Hangtown at 50

So today turns out to be my birthday again - and not just any birthday but the big five-oh, half a century and all that. Reaching this milestone is of course reason to celebrate and the hangtown fry was the way to go.

I've written about this wonderful dish before so won't do that again - however I will share some photos from this version. I did some things right (more parsley than ever before and it was wonderful) and some things wrong (didn't crisp the bacon enough before adding the oysters) but the result - as always - was wonderful.

Applewood smoked bacon with shitake mushrooms...

A bit later, the oysters go in (probably too soon - should have crisped the bacon a bit more) and perhaps a bit too wet: next time I'll drain the oysters better.

And the finished result after very slowly cooking the eggs on and off the heat as Bittman suggests. Yum!

Next opportunity for the Hangtown will probably be New Years Day - let's see if I remember the lessons learned.

Poblano and Corn Omelet

Meg found this recipe for creamy corn with poblanos. We made it for ourselves, loved it and then made it for a family dinner where it was a big hit.

Today, in an effort to use up poblanos, a couple day old ears of corn and make a nice savory brunch to ward off the affects of Irene, we morphed this recipe into an omelet.

Of necessity, laziness and whim, we made a couple of modifications including passing up the roasting/peeling part for the poblanos in favor of just sauteing them. We also gave in to the desire to use some smoky Spanish paprika that we brought home from this stall in La Boqueria in Barcelona several months ago. This proved to be a key addition to an already delicious recipe.

In the end the dish may have been more similar to the original than you would imagine given that the addition of six eggs. Absolutely delicious and a good fit for the rainy day.

Buvez: Definitely an excuse for a nice beer, we choose to go with the Homunculous from Smuttynose and were quite delighted.

Escuchar: I've been enjoying the live early Bowie album Santa Monica '72 that I stumbled on recently via Spotify. For our brunch, we listened to a recent album by Mike Garson - who played piano on that 1972 show in Santa Monica - called Bowie Variations. It was a perfect fit!

Tilapia with Coconut, Mint, and Chive Relish

We caught a sale on tilapia at the Co-Op the other day and took a swing at a recipe Meg had clipped years ago but that we had never made. It looked easy and fresh which is especially appealing as spring arrives (early this year) in New England.

The recipe is delightfully simple creating a fresh wet rub - based on lime juice - for the tilapia which you then broil quickly in the oven. Alongside this you make a wonderfully fresh relish with cucumber, mint, chives, coconut, and - of course - jalepeno peppers. This too is laced with lime juice while both the relish and the rub contain a good dose of cumin. All in all flavorful and fresh!!

We didn't have the full three quarters of a cup of fresh chives so substituted some green onions which worked wonderfully. The tilapia is appealing for a number of reasons including the price; it's hard to justify a halibut recipe when it goes on sale for $17/lb!

As we served up the first portion, we knew instantly it had passed the "if we had this in a restaurant we would be delighted" test! This is a keeper for sure.

Our first duck egg frittata...

Our friend Chris and his family have, along with a full contingent of happy dogs, a number of pet ducks, several of whom produce eggs. Last laying season, Chris brought in a hard boiled duck egg which Tyler tried and really liked. Last week he brought in 10 fresh eggs for us to try so the questions was, what to do with fresh duck eggs?

I looked in the fridge to see what else we could use with the duck eggs. Peppers, lettuce, baby carrots, celery, asparagus. Asparagus - yes! And I should use up the rest of the button mushrooms too. I decided to make a frittata so I checked The Joy of Cooking for reference. There was a recipe for a zucchini frittata but with a couple of changes you could substitute asparagus. Here's what I did:

First, I braised the asparagus for two or three minutes, then drained and sliced them diagonally. I sliced the mushrooms and cooked them in butter for a few minutes and then removed them to a plate. Then I cracked five duck eggs in a bowl - they were beautiful! Very large orangey yolks and not as much white as a chicken egg. I whisked them together, added salt and fresh ground pepper and then the mushrooms, asparagus and about a half cup of parmesan cheese. The Joy recipe called for shredded parmesan but all I had was grated. It would have to do. Then I added about a tablespoon of fresh parsley.  I whisked all those things together and then poured it into a non-stick pan. I let the concoction cook slowly and as it firmed up, I checked the bottom for color and doneness. I had turned on the broiler/convection oven earlier so when the eggs looked mostly firm, I finished the frittata in the broiler, placing the entire pan in the oven for two or three minutes. When it was lightly browned on the top, I pulled the pan, cut the frittata into quarters and served with fresh parsley on top. 

Our first duck egg frittata and it was fantastic. I think it was a bit more savory than a chicken egg frittata, probably due to the proportion of yolk vs. white. And it was more filling - we could barely finish it, but of course, we somehow managed. Tyler paired his with a Long Trail IPA  and I had a glass of Woodbridge Chardonnay.

We now have two more light turquoise and three beige duck eggs left. We want to figure out a way to compare the flavor of the two varieties but haven't come up with anything yet - stay tuned! Thanks Chris!

Return of Soup Season...

I botched the recipe link in the previous post. Here is the correct one and it is a delight; we had it again tonight and it was wonderful.

Oh and Meg pointed out that I neglected to mention that it is balsamic vinegar that gives that delicious tang; don't use cider vinegar here. Enjoy!

Soup Season

It is officially soup season here in Vermont. It's been a cold winter for the most part but extremely dry resulting in almost no snow. The landscape is more brown than white which is very strange. The wind has been blowing all the time it seems and outside activities are just not that appealing to me. Combine that with the crappy economic times, crazy gun toting biology professors, and the ongoing struggle with both the Man and my waistline and it seems like a good time for some warm, comforting and healthy soup.

For some reason, I have very little history with soup so I'm happy that in recent times we've added to our vegetarian repertoire a simple delicious little recipe for Tomato and Lentil Soup. The bold helping of lentils gives the soup a heartiness that both satisfies your hunger and provides a great helping of protein and fiber at the same time. In fact googling lentils provides links with titles like "Worlds Healthiest Foods" so any delicious way to get them is OK with me.

The recipe is basic - lots of onions, carrots, celery, and garlic chopped finely and sautéed in a big cast iron dutch oven. The recipe urges you to use a food processor to save time but since we finally have some sharp knives around the house (Santa brought us a knife sharpener that really works), I enjoyed it the old fashioned way. Once the veggies are tender you add in a bunch of water, several cups of lentils (I used red though I read that the green lentils are higher in fiber), some tomato sauce along with a dash (actually a tablespoon or two) of vinegar which adds a nice tang to the project. A couple bay leaves and a deadly dried red chili or two and you're good to go. We simmer this for about a half hour or forty minutes and then serve with a couple black olives and some crumbled feta cheese for a delicious satisfying meal.

With this delicious and hearty soup and a nice warming brew, the soul and the body is nourished and the wind not quite so biting. Add in a dash of humanity from the Olympic Games and even the Man can be sent packing.

Buvez: The folks at Smuttynose rule our house this time of year. Their Wheat Wine Ale is a strong and reliable partner to this soup.
 

Pipérade with Poached Eggs

So due to my overzealous behavior at the Co-Op's deli counter Friday evening, we had a bit of pancetta left over after building the Pasta e Fagioli last night. Meg searched around for a good recipe to use it up as part of our Sunday Brunch program. She stumbled on this recipe for something called Pipérade. She also found that Julia had a similar recipe calling for ham. They both looked pretty standard with sautéed onions and peppers - you know - the standard stuff.

Boy were we wrong!

First I noted that the onions and peppers were to be sliced longways rather than being diced; not a big deal but this tells you something about what you're making. Next I find that instead of sautéing the vegetables, we are really slow cooking them until they are very soft and tender. By the time I added the sherry (a bit for the Pipérade, a bit for me!) and the red wine vinegar (we didn't have sherry vinegar), both Meg and I realized we were not in Kansas anymore.

So to back up, I started by sautéing the pancetta until crispy and then removing from the pan and reserving it for later. Next I added the onions, peppers and garlic to the same pan, sautéed briefly and then reduced the heat for 20 or 30 minutes cooking slowly without browning the vegetables.

Now the fun begins. We added chopped roma tomatoes, the vinegar & sherry, stock (we used good vegetable stock) and the reserved pancetta. I brought this to a boil and then strongly simmered the mixture to reduce and thicken a bit.

It's at this point that Meg and I realize we are not making an egg dish at all: we're making a delicious tangy stew with pancetta and vegetables into which we are going to drop a couple gently poached (OK, the first two were overdone) eggs. As Julia suggests, you really should read the recipe before you make it.

The result was unlike anything we'd ever had before; a tangy rich stew with precious prizes of pancetta combining with rich bits of poached egg. Oh and it was beautiful too; richly colored with green peppers and tomatoes. If we had our own food joint, this would definitely be on the brunch menu!

So it turns out this Basque food is often made with serrano ham (instead of pancetta) but otherwise is very similar to what we made. A bit of surfing reveals a restaurant of the same name in the Bay area which looks very tempting indeed.

Buvez: we had some delicious prosecco (operating from a number of white wine recommendations) but I think it was overmatched. This is beer food. Next time I might try indulging in the sweet maltiness of the Smuttynose Wheat Wine - a current cold Vermont winter warmer favorite of mine. Next time indeed...