Doris and the Pea Soup

My insane cat Doris, loves Shari's Pea Soup....

Poach An Egg

For breakfast today I had two poached eggs with grain toast, some leftover mozzarella cheese and avocado that I chopped up and drizzled with olive oil and coffee.

Now, before this blog becomes a diatribe on the mundane aspects of my life...the poached eggs really got me thinking.

With the wave of food related competition shows, hmm, Chopped comes to mind, I see so many Chefs putting poached or sunny side up on top of any variety of food items.

I don't ever remember my mom topping any of our food, not connected to breakfast, with an egg.

Yet, it is a lovely addition to many things and a poached egg could not be any simpler,or easy to make. It is a healthy alternative to frying, cost effective and only take minutes to make.

Wouldn't it be great to make Eggs Benedict at home, even if you use a packaged sauce, the poached egg is what makes it.

Don't feel like making a soft boiled egg, too hot to handle and those pesky shells? I say Poach An Egg!!! (even though I and my siblings all ate my Mom's delicious soft boiled eggs when we were little and under the weather)

There are 3 ingredients:

Eggs
White Vinegar
Water

Boil the water with about 1 1/2 Tlb. white vinegar.
Crack eggs into small dish with a low lip, gently drop each into boiling water.
One and a half minutes or so, will produce a lovely white cloud with a runny yellow secret inside!

If you prefer a well done egg, two and a half minutes or so will do.
Cook times vary for egg size and diner taste.
If it is your first time, try a few out at different cook times and see which you prefer.

Poached eggs on wheat toast with a side of crispy lettuce and tomato and a light balsamic dressing is really great for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
They can be served with coffee for breakfast, iced tea for lunch and a lovely glass of wine for dinner.

Keep in mind people, I can't be that healthy all of the time, usually I will butter the toast..!!!

For a quick meal, secret ingredient or Sunday Brunch....Poach an Egg

Here's The Final Result

So, I decided to go with the Italian Sausage and Ground Turkey Bolognese.

I found the following in fridge and cupboard's:

Ground turkey
Italian Sausage
Celery
Carrot
Onion
Garlic
Green Peppers (from the plant on the deck)
Red Apple (1/2 of one)
Italian Frying Pepper (that has seen better days..cut around the gunk people)
Green Martini Olives (wish I had vodka to put these to even better use)
Chicken Broth
Crushed Tomatoes
Bacon Fat (reserved from days gone by that never goes bad)

Sauteed the sausage and ground turkey in some bacon grease and olive oil. Removed them from the pot and added my diced vegetables and the rest of the kitchen sink!
Cooked those down to soft, added the meat, some chicken broth (the crushed tomatoes are pretty thick and the stock helps loosen the sauce a bit) and the tomatoes.

Along with some dry basil, dry peppeoncini and salt and pepper and now it is simmering away, the Eagles are killing the Giants and I am ready to read my book.

Do the same..you won't be sorry!!!

Something From Nothing

O.K. people, it is Sunday and time to COOK!!!!


So many times we look in our cupboards or fridge and say "I have nothing to eat" and go buy new supplies.
But, I am here to tell you there are a few meals hiding there and you need go no further than your kitchen!!!

I am going to go see what I have in my cabinets and fridge and what I need and hopefully, make something from "nothing". Here's how to do it...

My fridge:

Ground turkey, Italian sausage, eggs, 1/2 of an apple, chicken stock, celery, carrots, 1 sweet onion, canned pumpkin (Doris need not know about me using his food) and 1/2 of a loaf of whole grain bread and of course garlic!

Cupboard:

2 cans diced tomatoes, egg noodles, pasta noodles, cornmeal, Spanish Rice and peanut butter. (hey you never know..)

And, I have a pepper plant on my deck that has a few green peppers waiting to come in from the cold.

So, here's how it works... I can make several things from the above ingredients and hopefully you will see that you can do the same at your house.
This is kind of like getting a big word and seeing how many other words you can make out of it!
Here we go...

-Sausage and Peppers and Onions with Tomato Sauce, for this you can buy a good loaf of Italian Bread and make sandwiches.

-Turkey and Sausage Meat Sauce with Pasta or Creamy Polenta (made out of the cornmeal).

-Turkey Meatballs made with eggs and bread chopped fine and a quick marinara sauce.

-Roasted Peppers to use for a later date.

-Turkey Meatloaf made with celery, carrots, bread cubes and eggs and just for fun, dice up the apple. It can be served with buttered egg noodles and a quick sauce made with canned tomatoes and green peppers from the deck.

-Turkey and Sausage Noodle Soup with C/C/O (celery, carrot, onion,my Rachel Ray nod to EVOO), chicken broth and egg noodles...

These are just a few ideas, and who knows what other combination's are within those ingredients. The idea is to throw what you have in a pot, or take an hour, prep the meat sauce or meat loaf, go buy some bread and have everything ready before the Eagles/Giants game!!!

Take the rest of the day to read a book, do some laundry, have a beer and watch the game...see cooking can be easy and fun!!!

Use what you have, it doesn't take fancy ingredients to make a delicious meal.
Send me a message for any recipes you might like to have!!!

EAT!!!

Perfect Fall Dish

Hands down, Fall is the best time of year to cook.

Grilling and swilling and chilling is fun,
Saute the day away with a good Chadonnay,
These methods are fine...

But when Fall rolls round, leaves on the ground, baying of the hound (s) by golly it's time to COOK!!!

Go to the market, pick up a shoulder of something, a loin of something else, and perhaps some fowl and COOK it!
Brown it, roast some vegetables, put in some kind of liquor to de-glaze the pan, put some liquid in it and enjoy the day.
Put on some Bruce,have a Belgian beer, glass of wine or a good finger or two of a good bourbon and COOK!!!

Eat potatoes, polenta, parnips, oh my, but whatever you do....EAT!!!

Enjoy the rainy weather, the perfect time to cook!!! Even if it is a Tuesday.

My favorite dish on a night like this is a good braised or roasted chicken.

I will share my recipes, what are yours for a night like this???

Barbara

It's Not What it Seems

Hello Everyone!

This is a hard post to write as I am torn between being thrilled, mortified and sorry.

I am referencing the Food Network airing of the show Chopped. I competed in April and the show finally aired last week. (albeit with time changes out of my control)

I was pretty vocal about the fact I was going to be on the show, knowing full well that I had cut my finger and was Chopped because of it. I did not know, however, that I would feel so defeated and deflated because people actually believed that I bled into the food and didn't care.

I nicked my finger when sectioning an orange and while I attempted to put a glove on, it did not fit, I was busy, flustered, anxious and concentrating and I made a BAD mistake by not stopping and fixing it. Trying to get the glove and actually doing it are two different things. I did not do it until it was too late and it cost me, big time. I DID NOT put a bloody finger into a raw salad, but the damage is done and I can't undo what is on film.

I did not care about losing $10,000 I cared about disappointing so many people.

The thing that upsets me the most is that people who don't know me, saw that and assume I did not care. I cared more than anyone knows. I knew I made a mistake and under abnormal circumstances made a bad decision.
But, that is so far from the attitude I have when I work in a kitchen and there is no way to show that on TV.

I care about my customers and the food they eat so much, it hurts. For anyone to believe that my flippant attitude was anything more than covering my own disappointment is frustrating at best.

Those who know me know how hard I am on myself and how much I care about what I do. I have been accused of caring too much in some cases, but that doesn't do me any good now. I used humor and yes, made excuses, to cover the disappointment I felt in myself and how I let down all of those who know me and were cheering me on.

The tears you saw were real. I knew that it was bad and could do nothing to fix it.
I am sorry for letting down the people who supported me the most. If I could do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.

I can blame editing, or bad gloves or pressure..whatever. The bottom line is it came off that I did not care or that I thought the judges were being dramatic. They weren't and they were right.

Two More Weeks

Not only is Fall here and the best cooking weather upon us...the 6 month wait for my T.V. debut is two weeks away...stay tuned 10/20 @ 10:00!!

I promise more recipes coming shortly.
Until then ponder this taste treat...

Braised Lamb Shoulder Chops with Apple and Pumpkin ... so yummy!!!

More to follow....