Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon

Who needs weekends for brunch? Even though my schedule has cleared up significantly, I’m still working every Saturday and Sunday. I miss weekends. No, I miss brunch. Having week days off is not all that different than having weekends off. I still get to sleep in, run errands (with less of a crowd), meet up with other friends that have weird schedules such as mine… but most restaurants don’t serve brunch on weekdays. I can’t remember the last time I had brunch. So this morning I thought I’d make my own.

Surprisingly easy to put together. I’d say 15 minutes start to finish. 20 if multitasking isn’t your forte.

HOLLANDAISE

• 2 egg yolks
• 1.5 tbs lemon juice
• 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
• salt
• water

Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave until bubbly and hot. In a magic bullet blender, pulse yolks and lemon juice until frothy. Add 1/4 of the butter to the mixture, close, then pulse until well blended. Continue adding more hot butter, slowly, and blend until homogenous. Add 1 tsp salt and pulse to incorporate. Add 1-2 tsp of water if you like runnier hollandaise.

SMOKED SALMON EGGS BENEDICT (serves 2, 2 eggs each)

• 4  oz smoked salmon
• 4 english muffins (2, if you want to cut carbs. just serve on 1/2 the bread)
• baby arugula
• 4 eggs
• vinegar  (white wine or any other clear vinegar)
• paprika
• optional: chives, chopped finely (or dill. salmon likes dill.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Halve and toast muffins. Set aside
2. While toasting, prepare SOFT POACHED EGGS:
   1. Bring wide mouth pot of water to a boil. Add 1-2 tbs vinegar.
   2. Turn off heat. Crack eggs slowly and gently into the water. Cover the pot and leave heat off for 4 minutes. Drain and remove.
3. Arrange muffins on a plate, top with a small fistful of arugula, then a layer of salmon, then eggs, then hollandaise. Sprinkle w paprika and chives

 

NOTES: 

• Sprinkle paprika on top of the hollandaise at the end of set up. This adds a nice splash of color. I was dumb and blended the paprika in with the rest of the sauce. Has the flavor, not the aesthetics.
• Arugula adds a nice peppery kick. Spinach is a good mild/boring alternative.
• Thomas’ Light Multigrain english muffins are the bomb. 100 calories, develops a nice crunch on the outside when toasted, but still chewy/doughy on the inside. Love them.
• Toss your leftover hollandaise.

Oh. and Anthony Bourdain says never order hollandaise at brunch. “No one makes hollandaise to order.” That stuff is sitting in their kitchen all day. Gross. And now that you know it’s essentially raw eggs and butter, skip it on the menu and make it yourself at home. You wont miss it.

 

Nothing I’m more thankful for than Huevos Rancheros

It’s the morning after our Friendsgiving feast last night in Manhattan and feeling a bit homesick. One would think I’d want to curl up with a bowl of congee: light fare after a night of pigging out, food of my people and all. But nope. Jumped out of bed this morning with a inexplicably strong craving for huevos rancheros. R took one look at the heaping plate of chorizo, fried eggs, and warm tortillas and responded with “woa…bIG breakfast..”

You betcha.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb chorizo*, sliced
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 lime
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ~ 3/4 can of diced tomatoes, in juice
• 1/2 can black beans, with liquid
• optional: 1/3 can of corn
• salt
• black pepper
• 1-2 tsp chili powder
• 3 eggs
• 3 white corn tortillas (these dont get soggy as fast as flour)
• cheese (cotija if you have it, or shredded mexican blend)

*NOT cured chorizo, but uncooked chorizo sausage. Note packaging instructions if you have to remove the casing. I keep it on unless it’s plastic…The type that comes in plastic casing tends to be the ground meat type that breaks up. Either is fine.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Slice avocados. Squeeze over lime juice to keep it from oxidizing/browning.
2. Toast tortillas in a single layer in toaster oven until they poof up. Start this while you begin cooking, remember to check on it from time to time so you don’t burn them.
3. Heat pot over medium high heat. Add a bit of cooking oil, and cook sliced chorizos until browned and cooked through on both sides. Stir as needed. Remove and set aside.
4. In remaining chorizo grease, add chopped onions and bell peppers. Season with chili powder. Salt generously and stir until soft, ~3 minutes. Add garlic. Stir until fragrant, 1-2 min.
5. Add back beans with liquid in the can (this will help thicken the sauce), canned tomato, (and corn if you like corn). Salt to taste. Cover pot and simmer while you fry eggs.
6. Fry eggs. In a 8-10” frying pan, heat on high. When pan is just smoking hot (or eggs WILL stick), add oil. Let oil heat to a shimmer, then bring heat down to medium/medium high. Crack three eggs into pan, spaced evenly. If you don’t like super runny eggs, carefully shimmy your spatula underneath each egg, then flip and let the top side just kiss the pan. Turn off heat. Salt and pepper tops of eggs.
7. Plate tortillas, spoon over lots of tomato-y bean salsa. Top with a runny fried egg. Top with cheese. Squeeze over some lime juice. Add avocado and chorizo to the sides (or keep adding it to your tower if you’re brave.)
8. EAT.

Side Notes:

• I love Tortilla Factory tortillas. I’ve said this many times before. I keep packages of it in my freezer at all times. Great chewy texture.
• AVOCADOS:
  • Buying: avocados should be tender and give slightly when you press firmly on them (grip the whole thing in your hand, dont just poke it or youll bruise it). Skin should be dark, almost black, but NOT wrinkly or dimpled in any way. When buying avocados, I always get varying degrees of un-ripeness. ‘Cause you don’t eat five avocados in one day…. so get some that are a few days a way from ripening, that way they’ll be perfect when you finally get to it.
  • Cutting: I rock the knife from tip to end of one side, then back up to the tip on the other side (the pit will obviously prevent you from simply chopping it in half). Firmly chop down on the seed, twist the knife, then pull the pit out. Wrap the pit in a paper towel and gently pull it off the knife (be careful). Peel the skin off. If it is properly ripe, it will come off in sheets. Then slice and squeeze lime juice over it to keep from browning. IF the skin does NOT simply peel off (it’s probably not ripe enough), carefully slice with skin side down, then try to spoon out the slices. Messier, but will suffice.

Mexican Fried Rice

This is a meal of left overs. Feel free to adjust portions/ingredients as you see fit. Can’t mess up fried rice!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups left over rice
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• few tbs chopped green onion (I keep them pre-chopped, in the freezer)
• left over salsa (I used pineapple mango salsa)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder (not chili peppers, but a tex-mex blend with cumin, like Mexene)
• garlic salt
• 1/2 cup Mexican shredded cheese blend

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat large frying pan on medium high. Add a tbs of oil, heat until shimmering.
2. Add cold left over rice to hot pan. Smoosh down with flat side of spatula to break down rice. Add chili powder and paprika. Stir and mix until rice becomes soft, ~3 minutes.
3. Add shredded cheese to lightly beaten egg. Spoon a little hole in the rice and pour egg directly onto hot pan. Once bottom of egg begins to cook, stir lightly and begin mixing in rice. Salt with garlic salt to taste.
4. Add green onion. Stir and mix until egg cooked through. Turn off heat.
5. Mix in salsa. Serve.

Indonesian Chicken and Egg Curry Noodles

This is a large meal for two. Inspired by the best meal I had in Bali this summer, at a little run down restaurant overlooking a volcano (Mount Batur). My mother actually use to make something similar when we were kids. (Sans curry ’cause we’re not southeast asian). It was a smooshy chicken noodle soup with lots of greens and fluffy eggs melted in. Any time one of us was feeling sick, she’d make us this soup. Perhaps my strong affinity towards this Indonesian dish is just due to homesickness. Anyway, don’t tell my mother, but I like it better with curry and shallots. Just a stronger, richer tasting meal.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 qt Chicken Stock
• ~3 servings of noodles (I used dried, flat wavy noodles. plain dried ramen noodles are good, too)
• chicken thigh meat, diced (yes. dark meat. do it.)
• lime
• fried shallots (comes in a plastic container w/ red lid. asian supermarkets)
• ~3 tbs yellow curry paste (thai. ’cause that’s what i have.)
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• spinach (frozen OK, other asian greens, OK.)
• 3 eggs
• salt
• optional: sliced green onions  and peppers as garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Rub diced chicken meat with curry paste. Salt generously. Mix with your hands. It’s slimy. It’s fun. Please wash your hands.
2. 4 qt pot – Heat on medium high. Add a tbs oil. When shimmering, add onions. Stir. Saute until soft ~5 min. Salt generously. Add 1 tbs curry paste and mix in.
3. Add chicken stock. Bring to a  boil. Stir in another spoonful of curry paste or to taste. Add chicken, reduce heat to simmer. Cover and simmer 10 min.
4. Bring heat up to medium high. When bubbling, add noodles directly into pot. If you are uncomfortable judging cooking times, you can boil a separate pot of water and cook noodles there. Skip to step 5 and ladle finished soup over it after wards.
5. Once noodles are almost done but still white on the inside and slightly too hard for al dente, add handfuls of spinach (to your heart’s content). I used 1 handful of frozen spinach. It will expand as it cooks.
6. Bring soup to a low simmer, no rolling bubbles. Lightly beat 3 eggs (whites and yolk still slightly separated), drizzle into soup. Like all over. Don’t just dump it into the center. Cover. 3 minutes or until eggs solidify (OK if still a bit runny. will continue to cook)
7. Spoon into serving bowls. Squeeze in a bit of lime and toss in spoonful of fried shallots.

 

Note: obviously not a picture of my recipe, seeing as there is a volcano in the background. These pics are from my vacation. I unfortunately ate all the noodles I made before I thought to take pictures. Next time!

Healthy Eggs Benedict + Wilted Spinach and Truffle Salad

Weekends = real breakfast.

EGGS BENEDICT:

• 1 multigrain English muffin
• 2 eggs
• white vinegar (or any non colored vinegar)
• 4 slices canadian bacon
• shredded cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Fill a small sauce pot half way with water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 tbs vinegar. Carefully crack eggs into hot water (or crack into individual small ramekins and dip ramekins into water and slide out egg). Cover pot and set aside ~4 min. 
2. Halve and toast English muffin.
3. Heat small frying pan on medium high. Add a tsp or so of oil and fry canadian bacon until crisp on edges, flipping as needed.
4. Remove bacon from pan onto each slice of toasted English muffin. Top with cheese. Return to toaster oven, set on broil, and let cheese melt. (If you dont have a toaster oven, put cheese on bacon while it’s still in the frying pan and let it melt with heat on medium).

.
WILTED SPINACH and TRUFFLE SALAD

• 2 handfuls of clean baby spinach
• 1 shallot, sliced
• truffle oil

In remaining bacon fat, fry shallots until soft. Add spinach and a pinch of salt. Toss until just wilted. Remove and plate. Drizzle a few drop sof truffle oil on top.