Breakfast Musings

Potato and Egg

UD and I have our usual go-to breakfasts.  Kashi cereal with banana for UD, and an egg white spinach omelet with multi-grain toast for me.  But every now and then you have to kick it up a bit, nes cafe?

I still had some leftover potatoes, which were the roasted potatoes that were reinvented into hash browns.  So I decided to do a classic, potato and egg.  I whisked 6 eggs with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. 

I heated up the potatoes in a little EVOO and butter.  When they were nice and warm, I added the egg mixture.

I stirred these slowly over a medium low heat.

I toasted up my favorite bread, Borealis multi-grain, and sat down to a real comfort food type breakfast.  It is not the prettiest meal, but boy is it tasty. 

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Turkey Bacon with Frozen Multi-grain Waffles.

Today I made turkey bacon with Eggo brand frozen multi-grain waffles.  I always cook bacon on a foil lined cookie sheet.  There is no greasy mess on the stove, and they come out perfect every time.  These were put in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 7 minutes.  I pulled them out and turned them over, and then put them back in for another 7 minutes.  Drain them on paper towels and you are done.

I had never tried the frozen waffles before, but when I was visiting with Sister N one day, she gave the kids Eggo waffles for breakfast.  They smelled good and the kids ate them up.  So while I was in my happy zone shopping one day, I noticed they had a multi-grain version.  That made me feel better about eating them, so I figured why not?  The box said to put them in the oven between 400 and 450 degrees for 5 minutes.   We like them a little crispy, so I did 450 degrees.  When I pulled them out, they still weren't crispy enough for us, so I flipped them over and did another 2.5 minutes.  They were perfect.  And I have to say they really were delicious. 

Oh yeah, I ought to confess.  Years ago, Babs, my mother-in-law, made pancakes for breakfast.  She heated up real maple syrup and added a couple of tablespoons of butter to it.  It was soooo delicious.  So today, as a tribute to her on what would have been her 90th birthday, I took a tip from one of the best cooks I ever knew.  Happy Birthday Gram!

A bientot!  See you soon.

Crostini Meets Filet Mignon and Fried Shallots

You have seen in previous posts how great UD is at grilling beef tenderloin.  Well, when you pair it with crostini and fried shallots, it is really a delicious appetizer or a snacky dinner.  The beef is sandwiched between crispy crostini and even crispier fried shallots.  Mon Dieu what a combination.

I started with about 6 shallots.

Slice them very thinly.

Sprinkle them with kosher salt and saute in a little EVOO.

When they start getting a golden brown, add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter.  This will sweeten the shallots even more, and will help to "fry" them.

Now let's make the crostini.  This is everything you will need.

Cut a baguette (a loaf of French bread) in slices about 1/4 inch thick.  I used to do thicker slices, but they don't get quite as crispy.  If you like your crostini a little chewier, go with 1/2 inch slices.

Place them on a foil lined baking sheet and brush them with EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil).

Sprinkle them with Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and Peccorino Romano cheese.

Put them into the oven at 400 degrees and check after 10 minutes.  If they aren't golden brown yet, let them go another 5 to 10 minutes.  They should be crispy, golden and delicious.

I wanted to have a little green to go with our simple snacky dinner, so I boiled up some frozen shelled edamame for about 4 minutes, drained it and sprinkled it with salt.  They are delicious warm as a side dish, or cold as a snack. 

UD just brought in the beef tenderloin!  Don't forget.  Let it sit for at least 10 minutes to let the juices redistribute.

See how crispy the shallots became?  Now you have the sliced tenderloin, the fried shallots and the crostini.

Sprinkle with some of the remaining grated Peccorino Romano and Bon Appetit.

A bientot!  See you soon.

Don't Try This At Home

So I am sure I am like most people.  I always want to put my best foot forward, and show the world what wonderful things I am trying to accomplish.  Well, this past evening I put my worst foot forward and my best foot was way in the back.  But with mishaps and experimentation, we can learn so much.  Blah, blah, blah.  Learn smearn!  I want to be perfect darn it!  Just joshing, kids.  I did learn during this process.  And Sister E had requested that I publish the good with the bad, so that she can learn along with me.  So while I describe what I did, I will tell you why I think it didn't work out as well as I wanted it to, and how I might have improved it.

I have been watching a lot of cooking shows with people roasting chicken breasts, legs and thighs, with the bone in and the skin on.  They say that both the bone and the skin add so much moistness and flavor.  Now I have roasted many chickens and turkeys in my day, and I love it like that.  But UD and I generally use boneless skinless chicken breasts, so I really wanted to give bone-in, skin-on a try. 

Hence, I decided to make a meal that consisted of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, with roasted potatoes, onions and asparagus. 

I sauteed garlic in EVOO and butter. 

I cut up both Vidalia onion and red onion.

I added cut up sweet potato and Idaho potatoes.  Two of each.

The fix would have been to have a much larger roasting pan, so the vegetables could be spread out and therefore cook more evenly.

I placed 4 bone-in, skin-on breasts over the potato and onion mixture.  I had seasoned it with salt, pepper and thyme.  Then I poured the garlic infused oil and butter over the whole thing.

Again, a too small roasting pan.

The chicken is supposed to come to 165 degrees, and that took about an hour and 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  I assumed that was plenty of time for the potatoes too.

Sweet potato cook a bit quicker than Idaho, so it would have been a good idea to par boil the Idaho before adding it to the roasting pan.

But for good measure, I placed the asparagus that had EVOO, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, right on top of the potatoes, while the chicken rested.  I put them in the oven at 425 degrees for 8 minutes.  Removed it and turned the asparagus over and put them back in for another 8 minutes.  Still the asparagus were no where close to done.

I have roasted asparagus so many times it is ridiculous.  But it got away from me again.  Putting the asparagus on a sheet pan allows each piece to hit the hot sheet and cook more evenly and quickly.

The sweet potato and onions were absolutely perfect, but the Idaho potato and the asparagus were underdone.

We ate a chicken breast each, but neither of us liked having to deal with the skin or the bone.  And the meat was fine, but nothing we were going to pull out a pad and pencil to write home about.  If we had done boneless, skinless we would have been happier.  But I really do think it is a matter of preference. 

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The next day I made the best of a bad situation.  UD LOVES chicken salad.  Whenever we have leftover chicken, I hear -That would be great for chicken salad!  OK, UD.  Here you are. 

The thyme flavor on the chicken was actually very nice, and I figured it would work with the chicken salad as well.  So with the cut up chicken, I added chopped up cashews, Craisins, celery and Hellman's mayonnaise.  On the food network, whenever you hear a show host talking about using good mayo, you usually see a jar of Hellman's on the counter.

I didn't add onion, which I usually do, because I was using onion rolls for the sandwiches.  With a few Ruffle potato chips this was a good lunch the next day.  The problem of the left over chicken was solved.  The potatoes and asparagus will be reinvented in an upcoming meal, and I will be sure to blog it.

I guess it is true.  You learn something every day.

A bientot!  See you soon.

The Potential Of Spring

The potential of Spring.  It is the unidentified something in the air that drives us to do things we normally aren't willing to do.  We are willing to go underneath our decks, which are yucky, muddy and soon-to-be-spidery, in order to pull out flower pots and various yard decorations.  We are willing to kneel on wet ground and plant flowers and herbs until our knees hurt so much we can barely stand up.

Side Note:  I recently heard that in England they pronounce herbs, Herbs, so I am going to use that pronunciation from now on, in honor of the Royal Wedding this past month.  Join me, won't you?

But it also brings us such hope!  Like hoping the Herbs take, and the frost doesn't get them, so you can make your first Compound Herb Butter, with Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme.  Sorry Sage.

Any who, we started all that and had a wonderful time doing it.  

As did Stella.

And Frankie.

The rock has been introduced to the first of it's neighboring flowers. On this side you can just barely make out the Columbine that was brought up from a small town in Eastern MA.

In the center of the rock, you will see the one leaf Iris that was given to me by the lovely blogger at THBTOH.  www.housebehindtheotherhouses.blogspot.com

The pot by the signs was planted with pansies.

New Guinea Impatiens (bright pink) were planted as well.

The Hosta garden was meticulously weeded by UD.

And now the Hostas are bounding out of the ground, under the careful watch of a very large cement toad and a smaller one atop his head.

We  have more to do, and we are anxious to get out there again.  Come on sunshine and warm weather.

A bientot!  See you soon.

Chicken Soup - The Old Stand By

I think everyone has a standby dish they can whip up in a short time that is tasty and satisfying.  For me, it's chicken soup.  I am not the old fashioned kind of chicken soup lady.  No buying a chicken and cooking it in water with herbs and seasonings to make the perfect broth.  The products they have at the stores now are pretty tasty and a lot quicker.  The two things I cheat on are the broth and the chicken.  I buy Swanson's low sodium chicken broth, and a Perdue chicken breast that is already roasted by the supermarket.  UD and I both prefer white meat, which is why I get the breast only.  But they obviously have whole chickens if you would prefer a mix of white and dark. 

Of course I always start with kosher salt, ground black pepper and EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).  I also use the McCormick grinder, labeled Italian Herb Seasoning.  In this grinder is dried rosemary, black pepper, garlic, onion, sea salt, tomato and parsley.  When you grind these herbs, it really wakes up their flavors, which really helps to make this soup taste like it was made from scratch. 

The vegetables are 7 carrots, 3 stalks of celery, 1/2 of a red onion and 4 ears of corn on the cob.  I just started adding corn to the soup a couple of summers ago.  It really sweetens the flavor. 

I experimented with freezing the corn so I could have it all winter long.  It works very well.  Blanch the corn in boiling salted water for about 2 minutes.  Remove it and let it cool.  Scrape off the kernels from the cob and place whatever amount you want in individual freezer zip bag, or use your Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer.  Add a teaspoon of water to the bag and remove the excess air.  You will have fresh corn all year round.

Then I pull out the two cheats.  The broth (two 32 oz boxes) and the chicken breast.

I chop the carrots and celery into good sized chunks. But I cut the onion into fairly small pieces.

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat, and add the EVOO.  Once the oil is heated, add the carrots and celery.  Season with salt, pepper and Italian herbs.  Cook these a couple of minutes and then add the the onion.  Cook those a couple of more minutes and add the corn.  Mix everything together and cook a few more minutes. Taste to see if you need to add more salt and pepper.

When the veggies are still somewhat firm, add the broth and the chicken chunks.  

Mix everything together and let it simmer until all the flavors have blended together.  Taste again to see if you need to add more seasoning.

When you are ready to serve, cook up some pasta or rice and add to the individual bowls before adding the soup. 

This is the elbow version of Quinoa (keen-wah) Pasta.  It's healthy and delicious.

Some fresh chopped parsley and freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese is a nice way to top the dish, and delicious too.  Voila.  A quick and tasty dinner.

A bientot!  See you soon.

Come On Summer - King Crab Legs, Grilled Fries and Corn On The Cob

King Crab Legs are very similar to lobster in taste.  I think they are a little sweeter and a little easier to eat.  Now don't go judging me.  I still LOVE lobster.  And you will be seeing many posts with variations on lobster as the summer gets under way.  But for now, I am loving me some KCL!

My darling friend M usually prepares the KCL, but since she isn't here on The Rocky Coast at the moment, I took instruction from her and did it myself.  Start by putting a pan of water on your oven's lowest rack.  This will help steam the KCLs right in the oven.  Place the King Crab Legs on a tin foil lined baking tray and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. 
 

Normally I would do oven baked fries, but that has to be at a temperature of 450 degrees.  Since the KCLs were going to be at 350 degrees, we decided to "grill" the fries.  I used fingerling potatoes and sliced them in wedges.  I coated them with EVOO and sprinkled with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  I placed them in tin foil that I had sprayed with PAM, and wrapped them up and sealed them well.  UD put them on the grill, at a high temperature, for about 30 minutes, turning once halfway through

The corn on the cob has been sensational this Spring, and these were the best so far!



UD thought it would be helpful to show you the utensils needed for this meal.

Way to go UD!

 

The grilled fries were slightly browned and so tender inside.  They were delicious.

The King Crab Legs were scrumptious and we devoured every morsel.

Corn on the cob ...  Nuff said?

Profitez!  Enjoy!

A bientot!  See you soon.