Nicoise Salad

I AM NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE unrelenting heat wave that has us in its grip. I am not going to talk about living in an older, un-air conditioned home in the mountains. I am not going to talk about my love of summer.

What I will mention is that this is the first summer Pritchard Parker is not working in an air conditioned office all day but rather from home. And he is not enjoying it. He does not love summer. Even when he is not saying anything, he is saying plenty, if you know what I mean. The heat will break soon and he will be back to his usual good humor.

Meanwhile, I have been serving only cold food. If I need to do any cooking at all, like I did here with cooking the beets, potatoes, and eggs, I do it early in the morning before the afternoon sun beats down on our west facing kitchen.

By dinner time, the ingredients for this delicious and satisfying Nicoise salad will be cold and we will dine a little later. I made a simple lemony vinaigrette and chilled that as well.

Nicoise Salad
Washed, torn, and chilled lettuce
Oil packed tuna
Boiled eggs
Sliced Vidalia (or other sweet) onions
New potatoes, simmered until tender
Beets, simmered until tender
Tomato slices
Anchovy fillets
Calamata olives

Lemony Vinaigrette Dressing
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place lettuce on individual plates. Top with tuna, eggs, onions, potatoes, beets, and tomato. Garnish with anchovies and olives. Drizzle with lemony dressing.

Egg Salad

EGG SALAD IS NOT ON A REGULAR ROTATION in our home. Why? It has just never been part of our repertoire. I don't remember my mother ever making it at home. I don't remember it being served at school or anywhere else for that matter. My husband doesn't especially like it so we never think about it. Except at Easter--to make use of some of those Easter Eggs.

There are so many ways to make this simple spread, the most basic being chopped hard boiled eggs mixed with mayonnaise. All kinds of add-ins can help up the flavor. Pickles, dill or sweet, are popular, onion, scallion, or shallot are good, celery, peppers, cheese, bacon, anchovies, and more.

Mustard is often used and I pondered the various types I had in the kitchen--stone ground, Dijon, honey mustard, and yellow ballpark mustard. Ultimately, I decided to use some mustard powder and I'm so happy that I did. I loved the flavor it imparted and the inner warmth reminded me of wasabi. In fact, next time I think I will try using wasabi.

I served the egg salad on sour dough bread with alfalfa sprouts. Delicious!

Egg Salad
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 rib celery, with leaves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 - 3 Tbsp. finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. mustard powder
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 - 3 Tbsp. mayonnaise (more to taste)

Mix all ingredients together to desired consistency. Chill before serving.

Tex-Mex Migas

WHEN THE WEATHER IS CHILLY, GRAY, AND DAMP, I often want to eat something breakfasty. I started using the word, breakfasty, several years ago when I learned it from a little boy who had spent the night with us. Next morning, I asked him if he would rather have eggs or oatmeal. Nope, he wanted something breakfasty. Fruit? No, something breakfasty. I kept offering more and more options and he declined all of them, repeating that he wanted something breakfasty. Finally, I asked him what he considered breakfasty and he replied, "donuts". Apparently he had already spied the Krispy Kreme box I thought was out of sight on top of the refrigerator.

My idea of breakfasty is more on the savory, even spicy side.  Thus, Migas. My husband is never excited when he comes home and sees me making this dish for our supper. And I admit, it is not a show-stopper appearance wise. But he eats it with enthusiasm and growing appreciation and even goes back for seconds.

Migas is scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, leftover tortillas, and cheese. The recipe is very flexible, any kind of peppers can be used, crushed tortilla chips from a bag work fine, any cheese works. Everything is to taste. I like to use corn tortillas, skillet fried until crisp, poblano peppers, and Monterrey jack cheese.

Tex-Mex Migas
1/4 cup mild cooking oil
5 corn tortillas, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, chopped
2 - 3 poblano peppers, diced
1 tomato, peeled and chopped
8 eggs
2 Tbsp. milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss the tortilla pieces in the hot oil, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, until crispy. Remove to paper towels and set aside while you saute the onions and peppers, in the same skillet, for a couple of minutes. Stir in the tomatoes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Add to the onion mixture along with the tortilla pieces. Gently lift the vegetables and tortillas to let the eggs get evenly distributed.

When the eggs look nearly done, turn off the heat, sprinkle on the cheese and put a lid on it.

When the cheese is melted, serve with salsa, sour cream, avocado slices or guacamole.

Quiche Lorraine

QUICHE LORRAINE IS NAMED FOR the Lorraine region of France.  I am not an expert on France, French cooking, and especially the French language. From growing up in the south, I learned that trying to speak French words with a southern accent just does not work. But I can pronounce Quiche Lorraine. And so could the B-52's. In fact their song about a French poodle named  Quiche Lorraine jumped into my head while I was making this.

Variations on the recipe are many, of course. I used what I had on hand including fresh chives which are growing abundantly in our border garden.

I made Pastry Brisee for the crust, a very buttery, crumbly crust, which was practically shortbread. It was perfect with this savory, cheesy pie. I usually rely on the convenience of those rolled up pre-made crusts in the red box but I didn't have any. I weighed my options and decided it would be easier to make pastry than drive to the store to buy it.

Pastry Brisee
2 cups flour
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
2/3 cup butter (10 Tbsp. + 2 tsp)

Whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in or rub in butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Work into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

The pastry is too crumbly for rolling out, so press it into a buttered pie plate with your fingers until you have a smooth crust of even thickness. Finish edges as desired. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees.

Quiche Lorraine
1 pie crust
5 slices bacon
8 oz. Swiss or Gruyere cheese
4 eggs
1 cup creme fraiche
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. fresh chives, thinly sliced
small grating of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare pastry brisee as above or if using a pre-made crust, prick it with a fork and bake for 5 minutes only at 450 degrees.

Cut bacon into 1-inch pieces and cook in a small skillet over medium-high heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Cut cheese into small cubes.

In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs until well blended. Add the creme fraiche and milk and whisk until smooth. Stir in the chives, nutmeg, and salt and pepper.

Place cheese cubes in bottom of partially baked crust. Sprinkle bacon over the cheese and then pour the egg mixture over all. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake about another 10 to 15 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Quinoa Croquettes

These delicious croquettes are a spin-off  from my Ten Layer Salad. I used quinoa in that salad and had some leftover I wanted to eat because that stuff is expensive!

Up until now, I have avoided jumping on the band wagon of quinoa's current popularity. I had eaten it in the past and frankly, I just didn't find it to be, pardon the antiquated cliche, "all that".  But I recently decided to give it another chance to shine and splurged on some.

And I do mean splurge. I was buying some items from the bulk bins as follows: wheat berries at 89c per pound, brown rice at 1.29 and quinoa at 4.59!  And that was bulk prices.

Once again, I found the cooked quinoa to be rather ho-hum flavor-wise.  However, once I jazzed it up and made it into savory little cakes, we loved it.

Quinoa Croquettes
2 cups cooked quinoa, chilled
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

Combine all ingredients and form into patties. If the mixture is too dry to hold together, add another egg. If it is too wet, add more bread crumbs.

Place formed patties onto a sheet pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with a light cooking oil and set over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, use a spatula to gently lower the croquettes, one at a time, into the pan. Let them brown, undisturbed, on the first side. Then gently turn them over and brown on the second side.

When golden brown on both sides, place onto paper towels or brown paper to drain.

Can be served piping hot but are equally delicious at room temperature.

Red Flannel Hash

I LOVE THE NAME RED FLANNEL HASH. It sounds so appealing, cozy, and comfortable. Also bright and cheerful. I first heard of Red Flannel Hash from the fictional, smart-mouth tough guy with a heart of gold character, Spenser, a Boston based Private Investigator, in a series of books written by Robert B. Parker.

In many cases, while investigating, Spenser would get out of the rain, and of course he would be drenched (and remember tough guys don't use umbrellas) by going into a warm diner and ordering a steaming cup of coffee along with Red Flannel Hash. After this happened on more than one occasion, I started wondering, what the heck is Red Flannel Hash?  So I "investigated".

Red Flannel Hash is corned beef hash with the addition of beets. After my husband's favorite meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage, I usually make either Reuben sandwiches or Corned Beef Hash with the leftovers. After I learned about Red Flannel Hash, my hash changed forever. We love beets anyway and adding them to hash transforms its flavor and gives it such a beautiful color.

I don't think you need a hard and fast recipe for a dish called hash, but this is more or less what I did.

Red Flannel Hash

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups diced potatoes

2 cups chopped leftover corned beef

2 cups cooked beets, diced

Freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter and oil in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Add in the chopped onion and potatoes. Cook and stir until they are tender. Toss in the corned beef and beets. Mix together and continue cooking until everything is hot and beginning to brown. Top with freshly ground black pepper. There should be enough salt from the corned beef, but taste and add some if you like.

Serve with eggs and some of your leftover Irish Soda Bread.

Magic Cake

MAGIC CAKE CYCLED through the food blog circuit about a year ago. I was intrigued by these pretty little squares and finally decided to try them out.

One thin batter really does separate into three different layers during baking, but I would not necessarily call it cake. Perhaps "Chiffon Custard" more accurately describes it but I really love the name, "Magic Cake"

The recipe is rather fussy to make; you must separate eggs, beat the whites separately, warm the milk, melt butter. I enjoy this type of baking and I will make this recipe again, maybe with a twist next time, but this is not something to make in a hurry.  Also, it needs to cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.

Magic Cake
4 eggs, separated, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
2 cups warm milk
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 8 x 8 inch baking dish.

Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside.

Beat egg yolks and sugar until light. Add melted butter and vanilla and continue beating another minute or two. Add flour and mix well.

Slowly add the milk (milk must be warm or the butter will seize up) and mix until well combined. Add the stiffened egg whites to the batter, one third at a time, gently folding in each addition with a spatula.

Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 50 - 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the cake is no longer jiggly.

Cool completely before cutting into squares. Dust with powdered sugar.

Brunch for One: Egg and Avocado Sandwich

 SATURDAY IS THE DAY Pritchard Parker and I usually do something fun. Most weekends we have a 4-year-old in tow and she calls our outings, "Adventures".  Some Saturdays I cook breakfast at home, usually pancakes or French toast. Others, we go out.

I have talked before about how my husband loves to shop, especially junk junque , antique, and thrift stores. I'm afraid the little one does too--she'll say, "Come. Look at some beautiful things; some gorgeous things". So I have taken to tagging along with them, though I am pickier about which stores I will go in.

I like looking at the china and crystal as well as old kitchen ware. I have enough china, kitchen ware, and old junk already, but lately I find myself admiring antique cake stands, especially depression glass, and I am afraid it only a matter of time before they start following me home.

This Saturday was different; I was alone. I am used to spending my weekday mornings alone. I wake quietly and sip tea while checking news, weather, updates on the many blogs I follow, and work on my to-do list. I am not ordinarily a breakfast eater, opting for a smoothie later in the morning.

But this morning I missed my pals and our Saturday morning breakfasts together.  I thought about making pancakes but that seemed too much for just myself, so I decided to cook an egg, which became an egg and avocado sandwich with a squeeze of lime juice, a sprinkling of Celtic sea salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Delicious.

Next week, we will have another adventure.

Pound Cake French Toast Muffins (with Chocolate)

 My 4-year-old Sous Chef had spent the night and when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she declared, "French Toast"!

I knew I had some leftover pound cake from one of my cake classes,  denuded of its frosting, hiding in the back of the refrigerator for just such an occasion.

Little Sousie is getting quite good at her cooking skills. She stands on a chair at the kitchen counter. She cracked 6 eggs and only got one bit of shell in egg #1. I gave her a cutting board and a butter knife to cube a few pieces of pound cake and she did a fine job while I worked on another board making the remainder of the cake cubes.

I measured the milk (carton is still heavy for her) and she poured from the cup into the bowl with the eggs. Then she whisked to blend. I handed her a half bag of chocolate chips and suggested she add as many as she wanted. She made herself a little pile of chips on her cutting board to sample and dumped the rest into the egg mixture.

I poured in a little vanilla and asked (silly question) if she wanted cinnamon. She loves sim-a-non! Again, I let her decide how much to add.  Lastly, we tossed in our cake cubes and stirred to coat them. A couple of little hands might have been used.

After the muffins came out of the oven, and we waited a few minutes for cooling,  she enjoyed sprinkling them beautifully with powdered sugar. 

Just in case her mother is reading this, I want it to be known that we drank a smoothie made with fresh pineapple, banana, pear, yogurt, and almond milk while we waited for the muffins to bake.

Pound Cake French Toast Muffins (with Chocolate)
8 - 10 cups cubed pound cake or dense bread
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
Chocolate chips, to taste
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 12 cup muffin pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Mix in the vanilla, cinnamon, and cake cubes. Divide into the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until set and golden brown. Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Remove muffins to a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.

Leftover Omelet Sandwich with Fresh Fruit for my Lunch

 I had made a Vidalia Onion and Cheddar Omelet for dinner last night and had some left over. As I was making a sandwich on toasted whole wheat bread for lunch, along with some fresh fruit, I thought about a former co-worker, Dick. One day, at lunch time, I was in the break room peeling a mango. He came in for another cup of coffee and asked, "What is T-H-A-T!?*!" I answered, "It's a mango, want a bite"? He quickly replied, "No!! I like my steak plain"!

He then proceeded into a long diatribe about how hard it is to find a plain steak in a restaurant. They are all marinated or have some kind of rub. How many steaks he's had to send back. That one restaurant manager informed him they don't have any plain steaks. And on and on.

Meanwhile, I have finished peeling and dicing my mango, was thinking about the fact that I didn't offer him steak, and would he kindly move so I could leave the room, go back to my office, and enjoy my mango in peace.




I Love Cantaloupe and Blueberries Together.

He was of the opinion that I only ate healthful (weird) food because Michelle Obama told me to. He was damn determined not to eat anything healthful because she should just get off our backs. I never bothered to advise him that I was eating healthfully long before any of us had heard of Michelle Obama. That she has nothing to do with my food choices.

I further wondered how many people in this country would prefer a McDonald's lunch over what I was having?

Potato & Spinach Fritata

 

I am not a breakfast eater and never have been. This has always been puzzling to both my Mother and my Husband--they wake up ravenous and can't wait to get to the kitchen.  And of course, there is "They". You know, "Them"? The ones who rule our lives and tell us, among other things, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

I am not only not hungry when I first awake, I can't even smell. All I want is a cup or three of hot English breakfast tea with scalded milk. 

However, I love breakfast food--eggs, bacon, grits, toast, oatmeal, French toast, so I make breakfast for dinner on a regular basis.  I especially enjoy it on gloomy days and we have had a lot of those lately.  And the groundhog told us that spring was just around the corner!

Here is a cheesy potato and spinach frittata I made. I served it with broiled red grapefruit and toast with jam for a comforting supper.

Potato & Spinach Frittata
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil (more if needed)
1-10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
6 eggs
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper, to taste
Paprika

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil in a 10-inch iron skillet, or other oven proof skillet, over medium heat. Add the potatoes and onions. Cook and stir, until the potatoes are browned and barely tender, adding more oil and adjusting heat as necessary.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and top with the spinach.

Beat together the eggs and 1/2 and 1/2, with the addition of salt and pepper, to taste. 

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and spinach and top with the cheese. Sprinkle the top with paprika.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Mini Nicoise Croissants

This heat has really zapped my appetite. All I really want to eat is fruit, and I certainly have! Cantaloupe, blueberries, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries. I can't seem to get my fill with no other food really interesting me. Nor have I had much interest in working in the kitchen (Pritchard Parker has even been cutting up my Cantaloupes for me).

I do know, however, that no matter how delicious, juicy, and cooling the summer fruits are, they do not make a balanced diet. Not to mention my husband wants and needs some more substantial foods to eat. So I have been making efforts.

I saw the recipe for Nicoise Toasts in the July, 2012 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine. It really looked pretty and appealing in the photograph. Other than boiling the eggs, no cooking was involved.

The sandwich was made with a combination of tuna salad and egg salad. I used leftover grilled salmon because I had some on hand. I made the sandwiches on mini croissants because that is the size sandwich my puny appetite can enjoy.  I love the "new-school egg salad made with cottage cheese, parsley, and capers".  The two salads layered on the same sandwich  was delicious.

For the Egg Salad:
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. coarsely chopped capers
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork until a coarse paste forms. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Tuna Salad:
4 oz. tuna packed in olive oil
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup parsley leaves
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. pitted, sliced olives
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Toss together the cherry tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice, olives and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice, if desired. Gently fold in tuna keeping it chunky.

Spread some of the egg salad on bread of choice and top with the tuna salad.

Sunday Brunch: Eggs in a Cloud

You know those cookbooks put together by churches, charitable organizations, and auxiliaries as fund-raisers? I have amassed quite a few of them over the years and I have found some delicious recipes in their pages. It seems the contributors submit their best, tried and true and most popular recipes.

Last weekend, when Baby was here, she pulled one of these cookbooks off the shelf. Later, when I picked it up, I thumbed through it before placing it back on the bookshelf. This recipe jumped out at me.

The book has to be at least 40 years old and is from a church in Alabama.  The contributor of the recipe, Mrs. Arnice Ingram, calls these eggs, Breakfast Appetizer. I don't know why, because it becomes obvious that this is a part of the regular breakfast plate. 

I am giving the recipe exactly as it appears in the book.  Of course these could be made more elegant and lovely by piping the egg whites, and I thought about it. But Mrs. Ingram said  "spoon"  them in the pan, so I went with that.

BREAKFAST APPETIZER - Mrs. Arnice Ingram
1 or 2 eggs for each plate; separate yolks without breaking. Whip whites until stiff. Use smooth pan or iron skillet. Grease well with bacon grease. Spoon egg whites in pan in pancake order, making nest in top of each. Spoon a yolk into each nest. Have oven hot; do not put in oven until plates are ready with other breakfast food. Salt and pepper to suit taste; set in oven and cook done or soft, as desired. Serve hot only.

 I am sharing this with my friend, Melynda at Mom's Sunday Cafe for Coookbook Sunday

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Quiche

This is a recipe from another one of my old hippie cookbooks, Cabbagetown Cafe Cookbook. I have spoken before about my love of quiche. Quiches are very forgiving and as simple as you like to make. You can make your own pastry, buy a pre-made crust, purchase one of those roll out crusts from the dairy section of the grocery store, you can even make it crustless, if you prefer.  You can use any combination of cheeses and any vegetables or combinations of ingredients.

I skipped the other herbs listed in the recipe and chose to use 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, finely minced. It was perfectly complimentary to the broccoli and blue cheese.

I also used more cheese than called for in the recipe and made this quiche very cheesy. It was delicious!

And you know? I have never heard anyone say, "No, I don't like quiche". 

I am linking this post to Mom's Sunday Cafe for Melynda's Cookbook Sundays.



Green Pea and Cheese Salad

Every spring, I start seeing recipes using fresh green peas yet I have never seen them in the market. Green peas are not a Southern crop and they are too perishable for shipping. Therefore, when I want peas, I buy frozen, which are quite good.  (I find many frozen vegetables to be unpalatable). 

After I made this salad, and ate a delicious, refreshing serving, I mused that I must have already been thinking about our upcoming Curry-Palooza.  It is my turn to choose a recipe, which we will post (always the first Friday of each month) on June 3.  I chose the recipe, Muttar Paneer, which is curried peas with cheese. But Muttar Paneer is nothing, nothing, like this salad, they just happen to share the same two main ingredients. We would love to have you cook along with us. Just let Grapefruit or I know and we will happily send you the recipe we are using. 

Back to the pea salad, here is a recipe for you. Make the dressing first and refrigerate until needed. Making it the day before is even better. This enables the mayo to lose that gloppy appearance and acrid smell I don't care for.

Green Pea and Cheese Salad
16 oz. frozen peas, thawed
1 cup diced celery
1 small sweet onion, diced
3 - 4 Tbsp. chopped sweet pickles
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Half a red pepper, diced
4 oz. cheddar cheese, diced into small cubes

Dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp. fresh, minced dill weed

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Toss together the peas, celery, onion, pickles, egg, pepper, and cheese. Stir in the chilled dressing and stir gently to blend. 

Egg Salad

I am suspicious of some foods unless I make them myself. Egg Salad is one of them. I never even ate egg salad at all until a few years ago. And it is was not a favorite with Pritchard Parker either.

I have seen little egg salad finger sandwiches served at fancy events; bridesmaid luncheons, receptions, socials, and teas, all my life. But boiled eggs mashed together with mayonnaise into a yellow paste, then spread on fluffy white sandwich bread with the crusts cut off, never appealed to me. Even when cut into cute little triangles and stacked on silver trays. 

Then I had leftover Easter Eggs and decided to try egg salad as a way to use them. I made it very simply, with minimal mayo and no mustard (even though I do love mustard and have at least 5 varieties in my kitchen right now) plus a couple of other touches.  It was not bad. Although "not bad" is not a goal in my cooking, I felt less prejudiced against egg salad. 

And now I can say I have experimented with egg salad a few times.  And I have seen many recipes for it. There are as many ways to make it as there are cooks' imaginations. I've seen it made with bacon and cheese, which seems like a pretty natural combination with eggs. Alice makes hers with mashed ripe avocado rather than mayonnaise.

A couple of days ago, Pritchard Parker came home with a jar of Boar's Head Sweet Pickle Chips with Horseradish. I could. not. stop. eating. those pickles. They were delicious!  Because I had already been thinking about Easter Eggs, I decided to make an egg salad with those pickles. We loved it.

Easter Egg Salad

6 hard boiled eggs, coarsely diced

1 Tbsp. finely chopped sweet onion

3 Tbsp. sweet pickles, chopped

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Gently combine ingredients. Chill thoroughly before serving. 

Serve on whole wheat toast with extra pickle slice.

Breakfast for Baby - Cowboy Egg

 Baby stayed with us for a few days while Alice and her husband, who had been deployed to Iraq for a year, spent some romantic time together.  I think a good time was had by all.  I know I always love the time I get to spend with Baby.

We watched her favorite movie, Shrek, many, many times. The tunes are still playing in my head. We read a lot of books. She helped me wash dishes and do laundry.

For breakfast, I made her a Cowboy Egg. This dish is called many things. When I was a girl, Aunt Faye used to make them and called them Cowboy Eggs. I was so impressed, and in our family, that is what we still call them

Start by cutting a circle from the center of a slice of bread. Pictured is my Grandmother's biscuit cutter. I used it to put extra love into Baby's breakfast.

In a skillet, heat a tablespoon or so of butter over medium-low heat. Place the slice of bread in the skillet and crack the egg into the hole.  Cover pan and cook until the white is set and the bread is toasted on the bottom.  Flip over and cook to desired doneness. Also toast the circle of bread which was cut out.

For older children and adults who like dippy eggs, leave the yolk runny then use the toasted circle for dipping. I cooked the egg more because babies shouldn't eat undercooked eggs.  And as for the toasted circle, I smeared it with peanut butter which Baby enjoyed for "dessert" after she finished her egg. 

Can be simply cut into pieces easily handled by little toddler hands. 

Italian Omelet

I love reading and I enjoy culinary mysteries. The one I just finished is called Chocolate Quake by Nancy Fairbanks.  Ms. Fairbanks writes a series of light mysteries involving Carolyn Blue, a food writer and amateur sleuth. Carolyn travels with her scientist husband as he attends seminars and conferences in different cities. She goes along for the food and for material for her food column.  Inevitably she winds up solving a murder in each of these cities. 

Carolyn Blue is, at the same time, stodgy, prissy, naive, and self-righteous. I chuckle about her character often. She, really, is such a cliche of a Professor's wife.  But she is serious about her food--and she gives recipes.

In this episode an Italian man treated her one morning to an Italian omelet, which he served with sauteed tomato slices, and garlic toast. As Carolyn smelled and ate this breakfast, she described the aroma, the look, the surroundings, the taste, to the point that I was almost drooling. I had to have it.

Italian Omelet

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Saute 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms and 1/2 cup chopped onion in 1 Tbsp. butter, and set aside.

Mix 6 beaten eggs, 3 Tbsp. heavy cream, salt and ground black pepper to taste, 1/4 tsp. basil, 2 springs chopped parsley, and 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese.

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive and 1 Tbsp. butter in a large cast-iron skillet or other heavy ovenproof frying pan until butter turns white. Pour in egg mixture and cook until mixture is soft on top. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle the top with the sauteed mushrooms and onions, 1/2 cup diced cooked ham, 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese, several drops of lemon juice, 4 oz. cubed mozzarella cheese, and 1 Tbs. melted butter.

Place skillet in oven and bake until the cheese has melted (about 4 minutes). Remove to a hot platter and serve with parsley garnish, toasted garlic bread, and a side of sauteed tomato slices sprinkled with fine bread crumbs, olive oil, and herbs of choice.

Croque-Madame-Benedict

Croque-monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich first served in French bistros. More elaborate versions are served with Bechamel sauce. If it is topped with a poached or fried egg, it becomes a croque-madame.

After I decided to make croque-madame, I was contemplating Bechamel sauce. Specifically, did I want to make a Bechamel sauce. And more importantly, did I want to eat Bechamel sauce. That is when I thought of Eggs Benedict and decided to make Hollandaise sauce rather than Bechamel. Thus my croque-madame-benedict was born. 

Traditionally, the croque-madame would be made with gruyere cheese, but since my current white cheese obsession is provolone, I used that. Also, dijon mustard would be spread on the bread slices, though I opted out of that. 

For each sandwich, use 2 slices of sturdy white bread, several slices of thinly sliced smoked ham, and a slice or two of white cheese. Butter the outsides of the sandwich, then grill in a large skillet until browned and the cheese is melted.  Keep warm while preparing the remaining ingredients.

Make the Hollandaise sauce and keep warm. (Recipe below)

Poach or fry eggs.  Top each grilled sandwich with an egg and pass the Hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise Sauce
2 egg yolks
3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup firm butter

In a small saucepan, stir egg yolks and lemon juice briskly with a wooden spoon.  Add half the butter and stir over very low heat until butter is melted. Add remaining butter, stirring briskly until butter is melted and sauce thickens.  Be sure butter melts slowly to give egg time to cook and thicken the sauce without curdling.