Eggs Benedict

Breakfast is underrated.  Any nutritionist will tell you it's the most important meal of the day, but all too often it's ignored or confined to a boring bowl of cereal.  Tragic, I tell ya, and I'm just as culpable!  I skip it many times during the week and I'm slapping myself on the wrist.  It's time to take the power back, people, and I've got just the thing...eggs benedict!

I know it sounds intimidating, but it's actually quite fun to make yourself.  I just did a quick search for eggs benedict on several breakfast/brunch menus at Atlanta restaurants...this dish runs anywhere from $10 up to $22...DANG.  You're gonna kick yourself for paying that much once you realize how easy, inexpensive, and satisfying it is to make in your very own home.

You've probably got the vast majority of the ingredients sitting around anyway: eggs, bacon, Dijon mustard, butter, lemon juice...maybe you don't have English muffins, but you should go pick some up.  They're cheap and readily available, I promise. 

We should make the bacon first, since it will take the longest.  If you're cooking for one to three folks, fry up some bacon in a skillet to your desired level of crispness.  If you're cooking for more than 3 folks, may I suggest cooking your bacon on a sheet pan in the oven?  It will take about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, but you can fit a heck of a lot more bacon on a sheet pan than you can in a skillet, just sayin'.  Do what you love!

I was cooking for 5 on this particular day, so the oven was the way to go.

Half the pan of bacon...the other half does not appear in this film.

Now that the bacon's ready, we'll need to make our hollandaise sauce.  It's the key to pulling this whole dish together!  In a blender, add 3 egg yolks, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a squirt of Tabasco, a sprinkle of salt, and a dash of pepper.  While it's blending, melt a stick of butter and slowly drizzle it into the egg mixture.  It should look something like this:   

Pour the sauce into a metal bowl and place it over a pot of simmering water, ensuring the bottom of the bowl is not actually touching the water.  Also, make sure the water is not fully boiling or the eggs might scramble. Continue to whisk the mixture until warmed through.  Remove it from the heat and set aside.

This next part (egg poaching) can be a smidge tricky, but I'll walk you through it.  Fill a large, deep skillet not quite half full with water and a tablespoon of vinegar.  Bring the water just to a simmer.  VERY GENTLY crack two eggs into the water...drop them in slowly so your yolk does not break.  They're going to cook in the water bath until the yolk is set and the white is no longer runny.  DO NOT STIR...just leave them where they are.  Keep a close eye on them and jiggle them ever so slightly to check on their level of doneness.  As you can see below, you'll loose some of the white in the water.  No worries, mate.  There will still be plenty left for you to consume.



 Kinda, sorta like soft-boiled eggs, just without the shell

Once the eggs are ready (not too jiggly and/or runny), spoon them out of the water on to a paper towel to dry off a bit.  Rinse and repeat (not literally...it's just an expression for "do the same thing over again") depending on how many folks you're feeding.  Now for the fun part...assembly!!  Toast an English muffin and lay a strip or two of bacon on each half.  Gently spoon your poached egg on top of the bacon and drizzle the whole thing with your hollandaise sauce.  For garnish, add a sprinkle of parsley and a dash of paprika.  Prepare to be amazed... 

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Now, isn't that just lovely?!  And it tastes even better than it looks.  Now you too can serve up a $20 brunch item at home and look good doing it.  Another great thing about eggs benedict is that it's infinitely customizable.  I've had this dish with a fried green tomato or crab cake instead of the English muffin.  I've also had this basic bacon/egg/sauce recipe topped with additional fun things like sautéed mushrooms or sundried tomatoes.  Let your imagination run on this one, folks, and happy breakfasting!

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam

Cajun Meatloaf

Perhaps you've noticed that I'm a big fan of comfort food, the kind of grub that just makes you feel all warm and cozy inside...like a big, fuzzy blanket of tastyness.  Ahh...I'm feeling comforted just thinking about the meal I'm going to share with you!  It's meatloaf!  Now, I know what you're thinking..."Meatloaf?  Really?  Sam, isn't that just cafeteria food?"  No, my friend, it isn't.  It's about to be one of your best dinners.  Don't believe me?  Read on!

Heard of Paul Prudhomme?  If you haven't, just know that he's pretty much the greatest chef to come out of Louisiana. Additionally, as much as I like "Mr. BAM," Emeril's got nothing on this guy.  Paul put Cajun food on the map!

Doesn't he look jolly?

In 1984 (the year I was born...stop snickering!), he published his first cookbook Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen to rave reviews.  While I don't have many cookbooks, I'm fortunate enough to have a copy of this *excellent* and wildly influential piece of work.  Last night, I made his Cajun Meatloaf.  Ooowee!

All the Cajun that's fit to print!

Paul was known early on in his culinary career for his spice blends.  The mix in this recipe calls for three different types of pepper, 1/2 tsp white, 1 tsp red (cayenne), and 1 tsp black, as well as 1/2 tsp cumin, 2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp salt, and to throw you for a loop, 1/2 tsp nutmeg.  Stir this up in a small bowl and set aside.

The combination of sauteed onion, green peppers, and celery is know in Cajun cooking as "the Holy Trinity."   You'll find this combo as the base for dishes such as etouffee, gumbo, and jambalaya.  It's also our starting point for this delicious meatloaf.  Throw them in a pan over medium high heat with melted butter and let's get this party started!

In addition to these three, we'll also be adding green onion, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and tabasco sauce to the pan, along with our seasoning blend.  Fire it up, folks!

THE mix

Keep stirring frequently, as this mix is very prone to sticking.  When we get to that point, we'll add some evaporated milk and ketchup to the pan, stirring for just a few minutes.  Remove it from the heat and let it cool.  I'm impatient, so sometimes I'll transfer this veggie mix to a bowl and pop it in the freezer for a few.

Meatloaf assembly station

Beat two eggs in a small bowl and then go ahead and set a 9x13 inch baking pan covered in tinfoil on your counter, because you're about to get your hands dirty.  Into a large bowl, add a couple pounds of ground beef (or a combo of ground beef and ground pork, if you're so inclined.)  To the meat, pour in the beaten eggs and a cup of breadcrumbs.  Add the cooled veggie mixture and mush it all together with your hands until evenly blended.

Smush it...smush it good

Since your hands are already covered in meatloaf fixins, go ahead and transfer the meat mix to your baking pan, shaping it into a classic meatloaf shape...kind of like a mildly flattened log.

It's taking shape!

See?  I told you your hands would be messy!

Pop it into your oven and bake it uncovered for 25 minutes at 350.  Raise the heat to 400 and continue baking for another 35 minutes.

 "Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?"

Viola!  Dinner is served.  Watch out, as there's a little kick in this meatloaf!  The best kind of kick, of course.

YUM

Some folks like to serve their meatloaf with brown gravy.  I've had it this way and it's delicious.  However, I was just feeling ketchup tonight, so that's what I squeezed on top.  Do what you love!

Everyone around you is gonna be yelling:

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam

Paul Prudhomme’s Cajun Meatloaf

Serves 6

Spice Blend:

2 whole bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup ketchup
2 lbs ground beef (or 1 ½ lbs ground beef and ½ lb ground pork)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup very fine dry breadcrumbs

Oven to 350°. Combine the spice blend ingredients in a small bowl and set aside for a moment.

Melt the butter in a 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, bell peppers, green onions, garlic, Tabasco, Worcestershire and seasoning mix.  Sauté until mixture starts sticking excessively, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan bottom well.

Stir in the milk and catsup.  Continue cooking for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, allow mixture to cool to room temperature, and remove the bay leaves.

Place ground beef in a large bowl.  Add the eggs, cooked vegetable mixture (cooled), and the breadcrumbs. Mix by hand until thoroughly combined.

In the center of a 9x13 baking pan, shape the mixture into a loaf that is about 1 1/2 inches high, 6 inches wide and 12 inches long.  Bake uncovered for 25 minutes, then raise heat to 400° and continue to cook until done, about 35 minutes longer.

Stuffed Shells

Creamy, cheesy, and rib-stickin'...adjectives I love to see applied to my dinner!   Howsabout applying these to some Italian tonight? Whaddaya say?  I knew you'd be into it.

Step into my kitchen and let's make stuffed shells!  First, we'll need to get our shells in some boiling water.  Make sure you're using a large pot for this as we don't want the shells to stick together while cooking...they need plenty of room to float around.

While they're boiling away, let's get messy.  Grab a large bowl and fill it with the contents of a large container of ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 1 bag mozzarella, 1 tbsp. parsley, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, and 1 tsp. Italian seasoning.  Get your (clean) hands in there and squish it all together.  Ta-dah!  You've got filling!

Haha! I cheated and used a spoon to start mixing!

Rinse off your gooped up hands (unless you also cheated and used a spoon).  By this time, your shells should be done boiling.  Drain them carefully and rinse them briefly with cold water to stop their cooking.  Nothing worse than a soggy shell when you're trying to fill it...trust me, it's a pain.

Before we stuff the shells, we'll cover the entire bottom of our baking dish with a thin layer of sauce.  For an amazing homemade sauce, take a gander at the bolognese sauce I used for my pasta and meatballs recipe here.  A real bolognese sauce contains meat, so feel free to add a pound of sauteed ground beef or turkey to this basic sauce recipe to layer over your shells as they bake.  If you're short on time, I suppose you could use a jarred sauce such as Prego or Ragu.  Do what you love!

I made the Bolognese sauce with meat, so here it is in the pan!

 

Now, grab a shell and cup it in your hand like a little boat.  Spoon in as much of the filling mixture as your little pasta boat can handle!  Keep this up until all your shells are full.

Red wine photobomb...

Gently place your stuffed shells on top of the sauce layer in as many rows as you can fit into the dish.  I was able to get quite a few in there, but still ended up using two dishes.  As you might have heard/guessed, I love to eat so the more the merrier!  These are also great leftover so there's never any worry about having too much of a good thing.

Fill 'em to the brim!

With the stuffed shells in place, ladle another thick layer of sauce on top of them.  We don't want the shells to dry out as they bake...blech.  On top of the sauced shells, sprinkle the other bag of mozzarella cheese.  You could also add some shredded and/or grated parmesan or romano or asiago as well at this point, if so desired (or if you're me.) 

Saucy and cheesy (wait, are we describing me or the meal?)

Pop 'em in the oven til they're nice and bubbly and melty. 

Delicious baked goods...

Carefully scoop out a few, blow on them (they're hot!), and gobble them up!  You'll thank me, I'm certain.

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam


Stuffed Shells

1 large container ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2 bags shredded mozarella
1 tbsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. italian seasoning
1 box jumbo pasta shells
2 cups pasta sauce

Oven to 350. In a large stockpot, boil the jumbo shells according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix ricotta, eggs, 1 bag mozzarella, parsley, nutmeg, and italian seasoning by hand until well combined.  Drain shells and quickly rinse with cold water.

Evenly cover the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of sauce.  Holding a shell in your hand, fill the cavity with the cheese mixture.  Lay the stuffed shells side by side in the baking pan.  Cover with more sauce and 1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes, until hot and bubbly.