Truffle Mutt

What's in an Egg

Conversations in our household, at least the ones centered around food, are often not safe for outside viewing.  I figured that it would be safe to post about it though since no one here will see it anyway.   

As a bit of a forward it's worth mentioning that when it comes to food Jason and I are about as near to polar opposites as we could possibly be.  He's a meat and cheese kind of guy, with strict guidelines, even within those boundaries.  When we are invited to dinner it's not uncommon for people to call with the menu and ask if Jason will eat it.  Little does he know that when I'm the one answering these questions I always say he's fine with it, in hopes that the increased exposure to food will toughen him up.  In a painfully slow amount of time this approach appears to be working,  the other day he actually bought a new kind of cheddar cheese.  Well, I said painfully slow, didn't I.         

Me:  "What do you want for breakfast?"
J:  "Tacos"  (This or pizza, is always the answer to this question - seriously - always)
Me:  "It's breakfast.  How about I make huevos rancheros?"
J:  "What are those?"
Me:  "What you don't know can't hurt you."

Half and hour later when he's out of the shower. 

J:  "How are the tacos going?"
Me:  "They're going great."

As we sit down at the table.

J:  "What's in this?"  (This is the question he asks every time we aren't eating tacos or pizza - again, completely serious)
Me:  "It's a tortilla with beans and sausage, eggs, then melted cheese and salsa.  It'll be good."
J:  ***Fork goes to mouth - grimace***
Me:  "What's the problem? 
J:  "The eggs.  I can't eat them."
Me:  "Why not?  They're just eggs."
J:  "Yeah, but I don't like eggs like this."
Me:  "You eat omelette's all the time dear and they're the same eggs."
J:  "These are different."
Me:  "I'm the one that makes the omelette's and I can assure with a fair amount of certainty that these are the exact same kind of eggs."
J:  "They're a different color."
Me:  "So, what you're actually saying is that if I put the eggs in the bottom of a pan and wrapped them around the exact same stuff, called it an omelet and put salsa on top then it'd be okay?"
J:  "Maybe."
Me:  "Stop talking before the urge to kill you becomes too strong."

I ate the eggs and they were fine.

Gobble, Gobble

That's right it's Thanksgiving in Canada and what better way to celebrate than with food.  And I'm giving extra special thanks to the Zuni Cafe Cookbook that I checked out from the library last week. 

The book is filled with mouthwatering recipes each prefaced with a tale from Judy Rodgers, sharing with readers not only her food, but her inspiring stories and cooking wisdom.  Some of the ingredients are slightly obscure, but the time was taken to scale everything to accomodate the home cook and often suggestions for substitutions are provided.   

For Thanksgiving I chose to make the Three Onion Panade with oven roasted tomatoes.  The dish is a brothy casserole literally dripping with flavor.  The layers of stock saturated bread, caramalized onions and tomatos with a generous scattering of parmesean cheese are pure bliss.  Move out of the way plain old turkey stuffing, your days at the holiday table are over.

The other truly amazing moment worth giving thanks for.  I CARAMELIZED ONIONS!  I did it!  I made beautifully deep golden onions.  I think the key is olive oil.  Use lots.  Of course, I'm hardly an expert and before I start handing out tips I should make them successfully at least twice.

The 23/5 Meme

I've been tagged for this somewhat different meme by Sara at I Like to Cook and it was great to go back and see where it all started, albeit somewhat less fun reflecting on my bad photography! :o)

I remember the ribs from my 23rd post, but the fifth line isn't anything with terribly deep meaning. 

"I used a recipe from Olive Magazine that shows an image of grilled ribs that would make even a vegetarian drool."

I do remember that it was a yummy looking picture and that the rib sauce was to die for.  I also remember that my cooking magazine collection took up significantly less space on the shelf back then.  Today however, I have so many magazines that I couldn't hope to find that recipe again if it wasn't written in a post.  So, what did I really learn from this exercise?  That's right, I have an addiction.  Please send help.

Chinese To Go, From Home

There is the greatest little store in Chinatown that sells frozen handmade dumplings, spring rolls, won-tons and various dim sum delights.  You know the products are fresh because you can see the goodies being made while you're browsing the freezers.  The dumplings with pork and ginger in the picture are my first choice.  They're so good that I wouldn't think of making them myself.

I've been gracing their doorstep for a few years now, but unfortunately I'm still not sure what the store is called.  I'm sure it has a name, but the signage is very minimal and the store is little.  I do know that it faces onto 1st street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues SE and it's right beside my other favorite store in Chinatown, Can Fung Oriental Foods. 

I go there whenever I get the chance, even if it's only for a tiny bottle of sesame oil.  The store's keeper is a perfectly delightful woman, helping me find whatever I'm looking for and walking me through how to use it.  She's so terrific that I just keep going back.  On my most recent trip I bought light and dark soy sauce, candied mandarin orange peel and coconut milk and added dark miso and shrimp paste to my most wanted list.

I served my dumplings over a bed of cellophane noodles with sliced carrot and cucumber.  The dipping sauce was rice vinegar with a tsp of sugar, a small splash of fish sauce and chili sauce.

Chocolate Cookies

No bake chocolate cookies, oats stacks, haystacks, or whatever you call them I'm sure everyone has seen a variation of these cookies.  They have an uncanny way of turning up at every bake sale, potluck or kids birthday party.   Probably because they're super fast and require almost no skill to make.  Just melt everything together, mix in oats and coconut, drop and you're done.  You can get to the eating almost immediately.   

They're chewy, chocolaty and the only cookie that I was able make the other night when my fridge was bereft of eggs.  I threw them together and on top of a fresh batch of cookies I was left with a fantastically dirty pot to lick out.  Yum.