Morel Mushrooms

I included some pics from my recent mushroom hunt. I found these on my sister's property a couple of weeks ago (actually she found 3 of the 4. Thanks sis!). We cut them in half, soaked them in saltwater to kill any critters and had them for dinner. The recipe was pretty simple, just as my Grandpa Weber used to do. Flour, salt, pepper dredge and saute in butter. They tasted pretty darn good but next time I'm going to try something a little more complex that will let the flavor of the shrooms come through.




Before



After

Eggs Urbanedict

I woke up at 4:30 on Saturday morning and made the best of the day. I got a good 3 hours of study time in before made this masterpiece at normal breakfast time. It will make an appearance at our next get together/homebrewfest/pizza fest. The key is the sirracha hollandaise. This was one of my best dishes. I guess I should wake up early more often.

Ingredients:

1 english muffin split and toasted
4 strips of bacon (TJ's has awesome uncured bacon with no nitrates)
2 eggs
1.5 T sherry vinegar
1 tomato
bacon drippings (I keep mine on hand in the freezer at all times)
1/2 cup of arugala
pinch of smoked paprkia

For the Sirracha hollandaise:
1/3 Cup of mayo
1 T lemon juice
1 T siraccha
1 T dijon mustard

Process:
Start by laying the bacon strips on a cooling rack on top of a foil lined baking sheet. Put into a cool oven and turn oven to 400. Bacon should be done in about 18-20 minutes. Start boiling 4 cups of water for the poaching liquid.

Meanwhile, combine hollandaise ingredients in a glass measuring cup and whisk until incorporated. I hold the measuring cup over my simmering water to create a double boiler effect to bring the sauce up to temp slowly. Slice the tomato very thin.

When bacon is done, move it to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve 1 T of the drippings in a medium sized bowl and add 1/2 T of sherry vinegar and a teaspoon of mustard and whisk. Toss arugala into vinegarette and set aside.

Add remaining tablespoon of vinegar to boiling water and slowly drop in eggs. I like mine at about 2 to 2.5 minutes. While eggs poach. Build your sammy. Top each half of the english muffin with a couple slices of the tomato, 2 bacon strips, and half of the arugala salad. When eggs are done, scoop out of water with a slotted spoon and gently transfer to a kitchen towel to remove any excess water. Add eggs on top of each muffin half and top with a drizzle of the sirracha hollandaise. (you may want to put hollandaise back on the "double boiler" for a minute to reheat. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and enjoy.

Egg Drop Soup

Inspired by Kenji's post on seriouseats.com, I decided to give egg drop soup a try. As usual, his recipe turned out very tasty and satisfying. Next up, hot and sour soup.

1 quart homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
4 ounces chinese ham, chinese dried sausage, or slab bacon - I used 3 strips of bacon
6 scallions, greens thinly sliced, whites left whole
1-inch knob of ginger
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
Kosher salt
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 whole eggs

1. Combine stock, ham, scallion whites, ginger, and peppercorns in a small stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain broth, discard solids, and season to taste with salt.

2. Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl and mix with a fork until homogeneous. Whisk into broth and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low.

3. Whisk together eggs and remaining teaspoon cornstarch until homogeneous. Transfer eggs to a small bowl and hold the tines of a fork or two chopsticks over the edge of it. Swirl the soup once with a large spoon, then slowly drizzle egg mixture into soup. Allow soup to sit for 15 seconds, the stir gently to break up the egg to desired size. Sprinkle with scallion greens and serve.

Hot Dog Challenge- 7 Layer Dog

Jeff proposed the challenge and all but one of us has answered...

For my entry think taco dip meets a Nathan's hot dog.  On a tangent, after thinking about this and maybe bc everything in my life right now circles back to kids, is that if you make these kind of dogs for kids they will love them, sorry I got off track. 

Anyway, I heated some chorizo refried beans, yes I said chorizo (shout out to Urban), taco sour cream, pepperjack cheese, lettuce, salsa, and a hint of cilantro because I love it. 

Ingredients:

2 Nathans Dogs
2 Buns
1 can of Chorizo refried beans (or regular for you veggie lovers out there)
Sour cream
Taco Seasoning
Smoked Paprika
Chopped Lettuce
Pepperjack cheese
Salsa
Cilantro

Mix the sour cream, paprika and taco seasoning to taste in a bowl. Smear the refried beans on one side of the bun and sour cream mixture on the other, layer the dog, cheese, lettuce, salsa and cilantro and enjoy!

We also made a 7 layer dip with the left over ingredients and enjoyed it late night after beer making with Fritos.  Can't let all that goodness go to waste!

Hot Dog Challenge - Big Green Monster

Jeff, are YOU ready for a throwdown?

Jeff laid out a hot dog challenge, and on Saturday, Romer and I answerd that challenge. Here is my entry. It consists of a grilled Nathan's all beef dawg (surprisingly delicious on its own), spicy tomato and green chili cream cheese, a freshly roasted pablano pepper, cilantro, and crushed fritos.

Ingredients:

2 dogs
2 buns
1 freshly roasted pablano (peeled and seeded)
cilantro
jalapenos
crushed fritos
1 packet cream cheese
1 10 oz can of tomatoes and green chilis
1 T sirracha

Mix last 3 ingredients to make a schmear. Spread schmear (yes, shcmear is a noun) on bun. Layer dog, more schmear, half of pablano, jalapenos, cliantro and fritos. Enjoy and then call Jeff and tell him how good it is.

Hot Dog Contest Anyone!?!?

Sooooo, I love hot dogs. No reason to hide it. Some of you out there may frown upon the lowly hot dog, being that it's bits and pieces of this and that. Well guess what... that's pretty much what every sausage or ground meat is, but I digress. Covered in chili, microwaved with ketchup, or hot off the grill with kraut, I don't discriminate. So if any of you think you're man enough, lets see those hot dogs!

Deep Fried Hot Dogs with Goat Cheese and Habanero Relish

So my entry in the contest, which I currently enter into without any known competitors, are these beauties. A never deep fried a hot dog, so I wanted to try it. Simp left some dank goat cheese at my house and I wanted to use. I like hot stuff, so this is what I came up with, think Tempest (you cool people out there know what I'm talking about.)

So basically I deep fried a couple Nathan's hot dogs, which turned out OK, I think I prefer grilled though. I topped them with some of that lovely goat cheese, some habanero relish I made (recipe to follow), and some crispy bits of bacon. Bottom line- these were pretty frickin good. In hindsight I could have added something with a little sweetness, such as mango ketchup or even a drizzle of honey. The habanero relish was quite fiesty and definitely regretted it the next day, much like the tempest.

Habanero Relish

2- Habaneros (less or more to your liking)

1/2- Red onion

2- Cloves Garlic

1/2 Red Bell pepper

1- teaspoon or so of sugar

2- tbls or so of white wine vinegar

salt

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend to your hearts content. Boom- Habanero relish.

Poached Eggs on Toasted Baguette with Goat Cheese, and Black Pepper Vinaigrette

I couldn't let these ingredients go to waste so I made my Sunday brunch on Saturday. This was awesome. I will be making this next time I have overnight guests.

Ingredients
•Baguette, sliced lengthwise*
•Olive oil, to brush
•Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•3 ounces fresh goat cheese
•2 thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes
•4 large eggs, poached
•1 cup micro arugula
•Black Pepper-Tarragon Vinaigrette, recipe follows
•Fresh chervil leaves, to garnish
•*Cook's Note: Not the super skinny kind of baguette
•Black Pepper-Tarragon Vinaigrette
•1/4 cup white wine vinegar
•1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
•1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
•1 teaspoon honey
•1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DirectionsHeat a grill pan and broiler.
Brush the halved baguette with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Put the bread onto a hot grill pan and grill cut-side down over high heat. Remove the grilled bread and spread the top of the bread with the goat cheese. Place the bread under the broiler and broil until the cheese is lightly golden brown. Top each slice of bread with a few slices of tomato and a poached egg. Cook's Note: Break the yolks on the sandwich.
Put the micro arugula in a bowl and toss with a few tablespoons vinaigrette and season with salt and black pepper. Top each egg with some of the greens and drizzle with more of the vinaigrette.
Vinaigrette:
Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, tarragon, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil, until emulsified. Whisk in the honey and black pepper.