Sick Day

Hit with a virus that knocked me out. Plain Cantonese-style rice congee, served with a preserved duck egg.

Can't Stop Won't Stop

How can I resist a great eggs & tomato recipe? I can't. Especially when they're as easy and simple as this. You must also know that this is delicious when eaten with a giant piece of sangak bread.

Breakfast of Champions

Awwwwwwww yeaaaah. Two perfectly soft-boiled eggs. Toasted multigrain bread slices rubbed with raw garlic and spread with anchovy butter. Baby, let's round this off with some fruit and a big cup of tea, shall we? And of course there's cream.

Because it is cold out

Eggs florentine with dill
Black kale, potato and onion soup
Thyme, ricotta and tomato tart with walnut and spinach salad

Tub Salad

Doesn't sound very glamorous, but "tub salad" is what I'm calling this excellent lunch I made the other day. I based the recipe on the Smoked Salmon with Egg Salad and Green Beans recipe from Gourmet magazine, substituting thin, steamed asparagus for the green beans. Using three free range extra large eggs, dill and extra mustard, I made egg salad which topped off this four layer salad. Packed nicely in a 3-cup Gladware container, it was a compact and immensely satisfying patio lunch on a sunny afternoon.

Lunch Salad

I made a big bowl of this for lunch today, and I think a smaller portion of this would also be really nice with a bowl of fish chowder. Using a mix of frissee, arugula and curly lettuce, I added strips of proscuitto and a light mustard-y vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil + teaspoon of dijon mustard + dash of sherry vinegar + 1 squeeze of lemon juice + sprinkle of sugar and sea salt). Tossed with some parmesan & herb croutons (a stale whole wheat baguette cut into cubes, tossed with olive oil, powdered parmesan cheese and oregano, then baked). Top off with a poached egg and lots of pepper.

Salmon Eggs Benedict

Ahhh, weekends. I made salmon eggs benedict, a popular spin on the classic eggs benny here in the Pacific Northwest. First off, I've never liked the overly spongy texture of English muffins, so I decided to use a potato base. I finely shredded a small Yukon gold with with my Benriner (a gift from my sister when she went to New York). After squeezing out the excess moisture from the potatoes, I lightly salted it and fried small cakes of in a shallow pan with grapeseed oil, a little like making potato latkes.

I alternated two potato cakes with slices of smoked salmon in between. Top with a perfectly poached egg, dill, and Hollandaise sauce. I tested out two different Hollandaise recipes (one with cream, the other without) over the weekend, and I'm still not completely satisfied. I think next weekend's project will be finding the perfect one!

Eggs & Kale on Bread

I love eggs on bread. So when work dismissed us early due to the snowstorm today, I raced home to make one of my favorite lunches--eggs and boiled kale on bread. Taken from the always wonderful posts at Orangette, I indulgently made this as a late lunch for myself today. No shortcuts for this one--don't skip out any steps when making this relatively simple meal, because it's oh so worth it. My preferred bread for this is Country Rye. It's toothsome, chewy texture makes it also a great munching bread for dipping in oil and vinegar. In Vancouver, you can pick this up at Swiss Bakery on E. 3rd Ave and Main St.

Asparagus Egg Redux

I made asparagus and egg again, this time I sped up the process by frying the asparagus in a pan filled with grapeseed oil. Tossed it with breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and transferred them to a plate. Then I cracked an egg into the remains in the pan, cranked up the burner for a few quick minutes and slid the egg on top of my asparagus heap letting the yolk run. Add some more fresh cracked pepper on top. Eat by dipping the toasty asparagus segments into the yolky mixture. Mmmm.

Breakfast

Stuff on toast is the best. Fried some sausage, and with the bit of grease left in the pan, I threw in a handful of baby spinach (just the amount I needed to get rid of in my fridge), and a loosely beaten egg with some salt and pepper. Top the mix onto some pieces of toasted garlic-buttered rosemary & garlic bread.

Eggs, again

Hooray for these extra long weekends, because I can't stop. Especially when it comes to making full use of the ingredients I have on hand. Today, I layered asparagus stems along the bottom with proscuitto and parmesan, saving the spears to partially fence the outer rim. More parmesan on top. The possibilities are endless--I'm already looking forward to next weekend, when I can throw in some mushrooms and cream, or salami and basil!

Ramekin Eggs

Hooray for long weekends! Breakfast today consisted of eggs, tomato, spinach and proscuitto baked in ramekins. You can get the recipe here. I also had my usual big cup of coffee (with lots of cream), toast, and a sliced anjou pear.

Eggs on Toast

Lazy rainy day morning breakfast...scrambled eggs on buttered toast. Cup of coffee, bowl of cereal, and my news feeds.

Asparagus & Egg

Tonight's light dinner: roast spring asparagus and egg. I've seen versions of this dish everywhere lately and I love asparagus, so this was a no brainer. Snap off the tough ends of asparagus, drizzle in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, my egg poaching skills aren't up to snuff yet, so I just fried an egg. Toss the roasted asparagus in some breadcrumbs, slide the egg on top with some mozzarella shavings (next time I'll probably get some asiago), some dill and paprika and a bowl of roasted red pepper soup on the side. I'll try my hand at poaching again with eggs florentine sometime, but tonight's minimum fuss dinner just tides me over the grief of Jesse L. Martin's departure from L&O last night. Sigh.

Morning Hash

Weekends are the time when I usually clear out my fridge, and they're also when I have the time to make a decent breakfast. Making a hash kills two birds with one stone, and today I have:

- a single leftover yellow nugget potato
- leftover scraps of BBQ salmon
- the few remaining non-shriveled grape tomatos from a week-old box

To this I add:

- a free range egg
- a tablespoon of pesto

I nuke the small nugget potato until done, then dice it. I heat up a tablespoon of oil in a pan and lightly fry the diced potato, tossing them every so often. I then halve the tomatos, break up the salmon, turn down the heat and throw those in the pan. Whoops, should've turned the heat down sooner—a side of the potatos are a bit burnt this time. I break a free range egg into the hash and gently fold it in. The vivid orange yolk colors the hash a rich yellowy color. As the egg starts go cook, I turn the heat off completely, add pesto and keep gently mixing. Fresh ground pepper and a side of greens dressed with vinaigrette, and it's done.