Eggs Benedict

Every Friday during the last few months that Sarah and I lived in Chicago, my friends from work and I would grab breakfast at Ceres Cafe in the Chicago Board of Trade building. The tradition was to get Eggs Benedict. Every once in a while I get a craving for Eggs Benedict again, so I recently learned how to make it myself.

Eggs Benedict is topped with hollandaise sauce. Rather than make up a whole batch of sauce from a powder packet, I learned to just make a small bit from scratch.

Hollandaise Sauce

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp butter
• dash of cayenne pepper
• dash of salt

Whisk the egg and lemon juice in a metal bowl. Carefully melt the butter in the microwave. Simmer a small amount of water in a small sauce pan. Place the metal bowl with egg and lemon over the simmering water. While stirring constantly, pour in the butter. Continue stirring until the volume roughly doubles. Stir in the cayenne pepper and salt and set aside.

Eggs Benedict

• 1 english muffin
• 2 slices cheese
• 2 slices canadian bacon
• 2 eggs
• hollandaise sauce

Poach the eggs as follows: Bring water to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan. Add a little bit of vinegar to the water. Crack the eggs into the water and let them sit for about 3 minutes. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon.

During the 3 minutes that the eggs are poaching, split the english muffin and toast both halves and grill/warm/fry the canadian bacon. On top of each half of english muffin layer a slice of cheese, canadian bacon, and a poached egg. Top with hollandaise sauce and season with a little salt and pepper.

The cheese isn't critical, so those of you that avoid cheese can just leave it out. I calculate that each eggs benedict (the above recipe making 2) has about 350 calories (with cheese), so don't go too crazy on them.

Chile Verde

We went to a ward Halloween party last week where everyone brought chili (with fritos to accompany it). I made some chile verde, just to be different. It was a big hit. While making it, I kept remembering that Pa always got chile verde at El Matador. I never had it there, but I bet this homemade version beats it.

I bought the pork (bostón de cerdo) and produce at my new favorite carnicería, Super Mercado Jalisco. I also bought whole cloves there, which I ground using my mortar and pestle.The hardest part of the work was cutting up the pork and trimming the fat. It took a lot of patience, but it was worth it.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of simplerecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
• 5 garlic cloves, not peeled
• 2 jalapeño peppers
• 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles (optional)
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
• 3 1/2 to 4 pounds pork shoulder (also called pork butt), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 to 2-inch cubes
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil
• 2 yellow onions
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp of chopped fresh oregano or 1 Tbsp of dried oregano
• 4 cups chicken stock
• Pinch of ground cloves

Directions

Husk and rinse the tomatillos. Roast the tomatillos, jalapeños, Anaheim or poblano chiles, and garlic until the skins are lightly blackened. (I roasted them on my grill, but you can also roast them under a broiler.) Let cool enough to handle. Remove the stems, seeds, and veins from the peppers.

Blend the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeños, other chiles, and cilantro. Pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.

Season the pork cubes generously with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat and brown pork chunks well on all sides. Work in batches so that the pork is not crowded in the pan and has a better chance to brown well. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, lift pork out of pan and place in bowl, set aside.

Pour off excess fat, anything beyond a tablespoon, and place the onions and garlic in the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until limp, about 5 minutes. Add the pork back to the pan. Add the oregano to the pan. Add the tomatillo chile verde sauce to the pork and onions. Add the chicken stock (enough to cover the meat). Add a pinch of ground cloves.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer. Cook for 2-3 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.

Serves 8

Zucchini Soup

Melt 1/3 c. butter

Add:

1/3 c. flour

1 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Cook to thicken and add:

3 c. water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 t. lemon juice

2 zucchini, chopped

2 T. parsley, fresh

1 t. dried basil

Boil & cook 2 min. (or as much as you like to cook zucchini)

Add:

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes (don't drain)

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn (I've also used canned corn)

Stir in:

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

2 c. cheddar cheese

Grilled Tacos

We had a few friends over for dinner last weekend, so I made grilled tacos. I got all the meat from a Mexican carnicería, Super Mercado Jalisco. The meat an other ingredients included:

• 1 lb of espalda de res (very thinly sliced steak, like for carne asada)
• 1 lb of pechuga de pollo (chicken breast), sliced lengthwise into long, flat slices
• 1 lb of lomo de cerdo (pork loin), sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
• 1 can sliced pineapple
• tortillas (both corn and flour)
• 1 can chipotle peppers
• grapefruit juice
• 4 roma tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 avocados

I brushed adobo (from the can of chipotle peppers) onto the pork and let it sit for a couple of hours. I marinated the steak and the chicken in grapefruit juice for a couple of hours (I stole that idea from La Carreta in Orem, UT).

While the meat marinated, I roasted the tomatoes and garlic on my grill and combined them with some chipotles in my molcajete to make salsa. I saved off about half of the salsa and smashed some avocados into the rest to make guacamole.

Next, I grilled the meat along with the pineapple slices. When it was done, I chopped the meat and pineapple and then warmed tortillas on the grill.

We just let everyone make their own tacos from the meat, pineapple, salsa, guacamole, chopped white onion, sour cream, cilantro, cheese, red rice (recipe available on request), and black beans. It all came together deliciously.

Cornbread--Marie Callendar Style

3 eggs

2 1/4 sticks margarine

1 1/2 c. milk

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3 c. Bisquick

1 1/4 c. sugar

3 heaping T. cornmeal

Beat eggs and add milk. Melt margarine and add to mixture.

Mix all dry ingredients and add to liquid ingredients, folding

until just mixed. Pour into ungreased 9 X 13 pan. Bake

at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.

Hot Fudge Sauce

2 C Sugar
6 T Cocoa
1/3 C Flour
1/2 C Butter
1 Can Evaporated Milk
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla

In a saucepan, add everything except the vanilla. Bring to a boil until thick like pudding. (5-8 minutes)
Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Mix in a blender until good and smooth.

Makes 1 quart.

Panini

After seeing someone on a PBS cooking show make a delicious-looking panini sandwich, Sarah and I decided to create our own variation on the theme.

Ingredients

• Italian bread
• Virginia ham, sliced
• Provolone cheese slices
• Sliced tomato
• Pesto
• Arugula
• Butter

Directions

Very lightly butter one side of each of two pieces of bread (the buttered side will be on the outside of the sandwich). The butter is more for marking than for taste. Spread pesto on the other side of each slice (the inside of the sandwich). Layer the sliced ham, cheese, and tomatoes into the sandwich. Place the sandwich on a George Foreman grill for a couple of minutes, long enough to lightly toast the bread and start to melt the cheese. It helps to add a little pressure closing the grill to both mark and evenly grill the sandwich. Next, open the sandwich and add a generous portion of arugula. The arugula adds both a nice flavor and texture, so don't skimp.

We made this sandwich for dinner the other day. It was so good, I made it again every day since for lunch.

You can easily imagine different meats, cheeses, and other fillings to try something different. I'll be trying them for sure.