Cheesy Mac with Brussel Sprouts

Easy Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1-1/2 lbs of brussel sprouts
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and trim the brussel sprouts, removing any yellow leaves.  Slice the brussel sprouts in half.  In a large bowl, mix the brussel sprouts with olive oil, a few good pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.  The brussel sprouts should be slightly glistening with the oil.  Spread the brussel sprouts out on a sheet pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the sprouts are tender.  Use tongs to flip/mix the brussel sprouts halfway through the baking time.

Happy eating!

The trick for not turning the entire pancake batter blue is to add the blueberries after you ladle the batter into the pan.  We used the rest of our boxed pancake mix (Aunt Jemima brand) and added frozen blueberries, after rinsing and patting the blueberries dry.

For the blueberry sauce, we used this recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix 1 1/2 cups blueberries, honey and 1/4 cup orange juice. Bring to a boil. Mix remaining orange juice and cornstarch in a small bowl, and stir into the blueberry mixture. Stir constantly until thickened.

For the whip cream, we put about a cup or so of whipping cream in our KitchenAid mixer, started on low with the whisk attachment and slowly worked the speed up until soft peaks formed.  I also threw in less than a teaspoon or sugar and two drops of vanilla extract while it was on the lower speed.

This wasn’t exactly a low cal breakfast, but we are slowly working towards more healthy meals.  To our credit blueberries are full of healthy antioxidants.

Happy eating everyone!

First, a recap of 2011: Matt and I got married (yay!), Matt started a new job and I started a new job within my current job.  We went to three weddings for dear friends, celebrated my grandma’s 70th birthday (go grandma!) and bought a new (used) car.

In 2012, we’re looking forward to five weddings (!), two vacations, and hopefully one huge life change.  Since we’re hoping to scale back in 2012 with the down economy, it will mean more nights in cooking and hopefully, more blogging about our cooking adventures.

So, to ring in the New Year, we’re live blogging our New Year’s Eve meal!  Instead of fighting the Chicago crowds for a drink and freezing outside while waiting for a cab, we fought the crowds at Whole Foods for a crazy amount of groceries and are staying in tonight and preparing an (epic) five course meal while watching Midnight In Paris before the ball drops at midnight.

The Menu

Cheese course
Avocado and Arugula salad
Steamed Mussels
Trout Amandine with Wild Rice Pilaf
Lemon Sorbet with Blackberries

The Beverages

Seven Daughters White Wine blend
Terre di Gioia Pinot Nero
A New Year’s cocktail of Ketel One Vodka, Chambord, Saint Germain liqueur (elderflower) and Chandon Reserve Sparkling Wine (saved from our honeymoon, courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law)

At this point, we’re still cleaning the house…

Thank goodness it’s just the two of us!

[7:39pm, M] Well, I ate all the crostini, so we’re making progress. The Truffle Tremor from Cypress Grove is a delightful soft aromatic truffled cheese, and pairs nicely with… uh, pear. A polite Pinot Nero with the appellation Terre di Gioia (Italian for “Maybe You Shouldn’t Drink It All Before The Salad”) rounds things out, along with a Borough Market English cheddar that reminds us of food stalls and Turkish Delights on the south side of the Thames. A large French round loaf is sitting on the table, intimidating us.

Only 4 courses to go!

[7:49pm, C] While Matt was enjoying the cheese course (after a lovely prayer by Matt) and continuing to tidy up the living room in its post-Christmas state, I made dessert, started on the salad course and the rice pilaf.

For the dessert, we were content with just having lemon sorbet with a few blackberries for garnish, but after we started putting out the beverages we realized we had some Chambord in our liquor cabinet.  A large handful of blackberries, 3 spoonfuls of sugar, 3 spoonfuls of Chambord and 1 spoonful of lemon juice later and we have the beginnings of the sauce.   (I’m improvising here.)

The salad dressing is chilling and its flavors are melding together as we speak in the refrigerator, and the rice is on the stove with the chicken broth (1 cup wild rice + 3 cups chicken broth – boil the chicken broth first, rinse the rice in a few changes of water, add the rice, bring to a boil again, cover, heat and simmer on low for 50 minutes).  Currently chop, chop, chopping away…

[8:17pm, M] Fireworks! Or a terror attack! Either way, something interesting is going on outside.

[8:36pm, C] Oh no, Matt has the video camera out.  He is talking to himself in the mirror.

[8:47pm, M] Who was that handsome devil? I like the cut of his jib. Right now, we are about to start cooking our seafoods simultaneously. On the left side of the stove preparing mussels is Cristiana. On the right, with trout, is Matt. This is going to be a lot like Iron Chef if the chefs were handcuffed together. Note to self: new show idea.

[9:31pm, C] Friends, we did it.  Pictures and recipes after the jump — Happy New Year everyone!!

Cheese Course

Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor (a ripened goat cheese), Borough Market Cheddar (a farmstead English cheddar cheese), Blackberries, Sliced pear, Cornichons, Crostini and crusty French bread

Avocado and Pea Sprout/Arugula Salad (adapted from this Avocado and Watercress salad recipe by Maggie Ruggiero – Gourmet, May 2008)

I love watercress.  The fresh taste, bitter bite – I almost always pick up one or two bunches on our Asian market grocery trips.  It’s great in soups, stir-fried in garlic or raw, topped with saucy beef to slightly wilt the leaves.  Unfortunately, on the one day we actually wanted to include it in a planned meal, Whole Foods was already out and we were too pressed for time to go elsewhere.  A Google search later and a possible substitute was curly endive, or frisée… which Whole Foods also did not have. So, we improvised with arugula and some pea sprouts. The result was a nice blend of peppery bite and distinctive, earthy pea sprout taste, a great base for this fresh, Asian-inspired dressing.

Ingredients

 1/4 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tbsp grated sweet onion (use large holes of a box grater) (I used finely chopped red onion)
1/4  cup finely grated peeled Gala apple (use small holes of a box grater) (I used a Microplane grater for a small Fuji apple)
4 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil (I used olive oil with a few drops of sesame oil)
6 cups watercress (thin stems and leaves only) (I substituted in a handful of arugula mixed with a small bunch of pea sprouts)
1 firm-ripe avocado

Stir together vinegar, onion, apple, soy sauce, and sugar until sugar has dissolved, then whisk in oil.

Just before serving, toss watercress (or in my case, arugula and pea sprouts) with enough dressing to coat. Quarter, pit, and peel avocado, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Gently toss with watercress.

 We chilled our dressing for 30 minutes or so to let the flavors meld.  We ended up serving these in a bit of a rush since we were simultaneously finishing up the fish and mussels, so we skipped the tossing and just drizzled the dressing on top.  It was a really nice, light salad that complemented the delicate flavors of the trout and steamed mussels.

Steamed Mussels in White Wine broth (adapted from this recipe by Annette Joseph)

I have always wanted to make steamed mussels at home, but had been intimidated by the process of purchasing and working with live mussels.  What a surprise how easy it was to make!  Whole Foods sells them in approximately 2lb bags and the mussels are already scrubbed and debearded.  I just popped the live mussels in a bowl of fresh water in the refrigerator before I cooked them and gave them a few good rinses (rubbing the shells periodically for any noticeable dirt or sand, tugging out any remaining beard threads and throwing out any cracked shells) before placing them in the broth.

I have to admit – I apologized profusely when I threw these little guys into the steaming hot white wine broth after jostling them around to clean them under cold running water…

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 large shallot, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups dry white wine (Use a wine you would actually drink!)
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper
3 ½ pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed, de-bearded (I used approximately 2lbs)

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat.

Add shallots and garlic, the crushed red pepper and salt; sauté until shallots is transparent, about 3 minutes. Add wine, bring to boil, add mussels. Cover pot and cook until mussel shells open, stirring once to rearrange mussels, about 6 minutes; discard any mussels that do not open. (This was pretty much perfect timing.  The mussels were fully cooked, but still tender.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to a large shallow bowl.

Boil broth in pot until reduced to 1 cup, add butter, about 3 minutes. Pour broth over mussels. Sprinkle on top with parsley. (I mixed some of the parsley in with the broth to let a wilt a little, but only because I’m not a fan of raw parsley.  Too pungent for my taste.)

This was a really good recipe.  It delivered a nice, flavorful broth that was perfect for sopping up with crusty French bread.

Wild Rice Pilaf (adapted from Chef Ron Berg’s Northwoods Wild Rice Pilaf recipe)

During our first summer after we started dating, Matt brought me up to his family’s cabin in the Northwoods/Gunflint lakes area. It’s a beautiful, slightly isolated area – a wonderful place to spend a week relaxing with a few good mystery novels while enjoying homecooked meals.

We did get to spend a few nights eating out at one of the few restaurants nearby, and Matt raved about a Chef Ron who was known for his ability to cook Northwoods fish.  We had our best meal out in the area that night and I was so impressed with his wild rice pilaf that I couldn’t stop thinking about his particular take on wild rice whenever I saw it in stores or in the bulk bin.  When I found this recipe, I had to try it.  Overall, the recipe was almost as good as the version in the restaurant, ruined only by my overly wet wild rice. (I used 3 cups of broth to 1 cup of wild rice – Whole Foods blog, I trusted you.) This is why I only make rice in a rice cooker with the fingertip measuring method – no matter how many times I make rice in a pot, I always either make it too wet or too dry. Kitchen fail.

Ingredients

 1 cup cooked wild rice, cooked in chicken broth (use low sodium if you are using pre-made broth)
4 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp minced garlic (optional)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped (optional) (I omitted the red pepper)
4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the optional garlic, onions, green and red peppers, and mushrooms and saute until the vegetables are soft.  Toss vegetable mixture with the cooked wild rice and chopped parsley.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To get it in that neat form, slightly grease a ramekin and pack the rice in the ramekin.  Carefully flip the ramekin over onto a plate, tap the bottom and then garnish with parsley.  I was duly impressed when Matt showed me how to do this and was surprised that it actually worked!

Trout Amandine (adapted from this recipe by Lola)

This was a really good recipe, expertly cooked by Matt. The almonds were absolutely delicious and I loved how the almond and butter mixture complemented, rather than overpowered, the flavor of the fish.

Ingredients

2 whole (10 ounce) trout, pan-dressed
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
8 slices lemon, for garnish

Rinse and pat dry trout. Season inside and out with salt and pepper to taste. Dredge trout in flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over high heat until melted. Add trout and brown both sides. Lower heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. (We covered the pan, so by the time it had browned, we only cooked for another 7 minutes or so – about 3 or 4 minutes each side.) Remove trout to a serving plate and keep warm.

Wipe out pan and add 2 tablespoons butter. Cook butter over medium heat until it just begins to brown. Add the almonds and brown. (Watch out — the almonds won’t change for several minutes, but once they start they’ll brown quickly.)

Pour sauce and almonds over fish and sprinkle with lemon juice and parsley. Garnish with fresh lemon slices.

It was a very romantic meal.

We finished the meal with some lemon sorbet topped with the Chambord soaked blackberries.  (Note: The sugar didn’t completely dissolve, probably because blackberries are a lot heartier than fleshy strawberries or raspberries.  I would recommend making a simple syrup by dissolving some sugar in water on the stove before mixing with the blackberries, lemon juice and Chambord.)

We also used some of the leftover blackberries in our post-New Year’s Eve countdown cocktail – a shot of Ketel One, a half shot of Chambord, and a half shot of Saint Germain dropped in a flute glass of sparkling wine.

All in all, it was one of the best New Year’s Eve celebrations in recent years and our first as husband and wife. We’re looking forward to many more delicious dinners in 2012.

Happy New Year!! Best wishes to everyone in 2012!

Yum!

]]> http://bitesandpixels.com/2010/07/10/gimbap%c2%a0night/feed/ 10 bitesandpixels Kim Bap Ingredients Gimbap Gimbap rolling Gimbap rolling Gimbap rolling Gimbap rolling More gimbap rolling Gimbap rolls Cutting the gimbap rolls Snake Roll Gimbap dinner Gimbap with egg and chinese sausage Korean side dishes Spam and egg gimbap Spam and egg gimbap ingredients Spam and egg gimbap http://bitesandpixels.com/2010/04/11/warning-this-post-may-contain-pork/ http://bitesandpixels.com/2010/04/11/warning-this-post-may-contain-pork/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:28:04 +0000 bitesandpixels http://bitesandpixels.com/?p=263 ]]> It started with an invitation to my friend D and S’s house for Korean barbecue.  Except, this wasn’t just any type of barbecue, it was pork barbecue, which my friend D had extolled as being one of the best types of barbecue.  Delicious, fatty, pork belly barbecue to be exact.

Hello, samgyupsal. So nice to meet you.

Growing up, a pork dish was the pork spare ribs my dad would occasionally make for dinner.  Or, if it was a special occasion, the huge roasted pork that included the head and tail (ah, how lord of the flies-esque those pigs were with their huge heads).   Oh yes, and bacon.  Delicious, crispy bacon.  In any case, the idea of eating pork belly showed up on my radar when it showed up on the rest of the consuming public’s radar– basically, when it popped up on every cooking/cooking reality show (Top Chef pork belly tacos anyone?) and food blog in the past year (I know, as usual, I’m late the party).

I remember the meal well– thick slices of pork belly, king oyster mushrooms, soybean paste, lettuce and perilla leaves for wrapping, roasted garlic and sesame oil mixed with salt and pepper for dipping.  Ever since then I have been addicted.  It’s gotten to the point where I’ve since recreated the meal at home numerous times and I have random cravings for the fatty meat late at night.  D, S, M and I even drove an hour out of the city to get some of the best samgyupsal in the burbs.

Feasting at Kim's Restaurant in Mundelein

God probably only allotted a certain amount of high calorie/high fat meals I can have in one lifetime, and I fear I’m probably reaching my limit from the amount of eating I’ve done in the past year.  (Sometimes, I think about what I’m eating and what those long living Okinawans are eating, and then lament that there is probably little overlap.  I swear, I will start eating and cooking healthier food as time goes on.  At some point.  Perhaps far into the future..)

In any case, while reading up on samgyupsal, I happened upon an article about a restaurant in New York that serves an entire pork butt with all of the side dishes and fixings.  They called it Bo Ssam and the restaurant is, as you may have already guessed, Momofuku.   A lovely present from friends, I got the Momofuku cookbook as a birthday gift last year. Although I’ve read through a lot of the stories, I was hesitant about trying any of the recipes, intimidated by how time intensive many of the recipes appeared to be.  So, when I suddenly had a weekend when Matt was occupied with a friend and I was on my own, I thought, why not? I’ve got time.  Or so I thought.

I present to you: Homemade Momofuku Pork Buns

One of my biggest flaws cooking-wise is that I am always overambitious and I never take into account how long it might take to cook something.  So, when it comes to cooking, this can be a bit of a setback, because either I will just let something sit in the oven and not check on it until absolutely necessary (macaron batch #2), or anxiously watch the food and ultimately take action too early (macaron batch #3).  This is especially a weakness when making bread. (Darn you yeast– eat faster!)

(As an aside, I hate yeast.  It. grosses. me. out.  Usually, when I’ve made bread out of my bread maker I just pour the entire packet in because the yeast is pre-measured.  For David Chang’s steamed bun recipe, I had to actually measure it out.  And there the yeast were, forming little chains on the package, as if they were screaming to stay in the packet instead of being dumped into the bowl of water.  I can handle raw meat, eat duck eggs, but active yeast? gkjawhe. Can’t take it.  Matt says it is static electricity, but when you see those yeast pieces forming all those chains and dancing around in your teaspoon, you too will have shivers run down your spine as you think about those little yeasties being “active”.)

In any case, I saw the Momofuku recipe and reconsidered how difficult it looked.  Hmm, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.  It wasn’t too complicated.

Advice to those who like to cook, but don’t have the patience to work through a recipe that takes more than 3 hours: Read the entire recipe before you embark on a foolhardy mission to brine something for more than 12 hours and then make home made buns that require at least two hours of resting time.  (Again, darn you yeast! If you are active enough to look gross in my tablespoon, the least you could do is quickly produce some hearty gases.)  The total time to make these buns post-brine– 4 hours. Thankfully I did double duty and watched The Proposal while periodically running in the kitchen to check on the meat.  (.. sorry about your computer, Matt, there may be pieces of bun in your keyboard from rolling the buns on your desk.)

Pork Belly – adapted from Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan

Ingredients:

• One 3-lb slab skinless pork belly
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

Nestle the belly into a roasting pan or other oven-safe vessel that holds it snugly.  Mix together the salt and sugar in a small bowl and rub the mix all over the meat; discard any excess salt-and-sugar mixture.  Cover the container with plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for at least 6 hours, but no longer than 24.

This is where I diverged from the recipe.  The recipe says to heat the oven to 450 degrees.  From reading Momofuku for 2, this doesn’t necessarily work for home cooks.  So, to prevent the fire alarm from going off (as it tends to do when I try out new recipes involving high heat), I decided to follow her advice and cook the meat at a lower heat first and then increase the heat at the back-end.  So if you want to try it my way (which turned out great), pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Discard any liquid that accumulated in the container.  Put the belly in the oven, fat side up, and cook for 1 hour, basting it with the rendered fat at the halfway point, until it’s an appetizing golden brown.

So, since we are using the low to high heat method, instead of lowering the heat to 250 degrees and cooking the meat for another 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, I cooked the meat for an additional 45 minutes at 350 degrees and then cooked it for another 25 minutes at 425 degrees.  (I know what 450 degrees does to my small condo–I wasn’t prepared to smoke Matt and Chanh out of the house).   As the Momofuku cookbook says, the meat shouldn’t be falling apart, but it should have a down pillow-like yield to a firm finger poke. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the belly to a plate.    Decant the fat and the meat juices from the pan and reserve.  Allow the belly to cool slightly.

When the pork belly is cool enough to hand, wrap the belly in plastic wrap or aluminum foil and put it in the fridge until it’s thoroughly chilled and firm.

Cut the belly into  1/2-inch-thick slices that are about 2 inches long.  Warm them for serving in a pan over medium heat, just for a minute or two, until they are jiggly soft and heated through.

Steamed Buns – adapted from Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan

This recipe takes at least 3 hours– so don’t start preparing the buns like me at 5pm and expect it to be ready by 7pm for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups water, at room temperature
• 4 1/4 cups bread flour
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp nonfat dry milk powder
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• Rounded 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup rendered pork fat or vegetable shortening, at room temperature, plus more for shaping the buns, as needed.

Combine those creepy active yeast with the water in a bowl of an electric stand mixer outfitted with a dough hook.   Add the flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda  and fat and mix on the lowest speed possible (I used the number 1 setting– I also combined everything into a bowl first before adding it to the yeast/water.) Mix for 8 to 10 minutes.  The dough should gather together into a neat, not-too-tacky ball on the hook (my dough wasn’t tacky at all– go figure).  Lightly oil a medium mixing bowl, put the dough in it, and cover the bowl with a dry kitchen towel.  Put it in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  The cookbook calls for putting it in a turned-off oven with a pilot light on or another warmish place; I put mine on top of the stove while the pork belly was cooking.

After the dough has doubled, punch the dough down and turn it out onto a clean work surface.  Using a bench scraper or a knife, divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 5 equal pieces.  Gently roll the pieces into logs, then cut each log into 5 pieces, making 50 pieces total.  They should be the size of Ping-Pong balls and weigh a smidge under an ounce.  Roll each piece into a ball.  Cover the dough balls with a draping of plastic wrap and allow the balls to rest and rise for 30 minutes.

My misshapen non-tacky dough balls

While watching a cliched, but fun chick flick, cut out fifty 4-inch squares of parchment paper.  (This is where I started cheating.  It was 8pm by this point.  Matt was hanging out with Chanh in the living room and I was trying to get dinner on the table before the remnants of their Chipotle feeling of fullness wore out.  I was at the pivotal point in the movie.  I had read the entire recipe at this point.  There was no way I was going to roll out 50 pieces of dough, let them rest for another thirty minutes and then steam all 50 pieces of dough. So instead I cut as many parchment paper squares as I could fit onto a standard size baking sheet– which ended up being about 20 buns.)

Coat a chopstick with whatever fat you’re working with.

Flatten one ball with the palm of your hand, then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 4-inch long oval.  Lay the greased chopstick across the middle of the oval and fold the oval onto itself to form the bun shape.  Withdraw the chopstick, leaving the bun folded, and put the bun on a square of parchment paper.  Stick it back under the plastic wrap or a dry kitchen towel and form the rest of the buns.  Let the buns rest for 30 to 45 minutes; they will rise a little.

Steam the buns on the parchment squares for 10 minutes.  The buns can be used immediately or allowed to cool completely, then sealed in plastic freezer bags and frozen for up to a few months.  Reheat the buns in a stovetop steamer for 2 to 3 minutes, until puffy, soft, and warmed all the way through.

(For as much heartache as this recipe has caused others and despite my undercooking the buns (see below), I actually think the steamed buns came out pretty tasty.)

Quick Salt Pickles – adapted from Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan

Ingredients:

• 2 pickling cucumbers, sliced
• 1 tbsp sugar, or more to taste
• 1 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste

Combine the sliced cucumbers with the sugar and salt in a small mixing bowl and toss to coat with the sugar and salt. Let sit for 5 to 1o minutes.

Taste: if the pickles are too sweet or too salty, put them into a colander, rinse off the seasoning, and dry in a kitchen towel.  Taste again and add more sugar or salt as needed.  Serve after 5 to 10 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

I have no idea what this is supposed to taste like, but it tasted delicious.  :) I liked mine on the salty rather than sweet side, so I added a bit more kosher salt.

To assemble the buns, spread hoisin sauce throughout the bun.  Arrange the pickles on one side of the fold in the bun and the slices of pork belly on the other.  Scatter the belly and pickles with sliced scallion and fold closed.  Serve with sriracha.  (Remember, look for the rooster and the green top.)

(Wow, after re-typing the recipe, I just realized that I really didn’t read the recipe that carefully last night.  For instance, somehow I skipped to the 2-3 minute portion and thought I was supposed to only steam the buns for 2-3 minutes and not 10 minutes (… sorry Matt and Chanh…).  I also didn’t realize I was supposed to reheat the pork belly before serving. (… again, sorry Matt and Chanh…)  Hmm. No more drinking while cooking on an empty stomach.)

Pork belly buns

I also made pork tacos out of the succulent and fatty pork belly meat, emulating the taste of samgyupsal.

Chicago needs a food truck that serves only this.  Yum.

The baked egg.

Baked eggs have a wonderful texture.  The whites are soft and don’t have the rubber-like texture of the thinner areas of the egg whites that you’ll find in poached or fried eggs.   (Again, this may be lack of technique on my part, but considering that all I had to do to make the baked eggs was crack an egg into a ramekin and put it in the oven to get the perfect texture, I far prefer the method that requires less hovering .)  The yolks are delicious and runny, perfect for dipping slices of lightly buttered pieces of toast or baguette.  And, what I like most, is that you can just put it in the oven, set the timer, and be done with it.  No hovering over the stove or waiting for water to boil.  Just perfect, lovely little individually baked eggs.

Baked Eggs with Spinach, Red Pepper and Pecorino Romano

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs (1 egg per person)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 2 slices of SPAM, diced (optional)
• 1 small bunch of fresh spinach
• 1 spoonful of cream cheese
• Grated Pecorino Romano, to taste
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Butter (for buttering the ramekins) and olive oil (for sautéing the SPAM, onion and pepper)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Lightly fry the SPAM in a little olive oil.  Add the onion and red pepper and sauté until the red pepper is bright red and softened.  Remove from pan and place in a separate bowl.  Add more olive oil if needed and briefly sauté the spinach.  Add the cream cheese and stir until thoroughly mixed with the spinach.

Layer first the spinach, and then the mixture of onion, red pepper and SPAM in the buttered ramekins.

A well of red pepper, onion and SPAM

Carefully crack an egg into each ramekin.  Top with grated cheese and scallions and season with salt and pepper.

Place the ramekins directly on the oven rack in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven temperature and how done you want your eggs.   I messed up the first time due to oven temperature issues, but when I made the eggs again at the higher temperature it had just the right amount of yolk runniness at 15 minutes.

In looking at various recipes online, baked eggs are very adaptable.  (Feta cheese and spinach sound like a lovely combination.) I’ve even tried it seasoned only with salt and pepper and the meal is immensely satisfying with toasted baguette slices.

Pretty much anything that tastes delicious with eggs can be put in the ramekin for a one dish meal.

Baked Eggs

I love Saturday big breakfast day.

]]> http://bitesandpixels.com/2010/04/04/lovely-baked-eggs/feed/ 3 bitesandpixels The Baked Egg. Red pepper, spinach and Pecorino Romano cheese Well of goodness Adding the raw eggs Baked eggs with cheese Baked Eggs http://bitesandpixels.com/2010/03/29/cream-puffery/ http://bitesandpixels.com/2010/03/29/cream-puffery/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:26:43 +0000 bitesandpixels http://bitesandpixels.com/?p=229 ]]> Yes, I made cream puffs.

Growing up, I always associated cream puffs with those little frozen goodies that people would bring to potlucks.  You know, the ones that come in a small box and are slightly hard on the outside, but super cool and creamy in the middle.  They were addictive then, and still are now.

When I was 23, I went to Los Angeles and encountered Beard Papa’s for the first time, what I consider the adult version of those frozen, mass-produced cream puffs.  I never truly knew cream puffs until I had Beard Papa’s.

I was so young and innocent then.

I <3 Beard Papa’s

After trying Beard Papa’s super-filled, cream puffery goodness, I was in love.  With cream puffs. Seriously, they’re so cute!  I had to try making them at home.

So, I bought some whole milk, eggs and butter and got to work.

Pastry Cream (adapted from this recipe at AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch.  Whisk the sugar and cornstarch into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs.  It can be hard to hold the pot in one hand while whisking with another (especially if you are a weakling like me), so feel free to use a ladle to ladle the milk into the bowl.  Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don’ t curdle or scorch on the bottom.  Whisk, whisk, whisk! It will make the mixture less lumpy.

When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

Cream Puff Shell (adapted from this recipe at AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil.  Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl.  Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each.  (If you are using an electric mixer, I had mine at 4 when I added the eggs and I had no issue with curdling even though the dough was fairly hot.)  Add the vanilla and sugar and beat until the dough is somewhat tacky or elastic in texture.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet on parchment paper.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.  Poke 1-2 holes in each puff shell.  Bake for 5-10 more minutes.  Centers should be dry.

When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pastry cream, use a pastry bag to pipe the pastry cream into the shells, or be awesome like me and use a cookie press.  I used a cookie press and was amazed at how quick and easy it was the fill the shells.  In the beginning, Matt and I started with 5 clicks, but then realized that perhaps that was too much cream when the pastry shell actually puffed up larger and was.. sort of bursting at seams. Creamy. We found 3-4 clicks was just the right amount.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Happiness in a little puff.

The dreaded “what are we doing tonight” question.

On weekday nights it’s easy to stay in and do nothing– who goes out on a weeknight during a Chicago winter?  On Saturday, either we have plans or we are relieved that we have a night in.  Sunday night is prepping for the next work day.  Friday?  It’s a day of celebration.  The beginning of the weekend and the end of the work week.  Everyone does something on Friday night.

So, every Friday at around 2pm, the following e-mail exchange occurs:

M: What do you want to do tonight?
C: I don’t know.  Let’s eat out.   What do you feel like?
M: I want to try something new.  What do you think?
C: I don’t know, I don’t really feel like doing research.*
M: Me neither.

Hours later.

C: What do you think of Guinness and some fish and chips?
M: How about http://www.yelp.com/biz/big-and-littles-chicago#?
C: Let’s do it!

And that’s pretty much how it goes every week.  Usually, I’ll get a craving for something if you give me enough time.

And lo and behold, no Guinness but some delicious and amazing fried seafood:

Big and Little's - Chicago, Illinois

Big and Little’s is located at 939 N. Orleans St. next to two abandoned lots in a not-so-populated area of Chicago.  I’ve been to the area before, but never noticed the bright and cheery yellow awning.  Nor did I even notice the restaurant when the cabbie dropped me off at an abandoned parking lot next door and almost convinced me that the restaurant didn’t exist (“Did you mean Kiki’s?? This is an abandoned lot, lady.”).

It’s a small location that fits about 6 diners.  A yellow blip on the street.  But for being in a low traffic area, they definitely had a lot of people coming in and out, both to dine in and carry out.

Squid & Fries

The menu is small, but unique.  Foie gras with fries?  Fish tacos during a Chicago winter?  Squid?  I felt like I was transported to a South Beach eatery, instead of attempting to warm up from Chicago’s 30 degree weather.

The food is amazing. High-grade, gourmet junk food sold at junk food prices. For $6 I was able to get perfectly breaded squid atop a massive bed of perfectly cut, salty fries, accompanied by a really, really good cocktail sauce.  For $3 extra I was able to try a delicious fish taco.  Matt tried the fish and chips– massive pieces of fish with a light and delicious crust.

Our 4,000 calorie meal

As we ate, we noticed an article framed on the wall nearby.  Chicago chef Tony D’Alessandro competes on Hell’s Kitchen.  Didn’t the guy on the phone call the guy working the grill Tony?  1+1 = ohh… No wonder they seemed weirded out/nervous when we asked to get an action shot of them behind the counter.

This restaurant is definitely worth a visit.  I can’t wait to come back when it’s a little warmer and I can walk from work.

In sum, our Friday night wasn’t filled with mind blowing excitement, but at least we can say we went out somewhere delicious.

Update: Our Saturday morning leftover breakfast

We repurposed our crispy fries by eating them for breakfast.  I’ve been addicted to kale and poached eggs lately, and pretty much anything savory goes with fries, so I figured why not combine them?  The result– a wonderful texture/flavor combination of crispy fries, slightly crunchy kale and soft, mellow egg.  Overall, a tasty and hearty breakfast, perfect for an utterly lazy day.

The kale: Saute the kale on medium heat in a little olive oil and garlic, or garlic powder/salt if you don’t have any fresh garlic on hand, for 3-5 minutes or until it becomes bright green and reaches the leave of crunchiness you desire (I tend to prefer crunchy vegetables to soft ones).  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, stir and serve.

*Matt and I are searching addicts.  We always try to do a little research and check for reviews before we go out to eat.  Our rationale is that money and calories are precious, so best to spend them wisely.  Some may criticize this approach, as you could possibly miss out on that great little dive that just never showed up on anyone’s radar, but in this wired age, unless you are in the boonies, if the food is really good and worth going out of your way for at least one person would say something.