Eggs Jeannette ~ Jacques Pepin's Mom's Recipe

"Les Oeufs Jeannette" Jacques Pepin shared this recipe devised by his mother many, many years ago and it remains a favorite at my house as well.
It's very tasty, budget friendly and easy to put together.
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know we raise chickens for their eggs. You can read more about our family of feathered friends here (scroll down once you click the link.)
Our current flock includes Ameraucanas, Buff Orpingtons, Gold Lace, Rhode Island Reds, and Silver Lace.
All of them except the Ameraucanas lay various shades of brown and pinkish eggs. The Ameraucanas lay various shades of blue, as you can see below.


However, of these particular hens, one or two of them lay eggs which are more greenish than blue, so I suspect we have a few "Easter Eggers" (a breed which is not recognized by the US Poultry breeders association) but they are reliable layers and produce some of my favorite eggs.
Until the young Ameraucana  or Easter Egger hens begin laying you never know what color eggs they will produce. Contrary to some beliefs, a hen will lay only one color egg her entire laying life. (In other words, she will not lay a blue egg one day, and a green egg the next.)  Also, hens do not need a rooster to lay eggs. Egg laying is simply part of her reproductive cycle. However she does need a rooster if you want fertilized eggs, or chicks! ;)

Anyway, back to the recipe!

This clever method simply consists of hard cooked eggs, halved.  Yolks removed and mashed with a fork (or put through a sieve ~ my preferred way), seasoned with minced parsley and garlic, salt & pepper, then smoothed out with a little milk. The yolk mixture is then returned to the egg white, then the eggs are warmed, cut side down, in a little oil  (I like grape seed oil here) until they are golden brown.
A little of the egg yolk mixture from above is reserved and blended into a tasty Dijon mustard vinaigrette then drizzled over the warm eggs.  I placed them on some baby arugula and accompanied them with a few Kalamata olives. (The eggs are just as delicious served at room temperature.)
These can be served as a light lunch or dinner, or as an appetizer or first course.
If you would like a copy of the recipe, and a little background info about it, you can find it here.
And here is a link to a very short video clip showing Jacques and his daughter Claudine making the recipe at the 2011 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
If you try these, I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do. With grateful thanks to Mme. Jeannette Pepin and Jacques for sharing this wonderful little recipe.
Have a wonderful day everyone. Blessings!
~Mari  xo 

Smoky Black Bean Soup

No matter how many pictures I click, it's fairly difficult to make black bean soup look attractive. :p
My suggestion is to serve it in your favorite bowls or mugs and garnish it with whatever seems appropriate. Once your family or guests taste it they'll forget all about how it looked before they began eating it. ;) I garnished with grated cheddar, scallions and cilantro. Sour cream and/or diced avocado (or ripe tomatoes) would be very good, too. This time instead of my usual black bean soup I chose this one, and tweaked it just a little bit.
It was delicious! I actually like this soup better the next day, but it tasted very good right after preparing it.
You can cook your own black beans, or do as the recipe suggests and just get your can opener out, and the soup can be on the table in about 40 minutes.


~*~*~*~*~

These are the changes I made to the recipe:
> Reduced the bacon to 6 strips (my bacon was extra thick cut)
> Used only 3 cans of black beans (because that's what I had on hand)
> Omitted Chili Powder and added a scant tablespoon of homemade taco seasoning  (I usually always have this in the pantry, it's so inexpensive to make, and it tastes better, too.)
> Skipped the ketchup and added a tablespoon of agave nectar and a tablespoon of tomato paste instead.
> Tossed a bay leaf in while ingredients were simmering.
> When the soup was finished simmering I stirred in about 1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar. (Adds a nice bright note to the beans)
If you add cooked rice to the soup (with a little extra chicken broth), voila! You have a complete protein. The original recipe over on Food Network has received over 300 Five-star reviews (so you may just want to go with that one.)
However, my tweaked version was declared a winner here,  so I'll definitely keep it in my rotation.
If you give it a try I don't think you'll be disappointed, and it tastes so good on a cold winter day (or evening!)
Thank you for stopping in today friends.
Blessings to you and your loved ones.
~mari  . . . xo

Spaghetti (or Fettuccine) with Brown Butter Sauce

Yes, it's an easy, no brainer classic that I adore. :)
Goes together in well under 30 minutes: Just make the brown butter, cook the pasta al dente, sprinkle the cheese over the hot, drained pasta and pour the browned butter over all and toss, then serve hot. I usually add a little of the hot water from the pasta pot to loosen the sauce a little. 
It's soo good! I usually serve this alongside grilled fish or chicken ~ unless I am making a variation of the recipe (adding cooked shrimp, fish, or chicken to the noodles, see more suggestions listed below.)  If you're cutting carbs the sauce also works well with cooked Spaghetti squash.
This is another of those simple recipe that I keep in my head.  However, I prepare the recipe nearly the same way as this one , except I usually add a little of the caramel colored milk solids from the bottom of the pan to the noodles (personal preference.) This time I added some finely grated lemon zest and served little lemon slices so each one can add a squeeze if they wanted to.
If you cannot find the Greek Mizithra cheese,  grated Romano, Ricotta Salada, or Parmesan can be substituted in a pinch.
Yum, I love this stuff!

Never made a Brown Butter Sauce, or need to improve your technique?
Elise at Simply Recipes shares a wonderful picture tutorial on the subject.
And Mark Bittmann offers up at least a dozen variations for Pasta with Butter sauce. You may want to check out  his suggestions over on his web site. 
The following are just some examples to launch from this simple buttered spaghetti (or fettuccine) dish.
Add in one or a couple of the following:
Sage (or any favorite fresh herb or a mixture) and Parmesan Vegetables, Cream and Parmesan Parmesan and pancetta, coppa, prosciutto or regular ham Frozen peas, thawed Toasted almonds, walnuts or pistachios Capers Thinly sliced garlic cloves Blanched broccoli or cauliflower Soft fried eggs, chopped Roasted garlic cloves, mashed Cooked prawns, salmon, or chicken, etc.
There are so many ideas and I'm sure you can come up with lots of your own as well.
But it's really delicious just plain as in the original recipe  (and kids happen to love it that way, too!)

Thank you for stopping by today ~ I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
Blessings ~ Mari xo

The Best Crab Cakes you may ever eat!

Happy New Year everyone ~  I'm wishing you all the best in 2013!

Did you celebrate away, or at home?
We never go out on New Year's Eve, preferring instead to celebrate at home, cozily in front of the fireplace... with a light dinner and a glass of bubbly.  :)


  From the images, I bet you can almost guess what celebratory dinner was served at my house on the last day of 2012.
Correct!! 
CRAB CAKES...

 Chef Robert Irvine's fabulous Crab Cakes. His simple recipe is my favorite.    No veggies to stretch the crab or mask the flavor of the  good, pure crab chunks, and very little binder. And they are a fabulous party food when formed into bite-sized portions.
Besides the crab, the list of ingredients is short:
Old Bay Seasoning, a little mayonnaise, Some Panko crumbs (only a quarter of a cup) white pepper fresh ginger juice (or ground ginger) tabasco 1 egg flour for dusting the cakes grape seed oil for shallow frying
Optional:  Juice of 1 lemon to squeeze over the finished crab cakes.
Beware if you do a search on the Food Network site for his crab cake recipe, there are two listed and one of them is incorrect. (It instructs to mix the grape seed oil into the mix of crab and seasonings.)
no, no, no!
This is the correct recipe.

You can use any crab that you prefer, but my favorite is...


Dungeness, our meaty, local & fresh Pacific Crab.

Time I served them with lemon wedges and the following simple sauce: (It's not heavy at all so it doesn't compete with the richness of the crab meat.) 


You can serve them plain without a sauce, but I love to contrast the delicately crisp crust of the cakes with something saucy.   So I made up this accompaniment on the fly:
It's simply roasted sweet red peppers from the jar pulsed in  the food processor with a touch of vinegar (I used Sherry vinegar, but any favorite vinegar will do), a splash of grape seed oil or olive oil, some sea salt, a pinch of sugar, and a couple of shakes of hot sauce (Tabasco® is what I used.)  All whirled in my small food processor until completely smooth; adjust seasonings to your taste, if the sauce is too thick add a few drops of water and continue processing. 
I also had some homemade fish taco sauce* left over in a  squeeze bottle, so I gave the cakes a finishing touch of that, yum!
*Fish taco sauce: Whisk equal parts mayonnaise (Best Foods/ Hellmann's) and plain, unflavored yogurt (Greek-style works really well in this sauce.)


And finally a sparse shower of sliced scallion tops.

The next time you make crab cakes, I hope you'll give Chef Irvine's recipe a try.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Thanks for stopping by today, friends!

Blessings ~ Mari xo

Favorite Sour Cream Apple Pie (circa 1992)

Creamy, tender apples baked under a thin, crackly cinnamon-sugar topping, it's no wonder this recipe is still popular today as it was when first published in "Gourmet Magazine" over 20 years ago. 


And it slices so beautifully, thanks to the sour cream custard filling.  It's easy to make too as it only requires a bottom crust (and if you're short on time refrigerated or frozen pie crust pastry will do.)
The original recipe suggested serving each slice with a dollop of ginger flavored whipped cream, but I've never made it that way. I prefer a slightly sweetened dollop of freshly whipped cream, or a scoop of good quality vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.
It's a wonderful way to send 2012 out on a sweet note. If you try it, I hope it will become one of your favorites too!



Happy New Year, friends!!    Thank you so much for your friendship and all of your  kind messages and  support throughout this past year. ((Hugs!!))

I'm wishing you all the best; health, happiness, peace and prosperity in 2013. 
xo and blessings~
Mari

Challah (with dough from the Bread Machine)

Although I've made many loaves of Challah in my life, I had never used my bread machine to make the dough until recently.
After seeing many positive reviews for this recipe I gave it a try.  The recipe makes enough dough for two  braided loaves, but I made one braided loaf and formed the remainder of the dough into Challah rolls by forming the dough into balls, then baking them in well greased muffin tins. 
I added about 1/2 cup or so more flour than the recipe stated, taking note I (along with a few other reviewers) determined the dough was  too sticky to handle otherwise. With the additional flour it turned out very well.
Over time I've found it truly helps to read the reviews for a recipe when they are available, in order to pick up pointers for changes or improvements.



I know, I know, it is not proper to cut the Challah with a knife (the knife, being a symbol of violence/death  should not be present at the peace of the Jewish sabbath),  rather the bread should be torn.  However, when the bread is a day old I love to toast it, so I slice it.
I coated the top with the traditional egg wash, and  applied sesame seeds (optional.)
TIP ALERT:
Have you ever attempted to sprinkle sesame seeds,  poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. to the top  of bread or rolls before baking only to have most  of them bounce off of the egg washed surface?
That used to happen to me all  the time, until I learned this neat trick from a baker a few years ago:
1. Pour the amount of seeds or nuts you will be using into a small, shallow bowl or saucer.
2. Apply egg, milk or water wash to the top of the formed dough.
3. Slightly moisten the fingers of your dominant hand with water or milk and dip (the flat, palm side of) your fingers into the seed/nut bowl;  (the seeds will stick to your fingers.)
4. Gently press your (seed coated fingers) onto the surface of the dough, they will adhere to the dough and release from your fingers. Repeat until the surface is coated as you like.
As if by magic the seeds/nuts will stick, and you will have very few wasted seeds. It's a great tip, and I hope you'll give it a try the next time you need to apply seeds or nuts to your bread.
Thank you for stopping by today, friends! If you try this recipe and/or technique for the seed topping,  I hope you'll be pleased with the results.

Blessings to all!
~mari

Merry Christmas from my home to yours . . .

 


Wishing you and your loved ones a bright and Merry Christmas!

xoxo ~mari