Saturday Brunch

Omelettes!!

After my training I wanted to make brunch in bed for TBI, but he got up and ruined it.

A bacon and cheese omelette - yes we're sick for bacon.

The trick to a good omelette is this: under cook it just a little.

Break three eggs into a bowl and whip them a bit with a fork.

Heat the skillet (mine was still greasy from frying bacon so I didn't need any butter or oil in the pan) and pour in the eggs. Let them cook until there is about half the egg mixture still loose on top of the cooked bottom. Then throw on your toppings. I threw some finely minced red onion, some crumbled bacon, and a healthy handful of shredded cheddar on one half of the egg. And the special ingredient - Cavendar's Greek Seasoning. I tossed a little dill and a dash of salt and pepper inside.

Then, carefully flip the un-topped half over the top of the topped half, and turn the heat to low, letting the insides cook just a little more, until you can press the top of the omelette with the spatula and raw eggy stuff doesn't squeeze out, but it's still moist - even a little wet. It will continue to cook a little when you take it out of the pan. Also, a dry omelette is gross.

You can serve it with some salsa and sour cream, but I think it's flavorful and fattening enough as is. Sprinkle some more dill and salt and pepa on top, and voila! If you have some roasted red potatoes left over from last night, like I did, serve those on the side in lieu of hashbrowns.

And then go back to sleep. You'll be in a food coma.

Friday Night Dinner

TBI gets to come home on the weekends, and we try to make the most of our time. I had a work thing to do on Saturday early in the morning, so we stayed in on Friday night and I made a special meal for him to precede the ice cream sandwiches seen below.

I made The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Chicken Legs, and while they were good, they lacked the excitement I was hoping for. I even added several good chugs of Franks RedHot and a generous amout of cayenne pepper to her recipe, but still they were pretty tame. They were very juicy, but not as herby and hot as I hoped they would be.

I also made roasted red potatoes, and all I have to say is, Make These Immediately.

Get two pounds of red potatoes, rinse them and cut them into fairly small bits - I think I cut them in 9ths.

Get out a cookie sheet, dumped the potato cubes on it, and pour 1/2 of a cup of olive oil over them, followed by a dash of seasoning salt and a package of onion soup mix. With a spatula, stir them around. I also threw a little minced fresh rosemary on there because I had it.






Heat the oven to 450, and throw em in. It will seem like they're cooking quickly, but I left them in at 450 for 20 minutes, then I lowered the heat to 400 (because I put the chicken legs in) for another 30 minutes. You want them browned and crispy on the outside. You could probably cook them even longer than that for a really crispy outside, which I think I will do next time.

TBI loves green beans, and we all love bacon, so I made extra-special green beans. Here's the process.

Heat a large saucepan of water on the stovetop, and dump in a bag of frozen whole green beans. Add some sort of base - I used mushroom but beef would work or vegetable. While that simmers, fry some bacon. I used three strips and cut them up with kitchen scissors right into the large frying pan. As soon as the bacon is crisp, drain off most of the grease, and drain the water off the blanched beans. Put the beans into the frying pan with the bacon, add some salt, pepper, and minced garlic, and turn the heat to low, stirring the beans occasionally and letting them get softened.

The Pioneer Woman also supplied an obscene recipe for buttery herbed bread, so I threw some of that together, since it's not a meal unless you use bacon and at least four sticks of butter. All in all it was a pretty easy meal to make, but seemed like a special one - even though I left the chicken under the broiler just a minute too long. Oh well.

The Naughty Ice Cream Sandwich

This ain't your little sister's ice cream sandwich.

Do the ice cream first. Here's what you do. Get some ice cream - I prefer Bryer's french vanilla, but I also prefer what's on sale. Let it soften up a little. Then dump some Bailey's in a bowl, as much as you like. I like Bailey's a lot, but I must say that I got my ice cream a little too Bailey'sish, so be careful.

Then dump the softened icecream into the bowl and mash it up with the booze until it's kind of thick but soupy. Then spread it onto a jellyroll pan or a cookie sheet with sides. Put it in the freezer and wait for it to get pretty hard. Not hard as a rock, but you are going to need it to hold its shape. This can take a couple of hours.

Then get out a box of brownie mix. I used a Ghirardelli double chocolate one that had chocolate chunks in it. The chunks are vital, so put extra chunks in if you don't have a mix that has them already. We need extra chunks of chocolate in everything. It's really, really important.

Follow the box directions, except for this. Use TWO eggs, add a little instant cappucino (I used about three tablespoons), and a third of a cup of coffee liquor instead of water. I used creme de cassis because the lid was stuck on the Kaluha bottle and we were out of Tia Maria. Grease another jelly roll pan, and then cover it with parchment paper. This is actually important. Don't skip the parchment. Spread the brownie batter on that, and bake. I baked around 15 minutes and that was about perfect. I don't like them overbaked. But you want them thinner than a regular brownie, of course, and that's the point of the pan.

Once your ice cream is sufficiently hard, you can start the fun part.

Cut the brownies out with a cookie cutter. I used a giant heart because these are for my sweetie, but use whatever floats your boat. Then cut out the ice cream with the same cutter. Work fast - the ice cream is trying to melt again on you.

Assemble them in one or two layers, depending on how thick they are or how big your cutter is. Since mine is so big, one layer was more than enough.

Now, they're perfect just like that. But I am an uber perfectionist. So I added some chocolate liquer to my good old store bought chocolate sauce, and drizzled that on top of the sandwiches before I served them, because ooey gooey chocolate sin can only be better with more ooey gooey chocolate and booze.

This will get you laid.

Ingredient List:

1 box of brownie mix, preferably Ghirardelli double chocolate

2 eggs

1/3 cup chocolate liquer

1/3 cup oil

1/2 gallon of ice cream, preferably Breyer's french vanilla, or what's on sale

1/2 cup of Bailey's Irish creme (or Carolan's, which is the cheaper version I had on hand)

Chocolate syrup, optional

My photo is pre-syrup. I had to take kind of an ugly photo because they were melting and I didn't have time to plate them up for a pretty photo since I was afraid I'd ruin the whole thing.

Use your imaginations.

This recipe courtesy of www.pinchmysalt.com

Barefoot Contessa's Baked Eggs

Her recipe is only available online for a short time, so I decided to "save" it here.
I've been making these every few days since I saw the episode, with some variations. I don't use heavy cream, I use whatever herbs I have on hand, and I just toast some wheat bread. Maybe someday I'll make it "right" for company, but it's pretty damn amazing in my watered-down version.


1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
6 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toasted French bread or brioche, for serving

Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.
Combine the garlic, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and Parmesan and set aside. Carefully crack 3 eggs into each of 2 small bowls or teacups (you won't be baking them in these) without breaking the yolks. (It's very important to have all the eggs ready to go before you start cooking.)
Place 2 individual gratin dishes on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon of cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Quickly, but carefully, pour 3 eggs into each gratin dish and sprinkle evenly with the herb mixture, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place back under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes, until the whites of the eggs are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly.) The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.