RPI Eggs: Super Simple Poached Egg Sunday Breakfast

Happy Thursday darlings!

The best part of my day? I logged into Blogger, checked the blog's stats for the day, and opened up my draft for RPI Mission Eggs... I was greeted by this:

Jingle bells, batman smells, Robin laid an egg.

Batmobile lost a wheel and Joker got away.

Oh the joy of sharing a blog with a close friend who you wished lived closer. I've heard this song eight million times and was always kind of annoyed by it. Until now. Now it's the endearing gentle message my dear friend Haydn left me in my draft copy of RPI Eggs - a small but significant message that he hopelessly misses me. I miss you too, Haydn. Stupid, giant, Canadian country.

Something else that is dear to my heart? Eggs. Particularly, super simple Sunday breakfast eggs. When we established eggs as our Rock, Paper, ingredient mission this month, my mind immediately started digging into the various culinary fascinations of eggs - custards, cakes, aioli, souffle, blah blah blah. Ultimately, I chose to showcase the true nature of the protein powerhouse known as the egg. And stayed true to chicken.

Small side note: Duck eggs scare the squeezebox outta me. Much too large. Much. too. large. Pretty much anything that is larger in size than the average/normal freaks me out.

All you need for this recipe: eggs, bread, left over veggies. Maybe a little cheese. Golden. 

Super Simple Poached Egg Breakfast

(printable recipe) - serves 2.

Ingredients:

4 Pastured Eggs.

1 Tsp Vinegar.

1 Bunch Kale or Chard.

1/3 C Chicken or Veggie Stock.

Leftover Roasted Winter Veg.

2 Pieces Baguette or Sourdough Loaf, cut on an angle.

2 Shavings of Salty Grainy Cheese (ie Grana Padano, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Coarse Sea Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

Pre-heat your oven to a high broil. Once hot, place sliced bread on a baking sheet, brushed lightly with olive oil, and slide under heat. Broil until golden. Remove from oven and lay the cheese on warm toast. Set aside.

Turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. Re-heat winter veg in oven until hot. 

Heat 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Once hot, throw in the greens, season well with salt and pepper and stir well to coat. Add the stock and while stirring often, allow the greens to cook through and the stock to evaporate.

To poach eggs: Bring a deep saute pan of salted water to a light boil over medium-high heat. Once the water starts to bubble, add vinegar. Crack eggs into individual bowls and gently slide into the semi-boiling water. Using a slotted spoon, corral the whites around the yolks to help them keep their shape. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the egg whites are cooked through and the yolks runny. Remove from water and gently place eggs on top of cheesy toast.

Throw it all on a plate and chow down my friends, chow down.

Yes - eat.

How do your friends let you know they love you? How do you show you love them?

Strange-Brew Diaries 2.1: Beacon IPA Smoked Turkey Crostinis

The Lowdown:

Lighthouse Brewing Company, 2012

Recently I have gained access to a smoker. Since then, I've become a chain smoker. I can't get enough of it. Seriously, I am willing to smoke anything at any time. This particular recipe was an experiment to see what happens when you brine a meat with beer instead of water (a hoppy beer at that). The outcome was pleasant. I'm not too sure if the subtleties of the beer can be detected, but never the less I enjoyed it. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will use less ingredients and focus solely on the beer brine.

It has been a goal of mine to start using beer in my recipes more often. They can provide interesting flavours that you can't get from any other source. This isn't saying that my palette is so refined that I need these hard to find flavours in my food just to survive. It's more of an opportunity to remake recipes, or re-try recipes that lacked a certain edge the first time around. Turn them more "me," essentially. I am, after all, a huge fan of Victoria's local brews, and love supporting them anyway I can. Primarily, this includes sitting with a couple of friends in a pub pretending that we deserve a beer after a hard day's work. 

This recipe focuses on a local IPA crafted by Lighthouse Breweries. A description of their brewery can be found here. Lighthouse prepares, locally and sustainably, two of my go-to mug fillers -- the Beacon IPA and Race Rocks Amber Ale. So what better place to start my second episode of Strange-Brew Diaries than with Beacon IPA. 

Curiosity killed the cat, not creativity. With that in mind, I shall begin to explore the realm of Strange Brew Diaries: Lighthouse. Of course, if you can't get this product, any IPA should work. Let me rephrase that, any real IPA should work. If you're thinking Alexander Keith's IPA please stop reading this immediately and go sit in a corner... alone.

The initial algebraic equation behind this experiment was India Pale Ale + Indian Spices + Smoke = Something. Yes, that was as far as I got. I'm not much of a mathematician. I'm also not much of a practitioner of patience. Essentially, I'm a trigger happy pseudo-cook. This was a poorly thought of recipe brought upon by my addiction to smoking. However, I loved it, and I can ensure you that I will be doing this again.

So go grab an IPA and ponder about the possibilities of acquiring your own smoking habit.

The Playlist:

1 lb Turkey breast, boneless & skinless

2 cups IPA

1/2 tsp Graham marsala

2 tbsp Sea salt

1/2 cup Organic cane sugar

1/2 inch Ginger, thinly sliced

1/4 cup Basil, chopped

1/4 cup Cream cheese (or substitute goat cheese)

Course black pepper, to taste

1/2 English long cucumber, thinly sliced

1 Baguette

The Skinny:

1. Combine the turkey breast, IPA (I chose Lighthouse Beacon IPA), graham marsala, sea salt, sugar, and ginger in a container large enough to fully submerge the turkey breast into. Brine for 12-18 hours (if thinly sliced) or 2 days if whole breast.
2. In a smoker smoke the turkey breast for 3 hours using the wood chips of your preference. Remove and allow to cool. If the smoke flavour is too over-powering I suggest allowing the turkey to soak in water for 30 minutes. In my experience, this allows the flavours to mellow out.
3. Heat the oven to 350* and cook the turkey throughout. I sliced mine thinly so that this process only took 10 minutes.
4. In a mixing bowl: combined the basil, pepper, and cheese. 
5. Spread cheese onto baguettes and add the cucumber slices and the smoked turkey.
6. You can figure out what to do next on your own... you're adults.

Featured in: Food Renegade, Chef in Training, Premeditated Leftovers, 33 Shades of Green,


Stay Rad - h

Spot Prawns on Toast... Just Doin' Some Good

There is just so much good in the world. 

Like when you are waiting to cross the street at an unmarked intersection and someone slows down to let you cross.

Or when you're sitting outside a cafe on your day off, sippin' back a london fog and a puppy comes up and starts jumping all over your feet wanting to play.... I might have known this particular puppy. But even if I didn't, I'd say that'd make for a pretty darn good evening.

And when a total stranger goes out of their way to do something nice for you and doesn't ask anything in return. Even refuses something in return. Just to be nice and helpful.

Or when someone simply smiles and says hello for no reason at all. It always catches us off guard but why should it? Say hello people!

And when you totally black out from too much gin, lose your wallet on the way home - which somehow still contains 50 bucks even though you were buying rounds of shots for all your friends - gets returned by a good Samaritan....with the money still in it.

Of course there's the crap. But why focus on the crap? It's easy to. Contagious, even. But it doesn't feel good. Not really. Oh, it might for a moment or two - but in the end the anger, frustration, sadness, alienation, poopy-pants feelings take over. I'm not saying don't vent if you feel upset - do it. Let it out. But then move on. Silver lining and all that bullshit, right? Right.

Something good right now? Spot prawns. 

Wild B.C. spot prawns come into season but for a couple of months a year, May - June. If you think you've had prawns before, you ain't seen nothing yet. These little babies are usually bought live, quickly prepared/cooked, and their meat is as succulent, tender and rich as lobster. They can also pinch your wallet like lobster but it's a seasonal treat that's well worth the pennies. Seriously. I am not joking. You want these prawns.

When buying spot prawns, look for nice pink crustaceans, with firm heads and tails that curl up under it. If you're lucky, they'll still be wiggling in the case. Watch your fingers after you get them home, they have a good poker at the end of their nose, and put them and their packaging in a bowl of ice in the refrigerator until ready to cook - preferably that day. They deteriorate rapidly and if their heads start to go black - it's a sign the meat is deteriorating. So cook em and eat em quick! If you aren't using them that day, immediately remove the heads - which can be frozen to make a future stock - and keep wrapped over ice for up to 3 days. Do NOT soak in water to clean them. These little babies are live shellfish and if you do that, you will kill them = not good to eat. You also don't have to worry about de-veining them either because they aren't the same category of fish as your ordinary prawns. Holla!

For more information on the spot prawn fishery as well as preparation information, click here. 

For succulent, simple, easy spot prawns on toast... Continue reading.

Spot Prawns on Toast

(printable recipe)

Ingredients:

Serves 2 as an appetizer or 1 as a main protein.

12 Live Spot Prawns, (heads removed if desired)

2 Thick Slices Sourdough Bread (or carb of your choice).

1/4 C Dry White Wine.

1/4 C Butter, unsalted.

2 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced.

Small Handful Flat Leaf Italian Parsley, finely chopped.

Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

Lemon Wedge for garnish.

What to Do:

Turn your BBQ or Broiler to high. 

As that heats, place a large frying pan over medium heat with half the butter. Meanwhile season the prawns with salt and pepper. Once the butter starts to sizzle and brown slightly, toss in the garlic and prawns. Cover and cook about 30 seconds, flip, re-cover and cook another 30 seconds or so.

Remove the lid and and gently add the wine. Allow it to reduce for about a minute or so to allow the alcohol to cook off.

Add the parsley and other half of the butter, remove from the heat and toss well. Set aside until just cool enough to handle.

As those cool, place your bread on the grill and toast one side. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Remove the cooked prawns from the shells (and snap off heads if not eating) and place on prepared toast. Spoon the butter, garlic and parsley business that's left in the pan over the plated prawns, sprinkle lightly with salt and serve with a little lemon wedge if desired.

Eat. 

What kind of good do you see in the world? What kind of good do you give to the world? Do you try to focus on the positive? Or is that kind of thinking just annoying as crap?

This post is linked up with Whole Foods Wednesday; Cast Party Wednesday; Frugal Days & Sustainable Ways; Showcase Your Talent Thursday; Full Plate Thursday; Tastetastic Thursday; The Hearth & Soul Blog Hop; Tasty Tuesdays; Slightly Indulgent Tuesday; Tuesday Talent Show;