Chile Relleno

October 14th, 2009
by: Sue

8 long green chiles, roasted and peeled, preferably Hatch but fresh chiles from *anywhere* are good
8 sticks of string cheese
1 cup flour
6 eggs
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup oil
12″ iron skillet

Stuff the chiles with cheese, being careful to seal the cheese with the skin of the pepper. Place 1/2 of the flour in a large plate. Put the chiles on top, and sprinkle the rest of the flour on top. Pat the flour in. Place oil in skillet and turn heat to medium high.

Separate the eggs. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Beat the egg yolks with the salt, then fold slowly into the egg whites.

Heat the cast iron skillet until the oil begins to roll (not smoke!). Dip floured chiles into the egg batter and fry until golden brown, turning once. (I like to cook two at a time). Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Enjoy!

Egg Salad

September 27th, 2009
by: Sue

Another recipe from Darrell’s Mom. Marguerite used a lot of eggs in her cooking because they had chickens, so this recipe was an old standby for her. In case you haven’t noticed, today ordinary supermarket eggs don’t taste like the eggs from the farm (unless you buy organic or free range eggs). She also cooked scrambled eggs with onions for supper on the farm, wonderful waffles with the egg whites beaten stiff, and plain old fried eggs for supper (the evening meal was never called dinner on the farm). Even her brownie recipe has more eggs than any other recipe I’ve seen. Even with all those eggs, her boys and her husband did not have high cholesterol, contrary to the conventional wisdom of the 70′s and 80′s. She wanted to feed her boys good healthy food and was much more conscious than most people were at that time about raising their own food in order to ensure good nutrition for the family. This egg salad is not chunky, and may be put into the food processor to achieve the creamy texture that she obtained by using a meat grinder. My nutrutionist told me years later that eggs do not make you have high cholesterol, and that he ate eggs every day. He was 85 at the time.

8 hard boiled eggs
1/3 cup sweet pickle relish
4 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon salt

Chop eggs very fine. (Mema put them through a grinder). Combine all ingredients, chill. Serve on lettuce leaf or tomato slice. Makes wonderful little finger sandwich on crustless bread. Serves 4 – 5.

Southwestern Deviled Eggs

September 27th, 2009
by: Sue

I developed this recipe in an effort to bring a different flavor to deviled eggs. Every recipe I found seemed to have the same bland ingredients, and the eggs were so stinky that you didn’t really get a lot of sensory pleasure from them. Thus the technique to boil the eggs perfectly was added to my repertoire, and to season with the southwest flavors we love. (Hint: green chile is good in this, too!)

10-12 uncooked eggs (enough to cover bottom of saucepan before adding water for boiling)
3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise, reduced fat
1 tablespoon sour cream, reduced fat
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons salsa
1/3 cup shredded cheese (fat free or regular)
1 – 2 tablespoons chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
paprika to sprinkle
sliced olives, optional

Place eggs in saucepan, cover with water, and place on burner. Add one teaspoon salt to water. Bring to a rolling boil, cover pan with tight fitting lid and turn off burner but keep pot on the warm burner. After 17 minutes, eggs are hard-cooked. This method results in a perfect egg with no dark smelly stuff around the yolk.

Drain hot water from pan, fill with cold running water to quickly cool the eggs. After cool, crack the eggs on the flat top of the counter (not the edge), rolling them to break the shell into small segments. Beginning at the bigger end of the egg, slowly peel off the shell, rinsing any tiny shell pieces off the eggs.

Cut peeled eggs longwise into halves, removing the yolk to a small mixing bowl. Mash the yolks with a fork until yolks are mealy and completely broken up. Add mayonnaise, salsa, sour cream, onion, sugar and garlic, and mix with fork until creamy and smooth. Hint: add the mayonnaise and sour cream a tablespoon at a time until you reach the creamy consistency you prefer. Add cheese, salsa, and salt and pepper to taste, mixing throughly with fork.

Place yolks mixture into a small baggy, sealing at the top. Cut out a small opening on one corner of the baggy. Squeeze the bag and direct the filling into the egg white holes where the yolks originally rested. Top with a slice of olive, sprinkle with paprika, and arrange on an egg plate. Lettuce leaves may be used as a base to cover a plate and to garnish the dish.

Variations: add green chilis, chopped jalapeno, or chipotle pepper to your liking

Eggs a la Suisse

March 30th, 2009
by: Sue

This dish has lovely eggs cooked in cream with a little cheese and cayenne thrown in for good measure. A quick dish, it has the richness of the more difficult to prepare Eggs Benedict. I tried to make this once with milk and it was a disaster. It has to be cream and butter. There are some things that the French are right about and when it comes to cooking they are always right!

2 T butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 slices good bread, toasted and buttered

Melt butter on slow temperature in a small saucepan. Carefully break 2 eggs and slip into butter. When egg whites begin to show cooking (opaque and white), carefully add cream, cheese, and cayenne pepper. Cook at low temperature and baste eggs with warmed cream until egg yolks are covered with white well cooked film. Slip eggs on toast, top with cream sauce, and enjoy.

Eggs Aubergine Benedict

March 24th, 2009
by: Blue

I am constantly looking for ways to to cook a fabulous lo-carb breakfast. While I love traditional eggs benedict, I am allergic to the English Muffins. They make my ass swell. This recipe is very simple, and very delicious.

For each serving, adjust recipe according to the number of people that you are serving:
2 poached eggs
Two slices of cooked turkey bacon (the Oscar Mayer turkey bacon is pretty darn good, and I have loved all of the uncured turkey bacon that I have puchased but it’s slightly more expensive).

Preheat oven to 425. Slice eggplant about ΒΌ” thick, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray and place eggplant in single layers on cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, turning once.

Quick sauce:
1/8 c heavy cream
3/4 oz reduced fat swiss cheese

Yes, heavy cream. You might be thinking – what’s the point of using turkey bacon and reduced fat cheese? It’s a very small amount of heavy cream and it packs a huge flavor whallop. Also, if you are watching carbs it’s perfectly ok to have a small amount of heavy cream. This combination of ingredients keeps the calorie count for each serving under 350!! WOOT! Heat cream in small pan, add cheese, stir until cheese melts. Continue to simmer until reduced and slightly thick. Season with salt and white pepper.

Assembly:
Place two slices of eggplant on plate and top with turkey bacon. Place one poached egg on each eggplant slice and pour sauce over.