Eggs Benedict a la BaconBits

Oh how I LOVE Eggs Benedict. It's almost always what I'll order if we eat breakfast out. My favorite is in Honolulu's Halekulani Hotel restaurant: Orchid's. Dining al fresco with my JoeBacon (he ordered Haupia Stuffed French Toast & a side of Portuguese Sausage) we shared their famous popovers with lilikoi & guava jelly and I savored every bit I could manage of their famous Eggs Benedict with truffle shavings on top! What, with views of Diamond Head & Waikiki Beach right there! ... well yeah! Best breakfast ever! Until now....

I had some leftover ham from the holidays, I also had some mashed potatoes.... so I had decided to make "hash" patties out of them. I mixed about 2 cups mashed potatoes, about 1 cup ham finely diced, some seasoning, an egg... formed patties & fried them in coconut ghee for an appetizer one night, but we had some left, so that is when I got the idea to use them for my base to top with eggy buttery goodness....

So I put the leftover patties on a plate in the oven to heat (covered with foil).

I used this Hollandaise Recipe, because I had all the ingredient & it looked fairly idiot proof. I used whole grain mustard, 'cuz that's all I had, it still turned out great! ;) I put it in a small glass jar & placed that in a bowl of HOT water to keep it warm while I did everything else.

I used Alton Brown's poaching method (2 inches of simmering water in a non-stick frying pan. I used a mason jar ring to carefully pour the eggs into so they'd stay in one area, then used tongs to move the ring for the next egg... once all four eggs were in & ring removed, I tuned off the heat & covered the pan for 7 minutes. They were perfect. I could have gone 6-6.5 minutes but no longer than 7. I hate it when the whites are googly, but I want the yolks still runny, of course. They were purty darn perfect!

Plated the patties, made a small dent in the top so the eggs would nestle in, then drenched them in the still warm hollandaise & served them for dinner. It was SO yummy.

Next time, I want to try it with my own home made English Muffins... stay tuned....

Raspberry Balsamic Martinis

So, at my favorite foo foo restaurant, Cafe Firenze in Moorpark (yes, Chef Fabio from Top Chef!)....they make a Martini that is very different & interesting... a Strawberry Balsamic.

I've enjoyed one on several occasions, an the other night, I thought I'd try to replicate it. After all, I went to bar tending school (who cares that it was 15 yrs ago!) I should be able to conquer this!

So I made a reduction of Balsamic Vinegar & Organic Sugar. Let that cool, it was too thick, so I added a little water & reheated, it was still very thick, but better...I was thirsty! No more waiting!

I put in into an old Agave Nectar bottle so I could decorate the frosty martini glass with it.

Ah! Purty!

Then into the shaker went ice, a handful of frozen Organic Raspberries, 360 Vodka, Citronge & a squeeze of Lemon. Shake Shake Shake!

Pour out into the chilled purty glasses & garnish...Voila!

Lemon Verbena

So, not sure if you were up on that Kombucha Challenge I somehow roped myself & Anais (from Urban Homestead, Pasadena) into a couple weeks ago... it was quite comical. She had pans to make a Lemon Verbena Flavored Kombucha, and since I had vague plans to go to their monthly potluck/movie screening a couple weeks later, I suggested a friendly competition... The comical part is that I couldn't find Lemon Verbena ANYWHERE in my county. Anais kept offering some of hers, but Pasadena is about 40 minutes away & I just felt that was not an eco-responsible thing to do... (I had already done a special trip down there for figs recently...)

Surely it would turn up somewhere...I kept looking....

But my window of opportunity finally ran out, so I sheepishly told Anais that I had not been able to locate the LV... and she graciously let me off the hook, saying to come down anyway & bring whatever Kombucha I had on hand & we'd just taste them... no big deal.

So, I went to the screening & during dinner, Anais found me & we tasted, and shared with other folks at the table & talked Kombucha until the movie started. It really surprises me that so few people really know about it.

Anyhoo, after the movie, I bought some figs & Anais clipped some fresh lemon Verbena sprigs off the enormous bush in the front yard. The scent filled my car, making the car smell wonderful! I WISH smell-a-vision was a real thing because unless you've sniffed this gift of GOD, you cannot truly grasp what a wonder it is! It's herby & lemony & fresh. (wow, great description!) Words simply cannot describe it. Gonna hafta get some for yourself!

Go. Now. DO IT! GO!

So, what does a person do with it?, you might be asking.... well, it was past my bedtime already, so I did the obvious and dried it. Then I crushed it (the smell was intense!) and found a jar to keep it in. Every now & then, I just open the jar & sniff. **guilty look** What?! It's cheap therapy!

Today I decided to make simple syrup from it to flavor a future batch of Kombucha or ice cream or (fill in the blank).... It's pretty simple:

1 cup filtered water

1 cup organic cane sugar

1/4 cup dried Lemon Verbena leaves

Bring to a boil, lower heat & simmer for 10 minutes. Cool. Strain into a jar & store in fridge for up to 2 months. I am looking at this site to find some more ideas..

Soaked Oatmeal Cookies Pt. 1

This is a NT-Style adaptation of Martha Stewart's fabulous "Oatmeal Raisin Cookies"....

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Any dried fruit can be substituted for the raisins. Be sure the cookies are completely cool before storing in an airtight container.
INGREDIENTS Makes about 3 dozen. 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 3 tablespoons milk 2 large eggs 3 cups old-fashioned oats 1 cup raisins	DIRECTIONS In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter with both sugars, and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, milk, and eggs, and mix well. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Remove bowl from the electric mixer, and stir in oats and raisins. Place dough in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough, and shape into a ball; place on one of the prepared sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing balls 3 inches apart. Press down to flatten into 2-inch diameters. Transfer to the oven, and bake until golden but still soft in center, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the pans between oven shelves halfway through baking. Remove from oven, and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week First published Copyright 2009 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ok, so obviously I had to try to change a few things... and I'm seriously interested in your input in case you have other ideas on how to convert these even more....(like "can you really just use rapadura instead of Brown Sugar?" Seems like a texture issue...)

• I used Sprouted Soft White Wheat Wheat (freshly ground) that I order from Azure.
• I used Craisins (gotta use them up, then when they are in season I plan to make my own!) sad to say I bought at Costco.
• I ground the cinnamon fresh (in the coffee grinder, after cleaning!) I got it from Azure, not organic.
• I made my own Vanilla (it's SUPER easy!
• My eggs are farm fresh (Healthy Family Farms) & a tad on the smaller side this week, but I figured that was better because of the extra liquid on the oats...
• 2 nights prior, I soaked the oats in the smallest amount of buttermilk I could to just "wet" them. (Homemade RAW Buttermilk & Organic Oats, of course!) This way they were not sopping wet, just a tad fluffier than when originally dry.
• I omitted the milk. (But the Buttermilk was made from Organic Pasture's Raw Whole Milk.)
• I also added Crispy Pecans, about 1/2 cup, chopped. (From Azure)

I put in tupperware & refrigerated overnight...
Another thing I like to do (if I have the time, like on a Saturday morning) is to drop the cookie dough onto a sheet pan, covered with my precious Silpat or Parchment as if I'm going to bake them. Cover tightly in plastic wrap (optional I guess) & freeze. Once frozen, I put the frozen balls of dough in to Food-saver bags & vacuum pack (quickly) and re-freeze. (Don't forget to label it so you know where to find the baking instructions!)

I'll have to do a Part 2 to let you know how they come out...

Stay Tuned! (Ain't I a tease?)

**Update**

I baked a dozen on 2 separate occasions & the flavor is great, but they are super soft & crumbly.... So after some research & consultations with other bakers, I've determined to try it again, this time adding 1 more egg & more flour. Stay tuned to another update...

Carnitas

Who has ever eaten Mexican food, I mean REALLY good authentic Mexican food & doesn't LOVE Carnitas? I don't really know anyone who could say "me!". So our new friend, Leslie who we met at a Slow Food LA event last month, came up from Santa Monica this weekend to hang out! As she was leaving, she said, I'm going home to eat Carnitas with my husband. And I thought, YUM! I should make those! So I said to her, I have a pastured pork Butt Roast from AHO in my freezer. And she said, that is exactly what you use! And so I did! Well, first I actually researched recipes, and found this one by the oh-so-talented David Lebovitz formerly of Chez Panisse! (I actually got to TA a chocolate class he did at WCI ages ago. Lovely man.) So this is my take on his method.

Sorry I didn't take before snaps! It was frozen solid. I rubbed it all over with Safflower Oil, poured a tons of Kosher Salt on top & rubbed that in, placed in a Stainless saute pan (don't ask me about my roasting pan, ok!) And stuck the whole thing under a hot broiler to brown...about 15 minutes each of the 4 sides. Then I cut it all up into large chucks, placed in a glass pyrex, added some beer, half a cinnamon stick, about 2 cloves of garlic, just smashed to release flavor, chili powder, paprika, cumin all over (best guess: 4-5 Tsp) pepper & bay leaves (you need enough liquid to cover about 2/3rd of the meat). Tossed it all around together & placed back under the broiler about 10 min, flipped, another 10-15 min. Reduce oven heat to 300 & let bake uncovered for about 3 hours. Flipping every now & then to keep moist. I think I had to add more beer after awhile so it didn't dry out completely.

Take it out, & chop into smaller bite sized shreds & chunks.

Put back in the oven & flip every now & then until most of the liquid is gone (about another 30 minutes...). Serve however you want: with rice, beans tortillas, salsa, make it into burritos, tacos, OM! The possibilities are endless & it by far THE yummiest meat you will ever taste!

You know how when it's thanksgiving & you want to eat that one little piece of crispy skin? And some meat is stuck to it & sort of caramelized...that's how this is, except the whole outside is pumped with flavor & crisp! And the soft insides are soft & white, but not dry & flavorless, they taste amazing too!

I got 2 words for you: bon appetite!

RAW Coffee Ice Cream

In a small dish, add enough boiling water (no more than 2 TBSP) to dissolve the sugar:

3/4 cup Organic Sugar

2-3 TBSP Instant Espresso Powder

Stir frequently until all dissolved.

Put in Blender:

2 cups Raw Cream

2 cups Rw Whole Milk

6 Egg Yolks

1 Tsp Vanilla

Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt

Coffee Sugar Mixture

Blend for about 1 minute, place in fridge (covered) overnight (or several hours at least) to chill.  Freeze according to your manufacturer's directions.

*Variation:  When almost frozen, add 3 TBSP (or so) Organic RAW Cacao Nibs & stir in well.  

Or add 2 TBSP of Kahlua Liquor! YUM!

My other thought was to Shave really good quality chocolate into it.  I don't like big chunks of chocolate in ice cream, I like something that will just dissolve on my tongue.... but I haven't tried it yet, so be sure to let me know if you do!

RAW Peach Ice Cream

peel & chop up about 8 peaches

put about 1/3 of the peaches in the blender with:

about 1.5 cup cream

about 1.5 cup milk

about 3-4 big blobs honey - best guess?  about 3/4 cup? maybe a bit more...taste it!

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Tsp Almond Extract

6 egg yolks

Blend it all up to dissolve the honey.  Taste, make sure it's sweet enough & tasty.  Don't be grossed out about the raw egg, it's Yolk only & in any case we know our eggs are happy & healthy.   RAW eggs won't hurt you!

I read that the freezing process actually reduces the sweetness, so make a bit more sweet than you actually like...

Freeze according to your manufacturer's directions.  I have the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream attachment & so far I am thrilled with it!  Couldn't be easier & now that I have a biger freezer, it has a constant home on the top shelf (easy access for me to use frequently!)

;) YUM

Burritos for Dinner

Ok, so I had ordered some (3) Mary's Chicken Thighs thru my CSA, so I put them in a pan during a free moment over my crazy gardening weekend.  I tossed them with my gorgeous new Olive oil from Azure, it's 100% pure EVOO from Napa, yum... S&P & broiled 

them for about 15 minutes.  Then I dumped about a half a cup of Salsa

 (I haven't ventured into the world of lacto-fermented salsas yet, so for now, my old FAV, Herdez will just have to do) on top, covered with foil, lowered the oven to 350 degrees & baked it for about 30-45 minutes (I honestly can't remember...)  The meat should fall off the bones & it will be VERY easy to clean & shred...

Anyhoo, I let it cool while I did a bazillion other things & eventually I got around to cleaning it (taking off the skin, separating the bones & ick away),  so it's mostly shredded by then, just from that process.  I put it back in the salsa it was cooked in & threw it in the fridge.

Tonight was THE night...

I got home, pulled the frozen, but pre-soaked pintos out of the fridge.  Chopped & sauteed half a brown onion & a clove of garlic, in the pressure cooker.  I added Cayenne Pepper, S&P, Cumin & stirred, added the beans, added stock to cover the beans, stirred it all up, put the lid on, set to #1 & once it came to a boil, I cooked for 20 minutes.  Turned it off, checked & sure enough, the beans were cooked. I adjusted S&P & added a half a Jalapeno, let it simmer on low for awhile while I got other things going...

I grated cheese, raw goat cheddar & raw Jack.

  

I chopped up 2 organic tomatoes. 

I LOVE, did I say LOVE, cuz I mean LOVE these wonder Spelt Tortillas I found at Lassens, the are soft enough to almost be as 'normal' as white flour junk tortillas & they keep FOR-EVER!

I also sauteed onion, added some salsa & then threw it in Rice Cooker for some easy-peasy MexiRice.... remind me to never use Short Brown Rice again, kinda weird!..

So I heat the tortillas (dry) in a large skillet (YES I still own some nonstick, but I love my Berndes pans, so hard to switch!)

Put some Re-Fried Pintos (fried in Bacon grease, yummy!)

Top with cheese, chicken, some sour cream & salsa and you got Heavenly mexican food for dinner!

Update: a couple nights later I wasn't up to making dinner, so I told Joe to make it.  He started pulling things outta the fridge en masse, so, natch, I panicked & took over.  ;)  Can you spell control freak? (I can! ooh I can! Pick me!  E-R-I-N)

ok, back to the story... he'd found the leftover tortilla shells so I thought ok, there's leftover pintos too... and I always have cheese.  We'll just have bean & cheese burritos.  Then I remembered that I'd fried extra bacon on Sunday & it was in the in the fridge... when I asked Joe if he wanted bacon in his burrito, he said, are we making breakfast burritos?  So I thought about it for a sec and decided that was doable.

So we had Egg, Bacon, Pinto, Salsa, Sour Cream & Raw Jack Burritos, they we huge & messy as could be!  But man were they tasty!

Chocolate IS love....(or is it butter?)

Ok, well, my good friend Tami & I have recently co-ordered & split a bunch of different stuff from Azure Standard. It was so fun, planning & ordering together & separately & driving down to Burbank together to pick up our order, then coming back to my house &divvying it all up!... but I digress...Tami has ALWAYS (since I've known her, anyway!) baked her own bread (and other goodies) from her own freshly milled Hard Red Wheat Flour, I come from the opposite school of gourmet French Cuisine where everything is made with WHITE AP Flour!  Needless to say, I've come along way, and Tami deserves a Lot of the credit for my swing to the "other side"...on that same note, I might have something to do with the dramatically amazing turnout of this cake she made for us on Friday night, because I turned her on (somewhat inadvertently, I might add) to Soft White Wheat Berries, which are used primarily for cakes, muffins & pastry because it's softer & gives a lighter texture to these types of items. (Although, Tami used it in her bread the other night too, and it turned out beautifully! So there you go!)  Anyhoo I was reminded of the cake when I was reading Kimi's blog with all the yummy & nourishing Chocolate recipes last night & today... so, better late than never, I always say...so without further ado...(dang, I WISH I had a picture of it!) here, in Tami's words, is her recipe:

Tami's Moist Choc Mocha Cake
Preheat to 350 degrees.

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 cup sugar, organic cane
Mix those together well, then add 
1/2 c. applesauce
1/4 c. maple syrup
Mix. Then add: 
2 jumbo eggs or three medium or large, 1 at a time
Mix. Then add:
2/3 c. cocoa mixed with 1/3 c. melted butter

In a separate bowl whisk:
3 1/2 c. flour (freshly ground soft white wheat)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Add to chocolate mix alternately with:
1 c. buttermilk

Prep 2 cake pans: grease and cover bottom with parchment, greased

Evenly pour batter into both pans.
Cook for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Rest in pans for 10 minutes then finish cooling on wire racks.  For an excellent moistness, cut each layer into 2 horizontally.  This makes 4 layers!  When frosting, make sure there is plenty of frosting to make things nice and flat.

Mocha filling/frosting
12-16 oz of heavy cream (raw is best but otherwise organic works)
Begin to whip cream in mixer.  Add:
1/4 c. soft butter
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. sugar (powdered or organic cane both work)
1-2 tbsp instant coffee crystals (decaf!  The more you add the richer the coffee flavor)

Mix until good thick consistency. Taste to check flavor.  Add more sugar or coffee as needed.
(I didn't actually measure the frosting when I was making it so these are kinda rough estimates! yikes!)

Once finished frosting, take organic chocolate, melt, and drizzle over the top of the cake to make it pretty.

Yum!

The fastest soup ever! Recipe

Ok, so I have NOTHING planned for tonight's dinner & tonight is supposed to be a quick night we run home, eat & go to our Book Club.  So I thought about what I had going bad in my fridge, a giant container of Spinach from over a week ago!  

I had some sauteed onions in the fridge, so I dumped them (about 2 TBSP) with SS&P, about a cup of chicken stock, and a handful of spinach (I just couldn't bring myself to really dig in & pick it over, so just grabbed the really nice looking leaves off the top, SO lazy!)

I gave it a whirl...

Meantime, I have a medium saucepan with about 3 cups of broth (and I tossed in a couple chunks of lemongrass) heating up.  Once it got reasonably warm, I added half a package of Rice Stick Noodles to that.

Added the contents of the blender to the pot, brought it all up to simmer & tasted, kinda good, but boring - added cumin, cayenne & paprika (abut 1 Tsp of - more if you like!).  Hmm... much better!

Once noodles were soft, I turned off the heat & gently stirred in some cream (about 3-4 TBSP) & served.  It might have been nicer to garnish with a little fresh parsley or cilantro, but who has time for that on Book Club night!??

Saffron Pearl Barley Risotto Recipe

Can you believe I've never cooked Barley before?  I love the old standard: Beef & Barley Soup, but I've never even made that!  This morning I made a Stewy Crock Pot thing with Lentils (which I'm also pretty sure I've never cooked!) and it was supposed to be served over Barley. Well the stinkin' book assumed I knew how to cook Barley & guess what?!  I don't!  Dang it!  So I googled a few recipes & got some ideas & then this is (approximately) what I did... it's basically a risotto method.

In a small saucepan, heat stock (any flavor you want or have on hand)  I used about 3 1/2 cups

In a med-large spot Sweat 1 med chopped onion (my son Kanan chopped for me & cried buckets! ) in some olive oil for about 5 minutes

add the non-rinsed Barley (1 cup dry)

saute that for a few minutes, add a pinch of saffron, about 1 Tsp of Tumeric & 1/2 Tsp of Cumin

Stir & saute that for about 2 minutes

start adding hot stock, a ladle full at a time (about 1/4-1/3 cup)

stir often

add more stock when the pot is almost dry (no burning or sticking should go on)

keep doing this for a 20 million years until the barley is plump & cooked thru.  (yes you have to taste it,  it'll take about 40 minutes or so)

season with a bit of SS&P (Sea Salt & Pepper, of course!)

Serve with gusto!  

It was yummy all by itself (IMHO) but my plan was to use it a base for the Midas Feast (Lentil Stewy Crock Pot concoction) which also worked out...(:

Recipe: Cranberry/Jalapeno/Ginger Chutney

Recipe for Cranberry/Jalapeno/Ginger Chutney (from my Aunt Louise)

1 Big Bag of Cranberries (Costco size) or 3 reg size Bags
Maple Syrup (to taste - I use about a whole 12 oz. bottle)
Juice & Zest from three Oranges
Zest from one lemon
Crystalized Ginger (8 oz) - Chopped fine
Grated Fresh Ginger (about 2 Tbsp)

Put Cranberries in a heavy bottom Stock Pot & cover with water (the kind you like to drink!)
Bring to a boil
Add the rest of the ingredients & bring back to a boil

Adjust the Maple Syrup to taste, it should be tart, but sweet enough to enjoy.
It will thicken & develop a candied look right as it's getting done. Watch for it, then:
Add about 3-5 (chopped med/fine) Jalapenos to Serranos (check for heat before you go crazy!

Stir them in & let cool. Stores for 2-3 months in fridge, or you can 'can' to preserve in your pantry...Enjoy

My fav in on leftover Turkey & Stuffing Sandwiches! AMAZAZING!