Kimchee and Bacon Deviled Eggs

I've made kimchee and bacon egg salad before. Why not do the same with deviled eggs?

Cook bacon and crumble. Drain some kimchee, fry it in a dry skillet, then chop. Mix into egg yolks and mayonnaise. Spoon into egg whites. Garnish with, of course, more bacon.

Delicious.

Poached Egg on a Tortilla

Yes, I'm addicted to poached eggs. I blame my husband.

This was a lightly toasted tortilla, some cheddar cheese, green onions, tomatoes, poached egg. Surrounded by green chile salsa.

Not glamorous, but tasty.

Poached Egg and Smoked Salmon on Toast

Just reading the title made me want this dish again.

Apparently, my husband can poach eggs. Perfectly. I'm a little miffed that I didn't know this for the first 13 years of our relationship. But now that I know, he's going to be in the kitchen a lot more frequently.

What you see below is completely my husband's doing. Lightly toasted sourdough, a smear of a French herbed cheese, sliced baby heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, lemon salt, pepper, smoked salmon, chives, a couple pieces of arugula, poached egg.

Look at that gorgeous yolk. There was absolutely nothing I would have changed with this dish.

Meat and Eggs in Various Combinations

I love meat, and I love eggs, and I especially love the two together. Here's a random sampling of various combinations:

Kabanosy with an overeasy egg and an English muffin. Kabanos is like a Polish Slim Jim, only a thousand times better.

Sucuk with scrambled eggs and an English muffin. Sucuk is a Turkish dry cured beef sausage, with a slightly sour tinge. I like it, but my husband doesn't.

Hamburger with an overeasy egg. There's something about a runny yolk on top of juicy beef.

Sunny-side-up egg cooked in a ham cup, on toast.

Bagel sandwich with black forest ham, scrambled egg, avocado, provolone and bacon. Mmm, bacon.

What are your favorite meat/egg combinations?

French Fries with Eggs

OK, it's not just french fries with eggs. There's other stuff. And the potatoes aren't deep fried. This is one of my husband's creations, and, I've got to say, it's pretty darn good, and also a great clean-out-the-fridge meal.

Buy yourself a bag of frozen french fries. Heat up a little oil in a skillet, and dump in as many fries as you want. Cook, stirring and tossing, until the fries are as crispy as you want. Beat up a couple eggs, and add them to the skillet. Cook and stir until the eggs are set.

That's the basic "recipe". We've added cheese to the eggs. We've also added roasted chile pepper strips, and bell peppers and onions (saute with the fries). Garlic can't hurt, and mushrooms would work as well. Various toppings we've used include tomatoes, green olives, avocado, and sprouts. If you're not vegetarian, add some bacon or other pork product. Serve with toast, English muffins, or by itself. And don't forget the hot sauce.

Pseudo Filipino Breakfast

My husband was raised by his great-grandfather, who was Filipino. He grew up eating things like this - delicious, filling, cheap, and did I mention delicious?

The basic formula is mostly rice, a couple eggs, and a little meat. Garlic rice is preferred, where you take day-old cold rice, and fry it with garlic (think Chinese fried rice, but without the soy sauce). But you can just as easily mix fried garlic chips into the rice. Cook your eggs however you want. I like over-easy. Husband likes scrambled. But not really scrambled - pour the eggs into a skillet, poke the yolk, let it cook slowly, chop and flip a little. You want the separate areas of white and yolk, not a homogeneous concoction.

For the meat - the best would be longanisa. Or tocino. If you don't have access to either of those, cube some Spam and fry it in a hot skillet. Or, even better (IMHO), although it does sound strange at first, cube up some hot dogs, and fry in a skillet with a little bit of mustard (plain yellow is fine) and black pepper. Seriously. Something about the mustard and pepper makes it taste...not like a hot dog...

For garnish, add sliced green onions, some Sriracha or other hot chile, soy sauce, a splash of fish sauce, fried garlic chips. Whatever you add, it will be good.

Things I've Cooked Lately, Part IV

"Deviled" eggs. With anchovies, roasted red peppers and capers. Oh, stop it. Most people who say they don't like anchovies have never tried them.

Sandwich with homemade pickles (cucumbers in peperoncini juice for 3 days). And yes, those are indeed Doritos.

Sardine omelette on a toasted bagel. Again, stop it, sardines aren't bad. You can get some very good imported Spanish and Italian ones.

Spinach and strawberry salad with candied pecans. I used Simply Recipes' method for the pecans, but used smoked paprika and cumin instead of sweet spices. The dressing was white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Hope you enjoyed the random collection. I'm sure there will be more in the future.

Egg Balls

What the heck are egg balls? They're delicious eggy cheesy puffy things with a terrible name.

My best friend learned to make them from her father, and she passed the recipe on to me, but only after getting permission from her son, who has insisted that the recipe remain a family secret. She asked him if she could show me how to make them, and he said "of course, she's more a part of our family than some of our blood relatives". How warm and fuzzy.

So since it's a secret, I can't give you proportions. But it's not too hard to figure out. Make bread crumbs from a fresh French or Italian loaf. Mix in parmesan (NOT the green can, for God's sake), chopped parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Some chopped basil if you so desire. Beat in eggs, until you get something with the consistency of polenta that needs to cook a little longer. Kind of like a thin Cream of Wheat.

Heat about an inch of oil (vegetable, canola or corn) in a skillet. Use an ice-cream scoop or two large spoons to scoop up dollops and slide them (gently!) into the oil. Fry, flipping to cook all sides. As they're done, remove them from the oil, drain briefly, then put them in your tomato sauce.

On this particular night, we also had meatballs in the sauce, topped with sautéed mushrooms, along with fettucine.

But my favorite? Leftover eggballs and meatballs on a sandwich with provolone and torn basil.

So, there you have it - egg balls. Anyone have a better name?

Things I've Cooked Lately, Part III

Well, that's a little of an untruth, because my husband cooked this for me one Saturday morning. He rarely cooks, and did this with zero pressure, input, or involvement from me. Fried pork chop, sauteed mushrooms, overeasy egg, with tortillas and green chile. I normally would've broken the egg yolk for the picture, but I was still in shock from the fact that the man cooked.

Getting back to normal, next up, braised cabbage with smoky bacon, recipe courtesy of Almost Bourdain. I used a Hungarian bacon given to us by friends that is absolutely amazing.

This time I remembered to crack the yolk.

This carbonara is from way back, when I made duck prosciutto. No cream. Don't you dare add cream.

Butter and store-bought bread. Why post this? Because I made the damn butter. And it was good.

Things I've Cooked Lately, Part II

So this is a clean-out-the-camera post. Some of these I made quite a while ago, some pretty recent. And now, for your viewing pleasure:

Corned Beef Hash. Egg is not optional.

Adobo made with country-style pork ribs.

Indian spiced pickled kumquats.

Tomato & blue cheese soup repurposed as a pasta sauce.

OK, Sami, I finally posted something. Are you happy now?

Braised Cabbage

When the weather turned from warm and sunny to chilly and rainy, I decided I needed to cook something comforting. Being of Eastern European descent, that could only mean one thing - cabbage. And as luck would have it, I had a bookmarked recipe for Braised Green Cabbage from Smell & Taste are My Memory.

As with many of the "comfort foods" I make, this took a while - 2 hours of slow braising, followed by 15 minutes at higher heat to brown the cabbage. Plus an overnight rest in the fridge, because braised things are always better the second day.

I was a little worried that the recipe only called for 1/4 cup of broth and 1/4 cup of olive oil (of which I only used half), but I forgot that the tight seal of the foil on the dish would prevent the liquid from escaping. What I ended up with was meltingly tender, sweet, almost nutty cabbage, accompanied by caramelized bits of onion and carrot.

So what did I do with the final product? A wedge in a bowl, next to some of the stewed white beans with lamb that I had just made. And a fried egg on top.

Is there anything that can't be made even better when topped with a runny yolk?

Baby Zucchini Frittata

I had to go to the mall today to return something. Yuck. I hate the mall. I was dreading it. But it had to be done.

Errand accomplished, walking out of the hated place, I passed by a Vista Farms stand, and saw the most adorable baby zucchini with the flowers still attached. "These would make a wonderful frittata," I thought. So I bought a large handful for $1.50.

Once home, I cooked up some bacon and then crumbled it, shredded some Panquehue cheese, minced a clove of garlic, and chopped up a green onion. Saute the garlic and halved squashy-babies in butter, add 5 beaten eggs, salt and pepper, most of the cheese, the bacon, and the green onion. Top with the remaining cheese, and bake until the eggs are set. Toast some bread while the frittata is baking. Oh, and be careful when you're slicing up the frittata - remember, you just took that skillet out of the oven, and the handle is hot. (In other words, don't be a dummy like me.)

I guess the mall isn't such a bad place after all.

Asparagus Popover Frittata

I felt like cooking, but didn't feel like going to the store (happens a lot, really). I found a bunch of asparagus in the fridge, so I searched my recipe files, and discovered that I could make this Asparagus Popover Frittata from Cathy at Noble Pig.

















I added some paprika, garlic powder, and Vegeta to the batter, and used my Calphalon skillet because I don't have a cast iron one that's small enough.

















Interesting - popovery dough, kind of chewy and eggy. It reminds me a little of a German apple pancake. But with asparagus instead of apples. But still very frittata-like at the same time. Great with some hot sauce on top.

Grandma's Custard

After my grandmother passed away at the impressive age of 97, I got to thinking about the dishes she made that I remembered most. One of them was custard.

I had never made custard before - well, that's not exactly true, since ice cream starts with a custard base, but I had never made custard as a stand-alone entity before.

I got the recipe from my parents, whose notes said you can make it in the microwave. I'm sure you can, and I'm sure it's good, but I'll stick to the stovetop. The recipe also called for margarine, which will never make its way through my door. Use butter, please.

This custard is great on its own or sprinkled with berries. You could also use it to fill little cream puffs or eclairs.

My Grandma's Custard

6T flour
2/3 c sugar
1/4 t salt
2 c milk
2 beaten eggs
1 t vanilla
2 t butter

Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add milk and eggs. Whisk. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly until nicely thick, about 10 minutes.

When thickened, add vanilla and butter. Pour into dishes and cool.

I'm submitting this recipe to Grandma's Recipes, hosted by Laura at The Spiced Life. If you have any of your grandma's favorite recipes, please join in the event!

Meatloaf Sandwich

MIL made meatloaf the other day, and since she always cooks for an army, we of course had leftovers. Here's my favorite way to have leftover meatloaf:
















Toast bread, fry egg, heat meatloaf, melt cheese, assemble. Serve with hot sauce and a beer.

Scrambled Eggs with Salami, Gouda, and Green Onion

You know those meals that you make at 10pm, when you're absolutely starving, yet completely exhausted? Yeah, this was one of those.

No pictures, and I apologize for that. This was something I whipped up after a grueling day, with no thought whatsoever to blogging, only gaining some nourishment before crashing. After eating it, I realized just how delicious it was, and had to share.

Scrambled Eggs with Salami, Gouda, and Green Onion

2 eggs, whisked with a bit of milk
3 slices salami, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
some Gouda, sliced from a wedge, chopped
salt & pepper
butter

Mix the Gouda into the eggs/milk. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. Add butter, and swirl to melt. Sizzle the salami and green onion in the skillet for a bit, then pour in the eggs & cheese. Cook slowly, stirring and flipping, not letting the eggs get too hard before turning. This will probably involve removing the pan from the heat a few times. When the eggs are almost done to your liking, season with salt and pepper, and stir/flip to incorporate.

Serve with Triscuits and Tapatio. (If there was bread in the house, it would've been a sandwich, but all I had was crackers.)

Bacon & Egg Bread Pudding

In my travels through the ether a few days ago, I came across Bacon & Egg Bread Pudding at Kat's blog, A Good Appetite. It looked too good not to make.

-- Most people give a warning when they have a picture-heavy post, which I guess this is (at least by my blogging standards). Most of the time, those posts are laden with beautiful photographs of exotic places and the food they ate while visiting whichever exotic locale they were lucky enough to visit. However, in my case, it just means I took a lot of pictures, and they didn't all completely suck. --

Chopped bread cubes and shredded cheddar, eggs and milk with salt & pepper:














Yes, I weigh my cheese. What, you don't?

Frying bacon:















MIL's bedroom is going to smell like bacon for a week. Something about the airflow in my house doesn't work right, the poor woman's room retains everything. But hey, at least it's bacon, and not tripe.

Bread mixed with cheese, soaking in aforementioned eggs and milk:















I forgot to get a picture with the bacon mixed in, and extra cheese sprinkled on top. So just imagine the above picture with...like...bacon mixed in...and...more cheese sprinkled on top...shut up.

Final product:















Bonus picture, bacon fat:















Mmm...bacon fat...I see home-fried potatoes in my future.

Thanks for the recipe, Kat! It completely satisfied my breakfast-for-dinner craving.

Baked Zucchini Potato Frittata

This dish was created out of the need to use one lonely zucchini in my veggie drawer, and some potatoes hiding in a cool, dark place.



















1 zucchini, shredded, squeezed as dry as possible
1 russet potato, shredded
1/2 - 1 c shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, sliced fine
3 slices bacon, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc.

Mix everything together. Season. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, some Cavender's, and some Vegeta. Dump in a casserole dish, and bake at 375 until set, somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes, I wasn't keeping track.

You could replace the green onion with regular onion, the bacon with ham, spice it differently (maybe curry or smoked paprika), add fresh herbs, etc.

Baked Spinach and Eggs...

...turned into a sandwich with an English muffin and Canadian bacon.















I bookmarked the recipe for Baked Spinach and Eggs from We are Never Full a couple days ago. Instead of serving it with a steak, I made a sandwich.
















Toasted English muffin, skillet-seared Canadian bacon. Happy runny yolk and creamy spinach. Extremely messy - maybe less cream next time? There will definitely be a next time.

Rice with Edamame and Egg

Once again, I didn't feel like cooking for real. So I made a batch of white rice, defrosted/heated some shelled edamame I found in the freezer, and made an omelette like you would for fried rice.

Scoop of rice, scattering of egg and edamame, some soy and sriracha, and a sprinkling of furikake. I don't know what's in the stuff 'cause it's all in Japanese. But it's tasty.