Thread: breakfast over the holiday weekend & recipe

On May 26, 10:48*am, Kate Connally <conna...@pitt.edu> wrote:
> Saturday - TJ's everything bagels with Philadelphia
> cream cheese shmears - sundried tomato and basil and
> spinach and artichoke. *TJ's sparkling pomegranate
> juice.
>
> Sunday and Monday -
>
> BACON-WRAPPED EGGS WITH POLENTA
>
> Polenta:
> 2 tablespoons butter
> 1/4 cup minced green onions
> 3 cups water
> 1 teaspoon salt
> 1 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)
> 1/2 cup packed grated Parmesan cheese
> 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
>
> Baked Eggs:
> 20 thick slices applewood-smoked bacon
> 6 ounces extra-sharp white cheddar cheese, grated
> 6 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated
> 8 large eggs
> 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
> 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
>
> For polenta: *Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat.
> Add green onions and stir until wilted, about 1 minute. *Add 3 cups
> water and salt; bring to boil. *Gradually whisk in polenta. *Bring to
> boil. *Reduce heat to low and simmer until thick and creamy, stirring
> occasionally, about 13 minutes. *Stir in cheese and thyme. *Season with
> salt and pepper. *Cool to lukewarm. *(Can be prepared 2 days ahead.
> Cover and refrigerate; polenta will become firm.) *For baked eggs: *Heat
> large skillet over medium heat. *Add bacon; fry until beginning to brown
> but still pliable, about 4 minutes. *Transfer bacon to paper towels to
> drain. *Line sides of eight 1 1/4-cup custard cups with 2 slices bacon
> each, forming collar. *Place 1/2 slice bacon on bottom of each cup.
> Divide polenta among cups, about generous 1/3 cup each. *Press polenta
> over bottom and up sides of bacon. *Mix cheeses in bowl. *Sprinkle ¼ cup
> cheese mixture over polenta in each cup. *(Can be prepared 2 hours
> ahead. *Let stand at room temperature.) *Preheat oven to 400F. *Crack 1
> egg into center of each cup. Sprinkle eggs with remaining cheese, green
> onions, thyme, and black pepper. *Transfer cups to rimmed baking sheet.
> * Bake until egg whites are almost set, about 20 minutes. *Let eggs
> stand at room temperature 5 minutes (eggs will continue to cook). *Run
> small sharp knife around edge of cups; tilt cups, and slide bacon,
> polenta, and egg onto plates and serve. *Makes 8 servings. *Make the
> polenta a couple of days ahead, then assemble each serving an hour or so
> before guests arrive. *(Bon Appétit, April 2005)
>
> I didn't follow the recipe exactly. *First I used about 1/2
> the amount of salt in the polenta and it turned out to be too
> much. *Next time, if there is a next time, I will use no salt
> in the polenta. *There is more than enough from the parmesan
> cheese. *Also, I didn't like the idea of green onions in this
> so I substituted 3 cloves minced garlic which I sauted briefly
> in the butter as they did for the green onions.
>
> I also used only 2 slices of TJ's applewood smoked bacon - 1 and
> 1/2 slices to line the sides of the ramekins and 1/2 slice for the
> bottom.
>
> I used much more than the suggested 1/3 cup of polenta to line
> the ramekins. *Probably closed to 2/3 cup.
>
> I used a Sargento 4-cheese mix of shredded cheese in place of
> the gruyere and the white cheddar as I had that already and
> besides gruyere is *way* expensive. *This worked fine.
>
> They turned out well. *I only made 4 instead of 8 which was
> what I intended in the first place. *I had a little polenta
> left over and am saving it for something else.
>
> I had one ramekin each day and have 2 saved for next weekend.
>
> I had Marburger Dairy whole milk buttermilk with the polenta
> and eggs. *Yum!
>
> Kate
> --
> Kate Connally
> “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
> Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
> Until you bite their heads off.”
> What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
> mailto:conna...@pitt.edu

Sounds great, Kate!
Two questions and one comment:

Do you use gruyere for onion soup?
What would you buy if you couldn't find/afford gruyere?

Philly has a spinach and artichoke spreadable cream cheese that's
really good!

Lynn in Fargo
Lilacs are blooming - the whole damn town smells wonderful!

Lynn from Fargo Ografmorffig wrote:
> On May 26, 10:48 am, Kate Connally <conna...@pitt.edu> wrote:
>> Saturday - TJ's everything bagels with Philadelphia
>> cream cheese shmears - sundried tomato and basil and
>> spinach and artichoke. TJ's sparkling pomegranate
>> juice.

snippage

>> I used a Sargento 4-cheese mix of shredded cheese in place of
>> the gruyere and the white cheddar as I had that already and
>> besides gruyere is *way* expensive. This worked fine.
>>
>> Kate
>
> Sounds great, Kate!
> Two questions and one comment:
>
> Do you use gruyere for onion soup?
> What would you buy if you couldn't find/afford gruyere?

Well, first of all I would never, have never, will never
make onion soup. So that answers that question. ;-)

The only thing I've ever bought gruyere for to date is
cheese fondue - gruyere and emmenthaler.

It's not that I can't afford it, at least once in a great
while, but I just don't want to pay that much. Most good
cheese is getting very, very expensive nowadays. I do not
eat American "cheese" or anything of that ilk. I wait until
cheese is on sale to buy it. I use a lot of cheddar and jack
cheese and parmesan or romano when called for. When
I want good cheese for cheese & crackers I get the better
quality cheddar or other fancy cheese but for cooking I'm
happy with Kraft or Sargento shredded cheddar. I hardly ever
use "Swiss" cheese (the American version) but I do like it on
ham sandwiches on occasion.

> Philly has a spinach and artichoke spreadable cream cheese that's
> really good!

Yeah, that's what I had (see above). It was pretty good.
I had not tried it before.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
mailto:[email protected]

In article <gvmbcf$oq5$[email protected]>,
Kate Connally <[email protected]> wrote:

> Well, first of all I would never, have never, will never
> make onion soup. So that answers that question. ;-)

Why not? Properly made French Onion Soup it a good beef stock is
seriously food of the gods, served properly with croutons and melted
cheese.

And I'm not generally a huge Onion fan. <g>

Want my recipe?
--
Peace! Om

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to dance in the rain.
-- Anon.

[email protected]
Subscribe: [email protected]

Omelet wrote:
> In article <gvmbcf$oq5$[email protected]>,
> Kate Connally <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Well, first of all I would never, have never, will never
>> make onion soup. So that answers that question. ;-)
>
> Why not? Properly made French Onion Soup it a good beef stock is
> seriously food of the gods, served properly with croutons and melted
> cheese.
>
> And I'm not generally a huge Onion fan. <g>
>
> Want my recipe?

Well, if I did make it I would have to strain out all the
pieces of onion - I can't stand cooked onion in large
pieces. When I cook with onion I finely chop/puree it in
the food processor. I love the flavor but not the texture.
I love raw onion but cooked onion has a slimy creepy texture
that I detest. I may some day make my own version of onionless
onion soup. (I also make a pecanless pecan pie as I hate pecans!) ;-)

Also, I can't see myself making my own beef stock. I almost
never buy beef of any sort. I prefer pork and eat that almost
exclusively. I do like a good porterhouse or delmonico steak
about once a year. I like beef okay but it's too expensive
and I like pork better. Can one buy a good beef stock?

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
mailto:[email protected]

"Kate Connally" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:gvp2e1$cg4$[email protected]..
> Omelet wrote:
>> In article <gvmbcf$oq5$[email protected]>,
>> Kate Connally <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Well, first of all I would never, have never, will never
>>> make onion soup. So that answers that question. ;-)
>>
>> Why not? Properly made French Onion Soup it a good beef stock is
>> seriously food of the gods, served properly with croutons and melted
>> cheese.
>>
>> And I'm not generally a huge Onion fan. <g>
>>
>> Want my recipe?
>
> Well, if I did make it I would have to strain out all the
> pieces of onion - I can't stand cooked onion in large
> pieces. When I cook with onion I finely chop/puree it in
> the food processor. I love the flavor but not the texture.
> I love raw onion but cooked onion has a slimy creepy texture
> that I detest. I may some day make my own version of onionless
> onion soup. (I also make a pecanless pecan pie as I hate pecans!) ;-)

I guess Om and I will be preparing onion soup from the 5 lb bag of Vidalias
I picked up for $2.99 at Walmart yesterday... more for us! heheh

> Also, I can't see myself making my own beef stock. I almost
> never buy beef of any sort. I prefer pork and eat that almost
> exclusively. I do like a good porterhouse or delmonico steak
> about once a year. I like beef okay but it's too expensive
> and I like pork better. Can one buy a good beef stock?
>
>
You can buy mediocre beef stock... but it'll cost more than making your
own... unless you are willing to invest your time and effort to make your
own from scratch you may as well use bouillion cubes... and some aren't
terrible, I like all the Goya brand bouillions.

Too bad you don't like onions, Om and I are going to have a grand time
working our way through these: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/244/

In article <tVVTl.1556$[email protected]>,
"brooklyn1" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Kate Connally" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:gvp2e1$cg4$[email protected]..
> > Omelet wrote:
> >> In article <gvmbcf$oq5$[email protected]>,
> >> Kate Connally <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Well, first of all I would never, have never, will never
> >>> make onion soup. So that answers that question. ;-)
> >>
> >> Why not? Properly made French Onion Soup it a good beef stock is
> >> seriously food of the gods, served properly with croutons and melted
> >> cheese.
> >>
> >> And I'm not generally a huge Onion fan. <g>
> >>
> >> Want my recipe?
> >
> > Well, if I did make it I would have to strain out all the
> > pieces of onion - I can't stand cooked onion in large
> > pieces. When I cook with onion I finely chop/puree it in
> > the food processor. I love the flavor but not the texture.
> > I love raw onion but cooked onion has a slimy creepy texture
> > that I detest. I may some day make my own version of onionless
> > onion soup. (I also make a pecanless pecan pie as I hate pecans!) ;-)

I supposed you could strain out the onions and puree them, then add them
back. It would not be quite the same thing, but everybody has the right
to alter recipes to their personal taste. <g>

>
> I guess Om and I will be preparing onion soup from the 5 lb bag of Vidalias
> I picked up for $2.99 at Walmart yesterday... more for us! heheh

Thanks for reminding me Shel', I need to add onions to my shopping list.
When I do make onion soup, I like to mix yellow, white and purple onions.

>
> > Also, I can't see myself making my own beef stock. I almost
> > never buy beef of any sort. I prefer pork and eat that almost
> > exclusively. I do like a good porterhouse or delmonico steak
> > about once a year. I like beef okay but it's too expensive
> > and I like pork better. Can one buy a good beef stock?

"Better than Bullion" is not a bad brand, but you can make decent beef
stock out of a package of stewing bones from the store, or shanks. Both
are quite inexpensive. You can also save steak bones and leave a little
meat on them. The beauty of those is that they are already browned and
ready to go. I made my last batch of beef stock out of BBQ'd rib bones
I'd saved from my last trip to Austin and "Ironworks" rib orgy. <g>
That gave it a pleasant smoked flavor.

> You can buy mediocre beef stock... but it'll cost more than making your
> own... unless you are willing to invest your time and effort to make your
> own from scratch you may as well use bouillion cubes... and some aren't
> terrible, I like all the Goya brand bouillions.
>
> Too bad you don't like onions, Om and I are going to have a grand time
> working our way through these: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/244/

Interesting batch of recipes Shel'. :-)
I generally keep it pretty simple and clear my chopped onions in butter
and olive oil, then add to the beef stock. Does not need much more as
the beef stock is already flavored from when I make it with the usual
miripoix.
--
Peace! Om

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to dance in the rain.
-- Anon.

[email protected]
Subscribe: [email protected]

Om wrote:

> I made my last batch of beef stock out of BBQ'd rib bones I'd saved from
> my last trip to Austin and "Ironworks" rib orgy. <g>

If you wanted to cook beef ribs, where would you get them? I've been pretty
unhappy with what gets sold as "beef ribs" nowadays. There's hardly any meat
on them! So now I buy a rib roast and cut the ribs out of it, leaving plenty
of meat on the bones. Besides the ribs, that gives me a boneless roast which
I can either cook whole, cut into steaks, cut into chunks, or grind.

I see the technique is illustrated at
www.thesmokering.com/RibRoast/default.jsp

Bob

"Omelet" wrote:
> "brooklyn1" wrote:
>
>
>> You can buy mediocre beef stock... but it'll cost more than making your
>> own... unless you are willing to invest your time and effort to make your
>> own from scratch you may as well use bouillion cubes... and some aren't
>> terrible, I like all the Goya brand bouillions.
>>
>> Too bad you don't like onions, Om and I are going to have a grand time
>> working our way through these: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/244/
>
> Interesting batch of recipes Shel'. :-)
> I generally keep it pretty simple and clear my chopped onions in butter
> and olive oil, then add to the beef stock. Does not need much more as
> the beef stock is already flavored from when I make it with the usual
> miripoix.
>
>
When you don't want to spend much time/effort you can make a very nice onion
soup from Goya beef boullion and Penzys dehy toasted onions. I don't much
care for the cheese thingie with onion soup but I do like to add mushrooms.

On Fri, 29 May 2009 20:59:50 -0500, Omelet wrote:

>> "Kate Connally" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:gvp2e1$cg4$[email protected]..
>>
>>> Also, I can't see myself making my own beef stock. I almost
>>> never buy beef of any sort. I prefer pork and eat that almost
>>> exclusively. I do like a good porterhouse or delmonico steak
>>> about once a year. I like beef okay but it's too expensive
>>> and I like pork better. Can one buy a good beef stock?
>
> "Better than Bullion" is not a bad brand, but you can make decent beef
> stock out of a package of stewing bones from the store, or shanks. Both
> are quite inexpensive. You can also save steak bones and leave a little
> meat on them. The beauty of those is that they are already browned and
> ready to go. I made my last batch of beef stock out of BBQ'd rib bones
> I'd saved from my last trip to Austin and "Ironworks" rib orgy. <g>
> That gave it a pleasant smoked flavor.

yabbut, kate says she rarely eats beef.

a lot of people like better than bullion, and it does have the advantage of
lasting a long time in the refrigerator and is damned convenient.

at least the first ingredient listed is 'roasted beef and concentrated beef
stock' and not 'salt.'

your pal,
blake