Showing posts with label eggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eggs. Show all posts

Monday, June 16, 2008

Simple Salad

It was a super-busy weekend, with the local farmer's market open Friday, a garage sale all day Saturday and some yard work for several hours yesterday in the hot, hot sun. And church. And a haircut. A sassy new summer hairdo. Hooray for short hair!


Since I was exhausted last night, dinner was a salad. I bought a head of Jericho lettuce at the farmer's market Friday--a Romaine variety, a light-green plant with a large, dense head that is bolt resistant and stays sweet in hot weather. It was a delightful base to my salad.

I topped the salad with plum tomatoes (salmonella be damned!), chunked cucumber and red bell pepper, sprinkled with salt and pepper, drizzled with a light vinaigrette, and all topped with a perfectly poached egg.



Yum! The egg yolk combined with the vinaigrette for a delicious sauce perfect for sopping with a piece of bread.

Well I didn't eat bread. I just licked the plate.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Bacon, Egg and Asparagus Sandwich

I have a confession to make. I bought a silly kitchen gadget.

My kitchen is tiny and certainly does not have a lot of counter space--or cupboard space for storing extra stuff. I have one entire cupboard door filled with a sandwich toaster I haven't used in probably 10 years, a contact grill I use once or twice a year, and a number of other appliances that I should really just get rid of. So I'm very much against buying extra gadgets.

Until I found the Paula Deen Egg-and-Muffin Toaster on sale for $15. It toasts bread, muffins or bagels while simultaneously poaching an egg to soft, medium or hard and warming precooked meat and/or veg.

We've been eating egg sandwiches daily--especially while I've been on a cooking hiatus. Even Mr.W made himself a sandwich yesterday.

Here's mine:



Doesn't it look yummy?

I used one slice of bacon (I had pre-cooked a whole 1-pound package and it's been in the fridge in a baggie for easy sandwich making. We only use one slice for a sandwich meat, so that's not too terribly bad.) and four yummy stalks of leftover asparagus, along with mild cheddar cheese and a poached egg cooked to medium on a multigrain muffin. I love biting into a sandwich with all that runny yolk! Asparagus in this little baby gave it a fresh twist that I just love!

Of course this can be made easily by anyone using regular kitchen equipment. An egg fried over easy or hard would suffice.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Breakfast for Shovelling

Sunday was a crazy, blustery day. Here's what it looked like outside at 8am:




Our entire driveway was missing under a good 18 inches of snow & drift. So Mr.W and I knew we had to get out there in the mess.

But first, we needed breakfast to fortify ourselves.




Are those some gorgeous eggs, or what?

Now y'all know that I love some grits, and my husband is surely a southern man... but in this region, my hometown, it's all about home fries. And a good, hearty breakfast is just what's needed before going out to attack the snow. So I fried us up some potatoes and onions to go with those lovely eggs. And bacon. You can't shovel without some bacon in your belly.




After eating all that, we were able to re-route the snowdrifts that had somehow blown inside our back storm door, along with the deep snow up and down the entire driveway. Mr.W found the front sidewalk and shovelled it, too.

I'm afraid I don't have a real recipe for this food... it's simple, stick-to-your-ribs food! Here's the general method:


- fry up some bacon; set on paper towels to drain

- pour off most of the bacon grease and start frying potatoes and sliced onions, adding a little butter if needed

- when potatoes are fork-tender and starting to fall apart, pan-fry eggs (with salt and pepper) as desired



This is my entry to Homegrown Gourmet #6: Breakfast hosted by Culinography. See the roundup here for lots of fabulous breakfast ideas!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Food Art: Eggs

Art You Eat is a monthly event for beautiful edibles; Inge of Vanielje Kitchen won last month's event with an amazing creation... and had the honor of choosing the theme for this month:

Eggs. (Edited note: I'm a finalist! Check out the roundup at Art You Eat and vote on your favorite!)


Is that not the cutest little devilled egg you've ever seen? What an easy and entertaining way to eat an egg, too... perfect for picky little ones!


Egg Chicks
adapted from this recipe

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
pinch salt
pinch white pepper
pinch curry powder
8 whole black peppercorns
carrot, cut into triangles for beaks

Using a small knife, cut the top third from each egg in a zig-zag pattern as pictured. Carefully remove top and scoop out cooked yolks. Set egg whites aside.

With a fork, mash yolks with mayonnaise, mustard, salt, white pepper and curry powder. Taste and correct seasoning according to your taste, if needed.

Check egg-white bottoms; you may need to cut a small slice from the bottoms to make them stand upright.

Gently spoon yolk mixture back into large bottom portions of egg whites, mounding up over the tops. Place lids on top at a rakish angle, to allow the "chicks" to peek out.

Decorate filling with peppercorns for eyes and carrot triangles for beaks.

Photograph madly before devouring.


It's as delicious as it is cute: first I picked out his eyes, then I bit his head off...

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Breakfast for Dinner


On a cold winter day there's nothing better here at Chez W than breakfast for dinner.

Mr.W and I love us some good old fashioned eggs, bacon and hash browns for dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch. When we lived in Atlanta we would dash off to Waffle House for this very meal—but now that we live in my hometown here in the snow-covered Yankee North, well, we have to make this at home—and really, there's nothing easier.


General Instructions: How I Make Bacon, Eggs and Hash
Browns "Scattered and Covered"


In a large skillet over a medium-low flame, fry bacon in batches, turning often with tongs to ensure even cooking. Of course bacon shrinks and curls as it cooks, and that's why it needs to be turned frequently—otherwise you get those uncooked bacon fat puffs.

Some of us like those white fat puffs. I always go for those first--right in my mouth. But I've discovered that most people think that's gross. Go figure.

It is important to remove the bacon strips from the skillet before they become crisp—they will crisp up while draining on paper towels. You can always cook bacon a little bit more if you need to.

Obviously this takes practice--and I usually overcook the first few pieces of bacon until I get the feel of it. So don't beat yourself up over it--the overcooked ones are for munching while you're getting everything cooked up.

I usually pour off most of that bacon grease and add a good glug—I'd say about 1/3 cup—of canola oil for frying anything else after the bacon. But you could use all bacon grease if you really want that yummy bacon-y goodness. Set pan over a medium flame.

I shredded two large russet potatoes that Mr.W washed and peeled for me and spread them evenly in the skillet, topped with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

After about 5 minutes, I turned the potatoes in sections; another 5 minutes later they were done and removed in three mounds to a paper-lined plate to drain, each topped with a slice of american cheese to melt. I used Velveeta—Mr.W wouldn't have it any other way.

I never have success with cooking eggs in my regular pan, so I keep two small nonstick skillets just for this purpose. Three eggs, combined with ¼ cup water and whisked to combine were added to a nonstick skillet sprayed with a little cooking spray. Using a silicone spatula I moved the eggs around constantly until cooked through but still light and fluffy. I transferred the cooked eggs to a plate while I made the second batch, which only took a couple of minutes more.


Served with some hot sauce and ketchup, this is just the right meal to warm us up on a cold evening.

While this isn't really a recipe of any caliber, I hope that Eve of the Garden of Eating (http://gardenofeatingblog.blogspot.com/) will accept this as my entry to her Comfort Food Cook-Off event (http://gardenofeatingblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/announcing-2008-comfort-food-cook-off.html). See the roundup and cast your vote for the best comfort food entry here.