Bellygasm

Easy Eggs Benedict in Minutes

 

Everytime I see eggs benedict on a menu, it puts a smile on my face. I like to dub it as sunshine on a plate: two softly poached eggs on top of a Canadian bacon and a warm, toasted English muffin served with a dollop of creamy, luscious hollandaise sauce. In other words, "Good Morning, Sunshine!"

Admittedly, I love eggs. It's one of my favorite food. I like it poached, fried, scrambled, deviled... you name it. I'll pass on Wheaties for eggs anyday. Adios, Mary Lou.

My eggs benedict recipe is a breakfast worthy of champions. Contrary to popular assumptions, it's actually easy to make eggs benedict with homemade hollandaise. It's all about timing and quick assembly. Follow my instructions, and you too will get a gold medal from your Sunday brunch guests. 

Suggestion: For a lighter, healthier option, you can swap the the Canadian bacon for a slice of tomato. For a more glamorous version, you can use prosciutto or smoked salmon for the savory component. For a French twist, try it with crossiant halves in lieu of English muffins.

Serves: 2-4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 slices of Canadian bacon or prosciutto
1 teaspoon of white vinegar
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons of butter
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper (preferably white)
4 English muffins halves
Dash of cayenne pepper

Preparation

1. In a large saucepan, bring 3 inches of water to simmer. 
2. While water is coming to a simmer, lightly brown the Canadian bacon evenly on both sides over medium-high heat in a skillet. Set aside. Cover to keep it warm.
3. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl until bubbly about 1 minute. Add egg yolks, lemon juice, salt, pepper and tabasco and whisk until smooth. Cover and set aside
4. Add vinegar to water. Break 1 egg into a bowl and slide it into simmering water as close to the surface of the water as possible. Repeat with other eggs.
5. Use a slotted spoon to gather any egg whites that might have spread out toward the yolk. You have to do this in the beginning of the poaching process. Cook about 2-3 minutes. Remove and drain on a paper towel. (Tip: Sight & touch are important for determining when the eggs are ready. For a soft, runny yolk, carefully bring an egg above water with a slotted spoon. You want it still jiggly like extra soft tofu, not firm like jello.)
6. Toast English muffins to warm.

Serving suggestion. Place a muffin on a plate. Top with 1 slice of Canadian bacon, 1 poached egg, a drizzle of your homemade hollandaise sauce, and a sprinkle cayenne pepper. Serve immediately.

(Note: You can poach the eggs and make the sauce before your guests arrive. Just drop the eggs in simmering water to warm them and add a few drops of hot water to your hollandiase sauce to bring it back up to temperature and thin it out since cold sauce tends to thicken.)

Best Lasagna Recipe Made Easy

Before The Simpsons, there was Garfield. As a child, I read the comic strip, watched the cartoon, and even had a stuck-on-you doll with suction cups on the paws that I put up on my mom's car windows. (Sorry, bad trip to the 80's.)

I always felt a particular kinship with the orange tabby cat. Besides being cynical, sarcastic, and borderline sadistic to John, his owner, Garfield loathes Mondays, diets, or any form of exertion. He is truly one badass kitty.

So what does Garfield have to do with my easy recipe for lasagna, you ask?

1. Garfield is the original foodie who was born in an Italian restaurant kitchen.
2. He eats practically everything, and his favorite food is lasagna.
3. As all impressionable, Saturday morning cartoon devotee, I too became food obsessed and a lover of lasagna.

I hope my simple lasanga recipe, a rendition on the classic, will be as well received for you as it did for me. My guests enjoyed 2nds and even 3rds!! If you prefer a vegetarian lasagna, just swap the sausage for sliced zucchinis and/or squash. I promise you'll never buy a frozen Stouffer's again.

Serves: 8-10
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound of spicy Italian sausage or ground beef (sausages are seasoned so it adds more flavor & complexity)
1 10-oz. box of spinach, defrosted, drained, & squeezed of any liquid
1 9-oz. box of no-boil lasagne noodles (barilla or your favorite brand)
6 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

For Marinara Sauce:
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon of dried basil
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 1/2 cups of crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup of red wine
Salt & pepper

Preparation

1. In a large skillet, add oil over medium-high heat. Removing casing and add sausages in bite sized chunks to brown for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside leaving oil and any fat rendering.
2. Add onion to sauté until translucent while scraping any carmelization. Add garlic, basil, oregano, crushed tomatoes, and red wine. Bring it to a boil before reducing heat and cover to simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. While the marinara sauce simmers, prepare spinach and set aside. (Tip: If the spinach is frozen, defrost in microwave per instruction. If already defrosted and at room temperature, make sure to drain and squeeze out any liquid.)
4. Preheat oven at 375F. Grease the bottom and the sides of a 13x9x3 baking pan with olive oil.
5. Spread 1 cup of sauce evenly on the bottom of baking pan.
6. Layer 4 uncooked lasagne sheets, half of the sausages, 1 1/2 cup of mozzarella, and 1 cup of sauce.
7. Repeat another layer of uncooked sheets, spinach, 1 1/2 cup of mozzarella, and 1 cup of sauce.
8. Repeat another layer of uncooked sheets, remaining sausages, 1 1/2 cup of mozzarella, and 1 cup of sauce.
9. Add final layer of uncooked sheets, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella, and parmesan cheese.
10. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 50 minutes until bubbly. Uncover foil and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes until cheese is completely melted and starts to brown.
11. Remove from oven and let it stand for 15 minutes before serving.
     

Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine Steak)

On my first trip to Italy over 10 years ago - wow where did the time go?, I dined on my first Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Beefsteak Florentine style), and it was like nothing that I've ever tasted before or any beef for that matter. The way the steak was cooked simply and rare I could almost taste the pasteur which the animal had roamed and grazed on.  For one entire week all around Tuscany, I ate nothing but a Bistecca Fiorientina for lunch, a thick Porterhouse with a filet mignon on one side of the T-bone and a NY strip on the other. After devouring the entire Bistecca by myself, I always finished ceremoniously by licking my fingers for having picked up the T-bone and gnawed off any meat stuck to it. I called it a "No meat left behind" policy.

My Florentine Steak recipe is close to tradition. Some recipes call for a few anchovy fillets with the rosemary mixture, but I think just salt tastes more primal.

Serves: 2-3
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 2-1/2 to 3 inch thick Porterhouse steak
3 fresh sprigs of rosemary
2 tablespoon of kosher salt or coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Take the steak out of the fridge and let it to come to room temperature upto 6 hours before cooking.
2. Remove rosemary leaves from sprigs. Grind with salt in a mortar and pestle to a coarse paste. Drizzle in oil and mix until it looks almost like a pesto.
3. Get your grill (mine is gas) as hot as you can, and I mean REALLY hot. Find a hot spot, season the steak only with salt (pepper will cause bitterness) and sear without moving it for 4 minutes per side. Leaving it undisturbed will get a good grill mark too. (FYI: I also like to rotate and sear the edge a little (the height of the steak) especially the fat part.)
4. The steak is ready: 1. if you Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the steak and get a reading of 120F, 2. the meat is springy to the touch, or 3. your mouth starts watering (Ok, the last test can be subjective.)
5. Transfer steak to a carving board. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing; resting allows the juice to redistribute in the steak. Spread rosemary mixture generously. (Tip: You can tent it with foil or just put it in the oven without any heat.)

Serving suggestion: I normally carve the meat out from the bone and cut both filet and strip diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. If serving at the table, reassemble the Bistecca Florientina with the T-bone back in the middle. Add a little freshly ground pepper before you serve.

Tasty Turkey Burger with Red Wine Sauce

 

Mmm..., turkey burgers. Just mentioning it makes the hearts of a few skip a beat. I happen to know how to make a tasty, juicy turkey burger. And my recipe is easy and arguably, makes the best ground turkey burgers ever - according to a handful of foodie friends and borderline picky eaters.

My Asian-inspired, specifically Thai, turkey burger recipe is healthy and low fat. Try it and see for yourself. I promise you'll gobble it up (no pun intended, haha).  It's almost good enough to give up In-N-Out. Well, almost.

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

For Turkey Patties:
1 1/2 pound ground turkey - no gluten (I like Jennie-O's but feel free to use ur fav brand),
2 cups of onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon of San-J Peanut Sauce
1 tablespoon of ground sage
1 teaspoon of Goya Adobo Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil

For Red Wine Sauce:
1/3 cup of dry red wine
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey with onion, peanut sauce, ground sage, adobo seasoning, and ground pepper. Split and form mixture into 4 equal-sized patties about 3/4-inch thick.
2. Heat butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, pan fry turkey patties for approx 6-7 minutes on each side. Transfer to an oven safe plate. Let the burgers finish cooking and rest in a 200F oven.
3. Reduce burner to low heat. Deglaze pan with red wine. Scrap carmelized bits with the metal whisk. Add mustard, vinegar and ground pepper. Reduce liquid by half or until it coats the back of a spoon. Drizzle sauce over the turkey patties.

Serve with toasted sesame buns or bunless with deviled mashed potatoes.

Classic Beef Stew (a la Beef Bourguignon or Beef Burgundy)

There is nothing more comforting than a plateful of beef stew in the tradition of Beef Bourguignon (aka beef burgundy). Whenever I have one of those days or just feel like spending a cozy evening at home, I make this delicious classic beef stew recipe, which is just full of umami.

Just half the recipe for a romantic dinner for 2, and serve with a nice bottle of red. It's also a real crowd pleasure especially during football and basketball seasons.

Looking at the photo just made me salivate. Honestly, I've tasted (strike that) tested many recipes, and this one is my favorite. Shh, my secret ingredient is cloves.

Serves: 6 to 8
Prep Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 3 1/2 hours

Ingredients

3 pounds of beef chuck, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
3 medium yellow onions, quartered
2 ribs of celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup of leeks, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 large carrots, peeled & cut into 2-inch pieces
1/4 cup Cognac or brandy
1 8oz can of whole plum tomatoes, rough chop with scissors inside the can
3 cups of dry red wine
2 cups of stock, preferably beef 
3 cloves garlic, crushed & minced
1 1/2 tablespoon of herbes de provence (typically includes thyme, rosemary, marjoram & basil)
2 large dried bay leaf
3 whole cloves 
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce  (optional)
1/2 pound russet potatoes, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces* (in lieu of beurre manie)
1 pound white mushrooms, brushed of debris & bottoms trimmed
Salt & pepper to season and to taste

Preparation

1. Season beef chuck well with salt and pepper. In a ziploc bag, add flour and beef to coat.
2. In a large Dutch oven, add olive oil and butter using medium-high heat. Once hot, brown beef on all sides in 3 separate batches to create nice carmelization. Transfer beef to a plate and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 325F.
4. Add onions into the Dutch oven, sauté for 5 minutes until slightly brown. Depending on the amount of fat rendered from the beef, add a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil if needed.
5. Push aside onion and add celerys, leeks, and garlic into the middle of the dutch oven to sauté evenly, until fragrant.
6. Add cognac and let it cook until alcohol evaporates.
7. Push veggies aside to add tomatoes, bay leaves, and herbes de provence for 2 minutes to layer in flavor.
8. Return beef along with liquid released onto the plate into the Dutch oven. Add wine and bring to a strong simmer. Add broth and stir.
9. Add carrots, potatoes, cloves, and Worcestershire sauce. Cover with a lid and cook in the preheated oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until beef becomes fork tender.
10. Remove from oven and place on burner at low heat. Rinse mushrooms and add to stew. Once combined, turn off heat to serve.

Note:

* In lieu of beurre manie, potatoes are used as the starch to thickening the jus (or gravy). Also, it makes it a 1-pot meal and slightly healthier with less butter. If you prefer to go sans potatoes, I recommend serving with some good pappardelle pasta. What can I say, I like my carbs.