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Cooking Food

Ham and Split Pea Soup

January 12, 2013 – 8:12 PM

 

It’s been a cold winter here in southern California — and I’m talking about a greater than +/- 5 degree variance in temperature. Scoff if you like, but cold is relative. Like the saying goes, a sweater is what you put on when your mother is cold.

Cold weather puts me in the mood for hearty stews. I like my hearty stews chunky (I like my peanut butter, however, smooth, and my beverages shaken, not stirred — as if I knew the difference).

A lot of my cooking is done Iron Chef-style, with whatever happens to be in the fridge (tonight, for instance, I made a cauliflower and leek soup using some leftover garlic butter made a few days back and chicken stock — and it was lovely), and what I love about this is that it feels a bit like a scavenger’s soup, delicious edition. I made this batch after Christmas with leftover ham and brought it on our ski trip. It would have been a little more wonderful if my friend (who was in charge of dinner the first night) hadn’t brought an 8.5 pound ham, and if we hadn’t had ham in every iteration thereafter. Also, if I didn’t have to ski so much. But I still do love ham and split pea soup.

My favorite part of skiing is that kids look like cute little astronauts with no joints. Based on that I am sure you have deduced that I am an excellent skier.

The best version of split pea soup I’ve had comes from The New Best Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, which is one of my go-to cookbooks despite not having a single photograph in it that would qualify as food porn — so that is saying a lot.

Start by simmering the ham for 2-2.5 hours, til the meat falls off the bone. This makes flavor for the broth.

Take the ham meat and bone out; add split peas and thyme and simmer 45 minutes. When the ham’s cool enough, shred the meat. You’ll want to devour all the tender meat immediately, but try to hold off.

Saute onion, carrots and celery in oil, stirring frequently, for about 30 minutes til they’re really brown and caramelized. More flavor!

Add the veggies, potatoes and shredded ham into the soup and simmer about 20 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

HAM AND SPLIT PEA SOUP (Cook’s Illustrated)

Ingredients

  • 3 quarts water
  • 1 piece (about 2.5 pounds) smoked, bone-in picnic ham
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 pound (1.5 cups) split peas, rinsed and picked over
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, chopped medium
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped medium
  • 2 medium celery ribs, chopped medium
  • 1 TBSP unsalted butter
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
  • pinch sugar
  • 3 small new potatoes, scrubbed and diced medium
  • ground black pepper
  • minced red onion (optional)
  • balsamic vinegar

Preparation

  • Bring the water, ham and bay leaves to a boil in a large soup kettle, covered, over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the meat is tender and pulls away from the bone, 2 to 2.5 hours. Remove the ham meat and bone from the broth; add the split peas and thyme and simmer until the peas are tender but not dissolved, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, when the ham is cool enough to handle, shred the meat into bite-size pieces and set aside. Discard the rind and bone.
  • While the ham is simmering, heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add the onions, carrots and celery; saute, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid evaporates and the vegetables begin to brown, 5-6 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low; add the butter, garlic and sugar. Cook the vegetables, stirring frequently, until deeply browned, 30-35 minutes; set aside.
  • Add the sauteed vegetables, potatoes and shredded ham to the soup; simmer until the potatoes are tender and the peas dissolve and thicken the soup to the consistency of light cream, about 20 minutes more (I still like my peas intact but very tender, so shortened this by 5 minutes). Season with pepper ot taste. Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the red onion, if using, and serve, passing the balsamic vinegar separately.

The recipe says that it serves 6, but I find it serves more like 8-10.

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Cooking Food

Rosemary Balsamic Chicken

October 6, 2012 – 6:47 PM

It’s been a busier week than usual and I’m not up for doing anything complicated in the kitchen. Twice this week I relied on the magic of the Bumble and Bumble Dry Shampoo since I couldn’t find the time to do the necessary hair washing (TMI?). In my zeal to de-grease my hair though I got a little too aggressive and ended up looking like a member of the Whig party.

I’m taking it easy tonight, and I’m not even taking pictures — the picture above was taken when I was in England this summer, and made this dish for a large dinner party. The one below was taken later this summer when we had some friends over for an impromptu dinner. So the point is, I make this dish a lot, because it’s easy, tastes amazing, and looks pretty if you don’t take a picture in bad lighting with a purple lighter in the backdrop like I did. This tastes a thousand times better than my picture makes it look.

I first had it at my friend Patricia’s house. We all greedily mopped up the drippings with bread, and I kept trying to think of ways to get everyone else out of the room (“Fire!!!”) so that I could drink the sauce. I begged her for the recipe and couldn’t believe how easy it was — the ROI on this is very high indeed.

In fact, I’m thinking I may save the sauce next time to start my own master sauce. Anthony Myint, one of my food heros and a fellow high school alum, in his book Mission Street Food: Recipes and Ideas from an Improbable Restaurant (you HAVE to read this book — it’s hilarious, inspiring and will change your life) writes that a master sauce is “…a fortified stock achieved by reusing the same sauce over and over. Some Western cooks find this gross, but to me, wasting perfectly good meaty broth is gross. The concentrated braising liquid results in a richer flavor, so if you’ve got it, flaunt it.” Well said, Anthony.

So this is how easy the recipe is: make a vinaigrette, essentially — olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and garlic; add in some rosemary and brown sugar, salt and pepper, and mix it all up. Place the chicken in the vinaigrette and let it marinate over night.

Stick it in the oven to bake, and be sure to serve with big crunchy slabs of bread to dip in the sauce.

ROSEMARY BALSAMIC CHICKEN (Patricia Lee)

Ingredients

  • 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs or half-breast, fat trimmed off

Marinade:

  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 olive oil
  • 1/4 C brown sugar
  • 3-4 T dijon mustard
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3-4 sprigs of rosemary— remove leaves and finely chop
  • 1-2 tsp each kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Preparation

Combine marinade ingredients and mix together in a 9×13 baking dish. Place chicken pieces in marinade for 4-24 hours (with 24 hours preferred). Ensure chicken is coated well w/ marinade.  Place dish in oven at 400 degrees, 35-45 minutes, depending on your oven (watch the skin as it burn easily from the brown sugar).  The marinade should create a nice, yummy sauce for bread dipping.

**Note if there’s too little marinade in dish, it will evaporate during baking.  If there’s too much, the chicken will “steam” rather than “roast.”

Serves 4-8.

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Cooking Food

Spicy Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti

September 3, 2012 – 4:16 PM

 

Summer is drawing to a close and I still have a backlog of fruit crisps, black russian kales and catfish delights to post about. Even though I’ve been out of school for a very long time, I can always feel this time of year a certain note of melancholy in the air, the sun making its rays more solemn, the crispness in the rustling of leaves, a purposeful, bittersweet sign that one era is dying down as the next one emerges.

All that as a fancy way of saying that I’m really glad figs are in season. O how I love thee, fig!

This is my favorite way to have figs — straight up and whole. No recipe required.

But this post isn’t really about figs.

It’s about spaghetti and meatballs.

Which somehow seems appropriately school-year staple, because of that On Top of Spaghetti song.

I’m reminding myself of that meme that says “If I had a dollar every time I got distracted I wish I had some ice cream.”

When the girls and I were up north, my brother and my sister-in-law welcomed us with this tasty Barefoot Contessa rendition of the spaghetti and meatball classic.

Here are my brother, sister-in-law and the girls wishing I would stop taking pictures so that they can eat.

My sister-in-law is about to go into labor any day now, and today is Labor Day so it seems like it should happen today. I haven’t heard anything yet though.

These meatballs are special. They’re made with turkey, sausage, prosciutto and Asagio cheese, and Ina Garten says that they’re the best meatballs she’s ever had!  I think Ina knows a thing or two about meatballs.

I didn’t cook them, so I’m just going to share the recipe at the end. It was a great week for me where I consumed an extraordinary quantity of delicious food without having to prepare it. During the day, the kids and I went on excursions like taking a cruise out to Alcatraz Island:

Visiting the iconic Ferry Building:

and buying owl hats:

Because you never know when might need an owl hat.

Evenings were spent in the newly redone back yard:

Swinging in hammocks (my brother made the green chair — nice, right?):

Enjoying the fireplace:

and dining al fresco amidst the juniper trees:

‘Twas an idyllic late summer getaway…thanks for hosting us, M&A!

Now, for the recipe:

SPICY TURKEY MEATBALLS & SPAGHETTI

From Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?  by Ina Garten

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (1-inch diced) bread cubes from a round rustic bread, crusts removed
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 2 pounds ground turkey (85%-92% lean)
  • 1/2 pound sweet Italian pork sausage, casings removed
  • 4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped
  • 1 cup freshly grated aged Asagio cheese
  • 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 TBSP good olive oil, plus extra for brushing the meatballs
  • 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3 24-oz jars good marinara sauce, such as Rao’s
  • 2 pounds dried spaghetti, such as De Cecco
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until the bread is in medium crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and add the milk. Set aside for 5 minutes.

in a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey, sausage, prosciutto, bread mixture, Asiago, parsley, oregano, red pepper blakes, 1 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp pepper. Lightly combine the ingredients with your hands. Add the 3 TBSP olive oil and the eggs and stir lightly with a fork to continue.

With your hands, lightly roll the mixture into 2-inch round meatballs and place them on the prepared sheet pans. Brush the meatballs with olive oil. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the tops are browned and the centers are completely cooked.

Pour the marinara sauce in a large, low pot, add the meatballs and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the directions on the package. Drain and place the spaghetti in individual bowls, and top with 3 meatballs and lots of sauce. Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side.

Serves 8.

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Cooking Food Popular

Rose Petal Jam

June 29, 2012 – 8:59 AM

When we’re in England, we spend a lot of time at my in-laws’ house in the countryside. It’s an old oast house, and my husband says that judging by the plumbing it was built in 200 BC. It’s also rumored to be haunted, which freaks me out, because you know that some old 16th century English ghost is going to take a look at me and go, “Hey look! A Chinese person! I want to talk to her!”

At the oast house lives a dog, Musty. My kids beg me 382.7 times a day on average for a dog, and when we’re over they make it their personal mission to be Musty’s personal trainer, working with him for 90% of the day. They start with a morning run through the fields, during which Musty is required to fetch sticks through wheat, streams and over equestrian-type obstacles.

Here, my father-in-law Chris observes a never-ending game of fetch, shortly before Musty begged for mercy.

I write about Musty to offer these quality personal training services to your dogs. I’m not ready to commit to a pet, so it would be a great help if there are canine volunteers out there looking for some endurance training.

One thing you see a lot of in English gardens is roses.

And these flowers, whose name I forget, so I’m just going to call them St. Agnes Himmyhocks, because it just feels right.

My mother-in-law, Georgina, who is as famous as I am usually famished, had an idea that we should make rose petal jam with the roses in the garden. So she and the girls went around the garden and gathered petals.

They smelled soooo good.

Start by prepping a syrup of sugar, water and lemon juice and let it boil down until syrupy.

Throw in the rose petals — we had mostly pink but some blue (violet) roses which added some nice color — and let them boil 20 minutes.

Once we were done boiling we found that the petals were still rubbery, so Georgie ended up fishing them out of the jam.

I know, that’s not really the right picture for what I just said, but I didn’t get a picture of that.

The result? A brilliant violet-colored jam that tastes like it smells — a wonderful combination of the sweetness of roses and the brightness of lemon. Up top you can see that I had it drizzled over vanilla ice cream with raspberries on top…divine!

There are a number of different recipes online for rose petal jam, some of which involve soaking the petals in advance, or coating them with sugar overnight — they may result in softer petals and perhaps you would be able to leave them in. We haven’t yet experimented with those. But this one was lovely all the same. See how happy Georgina is with the jam?

ROSE PETAL JAM

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb rose petals, rinsed, brown petals removed
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups water
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 3 1/2 TBSP pectin

Preparation

Combine water, sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in pectin and simmer for 2-3 minutes longer.

Add in rose petals and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Jam will begin to take on the color of the petals. With a slotted spoon, fish out petals, pour jam into jars allowing room for expansion, and cover with jar lid. Allow to cool and use or freeze (tip: if you freeze, use only jam jars with straight sides to avoid glass breakage from jam expansion).

Makes 2 1/2 – 3 jars.

Anyone else experiment with rose jam? Would love to hear your suggestions!

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Cooking Food

Chicken with Fennel and Grapes

May 25, 2012 – 9:20 PM

Recently, I read Gary Taube’s piece on obesity in Newsweek (for a consolidated summary of the article, read Laura Pappas’ post here). It’s good; you should read it. It reminded of what I already knew: refined sugars, bad; meat and leafy green vegetables, good. But after having spent the last week eating jam, I needed a reminder.

I’m not very draconian about avoiding refined sugars, partly because I try to practice moderation, but mostly because I like how it tastes. And you’ll never be able to save a bowl of french fries with parmesan and truffle oil from my rabid consumption. Still, I’m at the mortifying age where friends on Facebook starting to talk about things like cholesterol and blood pressure, so it’s probably time to up the diligence a bit on that end.

All this to say that I feel that for having shared the jam recipe with you, I need to do penance for contributing to the world’s obesity epidemic. (I am reminded of a time in business school where we had to sit through a bunch of presentations on projects we did for a pharmaceutical company. I came in late and Kim, one of my classmates, kept talking about OB City. I was tired and recovering from a spirited evening (meaning an evening that involved imbibing spirits) and getting more confused as she went on. Finally, I leaned over and whispered to another classmate, “Where the heck is OB City?!?” whereupon he looked at me like I was crazy, and said, “It’s obesity.”)

But there’s good news: there is such thing as healthy and delicious! Because I won’t compromise on delicious. So here’s an easy recipe I put together with things that came in our CSA delivery: chicken with fennel and grapes. Salty and crispy with a tangy sweet kick — yum.

So, grab some chicken — here I used bone-in thighs, since I like the size and how they stay tender and juicy. I was cooking for a crowd, so you might use less chicken. Because eating this much by yourself would probably land you in OB City.

Season both sides generously with salt and paprika — take a look at the picture above for a sense of how the paprika should be distributed. Lay them in a baking dish, skin side up, maximizing the surface area that’s exposed on top.

Slice up some fennel bulbs into thin pieces (save the fronds for another use; I put them atop salads or in my Eggs Benedict California), and nestle it under the chicken.

Pull off a handful of grapes, and nestle under the chicken, placing a few on top. You can see in the picture below a better view of how I sliced the fennel.

I had some excess fennel and grapes so I put them on top of the chicken.

Stick it in the oven, bake, baste to make the skin crispy, and serve! I served it with plain quinoa and some simple broccoli.

CHICKEN WITH FENNEL AND GRAPES

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1 fennel bulb
  • 1 cup of red grapes
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 1 tsp paprika

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, and season with salt and paprika on both sides. Put into a baking dish skin side up.

Slice the fennel bulb into 1/4 inch slices, saving the fronds for a future use. Separate grapes from stems and nestle bulbs and grapes under and around chicken.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Baste chicken skins with juices and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

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Cooking Food

Strawberry-Raspberry Dessert Jam

May 22, 2012 – 3:20 PM

 

Things have picked up for me on the work front and I am kind of embarrassed to even mention that I might have a food blog. The days have been frenzied and though I have had the luxury most of this past week to work from home, I am ashamed to say that I have eaten the following things for lunch:
  • One of my husband’s Men’s vitamins
  • Frozen dinosaur chicken nuggets
  • Burnt (because I wasn’t paying attention) fried eggs
  • Jam
Yup, jam, like straight. off. the. spoon.
The way I ended up with this jam is that my friend Leesa and I spent a morning hiking the canyon in our neighborhood a while back, and she started talking about the jam that her grandmother used to make. Strawberries are going strong right now in our area, so we decided afterwards to head to the store to get a bunch. If this were a reality show I’m sure the ratings would be really high on this episode where we talked about the grocery store strawberry sales.

So we bought strawberries and made this jam.

Did I mention Leesa, raised Mormon, is my personal tutor on Mormon swearing? Frickin’ frickster!

Motherfather this is good jam!

And so easy. Cut up berries til you get 4 cups worth.  I used a 50/50 mix of strawberries and raspberries.

 Toss them with pectin and sugar.

I know, my pictures are always blurry after I type “sugar”.

Boil for a minute and then put into a glass jam jar.

My family went through three jars in about as many days. This works really well if you have tart berries too — I like my jam a little tangy, which is why I mixed in raspberries.

It is fabulous as jam. As a topping on ice cream. As a topping on strawberries (I really did that). And of course, all by itself (nutritional value not provided).

Now the recipe:

STRAWBERRY-RASPBERRY DESSERT JAM (adapted from ANY-BERRY JELLY featured in August 2011 FamilyFun magazine)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups crushed raspberries
  • 2 cups diced and crushed (use a potato masher) strawberries
  • 1 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3.5 TBSP powdered pectin

Preparation

Put berries in a large, heavy pot and mix with sugar and pectin. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

Let berries cook at a boil for about a minute, and then ladle into jars, leaving an inch of headroom for expansion if freezing. Cap, cool to room temperature and eat it like there is no tomorrow.

Makes 3-4 cups.

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Baking Food

Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins

May 12, 2012 – 9:57 AM

This week, I showed my hairdresser a picture of Jennifer Lopez and ended up with Martha Stewart.

Then, true to form, I had the urge to bake like Martha, but healthier.

Curses, Hairdresser, why do you forsake me?!?

I thought these would be good to take along on our upcoming camping trip. You know, to appease the bears. Remind me not to wear my bacon perfume when we go camping.

Start by mixing all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

I know these pictures are bad but it was late.

Then in the bowl of a mixer, cream and butter and sugar, and then beat in two eggs, one at a time.

Ok, I might have had a drink or two.

Beat in the dry mixture and greek yogurt, alternating half of each at a time. Fold in the strawberries.

Scoop the mixture into 12 muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes. If you want to make them prettier, sprinkle them with some raw sugar before you put them in the oven. I adapted this from an America’s Test Kitchen recipe, using whole wheat pastry flour, subbing out nutmeg for allspice and adding in strawberries.

Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins (adapted from Simple Spiced Whole-Wheat Muffins in the America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cake flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 TBSP baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 6 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups greek yogurt
  • (optional) 1 TBSP raw sugar

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup sugar on medium speed til creamy and uniform, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, til combined. Beat in vanilla.

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in a third of the flour mixture, followed by half the greek yogurt. Repeat with the remaining dry mixture and yogurt.

Scoop batter into baking cups and sprinkle raw sugar on top if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool for 5 minutes and then let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before serving.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Cooking Food Popular

Guest Post: Creamy Zucchini Soup

April 30, 2012 – 7:42 PM

My wedding anniversary’s coming up, so I just had a flashback to the first time I was going to cook for my mother-in-law, and my then-fiance just let it slip that his mother “used to run a cooking school in France.” Oh. Thanks for letting me know, because the last time I trained at the Cordon Bleu was never.

Needless to say, my mother-in-law is an amazing cook. I’ll be putting forks on the table or something and then turn around to her making a flambe of some sort that, had I tried, would have resulted in loss of eyebrows and hair. She’s also a well-known art journalist, whereas I am a famous…uh, let me get back to you on that one.

So when she said she’d share a recipe for my blog, I was excited. And she has shared one that even I, trained only by cookbooks and the seat of my pants, can execute.

*  * *

GUEST POST: MY MOTHER-IN-LAW GEORGINA

Here is an addition to the SOUP KITCHEN that is so darn easy that it seems unfair, if not outright EVIL. I mean, how can you possibly produce a delicious soup with just TWO ingredients? (Not counting water, salt and pepper). And one you can have hot or cold?

My family has forbidden me to say “this is soooo easy” so let me just say, this is not difficult. Not even a tiny bit difficult. In fact, a child could make it. And kids generally love it!

Ingredients for four:

Three average size zucchini (we in Britain call them courgettes, which must be French originally, showing how multicultural we are…)

three squares of Kiri, or Philadelphia cream cheese

water, salt, pepper

Er- that’s it.

 

Wash the zucchini, top and tail them, slice into one inch rounds, just cover with water, season, boil until soft.

Use a wand blender to liquidize until smooth with the cream cheese (I use low fat but of course it tastes better with full fat). Adjust seasoning.

That’s it! You can serve hot, sprinkled with chopped chives, basil or parsley; or cold in small glasses as a pre-starter.

* * *

Thanks Georgina! And before we close I just had to share one of the shots that I took. As you’ve probably guessed, I do my own photography and styling (with lighting courtesy of the sun). I was trying to unwrinkle the cloth under the soup but it was stubborn, so I tried sliding myself under the table stretching out the fabric, holding an ab-crunch position to stay out of camera view, while using the remote function on the camera. It didn’t work out so well.

CREAMY ZUCCHINI SOUP

Ingredients

  • 3 zucchini
  • 3 oz cream cheese
  • water (enough to cover zucchini in pot)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Slice the tops and tails off the zucchini and cut into 1 inch rounds. Place in a pot and fill with water enough to just cover the zucchini. Season with a dash of salt and boil until soft, about 15 minutes.

Using a blender, blend the zucchini and water mixture until smooth. Add in the cream cheese and blend to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

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Cooking Food

Eggs Benedict California

April 24, 2012 – 12:00 AM

I’m ashamed to say that I missed National Eggs Benedict Day, but I am recovering from a malady for which I am taking Mucinex DM for cough and chest congestion. And though I know there is nothing hotter than hearing a woman talk about taking Mucinex DM, I will move along to the recipe at hand.

I was inspired by eggs benedict (can you say eggs benedict without saying Eggs Benedict Arnold? I wish Benedict Arnold were Patrick Henry though — you know, “Give me liberty or give me eggs”) but wanted something a little more lively. The sharp and creamy taste of the goat cheese is a nice complement to the carmelized tomatoes and lemony hollandaise — it just works.

First, make the hollandaise sauce — I like this easy version that you make in a blender.  This version is for 4-6 servings, so quarter it if you’re just cooking for yourself. Set it aside.

Toast both sides of an English muffin. While they’re hot, spoon some crumbled goat cheese on them like so:

Next, poach two eggs. Do not poach any giraffes in Africa. If you’re not sure how to poach eggs, click here for instructions.  When the eggs are done, lift them out of the water with a slotted spoon, let it drain (I wiped the bottom of my spoon with a dish towel to get rid of excess water) and place them on top of the goat cheese while hot, so the cheese begins to melt.

Hm, looks like I stopped taking pictures after that. I blame Mucinex DM.

Slice some sweet tomatoes (I used campari cocktail tomatoes, but some nice big cherry tomatoes would work nicely too), heat up a splash of oil in a pan, and put the tomatoes face down in the hot oil for about a  minute, til they start to caramelize a bit. Flip them over and let them cook on the other side for another minute. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and spoon them over the eggs and muffins.

Slice up half an avocado, and put it on top. Drizzle your lemony hollandaise sauce over everything. I had some fennel fronds so I snipped some leaves over it all for garnish. Enjoy!

EGGS BENEDICT CALIFORNIA

Begin with the hollandaise sauce; recipe found here. This recipe makes 4 servings, so adjust accordingly depending on your serving size. Set it aside.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 English muffin, halves separated (for a gluten-free version, use gluten-free muffins)
  • 4 tsp crumbled goat cheese
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 3 campari cocktail tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tsp oil
  • (optional) fennel leaves for garnish
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Toast the English muffin. While toasting, poach eggs (for instructions on poaching, click here).

Remove English muffin halves from the toaster and place cranny-side up. Sprinkle goat cheese across the faces, and top with poached eggs, one on each half.

Heat the oil for a minute and place the tomato halves cut-side down in the oil for a minute until it begins to caramelize. Flip the tomatoes and allow to cook for another minute on the other side.

Slice the avocado half into long slices lengthwise and place between the eggs. Garnish with fennel leaves if desired, drizzle hollandaise sauce on top and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 1 serving.

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Cooking Food

Sunny Side Baconwich

April 14, 2012 – 5:03 PM

It’s a rainy weekend and one that requires knitwear with elastic waistbands. And a delicious breakfast that involves hardly any effort at all, so that I can focus on more important things like whether or not I should get bangs.

My younger daughter had the flu and passed it along to my husband, while her sister and I have been hand-washing with Macbeth-like intensity. This was not the spring break we had imagined, but on the plus side we’re getting our money’s worth on our mortgage with the time spent indoors.

Onto today’s meal. My husband made this today, so I feel kind of bad for being in my elastic waistband and not making him breakfast either. Well, I did make a breakfast that my daughter and I ate, so to be fair, this was second-breakfast, and I think, comfort food at its best. Here’s the recipe:

SUNNY SIDE BACONWICH

Ingredients

  • 1 whole wheat English muffin
  • 2 slices bacon, cut in half (I like uncured and nitrite-free)
  • 2 eggs
  • butter (optional)
  • salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

Toast both halves of a whole wheat English muffin. If desired, butter the muffins after toasting.

Fry up two pieces of bacon over medium heat, turning occasionally until cooked and edges are curled; remove and drain on a paper towel and allow to cool to crisp further. Pour off all but about a tablespoon of the bacon fat.

Crack egg into pan and cook over medium heat until edges are crispy and begin to turn up. For details on how to prepare sunny-side up eggs, click here.

Place the bacon slices on the English muffin and slide cooked eggs on top. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

1 serving.

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