off any liquid.

2. Whisk together the milk, eggs, mustard, salt and pepper. Add the bread and stir to coat. Stir in the sausage mixture, cheeses, thyme and rosemary and pour into prepared dish.  Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or, preferably, overnight.

3. Twenty minutes before you're ready to serve, remove from fridge.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until it is puffy and golden brown.  Remove the bread pudding from the oven and let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm and enjoy.

Saturday, we headed to the Green City Market with our friends Emily and Steve. On his own, Jack discovered pickling cucumbers at Genesis Growers, and Auntie Em encouraged him to make pickles. So we bought four, and Jack and I made a batch of these yesterday afternoon. This is an easy recipe for kids, and Jack proudly peeks in the fridge from time to time to see how his pickles are doing:

Jack's superhero "get you out of a pickle" fridge pickles

Adapted from The Foster's Market Cookbook by Sara Foster

Makes about 1 quart

2 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon pickling spice

4 to 5 small pickling cucumbers, sliced in quarters

1/4 small white onion, thinly sliced into rounds

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, black pepper and pickling spices in a quart jar. Place the lid on the jar and shake until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Layer the cucumbers and onion in the jar using a wooden spoon to press them tightly into the jar. Place the lid on the jar, shake it well, and refrigerate at least 4 hours, shaking the jar occasionally to keep the ingredients mixed. These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for at least 1 month.

Last night, we met friends Scott and Sarah for dinner out at Nightwood in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. It's been a long time since the four of us have been out sans kids, and this place was perfect. They used locally sourced organic ingredients, integrated into wonderfully creative dishes with Latin and Asian influences. 

And now it's Sunday. I had high hopes of going to church by myself but it's raining and we're all tired and hanging out in our pjs. As you can see, I'm on a Foster's Market kick - Sara Foster worked with Martha Stewart before opening this market in Durham, NC in 1990. We had the opportunity to visit when my cousin got married in Raleigh in 2007. I love all of her cookbooks. Here's another favorite recipe, which we made this morning:

Buttermilk pancakes 

Adapted from The Foster's Market Cookbook by Sara Foster

Makes about 20 (4-inch) pancakes.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix the flour, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

Whisk egg yolks, buttermilk, 6 tablespoons of the butter and vanilla in a separate bowl and set aside. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form.

Meanwhile, heat a griddle over medium-high heat until a drop of water dances on the surface. Add flour mixture to liquids and stir just until well blended. Gently fold in the whites; do not overmix.

Scoop about 1/4 cup batter to make each pancake, spreading it or allowing it to settle. Space pancakes 2 inches apart. Cook until batter forms bubbles. Flip the cakes and cook about 2 minutes more. Top with berries, bananas and/or syrup. Enjoy!