Elvis is in the House

Sometimes I channel Elvis.  No, not his sultry voice. Not his curled lip, Not his over-the-top one piece Evil Knievil jump suits. I channel his love of peanut butter and bacon. Oh, yeah. Now we are talking.  That combo is worth being found dead next to the 'throne'. I recently introduced the UltimateBeta to the joys of salty and smoky combined with sweet and nutty.


The UB wanted breakfast.  She wanted an egg sandwich.  I asked her, "Are you sure you want me to take the time to saute up onions and peppers?" The UB replied, "Nope. just some bacon."  The limitation of the word 'some' should never precede 'bacon'. Do not take bacon's name in vain. For that I knew the UB needed to be reminded of the higher power of bacon.  I decided to show her the correct coarse; the proper path that leads to enlightenment; the direction to nirvana was to add peanut butter. Spread of the gods.


I slowly fried up some apple-smoked, cinnamon-cured bacon. Then I prepped two English muffins cut in half and placed them into the toaster oven to be toasted just before the eggs were complete.

Next:
I diced up 1 tsp. of fresh sweet basil
Diced 1 tbsp. of aged Gouda
Placed 4 egg rings onto a well oiled frying pan and then brought the pan up to med-high. [if you don't know what an egg rings is - Google it]

Once the pan was hot I dropped an egg into each of the egg rings also well oiled. Salted the eggs to taste. I then added 1/2 tsp of peanut butter on top of each egg, and then added a quarter of the cheese and basil to each. I finished it all with a dollop of garlic habenero sauce.

Once the eggs were cooked not runny, but not hard. I placed them onto the bacon which was sitting on top of the toasted muffin.

 After (egg)wich you bite into a hunk of burning love.

A Nutella Ganache Risin' From The Dead

I cannot believe it is OCTOBER and this is my first post since July. Ahhhhh, writer's block, busy summer, lack of inspiration, too many house guests in short order and a ton of travel. This blog hit them all, but we're still here. Believe it or not, when I returned to write tonight I saw five half written posts in draft form, unfinished. Two in July, two in August, one in September, I vaguely remembered they existed. Whoa. Don't worry I just started mindfulness classes, guess it's overdue.

All of this ended at my breakfast table this morning. See the picture to right and you'll understand.

Last night I suggested oatmeal cakes, as they were a huge blog hit, I really like them and we haven't made them since. While AC was cooking I ran to the corner Super America for half and half. I scoured the shelves for yogurt to top the cakes and stopped to stare at the glazed donuts. It's mostly childhood nostalgia that causes me to do this. My childhood best friend and I used to go on walks that included the local SA and buy glazed donuts, joking that our exercise made up for the calories. Ever since, I have a hard time passing without at least checking them out. I reminded myself of the breakfast in progress, gave up on finding the yogurt, figuring we could use half and half with some preserves instead.  

I walked into my house to the most amazing hazelnut smell. We're talking the best-chocolate-croissant-you- can-find-smell. Peeking at the mixing bowl AC was standing over, I saw the jar of  Nutella that we always forget about and what looked like a rich, smooth ganache. Okay, somebody tell me again why I deserve this man? Oh yeah, never mind, there are lots of reasons. But the blog drought has ended!!

Make the sauce while the oatmeal is cooking.

• 3 tbsp Nutella
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey 
• 1-2 tbsp B&B liqueur (which is a spiced brandy, you could use spiced rum, if you don't want alcohol, use the equivalent amount of half and half with a pinch of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.)
• Stir together in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy, it will thicken a bit.

Oatmeal Cakes:

• Heat a skillet on medium high.
• Put 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup milk in a sauce pan. 
• Add a pinch salt, 3-4 fresh ground cloves, 1 ground allspice seed(?), 1/2 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp fresh, finely minced ginger.
• Bring the mixture to a boil.
• Add just over 1 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal 
• Boil for a little more than 5 minutes 
• When the oatmeal is fairly dry without burning, add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground star anise. 
• Blend, cover, let sit for 3 minutes to continue to thicken. 
• Melt 1/2 tbsp butter on the skillet and coat. 
• Divide the oatmeal into four portions and place on the skillet. 
• Form a patty and with the spatula and cook one side only until it is nicely crisped. 
• Place on plate, fried side up, pour the Nutella sauce and put cut fresh, ripe peaches on top.  

Can you say wow?

Prairie Pride Farm's Pulled Pork: Three Days, Three Meals

We love the St. Paul Farmer's Market. Yes, Minneapolis has many, but St. Paul's is special. For one, everything sold there is completely local. It has a warm, community feel, there's always free parking and making trips there helps me keep up with all the new restaurants and shops popping up in St. Paul. But there is one more reason- the presence of Prairie Pride farm  . They sell pork. And it is amazing pork. Check out their website and they'll give you the details. We have two favorites, the pulled pork and the (ready??) cinnamon bacon. You had to have guessed that bacon had something to do with it. Cinnamon bacon is just that, bacon infused with cinnamon. It is delicious with our weekend morning oatmeal. Yum. Even better, the leftover fat can be stored and used to enhance many recipes, we have found that it combines amazingly with Salmon. But this post is about pulled pork, specifically, how easy it can make your life. One may not think of versatility when they hear pulled pork, but oh how versatile it is. You can go traditional and pair it with BBQ sauce, in fact Prairie Pride farm makes a kick-ass blackberry and chile BBQ sauce that is really good with the pork. In my opinion, though, just dousing the meat in BBQ, although classically delicious, just doesn't use it to it's potential.

Prairie Pride sells the pulled pork frozen in 1.5 lb. packages. Generally we buy one, bring it home to thaw and eat it for at least three meals. The goal is to make dishes that are so different we don't think "pulled pork again?" (I guess I do that a lot).

Day One: Salad style
This dish consists of three main parts. Pulled Pork, black beans and a salad, which will all be mixed together.
Salad:
1 shallot, sliced thin.
1 tomato, cored and diced.
2 Serrano peppers
Black pepper and salt.
Basil flavored oil and white balsamic vinegar.
Flat leaf parsley.
Fresh ground parmesan.
Slice shallot and immerse in the white balsamic, let it soak for about 20 minutes. Do this before you start the black beans and then use the extra time to make a margarita or mojito. Chop your tomato and sprinkle it with basil oil and salt. Dice parsley (enough for just a bit more than a garnish), the serrano peppers and add black pepper to taste. Mix all the above ingredients together and set aside. 

Pork :You'll need 1/2 lb Pulled Pork and an Achiote Annato sauce (at any Mexican grocer, or select Cub foods) it's basically a red Mexican hot sauce- not vinegary. Mix the pork with the sauce, and heat in a frying pan until warm.

Beans: We used 1 can of Kuner's southwestern spiced black beans and modified. Open the can and pour into a sauce pan over medium heat. Mix with black pepper, 2 small cloves garlic, cinnamon and 1/2 tsp dried oregano.

Assemble: Mix it all together (with about half the black beans) and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Day Two: Add an egg. Yum. 
So this is more like a hash. Completely different feel from day one, but you'll use a lot of the same ingredients. As you'll notice above, I said to use half the black beans, that's because you're going to use them again, see the picture?

This dish consists of four parts, you'll notice a vegetable slaw, the pulled pork, leftover beans and a fried egg. You're going to use the pork almost exactly as it comes, without sauce, but you'll add a bit of cayenne pepper to it. Then, in a frying pan coated lightly with butter, saute some onions, bell pepper and garlic, when the onions become translucent, add a fistful of parsley and 1/2 tsp dried oregano. In a sauce pan, heat the leftover black beans. Plate the slaw and heat the pork in the same pan you cooked the slaw. When heated through, place heated pork next to the slaw on the plate. Cook an egg (could use the same frying pan, too, it'll cook fast). Top with the egg and then add the black beans. Top with some slices of sun-dried tomato. Doesn't that look good? It tasted great, and I usually don't like runny yolk. You can cook the egg more if you wish, but the yolk adds sweetness.




Day Three: Pulled Pork Sandwich with Peach compote
If you're buying pulled pork, you do have to make a sandwich. This is the
easiest of all the recipes and equally as delicious. Simply take the remainder of the pulled pork, mix with a conservative amount of your favorite BBQ sauce (you can always add more, too much will ruin it). Buy a nice bun, add a slice of cheese and you're there.

To make this meal more than just a sandwich, the AC created an amazing peach compote. Pretty much dessert-worthy. Not healthy by any stretch. That's your warning.

Sweet Peach Compote: Put 1/2 c brown sugar in a sauce pan with a 1/2 c of water, bring to a boil and cook until the sugar completely dissolves, you're making a simple syrup of sorts, actually more like a caramel. While the syrup is cooking, grind 4-5 cloves and 3 allspice seeds with a mortar and pestle. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the ground spices to the pan with 1/4 tsp powdered ginger, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1/8 tsp coconut extract, 1/8 tsp cayenne and a pinch of salt. Let the sauce reduce to about half and add two thinly sliced peaches and 1/2 tbsp butter, turn heat to simmer and cook until the peaches are soft. Remove the peaches from the sauce and continue to let the sauce reduce until thick. Pour the sauce over the peaches and garnish with fresh mint.

There you are. Three completely different, ridiculously simple, fairly cheap meals to serve three days in a row without any boredom. Don't eat pork? Bummer.

Got Pears?

Ahhh, Pears. It could be me, but pears seem to be making a comeback. They are sweet, like most fruit, but have a subtle, fresh taste that is reminiscent of summer. They can do savory just as easily as sweet and are just a bit unexpected. I work with really picky, McDonald's loving, adolescent girls and even they love pears. The cook has to put them out one or two at a time and even raw, they are snatched up and enjoyed.

The AC has been on a pear kick lately too, and it's pretty awesome. Even better, the pear kick has equaled more desserts, which is always good for me.

Exhibit A

I present to you three dishes, four pictures. The fourth is just to demonstrate the end result, and I liked the image- remember, this is also about photography for me.

Exhibit A. Made while we were hosting some new friends for Art-a-Whirl. Preparation was scant and overall, these were quite spontaneous- The AC gets up from the dinner table around midnight after an evening of over indulgence. He doesn't say a word.  I don't disturb him. And my art friends and I get a treat. Kinda like my sister when she visited. see the fried bananas post and you'll get the idea. A common, green Bartlett pear was sliced thin and marinated in St. Germaine Elder Flower liqueur for a little over 20 minutes. The AC put the pears and the sauce used to marinate in a med-high frying pan, coated with butter. He added cinnamon and ground ginger and fried on both sides until browned and slightly soft. He halved some dried cherries and served.  All were eaten voraciously. The result was a semi-sweet, buttery, warm, just perfect follow-up to a meal.

Exhibit B

Exhibit B. Oatmeal. Served on a standard Saturday morning, with bacon, or course. This was added to demonstrate yet another way to add excitement to oatmeal. Honestly, oatmeal had no idea how exciting it could be until it met the AC.

This version used the pears, again Bartlett, marinated in St. Germaine. The oatmeal was prepared with ground clove, cinnamon, orange and lemon peel and a small hint of french lavender. Think about that, meaty, hearty oatmeal, balanced with citrus, subtle pear sweetened with St. Germaine (yes, I guess that means we consumed alcohol for breakfast) and the clean taste of lavender. This is your license to go crazy on your oatmeal...ready?? Go!

Exhibit C

Exhibit C. Caramelized roasted pears. Enough said. This is truly bringing out the total dessert potential of this fruit. The AC really outdid himself with this. Bosc pears are used. They are the pears with the brown skin, they are ultimately slightly less sweet and very good for cooking.

Exhibit D

To make this, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, cut the pears in half and core. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on both sides. Turn round side up and then lightly drizzle vanilla extract and generously sprinkle with brown sugar. Place the pears on a baking sheet that has a lot of butter coating it, it will be used for more than release but part of a sauce when we're done. Create the sauce using various liqueurs, for these we used a combination of cointreau and plain triple sec. Add cinnamon, ginger, allspice, a bit of salt and a bit of cayenne. Cook the sauce until reduced, pour the sauce over the pears after the pears have cooked about 25-30 minutes (somewhat soft all the way through) and then place under a broiler. Broil until brown and bubbly. Remove from the broiler, pour the remaining sauce from the pan over the pears and then top with chopped dried cherries and fresh mint leaves.

Place in front of your lucky dinner guests and see Exhibit D.

Beta Baguette French Toast

I love the idea of making french toast from left over baguette, but I've never liked the execution. The very thing that makes a baguette so satisfying, the chewy, crunchy crust, just gets too hard, making it too difficult to cut with a fork and too difficult to chew.

But I still like the idea. We really don't buy much bread, just baguette when we eat antipasto and the occasional roll for a sandwich.

After a night of antipasto we always have some leftover and a couple days later it's hard as a rock. The next day though, it's just stale enough to make the perfect french toast. I figured out how to make it work.

It's all in how you cut the bread- very thin. Keep in mind, I took the pictures very close-up, so the bread looks much thicker than it actually is. I'd say it's cut in about 1/2 inch thick pieces, if not thinner. I only used one medium banana, which was enough for two, so it is sliced paper thin. Use it for scale when viewing the pictures.

This recipe may be the simplest of all my breakfast specialties, in fact, I don't even measure. I made it up off the top of my head and I'm not the AlphaChef. Believe me, after reading this once you won't even have to refer back to the posting.

I made enough for two people, about eight small slices each, which ends up using a little more than a third of the baguette. Mix four eggs with some vanilla- about a teaspoon and a half, 1 tsp cinnamon and about a half cup of milk, but I didn't measure, just add enough milk to dilute the eggs into enough liquid to soak the bread. I heated, on medium-high, two skillets so I could make them in about two batches. I hate trying to keep them warm prior to serving. Put a pat of butter on each skillet when hot. Throw the bread into the egg mixture for about 30 seconds, just enough to coat and soak briefly. I then put the coated bread on the skillet and cook until each side is golden brown.

I piled the pieces on a plate, added bananas and strawberries because I had them around and thought it would look good and served with maple syrup. That's it. Takes about 15 minutes for the whole process. The result is a crisp, but just soft enough, sweet and savory, delicious version of french toast. You can cut it with your fork and chewing is not a problem. Dilemma solved- baguette will never again be wasted in our house.

'Rajasthan' Oatmeal

The Ultimate Beta asked me what I wanted to name my oatmeal I made this morning. I said, "'Rajasthan' Oatmeal."  She wrinkled her nose. Her mouth pulled back into a slight grimace. I was pretty sure I was about to be the recipient of her dreaded German 'psttch' of disdain. Instead, she simply shook her head with disappointment and said, "No.  I don't think so."  I pleaded. "How's that any worse than Peking Duck?"

And now its 'Rajasthan Oatmeal'. For better or for worse.

Let me explain my logic. Across the Middle East and all the way to western India, rosewater is used in cooking.  As is cardamom. It's present in this oatmeal too.  When I was living in India and visiting the ancient city of Jaipur, there was a lassi shop near the famed Hawa Mahal. This shop made a really thick version of lassi with cardamom and rosewater. I was smitten by the combination ever since.  For those who don't know what lassi is, here's a brief description.

Is my version of oatmeal Rajasthani? No. Is it Indian? No. But my memories are.

The recipe is really easy. The measurements are for two servings.  Since if we add Ultimate Beta and AlphaChef together we equal two. Or one meal. Or one damn good couple. And then the Ultimate Beta who was reading over my shoulder went, "Ohhhhhh! Ooh. That's so sweet." Score one for the AlphaChef. Won't need to buy flowers this week.

In a pot with 2 cups of water add: 1 green cardamom seed (not the shell) crushed and ground. Use 1/2 or more of what was finely ground - your call. If it was up only to my taste buds I might use 1 1/2 seeds but the Ultimate Beta is a bit sensitive to cardamom.  [I don't use pre-ground cardamom but I suspect 1/8 of a teaspoon will do it. But don't blame me if its missing or overpowering if that measurement is wrong.] 1/2 teaspoon of dried orange zest. [I think it would be about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoon if you use fresh orange zest. If you do use fresh then add it when you add the cinnamon.] 1 pinch of salt. 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Bring to a boil. Add 1 heaping cup of oatmeal. Turn the heat down so the oatmeal is at a very light boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Occasionally stir.

At about the four minute mark add 2 tsp of ground cinnamon and stir it in. I add the cinnamon late because otherwise a lot of it sticks to the side of the pot. Now a total of five minutes of boil time has occurred. Turn the flame off. Kill the heat. Remove from the electric heating coils.  The point is: STOP COOKING IT. Stir in 1 1/2 - 2 tsp of rosewater and 1 heaping tablespoon of ginger pear jelly. [If you don't got that, add 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger when you added the cinnamon, and stir in the pear jelly or apple jelly, or 1 tsp of honey. You get my drift.] Put the cover on the pot and let sit for 3 minutes. Now while the oatmeal is thickening, slice up a couple of medjool dates. After the 3 minutes is up, stir the oatmeal and place into two bowls. Garnish with the sliced dates, brown sugar and a few leaves of mint if you have them left over from another meal. I usually add a splash of milk too.

I served the meal along with Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon. Oatmeal and bacon. Its one of our favorite combos.  Not as good as a beer with something or other.  But really close.

Apple Schmarren; a Beta breakfast specialty

Sunday morning, Spring is coming!

For all my breakfast loving followers: I have another pancake recipe that is so easy but looks really impressive and tastes amazing. This is an Apple Schmarren aka Apple Puff Pancake. I've been making this for a number of years after discovering a recipe in the fabulous book "Jewish Cooking in America" by Joan Nathan. This recipe serves four, I cut it in half which is perfect for the two of us.

Preheat your oven to 350* and place an oven safe skillet to heat on your stove top on a medium/low flame. Mix 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt. I will often add about a tsp of cinnamon or a tsp of vanilla. Add 3 large eggs, 1 cup of milk and beat until smooth. Add 2 cored, peeled apples cut into eighths and stir into the batter. Once you've made this a couple times, start experimenting with different fruit. I have used pears, various berries, all with good success.

Brush the heated skillet with butter and pour in the batter. Place the skillet in the oven. I have found that it takes about 20-25 minutes to cook. Monitor it closely, as I've found the cooking time varies. You want the batter to rise around the apples, become crispy on the sides and the batter should appear cooked, not wet.



Once it appears cooked I remove the skillet from the oven and sprinkle it with raw sugar. I turn off the oven and turn on the broiler to high. I put the skillet under the broiler and watch it closely (once it starts to brown it goes fast!) until the sugar starts to brown and the pancake cracks around the apples. Remove from broiler and cut into pieces.

There are many options for serving- syrup, preserves, my favorite is to squeeze a slice of lemon and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

The result is light, crispy, a perfect balance of tart and sweet, ideal for a lazy Sunday breakfast. This is one you HAVE to try.

The PBJ Done Right

Sometimes easy, simple and lazy is best.

In this case, Bub's PBJ and cream cheese its not just true but truly rocks. Bub hated to cook. In most cases every bite of her food clearly and painfully reminded you how much she hated to cook. Her PBJ and cream cheese was the exception.

Every bite was damn good.

The rules were simple. Get your hands on a good bagel. Which in Minnesota can be almost impossible. However, a plain Bruegger's bagel will do in a pinch. At least they are boiled and reasonably chewy. Cut the thing through the middle. Its OK. It can't feel a thing.

Then schmear Philadelphia brand cream cheese across one side of the bagel. This is not the time to be conservative, but wildly, flagrantly liberal. Do not skimp on the cream cheese. Do not use whipped cream cheese. Kraft cream cheese just has the right tang. Almost all the other cream cheeses taste too sweet or have no taste at all. If you want food with no taste go to almost any Minnesota-based office's pot luck. The bag of frozen Swedish meatballs had 'tangy' on the label. yeah, right.

Next. Spread Jif creamy style peanut butter on the other half of the bagel. Skippy's will do in a pinch. No. No. No. Don't be fooled. High end, all natural, organic peanut butter is not the same . It doesn't taste as good. It must be the all the corporatist chemicals in Jif that makes it taste better. It really does. Even Cook's Illustrated Magazine agrees. So, it must be true.

OK, here's where you have some choice in the matter. The jam or preserves. Either half of the bagel is fine. You can use strawberry, or whatever you got around the kitchen. It can be cheap stuff. Imported stuff. Organic; fine by me. I happened to use one-year old red currant preserves that I bought for another dish. Used once and promptly forget that it existed in my refrigerator. Until presto, it rose from the dead and blessed my lunch.

I am telling you it rocks. How can just adding the cream cheese make such a difference? You gotta just trust me and try it. You'll be happy. I mean, just check out the picture. Its the centerfold of PBJs.




Options. Yes, there are options.

You could make it out of standard white bread. But if you do, you must cut it diagonally. Corner to corner. in honor of my old friend Aaron Schloff. Who wouldn't eat any sandwich which wasn't cut diagonally. Because that's how his mother did it.


Another option; you could make like Elvis and add bacon.

I have never done this. I am worried I would have a heart attack right there and then. I am not sure if that would be because of the accumulated effects of all the saturated fat or from the sheer bliss. Actually, I am worried if I did add the bacon, my poor dead Bub would spin in her grave. I can even hear what she would say. "Oy vey, You had to do it. You had to add bacon to the sandwich. What will the Rabbi think!" Actually, that's not true at all. She really say, "Bacon is such a pain in the ass to cook. Why waste the time? Now go turn up NPR. I wanna hear that piece by Mozart better."

Oatmeal Cakes

One morning, at a local restaurant for breakfast I ordered steel cut oatmeal. I was a little taken aback when an oatmeal cake arrived instead. What a pleasant surprise. It was a perfect combination of crispy and chewy, served with a tangy fruit compote, it was a completely new experience in oatmeal. So, when it was eventually removed from the menu I challenged my chef to recreate the experience. I really should have started with him in the first place.

We're calling them Oatmeal Cakes with fruit and yogurt. Made a couple days ago when I was in dire need of yogurt. Start with a pot of Old Fashioned Quaker Oatmeal. Add approximately 10% more oats than specified on the recipe (without extra water), to make a thicker base. When adding the oats to the water, add 3-4 ground cloves, 1 tsp dehydrated orange peel, 1/2 tsp vanilla and a pinch of salt. About 1 minute before the oatmeal is done cooking, add 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp powered ginger, 1 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp brown sugar. Turn heat to simmer, cook 2-3 minutes to thicken, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Heat frying pan on medium high flame, add 1 tbsp butter. Spoon oatmeal by the heaping tbsp onto pan, flip when brown, place on plate, top with whatever combination of yogurt and fruit you prefer. We obviously chose bananas and blueberries, add bacon. Devine.

He Cooks...She Cooks

Breakfast is very important in our house. Pretty much any cured pork with eggs, oatmeal or pancakes will do. Featured is an english muffin topped with a fried egg, gouda, carmelized onion and confit of soppresata. I am a very lucky woman.

Breakfast is also the only meal I really get to cook, as it is probably the only time Alpha has little energy to micro-manage. My specialty is pancakes. These are my favorite. Made with sour cream and cottage cheese, lightened with beaten egg whites. Pre-heat a skillet on medium high. Take 1 cup sour cream or yogurt, 1 cup cottage cheese, mix together with 2 egg yokes. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt. Mix with wet ingredients. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry, fold into batter so they are incorporated, but still distinct. When the skillet is hot, add butter to the pan, when bubbly, spoon batter by the tablespoon with a bit of the egg white in each spoonful. Serve immediately with maple syrup or fruit preserves. Variations: I have added blueberries to the wet ingredients, lemon or orange zest is also very good. I have tried substituting ricotta for the cottage cheese, but it made the batter too heavy, I like the old school, Old Home full milkfat cottage cheese in the blue container. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg are also nice additions. Although these are lighter than expected, they are still a meal in themselves, I'll usually skip bacon.