Chocolate-Blood Orange Marble Bread

I eagerly wait in anticipation for blood orange season. I know there are plenty of delicious orange varieties out there months earlier than when blood oranges hit the market (and I eat plenty of those), but there’s something special about cutting open the bright orange rind and discovering what shade of magenta- to wine-colored flesh lies inside. They are fairly easy to find at grocery stores these days, but if you can’t find them in your area or your looking for a good, small-farm provider, you can buy them from my friends at Good Taste Farm! Farmers Kris and Sarah have some of the best citrus I’ve eaten and they’ll happily ship directly to your house or office. Plus, you can sign up for monthly subscription boxes so you’ll get a tasty surprise box each month filled with goodies like limes, passion fruit, and today’s subject - blood oranges.

When I’m in need of something delicious but don’t have a lot of time and/or energy, I turn to quick breads. With a simple stir-together batter, this marbled style looks complicated, but it’s actually really easy. You make one batter, scoop some out, and add cocoa to one portion. No fuss, just a beautiful and tasty end result. The bright pink glaze gets its color from that magenta blood orange juice - thank you nature! You can get more creative with this recipe by adding in some spices like ginger or cardamom, adding a touch of almond extract, or stirring in some chocolate chips. Have fun with it, and happy baking!

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Chocolate & Blood orange marble bread

Makes 1 (8x4-inch) loaf or 6 servings

ingredients

Bread

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoon white sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
  and divided

• ½ cup salted butter, melted

• ¼ cup blood orange juice

• 2 large eggs

• Zest of 1 blood orange

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

• ½ teaspoon almond extract

• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons blood orange juice

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Spray an 8x4-inch loaf pan with baking spray. Line sides and bottom with parchment paper letting the excess stick up over the edges.

2. BREAD: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together ¼ cup milk, melted butter, ¼ cup blood orange juice, eggs, zest, vanilla paste, and almond extract. Stir butter mixture into flour mixture until combined. Reserve 1 cup batter in a small bowl; stir cocoa powder and remaining ¼ cup milk into reserved batter.

3. Add half of plain batter to prepared pan, smoothing with an offset spatula. Pour chocolate batter over plain, mostly cover it it. Top with remaining plain batter. Gently swirl batters together using a knife.

4. Bake for 55 to 57 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely in pan.

5. GLAZE: In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons blood orange juice until smooth. Add additional tablespoons if a thinner consistency is desired. Top cooled loaf with glaze and blood orange slices, if desired. Bread will keep, covered, at room temperature for 2 days.

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Butternut Squash Rose Quiche

Butternut Squash Rose Quiche

Makes 1 (9-inch) quiche

ingredients

• Rosemary Pie Dough (recipe below)

• ¼ to ⅓ pound butternut squash shavings (see How To below)

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 cup roughly chopped mushrooms

• 1 small leek

• Kosher salt

• Ground black pepper

• ⅓ cup shredded or crumbled cheese (anything works!)

• 4 large eggs

• ¼ cup milk

method

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Roll pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Place in a 9-inch pie pan and trim edges to extend 1 inch beyond the rim. Tuck edges under and crimp. Freeze while making rosettes.

3. Roll one or two strips of butternut squash together like a cinnamon roll. Depending on the tightness of your roll, you’ll need 35 to 40 roses. Place roses to the side.

4. Place pie pan on a rimmed baking sheet and line pie dough with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.

5. In a large frying pan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add leeks and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Carefully remove parchment and pie weights from crust. Spread mushroom mixture in the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle with cheese. Place butternut squash roses on top, open end facing up some space between them.

6. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Carefully pour egg mixture into pie. (try pouring between the roses to keep the tops from being covered with egg.)

7. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until edges of crust are golden brown and center is firm and set. Serve immediately.

rosemary pie dough

Makes 1 (9-inch) single-crust pie

ingredients

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon powdered dried rosemary

• ½ cup cold salted butter, cubed

• ⅓ cup ice water

method

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and rosemary. Toss in butter cubed. Cut in using a pastry blender or use your hands by pressing cubes between your thumb and pointer finger. Continue until butter pieces are small, about the size of a small lima bean. Pour water over flour mixture and slowly fold in using a fork. Continue until a shaggy dough forms and only a small bit of flour remains loose and crumbly.

2. Shape dough into a disk, folding dough over itself a few times if needed, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour or up to 2 days.

How to Make Butternut Squash Roses

Using a vegetable peeler, remove outer skin of squash. Working from one end to the other, shave long strips of squash. Place a piece of squash flat on your cutting board and roll tightly from one short end to the other. Place roll on the end of another strip and roll the strip around it. Repeat until enough roses have been made to cover the pie’s bottom.

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Meyer Lemon Snowballs

If you’re looking for a last minute holiday cookie recipe, these snowballs are perfect. These little almond shortbreads flavored with Meyer lemon and tossed in powdered sugar are simple to make and last for several days if stored in an airtight container. If you don’t have Meyer lemons, you can substitute with your favorite citrus. Or, for more “festive” flavor, sub the tablespoon of lemon juice for bourbon and add a few fresh grates of nutmeg to the batter and over the top of the sugar coated cookies. (Eggnog snowballs? Heck yeah.)

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Meyer Lemon Snowballs

Makes about 36

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup almond flour

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon juice

• 1 ½  teaspoons Meyer lemon zest, plus more to garnish

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ teaspoon almond extract

• 2 cups powdered sugar

 method

1. Preheat oven to 325º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours and salt. 

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add lemon juice, zest, and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat just until combined. 

4. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture. Beat until dough forms and becomes the consistency of playdough, about 20 seconds after all flour is added. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. (Using a 1½  tablespoon spring loaded scoop works wonders for this.) Place dough balls on baking sheet 1-inch apart. 

5. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until edges begin to brown and dough does not look wet. Cool for 5 minutes. Roll cookies in powdered sugar and set on a wire rack to cool completely. Toss in powdered sugar again once cool. Top with lemon zest, if desired. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to one week. 

Cranberry-Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies can be a pretty controversial thing for something so simple. Is the perfect cookie crispy, chewy, or cakey? Or is it chewy and crispy? Is the center doughy or is it dry? Should the chocolate be in chips, chunks, or wafers? Brown sugar, white sugar, or a mix of both? Hours-long debates could be held among cookie lovers about what qualifies a chocolate chip cookie as perfect.

This may or may not be the perfect chocolate chip cookie to you. I can’t make any guarantees other than it’s delicious and that’s all that might really matters; after all, you’re still eating a cookie packed with chocolate. What’s to hate? This cookie base starts with browned butter, a mix of brown and white sugars, gets a good dose of orange zest and vanilla, and then, for a touch of festive flavor, a big handful of fresh cranberries - and yes, of course, lots and lots of good dark chocolate…..chunks. I prefer buying a good bar and chopping it myself and throwing it in the dough - irregular sized chunks and tiny shavings alike. You can choose whatever form of chocolate you like, though. And, if cranberries aren’t your thing, leave them out or try a different fruit. Blueberries - yum! Dried chopped apricots - send me some!! Black raisins - okay, maybe we should talk…

An important note about this dough: It’s easy to make but it’s important to be patient. The dough requires a rest time of at least 30 minutes before shaping and baking. I know, it’s hard to wait for fresh baked cookies, but trust me, let the dough take a cat nap. This rest time allows the flavor to develop and it hydrates the flour, creating a better textured cookie.

Oh, did I mention this recipe makes huge cookies that are chewy on the inside (but not doughy) and crispy/caramelizes on the edges? You could call it perfect, but we won’t start that debate right now….you’ve got cookies to bake! The dough also freezes great and can be baked straight from the freezer. So, make a big batch, scoop it, and freeze the dough balls. Want to make smaller cookies to stuff holiday goodie boxes? Those instructions are included, too. Happy baking!

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CRANBERRY-ORANGE CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

Makes: about 15 (5-inch) cookies // about 32 (2.5-inch) cookies

ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 2 teaspoons orange zest

• 1 large egg

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup fresh cranberries

• 1 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks

method

1. Add butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the milk solids separate and brown (about 10 minutes starting with cold butter). Transfer to a bowl and let cool while you prep the remaining ingredients, or 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and ground ginger. In another large mixing bowl, beat browned butter, sugars, and orange zest at medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, beating for another minute. With mixer on low, gradually add flour until fully combined. Stop to scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Fold in chocolate, cranberries, and crystallized ginger. Let dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350º. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, shiny side up, and lightly spray with cooking spray.

4. For large cookies: Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough into balls. Arrange dough balls on lined baking sheet 4 inches apart. (Bake in batches.)

   Bake for 14 to 15 minutes. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

   For small cookies: Using a 1.5 tablespoon spring loaded scoop, scoop cookie dough into balls. Arrange dough balls on lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. (Bake in batches.)

   Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Let cool on pan for 5 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

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Freeze the dough

Freezing cookie dough is a great way to prep for busy baking seasons or to always have cookies on hand - because that’s obviously the best reason.

Scoop dough onto a wax paper lined pan. Freeze for several hours or overnight. Frozen dough can then be transferred to freezer bags. (This works for both cookie sizes.)

When ready to bake, preheat oven and bake as directed, adding 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.

Kohlrabi and Root Vegetable Hash

If you read the title and had a confused look at the word "kohlrabi" then you aren't close to being alone in that reaction. However, I would venture to say the chances that you've crossed paths with kohlrabi before are probably high if you frequent winter farmers markets or entered Whole Foods recently.  Kohlrabi is kind of like the cute black sheep of the cabbage family - doesn't look much like a cabbage at all but is rather beautiful and unique to its self in appearance and texture (see image below). Kohlrabi is mostly grown for its bulbous bottom but all parts of the plant are edible. When the crunchy bulb is consumed raw, its relation to cabbage becomes evident with the family's signature sweet and peppery taste. Kohlrabi is also an incredibly nutritious cool-weather crop, packed with fiber and Vitamin C. 

Curious about trying the delicious black sheep cabbage cousin? This breakfast hash recipe is the perfect introduction! Peppery bits of kohlrabi are well balanced with the sweetness of parsnips and sweet potatoes. And if cooked in a cast iron skillet, you'll get to enjoy lots of crispy bits as the vegetables cook in bacon drippings. If there were any doubts about love at first reading, the addition of lots of fresh rosemary and perfectly soft-baked eggs should fix that issue.

You can find the full recipe on Bonnie Plants' website and by clicking the button or image below. Happy breakfast feasting!