Flour's Tortilla with Chorizo, Peppers & Potato

I've been making liberal use of my oven during the recent snowstorms and "polar vortex," the better to warm up the house. Icy, grey mornings call for a hearty breakfast or brunch like this tortilla.  Red peppers are sauteed and potatoes get browned before pouring in an egg mixture laced with Parmesan, and then the skillet is thrown in the oven to finish.  You can keep the recipe vegetarian as is, or add some chorizo like I did.  It adds a nice, salty bite.

Sprinkle on some chopped scallions and parsley for freshness, then slice into wedges.  I like that the tortilla can be served hot or at room temperature, and that you can make it a day or so in advance and reheat when serving.  Perfect if you want to get a head start before house guests arrive, or for getting one weekend brunch dish out of the way.

Making a Spanish tortilla usually involves flipping the eggs, hot skillet and all, onto a plate, and then sliding the filling back into the skillet to cook the other side.  I'm not a fan of inverting piping-hot cast iron skillets with ingredients that could still be runny, so I'm glad this recipe involves no flipping!  When the next snowfall hits, I hope this is in my oven.  It'll sustain us through lots of shoveling.  Stay warm, friends!

Cranberry Maple Pecan Cake

As the holidays approached, the list of things I wanted to bake was building. I wanted to try all kinds of cookies, make another kugelhopf, and this cranberry cake. Then December was insanely busy and I kept to my tried and true recipes for parties and potlucks. But I was going to have my cranberry cake, holidays or not!  Who says cranberries are relegated to November and December only?  This cake has whole cranberries, pecans, and maple syrup, and Joanne Chang writes in Flour that it tastes like pancakes. I don't agree, but it's still a really good cake.

I like the use of whole, juicy cranberries instead of the dried cranberries you often see in recipes, and that they're not too tart here. The loaf is moist, and the maple pecans give a nice sweet crunch. The maple glaze is good. I did run into two problems:

• Most of the berries and nuts sink to the bottom.  On my second try I tossed them with flour, usually a sure remedy, but a lot still sank to the bottom as the cake baked.  This affects only the aesthetics, not the taste.
• I checked on the cake early and found it slightly overdone.  I think it's because my bread pan is made of a dark metal. The second time I took the cake out of the oven a few minutes early and it was perfect, and I'll note that in the recipe after the jump.

Even with these minor issues, though, I really enjoyed having a slice of this at breakfast or teatime.  You don't need to wait for the holidays to roll around again to make this.

Flour's Country Ham, Cheddar and Tomato Quiche

This quiche is good, really good.  And not just for breakfast -- I'd happily have this with a salad for lunch or dinner.  The crust is buttery, sandy, and crumbly, and the freshness of the tomatoes nicely contrasts with the creamy filling, even after being baked.  I haven't had quiche in so long, I was imagining a big omelet in crust.  But this is a smooth, savory custard.  The amount of ham and cheese isn't over the top, and despite the richness of the dish it feels light on your stomach.  I wanted to photograph individual slices too, but there weren't any left!

The recipe for the filling looked very rich, so I subbed the heavy cream with more half and half.  Still not exactly healthy, I know, but I was afraid it might not set up if I used just milk.  I also correctly guessed there would be more filling than a standard tart pan would hold, so I opted for an 8-inch springform pan instead, making it narrower but taller.  If you do the same, just note that this will add 30 minutes to the cooking time.

My last few tips.  If you use a springform pan, wrap the outside in foil since my second try sprung a leak despite no visible crust cracks.  And like the recipe says, make your crust taller than necessary to account for some inevitable shrinkage -- mine originally came up to the rim of the pan.  An industrial-sized paper coffee filter is handy for holding pie weights during blind baking.  Also, save that leftover dough!  Any pieces of crust that break off or holes that appear after blind baking can be patched up with dough and then baked with the filling.

Update: This post made the daily Foodbuzz Top 9!

Blizzard Chocolate-Banana Bread Pudding

Just what does everyone make with the milk, bread, and eggs they buy before a big storm hits?  One possibility when you're all holed up is bread pudding!  OK, so this one is a little richer with half-and-half instead of milk, and you've got to have some chocolate and bananas on hand.  But when you need a break from shoveling a foot of snow and shaking your fist at the plowmen who piled a snow wall at your driveway, there will be bread pudding waiting for you.

Not my house, in case you had stalking intentions.  But the scene is pretty.  My honest thoughts about the bread pudding?  Definitely better cold, and not warm from the oven.  And it was good, but I think I had built up my expectations too high.  I'd rather have chocolate cake, or a banana split.  Even better, cinnamon raisin bread pudding.

The bread was soaked in the chocolate custard overnight.  I almost forgot to add the bananas the next morning before they went in the oven!  You can see that I switched the square pan up to a larger size.  Both the ramekins and the 10-by-7-inch pan were done in 45 minutes, in case you're interested in making smaller batches.  I also halved the recipe, since it makes a lot of bread pudding!

Flour's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

I had previously made an easier Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, but this recipe from Flour proves that a little more trouble can really make it worth your while.  A homemade caramel takes some time but isn't hard to do, and fresh pineapple soaks up the caramel.  The cake is rich and moist but crisp at the edges.

If I had one complaint, it's that the caramel was just a tad too sweet.  Just a tad.  But my preference for sweets isn't the same as everyone else's, and Joe said the cake and level of sweetness were perfect.

I get intimidated by caramels because of how easily those damned crystals form, but this one was simple enough.  The sugar-water mixture starts out clear, then develops a golden tinge.  At bottom-left, you can see the outer ring is still clear and the pot needs to be swirled before the whole mixture becomes golden brown.

I'm glad Joe helped make this, not least because it's really hard to snap photos while whisking burning-hot caramel!  Butter is whisked in, making the caramel steam and froth; pineapple is added and cooked in the caramel, then removed to a plate before being placed in the cake pan.

The caramel is poured over the pineapple, and then topped with the cake batter.  After the cake is baked and cooled, it gets up-ended onto a serving platter.  Each bite gives you a little burst of juice from the caramelized pineapple, and cake that's rich and moist.