Eggs Benedict (with turkey & toast)

This morning, I was in the mood for eggs benedict. Oh, the beck and call of fresh Hollandaise sauce... I have made them the "regular" way before (with Canadian bacon and an English muffin), but today called for a little improvisation. We used sliced turkey in the place of Canadian bacon and wheat toast in the place of an English muffin. I almost think I prefer it this way. The toast seemed lighter than an English muffin and turkey is certainly healthier than Canadian bacon. It was a quick breakfast and I wasn't planning on adding it to my blog (as you can see by my use of paper plates), but it was too delicious not to share! By the way, I don't own an egg poacher, so I will give you step-by-step instructions using common items that can be found in your kitchen.

Ingredients:
eggs
wheat bread
turkey slices
1 tsp. vinegar (most recipes call for white distilled vinegar, but you can substitute - I used sherry vinegar)
bowl of cold water

Ingredients for Hollandaise sauce:
4 egg yolks
1 tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup butter, melted
salt & pepper

Directions:

(Hollandaise sauce) -
Using a double boiler, fill the bottom part-way with water and bring to a boil. In the top, whisk together egg yolks & lemon juice. While stirring constantly, add melted butter. (Do not stop stirring or mixture will start to clump!) Stir for approximately 20 seconds, just long enough to warm Hollandaise sauce. Remove from heat, transfer sauce to bowl and season to taste with salt & pepper. Set aside.

Cook turkey slices in pan over medium heat, just until light brown. Set aside. In a sauce pan, bring 2-3 inches of water to boil. Add vinegar and turn off heat. Working with the eggs one by one, break into small ladle or cup. With ladle at surface of water, gently drop egg into water. Once all eggs are in pan, cover for 2-3minutes. Eggs will poach from the residual heat. Meanwhile, toast wheat bread and arrange on plates. Cover bread with turkey slices. When eggs are poached, transfer with slotted spoon to bowl of cold water (this removes any vinegar taste). You can remove vinegar from the process if you like, but the vinegar helps the egg whites to congeal more easily. Using slotted spoon, transfer egg from water and gently place on top of turkey slice.

Finally, pour Hollandaise sauce over eggs. We like to add a little pepper. ENJOY!

Pesto Chicken Over Greens

Thanks to a conversation with my friend Tammi, I made my first batch of basil pesto sauce tonight. I decided to toss it with grilled chicken and serve over mixed greens for a delicious salad. I looked at several recipes before attempting my new sauce and this is what I came up with!

Ingredients for basil pesto sauce:
3 cups basil leaves
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup pine nuts
1 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste



Directions:
Put basil leaves, garlic, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts in blender. Slowly pour in olive oil and blend until smooth. Transfer to bowl. Add salt & pepper to taste.

You can either grill or pan saute a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Once thoroughly cooked, chop into chunks and mix with several (large) heaping spoonfuls of basil pesto sauce.

For the salad, I filled a bowl with Romaine lettuce. I then scooped a generous portion of pesto chicken and placed it in the middle. I dressed the salad with dried cranberries, blue cheese, red grapes, cucumbers, strawberries and croutons. Judging from the empty bowls sitting next to the kitchen sink, it was a hit!

The Little Bald Dude

For my 2 year old's birthday, I took it upon myself to create a Caillou cake topper. For anyone who has never heard of Caillou, he is a 4 year old cartoon character....with no hair. He is my Solana's absolute favorite character in the world. So, Caillou it was! Solana's cake was chocolate with homemade buttercream icing and fondant decorations. Caillou was completely made of gumpaste. All edible. It took me five hours to make him, as I had to attempt it three times -- due to the quick drying nature of gumpaste, it kept cracking on me. He was not perfect by any means, but Solana could not have loved him more.


"I'm just a kid who's four
Each day I grow some more
I love exploring, I'm Caillou
So many things to do
Each day is something new
I'll share them with you, I'm Caillou
My world is turning
Changing each day
With Mommy and Daddy
And finding my way!
Growing up is not so tough
Except when I've had enough
But there's lots of fun stuff
I'm Caillou...
Caillou, Caillou, I'm Caillou...
That's me!"

Tom Yum Soup (with coconut milk)

Ahh, Tom Yum soup. This is by far my favorite Thai dish, and is also the most popular soup in Thailand. The health benefits are excellent, as this soup has immune boosting power for cold and flu viruses.
Many recipes you will find on Tom Yum Soup will call for lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. I went to great lengths to find both of these ingredients with no luck. So, I doubled the quantity of lime juice and I eliminated the lemongrass from the recipe altogether. Perhaps someone from Thailand would notice the difference, but my family loves my improvisation just fine!



Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 red chilies, finely sliced, OR substitute 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. dried crushed chili
2-4 serrano peppers, stems removed (keep whole)
3 Tbsp. fish sauce
a generous handful of shitake mushrooms or regular mushrooms
12 medium raw shrimp, shells removed
1/2 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lime juice
coriander
Vegetables - cherry tomatoes, broccoli, bean sprouts, or other favorites


Directions:
- Pour stock into a deep cooking pot and bring to a boil.
- Add lime juice
- Add garlic, red chilies, and mushrooms
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer 1-2 minutes.
- Add the shrimp & cook until pink, then add remaining vegetables
- Reduce heat to medium-low, add the coconut milk & fish sauce
- Stir well to combine and gently simmer until hot
- Test the soup for salt and spice (Add more fish sauce instead of salt, or more chilies as desired. If too sour, add 1/2 tsp. sugar. If too spicy for your taste or if you'd like it creamier, add more coconut milk. If too salty, add another squeeze of lime juice.)
- Serve in bowls with fresh bean sprouts & coriander sprinkled over
- For extra spicy soup, add some Thai chili sauce (as pictured on left)
- I threw a fresh lime slice and serrano pepper on top for fun :)

Cars Confection

My sweet little Carter wanted a Cars themed birthday party, so I knew making his birthday cake would be a tall order. This is the most detailed cake I have ever made and it definitely took the longest to make. I made the marshmallow fondant the day before, but everything else was made in one HUGE kitchen session. I think I started around 8:00 p.m. and finally finished around 3:00 a.m. It was quite a project to say the least!


The cake itself was chocolate and covered with homemade buttercream icing. The bottom layer has buttercream icing exposed (brownish-red color) and is supposed to represent the desert terrain. The top layer is covered in blue marshmallow fondant. All of the decorations are fondant (rolling hills, sky, clouds, sun, rocks & grass) with the exception of the candle, cars and the homemade toothpick signs. Needless to say, excitement exploded throughout our home when Carter woke up on his birthday to a Cars cake sitting on our kitchen table. I'm pretty sure I slept all morning long. This was a labor of love, for sure.

Fried Goat Cheese (with orange blossom honey)

I tried this incredible appetizer one time and I was hooked. There is just something about fried goat cheese & honey that makes for a perfect palate explosion. It takes less than 5 minutes to make and pairs fabulously with a glass of Pino Grigio or Riesling.




Ingredients:
1 log of goat cheese, cut into 3/4 inch rounds
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
vegetable oil
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
orange blossom honey (you may be able to buy this at your local store, but it is easily found on the internet)

Directions:
Gather three separate bowls. Beat eggs in one, put flour in one, and put bread crumbs in one. Add enough oil to pan so that it stands about 1/2 inch and bring to medium heat on stove top. Take one cheese round and coat with flour. Then coat with egg, and finally coat thoroughly with bread crumbs. Place all coated cheese rounds in hot pan. Allow them to fry for approximately 30 seconds to one minute -- they will brown quickly! Carefully turn over with spatula and brown opposite side for additional 30 seconds. Remove from pan and place on napkin to soak up oil. Transfer to plate and drizzle with orange blossom honey.

Go Green!

Everytime I make guacamole, we eat the entire bowl...right then. My husband and children love this fresh blend of avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos and lime juice. Although my oldest daughter won't eat an avocado by itself, she is crazy about fresh guac. It's an excellent dip to set out at parties along with a fresh bowl of salsa and tortilla chips. For my salsa recipe, click here.

Ingredients:
3 avocados (seed and skin removed), chopped
1 plum tomato, diced
small bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, diced (keep seeds in for extra heat!)
juice of one lime
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
Put all ingredients in bowl. There are two ways to blend ingredients - you can either take two knives and cut in a criss-cross fashion for chunky guacamole, OR you can mash with a fork until desired consistency is reached. I tend to do both depending on my mood. I recommend serving guacamole immediately or placing in fridge and serving within a couple of hours. You can store guacamole in the fridge for an extended period, but the avocados will turn brown if you let it sit for too long.