Pavlova

Over this holiday season my sister-in-law (SIL)  and niece came to visit.  While here my SIL  made Russian salad with homemade mayo, which left me with a lot of egg white.  I found Povlova as one of the things I could make to use up the egg whites.

The kicker was, I had never had this dish before so I was unsure as to what the end product should be like.  I looked up several recipes and videos online and ultimately followed a Martha Stewart recipe and a Simply Recipes post.

I did mix the cornstarch with the sugar before adding it to the egg whites.  Once the whites where at a stiff peak I folded in a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of lemon juice.

This dish was unbelievably easy and delicious.  I think that I will try reducing the sugar from   1.5 cups to only 1 cup to reduce the sweetness a little.

Poached Eggs

Above are some beautiful eggs that I got from a friends farm. The green ones are so pretty, and I read years ago that they are lower in cholesterol.

~Poached Eggs~

I love poached eggs and I make them a few times a week so I thought that I would share how I do it.

Fill a medium fry pan half way with water and heat to a boil. turn down the heat to a simmer and add your eggs. Let them cook until the whites are firm and the yolk is still runny. Serve with wheat toast.

Breakfast Skillet

This is the best breakfast skillet I have made so far and I have made many.  I sprayed Pam on and lined a small hot cast iron skillet with sliced potatoes and topped with chopped kale, added a small amount of water and covered over medium low heat.  on another pan I sauted onion, red pepper, and chopped canadian bacon.  once done to my liking I put them on the cooking potatoes and then checked for done-ness on the potatoes.  Once soft I added some putter along the edge of the pan to melt down to brown that potatoes and put a little sharp cheddar on top and covered.  I cooked 2 medium eggs on the pan I cooked the onions and placed on top of the whole skillet.  Then invert everything onto a plate and eat with some hot-sauce.  yum

A Simple Lunch

hard boiled egg, smokey pork loin and cucumbers. So simple yet filling and delicious.

MMMMM Brunch

My First Souffle

I always wanted to try making a souffle but I never wanted to waste all the eggs it would take to make a souffle that would fit in any of the oven proof souffle type dishes I had. Then Warda over at 64 sq ft kitchen posted souffles on her blog and they looked so beautiful and flavorful. I mentioned to her how much I wanted to try it and why I had not yet done so and she reminded me of the ramekins that I purchased for the Daring Baker challenge back in October and then I got more for Christmas. She was so right and I went to work, following her recipe, to make my first souffle. Of course I had to make a few changes because lets face it what food blogger out there can follow a recipe to the T.

~Souffle~

- 4 ½ tbsp butter, plus 1 tsp to coat the ramekins

- ¾ cup grated Gruyère cheese-

- 3 onions, chopped

- red bell peppers, chopped

- 1 ¼ tsp sea salt

- 4 ½ tbsp flour

- 1 ¼ cup milk

- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

- ½ tsp old style Dijon mustard

- A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

- 3 egg yolks

- 7 egg whites

- Make Ahead: Take the eggs out of the fridge, and let them come at room temperature. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute the onions and peppers season with ¼ tsp salt. Cover and cook for 5 min on medium-low heat until they are tender. Uncover and continue cooking for a few minutes on high heat until all the liquid has been evaporated. Set aside to cool.

1- Butter a 1½- quart souffle mold with 1 tsp soft butter. Be sure it is well coated all around.Add the Gruyère cheese and turn the mold around so that the cheese sticks to the butter. Let the extra cheese fall into a bowl. Refrigerate the coated mold. A very cold mold helps the souffle rise straight. Never smear the coating or you mat disturb the rising of the mixture.

2- Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir quickly, and cook for 1 minute on low heat.3- Add the milk, 1 tsp salt, black pepper, the Dijon mustard and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk. As soon as it reaches the boiling point, the sauce will thicken. Boil on low heat for 1 min, still stirring to avoid scorching.

4- Away from the heat, add the yolks and mix well.

5- Add the onion, ground nutmeg and the grated Gruyère cheese. Stir with a wooden spoon.

6- Whip the egg whites until they hold a peak, but are still “wet”. Place about one-third in the leek mixture and mix with a whisk. Work as fast as you can, because as soon as you stop beating the whites, they start to break down and become grainy.

7- Using a spatula, gently fold the remaining whites and onion mixture together.

8- Fill the soufflé mold to the edges. At this point, the soufflé can be refrigerated, and will keep for at least a couple of hours. At baking time, sprinkle some Gruyere cheese on top and place on a cookie sheet in a 375F-preheated oven. Reduce the heat to 350F and bake for 30-35 minutes (about 25 minutes for individual ramekins). Never open the oven when it’s still baking. Serve immediately.

The great thing about using Warda's blog post is she included step by step photos with the instructions making this something that almost anyone can make even, if they are not experienced cooks or are intimidated by the idea of a souffle. Thanks Warda

Asparagus Frittata

One of my favorite vegetables is asparagus and one of my daughter's is asparagus but she likes hers blanched, ice bathed and course salt added to it. I am happy that this time of year it is everywhere and we are eating it like crazy.

One evening last week I decided to make Frittata; unfortunately, it did not go over well with the family, but I liked it. I believe that the reason this did not go over so well is there was too much asparagus, I did use a whole pound.

you will need:

• 5 or 6 stalks of Asparagus
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup cream or milk ( I used cream because I had some left over from The Daring Baker Challenge)
• 1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
• salt & pepper

First cut the asparagus into smaller pieces and blanch for 2 minutes in salted water and drain and set aside.

Turn on the broiler to low.

Heat an 8" cast iron pan and add in the butter and asparagus. In a bowl beat the eggs and add the cream half of the cheese and seasoning and whip a little air into the eggs with a fork. Pour the eggs over the asparagus. Shake and stir the eggs a little until set on the bottom. Cover the frittata with the rest of the cheese and place under the broiler until the eggs rise, set and brown a little.

Mushroom, Onion and Spinach Omelet

This is the best omelet I have ever made. I slowly browned some onions in pan and then added a small can of mushrooms, drained. a few handfuls of spinach and a few slices of Canadian bacon, diced. I beat 2 large eggs with 2 tablespoons of milk until frothy. poured the eggs on a hot (not so hot that the eggs would scorch), round, cast iron griddle over moderate heat . Season the eggs with salt and pepper. When the eggs were set, but still a little runny on top, carefully flipped to egg disk over. layer the onion filling and cheddar cheese on one half of the eggs and folded the omelet in half as seen in photo. This omelet was flavorful, dune perfectly with no runny egg; however, was not browned or overdone.

Hash and Eggs - My Last Post of 2007

A few weeks ago I make a really good Pot Roast. The next day I made Hash out of the left over Pot Roast and it was a pleasant surprise and the eggs and biscuits that I make with it turned out super too.

You will need

left over pot roast
*4 large baking potatoes
1 medium onion
1 clover of minced garlic
2 T olive oil, more if needed
salt
Pepper
Rosemary (it was setting next to the stove so I threw it in)



wash the potatoes and cube them into about 1/2 inch cube and place in a heated Cast iron skillet with the oil. Dice the onion and add that to the skillet and cook (stirring occasionally) until the onion starts to caramelize and the potatoes are browned on all sides. Dice the Pot roast and add to the pan with the garlic and seasonings, cook for about 3 more minutes until everything is heated through.


I served this with Fried eggs and biscuits. Very unhealthy meal but it tasted good and used up the leftovers.



*If using the potatoes from the roast add them with the meat after the onions have caramelized