Poached Egg Over Quinoa

I ate way too much grilled meat this weekend, as I'm sure many others did as well.

It's time to lighten up and get some healthy food back in my system.

Unfortunately, that much grilled meat also makes me feel rather sluggish, so combining that with the 90º heat makes me a very lazy cook.

Luckily lazy does not have to mean bland.

I took leftover quinoa (I always make extra as it keeps well in the fridge for quite a few days) and placed it in a ramekin (or bowl) with a bit of grated pecorino, some crumbled goat cheese that was like a smoother ricotta salata, and some chopped basil.

Mix well and form in a patty.

I did not bother to fry this in any way. It's just room-temperature quinoa with cheese and basil.

Simplicity works sometimes.

Next step: poach an egg, 2-3 minutes in almost-boiling water.

Place poached egg on top of quinoa.

Sprinkle with salt and more grated pecorino.

Allow warm runny yolk to ooze.

Yum.

A schmancy-ish and filling breakfast for sure, and done in about 5 minutes.

Dessert Fail = Breakfast Brilliance

You'd think since this is the post immediately following the one in which I describe how I perfectly cooked two 14lb turkeys for five people, I would tell you how to do something interesting with all that leftover meat.
Maybe a stew, or soup recipe?
Or curried turkey dinner like the one I made on Tuesday night with the very last of the leftovers?

Sorry. 

Nope.

I'm going to talk about pie.
But I'm not going to tell you how I made the pie. That would be too easy!
(And require me getting the recipe from NJ...)
Instead I'm going to tell you what to do when pie goes wrong.
At least with the crust...

Since the hubs's favorite dessert at the holidays is pumpkin pie, my mother and I made one for him from scratch.
And it was DELICIOUS.

However, our first attempt at pre-baking the pie crust left us with a slightly burnt crust, and we did not want that to be our final product. So we tried again.

My mother was ready to throw away the slightly over-cooked crust, but I would not let her because I have a thing about making use of as many leftovers as possible, and I had an idea for the extra-toasty crust:

Quiche!

I looked in the fridge and found smoked salmon and cream cheese, and instantly had a lovely breakfast planned for the next morning.

Crappy kitchen photography. My bad.

Five eggs for five people, whisked with a hefty splash of cream, seasoned with only a pinch of salt since salmon is salty, pepper, and poured into the crust.

I then used kitchen scissors to snip pieces of smoked salmon into the mix, along with some fresh cilantro (because that was also in the fridge) and little dollops of cream cheese.

Next time I will make it big dollops...

Bake in a preheated 350º oven for about 20 minutes, or until the eggs have set.

It may not be the most picture perfect quiche in the world, but it was tasty, it was quick to assemble, easy to clean up, and allowed me to get on with cooking Turkey #2 before noon.

And the slightly burnt crust was just fine.

Impromptu Breakfast Party!

So one of my dearest friends who lives waaaaaaaaaaaaay out in Brooklyn, and (unfortunately for me) lives in a little apartment block full of awesome people, so really, why venture to Manhattan other than for work?

Well, apparently for a really good yoga class just 3 blocks south of me!
SCORE!!!
It meets at 9AM... on a Saturday.
BUMMER!!!

However, that still led to a lovely little impromptu breakfast date at Casa RocknRoll.

Worst photo of tomatoes ever.

By definition, impromptu means you have to work with what you have on hand. So while asparagus, smoked salmon, and goat cheese might have made an elegant fritatta for company, instead ours had tomato, basil, and arugula.

Step one: Preheat your broiler, then in a non-stick pan sauté 1 medium shallot in olive oil. Add tomatoes and season with salt.

When the tomatoes have cooked down for about 3-4 minutes, add one large clove of garlic, grated, about a TBSP of chopped fresh basil, and stir to cook and combine.

Next I add 5 eggs, beaten together with about 2 TBSP of cream (optional).

I had previously seasoned the eggs with a generous pinch of salt as well.

Once the egg has coated everything I added a handful or so of fresh baby arugula. 

(If you want more of a peppery bite, throw a couple handfuls of the arugula in to wilt with the tomato in the earlier step before adding the egg.)

Grate about 1/4 cup of parmigiano reggiano and sprinkle that over the top of the eggs.

Cook this on medium-high for about 4 minutes, or until the sides begin to set.

Once the sides of the eggs have set, place the whole pan under the broiler and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, until the eggs have cooked and the top has turned a light golden brown.

Fritattas are super easy to make, as versatile as your imagination, and easily feed a crowd.

Aside: I just made a killer dinner for 7 last night for some of the hubs's coworkers. It was definitely a success, and I am very excited to share it with you. However, since it took 3 days to prepare, I am a bit wiped out. So instead I am just dangling this little carrot for you so you check back in here in the hopes of finding that meal posted here.

And it will be.

Soon.

Promise.

San Francisco: Day 2

We started off Day 2 breakfasting on a tip from a friend (thanks Sam!) and headed to Dottie's True Blue Café. This was some serious breakfasting, well worth the 45 minutes or so that we stood in line...
(But of course, we're from New York. This was not an unusual thing when it comes to Brunch lines.)

This may truly have been the best omelette that I have ever eaten. 

You know I'm not a big breakfast/brunch person, so when I tell you it was good, it has to be really good.

It was on the specials board, but I'm sure it's up there fairly frequently. It had lamb-fennel sausage, spinach, tomato, roasted garlic, and goat cheese, served with toast and potatoes. Brilliant breakfast.

The hubs had french toast made w/ pumpkin chocolate chip bread, another special.

There was none left.

With full bellies we ventured to the Legion of Honor museum/building, which had a lot of Renoir statues, as well as pieces on loan from the Musée d'Orsay for an exhibit on the Birth of Impressionism.

That exhibit was shared by the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.

There is an observation deck at the de Young museum that is free to enter.

Nine storeys up you have a clear view (depending on the weather) of the whole city.

Do you remember my post about the Met and "Please Don't Eat the Pictures"???

The little dude has a brother!!! 

And no, it's not the same one on loan because if you compare their left hands, they are different. The one in NYC also seems to have earrings on little rounded ears and is holding what may be a rattle sideways, as well as wearing a skirt of sorts.

The one in SF has long bodhisattva-esque ears and has a vertical rattle.

How crazy that this little guy was made more than once!

If you read the page at the Met link it explains who the little guy is and why he was a common statue to find, albeit frequently only as a head. 

Ancient Mexican Dionysius!

After that excitement we went across the park to the California Academy of Science Museum.

Because they had penguins.

And lots and lots of sea life.

This fish was HUGE tho you can't tell from the picture. 

He could easily eat my arm.

And for the hubs, Sea Dragons.

For dinner that night we met up with more friends of the hubs and ate at Spork in the Mission Disctrict.

And  yes, it's named after the spoon-fork that KFC apparently invented, or at least highly utilized, because the restaurant is on an old KFC site.

However, getting there was an adventure.

First, we got on a trolley car... and just missed our stop. 

So at the next one the hubs goes to step out the back door, only there's a handicap railing in the way of the doors... so he hops over it. 

As soon as he does that, the doors shut, and I am whisked down 3 more blocks while he runs at top-speed after me as though I would get lost going in a straight line.

Isn't that sweet?

While running he didn't hear me calling his cell phone telling him I'd just walk back to meet him where he got off... oh well. At least I know he wasn't trying to ditch me.

We then walked the equivalent of six NY avenues into the Mission District to get to dinner because it was too cold to wait for yet another bus (which did not pass us until we were just about there).  

Plus, we were running late.

We were not cold by the time we arrived...

The hubs ordered two items they are famous for: Cauliflower & Calamari Unite! and the In-Side-Out Burger. I got to taste the first, and it was delicious. The hubs devoured his burger without so much as a crumb in my direction. Everyone at the table seemed quite pleased with their choices, tho I enjoyed mine less than I expected. Still, it was a good place to eat, and the wine list was surprisingly well-rounded for a place named after a plastic untensil. 

I very much enjoyed a bottle of Grenache from the Unti Vineyards we shared.

Methinks I shall try to find some now.

Mmmm...

Nothin' Says "I Love You" Like Stuffed French Toast

At least that's the case if your hubs is a die-hard breakfast man as mine is.

The setup. 

(Note: I should have used 3 eggs for the two large pieces of french toast I made.)

The store was out of challah when I got there, except for one loaf that had raisins in it, and since I know the hubs is not a fan, I went with brioche instead. Annoyingly, the brioche also had a HOLE in the middle  due to air bubbles, which I did not know until I started making breakfast the next morning. That made stuffing the french toast much more difficult. Oh well. I persevered.

The pocket.

In order to make stuffed french toast you could simply make regular french toast and put a tasty filling between two slices. Instead I chose the harder way.

I sliced the bread extra thick, and then cut a pocket about 3/4 of the way into the bread in which to spoon the filling of choice. This time around for the filling I simply combined roughly equal parts good strawberry preserves and room temperature cream cheese, because the fresh strawberries that would garnish looked and smelled divine. Simple but super tasty is the way to go.

While the brioche was sucking up scrambled eggs, a splash of cream, a TSP of cinnamon, and a waft of nutmeg (I don't know how else to describe it... about 6 passes over the fine microplane) I got started on the... appetizer? Amuse bouche? Whatever. The tasty first round, also known as BACON.

Ammendment: Nothing says "I love you" like stuffed french toast and BACON.

Note: the longer you let the bread sit in the egg mixture, the more flavorful and decadent your french toast will be. I'm not talking days, but twenty minutes can make a big difference.

The rest was pretty straight forward. I poured the fat from the bacon out of the pan, added about a TBSP of butter, and cooked the egg-laden toast until crispy on both sides. (In the same pan for "essence of bacon" in the toast :)

 Fresh strawberries, extra filling on the side, a dusting of powdered sugar, and the extra piece of bacon the hubs kindly saved for me while I was still cooking. (I totally ate one piece before serving him because I wasn't sure I'd get out of the kitchen in time to eat any myself!) and breakfast was done.

And really, really good.

Try it out some morning when your S.O. is especially deserving.

Breakfast Prosciutto Cups

Having a big brunch party and don't want to have people eating in shifts? I have a delicious solution for you, via Rachael Ray. (I know. She's not my usual resource, but this was a really good idea. Plus she called it "Green Eggs & Ham" which was just cute...)

With this dish you can cook for a dozen (or more) and have everyone sit down at the same time.

I made this over Mother's Day weekend, and even my father, who is much harder to please food-wise than my mother, enjoyed this. He kindly told me after devouring every bite that he did not expect to like it when I put it in front of him. 

Awesome.

The hubs, being a breakfast lover, was truly psyched when I made this for just the two of us one weekend out of the blue. 

Preheat your oven to 375º

I start this by folding slices of prosciutto into cupcake tins. You can substitute deli ham if you prefer... but really, why would you prefer deli ham to prosciutto???

No need to grease the pan, as the natural fat in the prosciutto will allow these little beauties to release on their own.

For the filling I used defrosted chopped spinach, which I sautéed in a pan with olive oil, salt, minced shallot and garlic (half a small shallot and one small clove of garlic), and grated nutmeg (only a fine dusting for one package).  Once the shallot and garlic have softened and the spinach heated through, add about 3 tablespoons of cream or half & half, whatever you have on hand. Let this cook out and combine for just a couple minutes. 

 (Note: if cooking for many people, definitely use boxed frozen spinach. One large container of fresh spinach wilts down to be only enough to fill about 3 cups, and will cost much more. Since this is baked, you will not be able to taste the difference between fresh and frozen at all.)

Then place a spoonful or two of the spinach mixture into each prosciutto cup.

Pat down to create a well.

Into each well crack one egg. Season the top of each cup with a little salt (and pepper if you like pepper).

Note: crack the egg into a separate container and then add it.

Large Note: Do not use Jumbo eggs for this dish. There will be too much egg to fit in the cupcake tin and it will spill over. Stick to large eggs.

Carefully slide your trays into a 375º oven to bake.

For still slightly runny yolks, cook for about 12 minutes.

For fully cook-through yolks, cook for about 18 minutes.

Either way, keep an eye on them as ovens vary.

To remove I simply slide a butter knife around the edge of each prosciutto cup and then lever them out gently. Try to avoid touching the yolk, as you do not want to break the tops.

How cute are they?!

I of course made extra spinach as I like to have vegetables with my eggs/breakfast whenever possible. Serve with some nice toast, maybe a mimosa,  and enjoy your hot breakfast!

Why I Hate Brunch

So I described in my last post how my stomach works, and that eating a lot early in the day is a problem for me. I shall now elaborate.
When I was younger, and still on holidays today, my mom would make blueberry pancakes, or french toast, or eggs and sausage on weekends. My dad and brother both enjoyed these breakfasts. I, on the other hand, would eat about 1/4 of what was on my plate, and then curl up for the next two hours while my stomach roiled in upset.
To avoid the nausea, I tried not using syrup. I tried not using butter. I tried anything to make the food less rich. Nothing changed my reaction after eating it. So, I finally learned that my body just does not take kindly to certain foods early in the day.
(Yes, I COULD eat french toast for dinner, or at 2AM... but I'd still rather have rigatoni with oxtail ragú, or seared duck breast, or steak frites, etc.. maybe some nutella-stuffed french toast for dessert.)

My breakfasts these days usually consist of something like orange juice and a banana. Or orange juice and a piece of toast with peanut butter. (Do not ask me why I can handle peanut butter. I just can. And I love it.) Sometimes I try to be extra healthy and have yogurt, but that doesn't fill even my meager morning appetite for more than half an hour. But the OJ is important because that is what perks up my brain and tells it that bed is not going to be an option any time soon.
The point of this is to say, after 30 years, the trend has continued that early in my eating schedule day, I can't eat a lot. So, all-you-can-eat brunches or other huge portion deals are totally wasted on me. (Tho I do enjoy the ones with unlimited mimosas... I'll suffer through those if I must.)
Today, however, I tried to be a good spouse and go with Mike for brunch. I figured, if nothing else, it's another nice day and would be an excuse to get outside and spend more time with hubs. Plus he wanted to go to a restaurant that I like to have dinner at, because at their brunch they have a french toast that is, I kid you not, a slab about 3" thick and covered in some insane honey-maple-fruit-syrup. I get queasy just looking at it. However, I will still kind of riding my food-high from Saturday night, so I was feeling positive.

(An image of Food Network French Toast... but this is similar to what he gets. )
While waiting for our meal, I realized the other reasons why I don't like having brunch.
1 - You almost always have to wait for a table. Sometimes 15 minutes. Sometimes HOURS. Almost always outdoors, regardless of weather. Also, denying me all food and beverage for hours is a good way to meet the evil, cranky bitch in me.
2 - The food in general, as discussed.
3 - The servers are insanely rushed and frequently forget things. Like your mimosa.
4 - I feel rushed. As though I must inhale my food as fast as possible (bad for digestion) as soon as it (finally) arrives just so they can turn over another table. Not an enjoyable experience.
5 - They seem to jam extra tables in tight spots because there will be a large brunch crowd. This means there is nowhere to look but directly ahead, and you are stuck listening to the "Harpy" next to you (Mike's term, not mine) complain about the food and the service and why the servers don't speak better English all during your meal.
6 - It's LOUD. Yes, many dinner spots are loud, but somehow it's a different kind of noise at 1PM than it is at 7PM.
7 - It's bright. There is no gentle lighting that makes you and your food look more pleasing. And if you add 6+7 you get me with quite a headache.
8 - I will end up eating more than I intend due to portions, and then feel ill.
9 - Along the lines of portions, I can almost never just order say, an English muffin and juice, unless I'm at a DINER. And diners are not to be attended when it is light out. Also, brunch will charge $7 for a bagel.
10 - Finally... I have most likely consumed so many calories that I will not be able to do my late-night grazing of the foods I really enjoy without feeling guilty, and that just ticks me off.

So there is my more specified rundown of reasons I am not a breakfast person. I know I am in the minority, and that Brunch is something of a New York culture, but it just is not my speed. I'd much rather sleep in, start my metabolism gently, and graze my way toward dinner, and then have a fabulous meal.
And all throughout brunch today, do you know what I was thinking about?
What I was going to cook for dinner.
Not that that is so very different from any other random time of day... but it just shows that even when I'm already out and eating, I am looking forward to my evening meal.

Inadvertent Date Night

I can barely type as I am in a post-sunny-day/food coma, but I'mma gonna try.

Today (Sat) was the first day of Spring, or so the calendars told us. Frankly, I think NYC having a sunny day with a high of 75 was evidence enough that winter has crawled back into its hole for another year. It was a fantastic day, and Mike and I spent it going to the library, running a few small errands, but mostly sitting on a bench in Riverside Park reading the aforementioned library books and soaking up the sunshine.
Once more I applied sunblock before heading out, and I'm glad I did, because I think today I would have come home burned otherwise.

But today was also excellent aside from weather and people/dog watching because Mike and I actually went out to dinner. We never do this, and there are many reasons why, but the most obvious is simply that NYC prices in general are prohibitive. My cooking dinner is a much more reasonable solution, even if I end up buying from a slightly overpriced store.
Additionally, since we moved above 96th street it's hard to find a place to dine at that's worth the cost. Ordering-in is even more of a pain because 90% of deliveries shut down at the 96th street border. So living north of there is something of a convenience challenge.
But now I'm bitching instead of talking about the happy.

Tonight I was talking about going to this new bio-dynamic/organic wine bar that opened about 15 blocks south of us, but right before leaving I thought, "Hmm... Saturday, gorgeous weather... the world will be out in that part of town. No freakin' way." So instead we opted for a small Italian place about 2 blocks from us that I had ordered from many times, but at which we had never actually dined in.
The reason we never dined-in before was evident in the end cheque. Mike tried to say something to the effect of, "Maybe we just won't drink anything beyond water at dinner out in the future." to which I looked at him askance, meaning "have we met" and said, "Did you just tell me I can't have wine with my dinner?"
"Well... maybe just keep it to two glasses."
"I did!"
"Ok then."
Problem solved.

But the food! The food being the point of the post.
We started with two things I had ordered-in before and decided were very tasty: shrimp wrapped in pancetta (with side salad) and short ribs with fried polenta (with side salad). Both were delicious. The shrimp was deliciously wrapped in bacon, so really, shy of forgetting to cook it, that was going to be a hit no matter what. The short ribs were fork-tender and had a lovely rich beefy sauce around them, and the fried polenta could substitute for french fries any day. In other words, I was already doing my little happy dance in my chair by the end of appetizers.
For the main courses Mike had gnocchi (surprise!) in a beef ragú, which I thought was a little salty, but still very tasty. I had one of the day's specials, which was a wide, smooth "rigatoni" with oxtail ragú, which was also delicious. Could have done without the parsley tho...
Many times when I have ordered pasta dishes from this place, I have felt the need to "doctor" them a bit. One dish with eggplant and ricotta salata I always adjust by sautéing an extra clove of garlic in oil, tossing the take-out into the pan, and then adding a splash of white wine and cooking it down a bit. It makes for a much more flavorful dish. But happily, tonight's dishes were perfect the way they arrived, and I was doing a happy dance all the way home.

Unfortunately, I was in such a happy food-bliss-coma that I left the kindly wrapped other half of my oxtail rigatoni sitting right on the table. I had made it home delightfully unaware, and was halfway into pajamas when I realized what I'd done. (And sadly, this is not the first, or even fourth time that I have left food behind when I asked for it to be wrapped... their fault for putting me in a such a happy food-coma state! Right...)
I quickly called the restaurant, and they had held on to the doggie bag just in case (it had only been about 7 minutes after all). The kind server even said she tried to run after us but didn't see us in the street. Well, that's because we live so close by that we'd already turned the corner. But throwing a clean shirt and my sneakers back on, I ran back up to the restaurant and retrieved my bag of leftover goodies! So, lunch tomorrow will probably put me in yet another happy food coma. Unless of course I have devoured the leftovers before I go to bed tonight.

It's entirely possible that that will happen. I'm just that kind of eater.
I can't eat much of anything early in the day without feeling ill, so I graze on lighter fare and then I'm just living for dinner and eating the rest of the night.
Mike is the other way around. He wants to get up and have a massive brunch of breakfast foods (which would all make me rapidly hurl), and then doesn't need to eat again until the next day. It's not the most perfect mix of foodie-types, but we make do.
Besides, I'm happy with my type of eating. Grazing all day, and then eating the really good stuff for dinner, followed by more grazing on cheeses and nuts and chocolate. Maybe with a glass of port.
I can theoretically understand why people like brunch, but considering my body just will not adapt to that style of eating, I will never truly understand it.
I know I'm in the minority, but for me, the whole day is just waiting for dinner.
And if you try to feed me "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) you will end up with a fork in the eye. Count on it.
Now, must oblige the put-off food-coma and collapse next to the sleepy smiling hubby.
Mmmmm... :)