Steak & Eggs Benedict

In the mood for breakfast/brunch for dinner?  Don't go all the way with your typical eggs, bacon and toast route.  Make this non-traditional play on the traditional steak and eggs. 

Starting the Hollandaise sauce by mixing egg yolks and lemon juice.

Must have butter.

Grilled Steak with Toasted Sage leaf

Brioche topped with Canadian Bacon, Poached Egg, Hollandiase, Cayenne & Chives on a bed of spinach.

Happy 2011 Austin, TX Style

I am not much for New Year's resolutions, however I do hold to the superstition that you should eat all of the "lucky" foods you can on New Year's Day. Generally, I am sure everyone is award that if you don't eat black eyed peas on January 1st you will be sentenced to a full year of gloom and doom. I also discovered that the same goes for cabbage. We just so happen to have cabbage making an attempt to grow in our garden, but no actual cabbage yet :-( only leaves. I did my best to incorporate these two lucky ingredients (along with some other questionable food products) into side dishes for Alex's Texas Hill Country Smoked Ribs. I can only take credit for the sauce. The ribs are all him!

p.s.  For January 1, 2012 I did discover there are some foods to avoid.  Lobster, for instance, is a bad idea because they move backwards and could therefore lead to setbacks. Chicken is also discouraged because the bird scratches backwards, which could cause regret or dwelling on the past. Another theory warns against eating any winged fowl because good luck could fly away.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/newyearsday/luckyfoods#ixzz1BsyaD2h4

Canned black eyed peas, cabbage & green leaves, onion, jalapeno, potatoes and carrots.  I used whatever I had in the fridge.  After all, who wants to leave the house to venture out the the grocery store on New Year's day and miss any college football??

Saute onions, garlic and jalapenos.

Okay....I really hate this but it is a nightmare ingredient that was thrown in.  Why did I have summer sausage you ask?  Well, when I went home for the holidays my family had amassed many holiday gift baskets that they would never consume.  Hence, the strange array of crackers, cheeses, etc. you may see showing up in my nightmares.  Ick!

Surprisingly, when summer sausage is cooked down and charred pretty much to it's death it tastes a lot like bacon.

Texas Caviar:  Black Eyed Peas, Onions, Garlic, Jalapenos, Cilantro, Summer Sausage, Red Wine Vinegar, EVOO, S &P

A side note...  Here is my amazing Cuisinart food processor.  It has dutifully served me pretty much daily for well over 5 years.  I suggest every kitchen have one.  However, my good friend is pretty worn and nearing it's last leg.  If anyone is shopping for food processors, keep me in mind.  Mom, dad, anyone, hint, hint.

Potato, Cabbage & Carrot Mash

Oops, not sure how this picture of my margarita got in here.

Ingredients for quick BBQ sauce, in addition to brown sugar and vinegar.

RIBS!!!!

Austin, Texas Caviar.  Texas Caviar, topped with toast and real caviar. 

Potato, Carrot & Cabbage Mash

Sinful Veggie Burgers & Baked French Fries

I received a Soft Box as a Christmas gift to help out with my food photography.  I am sooo not a photographer, so hopefully this will help give me some creative inspiration and make my pictures look better.  I really don't know how to properly use it yet but I am practicing.  I decided I needed a meal that had ingredients with great colors and varying textures to try it out for the first time.  For some time now I have been wanting to attempt to  replicate 24 Diner's veggie burger.  It is one of the best I have tasted  as it is made from beets, various seeds & nuts, mushrooms and lots of other really yummy healthy ingredients.  Pretty much anything from 24 Diner is amazing, and best of all they are always open!  If you have never been I highly recommend it.

Bacon, Beets, Lemon, Tomato, Mushrooms, Challah bread, Eggs, Micro Greens, Sunflower Seeds, Golden Flax Seeds, Lentils, Pumpkin Seeds & Potatoes

I heart micro greens!

Sunflower Seeds, Golden Flax Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds & Lentils

Chopped mushrooms, ready to be added to burger ingredients

Cooking the lentils

One of the best things I have ever tasted - Brown Sugar Bacon.  I took bacon and placed it in a bag with mustard and brown sugar.  It was tossed to be completely coated and then put on parchment paper.  Bake in oven at 375 degrees until crispy.  OMG - heaven.

It may not be the the "proper" way to poach an egg but I always use the microwave.  This is how I watched my mom poach eggs when I was a child, and it has always been fool-proof in my experience.  Fill a small microwave safe dish with water, add a splash of white vinegar and gently pour the egg in the water.  Cover with a plastic baggie and cook for exactly 1 minute.  Always poached pretty much perfectly.

Roasted beets were the main ingredient in the burger patties.  After roasted and softened, add to food processor with other ingredients.

Beets, ground flax seeds, mushrooms, lentils, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.  Cooked rice was folded in later.

This is what made the burger sinful.  My idea was to put the bacon on the salad, but it turned out so delicious I decided to add it to the "veggie" burgers :-)  Oopsie!

Patties, made and ready to go.  They were a little softer than I would have liked so I let them sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up in order to cook them more easily.

Challah bread - sweet, buttery and yummy.

The burgers were topped with slices of goat cheese.

What's a veggie burger without thick slices of bacon??

I almost forgot about my oven fries.  They weren't so bad, either. 

Homemade Christmas Gifts

This year we decided to give gifts to family and friends that could be made with love from our kitchen, using many ingredients from our gardens.  

Citrus Zest Sea Salt

Zest lemons, limes & oranges

Allow zest to dry on a towel, then place in oven at 200 degrees to remove remaining moisture.

Mix dried citrus zest with sea salt.

Place mixture into containers.

Sun Dried Tomato Pecan Pesto

Mix Parmesan, Sun-dried tomatoes, Basil, Garlic & Pecans in food processor.

Pack into jars, and top with a layer of EVOO.  This gift must be refrigerated and used within a week or frozen.

Cinnamon Dusted Pecan Pralines

Brown Sugar, Dark Karo Syrup, Evaporated Milk, Butter & Vanilla

Cook...

...until soft ball stage

Drizzle with milk chocolate and dust with cinnamon.

Winter Solstice Green Tomato Salsa

I plucked the last of the remaining tomatoes on December 21, the Winter Solstice.

Cook chopped ingredients.  Remember to add appropriate amounts of acid (lime/vinegar) since you will be canning the salsa.

Mix cooked ingredients in food processor and fill cleaned jars.

Seal jars, and follow steps for your method of canning.

Herbs de Provence

Rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme from our garden.

Clean herbs, cut herbs and place them on a cookie sheet to bake.

Bake on low temp until brown.

Grind finely in food processor.  Here I added other herbs that I did not have in my garden at this time of the year including lavender & marjoram.

Agave Vanilla Extract

Gorgeous vanilla beans.  I bought these at Whole Foods, but if I would have planned ahead I would have purchased in bulk online for a much lower price.

Slice open vanilla beans and place about two in each container.  Add a few tablespoons of agave nectar to the bottom of the jars.

Fill with your choice of Vodka or Rum.  Here I used 3/4 Vodka to 1/4 Rum. 

Instruct gift recipients to allow to sit for 6-8 weeks before using.  When the extract runs low, more alcohol can be added to the beans to replenish.

Apple Cider Reduction

Add caption

Pour Apple Cider in large pot.  Cook on medium for 3-4 hours until reduced to the consistency of honey. For each of the squeeze bottles below I used 2 1/2 containers of apple cider.

This is fabulous to keep in your kitchen!  You can use it like honey in teas and other recipes.  Also top various dishes with it for a sweet & tangy kick.