An Eggcelent Meal

First off, can I just say - WOW it's been a month since I've posted? So sorry blog world - been so swamped with work and other things it's been crazy. Additionally, I've made some changes to how I'm eating and am still trying to get the hang of things and haven't been making real recipes, doing my cookie challenge, baking, you name it. It's really just been a protein, lots of veggie and a bit of carb eating at our house.

I made this recipe back on May 16th and we still talk about making it again and again. Thanks again to Joelen for this awesome recipe.

I have to say I was petrified to make this meal because I didn't think I'd be able to get the egg to roll, thus ruining the whole meal. A

las, you can see, that didn't happen!

The flavors blended so well with this meal, the egg, the carrot, the seaweed, it's just decadent and satisfying and wonderful! I served this with some buckwheat noodles with Asian flavors and some pan sauteed baby bok choy from the farmer's market.

Gaeran Mari

Rolled Korean Omelette

via Joelen

3 eggs

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 small carrot, finely chopped

1 sheet Korean roasted seaweed (Gim)

1 tsp salt, dash of pepper

Mix eggs with whisk or fork and add onions and carrots until well combined.

In a lightly greased saute pan, pour egg mixture and heat slowly over low heat.

Heat slowly for a few minutes until almost cooked through, then place seaweed sheet on top of omelette.

Roll omelette into a tight roll by lifting side with spoon or baking spatula.

Let omelette rest for a few minutes to cool.

Breakfast for Dinner Really Is the Best!

I love breakfast and all of the foods associated with it - hash, eggs, omelettes, waffles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, grits, hash browns, home fries, toast, bagels, and let us not forget the beloved bacon and sausages - I'm drooling writing this!

Anytime I can make breakfast for dinner, it's a good night for me in our house. The hubs and I both rush out of the house in the morning, and while I do make a nice breakfast of egg whites or tofu to take with me to work, the hubs noshes on yogurt and fruit most mornings of the week. So having eggs and other breakfast deliciousness is not something we reserve just for weekend breakfast but weeknight dinners regularly.

There's a lot of recipes on the web for sweet potato and chorizo hash, and I just sort of winged the whole thing. In the end I ended up with a wonderful array of smoky goodness with the most wonderful creamy eggs on top and a sprinkling of our failed paneer cheese.

Sweet Potato & Chorizo Hash

From me.

2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced small

1 medium white potato peeled and diced small

ground chorizo sausage, as much as you'd like - I used two snack size storage bags full that were in our freezer.

1 onion peeled and diced finely

eggs

paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

Once your potatoes and onions are diced, heat a large nonstick skillet with a little oil and start to pan fry the potatoes and onions until brown and starting to get crispy but the potatoes are done. Then add in your chorizo near the end to heat. Sprinkle with salt, if needed - ours didn't need it - pepper and some smoky paprika. Top with poached or over easy eggs and a sprinkling of cheese.

Easy, delicious, hearty and filling!

I didn't think we'd like it....

But boy were we wrong. This by far exceeded our expectations for a delicious and hearty winter meal - and we know it will be a wonderful spring/summer meal when we can get fresh tomatoes and eggs from the farmer's market again.

I was inspired to make this Moroccan Ragout with Poached Eggs from Serious Eats - but obviously finding ingredients such as merguez sausage and ras el hanout proved to be a challenge so I had to make some substitutions with what I had on hand.

So with my alterations with what I had at home, this really turned out to be an incredible dinner and we'll surely be making this again. I served with some fresh crusty bread that I toasted in the oven.

But first, let me give you a little tip I've learned. I buy the bulk container of ground chorizo from Sam's Club regularly. We take the ground sausage and separate it out in to the snack size baggies and freeze the baggies. This way, when I have a recipe that needs a little something extra, or even calls for the chroizo - I just have to pop a bag or two out of the freezer and voila! Easy does it!

Steph's take on Moroccan Ragout with Poached Eggs

1 1/2 T olive oil

1 large onion diced finely

4 cloves of garlic minced

1/4-1/2 pound ground chorizo

1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

salt and pepper to taste

2 14 oz. cans of diced tomato

4 eggs

1/4 cup cilantro chopped

In a large skillet (that also has a lid), heat the oil and saute the onions until tender and starting to brown. Then add your ground chorizo and continue cooking this mixture until the chorizo is warmed and starts to brown. Add in your garlic, paprika and tomatoes and let simmer until the diced tomatoes start to break down. Once you have a nice, thick, meaty sauce, add in your eggs, one at a time by making a little well in the tomato mixture. Once the eggs are in, place the lid on top and let steam until the whites are done and the yolks are still runny. Top with salt, pepper and chopped cilantro.

I can't wait to make this again and make it in the summer using all of those great farm fresh ingredients! This was a great dinner but I know would make a stellar addition to a brunch as well!

Farm Fresh and Local

I can easily say that tonight's dinner was farm fresh and local to the fullest extent of the words.

Fresh tomatoes and spinach from a local grower (and by far some of the best spinach I've ever eaten!). Fresh potatoes (red, white and blue) from our favorite Asian farmers at the farmers market, and fresh organic local eggs from another of our favorite farmers. We've never had farm fresh eggs before and HOLY COW - How have we not been eating local and farm fresh eggs all along?? I will never buy grocery store eggs again!!!

Absolutely, positively the most perfect meal.

Gosh how we love the farmer's market!!!

How have I not made this sooner?

Year ago I used to get Real Simple magazine, but let the subscription lapse, I don't know maybe 7 years ago.

I randomly typed in pasta, bacon and eggs in Google a few weeks back to see what kind of recipe I'd come up with and this popped up and struck my fancy. Thank you Real Simple.

How have I not thought of doing this sooner? It was so easy, so tasty and seriously fantastic. I made it even easier by using leftover spaghetti noodles - so all it took as cooking up 4 slices of bacon and the eggs.

The spice of the pepper and saltiness from the bacon combined with the creaminess of the egg yolk made for the most delicious combinations of flavor and textures in the most simple way possible.

Do make this - you'll be shocked what a quick and fantastic dinner this is.

Spaghetti with Bacon and Eggs

Ingredients

• 12 ounces spaghetti (3/4 of a box)
• 8 slices bacon
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces)
• Kosher salt and black pepper

1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble when cool.
3. Wipe out the skillet and return it to medium heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Toss the pasta with the bacon, the reserved pasta water, ½ cup of the Parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
5. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with the eggs. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan.

Perhaps the best egg salad evah!!!

The Hubs and I are big fans of egg salad. Maybe me a little more than him.

I had a couple of leftover kaiser rolls kicking in the fridge that needed to be used. I was on the mission for a good, new, sandwich recipe to make that would be quick and easy on a busy night.

I came across this recipe on my friend Pam's recipe site that she maintains for us on the RI Nest Board.

These eggs salad sandwiches combined all of our favorite things - egg, bacon, capers - what more could I ask for?!?? I did double the number of eggs in it - but I also only used half the amount of egg yolks. Instead of adding double the mayo - I just added one extra T and it was MORE than enough!! And I did bump up the number of capers. For the bacon, again to be quick, I just did 6 slices of microwave bacon cut up after it was cooked.

DELICIOUS! Will so make this again!!!

Bacon and Egg Salad Sandwiches

2 Slice(s) cooked crumbled bacon

3 Tablespoon(s) mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon(s) spicy brown mustard

1 1/2 Teaspoon(s) drained capers

3 hard cooked chopped egg

4 Slice(s) sandwich bread

2 leaves lettuce (we also did tomato)

In a small bowl, combine the bacon, mayonnaise, mustard & capers. Add eggs; stir gently to combine. Spread over two slices of bread; top with lettuce & remaining bread. Serve immediately.

When dinner doesn't go quite according to plan

I had this wonderful recipe picked out to use the other remaining pound of squid from our adventures in cleaning and prepping squid.

However, our night to eat that dish got thrown off and we ended up eating out.

And when I went to make the squid dinner, well, let's just say the squid was a wee bit ripe!

So, since everything else for the dinner was already started, I had to improvise - and you know what it turned out to be a great improv. dinner!

Here is the origonal recipe I had intended on making.

And here is what we ended up eating.

I made the fava recipe as directed. I then shredded zucchini to top on the fava, added some nice fresh ripe tomatoes and two eggs that were slightly runny in the yolk.

It really turned out to be a filling, delicious and healthy meal that we both enjoyed- and we'll surely make this again too!

Martha Stewart - How do I love thee??

I love thee so much that I will make this recipe again and again and even try some more of yours.

I found this recipe on a blog a long time ago but hadn't gotten around to making it. The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Every Day Food Magazine.

This was my first foray in to cooking eggs this way and it was so good I can't imagine cooking eggs any other way now.

This was a great entree salad. Again, will certainly be part of the rotation in our house now.

Warm Spinach Salad with Fried Eggs & Potatoes.

I made this to serve 2 but the recipe serves four. Since it was an entree salad for dinner I gave us each two eggs on it and I did add a couple of pieces of crumpled bacon on each salad - just the Oscar Meyer microwave bacon.

4 T Olive Oil

2 baking potatoes, about 1 pound, scrubbed and cubed in to 1/2 inch cubes

coarse salt and pepper

2 T red wine vinegar - I used balsamic, our red wine vinegar went bad

1 T dijon mustard

1 shallot minced - I put it through the garlic press

2 bunches spinach 2 lbs. total. Stems removed. I just used one bag of baby spinach leaves for the two of us.

2 oz. parmesan cheese

4 large eggs.

In a large nonstick skillet heat 2T oil over medium heat. Add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook tossing occasionally until they are tender and slightly browned. About 15 minutes.

Meanwhile in a large bowl combine the remaining 2 T oil, the vinegar, mustard, shallot and season with salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.

(The recipe asks you to toss the spinach with the dressing here but we topped our sald with the dressing instead).

Place spinach in a large bowl and toss with the warm potatoes when they are done cooking. The spinach will slightly begin to wilt.

Heat skillet over medium heat and gently crack eggs in to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Do not break yolks. Cook until whites are almost set, about 1 minute. Cover pan and turn off heat and let stand until whites are just set but yolks are still soft, about 2 more minutes. Top each salad with eggs and serve.

We topped with the dressing, the bacon and parmesan cheese.

Poaching Eggs why so hard?!?!

I've been trying to make poached eggs for the 6 years I've lived out here and have failed miserably every time. They are either too hard all together, too raw, or they just totally fall apart.

While mom was in town visiting, I got all of the accessories needed to make Eggs Benedict, my favorite breakfastof all time. She showed me how to make poached eggs, concerned she would fail too that maybe it was our water quality or something.

Nope, her's were just right. It was the best breakfast I've had in a long time - God I love Eggs Benedict - it's the perfect mixture of textures, flavors and comfort all in one dish.

So I stood over her the whole time watching her make the eggs and I tired a few as well - turns out I was dropping them into the water from too high and having the water at too hard of a boil - so no wonder my eggs over cooked or fell apart!

I'm going to give it a shot again this week if I have time- I'm making Martha Stewart's Warm Spinach Salad with Potatoes and Eggs - and instead of the over easy egg, I"m going to give it a shot with a poached egg... I'll let you all know how that adventure goes!

Chef Emeril, You're my new Inspiration

So, have you been taking in Planet Green? If not you need to tune your tvs to Planet green and watch. That new network has some incredible shows.

One of my new favorites is Emeril Green. He takes people with cooking issues and takes them to whole foods and teaches them how to shop and buy things that are healthy, how to prepare them, etc. I'm in love with the show, it's set on the DVR and I watch every single episode.

This recipe was from one of the first episodes I watched. And WOW- talk about WOW factor! I was drooling all over the couch and swore I needed a mop to clean up when I was done.

I wasn't too sure if the hubs would be keen on this meal, but I didn't care I wanted to make it. And since we were headed to whole foods anywho for stuff for making homemade granola it was the perfect time to get the lentils and things I needed I could only find there.

So it was not horribly time consuming, but not a quick and easy weeknight meal to say the least... it's a good 45 minutes probably from start to finish for the average cook.

But when you sit down, your eyes will perk - the colors alone are incredible. And your nose will work in overdrive with all of the delicious smells. And your mouth and stomach will tahnk you forever for making this meal.

Heck if my hubby ate it, yours will too!

Emeril's Lentil Salad with Braised Greens and Sunny Side Up Eggs
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

2 bunches Swiss chard

1 bunch beet greens (I didn't use these, didn't have any)

1/2 cup olive oil

3/4 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced carrots

3/4 cup diced celery

1 pound French lentils, rinsed well and picked over (DO use the French lentils the normal lentils will get too mushy I think)

6 cups Emeril's All Natural Vegetable Stock, homemade vegetable stock, or low sodium chicken broth (we used chicken stock)

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

I omitted all of this - we didn't need more hard grains on our bellies on top of lentils and we don't eat peppers in our house.

3 ears sweet corn, roasted over and open flame, kernels removed

1/2 cup small-diced red bell pepper, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish

1/2 cup small-diced yellow bell pepper, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish

1/2 cup chopped parsley, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish

Picked back up here

2 lemons, juiced

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons thinly sliced garlic

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

6 to 8 large eggs, at room temperature (I just made the main meal for 2 - so 4 eggs, and we ate the leftover salad for lunch during the week)

Wash the Swiss chard and beet greens well. Pat dry. Cut the ribs from the leaves, chop into 1/2-inch pieces, and set aside. Cut the leaves into 1-inch strips and reserve separately.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. When hot, add the onions, carrots, celery, Swiss chard ribs and beet ribs, and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the lentils, bay leaf, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the black pepper. Toss to coat lentils then add 6 cups of the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until lentils are just tender, about 20 minutes. Take care not to overcook or lentils will become mushy. Set lentils aside to cool to lukewarm in the cooking liquid, then strain in a colander.

Reserve the cooking liquid for braising the greens.

Place the warm lentils in a bowl and add the sweet corn, the red and yellow bell peppers, parsley, lemon juice and the extra virgin olive oil. Toss well to combine and adjust seasoning if necessary. Set-aside until ready to serve.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil. When hot, add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until fragrant, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the chard and beet greens, in batches, stirring between additions, until the greens wilt slightly. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add 1cup reserved stock and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Continue to cook until greens are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes longer.

When ready to serve, cook the eggs. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium low heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and gently crack 4 of the eggs in the skillet. Season lightly with salt and pepper to taste and cook, undisturbed, until the white is set, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan and repeat with the remaining eggs.

To Serve:Serve the lentils in shallow bowls, topped with the wilted greens. Place egg on top of greens and garnish with diced red and yellow pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Drizzle with lemon juice to taste and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

The Benedicts of All Benedicts

I saw Ellie make this on the FN the other weekend and fell in love. So we tried it this week for dinner and wow! It was an incredible combination of flavors (as stated by my husband!) and so filling and good.

I ended making all of the mushroom caps and we each had two instead of the one the serving calls for - but again it was dinner. I served with some homefries. This is certainly going on our make again list.

It's healthy, light, filling, and delicious!


Grilled Portobello "Benedict"
Ellie Krieger
Recipe from Food Network Website
Changes I made in ()

Ingredients
Cooking spray
4 portobello mushroom caps, about 4 ounces
each 1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
4 pieces Canadian bacon
8 eggs
2 tablespoons water
Freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons store-bought basil pesto
8 fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
4 teaspoons freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat grill or grill pan and spray with cooking spray. (I brushed oil on - I can't use spray on my grill pan)

With a spoon, gently scrape out the dark inside of the mushrooms caps, being careful not to break the cap. (never done this before but wow it was great, we're going to do this from now on when we grill mushroom caps - they get so much more tender and sweeter)

Brush both sides of the mushroom caps with oil (I used canola instead of olive) and sprinkle with salt.

Grill the mushrooms over a medium-high heat for about 7 minutes per side, until they are tender and their juices begin to release.

Transfer to a plate, top side down.

On the same grill or grill pan, cook the Canadian bacon over medium-high heat for 30 seconds on each side, until they are warm and grill marks have formed. Place 1 piece of the bacon into each of the mushroom caps. (I put a 1/4 tsp. of the pesto on top of each piece of canadian bacon and spread it around)

Separate the whites of 4 of the eggs into a medium sized bowl, and discard the yolks.
Add the remaining 4 whole eggs to the bowl with the whites, add the water and whisk until combined. (I used 2 full eggs and two whites and some leftover egg beaters in the fridge)

Cook the eggs in a medium-sized nonstick skillet over a medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the eggs are done, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon 1/4 of the scrambled eggs on top of the Canadian bacon in each the mushroom caps.

Drizzle 1 teaspoon of pesto over each (again I did this on the canadian bacon layer instead) and top with some basil ribbons (we used parsley) and 1 teaspoon of Parmesan (go for the good fresh stuff it was worth the flavor).

Fabulous - 4 thumbs up!

Savory Bread Pudding

For Christmas I got the Rebar cookbook and I love it.

I made this this weekend for dinner - so good - Adam didn't love it but it had too much cheese for him to like it.

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter (omitted for Pam)
3 medium leeks, mostly whites
½ tsp salt
8 garlic cloves, minced
1½ lb assorted mushrooms (button, shiitake, oyster, portabello), sliced
Cracked pepper
½ cup Madeira (I used Sherry)
(I also added 3/4 pound of italian sausage for some meat and some spinach)

Custard
5 eggs
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 x 1 lb multigrain or sourdough loaf, cut into ¾” cubes
2 tbsp thyme leaves
2 tbsp minced sage
4 cups grated Gruyère cheese (I used regular swiss because I wasn't paying $10.99 a pound for cheese!!!)
Minced chives for garnish

Preparation
Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a large skillet and sauté the leeks and garlic with a pinch of salt until the leeks are soft. Set aside, then melt the remaining butter in the pan. Add all of the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook until the mushrooms have released their juices. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the mushrooms begin to sear. Deglaze with Madeira and let the liquid evaporate. Stir the mushrooms with leeks and set aside while you prepare the custard.Beat the eggs in a large bowl. (I just did the sausage and all veggies at the same time then added the Sherry)

Whisk in the cream, milk, salt and pepper. Stir in the bread cubes, cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Do this before you start the stove top stuff and then it will all be done at the same time!)
Stir occasionally to ensure that all the bread soaks evenly. Stir in the herbs, mushroom-leek mixture and half of the grated cheese.

Heat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9” x 13” baking dish and spoon the bread pudding mixture into the pan. Sprinkle with reserved cheese and bake until crusty and golden brown and set in the middle (about 45 minutes). Sprinkle with minced chives. Let stand for several minutes, cut into square and serve hot.

**This is not a figure friendly meal with all of the cheese, eggs and cream!***