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Something Easy for Busy Holiday Mornings - Egg In A Bagel This simple twist is great for crazy holiday mornings. Fry an egg on top of and around half a bagel.
If you want to get closer to a 'toad in a hole' style, increase the size of the hole in the bagel. I didn't do that here so a lot of egg ran over and under the bagel.
1. Slice a bagel in half. Note: bagel slicing is the single most common method for cutting oneself in the kitchen. I made that up, or maybe read it somewhere. Anyway, be careful.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium high heat. Note to my new subscribers: use real butter. Butter substitutes have so little or strange flavor and you'd be surprised how little butter is consumed per portion in a complete dish. Unless of course you're slathering butter on toast, bagels, or baked potatoes - in which case I even more strongly recommend real butter.
3. Place the bagel in the melted butter on the non-cut side. Cook for about 1 minute - longer if you like it more toasted.   This allows the bagel top to gather some heat to help cook the egg when it is added.
4. Flip over the bagel and crack one egg over the center. Break the yolk if you'd like, or not, if you're a sunny-side-up fan.
5. Cover the pan with a lid and cook until egg is done to your preference. The lid allows the egg to steam slightly and cook from 'top down' a bit, since the bagel is preventing getting heat to the egg on top. Labels: Breakfast easy holiday

Bacon, Corn and Cheddar Gougeres (cheese puffs)

6 slices flavorful bacon (hickory smoked or applewood)
2 ears of fresh corn
1 stick butter (1/4 pound) - if unsalted, add 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated extra sharp Cheddar
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Alternately, you can put the batter into a gallon sized ziplock bag. The dough holds well for a day or two in the fridge. Snip a corner of the zip lock bag and squeeze batter out the tip, like a pastry bag.

 Labels: appetizer, bacon, cheese, corn

Secret Ingredient for Turkey Soup

A few years ago I hit upon the idea to add some depth to historically bland day-after-Thanksgiving turkey soup. A generous dose of Spanish sherry added a nice undertone.

This year there was no sherry in the house, so Marsala wine was used. Terrific. It's worth going so far as to now call either of these a secret ingredient.

Here's a link to the original recipe:  Leftover Turkey Soup.

These are some of the other choices / techniques which helped make this year's version a success:

A bouquet garni is simply a small bundle of herbs, tied together with kitchen twine, which allows one to remove the herbs easily. If dried spices or seeds are used, the ingredients can be put into small cheesecloth bags made especially for this purpose.
 
Gently Seasoned Lamb Burgers + Minty Cucumber Yogurt Sometimes it's too hot to cook outside. This weekend after a Saturday swim meet, followed by a late afternoon at the pool; then Sunday golf in 100+ heat index - there were not going to be burgers on the grill.

Yet most methods for indoor grilling / broiling are ineffective, or messy or both - accompanied by average or below average result, such as lack of that char that is the whole point of grilling.

So if you're committed to indoor cooking, and know it's going to be a little "softer", why not soften up the ingredients too.

Lamb burgers are not unusual, but typically are loaded up with herbs, spices and garlic, especially to match the intensiveness of high-heat grilling.

In this recipe, I soften up the burgers by using very few seasonings, and soften up the lamb by mixing 50/50 lamb and pork. THEN, we let the vegetables and Tzatziki (cucumber yogurt sauce) take over to set the cool, fresh tone.

I also like theo crispiness of grilled Chiabatta rolls. That adds back in a little of the traditional outdoor grilling style.

The burgers are on the very small side - which allows them to be cooked quickly in a ridged grill pan, get browned, but also not make an incredible indoor mess. Each burger was served on half a grilled Chiabatta rolled, cut diagonally into a triangle.

Gently Seasoned Lamb Burgers

4 crusty Chiabatta rolls
2-3 plum tomatoes
A few handfuls of mixed greens
1.5 teaspoons garlic, very finely chopped
Optional: Add one medjool date, finely chopped, for each patty, prior to cooking.

Minty Cucumber Yogurt Sauce - Tzatziki

1/2 cup of cucumber, mostly peeled, cut into very small pieces
2/3 cup of plain greek yogurt
6-8 leaves of fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

Combine all ingredients. If you have time, salt the cucumber pieces and let drain in a strainer for 20-30 minutes.
 Labels: burger, cucumbers, grilling, mint

It's Not Too Late to Plant an Herb Garden

The Only Shortcut To Becoming a Great Home Cook

I've published this article a couple times in the past - and continue to share it annually, since this is truly the singular best advice I can give anyone who has an even passing interest in cooking. .

There is only one shortcut to good cooking. It's fast. It's easy. It's inexpensive. Anyone can use this shortcut, even a child.

Use Fresh Herbs

You may say to yourself, "Of course that's true. I use fresh herbs whenever I cook nice or fancy." Or this might be news to you. You could also argue that fresh herbs are expensive and don't last long. Usually you only need a few sprigs and the rest goes to waste. So it's really just a way of buying your way to being a better cook.

In some sense this is right. A bag like this one costs $2.79 at my local store. Yet, a plant like this costs $2.49 at a garden center and will last months, even if you just leave it in the original pot and water it once in a while. If you plant it in a garden, it may last for years. My main thyme plant is ten years old now. And finally, an herb garden like this can support your kitchen for a decade, with only occassional replanting of perennials, and inexpensive plantings of annuals. Here's what you need to know about fresh herbs:
I promised you a shortcut, and now it sounds like you have to plant a garden. Not really. You can simply grab a package of fresh herbs from the store, or pick up a simple plant and use it tonight in the kitchen.

One of the best ways to use fresh herbs is on pasta. A mix of two or three finely chopped herbs, along with some olive oil, good Parmesan and salt and fresh ground pepper make a surprisingly sophisticated dish, with lots of flavor. Last night I used thyme, tarragon and mint. It was delicious.
 How To Be A Better Cook

Use fresh, high quality ingredients.

Acquire effective kitchen tools, not gadgets.

Develop solid fundamental cooking techniques.

Draw on a small number of highly reliable recipe sources. Read My Personal Cooking Journal Cooking Cloud

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