Menu Monday and Summer Sunday Night Dinner

After a relaxing but warm weekend (temps stayed at 90 degrees or above all weekend), J and I wanted to make something tasty but cool to keep the heat in the kitchen to a minimum.  We also wanted to use some of the produce we had picked up at the Ferguson Farmer's Market this weekend.

This week's wares from the Farmer's Market

The result was the following menu:

• BLAT (Bacon-Lettuce-Avocado-Tomato) sandwiches with London bacon from The Farmer's Larder
• Massaged Kale with bunches of kale from the FM
• J's Deviled Eggs with Dill--with dill and eggs from the FM; so called because he hates mayonnaise and I modified the recipe to omit the offending ingredient!
• Dutch Apple Pie--we used apple pie filling I had made earlier and froze for less sweat in the kitchen, even though we did have to turn on the oven (375 degrees) for a while! 

The spread minus the kale

Yum!  Look at all those greens :)

The London bacon was thick, smokey and salty and cooked up much faster (and with much less grease) than you can find in the grocery store, not to mention that the meat was local and sustainable!  I splurged (at 2.99) on some good bread, sliced Italian bread from Trader Joe's, since we were using such high quality ingredients in the dish.   The result was delicious and perfect for a summer picnic or you know, dinner inside with the A/C on a Sunday night!

Massaged Kale, modified from Aarti Sequiera of Aarti Party

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale, stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon (believe it or not we still have lemons from my parents' tree that they brought with them to graduation!)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly black pepper
Kosher salt


Kitchen Supplies:
Large bowl
Small bowl for collecting lemon juice
Cutting board
Sharp knife
Juicer (although a fork would also work)
Whisk

In a large bowl, add the kale, half of the lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil and a little kosher salt.  Massage until the kale starts to soften and wilt, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile whisk together remaining lemon, honey and lots of black pepper.  Then stream in 1/4 cup of olive oil in small bowl or ramekin, whisking to combine.  Pour dressing over the kale, toss and serve.

We let the kale marinate in the refrigerator for fifteen minutes or so while we pulled the rest of dinner together, which worked great as well!  Aarti's original recipe calls for one mango (cubed) and a few handfuls of pepitas to finish it off which would also be a nice touch.

Serves: 4

J's Dill Deviled Eggs, modified from The Taste of Home

Ingredients:
6 hard cooked eggs 
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon grain mustard
1/3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
Salt
Pepper
12 sprigs of fresh dill 
Paprika, for dusting


Kitchen Supplies:
Medium pot, for boiling eggs
Measuring spoons
Knife
Spoon
Small bowl

Place eggs in medium pot and then cover with water by approximately one inch.  Heat on high until the water starts to boil and then remove from heat, cover and let sit for 15 minutes.  Rinse under cold water and peel.

Cut eggs in half lengthwise and spoon out the yolks into a small bowl.  Mash them.  Add vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Greek yogurt and salt and pepper and mix until smooth.  Place a spoonful of the mixture in each egg and top each one with a sprig of dill.  Arrange on plate and sprinkle with paprika.

Serves: 4 (3 eggs each)

Speaking of food, here is what is on our menu for the rest of the week:

Monday:
Orecchiette Salad with Mint and Roast Beef
Kale Gratin--to use up the rest of our kale bunches from the FM; photos and recipe to follow!

Tuesday:
Chorizo Brats with Grilled Avocado, topped with pico de gallo--photos and recipe to follow!  We had this over the weekend poolside and it was out-of-this-world good.  I can't wait to make it again and share the recipe with you!

Wednesday:
White Clam Pizza--photos and recipe to follow!

Thursday:
Pea, Leek and Prosciutto Risotto--you know the drill.  Photos and recipe to follow!

Friday:
Anniversary Dinner, Part 1: Linguine with Mussels and Clams and Pink Champagne Cupcakes--To celebrate our first wedding anniversary (official date: June 12th) I am recreating part of a meal we had here while on our honeymoon in Napa Valley.  The pink champagne cupcakes (which we served as one of our wedding cake flavors) will take the place of our cake topper since we did not save it after the wedding last year! 

Saturday:
Coffee with JDP
Picnic lunch of salami, olives, french baguette and cheese
Anniversary Dinner, Part 2: Dinner at a restaurant in Ste. Genevieve for a little weekend getaway; location TBD

What's on your menu this week?  If you are married or in a long term relationship, how did you celebrate your first anniversary?  What did you get your significant other?  I have a few ideas but mum's the word since J reads the blog :) 

P.S. KT's Refinishing School is now on Facebook.  Like my page and be sure to let me know in the comments if your blog has a page so we can be friends!

Choppy Eggs or Breakfast this week

Today I ate this for breakfast:

I love soft boiled eggs.  I seriously have eaten a piece of prosciutto and soft boiled eggs for breakfast every day this week.  Is that weird?  Maybe but it sure does taste good to me!

Here's how I make them.  Boil a small saucepan of water on the stove and using a spoon, ease two eggs, one at a time, into the boiling water.  If you try to drop them in, they will crack and the whites will begin to ooze out which isn't very pretty.  Let them boil for four and a half minutes before removing them and running them under cool water for about a minute.  Using a knife, crack each egg in half and then spoon the egg into a shallow dish.  I like to have a small pat of butter sitting in the bottom of the bowl which helps make the egg yolk sauce a bit more creamy and saucy.  Chop eggs to desired consistently (I like a good chop) and then season with freshly ground salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

What's your favorite way to eat eggs?  Mine's a toss up between soft and hard boiled.

Happy Friday everyone!

Benedict Arnold

Tonight I made Eggs Benedict...from scratch...no bottled Hollandaise sauce, no egg poaching pans, no mayonnaise short cut like my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook suggested.

Full disclosure: I did do a bit a whining to J when I first cracked open the New Cookbook (Red Plaid Cookbook)--the sauce looked complicated and called for a stick of unsalted butter (which I did not have) and directed me to let it sit out for fifty minutes (which I didn't do). I ended up measuring out 1/2 cup of our tub o' butter--glamorous NO, time saving and much easier to work with YES.

I used several of the Liberty Prairie eggs, which, as always, did not let me down. I also used prosciutto instead of Canadian bacon. The recipe, from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Bridal Edition, is as follows:

Eggs Benedict, taken from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

Ingredients:
For the Hollandaise sauce:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
White pepper
Salt

For the Eggs Benedict:
Hollandaise sauce
4 eggs
2 English muffins-split
4 slices of prosciutto
Fresh spinach (Arugula would also work well)
Paprika

First, prepare the Hollandaise sauce. The original recipe calls for you to cut the stick of butter into thirds. I just divided the 1/2 cup of soft tub o' butter into thirds.

Combine egg yolks, lemon juice, water and a third of the butter in a small sauce pan over a double broiler. The bottom of the broiler should be about half full--you do not want the top pan to touch the water.

If you don't have a double broiler, you can use a glass bowl over a sauce pan--which is what I did and it worked great! Bring the water to a slow boil, with big bursting bubbles. Whisk the ingredients until they combine. The sauce will be very thin and slightly orange at this point since the yolks have yet to fully cook.

Once it combines, add another third of the butter, mixing thoroughly and whisking constantly. Once this is combined, add the final third of the butter. Continue whisking rapidly until the sauce begins to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve the hot water in the bottom pan.

Meanwhile (I had J finish stirring the sauce while I prepared this next part) add eggs, one at a time, in a medium skillet, filled half full with water. Red Plaid Cookbook recommends lightly greasing the pan to start to prevent the eggs from sticking--I did a once over with a small stick of butter I had in my fridge.

Once the water is boiling, I cracked each egg individually in a small measuring cup and added carefully to the hot water. I highly recommend this method as it allows you to get the lip of the measuring cup very close to the water, which ensures the yolk will not break and gives you a very round poached egg. You also will want to space your eggs accordingly so that none of them are touching one another. These will cook 3-5 minutes (mine took 5) until the whites are set and the yolks are thick but not quite firm. A slotted spoon works best for removing the eggs once finished.

Meanwhile, place sliced English muffins--I used whole grain--on a cookie sheet under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until toasted. Once toasted, place 2 slices of prosciutto on top of each and allow to crisp under the broiler for another minute. Remove, serve over a bed of spinach and place one egg on each muffin. Top with Hollandaise sauce and paprika, if desired.

If you have some dead time between preparing and serving, place the eggs in a shallow bowl with some of the reserved water from the hollandaise double broiler--this will keep them warm but prevent them from drying out or getting hard.

Note: If the Hollandaise sauce becomes too thick, add a teaspoon or two of the reserved warm water to loosen.

The combination of the salty prosciutto and the buttery Hollandaise sauce is heavenly. I envy your first bite!