Scrambled Eggs

Glad to be back after a school related lapse.  I will be continuing my trek through the Good Eats episodes with scrambled eggs from the first Egg Files episode.  After going through life with mediocre scrambled eggs, I jumped at the opportunity to try a recipe different from my parents’ recipe.  As it turns out, the key to great scrambled eggs is to induce steam and fold them instead of stirring them.  This allows for a perfectly light texture that is still moist.  That brings me to the main lesson of scrambled eggs: if the eggs look done in the pan, they will be overdone by the time they make it to the plate.  This means that your eggs should still look moist when you serve them to the plate, because they will continue to cook.

So even if you think you don’t like scrambled eggs, I would urge you to give this recipe a try.  Maybe you were like me and had mediocre scrambled eggs all your life.  This recipe is simple, and once you get the guidelines you can do it without a recipe on hand.  So give this recipe a try, and the next time you have guests for breakfast, you can wow them with the best scrambled eggs they’ve ever had.

Eggs with a Side of Bacon

Important Notes:
1.  Research done by Cooks Illustrated demonstrated that adding salt to the egg mixture before cooking yielded a more tender finished product.  I add a little bit per egg, and people can add more to taste if necessary after cooking.
2.  This recipe can be adapted to any number of eggs, the guideline per egg are listed in parentheses below.
3.  Depending on the amount of eggs you want to use a different sized skillet, so the eggs won’t take forever.  Here are some rough guidelines: 1-3 eggs (8-inch), 4-8 eggs (10-inch), 8-12 eggs (12-inch).  This allows for the eggs to be better distributed throughout the pan, otherwise the curds take forever to form (see below).

Curds

Ingredients:
4 eggs
4 teaspoons to 3 tablespoons of milk (Between 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon of milk per egg)
4 pinches of salt (1 pinch per egg)
A small pat of butter

Beginning to Fold the Eggs

Almost Finished

Directions:
1.  Whisk the eggs, milk, and salt in a small bowl.
2.  Heat the butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the egg mixture and stir occasionally until you see curds (see picture).
3.  After you begin to see curds, turn the heat up to medium-high and shake the skillet (slide forward and backward on the burner) to make steam.
4. Begin to fold the eggs intermittently between shaking until the eggs begin to coagulate more and most of the liquid is gone from the pan.
5. Serve the eggs immediately onto a plate (remember you already added some salt, so taste them before salting).

Based on Kyle’s predominantly German and Swedish heritage, the outcome of his culinary creations looked bleak. But somehow, he was able to overcome his genetics and expand beyond the realm of sausages and pickled herring. He spent many of his younger years a sous-chef to his father, which mainly consisted of icing Christmas cookies. It wasn’t until his was exposed to the flavorless, mediocre food of the dining halls in college that he ventured to cook for himself.

Through numerous failures and successes, a beacon of light appeared! It was the Food Network! Through the adept tutelage of Alton Brown on Good Eats (as well as others), Kyle surpassed his father and went on to make numerous delicious dishes. Sharing the same drive as William to perfect his culinary technique, he continues to research and try new dishes of many cultures (he even sometimes does cook sausage).

This is why William begged Kyle to become a partner in his food blog.

According to Kyle’s stalker, he is currently in graduate school for a Doctorate of Physical Therapy. He even occasionally posts on the food blog, although it is sometimes a rare sighting. It occurs as often as Kyle’s teachers let him come out to play, so keep your eye’s peeled for his next post.

Other than that he enjoys Martial Arts, beer, and has been known to occasionally strum a guitar.

Because I thought it was ridiculous to only cook turkey once a year, I made a turkey a couple weeks ago.  I followed my previous method, and with an overnight brine the turkey was amazing.  And instead of taking the turkey carcass and throwing it in the trash, I dumped it in my stock pot.  Three hours later and I had delicious tasting turkey stock!  The next day I added a couple ingredients and voilà, a soup that was not only delicious, but it helped me turn some of my leftovers into a delicious hot dish.  So hopefully you will see this in time and save your leftover turkey.  With a little bit of effort you can get some extra mileage out of your bird.

Ingredients:
1 Turkey Carcass with some meat still on it (from a 12-14 pound turkey)
2 Cups Leftover Turkey Meat
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Medium Onions, Sliced
2 Large Carrots, Sliced (About 1 Cup)
2 Celery Ribs, Sliced (About 1 1/2 Cups)
1/2 Cup Dried Noodles (Or more if you like)
2 Tablespoons Chopped Parsley

Directions:
1. Break up the carcass, taking the wings off, and then ripping the ribs off of the backbone.  Put the wings, skin, and body into a stock pot.  Add cold water to cover everything by 3 inches.
2. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer uncovered for 3-4 hours, skimming off any froth as you go.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely uncovered (Do not cover until cooled because it can make the stock taste sour).  And then refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).
4. Take the pot from the fridge and pull off any fat from the top (it will be hard).  Then heat the pot for about 15 minutes until hot, and then dump through a colander sitting in a pot.  Save the stock and discard the used up solids.  Season the stock with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Heat the olive oil in a 3-4 quart stock pot over medium high heat and add the carrots, onions, and celery.  Cook for about 15 minutes and then add the stock and simmer for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
6. Add the noodles and simmer until the noodles are soft, about 15 minutes.  Add the turkey and heat through.
7. Divvy the soup into bowls and add the parsley for garnish.  Enjoy!

Potato & Mushroom Gratin

Alton Brown’s first show was about steak, so naturally the next episode, “This Spud’s for You”, was about potatoes.  There are so many different options when cooking potatoes.  I have already covered oven fries, and William has already covered chips, microwave chips and fries.  For a slightly different dish I decided to follow AB’s Potato/Portabello Gratin Recipe.

The gratin looked really amazing and fairly easy to make so I thought I would give it a try. It yields a dish that is amazing in flavor and texture.  The cheese on top becomes crispy and delicious and the inner layers melt in your mouth.  The asiago cheese complements the mushrooms and potatoes perfectly.  This dish is amazing as a side for your steak or even served along with some eggs for breakfast (that’s how I dispersed with some of my leftovers).

Closeup of the Gratin

A gratin is basically very thinly sliced potatoes layered with other goodies, usually topped with cream and then baked.  Preparing this will be significantly easier if you have a v-slicer or mandoline (I’ve never met anyone with cutlery skills that can outpace one).  This is the one I have, although you may be able to find a similar one for less money.  You just want to make sure it can cut chips and fries in various sizes (that’s mostly all I use mine for).  I also switched out the mushrooms in the recipe because that’s what I had on hand, but you can follow his recipe if you like.  Other than cutting the potatoes, the assembly takes little time, so this is a great dish to serve with labor intensive entrées (you can cook while it cooks).  I hope that next time you are looking for a starchy side dish, that you will consider giving this recipe a try.

Assembly of Layers

Ingredients:
5-6 Yukon Gold Potatoes, Peeled
6 oz of small mushrooms (white button or I prefer baby portabella), Sliced
1 cup Grated Asiago Cheese
3/4 Cup Half and Half
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 F.  Slice the potatoes into thin chips about 1/8 inch thick (using a v-slicer if you have one).  If your mushroom aren’t presliced you can quickly slice them using an egg slicer (see photo below).
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cheese for the top of the dish.
3. Using a baking dish 13 x9 put one layer of potatoes on the bottom and then add salt and pepper, 2-3 Tablespoons of cheese, and about 8 mushroom slices.  You don’t want to put too many mushrooms in each layer or the layers of the final dish won’t set after cooking.
4. Continue making layers until you’ve use all your potatoes.  Pour about 2/3 of a cup of half and half on top of the layers and push down with both hands.  If you see cream bubble up you don’t need to add any more, if you don’t then pour the rest of the half and half on top.
5. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of cheese and bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour.  Depending on your vessel you may want to check at 45 minutes.  You can test the doneness by sticking a knife through the layers, if it’s done there won’t be any resistance.

V-Slicer Action

Slicing Mushrooms

Rib Eye Steak

Ever since William introduced me to Good Eats, I’ve been hooked.  I’ve seen almost every episode, and credit the show with some of the most useful culinary instruction I’ve received.  Whenever I make a new dish, I usually start with the Good Eats version first to help learn all the necessary techniques and to learn to pick the proper ingredients.  Alton Brown just released a new book Good Eats: The Early Years, which has selected recipes, trivia, and pictures from each episode up to episode 80 (which is most of the way through season 6).  This will eventually make up a trilogy of books, with the eventual release of 2 other books.  The release of this book gave me an idea to revisit the early episodes of Good Eats, and to make a recipe from each episode to post on the blog.  This leads me to the first episode: Steak Your Claim.

Searing the 1st Side

Steak Your Claim has an amazing technique for cooking steak that most people haven’t tried at home.  Instead of using the grill, Alton opted for what he refers to as “Black Gold” or a cast iron pan.  It involves getting the pan blazing hot and searing the steak on both sides and then finishing it the rest of the way in the oven.  It yields a delcious, brown crust on the outside of the steak while the inside remains juicy.  The cooking time also only takes about 5 minutes for medium rare, so it hard to beat a perfectly cooked steak in minimal time.  This cooking method does produced a decent amount of smoke, so I would recommend opening some windows in your house before you drop the steak in the pan.

Searing the 2nd Side

Ingredients:
1 Boneless Rib Eye Steak, 1 1/2 Inch Thick
Canola Oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1. Place a 12 inch Cast Iron Skillet in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 F.  Allow the steaks to warm to room temperature.
2. When the oven preheats to 500F remove the pan from the oven and place on a burner over high heat for 5 minutes.
3. During this time, lightly coat the steak with canola oil and salt and pepper both sides.
4. Place the steak in the pan and cook for 30 seconds without touching the steak.  Flip the steak over and cook for another 30 seconds.
5. Place the pan directly in the oven and cook for 2 minutes for medium rare (3 minutes for medium).  Flip the steak and cook for 2 more minutes for medium rare (3 minutes for medium).  The internal temperature should be around 135F for medium rare and 140F for medium (the temperature will rise some while resting).
6. Place the steak in the draining rig composed of a bowl, collander, and lid (see picture) and allow to rest for 5 minutes (This allows for the juices to be retained for a sauce).  Dig in and enjoy!

Draining Rig

Shrimp and Grits

The recipe I came across I saw on the Food Network on the show Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  I thought Bobby’s recipe looked much more appealing than the challenger’s, so I went with his recipe.  The combination of grits, white cheddar cheese, and shrimp just sounded too delicious to pass up.  Not to mention you cook the shrimp in garlic and rendered bacon fat.  How could this recipe not be delicious?  After making the recipe, I realized I had chosen correctly.  The white sharp cheddar cheese gave the grits a sophisticated taste, and the rendered bacon fat and garlic gave the shrimp an amazingly rich flavor.  To top it off, the shrimp and grits are topped with sliced scallions, which gives the dish a refreshing, complex flavor.  This dish aptly demonstrates Bobby Flay’s excellent ability to make a dish with complex flavors that meld together and dance around your palate.

Ingredients:

Grits:
4-5 Cups Chicken Broth (Recipe calls for shrimp stock, but I didn’t have any, so I used chicken broth)
1 Cup Yellow Stone Ground Corn Meal
1 Cup Grated White Cheddar Cheese (Preferably Sharp)
Freshly Ground Pepper
3 Green Onions (Scallions) Sliced for Garnish

Sauteed Shrimp:
20 Large Shrimp, Shelled and Deveined
1/2 lb Thick-cut Bacon
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1. Bring 4 cups of broth/stock with 2 teaspoons of salt to a boil in a medium sauce pan over high heat.  Slowly whisk in the grits and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the grits are soft, whisking every couple minutes.  This will take 15-20 minutes depending on your stove/pan.  If the mixture becomes too thick, add more of the additional broth/stock.  Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook the bacon (I recommend baking, I prefer the faster method) and save the rendered bacon fat.  The day I made this, I had the bacon for breakfast and just saved the bacon fat for later.  Or you can always slice the bacon into strips and cook it in the skillet you are going to cook the shrimp in like in the original recipe.
4. Pat your shrimp dry with a paper towel and salt and pepper them.   Place 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat and the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet (non-stick is best here)  over medium heat and add the shrimp and garlic to the pan.  Cook until the shrimp is opaque about 1-2 minutes on each side.
5. Remove the shrimp and place in a bowl and reserve the garlic oil from the pan (it will be drizzled over the final dish).
6. Divide the grits into 4-6 bowls (depending on what size portions you want) and add the shrimp on top.  Drizzle on some garlic oil and top with the sliced green onions.
7. Dig in and enjoy!  You won’t be disappointed.

Cream Cheese Brownies

Who doesn’t love brownies? They are easy to throw together from scratch (yes, almost as easy as using boxed brownies) and they are delicious. The best thing about making your own brownies is that you get to control the type of chocolate that goes into them. I usually will use Ghirardelli chocolate, because it’s readily available and it’s very good. Every now and then I will splurge and use something like Callebaut (Belgian) or Valrhona (French) chocolate. You can usually find either of those at your local gourmet grocery store, or order them online if you don’t have one near you. That being said, I sometimes feel like my brownies could use a little something extra. That’s when I turn to this recipe. The addition of the cream cheese (think cheesecake not cheeseburger) enlivens the normal brownie recipe. I know this takes a little bit of extra work (since you have the cream cheese mixture as well as the batter), but it’s well worth it. So next time you want a bit more from your brownies, give this recipe a try. It’s well worth the extra calories.

Ingredients
2/3 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
6 oz Bittersweet Chocolate
1 Stick Unsalted Butter
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3 Large Eggs
8 oz Cream Cheese, At Room Temperature
1 Egg Yolk

Directions

1. Adjust the oven shelf to a low-middle position and preheat the oven to 325F.
2. Take an 8 x 8 inch baking pan and spray the bottom with cooking spray. Add a piece of foil that will overhang on 2 sides, and spray the top of the foil with cooking spray.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
4. Melt the chocolate and butter in either a double boiler (a bowl in a pan will work) or just in the microwave. Make sure you stir so that the chocolate doesn’t burn. Add 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla to the chocolate mixture in a bowl (if you used a double boiler just use the bowl you used). Then whisk in the eggs one at a time and then add the flour mixture and whisk until incorporated.
5. In another bowl, mix the cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and the egg yolk.
6. Pour half of the chocolate mixture into the baking pan, then add half of the cream cheese mixture in spoonfuls over the top (spread them out). Add the rest of the chocolate mixture on top and then the rest of the cream cheese mixture in spoonfuls. Use a blade of a knife to swirl the mixture to give it a marbled look.
7. Bake for 50-60 minutes. They are done when a toothpick comes out with only a few, moist crumbs on it.
8. Cool the brownies in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then use the aluminum sling to remove them from the pan. Cool them to room temperature, and then put them in the fridge. Once they are cooled you can cut them into pieces. Keep them refrigerated, and they can keep up to 5 days (assuming they last that long).

Spinch Salad with Strawberries and Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

When someone first served me this dish, I thought it sounded like an odd combination.  After I tried it, I was amazed at how well the spinach, strawberries and dressing paired together.  I tend to enjoy dressings that are somewhat sweet with spinach, and the strawberries add that nice hint of sweetness.  The dressing perfectly complements the strawberries, and rounds out this side dish nicely.  I try and make this dish anytime that I can get my hands on good strawberries.  Next time you find ripe strawberries at your local supermarket, I hope you will give this recipe a try.

Ingredients
Spinach
Strawberries, Sliced

Dressing:
1/4 Cup White Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Poppy Seeds

Directions
The dressing for this recipe can easily be halved, depending on how many people you are serving.  You can add as much spinach and strawberries as you desire.  I like a lot of strawberries in mine, because I enjoy a bite of strawberry with each bite.

1. Mix vinegar, olive oil, sugar, and poppy seeds in a jar or sealable container.  Shake until combined.
2. Divide spinach and strawberries into bowls and top with dressing.

Ingredients
2 Pork Tenderloins
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Cup White Wine or Dry Vermouth
2 Tablespoons Minced Shallots
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard (Don’t use yellow mustard)
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Trim the pork tenderloin of any of the silver skin (fat), because this can sometimes burn when seared. Salt and pepper all sides of the pork.
3. Heat a 12-inch stainless steel skillet (don’t use nonstick at all costs) over medium-high heat.  Add oil and 1 Tablespoon of butter and melt until the butter foams and then the foaming subsides.  Swirl the pan and add both tenderloins to the pan.  Sear for 1-2 minutes on all 4 sides until well browned.
4. Transfer the pork to another baking vessel (we need the skillet for the pan sauce).  Bake until the temperature of the pork reads between 150-160 F (I prefer the texture better when it’s closer to 160).  Remove the pork and place on a plate and tent with foil.  Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting.
5. While the pork is baking in the oven, take the skillet and add 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium-low heat.  Melt, and then add the shallots and garlic.  Cook until softened about 2-3 minutes.  Add the wine to the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Bring to a simmer and scrape the fond (see Pan Sauce 101) from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Simmer the wine until it is reduced by half.  Add the cream, and cook until reduced by half again.  Off heat, whisk in the mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Cut the pork into medallions (see picture) and spoon pan sauce over the top.

Chicken with Garlic and White Wine Pan Sauce

One of my favorite things to do for a meal is to cook some sort of meat in my 12-inch stainless steel pan and then use that to make a pan sauce. Pan sauces are able to take the remnants of the meat you’ve cooked and incorporate those delicious flavors into your sauce. Plus there’s also the added benefit that you don’t need to dirty an extra vessel to make the sauce in. For those of you who love nonstick cookware, you need to try and avoid that convenience for this. A nonstick pan just won’t give you the same rich flavor that you will get using a stainless steel pan (I’ll explain this below). The wonderful things about pan sauces, is that once you get the hang of the process you can experiment and come up with your own sauces. Here are the steps for a successful pan sauce:

1. Fond: The reason you need to use a stainless steel pan.  When you brown meat in a stainless steel pan, little bits of meat stick to the surface of the pan and brown. This is called fond. In this case any shade of brown is good, especially deep brown. Black, however, is bad. If you notice that bits of fond are getting too dark while you are covering the meat, you can move the meat on top of the bits of exposed fond that are burning.

Fond

2. Aromatics: This is where you add additional flavor from things like garlic to your sauce. Garlic and shallots are two of my favorite things to add at this stage. You basically want to cook them until they are softened, and then proceed to the deglazing before they burn.

3. Deglazing: This is where you incorporate the fond into your sauce. Basically you are now adding a liquid while the pan is hot in order to incorporate the fond into your sauce. In my opinion the best liquid for this job is some sort of alcohol. Most of the alcohol itself evaporates in cooking and it leaves behind wonderfully complex flavors in your sauce. You can also use things like chicken broth or stock if you don’t want to use alcohol. Technically, you could even use water, but that doesn’t add any additional flavors to the sauce.   During this time you will usually simmer the deglazing liquid and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. You will notice how the fond gives the sauce a rich color when it is incorporated, and that if you used a nonstick pan your sauce will be much more pale in comparison (in taste as well as color).

4. Reduction: This is where you get the sauce to the consistency you want. Reducing it will make it more viscous, or you can thicken it with a bit of flour (it won’t take much, maybe a teaspoon). This is also where you will cook out the alcohol if you decided on that as your deglazing agent. You can tell when most of the alcohol is cooked out just by smelling the sauce. I often will add a Tablespoon or two of butter at the end of this stage to increase the volume a bit and add a richer flavor.

5. Seasoning: This is the stage where you add your salt and pepper to taste. Also at this point you can add things like mustard, that will produce an off flavor if cooked too long in the sauce. Now you ready to enjoy your sauce. Just spoon it over your dish and enjoy!