Besides taking the chill off cold winter mornings, an added plus to this robust brunch menu is that the entire meal can be made a day before serving.
The harvest loaf, ham hash and pear sauce all hold up and, in fact, improve in flavor if refrigerated.
Even the eggs can be poached ahead, placed in a bowl of cool water, covered, and refrigerated up to two days.
For the ham hash, we made good use of leftover baked ham, but the same results can be achieved with cooked ham purchased from a deli.
The spicy pear sauce is a delicious, make-ahead topping for eggs and hash.
Remember, when cooking recipes, it is sometimes possible to substitute one ingredient for another. In this case, apples can be substituted for the pears. If apples are in your refrigerator, use them. You will feel great satisfaction when you get raves for your creativity in recipe development and you also will save time and money.
MENU OF THE WEEK
Acorn harvest loaf
Ham hash with poached eggs and spicy pear sauce
Orange juice, coffee, milk
ACORN HARVEST LOAF
Two loaves
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 60 to 70 minutes
4 small acorn squash, about 3 pounds
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon each: salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each: allspice, nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup oil
1 1/3 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange rind
Cream cheese and orange marmalade (optional)
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter two 8- by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans.
2. Rinse squash, pat dry. Using the tip of a small, sharp knife, pierce shells in several places so steam can escape while squash is baking. Bake squash on baking sheet until soft and cooked through, about 1 hour. Remove from oven, cool until squash can be easily handled. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3. When squash is cool enough to handle, cut in half. Remove and discard seeds. Scoop squash plup from shells into food processor or blender container; discard shells. Puree squash until smooth, about 30 seconds, and reserve. You should have about 1 cup.
4. Put flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and raisins in medium bowl, toss to mix. Reserve.
5. Put oil, sugar, egg, milk, orange rind and reserved squash into large mixing bowl. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Slowly add dry ingredients with mixer running. Mix just to blend; do not overmix.
6. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake in middle of oven until metal skewer comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pans. Cool completely before slicing. Bread keeps wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerated up to 1 week. Bread may also be frozen.
7. Serve bread sliced. Top with cream cheese and marmalade, if desired.
Note: Bread can be frozen, well-wrapped, up to several months.
HAM HASH WITH POACHED EGGS AND SPICY PEAR SAUCE
Four servings
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Spicy pear sauce:
1 medium jalapeno pepper
1 slice bacon
1/2 cup each: diced green pepper, diced celery, diced pears
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon each: dry mustard, salt, black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 pears, peeled, cored, cut into thick slices
Ham hash:
1 tablespoon butter
4 cups cooked finely chopped baked ham; about 2 pounds
1 cup peeled, diced, cooked potato
1/2 cup each: diced onion, beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Poached eggs:
4 large eggs, room temperature
1. For sauce, remove stem from jalapeno pepper and cut pod in half. Remove and discard seeds. Finely mince pepper and reserve.
2. Cook bacon in skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon, drain on paper towel. Crumble bacon; reserve.
3. Add jalapeno and green peppers, celery and diced pears to same skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle flour, dry mustard, salt, black pepper and red pepper over vegetables. Cook, stirring until well mixed, about 3 minutes. Add bay leaf and broth. Stir until smooth and well blended, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Stir in cream and reserved bacon. (Note: Sauce may be made ahead to this point. Transfer sauce to bowl and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate up to 2 days. To reheat, return sauce to saucepan; heat over low heat, adding more cream or chicken broth if sauce is too thick.)
6. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in small skillet over high heat. Add pear slices; saute until nicely browned. Remove from heat and reserve for assembly. 7. For hash, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat in large skillet; add ham, potato, onion, broth, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Cook, stirring, until well mixed and ingredients are slightly dry and hold together. (Hash may be made ahead to this point. Transfer hash to a medium-size bowl with tight-fitting lid and refrigerate up to 2 days. To reheat, put hash into skillet and reheat on stovetop over medium to low heat, stirring occasionally.)
8. To poach eggs, fill a deep, 10-inch skillet with water to within 1 inch from top and heat to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to simmer; water should continue to move gently.
9. Break one egg into small dish. Gently slide egg into water, keeping egg as close to the edge of skillet as possible. Repeat process, continuing to add eggs as quickly as possible to water so that the difference in cooking time is not too great between first and last egg.
10. As soon as all the eggs are in the water, drag the bottom of a large slotted spoon across the surface of the water to move the eggs about a bit and keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once some of the whites have hardened, the eggs will not stick.
11. Cook eggs until yolks are still a bit runny and whites are firm, about 3 to 4 minutes.
12. Remove cooked eggs with slotted spoon to bowl filled with cool water. When eggs are cool enough to handle, gently lift each one from water with slotted spoon; trim off any hanging pieces of egg whites with scissors. Return to bowl of fresh water. Cover and refrigerate up to two days.
13. To reheat eggs: Heat enough water over high heat to boil in skillet to cover eggs. Gently remove eggs from cold water with slotted spoon to boiling water. Cook about 1 minute, just to heat through.
14. To assemble dish, spoon about 1 cup of hash onto 4 plates. Top each hash serving with 1 egg. Spoon some of the pear sauce over each egg; garnish with reserved sauteed pear slices. Pour remaining sauce into small serving dish to pass.
