Eggs Benedict

Oh my goodness! Did you know what is really in that hollandaise sauce? Okay then don't continue and just go to your favorite breakfast nook and order Eggs Benedict before you look at the ingredients below and have a heart attack.

It is sooooo good. And quite possible my favorite breakfast treat. The Pioneer Woman pulled through again with a tasty easy recipe that just hits the spot.

Ingredients

• 3 whole English Muffins
• 3 slices Canadian Bacon
• 3 whole Eggs (plus 3 Egg Yolks)
• 2 sticks Butter
• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced
• Cayenne Pepper To Taste

Toast English muffins. Heat up Canadian Bacon in a fry pan. I like to cut it up so my kids can eat it easier. Your choice.

Boil water. When it is boiling hot, take a whisk and spin it really good. Then crack your eggs into. This swirling motion helps your eggs coagulate together instead of just spreading out in the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt 2 sticks of butter. Separate three eggs and place the yolks into a blender. Turn the blender on low, then begin pouring the very hot butter in a then stream into the blender. Add lemon juice and cayenne.

Plate it ... English muffin first, then ham, poached egg on top, and LOTS of hollandaise sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and indulge.

Spinach Sauteed with Garlic and Shallots

I needed a side dish for our BBQ tonight and since we had a birthday party today with lots of pizza and cake and ice cream, we needed some healthy sides. I looked in my freezer hoping to find some petite peas, and found only a lonely box of frozen spinach. I'm not a big fan of frozen veggies or canned veggies for that matter. But, I had only frozen spinach and found this recipe to make it wonderful. Thank you Fearless Kitchen. We ate all of it! And I had three servings.

Spinach Sauteed with Garlic and Shallots

1 bag frozen spinach, slightly thawed

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 head garlic, peeled and thinly sliced to form garlic chips

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup water

1. Heat the oil and add the shallots. Saute until the shallots soften.
2. Push the shallots to the sides of the pan and add the garlic to the middle. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the garlic begins to turn golden and fragrant. Don't burn the garlic.
3. Add the salt and spices.
4. Add the frozen spinach. Let it steam up for a minute or so and give a good stir, so that the spinach is liberally distributed with the spices and aromatics.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the water. Clamp the lid down and cook 5 minutes or so, until done.
   

Tasty Sweet Pork Loin

I had a pork loin that needed some love. This recipe hit the spot perfectly. It was very sweet and I actually used half the sugar it asked for. But it was so tender and wonderful.

The Best Pork Loin Recipe Ever

Ingredients:

Paste: (Marinade)

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Pork Loin:

• 2 tbsp Season All
• 2 tbsp minced shallot
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp minced fresh oregano leaves
• 1 tsp minced fresh parley leaves (I didn't have any in my garden and used Sage instead)
  
• 1 pork loin

Method:

In a small bowl, combine shallots, garlic, thyme, oregano, Season All and parsley. Rub the mixture all over pork, pressing firmly, and refrigerate overnight. (Or a few hours like I did)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place pork loins in a roasting pan that just fits it. That way it keeps the juices surrounding it and keeps it super moist. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove pork from the oven.

Spread the paste all over the loin. Return to oven and cook until it has developed a good crust on the outside and is cooked to your desired doneness. About 25 minutes. (Place a cookie sheet under your roasting pan if it’s shallow, the brown sugar will foam after about 20 minutes in the oven, and could spill over in a shallow roasting pan.)

Remove pork from pan and let rest for 15 minutes. cut into slices, drizzle with pan juices and garnish with a sprig of thyme.

Serve immediately.

Faux-jito

I don't drink alcohol. But I do enjoy a good drink. So this is my current favorite. We made a few years ago when I was in a Gourmet Club in NYC. I brought it out again for a Cinco de Mayo Mocktail Party this year. It was the favorite.

So instead of the Mojito ... here is my favorite Faux-jito.

15 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp. Raw sugar
1 oz. Fresh squeezed lime juice (or more depending on your preference)
½ oz. Simple syrup
ice
4 oz. Chilled Ginger Ale

In a glass, muddle/crush the mint, then add sugar, lime juice and syrup.
Add ice. Top with Ginger Ale. Garnish with a fresh lime wheel and
a sprig of mint. Enjoy.

Simple Syrup

• 2 parts sugar
• 1 part water

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water, stirring constantly.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat. (Note: Do not allow the syrup to boil for too long or the syrup will be too thick.)
4. Allow to cool completely and thicken.

Amaranth, Quinoa and Dark Chocolate Cake

It was my friend Tara's baby shower today. We surprised her today at the park. I made the flourless chocolate cake. But knowing my friend, who loves healthier foods, I found this recipe and HAD to try it simply because there was Amaranth flour and Quinoa flour. And since I had both on hand, I was in.

I think this turned out to be the favorite for most people there. Yes I had to make two flourless chocolate cakes. This one and another traditional one from The Best Recipe. (Which I'll post one of these days.)

This has a very hearty nutty and delicious flavor.

Thanks to the Washington Post for this recipe. I will make it again. But I'll add strawberries next time.

From Beatrice Peltre's blog La Tartine Gourmande

Ingredients
4 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, about 70 percent
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons amaranth flour (1 ounce)
3 tablespoons quinoa flour (1 ounce)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup pecans, chopped coarsely (1 ounce)
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a springform pan and line it with parchment paper. Butter the sides and the paper.

Melt chocolate with the butter.

Separate egg yolks from whites.

Beat yolks with sugar and vanilla until very light in color.
Add the melted chocolate to yolk mixture and mix until well incorporated. Add nuts and flours to batter until smooth in texture.

Add a pinch of salt to egg whites and beat them until you have stiff peaks. Gently fold into cake batter, making sure not to overmix and deflate.

Pour the batter in the mold. Surround it with foil and fill the foil with boiling water about halfway up the outside of the pan and cook for about 35-40 minutes. Check if cake is done by inserting the blade of a knife or a skewer. It should come out almost dry, but not totally (the cake is moist).

Remove the cake and let cool slightly before unmolding. Let cool on a rack.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes with Mint Fudge Sauce

Okay so I promised for about two months that I would make chocolate lava cakes for bookclub. I sampled 2 different recipes. Ugh. Overcooked by 2 minutes. It was too spongy anyway. I tried recipe #2 and there was only a 10 second window to either over or under cook. I tried cooking this one three different ways. No luck.

Melissa was distraught when I told her two days before that the lava cakes weren't going to happen and immediately said she knew of a great recipe. Unfortunately she gave it to my husband the next night at an activity that I couldn't attend. Charlie failed to tell me and assumed I'd just find it on the desk. He was right. I found it ... ONLY 45 MINUTES BEFORE SHOWTIME!!!

So with the Chocolate Raspberry Tart already made as well as Briana's Shortbread already prepared and ready for a last minute pull together fondue, I decided ... What the heck. So made them extremely last minute and tried them first to make sure they worked.

I was more than surprised. And this fudge sauce makes a huuuge difference.

SAUCE
4 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
1/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 tsp peppermint extract

Stir both chocolates on top of a double boiler, or in my case, a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. Once melted, add the remaining ingredients. Remove from water and cool slightly. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat before serving.

LAVA CAKES
5 oz semisweet chocolate chopped
10 Tbs unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large eggs yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat to 450 degrees. Butter 6 3/4 ramekins or whatever else you choose to serve them in. Stir chocolate and butter over medium heat. Cook slightly. Whisk eggs and yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes. (Can be made one day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny. 11-14 minutes. WATCH CLOSELY. You can run a small knife around the edges to loosen it and turn it upside down if you'd like. I served min in the ramekin with a scoop of vanilla ice cream right next to it and aaaaalll drizzled with the yummy fudge sauce.

Briana's Shortbread

I went to a very inspiring Funeral last week of Briana Blackwelder. It was a celebration of her life on her 29th birthday. I took notes on how I need to be a better woman just from listening to her closest friends and family talk about her life. She was a lover of fine foods like myself. They passed around this recipe as one of her favorites. After making these, I wish I had her whole cookbook!

These are from Tartine one of her favorite bakeries in San Francisco. I must go there next time I am there. I made these cookies for bookclub last week and they were almost entirely gone by the end of the night.

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 Tbs unsalted butter, very soft
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup +2 Tbs cornstarch
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup super fine or granulated sugar for topping

Yields one 6 by 10 inch pan, about sixty 2 by 1/2 inch bars
or a gazillion tiny little cookie cutter sized one bite cookies.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a glass baking dish.

Mix the soft butter and salt so it dissolves completely. Add the sugar to the butter mix until just combined. Sift the flour and cornstarch together in a separate bowl and then combine just until a smooth dough forms.

Pat the dough evenly into a prepared dish. It should be no more than 2/3 inch deep. I then cut out little cookies and put then on top of my silpat.

Bake until the top and bottom are ever so slightly browned, about 30 minutes. The middle of the shortbread should remain light. Let cool.

Sprinkle the shortbread with the sugar.

If you made a baking dish of them, use a very sharp thin knife to cut into rectangular fingers. If they are too cold, they will not cut well. The first piece is the trickiest.

They will keep for two weeks in an air tight container.