Buffalo Deviled Eggs

Buffalo sauce.  Will you marry me?  I promise to love you forever and I'll always be true, unless brown sugar bacon tempts me and in that case, LATER.  

My friends and I share a love of buffalo anything.  So when I came across a recipe for deviled eggs, I decided to make them for an afternoon pool party.  We were ALL pleased.  They took no time to assemble, and I even got all fancy and piped the yolk mixture into the egg whites using a plain old freezer bag with the end snipped.  You've got to get a little fancy when you're proposing to a sauce, after all.  Recipe here. 

Wakey Wakey!

For your busy Monday mornings...  

How to poach eggs in the microwave and how to scramble eggs using an espresso machine?!  

I know I suggested there would be a major blog remodel over here today.  I got ahead of myself, but it's still going to happen.  I will keep you posted!  

More egg dishes here.  

Spinach Pesto and Sausage Strata

My friend Beth made this Rachael Ray egg dish yesterday and it was absurd (recipe here).  Incredibly filling and delicious in many ways.  She also made Monkey Bread and I practically had to roll myself out of her house.  I don't have willpower, especially when it comes to bread and cheese.  If you ever have to torture me into revealing information, just put me in a room full of bagels and cheese curds.  You'll win.  You'll also witness a frightening amount of bagels and cheese curds enter my body.  Anyways, the above dish would make a lovely Mother's Day brunch.

And remember this?   

Egg Salad and Pancetta on English Muffins

Egg McMuffin Schmegg SchmcSchmuffin.  (Did you say that out loud?  Did you sort of think you sounded like Sean Connery?  Do you feel embarrassed now?  There, there.)  Who needs fast food breakfast when you can whip this delicious concoction together!?  It's so easy, even Sean Connery can do it (I know that Bond has many talents but do you EVER see him cook?).  English muffins, a leeeeeedle bit of butter, egg salad and crispy baked pancetta (or bacon, whatevs).  I HIGHLY recommend you go to M Street Kitchen if you're ever in the LA area and pick up their Homemade English Muffins.  They're the stuff love songs are written about.            

*A reeeeeally old post on how to hard boil eggs.

Easy Egg Bake

Hello.  It's 6am Siri.  6am Siri has bacon on the stove and a pot of coffee in her lap.  6am Siri is dealing with some familiar, dreaded words associated with a baby... "teething" and "growth spurt."  6am Siri was up last night at 10 (I go to bed at 8), 12, 2, 4 and I just fed my baby again, hence, why I am up at 6am and calling myself '6am Siri' like a really annoying person.  

Oh boy.  Listen, I don't want to complain.  I know these phases come and go, and in a few days she might be back to sleeping from 8-6 like she was 2 weeks ago (RIGHT, UNIVERSE?!?).  It's just that four nights of "sleeping" like this has turned me into a silly, delirious zombie, and I just looked out my window and thought a bird was a giant puff of smoke.

Oh boy.  (Do I keep saying that?)  I sure wish I was enjoying this egg bake I made a few days ago.  (p.s. I love calling something a "bake" or a "casserole" or a "hot dish" because, Minnesota that's why.)  It's my friend's recipe and it's the easiest thing in the world to throw together.  Best part?  You assemble it the night before so all you have to do in the morning is roll your zombie self out of bed and pop it in the oven.  And it's one of those dishes that will work with any sort of cheese, meat or veggie you have in your fridge.  It's entirely interchangeable.  Here's how to do it, and now if you'll excuse me I have some coffee and bacon to make love to...

9 eggs, 3 cups of milk, 1 1/2 cups grated cheese of choice, 1 lb. cooked sausage (or bacon or pancetta), 3 pieces of bread in inch cubes, whatever veggies you fancy, 1 tsp dry mustard, salt and pepper.  I like to whisk my eggs, milk, and spices first.  Then I add cheese, meat bread and veggies.  Then I throw it all in a greased baking dish, cover, refrigerate overnight.  Then in the morning I uncover and bake for, oh, 20-30 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  Just keep an eye on it and when it's all golden it's done.

  

Soft Boiled Egg

Let's talk about the movie Silver Linings Playbook for a second.  Have you seen it?  It's great, with really incredible characters.  One of my favorites is the mom, this sweet lady surrounded by neurotic men.  Every Sunday she makes something called "Crabby Snacks and Homemades."  Crabby Snacks I can sort of envision but what the heck is a "Homemade"??  I don't think I even want to know, I love it. I want to be that mom.  I want my kids to RUN home for Homemades, at any age.  I want to be famous for them.  I want their spouses one day to feel inferior because they can't make them quite like me.  

Ok that might be a little evil.  I swear I'll make a nice mother-in-law.  But it would bring me pure (evil) joy to be able to pass down certain tricks, like Homemades, or like this perfectly soft-boiled egg.  I can't take credit for figuring it out, this blog can.  I'm telling you, it's easy.  And once you've finished, if you don't immediately break it apart over avocado toast, you're a mental person.  Just like in the movie.

(Also, remember Avocado and Egg Pizza?)     

Fried Brown Rice

I know what you're going to say.  "What the (swear word) woman, did the stomach flu murder your food blog??"  Almost, almost it did.  While the bug lasted only 24 hours (thank god), it took a few days for me to think about food like I usually do... which is all of the time.  3 days passed before I woke up to my familiar rumbling tummy and happy hungry dance... a totally normal occurrence.  But by then I was out of town, so I apologize for leaving you high and dry with scones for a week and some change.  

I'm back!  Let's move on!
  

When you're not exactly thinking about food, you ask your son to choose what's for dinner instead, and when your son is obsessed with Benihana, the answer will be fried rice.  I found a child-friendly recipe and tweaked it slightly (by adding carrots and peas).  Jack helped me make it ("mama, it needs a teensy weensy eensy sheensy more soy sauce") and then helped me eat it.  It was delicious and healthy... a great way to sneak in veggies.  Add shredded chicken and it's a meal in itself.  Go go Power Rangers!  I don't know.        

Fried Brown Rice
(Serves 4)
Printable Recipe

1 cup brown rice (I used basmati)
1 3/4 cup water
2 T vegetable oil, divided
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 T soy sauce, or to taste
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Place rice and water in pot and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until rice is cooked.  Remove from heat.  In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 T of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat.  Add carrots and onions and saute for a few minutes.  Add rice and toss with veggies, cook for another minute or so.

Create a well in the rice and add the other T of oil.  Add eggs and stir with spatula to scramble.  Toss with rice.  Stir in soy sauce.  Add peas and cook until warmed.

Egg in a Hole

As a very new mother to two children, I've found that in order to get through the day without overwhelming myself it helps to make very mini goals.  Like, today I'm going to tidy up.  Today I'm going to organize that drawer.  Today I'm going to the drug store.  Today I'm going to blog.  Today I'm going to shower.  (That's right friends, showering doesn't happen every day or even every other, deal.)

But one thing I HAVE to do everyday is cook dinner, pack a school lunch, and make sure my son eats a big breakfast.  It's very easy to fall into the "same old same old routine", but today I decided to get wild and crazy with breakfast.  Egg in a Hole!  Egg in a Minnesota Hole (thanks for the cookie cutter, Katy).  Put some butter in a pan, cut out a shape in your bread, place bread in pan, crack egg into hole, sprinkle with salt, cook to your desired yolk consistency.  Fast, easy and delicious!     

Veggie Dinner

After camping and eating a lot of red meat and salty snacks and baking a lot of ridiculous cookies, sometimes I crave a full meal of vegetables.  When I make a veggie dinner (with eggs), Carson jokes, "nice appetizer, where's the main course?"  But we both end up loving it and always feel plenty satisfied.  Especially when you make things like zucchini fritters as a side...

Roasted halved tomatoes on top of arugula with a light balsamic dressing and toasted pine nuts...

Egg white frittata with mushrooms, broccolini and manchego cheese...

See?  I may be pregnant but I'm not eating for 12.  

Spinach, Chickpea and Tomato Frittata

Last night was one of those "ugh, dinner" nights.  I had no inspiration, nothing (or so I thought) in my fridge or pantry, and zero desire to drive to the market.  On the couch I sat, putting off doing anything about it until the very last minute in hopes that a magical dinner elf would come and take care of it for me.    Until I remembered that magical dinner elves ask for stupidly expensive tips and also aren't real.

So I slapped myself 5 times across the face (I actually used to do that in college), and marched to the kitchen whistling a semi-happy tune.  I started pulling stuff out of cabinets, freezers and the fridge.  A can of garbanzo beans, a box of frozen spinach, some cherry tomatoes, eggs and garlic.  Our dinner...

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  Add one clove of minced garlic.  When it starts to brown, turn down heat to medium-low and add sliced cherry tomatoes and a half a can of garbanzo beans.  Season with salt and pepper.  In the meantime, defrost frozen spinach.  Make sure to squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can.  Add to pan.  Season with more salt and pepper and some paprika.  Let cook for 10-15 minutes over medium-low heat.  

Preheat oven to 450.  In two bowls, separate 6 eggs, saving the yolks for another day.  Add a splash of milk to the egg whites and whisk, seasoning with salt and pepper.  

Add to pan.  When corners start to set, place entire pan (uncovered, and make sure it's oven-proof) in the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until egg whites have cooked and turn brown and bubbly.  

*This was very delicious.  Smoky from the paprika, hearty from the garbanzo beans, flavorful from the garlicky tomatoes and spinach.  Would be excellent served on toast, but we ate it as is (smothered with hot sauce, mmm).  SEE!?  YOU CAN MAKE DINNER EVEN WITHOUT MAGICAL ELVES!

Baked Eggs

I had never baked an egg until this morning.  I don't know why, I don't know why you guys.  It was so easy and the egg turned out so uniformly perfect.  I overcooked mine a little because I wasn't in the mood for runny, but you can keep yours in the oven for as long as your heart desires.  Follow these simple, simple steps and you will be happy.

1. Butter a ramekin.  (Or a Mini Le Creuset dish, oh how cute.)

2. Carefully crack one egg into dish.  

3. Sprinkle with a little heavy cream or milk.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes (runny) or 15 minutes (hard).  

*The toppings are endless.  Herbs, bread crumbs, tomatoes, spinach, cheese, etc.

Egg Salad Sandwich

This is a lunch I make quite often for myself and have since I was a kid.  That egg slicer thingy was one of the first tools I was trusted with in the kitchen, and, as the circle of life goes, now my son is old enough to use it.  Is that what it's called?  No matter!  Just like Simba taught his lion cub to call hyenas "Whoopi Goldberg" I will teach my son that this is called an egg slicer thingy. 

Anyhowzers, I don't get very fancy with my egg salad.  Some people like to add celery or pickles or tarragon or herbs, but I like mine nice and plain.  I boil eggs, peel and chop them, add mayonnaise, a few squirts of dijon mustard, pepper, sea salt and a dash of seasoned salt as well. 

I eat it with crackers, or roll it up in a wrap, spread it on toast, or make an old fashioned sandwich, like the one below.  I tried to add broiled pancetta to this, but instead burnt the crap out of it.  There may have been a small meltdown that followed ("my bacon waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah") but the sandwich made it all better.  

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas and Feta

I've been reading through Bon Appetit a lot this month, which you should know by now from my most recent posts, and when I came across this recipe I stopped.  It spoke to me.  Hi Siri, it said, I am chickpeas, which you like, and feta, which you adore, and tomato sauce, something everyone loves, and poached eggs, which are really healthy and WOULD LOOK GREAT ON YOUR THIGHS RIGHT NOW. That is what it said.  It also said, I'm fast and easy.  (Slut)

So now you know that I hear voices when I read food magazines, and now you know that this is a great recipe.  Vegetarian, robust flavors with Middle Eastern flair, great served with toast or pita, healthy, easy weeknight meal.  You can find the recipe HERE.

Autumn Panzanella

I've probably mentioned this before, but I like to say "autumn" vs. "fall" because it makes me feel like an elderly poet.  And who doesn't aspire to feel like that from time to time?  Wise, calm, quick to rhyme.  Should I start rhyming in every new post?  No?  Glad we had this talk.

Moving on to normal conversation.  Whenever I need a quick dinner and have no protein to work with, I like to put a poached egg over a salad.  Since it's autumn time, I decided to highlight some of my favorite seasonal ingredients: brussel sprouts and sage.  And what's better than a warm, bread salad on a chilly night.  It's been 90 degrees here.  By the way, when I put the sage in the frying pan, Carson walked in and said, "it smells like church in here."  An insult?  Or perhaps a comment from an elderly poet?  I'm going to ask him to write a poem called "Holy Sage" before he gets to eat any more of my food.  

Autumn Panzanella

(Serves 2)

Printable Recipe

4 oz. sliced mushrooms

10-15 brussel sprouts, sliced in half

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

3 T plus 1 tsp olive oil, divided

1 T pancetta, diced

1 tsp fresh sage, chopped

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1 T red wine vineagar

2 cups arugula

1/2 cup croutons

2 large eggs

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and tomatoes in small bowl and toss with 1 T of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spread out on baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.     

While vegetables are roasting, heat 1 tsp of olive oil over medium-high heat in small frying pan.  Add pancetta and sage, and saute until crispy.  Set aside on paper towel.  

To make dressing, combine mustard and red wine vinegar in small bowl.  Slowly whisk in the 2 remaining T of olive oil and whisk until slightly thickened.  Season with a little salt and pepper.      

Place roasted vegetables in a small bowl with croutons, and toss with the dressing (use as much or as little as desired).  Divide arugula into two bowls, top with vegetable/crouton mixture and a poached egg. Sprinkle with pancetta, sage and salt and pepper.  

Eggs and Cheese

The other day I was at the doctor, and she told me my cholesterol was looking high. She asked me if I eat a lot of eggs and cheese. I said yes, and she gave me that doctor nod that says, "sucks to be you." Collapsing on the floor into a convulsion of sobs did not seem overly dramatic to me, because I knew what was coming next. She was going to tell me to cut back. And I was going to mope around for the rest of my life in an irritable, cheese-less, state of shock. But then, wait no...

She noticed my HDL cholesterol was very high. "What a beautiful number!" she said. That was why my cholesterol looked high, and I was to eat all of the eggs and cheese I wanted. ANGELS SANG ABOVE! REJOICE, ONE AND ALL, FOR HEAVEN IS MADE OF CHEESE!

So Jack and I made an egg and cheese sandwich to celebrate (above) and I let my son sit very close to the burner.