A few weeks ago, my daughter mentioned that she cooked fried eggs in pesto, instead of butter. She had seen someone make them on TikTok, and tried it with great results. Took me a few minutes to wrap my head around the concept, but it makes sense, because of the high oil content in pesto. Essentially, you’re just cooking the eggs in a flavoured oil.
I made a little video to show you how it all comes together. Store bought pesto is fine, but if you want to make your own, I have included a recipe below. I have so much basil in my garden now, I’m making pesto with abandon. I like to switch it up and try different nuts, instead of the traditional pine nuts. I love it with pistachios or walnuts. Just toast your nuts first please.
Roasted tomatoes make a fine accompaniment. I often find the little ones on the vine at Loblaws. It makes such a pretty presentation. Lightly drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a 400°F oven to 10-15 minutes, just until they start to split open.
Don’t know what the weather’s like in your neck of the woods, but here in Ottawa we’ve been under siege. Earlier this week we set a one-day-record for snowfall with over 50 centimetres (that’s almost 20 inches) burying the city. The old record of 41 centimetres was set in 1947. Whoopee for us!
Perfect time to cocoon, binge watch Netflix and make oat and maple waffles. I finished off all five seasons of Friday Night Lights in a few short weeks and I’m having Tim Riggins withdrawal. My husband can’t believe that after watching all those episodes, I still don’t understand football.
We started watching House of Cards, but my husband doesn’t understand the concept of binge watching. He restricts us to one episode a night. The man has incredible self-control. I decided to see if I could break down his will power with waffles. These waffles are the creation of whole grains maven Kim Boyce. Her 2011 book “Good to the Grain”is a veritable whole grains baking bible. Kim and co-author Amy Scattergood go beyond just substituting whole grains for all-purpose flour. They delve into 12 different whole grain flours and teach us what each one has to offer. I love that they are not whole grain militants. Many of the recipes have some all-purpose flour in the mix, because the lightness that you get from AP flour is sometimes necessary for superior taste. And first and foremost this book is focused on good taste!
Start with sifting the oat flour, oat bran and all purpose flour. The batter is sweetened with maple syrup. They are light and fluffy, thanks to beaten egg whites.Make sure you preheat the waffle iron to high and brush on lots of butter. We topped ours with a fried egg, because everything tastes better with a fried egg on top! This is one food trend I am happy to follow.
The popularity of hamburgers continues to soar and our desire for novel and sometimes bizarre burger concoctions knows no bounds. Have you sunk your teeth into a Luther Burger yet? Hot on the heels of the Ramen Burger comes the Spaghetti Burger. And although you gotta give the guys at Slater’s 50/50 in Huntington Beach California some credit for creativity, I won’t be trying the peanut Butter and Jellousy Burger any time soon.
I have often felt that turkey burgers are the Rodney Dangerfield of the burger world. They just don’t get much love and respect. People look down on the lowly turkey burger. Not exciting, bland, boring and often dry as dust. I aim to change all that.
These are turkey burgers with nothing to apologize for. They are spiced with cumin and just a hint of chipotle chile powder. Lightly oiled and heavily salted just before they hit the grill, they are cooked through with just the perfect amount of char and crunch on the outside. Delicious as this burger is, it’s really all about the toppings here. I thinly sliced several onions and cooked them low and slow in a bit of olive oil, for almost 40 minutes until they were sweet and caramelized. A pinch of sugar helps the process. Patience please. Do not try to rush this process by turning up the heat. You will end up with burned onions.Some thickly sliced heirloom tomatoes, sour kosher dills and buttery avocado, sliced into wedges round out the toppings. I toasted a multi grain bun and spread it liberally with some chipotle mayo. The cherry on top is a fried egg. It seems that fried eggs are showing up on top of everything these days. There’s a very good reason for the fried egg trend. It just tastes freaking amazing. The crispy edges and the runny yolk of a fried egg are really one of life’s simpler pleasures in our ever increasingly complex world.
The richness of the yolk is the ideal way to counteract the natural leanness of the turkey.From that very first bite when you chomp into the burger and the yolk dribbles down your chin and the side of the burger, happiness will ensue. The flavours and textures of this burger are something very special. The contrast of the cool crunchy sour dill with the warm tender egg will get your taste buds very excited for a second bite. Slow down and notice the sweet-acid zip of the tomato and the smooth buttery avocado. Take note the heat of the chipotle mayo, thickly slathered on the bun and the smoky accent of cumin in the burger. It all just works.
I know it’s a little too early to start thinking about potato latkes, since the first night of Chanukah is not until December 20 this year. But I have a good reason for posting about them now. You see, ever since I saw Chuck Hughes make these on his show, “Chuck’s Day Off”, it’s all I could think about.
Now, before you continue reading any further, I must warn you that I am about to gush big time. So, if public displays of affection make you at all uncomfortable, perhaps you should stop reading this post right now. To be perfectly honest, Chuck’s been on my mind quite a bit lately. You may recall that I posted about Chuck in April, and then again at the beginning of this month. I guess you could say that I’m a bit smitten with him. For the record, I am happily married (not to Chuck!), but celebrity crushes are permitted. I think it’s actually healthy for our marriage.
For those not familiar with Chuck, check out this short video of him on YouTube, and you’ll see what I mean.
Chuck cooks on his day off for friends, family and his suppliers as a way of saying thanks. In one episode he made adobo pork shanks, fried rice and pineapple coconut pie for Edgardo and Burt, the father and son team that cleans his restaurant. How could you not love this guy?
He made these latkes for his pots and pans suppliers. He topped them off with a dollop of ricotta cheese and a fried egg. And on the side, he served roasted grape tomatoes and sautéed zucchini. The first time I tried the recipe, I made it exactly as Chuck did, but to be honest, the ricotta and the sautéed zucchini really muddied the flavours of the potato and egg. The roasted tomatoes, however, really brightened up the whole dish. Their acidity balanced the richness of the fried potato and egg.
Chuck’s latke method is more like the Swiss dish “röesti potatoes”, than traditional potato latkes. He parboils the potatoes first, then shreds them and mixed them with onion, chives, eggs, cayenne, salt and pepper. I gave his method a whirl but must admit, I like using grated raw potatoes. I find you get a crispier latke that way.
Grape tomatoes get a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and some thyme.
After 45 minutes in the oven they come out all wrinkled and sweet. They can be made in advance and sit at room temperature while you make the latkes and fry the eggs.
