by Sam Tackeff | May 14, 2009 | Barefoot Blogging, Breakfast
This weeks Barefoot Blogging backtracks to a recipe that I wasn’t around for – Ina Garten’s Herb Baked Eggs. Barefoot blogging is a group effort of those of us who absolutely adore the Barefoot Contessa, and are cooking our way through her recipes. It’s great fun.
I thought these eggs would be a perfect way to inaugurate my new ceramic ramekins, and use the broiler that I couldn’t figure out how to use – it’s one of those pull out drawers under the stove that I always thought was just intelligent storage space for baking pans.
The recipe couldn’t be simpler, and makes a really great breakfast to serve for company or just yourself in a matter of minutes. And it looks so pretty! I ate mine with some really fantastic bread from Alvarado Street Bakery.
Ina Garten’s Herb Baked Eggs
serves 2
Ingredients
– a half clove of garlic, freshly minced
– 1/4 teaspoon of minced fresh thyme leaves
– 1/4 teaspoon of minced fresh rosemary leaves
– 1 tablespoon of minced fresh parsley
– 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
– 6 extra large eggs
– 2 tablespoons heavy cream
– 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
– Salt and Pepper
Method
1. Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.
2. 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.)
3. 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.
by Sam Tackeff | May 11, 2009 | Pantry Staples
I fell in love with green flageolet bean over ten years ago when I lived for the summer in a small village in France. Yes, thats right, I fell in love with a bean. I was so smitten that I insisted that my mother purchase a box to return to the states with… a box which tragically has been sitting in our pantry for the past ten years.
This was a terrible oversight. The green flageolet, the “caviar of beans”, is a prized bean in French cooking, and tastes really brilliant. I was so excited to find is being cultivated here in California by my favorite bean source, Rancho Gordo (just a few weeks ago given nod to in the NYTimes)!
Today’s lunch was a simple bowl of rice and beans. I soaked a cup of beautiful green Rancho Gordo flageolet beans overnight, and sauteed them with a half an onion for fifteen minutes before covering them with some chicken stock and simmering for an hour and a half, adding water whenever the liquid decreased too much. The beans become soft, meaty, and unlike any other beans, and you can serve them simply with rice, or, as I had planned originally, with lamb. (I, upon taking the lamb out of the freezer today after half way cooking my beans, realized that I had failed to remember the directions for the Trader Joe’s frozen lamb rack which specifically states to defrost overnight before cooking. Yes, I should start getting lamb racks at the butcher store, but the frozen ones are so convenient to have in case you want to eat well without leaving your house for two days. God, that’s a bad excuse.)
They also taste delicious as a cold salad with lemon oil dressing, freshly cracked pepper, and some parsley.
by Sam Tackeff | May 2, 2009 | Restaurants
Just a few pictures from dinner at Sam’s Chowder House, down in Half Moon Bay. The drive down to San Jose, over to Santa Cruz, and back up the beautiful coast to San Francisco has fast become one of my favorites – we hit up Sam’s just before coming back home to the city.
The very pretty beet salad featured beets from Daylight Farms, strawberries, a hazelnut puree, little greens, and feta with a citrus vinaigrette – a nice combination, I thought.
The day boat scallops here were seared, and served over more tiny greens, and a pea puree, which tasted lovely and light and springy, and gave a wonderful color contrast to the dish.
And yes, we did try the New England style clam chowder. As a New Englander with some expertise on the subject, including a summer spent working at Boston Harborfest and assisting with Boston Chowderfest, I concede it was pretty good. Must be the use of the clam broth, it’s definitely key. Saaayyyy CHOW-DAH!!!!!
