Feeling Eggy

I went to the market and for some reason these wonderful brown eggs caught my eye. I mean really, how many times do eggs get noticed for anything other than something that comes out of a chicken's butt? Especially when it's not breakfast time but they called to me today.

I started looking around and saw my usual suspects of bell peppers (I'm so in love with their sweet crunch that I would marry them if i weren't already spoken for), potatoes and cheese. I held them in my loving arms and they said Gerro...do something different with us. We don't want to just be used in big tortilla or a quesadilla.

I looked down and thought, why the fugg are these vegetables talking to me, but I knew that they were right. They deserved more than the same ol same ol and so did my customers. So back I went to the kitchen with my booty and tried to come up with something different but all I kept hearing was tortilla, tortilla, tortilla. I wasn't going to break out anything flour nor corn related and then I understood....Spanish tortilla is what I was hearing.

Simple and still palatable to my customers. I knew that this would be a success but I still needed something else cause I bought far too many eggs (they were talking to me and said that they didn't want to be at the market anymore). I decided to go with something I hadn't made in years..."deviled" eggs, but since I'm an Atheist I call them simply "Eggs & Cheese."

ingredients

olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and rough cut
4 scallions
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
6oz potato, boiled , peeled and diced
3.5 oz of sour cream (you can easily use light as the cream is more for texture)
6 large eggs
6oz cheese - I prefer Parmesan
Salt and Pepper

method

Preheat your oven to 375 and grab your baking pan (7x10) and line it with foil and then with brush olive oil and set aside for a bit.

Drizzle some olive oil in your skillet and toss in your garlic. Let this crisp up and just as it's turning brown put your bell peppers in with the scallions. Slowly cook these down, roughly ten minutes . Please remember to toss lightly or stir to avoid burning. Once the peppers and onions have softened, remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl the eggs, sour cream and cheese together. Stir in the cooled vegetables and pour into your baking pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Once puffed and set in the center, remove from oven and let cool.

This is what's wonderful about using foil as a base...place a cutting board on top of the pan and invert. Peel off the foil and cut in two inch squares.

Serve either on toothpicks as an appetizer or with a green salad or tossed greens as a meal.

Eggs & Cheese

6 hard boiled eggs
3 tbsp of grated Manchego or cheddar
2 tbsp of light mayonnaise
2 tbsp snipped chives
salt and pepper

Straight forward comfort food.

Slice hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise and use a spoon to remove in a bowl with the mayonnaise, chives and cheese. Place egg white halves on a plate and mix yolk mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture back into egg halves and serve immediately or chill.

Special of the Day - Sweet, Hard-Boiled Risotto


I was talking to one of my regulars today and wondered if they wouldn't mind me jumping off the reservation and doing something surprisingly simple. It had been one of those days when you don't know what to make for the folks and you stand there looking at what's around and you know that if you tried to be "new and innovative" that it would fail like pug trying to not eat chocolate?

Well thankfully I got a "yeah sure whatever" response and got a chance to shake my head again and look freshly at the fridge and cupboards. What was there and what would fit my mood...there wasn't much left as we'd been throwing together some mean dishes lately -- tamales, red and bell pepper tofu tosses, asparagus cheese bombs, etc, and I felt that I should go the opposite way entirely.

I thought breakfast for dinner! Chicken and Mexican Cheese omelets....naw, but chicken and something I was sure. Then I glanced up and saw that tin of rice and it clicked. Risotto with a hard boiled egg. It felt like I would be missing something and then I tried thinking like a chicken...what would a chicken want with this dish? Sweet corn!

That was it and now I just had to throw it all together as I was sure that the egg would match the creaminess of the non dairy risotto and the sweet corn kernels would be a wonderful compliment to the soft saltiness.

Suffice it to say it was a success. Sometimes simple is really the way to go.

Let's get down to the process no?

Ingredients:
1 cup risotto rice
3 cups chicken broth (you can substitute veggie just as easily)
2 tbls butter (unsalted)
2 tbls Olive Oil
1-2 cloves of garlic (diced)
1 egg
1 can of sweet corn

Dice the garlic and toss in a medium sized sauce pan with the olive oil and butter. Saute over a medium heat. Just as the garlic pieces start to turn lightly brown, pour in the risotto rice.

Reduce the heat to low and cook the rice for four to five minutes. Just as the rice becomes translucent, pour half a cup of the broth into the sauce pan and begin slowly stirring. Once the broth is absorbed, pour another half cup in.

Continue this process of stirring and half cup of broth at a time until all of the broth is gone. (Should take ~30 minutes)

In the meantime, hard boil your egg and get your can of corn open. Drain the corn if needed and slice the egg thinly for plating.

Serve immediately or cover and let rest.