southwestern-ish eggs & hash

When we're hungry for a quick and satisfying meal, this one is a staple. We almost always have the goods in the fridge and it works equally well for brunch, dinner, or a late night snack. Takes a few minutes of chopping, but comes together quickly.

The hash is sweet potato, bell pepper, and onion seasoned with cumin and chili powder. After a quick saute, the hash is topped with shredded sharp chedder, fried eggs, salsa and sour cream. If you really want to get fancy, throw some fresh cilantro on there and call it a day.

I hope you make this and to encourage you further, I'm spelling out step-by-step instructions here.

1) Prep a sweet potato, bell pepper, and 1/2 red onion by peeling, seeding, chopping, etc.

2) Put a skillet on over med-high heat. Add your vegetables/hash mixture and a couple tablespoons of olive oil/butter combo. Season with salt/pepper.

3) While the hash cooks, assemble and prep your sour cream, salsa, shredded cheddar and cilantro (if using).

4) After about 5 or so minutes, your hash will begin to soften and get slightly browned. Now's the time to add your seasonings. I like a hefty teaspoon of cumin and a good tablespoon of chili powder. If you want some kick, add a pinch of cayenne at this point. Continue to saute the mixture until soft and nicely caramelized.

5) Turn the cooked hash out onto the serving plate, top with shredded cheese and cover to melt cheese and keep warm while you cook the eggs.

6) Wipe out your skillet and fry a couple eggs to your preferred doneness. We like ours a bit runny. Top the hash and cheese with your cooked eggs and finish off with a hefty spoon of salsa and a dollop of sour cream.

7) Immediately scarf it down. It will cure what ails you and tastes even better when you consider that you prepared it in only 15 minutes.

grilled pizza

Grilled pizza is really easy and super quick for a weeknight meal. We tried it the other night for the first time and they came out great.

First you need to make dough, make sauce, and get your toppings ready. Here's a recipe.


Or, if you feel lazy like I did, you can buy some pre-made pizza dough (my grocery store carries it, but the best option is to score some from your local pizza shop), use jarred sauce and whip out some pre-grated cheese. If I'd had more time and energy that day, I would have handmade the dough, sauce, and freshly grated the cheese (or used slices of fresh mozzarella instead).

Once your dough is ready, just roll it or stretch it to be about 1/4 inch thickness. Get your grill super hot (mine was reading around 600 degrees) and make sure those grates are clean. Brush the dough with olive oil and put it (oiled side down) on the grill. Cook the first side until it's a little bit browned and sorta crispy. Brush the uncooked side with olive oil and flip the dough.

Here's where you move fast (or if you are not that quick, you can take the pizza off the grill to put the toppings on). Quickly brush cooked side (now facing up) with more olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and top lightly with tomato sauce and cheese (and basil, if you like that sort of thing). You want to move fast so the cheese has a chance to melt before the bottom crust burns. If you overdo the toppings, it will be soggy and not good.

When it's done, you end up with a light, crispy, slightly charred crust with just the right balance of toppings.


And you can get all creative with toppings. I think next time I'll try caramelized onions, smoked Gouda, prosciutto (or bacon), and thyme.

comfort on a plate

This was dinner tonight:

You're thinking, "So what? It's just pasta." But really, this is no ordinary pasta. It's linguine with the most delicious basic tomato sauce you've ever had. Comfort on a plate. The recipe is from Marcella Hazan who is regarded by many as the mother of Italian cooking in America. If you've never made it, plan on it for tomorrow. Really. Tomorrow. The beauty is in its simplicity, and most surprisingly for a tomato sauce, the liberal use of butter.

I almost always have the ingredients on hand (28 oz can of whole or crushed tomatoes, butter, salt, 1 onion, pasta) which makes it a go-to meal for us when I'm pressed for time or energy. Marcella Hazan's basic tomato sauce recipe can be found all over the web. Here is a link if you need one.

smitty's in lockhart

Spent another long week working in Austin. Friday after we finished our morning meetings, we had a bit of time (well, six hours to be precise) before our flight home. To kill a few hours, Susanne and I decided to take a little food adventure to a small town about 20 miles south of the airport called Lockhart.

Several internet sources said there is really great 'cue in Lockhart (referred to as the "BBQ Capitol of Texas") and the foodies online highly recommended a place called Smitty's. We followed our noses to some of the best barbecue we've ever tasted (and Susanne lives in North Carolina, so that's saying something).

First thing we saw in the parking lot was this smoke stack.

If it weren't for the sweltering Texas weather, we could have lingered outside and just smelled the other-worldly smoky goodness coming from that chimney and been satisfied. But we walked in, and just inside the door on the right was this:It was a balmy 104 outside, and dang was this fire screamin' hot. I don't know how these people survive this job.

Maybe the promise of unbelievably tasty bbq keeps them going in the sweltering heat. You order in the pit room and the meat is pulled out of the pits and carved on the spot. Our food was piled onto a stack of butcher paper, which we were informed was our "plate". We carried our big pile of meat in the paper with the edges crimped like a sling. We sat down in the adjacent eatin' room (dining room just doesn't fit this situation) and dug in (with our hands, of course). Doesn't that look delicious?

Well, it may not be glamorous but it was some of the best stuff I've ever eaten. Amazingly tender melt-in-your-mouth richness. We ordered ribs, sausage and brisket and it was all spectacular. The food was surely boosted by the unique ambiance, which is not to be missed if you are ever in Austin. I'll probably be back there at the end of August and I'm definitely making time to return to Smitty's.

uchi

Phew! That was a long week. I spent it working in Austin. Well, mostly working anyway. We did manage to eat some good meals and the best one was at Uchi. We had a to wait a while for a table, but it was worth it. Not being professionals at sushi or Japanese cuisine, we needed some help from our waiter to choose. Here are a few photos. They are a bit grainy since I didn't want to use my flash in the middle of the restaurant.

On the left was tuna and on the right was salmon. It was delicious, but just the beginning.

Our waiter brought us this dish on the house. It was so good. It had smoked yellowtail with yucca chips, asian pear, marcona almonds and a few other things. Yum.

We each sampled bites of each others' entrees and every plate was outstanding. I ordered a wagyu beef short rib dish that was unbelievably good. Then I finished my meal with a peanut butter semifreddo served with pear sorbet. Oh my.

I'm headed back to Austin this week and we've already planned a return trip to Uchi. Amazing food.

cherry clafouti

The grocery store had fresh sweet cherries on sale this week and of course I couldn't resist picking up a bag. Well, I discovered that the girls are just not fans of fresh cherries (especially when strawberries are an option). So what to do with a pound of fresh cherries?? I found this recipe for cherry clafoutis and decided to try it out.

The dish is something like a dutch baby with cherries studded throughout. I liked the addition of almond flavor (achieved by adding a glug of amaretto). The custardy pancake-like base was a good vehicle for the slightly tart, softened cherries. I think most people would eat this for breakfast, but we enjoyed it as a light dessert tonight.

strawberry payload

Since the strawberries in our garden aren't ripe yet, yesterday we went out to the strawberry farm to do some picking. The weather was perfect and it wasn't very busy on a Wednesday afternoon. We managed to haul in about seven quarts/eight pounds, which I thought was impressive given the short attention span of this child:

She got her fill early and then started to sprint up and down the rows. At this point, Mira and I knew our window of opportunity was closing.

After paying for our bounty, we had a little picnic of pb & fluff / pb & j in the back of the car.

We will be gorging on these babies for a few days.

heaven on a cone

We are lucky enough to have a world-class homemade ice cream shop nearby. Well, actually it's about 30 minute drive but totally worth it. The Ice Cream Man (who, by the way, defeated famed TV chef Bobby Flay in a Throwdown), makes the best ice cream. Ever. It's all excellent but the soft vanilla is divine. It's so perfectly creamy and soft and light and custardy. We've been known to make the drive late at night to satisfy an unnamed pregnant person's cravings. ;)

Abby is a huge fan of ice cream and was not dismayed by the Ice Cream Man's humongous portion size. Even the "kiddie" cones are a bit much for me. But the champion dairy-eater that she is, she was the only one of us able to actually finish what she ordered. She takes her ice cream seriously and does not waste time on napkins. No ma'am.

birthday plans

Mira is turning 5 in a couple weeks. The lucky duck gets to have two birthday parties this year: 1) the usual party at home with local friends and family and 2) a party out at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We're going out to visit my family over Memorial Day weekend, so we'll also throw a birthday party while we're there.

I'm already planning the menu and most importantly, the cake! I found this beauty courtesy of Martha Stewart and I'm thinking it's a winner.

snakes and pie

Mira and I went to the farmers' market today. It was mobbed but still fun. There was a 4-man band playing CCR songs and we picked up a huge bouquet of lilacs. We also managed to find some excellent looking rhubarb (since our rhubarb has a whole year to grow before we can harvest it). We turned the rhubarb into this:

We like our rhubarb with strawberries in pie form. A custard base for the filling provides a creamy/sweet complement to the tart rhubarb. I had to make my own crust this time because my last pie was nearly rendered inedible by those ready-made store-bought atrocities.

 A brushing of cream followed by a sprinkling of raw sugar finishes it before baking.

So while the pie was baking the girls and I went outside and ran into this guy:

Yikes! I'll now be paranoid to weed or work in my garden beds lest he decides to make another appearance. Snakes terrify me but the girls were fascinated by him for at least a half hour.

indulgence

I'm in Atlanta for a conference this week and just returned from one of the most indulgent meals I've had in a long time. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent. The restaurant was Bacchanalia, a name which should have clued us in to the excess to come. My colleagues and I all ordered the four course menu so we were in it for the long haul. This is the run down of what I ate:

1. 
   

   Cheese Gougers - a small bite/amuse bouche fried bite-sized ball filled with a mixture of cheeses

   
   
2. 
   

   Chilled Asparagus Soup - just a little bit served in a small cup, another amuse bouche

   
   
3. 
   
   
   

   Sweetbreads with Beets, Fava Beans, Morel Mushrooms, and a Fennel sauce

   
   
4. 
   

   Seared Grouper with Giant Asparagus and Pancetta

   
   
5. 
   

   Strawberry and House-made Ricotta salad with Balsamic Reduction

   
   
6. 
   

   Strawberry Panna Cotta topped with Granola - this one was another teaser/small bite

   
   
7. 
   

   Rhubarb Tart with Pistachios

   
   
8. 
   

   A sampler plate of bites of the following: Chocolate/Chili Truffles, Handmade Strawberry Marshmallows, and Lime Shortbread

   
   
9. 
   

   This was all finished with some Coffee Madeleine cookies- as if we needed more!

All in all it was a very nice dining experience and worth the 2+ hour time investment and bedtime indigestion. Wish I had thought to snap some pics to share. Maybe next time... I have two more dinners out before leaving Atlanta.

chicken ala beer can

Besides reminding me of Andrea at the tanning salon, this picture makes me drool. A chicken sitting on a can of beer roasted on the grill is one of my favorite summertime meals.

I recently picked up a metal stand specifically designed to help stabilize your little guy while he cooks. It was well worth the $8 because it is a bit tricky (but not impossible) to stand him up without one.

I like to coat the chicken in a brown sugar based spice rub and roast over indirect heat for 90-120 minutes until very tender and almost falling off the bones. You can get indirect heat on your grill by turning off a couple burners after the grill heats up and putting the bird over the cold burners to roast. I also like to use a little smoke, which you do by wrapping some water-soaked wood chips in a foil packet poked with a couple small holes. Put the foil packet right on the burner before heating your grill and when you see smoke, it's time to turn off all but one burner and put the chicken on.

The weather this weekend is going to be phenomenal, so what a perfect time to break out some beer can chicken. Plus, then you get to drink all the other cans you didn't use. Here's a link to a recipe. Serve it up with some coleslaw and cornbread and you're in business. Mm, yum.

blue cheese souffle for one, please

We had a great day on Saturday. The weather was amazing at a balmy 65 degrees with the sun blazing down. We pretended it was summer and stayed outside all day, ate watermelon, had ice cream cones and grilled some BBQ chicken. Today, however, the weather is less than desirable. Cold, dreary, rainy and all-around depressing.

To pep me up from the dreary day, I was craving a meal that's comforting and flavorful, but relatively light given my recent gorging spree on these. Drawing inspiration from one of my favorite TV cooking personalities, I settled on a blue cheese souffle alongside some lightly dressed arugula and baby spinach. I had to adjust the recipe down to one serving since Tim is slaving away for work in sunny California (poor guy).

While I was preparing the souffle, I couldn't help indulge in one of my all-time favorite snacks. (So much for the light dinner!) If you haven't yet tried this one, you need to stop what you're doing and go get some honey, crackers, and your favorite blue cheese (one of my recent faves is Point Reyes). All I can say is this is a little slice of heaven right here, mm hmm.

The souffle itself was pretty good, but not nearly as rich and satisfying as my appetizer. It did, however, fit the bill for a light but savory meal. I might play around with some other flavors next time I venture into non-dessert souffle territory. I recently saw a blog post for a cheddar and roasted green chili souffle, which sounds delicious.