Eggs and Peas - Portuguese Style

Eggs Eggs Eggs

We got 'em coming out of our ears.  Four eggs a day, but only two people.  Even if you love eggs, that's to many eggs.  And the usual tends to get old after a while.  So, what to do?

Encouraged by my daughters various challenges, I decided to cook what we had.  Well, we have eggs.  And lately I have been enjoying peas...so, time to google peas and eggs.


Up popped this recipe for Portuguese Eggs and Peas.  Why not.

I of course made a few changes....

Ingredients

4 eggs
1/2 medium union, fine diced
1 carrot, diced fat
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounce of mushrooms, diced
1 14 oz can diced tomato

1 cup chicken stock
12 oz frozen peas

Saute onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic till onions are translucent
Add stock and can of tomatoes (with juice)
When boiling, add peas
When boiling, lower heat to low-medium
Add eggs, cover
When cooked, eat!

Now this is often made with a little spicyness - sounds like a great place for some Chip Magnet Salsa!  If you used Ghoulicious, you would not need to add garlic to the recipe.

I served with hashbrowns.  I am sure it would be great with fresh peas and tomatoes, but it is January in Wisconsin after all...

Next time we make it I will likely fry the eggs in a separate pan.  They really don't pick up anything from the dish flavor wise, and it is hard to cook them to the consistency you want.

Cooking with Chip Magnet Salsa – Shrimp Creole

Shrimp Creole is a spicy dish, traditionally.  Spicy both with heat (cayenne and black pepper) and with flavor (garlic).    That makes Ghoulicious is a great salsa for this dish, although you could also use the Garlicious if you just wanted to avoid the heat (but what fun is that?)  From the website http://www.chipmagnetsalsa.com/salsas.html#ghoul:

Ghoulicious was originally planned to just be around for the Halloween season, but it was so popular, we just had to keep it all year. Our Garlicious salsa has been haunted by the world famous ghost chili! Beware, this one's spookily hot!

Ingredients

1 lb Shrimp

spray oil

1 medium Onion, diced

2 stalks Celery, diced

1 small Green or Red Pepper, diced

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1-1/2 Cups fresh tomatoes, Diced or 1 28 oz diced tomatoes, with juice.

1/2 Cup dry White Wine

1Cup chicken or veggie stock

1 Bay leaf

1 tsp thyme

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 cup goulicious or garlicious salsa

2 green onions, chopped

1/8 Cup Flat Leaf Parsley, minced

Rice

Recipe

Heat your pan to medium and spray with oil. 

Cook onions, celery and peppers until onion are soft.

Add the tomato paste, cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to brown, then add the tomatoes. 

When hot again, add the wine, and turn the heat to high until the alcohol burns off. Add the stock, bay leaf and Thyme. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. 

When you start that 30 minutes of cooking, this is the time to start your rice

After you have simmered 30 minutes, add the salsa and Worcestershire.

Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add the shrimp. Don’t overcook!  This will take about 3 minutes.

Garnish with green onions and parsley.

Serve with the rice

Atlanta Brisket

Happy Birthday to Daughter #1.  Her dinner request - Brisket.  Of course, it is her husbands favorite, so I am not sure if this is her treat, or his.

Brisket is a great dish.  Beefy, hearty, tender (when cooked right).

But, how to prepare it.  Now smoking brisket is always a great thing to do.  However, its 25 and snowing, and to tell you the truth, I am just a little lazy today.  Plus I have to fix the dryer, so I already have enough on my plate other than babysitting the smoker.

Fortunately this week, Cooks Country pushed out an email with a recipe for Atlanta Brisket.  I love America's Test Kitchen, and almost always find their recipes just great.  So....what is Atlanta Brisket?

Basically, Brisket braised in onions, ketchup and....coke.  Yes, coke.  I have made ham with a coke glaze, and that is pretty good.  So why not.


INGREDIENTS
1(3 1/2-pound) beef brisket, flat cut, fat trimmed to 1/4 inch
  Salt and pepper
4teaspoons vegetable oil
1pound onions, halved and sliced 1/2 inch thick
2cups cola
1 1/2cups ketchup
4teaspoons onion powder
2teaspoons packed dark brown sugar
1teaspoon garlic powder
1teaspoon dried thyme
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Using fork, poke holes all over brisket. Rub entire surface of brisket with 1 tablespoon salt. Wrap brisket in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 or up to 24 hours.
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Pat brisket dry with paper towels and season with pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place brisket fat side down in skillet; weigh down brisket with heavy Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet and cook until well browned, about 4 minutes. Remove Dutch oven, flip brisket, and replace Dutch oven on top of brisket; cook on second side until well browned, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer brisket to plate.
3. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer onions to 13 by 9-inch baking dish and spread into even layer.
4. Combine cola, ketchup, onion powder, sugar, garlic powder, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in bowl. Place brisket fat side up on top of onions and pour cola ­mixture over brisket. Place parchment paper over ­brisket and cover dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until tender and fork easily slips in and out of meat, 3½ to 4 hours. Let brisket rest in liquid, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
5. Transfer brisket to carving board. Skim any fat from top of sauce with large spoon. Slice brisket against grain into ¼-inch-thick slices and return to baking dish. Serve brisket with sauce.

Green Owl Restaurant Review - Madison, WI

My Yelp Review

Good Food, not just good Vegan Food can be found at the Green Owl.

Lunch for four as my daughter was leaving for a month to go overseas. We picked the Green Owl as being both convenient and vegetarian, meeting our two most important criteria of the day.

What we got was also delicious. As a meat eater, I am often disappointed by the food at vegetarian/vegan restaurants. Basically they seem to assume that they get points for being vegan. Blech.

Not at the Green Owl. I have to say, I would be happy to bring anyone there, and expect to be served food that pleases all palates. 

All four meals were fine, but by consensus the eggplant meatball sandwich was the winner. Really good, I mean better than most meatballs you get anywhere else good. My lunch was the Mediterranean Platter - hummus, tabouli, muhammara (roasted red pepper and walnut spread) and baba ganoush served with toasted pita, olives and pickled vegetables.  Excellent.  

I will say service was slow, and it was not particularly packed (3/4 full?). Prices were not high, but not cheap for lunch either - 10 to 13 is pricier than most places. Portions are ok, but not huge.  It was for those reasons that I gave the Green Owl four stars rather than five.

The cinnamon roll cheesecake loved by the three ladies - myself I found the cinnamon too much, but I will concede I am not a huge fan of it (cinnamon, that is) 

I look forward to returning.

Monty's Blue Plate Diner, Madison, WI - Review

Link to Yelp Review


Part of the Madison based Food Fight Inc (16 restaurants currently?), Monty's was the first, or one of the first.  They are all different, yet are the same in one way.  They are good places to eat.

Monty's is styled after a 50's diner - counter, chrome, lots of "traditional" diner foods, and a lot that you never got at a diner.  Service is fast, food is good, prices are reasonable (but not cheap) and wait staff is friendly.  Feels neighborhood friendly, although they bring in people from all over the area.  Plenty of good vegetarian options also.

Food is interesting, with lots of things not found in your typical diner.   Coffee is from Just Coffee (that is a bonus feature people - if you like coffee, this is a great place) and many of the specials are made with organic foods.  Want a burger but don't eat meat?  Swap out the Walnut burger - which, as a meat eater, I can say is good.  Certainly better than their hamburger.  Speaking of which...

What is up with that hamburger?  First off, it comes medium well done - no burger should ever be cooked to that.  Second, it is heavily, and funky seasoned.  As in, if I ordered it, it would go back.  A good burger needs salt and pepper.  They add a bunch of stuff.  However my niece who ordered it liked it, so we kept it.

Deserts are very popular at Monty's, but that was our disappointment.  Cheesecake was rubbery and the carrot cake was dry - stale dry.  Really?  I am almost tempted to go to three stars just for that.

Overall, I have to stick with four stars.  Great coffee, mostly really good, and interesting, food, fast, good service.  Without a doubt I will be back if in the area.  But I will skip desert.

Champagne (OK, Sparkling Wine) Recommendations for New Years

This assumes you care what it tastes like?  If you are only getting something to fill a glass, buy what ever is cheapest.  But assuming you actually want to drink it....

Under $10 - Barefoot Extra Dry.  Odd think about "Extra Dry" - it is actually a little sweeter than Brut - however the rules for labeling sparkling wine allow a wide latitude in sugar levels, so it is fairly hard to actually know what you are getting without trying it.  Barefoot Extra Dry is just a touch sweet - really I consider this a dry, very slightly slightly sweet, fruity sparkling wine.  It tastes great with food, and it's fine by itself.  I bought four cases for my daughters wedding ($7.49 a bottle, Festival Foods).  I was not disappointed.  It was great for the toast, and it was good to drink with the meal.

Brining Beans? Really?

Apparently So.

One of the many things I love about America's Test Kitchen is that they obsessively try things to find the perfect.  Thus, brining beans.  3tbs salt to 4 qts water to 1 lb beans.

Here is a video on it

I am making my red beans and rice recipe, so we will see