Recipe Corner: Eggs Benedict

My first Hollandaise sauce and it turned out great!  In no small part because the folks at Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen are frickin' geniuses.  Darren liked it enough for seconds, Henry enjoyed it, and I thought it was pretty darn tasty, too.  My sauce didn't even split, which I believe is the worst thing about trying to make this dish.  This recipe feels so fool-proof that I will definitely make it any time it's requested.  Yay for sauces!  (Well, some sauces, let's not be too accommodating of sauces just yet, okay?)  

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened
1/3 cup boiling water
salt to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tsp lemon juice

English muffins
eggs (enough for each muffin piece)
Canadian bacon, bacon, ham
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp table salt

Directions:
Combine four yolks and butter in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan (use a double boiler if you have one) with simmering water.  Whisk together, slowly adding the boiling water.  Keep whisking until all butter has melted, the sauce thickens, and the temperature reaches 160º F, approximately 7 minutes.    Remove from heat.  Add salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice, stirring to combine, and set aside.

Bring water to a boil and turn off the heat, add vinegar and salt, and carefully distribute eggs around the pan, covering with a tight-fitting lid.  Cook eggs for 3 minutes.  If cooking for a larger crowd, have a second pan with heated water (150ºF) nearby.  Remove eggs from the first pan to the second pan and cover to keep them warm while you prepare another bunch of eggs.

Place English muffins on baking sheet cut-side up and place under the broiler (my rack was in the second from the top slot, about 6" from the top of the oven) and broil for 3-4 minutes, checking at 3 to prevent burning.  Remove from heat, add slices of Canadian bacon (or other meat), and return to oven for another minute.  

Don't forget to heat your plates!  Now construct the dish - English muffin, ham, egg, Hollandaise sauce.  

Eighty-fourth Wordless Wednesday requires an appetite

 

DEARGODTHEYGAVEUSTHEWRONGPIZZA

We don't get pizza nearly as often as I'd like at the condo so it was particularly galling to drive home and open the pizza box only to discover they had given us the wrong pizza.  This distresses me not only because I did not get the pizza I ordered but also because somewhere else in Portland another family was having the same sad and disappointing pizza experience.  

Did I go back to Blind Onion the next day and get the pizza I ordered?  You bet your sweet behind I did.  

Side note: Darren's portion of the pizza had two of the three toppings he wanted so he was able to eat his pizza.  

Recipe Corner: Spaghetti all'Assassina (Spicy Singed Tomato Pasta)

This is my latest favorite preparation of pasta and it is a beauty of a dish.  I love making the pasta using the fairly labor-intensive risotto process.  I think it's hilarious to put dry pasta into a nonstick skillet and essentially fry it up and then stand guard as the liquid slowly soaks into the noodles.  It's delicious!  This recipes comes from Cook's Illustrated but I saw that NYT Cooking has a very similar recipe for the dish that is, I'd expect, most likely on par with this one.

Ingredients
6 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup + 2 tbls extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2-3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup tomato passata*
1 3/4 tsp salt
12 ounces spaghetti

Directions
Whisk water, tomato paste, and sugar together in medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low to keep tomato broth warm.

Heat 1/3 cup oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Cook, stirring frequently until garlic is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in passata and salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and oil around edges of skillet begins to sizzle, about 4 minutes.

Add pasta in even layer and increase heat to medium-high.  Add 1 cup tomato broth and cook, pushing between pasta strands frequently with edge of spatula to prevent clumping, until broth has been mostly absorbed by pasta and sauce around edge of skillet begins to sizzle, 4 to 5 minutes.  Add 1 cup broth and cook, shaking skillet occasionally and continuing to prod pasta strands with spatula, until broth has been mostly absorbed and sauce begins to sizzle, 5 to 7 minutes.

Using two thin spatulas, gently flip half of pasta so bottom is on top and spread into an even layer.  Repeat with remaining half of pasta. Add 1 cup broth and cook, continuing to shake skillet and prod pasta, until broth has been mostly absorbed and sauce begins to sizzle, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1 cup broth and repeat cooking until sauce begins to sizzle, 5 to 7 minutes. Repeat dividing and flipping pasta. 

Add 1 cup broth and repeat cooking until sauce begins to sizzle, 5 to 7 minutes. Pasta should be firm but cooked through.  If not, add remaining 1 cup broth, 1/2 cup at a time, and continue to cook, checking frequently, until pasta is cooked through.

Increase heat to high and cook pasta, without moving it, until underside is deeply browned and crisp and some strands are beginning to char, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove skilled from heat, drizzle with remaining 2 tbls olive oil, and serve immediately.

*Cook's Illustrated recommends Pomi Strained Tomatoes 

Pi Day 2022

I am woefully behind in updating the blog.  I haven't even posted pics of Christmas yet!  But I happen to have a few minutes and I did snap a quick pic of our Pi Day dinner last night.  We started with Cook's Illustrated Skillet Chicken Pot Pie and and ended with Cook's Illustrated Chocolate Cream Pie (their version with the Oreo cookie crust).  Since Darren is out of town - hanging out with his ski friends at Mammoth Lakes, CA - we had Lynn over for dinner.  Hen, in typical teenager fashion, left the table as quickly as he could and resumed playing video games while Lynn and I chatted until she had to head back to the cabin.  A good time was had by all.  

Puy lentil and vegetable salad

In an effort to get out of the rut of serving the same meals over and over again, I've been exploring more options. This dish was suggested by Darren and even though no one in the family really enjoys eggplant, I made it for dinner. I haven't tried it yet but the house smells wonderful. Is there any better smell than roasting vegetables with cloves of garlic?
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/mar/23/meera-sodhas-recipe-for-store-cupboard-lentil-salad

UPDATE: Hen wouldn't even try this dish. Darren didn't like the lemon juice. We both hated the eggplant (blech). Takeaways - I like lentils and I like roasted vegetables. But I won't like eggplants (ever, probably) and I do not expect I will make this recipe ever again. Yuck.

Costco run

the one thing I needed at Costco

what I bought at Costco (plus one box of organic diced tomatoes not pictured)

First fundraiser event at the condo!

I'm a bundler! Okay, so really awesome bundlers agree to bring in a lot of cash, I did not. But I did gather like-minded folks together to feed 'em desserts whilst watching the debate and then, before they left, they donated money that I then bundled and donated to Clinton's campaign. So far the tally is $700 and I know a couple people donated themselves by going to Clinton's campaign site so we're inching our way to $1000 if not just over that. It was a great way to watch our next Commander-in-Chief kick He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's behind. 

Treats served included Nanaimo bars, cherry shortbread cookies, pumpkin cookies, raspberry bars, brownies, and key lime pie. Thanks to Amber, we also snacked on cheese, crackers, and salami. Guests drank a variety of beer, wine, and the Red Pantsuit (a.k.a. vodka and cranberry) libation. 

There were buttons for everyone to take home to proudly display their support for Clinton, courtesy of Sandy at Dormers, who gave them to me for free after I walked her dog, Jake. Thanks to Heather, fundraising genius that she is, we had a mini silent auction. She brought new copies of three of her favorite books from last year to auction off during the evening. 

Of course, there were pictures...

Breakfast brought to you by Monsieur Henry Finn

Hen just brought me a tapas-like plate for breakfast that includes half a Clif Bar for kids (apple, spinach, sweet potato flavor), parmesan gold fish crackers, raisins, blue sesame chips, and Cheetos. I asked for and received a small glass of orange juice in a green cup.

Yum.

Sometimes you have to bake

smitten kitchen's yellow cake + sally's baking addiction chocolate fudge frosting = good eats

School lunches, week three

Wednesday: Pb&honey sandwich, mozzarella cheese stick, edamame, apple, red bell pepper, chips, blueberry fruit bar

Thursday: Strawberry yogurt, cheese, orange slices, strawberries, cucumbers and radishes, and (not pictured) cheese pastry

Friday: Buttered noodles, pear, mixed nuts, red bell peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, and radishes, and brownie bites

School lunches, week two

Tuesday: Cheese sandwich, cucumbers and red cabbage, banana, Cheezies, and roasted apple pie

Wednesday: Cheese pizza with olives, apple, That's It fruit bar, carrots and radishes

Thursday: Crackers and cheese, hard-boiled egg, red bell peppers, kiwi, and Jovy Fruit Roll

Friday: Pasta in tomato and cheese sauce, poppy thyme crackers, apple, carrots, radishes, and pumpkin donut

School lunches, week one

Tuesday: PB&J sandwich rounds, spinach, raspberries and pine nut salad, carrot sticks, Snapea Crisps,  watermelon, and Fig Bar cookies

Wednesday : Cheese quesadilla, cucumbers, hard-boiled egg, pineapple and grapes, and Z Bar

Thursday: Broiled salmon, Basmati rice, spinach, apple, cheese round, whole wheat chocolate chip cookie, and GORP

Friday: Mac and cheese, sugar snap peas, banana, popcorn, and raspberries, and whole wheat chocolate chip cookie

Personal growth in the kitchen

Note: This is a 'pat yourself on the back moment', brought to you by Christie. 

I am definitely getting more comfortable in the kitchen. (And just a shade over four decades, alright!) 

For example, this morning I went to the kitchen intending to make blueberry muffins for breakfast. I'm using Smitten Kitchen's recipe. 

The first hurtle I had to overcome* was the lack of plain yogurt or sour cream in my fridge. No problem, I'll just use vanilla yogurt. We normally have that on hand and the addition of vanilla can't hurt. 

Nuts. There is no vanilla yogurt. But we do have blueberry. We'll give that a try. 

Nuts. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup and I have about a 1/2 cup. But we do have buttermilk. We'll give that a try. 

Once all the ingredients were sorted out and substitutions made, I continued with the muffin baking experience. I totally winged it on the amount of buttermilk, pouring it in until I received what I hoped was the correct consistency, which S.K. says is "quite thick". I also adjusted my baking time down to 17 minutes from her original 25 to 30 minutes. My muffin tin is smaller than the standard size so I'm going to get around 15 muffins.

I'm typing all of this up as my first batch is baking. 

Approx. 7 minutes later…

Success! Hen says the muffins are "the best" and that I "would win if I made these muffins on MasterChef". 

*In the olden days this initial setback would have been enough to derail the project. 

Second Thanksgiving: Friday's family feast-o-rama

There are still a few pieces of dark turkey meat in the fridge but the majority of our leftovers from Second Thanksgiving have been eaten. (Yum.)

Admittedly, we consumed too much food celebrating Thanksgiving with one feast right after the other so I'm considering changing the tradition and hosting Second Thanksgiving the following weekend instead. Whatever we come up with, I just can't give up having my own bird. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy…it makes such a great meal.

I used the last of the white meat in a turkey vegetable soup with rice, tweaking the Williams-Sonoma recipe just a touch. I substituted wild rice for long-grain white rice and omitted the celery and mushrooms (because I didn't have them on hand and didn't want to go to the store to get them), I also forgot to sprinkle with parmesan and since it still was really good soup I'd probably refrain from adding it in the future, too. You know, to watch our caloric intake. (hee hee.)

Hen is SEVEN!

Holy schnikes! The boy is seven years old. Seven. 7. 1-2-3-4-5-6…7! That's 2558 days old.

Hen is seven and has decided he wants to be a botanist when he grows up. He is fascinated by carnivorous plants. He loves playing with electrical circuits to create things that light up, detect motion, and fly. He is clever and funny and stubborn as I'll get out. He is also a sensitive boy. He rides a 20" bike now. It has hand brakes and gears. He loves his cat, and recently bought a fish he named Red Reed. He is slowly learning to read but would rather be outside playing and running and jumping, although he will lie still to hear a story any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

This year's theme - Reptiles. We hired the most excellent World Famous Mr. Lizard's Mobile Zoo (a.k.a. Brett) to come and share with us all his amazing creatures. Per Hen's request, I ordered a tasty chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and chocolate buttercream filling that the bakery crew did a bang up job decorating using Josh Cleland's illustration of a chameleon with a party hat (with permission). I had a ton of fun putting together the party favors. We decorated with a lot of help from the Silhouette (paper cutting machine). And Hen helped me put together the menu: Lizardade, Chocolate Chameleocake, BBQ Gator Chips, Carrot Cut Snakes hidden in broccoli bushes, and Soft Rose Apple Turtle Shells.

Day of the party - The guests arrive and the volume increases tenfold. The kids start to play and Hen shows off his Venus Fly Trap plants and new fish, Red Reed. When Mr. Lizard called to say he was caught in traffic and would be a little late, we had an impromptu Shrinky Dink craft session. Thank goodness for Google images because I have zero artistic ability but can trace like nobody's business. The kids made requests, I quickly traced a design for each of them, and, voilà, they were kept busy while we waited. Mr. Lizard showed up just as the kids were wrapping up their coloring.

The mobile zoo was awesome. The kids seemed to enjoy the low pressure attitude of Mr. Lizard. He offered the kids a chance but didn't try to persuade any of them to touch the animals, which was a good thing as Mia and Ariel were more than happy to just sit back and observe for most of the hour. All of the kids were gentle and careful and polite and simply wonderful. We got to see so many cool animals, starting with Francois the frog and ending with Attaché the Columbia Red Tail boa constrictor. I don't believe the kids were at all troubled that on this particular reptile-laden day they got to see two amphibians. They also got to hold, but not pet, Toupée the Chilean rose hair Tarantula. They had the opportunity to wear at least one snake (Armani), see a gigantic Pixie frog (poor Pickle couldn't come out the because he, uh, had an accident). And, the big one of the day, they got to see a huge turtle poop, not on my floor, thank goodness. Much fun was had by all.

We ended the day with snacks and cake, presents, distributing of party favor boxes, and many, many thank yous. I wish birthdays came more often because I sure enjoy planning them for the kid.

Of course, there were pictures...

Hen begrudgingly helped with the food signs. He did a great job, didn't he?

Beaverton Bakery creates the perfect birthday chameleon cake with help from local artist Josh Cleland.

Shrinky Dinks save the party!

Hen shows Mr. Lizard his chameleon goggles.

Introducting Francois the frog.

Hen and Armani

Mr. Lizard and the kids impersonating frilled lizards.

If I'm not mistaken, Attaché weighs more than Hen.

Sit, kids, sit.

Kielbasa the Blue-Tongued Skink and a bunch of kids now wanting blue tongues, too.

Happy birthday, Hen!

Click here to view the full set on Flickr.

School lunches, week 4

Note: No school on Thursday and Friday for Rosh Hashanah.
Left: Pasta with red sauce, spinach and red bell peppers, apple, Astronaut cookies and cream ice cream  sandwich, and nuts
Middle: Crepes with Nutella, orange slices, crackers, string cheese, lemon cucumbers*, spinach and radishes, hard-boiled egg
Right: Grapes and plum, Z bar, spinach, nuts, and (not pictured) Baker & Spice croissant

*Hen did not like these because they were too slimy.

School lunches

As the start of a new school year begins I once again make the pledge to bring more variety to Hen's school lunches. This year I am actively working to see how long I can pack lunches without repeat main dishes. I expect to make it three weeks before the ease of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wins out over my efforts to seek new food combinations.

Left: PB&J circles with barbecue chips, cucumbers, red cabbage and cauliflower, mango, pluots and a plum with a chocolate treat.
Middle: Cheese quesadilla, spinach, red bell pepper and pine nut salad, nectarines, pluots and grapes, trail mix with a chocolate pudding treat.
Right: Orzo pasta with butter and parmesan, hard-boiled egg, cucumbers, red bell peppers, and radishes (teeny ones from our garden!), raspberries, watermelon and a plum, sunflower seed snacks with a yogurt-covered pretzels treat.

First Official Lemonade Stand

Organic lemons $3.99 a bag

3/4 cup sugar

water

The kids and I were very careful during lemonade production. The counters were wiped down with a disinfectant, our hands were washed (multiple times), the containers were cleaned before use, and the kids created hairnets out of the netting the lemons came in to keep errant hairs from falling in the juice.

We then spent a few minutes creating signs for our stand. Hen made the Lemonade sign, Avery made the Free and #becausefutbol* signs.

We had a pretty good turnout, I think. There were several people so accustomed to paying they completely missed that it was free. But the majority who stopped donated money. We made sure those folks who weren't carrying cash on them knew it was for free and were delighted when they enjoyed a cup on us. 

Comments included: 

"Delicious!"

"I love it. Real sugar. That's great."

"Wow. This is really good."

"Did you guys make this?"

"Can I have a bit more?"

The kids were great at getting the attention of the passersby and convincing them to come over. They referred to those heading in our direction as "walkers," which, for the uninitiated, are what the folks call the zombies in The Walking Dead. That was good for more than many laughs, for sure. "More walkers are coming!" (hee hee)

When all was said and done, we helped quench the thirst of lots of people and received $14.50 in donations, which we'll give to either the Oregon Humane Society or Heifer International.

Of course, there were pictures…

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

*Doesn't make any sense but made me happy to see. Methinks I loves me some soccer.

Homemade root beer

Hen's homemade $10 root beer is delicious!