The Chile Relleño Omelet

During my recent trip to Vegas, I discovered a restaurant serving what I consider to be one of the better breakfasts I have eaten, a chile relleño omelet. Never one to simply have something once, I decided to give them a go at home.
There are some obvious differences when cooking at home compared to what you are served at a restaurant. For example, I never cook omelets with four eggs, but that (or three) is pretty much the standard at a restaurant. Big deal? Not usually, but I was planning on stuffing a pretty good amount of stuff into this omelet. I'll be honest, my first one completely fell apart (I ate that one and gave the nice one to my wife). I believe this is more about patience than anything, having the omelet set up really helps you manipulate it as needed.

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Egg Tostadas with Black Beans and Salsa

Again with the leftovers! Well, when you buy tostadas, you usually have some leftover. If you don’t want to make chips with them, I would suggest breakfast. Yep, pick up and eat breakfast tostadas. It reminds me of the days I used to eat huge breakfast burritos at Viva Burrito in Tucson, a warm, spicy breakfast that kept me full well into the day.

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Herb Frittata

Yesterday I stopped off at the farmer's market for my weekend haul of fruits and veggies. In addition to some yummy potatoes, snap peas, and free milk(which is so good I am now second guessing my purchase of all other milk), I picked up some spring onions. These are onions resemble large scallions but are actually just a white onion picked early. Or, if you refuse to let go of the whole scallion thing, really big bulbous scallions. I returned home and went about making breakfast with them. Onion pancakes don't sound good, so left was the incredible edible egg. I had leftover goat cheese and some fresh basil as well, so I decided to go with a frittata.

Eggs take very well to multiple vehicles, so this is by no means the limitation of a frittata. Ham and Swiss, tomato and Parmesan and sausage, the combinations are endless. I use this as a template for adding whatever you want into your tasty breakfast.



Fresh Herb and Goat Cheese Frittata

4 eggs
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 spring onions, diced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
pinch cayenne pepper

Whisk the eggs, egg whites, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a bowl. Add the parsley and basil and set aside. Preheat broiler to low

In a 12-inch non stick skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, stirring constantly. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become wilted and start to caramelize. If you have a lid for the pan, clamp this on, it will speed up the process. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the eggs, stirring lightly with a spatula. Once the eggs start to set up, use the spatula to pull the eggs away from the edge of the pan and allow the runny part to run underneath the frittata. Continue doing this until most of the runny part has been removed from the center. Sprinkle the goat cheese over the top and place the pan in the oven. Broil until the top is just set, about 2-3 minutes. Slice into wedges and serve.

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Hollandaise Again

After adjusting the recipe slightly (way too much butter), and in honor of Mother's Day, here is the post for Hollandaise once again. So be nice and make eggs Benedict for your mom :)

Hollandaise sauce is the bane of my existence. There is no other way to put it. I love it, I love putting it on food, but I hate making it. No, it's not that hard or time intensive, but it breaks. All the time. And I get so frustrated! Probably not a good thing that I mostly make it at breakfast (I'm probably cranky). I tried clarified butter, cold butter, warm yolks, and ancient rain dancing, but nothing worked. But alas, I think I have finally figured it out. Water! Yes, as I was flipping through all of my cookbooks, I found that the Joy of Cooking calls for some water to be added. This thins out the sauce a little bit and relaxes the strain on the egg proteins. And it was amazing. The sauce held quite nicely and even stayed together on the stove for when people came asking for seconds. Success! Now something else can be my bane.

Hollandaise Sauce (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

3 egg yolks
1 1/2 T lemon juice
salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 stick butter, melted
4 T warm water

First step, make a double boiler. Take a glass or stainless steel bowl and find a pot that the bottom just fits into. Fill the pot about half full with water and place it over medium high heat until it is just simmering. If you do this sauce over direct heat I can almost guarantee you it will be a disaster.


In the bowl whisk the egg yolks until slightly light and frothy. Whisk over heat and add 1 T water until the eggs just start to thicken, 3-5 minutes. Add the rest of the water 1 T at a time letting the eggs thicken in between. If you feel the eggs are getting too hot, pull the bowl out of the heat. Add the lemon juice. Remove the bowl from the heat and very slowly add the butter, stirring constantly until all the butter is incorporated (if you need to warm up the sauce while doing this place over the boiler for a few seconds). Leave the white solids from the butter (milk solids) out if possible. Whisk in the cayenne, season with salt. If the sauce is too thick, add a few drops of water. Serve immediately. To keep the sauce warm, place your mixing bowl in a larger bowl with some warm water and cover.


Note- If you want to boost the flavor even more, reduce ½ cup white wine to about 2 T and mix with the lemon juice before adding to the sauce.

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Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise sauce is the bane of my existence. There is no other way to put it. I love it, I love putting it on food, but I hate making it. No, it's not that hard or time intensive, but it breaks. All the time. And I get so frustrated! Probably not a good thing that I mostly make it at breakfast (I'm probably cranky). I tried clarified butter, cold butter, warm yolks, and ancient rain dancing, but nothing worked. But alas, I think I have finally figured it out. Water! Yes, as I was flipping through all of my cookbooks, I found that the Joy of Cooking calls for some water to be added. This thins out the sauce a little bit and relaxes the strain on the egg proteins. And it was amazing. The sauce held quite nicely and even stayed together on the stove for when people came asking for seconds. Success! Now something else can be my bane.

Hollandaise Sauce (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

3 egg yolks
1 1/2 T lemon juice
pepper
salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1 stick butter, melted
4 T warm water

First step, make a double boiler. Take a glass or stainless steel bowl and find a pot that the bottom just fits into. Fill the pot about half full with water and place it over medium high heat until it is just simmering. If you do this sauce over direct heat I can almost guarantee you it will be a disaster.

In the bowl whisk the egg yolks until slightly light and frothy. Whisk over heat and add 1 T water until the eggs just start to thicken, 3-5 minutes. Add the rest of the water 1 T at a time letting the eggs thicken in between. If you feel the eggs are getting too hot, pull the bowl out of the heat. Add the lemon juice. Remove the bowl from the heat and very slowly add the butter, stirring constantly until all the butter is incorporated (if you need to warm up the sauce while doing this place over the boiler for a few seconds). Leave the white solids from the butter (milk solids) out if possible. Whisk in the cayenne, season with salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick, add a few drops of water. Serve immediately. To keep the sauce warm, place your mixing bowl in a larger bowl with some warm water and cover.


Note- If you want to boost the flavor even more, reduce ½ cup white wine to about 2 T and mix with the lemon juice before adding to the sauce.

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The Devil's Eggs

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I would do a post on eggs. Deviled eggs, that is. One of most popular snacks at parties, deviled eggs are what I like to call "addicting". I cannot explain it, there is just something so great about an egg that has been boiled and filled with creamy goodness. But then again, why worry about the reason when I know I love them?

First things first. How to boil an egg. Hrmm. I can think of thousands of ways. But how to boil an egg and make it edible? That's the question. The way I have adapted is that of the Brown (as in Alton). It produces a creamy, done yolk while preventing the graying and rubbery texture that accompany harsh cooking. How? An electric kettle. If you don't have one of these, I strongly recommend one. Its how I boil eggs, make tea, keep stock hot for rissoto (don't worry, I wash it) among other things. Great multitasker (the really good ones dont have the heating element in the kettle, giving more room and more even heating). But back to the eggs. I simply add as many eggs as I want to boil into the pot, cover with about one inch of water, turn the kettle on until it boils, switch it off and set a timer for 10 minutes. Drain, shock in cold water (this prevents the membrane from sticking to the shell and makes peeling easier), and peel soon after. For those of you without one, do the same thing on the stove top, just cover your pot when you put it on the heat (boils faster) and try to avoid super high heat. Easy enough, and the results are consistant.

So with egg prep out of the way, let's move on to the recipe.

Deviled Eggs

Eggs
Mayonaise
Dried mustard
Salt
Paprika

Wait, no quantities? Nope, I honestly cannot quantify this recipe. Depends on the size and amount of eggs every time. Here is what I do. Split eggs in half, remove yolks to small bowl, mash with fork. Add just enough mayo for the yolks to come together and mash into a smooth paste. Add about 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard (do NOT use the liquid kind) and 1/2 teaspoon salt per 6 eggs. Taste. Adjust mustard, salt, and mayo levels (just remember these are egg filled, not mayo filled) to your liking. You can spoon into the whites or empty your mixture into a baggie. If using the baggie, seal is, snip one corner off, and use as a pastry bag. Top with a sprinkle of paprika. Have a party.

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Increase Your Kitchen Carbonara Emissions

I am usually good at planning out my meals before I head to the store. However, from time to time I manage to screw something up, forget that I need to make dinner on a certain night, or I am just plain lazy. In these instances I turn to my pasta carbonara. Or the phone for pizza. But this is not about pizza, this is about pasta.

This recipe has a thousand variations. I started with Rachel Ray's because it literally helped to start the relationship with her husband. I mean, it must be good, right? And it is. Garlic, bacon, cheese and eggs not only make a great breakfast, they make a good pasta dish as well. And you can more than likely make the sauce in the time it takes to boil the pasta.

I prepare my carbonara in a pretty simple manor. Chop ingredients, cook bacon, mix remaining ingredients in bowl, toss pasta with bacon, add bowl ingredients to pasta, toss, and eat. More or less that is the recipe you will find below. I like mine pretty spicy, so I held back on the included red pepper flake. Same goes for the garlic. Adjust as you see fit. I also include a tempering step (adding a small amount of liquid to the eggs before adding to the rest of the ingredients). This will prevent the eggs from scrambling and giving you a nice, thick sauce.

Carbonara

1 pound spaghetti pasta

1/3-1/2 pound bacon, chopped
3 T olive oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 t red pepper flake
1/2 c white wine
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 c Romano or Parmesan cheese, shredded + extra for topping
1/4 c chopped parsley
salt and pepper

In a large pot, bring water to boil with copiuous amounts of salt and about 1 T oil. Boil pasta until slightly al dente. In the meantime, heat a skillet over medium high heat and add the oil. When hot, add the bacon and cook until slighlty crispy, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flake and cook for one more minute. Add white wine to pan to deglaze and let evaporate almost all the way down. Reduce heat to medium.

While bacon is cooking, in a medium bowl whisk the eggs, cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Add 1 ladleful of pasta water while stirring to temper the eggs. When the pasta is done, drain (don't rinse!) and add to skillet, tossing with the bacon until coated. Add the contents of the bowl to the skillet, stirring and tossing the pasta quickly until the eggs start to thicken and a sauce forms that will coat the pasta. Serve, using extra cheese to sprinkle on top.

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Pork for everyone

I enjoy a good pork chop. Especially breaded and baked. So much in fact, I make it about once every other week. Pork chops were the first savory food (along with macaroni and cheese) I ever attempted to cook all by myself. I say attempted because they didn't turn out so great (granted, I was 7). However, my troubles have been remedied and I think I've made pork chops over 50 times. I like the center cut chops the best because the bone does nothing except add cooking time. Unlike chicken breasts, pork chops do not need a bone to add flavor (it only helps when braising or grilling). I also like my chops about an inch thick, anything more and they are begging to be stuffed (some other time, I promise). If you do buy the 2 inch thick chops, slicing them in half (like making a layer cake) is a simple solution.

The common method of making pork chops is dipping them in an egg bath, which is usually 1 egg with salt and pepper whisked together, and then another dip in bread crumbs. Place in baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or so until they reach 160 degrees (lets call it 45 minutes), and eat.

This works pretty well, but there are a few glaring errors. First, pork is a different beast than it was when everyone got together to determine cooking temperatures (probably about 100 years ago). The fatty pork of old was prone to many different disease states, which required it to be cooked to 160. Pork is now leaner and resistant to most bugs. The main parasite in pork, trichinella, is eradicated at 145 degrees. Therefore, pork's cooking temperature can be lowered.

The second error is the breading. Plain old bread crumbs are gritty and bland, only suitable for deep frying or meatballs. For years my family has used crushed stuffing. Yes, crushed Pepperidge Farm stuffing is a great breading. It comes in big chunks, has lots of seasonings, and makes for a great crunchy coating.

So far so good. However, a few more problems have reared their ugly heads. After baking, the bottom is soggy and the chops lack an even, crispy exterior. And pork loves to dry out. Pretty much all the pork I cook now is brined, which makes a huge difference. Trust me, its easy, and you should brine any pork that is not going to be barbecued.

I consulted Cooks Magazine, which, if you are not getting this magazine, is totally worth it. They bake their pork on a rack, which prevents the soggy bottom. It also lets the pork cook faster, which prevents drying. So after playing around with the recipe, I have settled on the following:

Breaded Pork Chops

1/4 C salt
4 C water
2 pounds pork chops (probably 4 of them), about an inch thick

Dissolve salt in water. Trim all excess fat from pork, place in zip-top back, add water, and brine for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare breading and pan.

1/4 C flour + 6 T
3 egg whites
2 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 C stuffing. slightly crushed

Prepare three pans, one with flour, one with the 1/4 cup flour, one with the egg whites and mustard, and one with the bread crumbs. Add the 6 T flour to the egg whites and whisk until slightly lumpy.
To prepare the baking pan, take cooling rack and lightly coat with non stick spray. Place on top of a baking sheet.

And now, it all comes together. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine, rinse with fresh water, dry well and season with pepper (it's already plenty salty). Dredge one chop at a time in flour, shake off excess, dip in egg whites and then in breading. Make sure to press down for the breading to get even coating. Place on rack and repeat with other chops. Bake for about 15 minutes or until they reach 150 degrees internal temperature. Let cool for about 5 minutes and eat.

And there you go. The egg whites prevent sogginess (that was the yolk fat), and the mustard adds some tasty flavor. You can drizzle lemon juice over them if you wish, but I like mine as is.

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