Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce

I had a hankering for eggs benedict this morning, but as usual, was short on time. I didn't want to make a bunch of hollandaise sauce that wasn't going to hold up, but I knew the craving wasn't going to go away until I indulged it. Since sheer laziness prevents me from wanting to whisk egg yolks first thing in the morning, I thought I'd try making an small portion of hollandaise in my personal blender. It's not as powerful as a regular blender, so I wasn't too worried about it frothing up my sauce too much. Turns out, you can make a pretty easy (and tasty) hollandaise in your Magic Bullet in less than 4 minutes.

Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup unsalted butter
pinch cayenne
pinch salt
(optional, not typical, I just like it) pinch freshly cracked pepper

Preparation:
1) Place egg yolks and lemon juice in blender cup and blend until thick
2) Heat butter in a cup on high until thoroughly melted
3) Gently add 1/2 tsp of melted butter to egg yolks and blend for 5 seconds; continue adding 1/2 tsp of melted butter until egg yolks are fully tempered (careful not to add too much melted butter and accidentally scramble your egg yolks)
4) Once egg yolks are fully tempered, you can add remaining melted butter, cayenne and salt, etc. and blend until thorough mixed
5) Your hollandaise sauce should be the same consistency as stovetop hollandaise; serve it up however you like!

Quote of the Month

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” 
– Mark Jenkins

Pumpkin, PB & Flaxseed Dog Treats

I know I haven't posted in a minute. Life has been weird and hard and sad and good. I've finally come out of my funk and am feeling inspired to create things again. Decided to convert the office into an art studio and start my block printing back up. That's what everyone's getting for Christmas, by the way.  Imprints of weird stuff I'll be carving into various types of material.

I'll probably do one of Mochi, the puppy that recently joined my little brood of fuzzy-wuzzies. She's sweet and smart and generally incredible. Middle of the night I'm cleaning up her (frankly, gross) puppy accidents, and still I love her to pieces. I mean, how can you not love this adorable lump of cuteness?

When I bought the house with the small fenced-in yard, I thought I would only need to accommodate a medium-sized dog that I had vaguely decided I would someday adopt. Little Mochi here will likely weigh-in at 60 pounds full-grown-- enough to pull a person on a sled. I'm thinking I should start training Mochi now so she can pull the kids I've vaguely decided I would someday have around on a sled and save me money on a babysitter. Heartworm medication don't come cheap, you know. Mochi needs to pull some weight around here. (Yes, I'm aware that was one of my more awkward puns.)

Between training Mochi, grooming her and taking her everywhere I go, I've also decided to take her nutrition into my own hands.  Right now I'm feeding her the Wellness pet food line, but instead of paying for expensive, all-natural treats, I've decided to start baking her biscuits at home. This way, she's eating the freshest, healthiest treats possible, and I can switch up the recipes to fit her nutritional needs as she ages.

Here's a super easy recipe that I tweaked to include flaxseed meal, which Modern Dog magazine calls one of the 10 best "people" foods for dogs. I've been testing other recipes, including one with pureed veggies in it, and will post those when they've been properly taste-tested by all my friends' dogs.

Pumpkin, PB & Flaxseed Dog Treats
Servings: 35-50 biscuits, depending on size

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal)
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Whisk together the flour, flaxseed, eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, and salt in a bowl. Add water by the teaspoon, as needed, to help make the dough workable, but the dough should remain somewhat dry and stiff. Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick sheet. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces or with cookie cutter.
3. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheets in a preheated oven until hard (about 25-30 minutes for small cookies and 35-40 minutes for larger cookies).
4. Allow to cool, then store in airtight container.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

I could not possibly love these muffins more.  They're perfectly moist with a delicious crumb topping.  And they are so easy to make!  Just plop a bunch of ingredients together and voila!  I've messed with this recipe so many times (sometimes I'll use whole wheat flour, sometimes I'll substitute brown sugar, etc.) and I'm fairly certain it is impossible to mess up these muffins.  So without further ado...

Found this recipe on AllRecipes.com

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Ingredients

(For crumb topping)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, room temp
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

(For muffins)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
Milk (approx 1/3 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line muffin pan with liners.
2. Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork (do not overmix); set aside
3. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder.  Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Appreciating Food as Sensory Art

It's in the sweet, delicate crunch of a freshly picked carrot-- the way it smells of earth.  The pleasure of snapping it between your teeth, the twist of your hand, the little tremors in your cheek.


It's in the perfect amount of aged balsamic vinegar and grassy olive oil drizzled over sliced heirloom tomatoes and the gentleness of mozzarella against the heartiness of a toasted baguette.

It's in just the pinch of cardamom in a batch of warm beignets-- the sensation of biting into a fluff of powdered sugar as it melts together with lightly salted caramel atop the crisp softness of fried dough.

To enjoy the sensory pleasures of eating, to revel in the simple pairing of ingredients or to honor the complicated task of folding together perfectly chilled croissant dough-- it opens up another dimension of appreciation not only for the food itself, but for how food comes to be.


Thomas Keller writes about the first time he skinned and butchered a cage of rabbits and how it forever transformed the way he thought about cooking and our relationship to what we eat. "Respect for food is a respect for life," he says.  It makes one think twice about over-cooking a piece of fish only to toss it in the trash with nary an after thought.

How the combination of flavors and textures stimulate different parts of your lips, your tongue, the roof of your mouth or the back of your throat, all the way down to how it fills you-- well, you could say creating a memorable sensation through food is a practice of sensory art.  It's in the aroma, the after taste, the way the flavors can be accentuated with a sip of wine.  Consider a simple piece of nigiri and how you can change your experience with a piece of fish simply by flipping it over, the oily flesh of fresh hamachi the first to hit your tongue. 


On this Earth Day, I think about what food means. About the Chilean grapes I see in the supermarket, the pesticides that coat their skin, the long hours they spent in a cargo container.  Versus a fresh local apple and how we live together throughout the seasons-- our summer is its summer, our winter is its winter-- and ultimately how that apple will taste when it's delicately sliced into a mixed green salad we can eat at its peak today rather than treated with chemicals for easy packaging and shipping across the world.

I think flavor, texture, taste and the very art of cooking and eating, of creating an incredible, genuinely fulfilling sensory experience has everything to do with how we treat our food, the land its grown on, and those who handle it with care.

So I guess on this Earth Day, I only want to say this: that if we respect our food and respect our earth, we receive that respect in return.

Two Childhood Favorites: Tea Eggs and Ketchup Fried Rice

Tea eggs are a very popular delicacy in Taiwan, where they're often served with stewed pork belly rice.  They're so popular, in fact, that growing up I'd walk to the local Family Mart or OK Mart to get fruit milk, a steamed bun, maybe some salt and pepper puffs, or a tea egg from an electric pot simmering next to the cash register.  I guess you could say that hardboiled eggs, gently cracked and cooked slowly in dark soy sauce is a pretty common sight in certain parts of Asia.

Some recipes for tea eggs call for different spices.  The simplest recipe, however, requires only water, hardboiled eggs, soy sauce, and black tea.  Most Asian markets will likely have tea egg spice bags that you can drop into your pot, which makes things easy.  Some people argue that adding a can of Coke or Cherry Coke really makes the flavors pop.

I haven't been able to find tea egg spice bags in Salt Lake (yet), so just made do with a simple recipe.  The tea eggs still come out tasty and beautifully marbled.

Simple Tea Eggs
Servings: 6 eggs


Ingredients

4 cups water
1 cup dark or double black soy sauce
1 can Cherry Coke (my friend Chi-Hao swears by it)
2 black tea bags (I used Oolong, Pu-erh or Assam)
2 pods of star anise
6 hardboiled eggs
(optional: cinnamon stick and/or whole peppercorn)


Preparation
1.  Gently crack your hardboiled eggs.
2.  Combine water, soy sauce and Cherry Coke in a pot and bring to a boil (make sure the pot is deep enough to hold the liquid and eggs, but narrow enough so that the soy mixture will cover the eggs)
3.  Once the water is boiling, place tea bags, star anise, eggs (and optional ingredients) into the water, turning the heat down to a simmer
4.  Simmer gently for at least two hours.

Something else we loved to eat when I was little was ketchup fried rice.  My understanding is that the Japanese were first to come up with this pairing.  While some people simply squeeze ketchup over their fried rice, my sister Lorin and I always preferred the ketchup stir-fried into the rice.  In many restaurants, you can get the fried rice wrapped in a thin omelet (omurice).

Ketchup Fried Rice
Servings: 4

Ingredients
Vegetable oil to taste
4-5 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup diced onions
4 garlic cloves, diced
1 cup frozen diced veggies, thawed (peas, carrots, whatever you like)
2 cups cold, leftover rice
1/2 cup ketchup
salt and white pepper to taste

Preparation
1.  Heat a little vegetable oil in your wok or fry pan (however much you're comfortable using to scramble 4-5 eggs).  Cook the eggs until just cooked (about 1-2 minutes), but do not overcook; remove eggs from pan.
2.  Add some more oil to your pan and cook onions, garlic and veggies on medium heat until onions are translucent and garlic is browned (about 2-3 minutes)
3.  Add rice to the hot pan, breaking up any chunks of rice with your spatula; stir-fry for 1-2 minutes or until rice softens
4.  Pour ketchup over your rice and continue to cook, flipping the rice frequently, until ketchup is lightly caramelized (about 1 minute), then add scrambled eggs back into the pan and flip the rice until the eggs are thoroughly and evenly combined with the rice.
5.  Add salt or white pepper to taste, if you desire.

Diego tried it for the first time the other day and LOVED it.  He gobbled up his bowl in two minutes flat.  Try it!

Recipes For Make Guests Happy

I don't know if it's because I'm ridiculously hung-over or if I'm spending way too much time checking out petite giraffes, but I can't be bothered with correct grammar right now. Alls I know is, I made some food, then drank a lot and hung out with friends until I passed out in my party dress.

The three most popular dishes from last night were probably the cornbread, beef stew and banana pudding pie.  The Creamy Tomatillo Dressing (a reproduction of the one at Cafe Rio courtesy Kalyn's Kitchen) was also a hit.  The peach cobbler couldn't be faster or easier to make, and I'll definitely be making it when fresh peaches come into season.  The slow-cooker ribs were literally just beef ribs + BBQ sauce of your choice + 1 inch of water in the slowcooker for 8-10 hours.  Presto.

Hope you guys like the recipes and enjoy!!

Green Chile Cornbread

Ingredients

1 cup melted, unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs (mine were at room temp)
1 (15oz) can creamed corn
1 (4oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
1.5 cups shredded "Mexican" blend cheese (or a mixture of cheddar and Monterey Jack, depending on taste)
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 
2. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time; then mix in creamed corn, green chiles and cheese
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt; gradually mix flour mixture into corn mixture and stir until smooth. Pour batter into lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes until lightly browned.

Beef Stew

Ingredients

1 pound cubed beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup vegetable oil, divided
4 cups beef broth
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 teaspoons tomato paste (I keep a tube in the fridge, they're fantastic)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 cup red wine (cabernet sauvignon or merlot both work well)
1.5 cup carrots, sliced into 1-inch pieces
2 cups red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5-inch pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour or cornstarch, whatever you prefer
1/2 cup corn kernels

Preparation

1. Coat beef thoroughly in salt, pepper and cumin, then dredge in flour.  Heat 3 Tbs oil in a medium pot, then brown beef on all sides on high heat.  Remove beef, then cook onion, garlic, tomato paste and paprika in remaining oil on medium heat.  
2. Once onions are soft, add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and ground thyme. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 1.5 hours or until meat is tender.
3. Add red wine, carrots and potatoes to the pot and simmer for another 45 minutes.
4. Scoop out 1/2 cup of broth from the pot; then, in a small bowl, fully dissolve the flour or cornstarch.  Stir the mixture thoroughly into your stew and, turning the heat to a simmer, allow the stew to thicken.  Repeat, if desired.
5. Add corn to stew, simmer for 20 minutes and serve.

Banana Pudding Pie

Ingredients

2 cups crushed vanilla wafers
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
4 sliced ripe bananas
3 cups milk
2 packages vanilla instant pudding
1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1.5 cups heavy cream
2 Tbs powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla


1.5 cups thawed whipped topping


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix wafer crumbs, pecans, nutmeg and butter until thoroughly combined; press firmly into the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned; set aside to cool.
3. Pour milk into large bowl and whisk together with pudding mix until well combined, then whisk in lemon juice.
4. Layer crust with banana slices; spread 2 cups of the pudding mixture evenly over the banana slices.
5. In a separate bowl, whip together heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until stiff**; stir 1 cup of the whipped cream into the remaining pudding, then spread the mixture evenly over the pie.
6. Combine remaining whipped cream with whipped topping (the whipped topping will help keep your fresh whipped cream firm). Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, then serve!

** You can replace the fresh whipped cream with whipped topping, if you prefer or are short on time.