Monday, May 31, 2010

Egg (Ostrich egg!)

I am SO SORRY it has taken me so long to update this, call me a bad blogger if you will but I TRY!
So a few Wednesdays ago I was given my newest secret ingredient for IL which was Eggs. I started planning and when it came time to grocery shop Dallas told me he would be providing the eggs, about 2 dozen or so.
To my surprise, THIS is what he showed up with
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A freakin' ostrich egg.

This egg was HUGE. The shell felt like shiny plaster and it was heavy. Cracking the shell took a few tries, I think I ended up just taking a hammer to it and clearing the small eggshell bits out before breaking the soft tissue under the hard shell. Either way, it was complicated.
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Ha, still in my work clothes.

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Finally...
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It looked just like a ginormous chicken egg inside. I mixed in some heavy cream in with my eggs. I like cream in eggs, don't know why, you don't have to do this.
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Anyways, on to cookin'.

Dish 1
Italian egg roll
You will need:
Egg
Puff pastry
Salami
Cheese - I used parmesan and ricotta
Balsamic vinegar

Set out your puff pastry to thaw. It takes about 45 mins
When it is soft, unroll it, coat with EVOO and sprinkle with some cheese.
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These pictures all came out dark and yellow tinted :\

Next
Scramble some eggs with some more cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. Don't scramble them all the way, keep them a little runny.
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While your eggs cook find a second to cover your pastry dough with a layer of sliced salami.
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Sprinkle with cheese - I used ricotta

When the eggs are done, cover the salami and roll up.
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Bake in the oven at 400 untill puffy and done looking --- technical I know.

Meanwhile
Reduce some balsamic vinegar for a drizzle. This takes 5-10 minutes.
If you don't want to do this, they sell balsamic drizzle sauce sometimes in the grocery store :)

When your roll is done, remove from oven and drizzle with balsamic glaze, cut and serve!
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Veggie Quiche
You will need:
Pie crust - I got the cheap frozen kind from the grocery store.
Eggs
Spinach
Onion
Mushrooms
Cheese

I had no idea making quiche was so easy! And it tastes impressive.

Start by throwing some chopped onions in a pan with some EVOO and mushrooms - stir often
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When the onion is soft lower heat and add a handful of spinach leaves on top to wilt.
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Wait about 2 minutes and put veggies in frozen pie crust and fill with a beaten egg. Throw a little salt and pepper on top and some cheese and put in them oven at 400 to bake
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Takes maybe 10ish minutes. Check to see eggs are solid and cooked, remove, cool and serve!
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(I made 2 because of the amazing amount of egg I had!)

After 2 quiches and an egg roll I had enough left over for 4 bowls of scrambled eggs.
My troops were full and ready to complete their battle

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Asparagus

Hi all! It's been a few weeks! Sorry about the lapse in Iron Lydia posts, but game/cook night hasn't happened for a few weeks due to life stuff! I'm back now!
So yesterday I finally completed my battle with Asparagus! Here's the goods:
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Bacon wrapped asparagus with *quick* "hollandaise" sauce
Take about 5-6 pieces of asparagus, with the bottoms chopped off. You want them about 4 inches long and pretty skinny. Take the 5 or so branches (?are they asparagus branches?) and paint with EVOO and place on a generous piece of tin foil.
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Once you've done for as many servings as you like, wrap into a tin foil pouch and place on the grill on a med/low heat and cover.
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Now for the sauce!
You will need these things:
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Combine them in a bowl. You will want more mayo then mustard, a small shake of garlic and a small bit of lemon juice, mix, and done!
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In about 15 minutes take your bacon wrapped asparagus off the grill and serve with the sauce. Easy!
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The for main course I made:
I dont even know what to call it!! (Any loyal follower care to name this dish?)
You will need the following:
1 Small eggplant
1.5 bundles asparagus
Spaghetti noodles
Cottage cheese (weird, I know!)
Spices you like, I used garlic and cumin with some salt and pepper.
Sesame seeds

In a large pan, I used one of these Rachel Ray grill pans, they are awesome! Any old big pan would work though.
Cut the tips off of your asparagus and cut your eggplant into small chunks. Combine in pan and heat with enough EVOO to coat veggies with some to spare!
Season the veggies in the pan and stir often. Throw in some sesame seeds. keep on med/highish heat. Again I used cumin and garlic! It went really well, but again - whatever you like!
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Meanwhile, while your veggies cook boil water and begin to cook your noodles.
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Once your noodles are soft, stain the water and return to pot. I put a tiny bit of butter on to keep them from sticking. Mix in about 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. I know this is weird and a lot of people hate it, but trust me, you wont even know it's there. It makes the while dish have a cream sauce effect without being very heavy.
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After mixing, combine noodles and veggies in pan. Mix well! Serve! Enjoy!
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The boys did not have any battle this week, they were worn out from last weeks Fallschirmjaeger vs US Rifles in the bocage