Making Do Dinner Strata

These days, a major goal is limiting the number of times we venture out to the grocery store, so I like making up meals with food on hand. Fortunately, I had all the ingredients to make up a substantial dinner strata. In fact, knowing that we would be picking up an order of fantastic bread from Singe at the Chevy Chase Farmers Market in the morning, I wanted to use up some (13 day!) old bread. More on that later, but first, as requested:

The Recipe, Skeleton Version

4+ cups of old bread, cubed *
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup country ham, finely chopped **
1 cup + grated cheese ***
1 cup + roughly chopped (or snipped) spinach
butter for preparing the casserole and for sautéing the onions/ham
salt and pepper
seasoning (I used some Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning)

     Whisk the eggs and milk together and let sit while you prepare the other ingredients. Saute the chopped onion in some butter and olive oil for about 5 minutes, just until softened and add in the ham just to meld the flavors. You can add the seasoning you want to use to this mixture, along with some pepper. Add a modest amount of salt to the egg mixture (country ham and cheese provide a lot of saltiness).
     Place half of the bread cubes in the bottom of a buttered casserole. Cover that with half of the spinach, the seasoned onion/ham mixture and then not quite half of the cheese. Repeat with a second layer. Pour the egg mixture over and put a little extra grated cheese on top, if you wish. I used a smallish, but deep casserole.
     Most recipes call for refrigerating the strata for 8 hours or overnight. The strata is removed half an hour before cooking. Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 35 minutes. Remove foil, or top and cook another 20 minutes or until golden. Let rest for 10 minutes. That is the guidance I got from recipes--Here is what I did because I had not planned ahead:   Place in fridge for 1 hour. Remove to warm to room temperature for 30 minutes. Place in oven, covered and set to 300 degrees to slowly begin warming. Leave for 30 minutes and turn up to 325 and bake 20 minutes. Remove covering and turn heat up to 375 for 20 minutes or until golden. Let rest briefly before digging in.

* We had about a third of a loaf of Pain au levain and a bit of some Vollkornbrot (German, for whole grain bread, I believe) from Bluegrass Baking Company. The bread had been stored in paper bags, so it was hard as a rock, but still quite tasty. I had to hose the bread down a couple of times, wrap loosely in foil and warm to soften it up for cutting. When you store bread in plastic bags, it stays softer, but can mold quite quickly. Both of these breads were sourdough breads which give an amazing tang to the strata and blends so well with the ham and cheese. Singe breads (what we picked up today) are made of freshly milled whole grain flours. While we don't live by bread alone, a good bread sure brings a lot of sweetness (and tang) to life!

** David had the idea to get a petite country ham for Easter. It was a great idea because a small ham (about 2 lbs) will last us at least a month. Ham can be used in the traditional way, as a type of seasoning. The saltiness and intense flavor go a long way!

*** I used a mixture of smoked Gouda, parmesan and a bit of cheddar. The smoked Gouda is the product of Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese, from Austin, Kentucky. The flavor is perfect with the tangy sourdough and the salty ham.

     We were delighted with our little meal, which we served with a simple salad. We have enough for another meal. Naturally, this can be adjusted to suit your pantry and your tastes. You might also want to increase the ratio of the egg mixture to the bread. I see that I am presenting this similarly to how I instruct art; I encourage experimentation!

     Stay safe and sated!

Our haul from Singe today: Ancient grain crackers, Double Fermented Pumpernickel with Blue emmer sprouts, Buckwheat Walnut crackers, Traditional Country Sourdough baguette. The pumpernickel will be placed in a paper bag--future meals await--perhaps a strata with sauerkraut? 

Eternal Ephemeral

Eternal Ephemeral, watercolor/pastel on Arches cold press watercolor paper mounted on board,
 24 x 12"

Practically everyday, I make my way to Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate. It is a place of beauty in all seasons, but especially so in the fleeting season of Spring. The Spring Beauties give a pristine covering to the grounds and above ground, everything seems to be popping out at once. The Dogwoods are just behind the Redbuds. Even the late-to-leaf Ash trees are popping out. On a recent day, the loveliness was almost too much to bear. I was reminded of years when my mentor in the art of pastel, Fay Moore, would have workshops around the time of the Derby. The timing was so appropriate as Fay would welcome us into expressing our own beautiful (or quirky, or sporty) worlds. Under her guidance, I was able to create and dwell in the ephemeral Spring for an extended season. So, when I saw the ancient Ash leafing out so freshly, I thought of Fay Moore and I knew I wanted to recreate this scene with watercolor and pastel. Also, since I am already washing my hands many times a day, what would be a few many more???

Starting with a watercolor underpainting

For some reason, I was inspired to make my sketch using hard pastel--perhaps not the best choice, but  interesting to try. Experimenting is always useful. My watercolors here can be found on leftover palettes (yogurt lids) from workshops. I like the premixed, murky colors.  In general, I like to underpaint the sky area with a pink/red/orange color. It makes a more convincing sky, in my opinion. 

Laying down values

Normally, I would also underpaint the grassy areas with a red, too. But, in this scene, the Spring Beauties are more prominent than the grass, so I'm keeping this area properly light. In fact, my main goal with the watercolor is to establish values. This will make the rest of the painting a lot simpler. Everything runs into everything else and layers of paint washes and splashes give a rich base for the pastel. I double check the basic composition when the paint is dry (I've been painting on a horizontal surface) and correct any obvious aberrations.

Starting to lay in the pastel

   I like to start with the sky, or the upper, left hand corner. I'm defining the 'negative space' and also background. Generally, you can layer on the pastel as the subject matter is layered in life. I work quickly and freely, knowing that I can always correct with some watercolor or even just water to bring back the 'tooth' in the paper. After I added some of the spring leaf color, I became unhappy with the color of the sky, so I went back and made the sky more of a Robin's egg blue color. Sitting with the painting for a day and looking at it from different perspectives is useful. 

My completed painting celebrates both the ephemeral nature of Spring, but also things that last, like this Blue Ash tree planted by Henry Clay perhaps? Fay Moore is no longer with us, but for me, her inspiration and enthusiasm lives on with each new Spring. At a time when human life seems so fragile, it is healing for me to remember that I get to be a part of this beautiful world.