Fried Eggs

I recently read a Cook's Illustrated article about fried eggs. It said you were supposed to heat the skillet on low for five minutes. Add butter. Wait a minute. If butter is browned, then skillet is too hot. Add egg. Flip when appropriate. I tried it sort of but it didn't really work.

I feel like my fried eggs have been getting more disastrous. I am on a 75 percent success to 25 percent failure rate. Usually, I heat the skillet on medium heat. Add butter and then the egg. The lower the heat I cook it at the more likely it is the yolk breaks when I flip it. If it is too hot, the egg gets that weird brown crust. I have to think about how to fix this problem...

Apples, Fake Sausage, and Me

So it has been awhile. Been the week from hell. Did a huge needs assessment on sleep deprivation and college students that was due on Thursday. I haven't been this sleep deprived in a long time. On the brighter side of life, lots of good things happened after the cake was eaten. Personal details disclosed by letter, email and phone. This weekend I have been eating breakfast for every meal. Today's posting hails from one of these meals.

Apples and Fake Sausage

Gimme lean
One apple
Olive oil or butter
Cinnamin
Salt

Heat frying pan. Low-medium heat. Add olive oil or butter. Wait a minute. Slice apples about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Put on frying pan. Form gimme lean into patties. Heat 'em up. Brown the sausage. Flip the apples a couple of times. Near the end add a little salt and cinamin on top of each apple slice. When the gimme lean is done, the apples should be done. Serve hot.

I am sure this would be better with real sausage but I don't really cook a lot of meat. Enjoy!

Cake #3: Blueberrie lemon cake with white chocolate

So this year is the year of the three cubed. Off to a good start. I included an active link to the recipe. It is on epicurious.com. The great thing about this website is that you can read all the people's reviews of the recipe and what they changed. Gee, that doesn't sound familar.




Lemon Blueberry Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

Cake
3 1/3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
4 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Frosting
11 ounces good-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Baker’s), finely chopped
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Additional blueberries (optional)
Lemon slices (optional)

For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides; line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.

Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until blended, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in lemon juice and peel, then eggs 1 at a time. Continue to beat until well blended. Beat in dry ingredients in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions. Fold in berries. Transfer batter to pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks.

For frosting: Stir white chocolate in top of double boiler set over barely simmering water until almost melted. Remove from over water and stir until smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in lemon juice, then cooled white chocolate.

Turn cakes out onto work surface. Peel off parchment. Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Top with second cake layer, flat side down. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with additional blueberries and lemon slices, if desired. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Makes 10 to 12 servings.


So about the cake...was very dense. I used an electric mixer this time to whip the butter, sugar, and eggs. The dough was a lovely consistency. But...I forgot to add the baking soda. So it was heavy and I could have cooked it a bit longer than the 40 minutes. I also excluded the lemon zest. I wanted a nice subtle lemon. It was an amazing cake but I am looking forward to eating it with baking soda.

The frosting is amazing. It makes a lot. I cut it into 2/3 and then added semi-sweet chocolate to the other third so I could decorate with it. Next time I made it I would just cut the frosting in half or 2/3. I used an electic mixer which made it very light and fluffy.

Bean Explosion

I am not sure if I am brave enough to try a soup called Fourteen-Bean Explosion, especially when it is posted by someone called fluffster. But if any of you are, let me know how it goes.

Weird and crazy uses of blue cheese

Did I ever mention I love blue cheese? I do. I really really do. I found Rogue Creamery blue cheese at the local Whole Foods. Was very excited. Then I read the label and realized it was the smoked kind. I don't understand why they smoke the blue cheese. It just tastes like smoked cheese and you miss all of the subtle undertones of mold. So here in the heart of hell (as my Guate friend recently labeled DC and maybe a tad dramatic), I stick to my Maytag blue cheese or sometimes get a little more adventurous. Here is a recent invention:

Raspberry Blue Cheese Tortillas

1 yellow corn tortilla
Some crumbled blue cheese
Good raspberry jam

Run tortilla under water and shake off excess. This helps to soften the tortilla and make it seem fresher. Put blue cheese on the tortilla. Place tortilla in toaster oven and melt the blue cheese. Take it out and let cool a tad. Smear with jam. Eat.

Variations: Put rasberry jam and blue cheese on toast or bavarian bread.

If you know where to get Bavarian bread in the heart of hell, let me know

Green Gazpacho or what to do with those green tomatoes

Green Gazpacho

This recipe comes all the way from the Enchanted Broccoli Forrest (aka Hippy Cookbook). Made this with green heirloom tomatoes but I think straight up green tomatoes would be delicious as well. People at the farmer's market will be trying to unload the green ones when the chance of frost increases.

3 green tomatoes
1 med. green bell pepper
I med cucumber
4 scallions
1/4 cup minced parsely
(I added: 1/4 cup cilantro)
juice of two to three limes mixed with one avocado (keeps it from going bad)
2 med. cloves garlic crushed
3 cups cold water
1 tsp salt
Lots of black pepper
1 tbs fresh basil
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbls honey

Coarsely chop everything that will tolerate it. Put in a blender for 10 seconds so that it isn't completely liquified. Chill.
When serving: put something bright on top as a garnish (minced red pepper, etc.) and sour cream if you want it. Serve with hot corn tortillas with melted cheese. Use tortillas to scoup up soup. Wonder to yourself why you don't live somewhere with a garden...

Note to those tempted to blend in something that is not green: red and green makes brown. Green and alot of colors makes brown. Eating poop like food is no fun.

Black Pepper Pasta and Fall Vegetables

Someone in DC actually let me cook for them! Well, it ended up being more of a group effort. Apparently, to use the pasta machine my dad and I used when I was three years old, you need at least two people. Someone to hold it down and someone to crank it out. I am not sure how this worked when I was three.

I made a variation of the fresh pasta recipe I posted earlier.
I added one tablespoon freshly bought, finely ground black pepper to the recipe.
I also substituted half of the white flour for whole wheat flour.
I had to add about 2 1/2 teaspoons water extra. Maybe because whole wheat flour doesn't hold together as well?

To go on top:
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon or so salt
One whole shallot, minced
One green zucchini. cut into thin disks
One yellow zucchini, cut into thin disks
One cob yellow corn, with the kernels cut off

Heat oil on medium heat. Add shallot and salt. Cook until it is a little browned. Add zucchini and corn. Turn heat up to medium high. Cover for about two to three minutes. Stir occassionally. Make sure the vegetables are hot all the way through, slightly seared, and crunchy.

Put on top of pasta.

I like to add a little butter or fresh olive oil to the top as well. It gives it a nice clean flavor that you don't get when the oil or butter has been cooked.

Enjoy!