Meatless Mondays - Spicy Eggs Marinara

Welcome to my new feature, Meatless Mondays!  I hope to inspire you to make meatless meals your family will enjoy.  I'm really doing it for my own benefit...but inviting you along as usual.  Eggs for dinner are always a great idea when you're short on time, forgot to take meat out of the freezer, or just want a meatless meal.

For my birthday in April (it was actually on Easter Sunday this year), Rich made the family an awesome breakfast.  It was so delicious that I asked him to make it again for dinner for me recently.  It is absolutely delish and couldn't be easier.  I must say what really makes this dish amazing is the use of Rao's marinara sauce (you can buy it at Whole Foods), real Parmigiano, and fresh basil. When a recipe is this simple, the finest ingredients are essential. 

I can't wait to have it again soon!  Here's the recipe, in Rich's directions.  :-)

Spicy Eggs Marinara

In a 8 x 8 square ungreased pan, layer:

Warmed Rao's marinara sauce (just enough to cover bottom of pan - about 1/3 large jar) mixed with 2 cloves crushed garlic, and 1 whole jalapeno, seeded and sliced thinly as possible

Crack 4 eggs over the marinara and layer on:

some shaved red onion and 1 garlic clove, sliced thinly as possible.  Sprinkle some freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on top.

Lightly drizzle some good quality extra virgin olive oil over and

sprinkle freshly cracked pepper over the top of each egg.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

Broil top for 2 minutes (or until eggs are set)

Remove from oven.

Layer fresh basil leaves over top.

Sink the basil underneath the cheese and eggs.

Serve immediately with crostini toasts.

dimanche matin avec Riche - Rockin' French Toast!

So, most of you know by now that I tend to be a little health conscious. OK, maybe a lot health conscious.

For a moment though, I just want you to forget everything I've ever said about organic vegetables and brown rice.

Because sometimes, you really just need white bread, sugar, butter, and cinnamon in your life.

Rich made this for us last Sunday. We were sitting outside reading on Saturday afternoon, and I was going through my recent Bon Appetit magazine. I saw this recipe, promptly tore it out, handed it to Rich, and declared, "I want this for breakfast tomorrow!"

So, nice husband that he is, he made it the next morning. I pulled a half -loaf of Challah bread that my sister had made out of the freezer and he got to work.

And it was pretty much the most rockin' French Toast I've ever tasted. It was like a fresh, hot, soft, buttery cinnamon roll.

I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that it was white bread, sugar, butter and cinnamon.

Ahem.

Anyways, if you want to temporarily abandon those good habits and rock your family's world, make this sometime. If you aren't fortunate enough to have a homemade Challah (Jewish egg bread), you can pick one up at TJ's or WF. A regular soft French loaf would work well too, but the egg bread makes it really special.

Caramelized French Toast
Bon Appetit

Serves 4

7 Tbsp. butter, softened
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole milk (we don't buy whole milk, so we used 1/2 half and half and 1/2 1% milk)
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
8 slices (cut 1" thick) Challah or French Bread

Mix butter and brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk milk, eggs, vanilla, and spices.

Melt 2 Tbsp. of the brown sugar/butter mixture on a large non-stick skillet or griddle. Dip bread slices one at a time in egg mixture to coat. Add slices to skillet and cook until bottoms are deep brown, about 3-4 minutes. Spread remaining brown sugar/butter mixture over bread slices in skillet. Turn slices over. Cook until bottoms are deep brown, 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

dimanche matin avec Riche - breakfast Panini

How to be the husband of a very happy wife -

4 easy steps.

Step 1: Put on your cute new red apron that your wife got you for Valentine's Day (it says "Riche" but you can't really see it.)

Step 2: Layer scrambled eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, and applewood smoked bacon on your wife's favorite whole-grain sourdough bread. Brush on a little olive oil for nice browning.

Step 3: Shut the door of the press and let the magic happen.

Step 4: After you are done serving the beautiful sandwiches, clean up all the dishes.

Repeat next Sunday morning for optimum wifely happiness.

dimanche matin avec Riche - "Rancho Queso" Huevos Rancheros

Oh my. This past dimanche matin was a taste buds party! Rich has been wanting to put his own twist on Huevos Rancheros - or as he likes to call them, Rancho Queso Huevos Rancheros. We kind of dubbed our home "Rancho Queso" when we moved in. In our neighborhood, people have names for their ranches and Emma's nickname has always been "the Cheese" - hence Rancho Queso (literally, Cheese Ranch). The reason we nicknamed Emma that is a long story.... anyways on with this amazing dish!

This dish is a mix of many wonderful flavors and textures. Each person gets their own little "package." It starts with a corn tortilla "cup" which is nice and crispy on the edges, then tucked inside is flavorful Chorizo sausage (Mexican sausage), fresh cilantro, an egg and a topping of velvety Monterey Jack cheese. It is then finished off with a very fresh "kicked up" Ranchero sauce. Delicious!

Here is the easy step by step in pictures, and then you'll find the recipe below. This dish has a lot of 'wow' factor and is very fun to eat, too.

Huevos Rancheros in Tortilla Cups

Cooking Spray
2 Tbsp. olive oil
6 (6 1/2 inch) corn tortillas
3/4 lb. Chorizo sausage, cooked and crumbled (we got ours at Schreiner's)
2/3 cup fresh cilantro (divided)
6 large eggs
3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup purchased fresh salsa (we like Jack's from Costco)
1 can (8 0z) Ranchero Sauce (we used Herdez brand)

Spray six 6-oz. ramekins with cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place tortillas on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave one minute or until tortillas soften.

Press tortillas into ramekins and place on rimmed baking sheet. Brush each tortilla with olive oil.

Top each ramekin with a couple tablespoons of cooked sausage. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of the cilantro. Crack an egg on top of each. Sprinkle cheese evenly over all ramekins.

While they are baking, prepare Ranchero sauce by combining salsa, Ranchero sauce, and remaining cilantro.

Bake 20 - 25 minutes, until egg white appears just set. Serve immediately with Ranchero sauce.

dimanche matin avec Riche - fresh squeezed O.J.

When we moved into our house 12 years ago, the yard was a jungle. I do not exaggerate - you could hardly see the house! We loved the potential of the property and the price was right, so we bought the jungle anyways!

Soon after moving in, we thought the best thing to do would be to just clear everything out. It was just too hard to try to figure out what to keep and what not to keep. I was sad about losing a very good grapefruit tree and fig tree, but we decided for simplicity's sake that everything must go and that we should just create a clean slate. We worked for a couple of years, slowly but surely, giving up weekends to gradually get rid of every tree, shrub, and weed. We even split all the wood from the cut-down trees for firewood and it lasted more than 5 years! In the end, we got the yard down to DIRT, and we couldn't have been happier to see only dirt. It was a beautiful sight after all that hard work.

At the time, one of our friends bought a new home in Santa Clarita and was lamenting about having a backyard of "just dirt" that he needed to plant. We found it hard not to laugh, as we worked very hard to get our yard to just dirt! His came that way!

So, I said we completely demolished everything, but there was actually one exception. The only tree that we left was an old, strange-looking orange tree that was on the side yard. It appeared to have two different types of fruit growing on it. One was a normal-looking orange, and the other was a lemon-shaped but orange-colored fruit. The second fruit was very bitter but much to our excitement we found that the normal-looking fruit was extremely sweet and juicy. Over the years, our tree trimmer has eliminated the bitter fruit branches, leaving us with a jewel of a tree. Other than that, the tree gets no care - it has no formal irrigation and we don't even fertilize it. It amazes us that a tree like that could produce the such amazing fruit. A reminder that it is God who brings the harvest!

The funny thing is, after we got our yard down to dirt and replanted it, we put in a mini-orchard with several new citrus trees. They were planted in good soil, receive regular watering, annual fertilizing, and trimming, but they do not produce anything near the quality or quantity of fruit as the other one! Go figure.

One of the things that we look forward to every winter when the tree ripens is the fresh-squeezed juice that Rich makes us all season. We are fortunate because he keeps us in constant supply. Last dimanche matin, we were treated to a fresh batch. While the rest of us were showering and getting ready for church, he was busy in the kitchen squeezing us some beautiful juice. What a feast for the eyes it is to see a pitcher of gorgeous juice on the table. Our family usually stays healthy all winter-long, and there is no doubt in my mind that we are drinking our way to health with this stuff!

If you have access to home-grown oranges (check with neighbors who rarely pick their trees - I bet they wouldn't mind you picking them!), do yourself a favor and make some wonderful, healthful juice. If not, perhaps pick up a bag at the local farmer's market. I have gotten 20# bags for $10 before - great deal. Fresh-squeezed juice lasts up to a week and un-cut oranges last several weeks under refrigeration.

dimanche matin avec Riche - Buttermilk Biscuits

"Honey, do you have any cake flour?"

Not exactly the way Rich usually starts conversations with me.

But, now that Rich has been cooking on Sunday mornings, you never know what he might ask.

Especially when he wants to make Buttermilk Biscuits! He researched, found a recipe, and read up on all kinds of flour. He then determined that he needed cake flour for his biscuits.

This past Sunday, we were treated to some of the best biscuits we'd ever had. No, he had never made biscuits before in his life. And no, he had never made any bread before for that matter. In the bread department, the most he had ever done was make a piece of toast. And he goes and turns out the perfect, flaky biscuits.

If he weren't so stinkin' cute about it all, I'd be bitter.

Cutting the biscuits

Yes, he cooks all dressed for church, too!

Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

from Pinch My Salt

1 1/4 C. cake flour
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 C. butter, cut into small chunks
3/4 C. buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2. Prepare ingredients: Cut butter into small chunks, place in a bowl and return to fridge. Measure out buttermilk and set aside. Sprinkle flour on a work surface and have extra flour nearby for your hands and biscuit cutter. Have biscuit cutter and an ungreased baking sheet handy.

3. Mix dough: In a medium-large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt until very well blended. Add butter and cut into flour using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingertips, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in buttermilk and stir lightly until dough comes together in a ball.

4. Knead dough and cut biscuits: Dump dough mixture out onto floured work surface. With floured hands, lightly knead dough a few times until it is fairly well blended. Pat out into a circle, 3/4 – 1 inch thick. Dip cutter into flour and cut biscuits without twisting the cutter. Form the dough scraps into an extra biscuit-like shape instead of re-rolling the dough. Place cut biscuits together on the baking sheet so that the sides are touching. Brush tops with melted butter, if desired.

5. Bake biscuits: place baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 500 degree oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove biscuits to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.

dimanche matin avec Riche - Corned Beef Hash

Well, it was actually samedi (Saturday) but this is very blog-worthy so I'm fudging a bit. We had 4 extra teenagers spend the night last Friday night after a day at Disneyland for Nick's birthday, so Rich wanted to make his homemade corned beef hash for breakfast. Friday night at bedtime he put a corned beef into the crock pot and cooked it on low all night long. In the morning, he diced it, cooked some red potatoes and some over-easy eggs, put it all together and served up this masterpiece:

So, I know I pictured this before, but here's a little bit more on how he made it this time (hi Sabrina). Oh my...is this ever good.

This isn't really a recipe, but one thing I will tell you is that he is very good with the potatoes. He lightly boils them until tender, then puts them in his mom's big cast iron skillet with copious amounts of butter. He doesn't stir them too much so he can get a really good crust on them. He also takes the cooked cubed corned beef and browns that in a separate skillet with more copious amounts of butter. I try not to be in the kitchen while he is adding all this butter, as it ruins it for me to know how much butter I am eating. I also try to stay out of the kitchen so I don't get broadsided...he flies around like a mad chef in a restaurant kitchen!

Here are the happy recipients...

Poor Drew, I don't think he was quite awake yet.



Rich dishing it. I love a man who knows how to make hash.

dimanche matin avec Riche {returns}

OK, I know I've been remiss on posting some of Rich's Sunday morning specialties. My camera was on the blink for awhile, and Emma was out of town with hers, so a lot of our delicious food went undocumented.

This little breakfast is pure simplicity and genius. I happen to love poached eggs and over-easy eggs, but recently Rich introduced me to something his mom used to make - soft-boiled eggs. He served them in these cute little glass egg cups his mom had given us one Easter, with strips of buttered whole-grain sourdough toast on the side -major points for presentation! It is so fun to crack open the top, and dip the toast in. You can then use a spoon to scoop out what you didn't catch with the toast. This is totally old school, totally comforting. A most perfect little breakfast.

To soft boil an egg, bring a pot of water to a boil. Poke a pin hole in each end of the egg. Carefully drop egg into boiling water and set a timer for 4 minutes. Plunge egg into a bowl of cold water for 10 seconds (to stop the cooking), then serve immediately. This method is good for up to 4 eggs - you may need to increase the time if you have more eggs.

dimanche matin avec Riche

For those of you who don't know French, the title means "Sunday mornings with Rich". I love French, so that is my title for my new feature about Rich cooking breakfast on Sundays.

Yesterday, he made us a splendid breakfast. First, I have to say, the man went grocery shopping by himself last Friday after he got off work. Yes, my cute little husband, who has never ONCE done the grocery shopping rarely shops alone, took himself to Whole Foods and came home toting a cute little brown bag, a bouquet of flowers for me peeking over the top, no less, and a big smile on his face. If that's not total cuteness, I just don't know what is.

So, what was in his bag? Special ingredients for his Sunday breakfast! Fresh maple-blueberry sausage, a lovely artisan loaf of cinnamon-walnut-raisin bread for French toast, and a pint of fresh blueberries. I was impressed. Very impressed. He liked it that I was impressed, too. But oh, I can't tell you how much the practical shopper side of me wanted to ask, "so, how much did this little shopping spree cost?" but he was so happy that I could do nothing by throw my arms around him and praise him. (However, later, when I actually did ask him how much he paid for the blueberries, he nonchalantly answered, "Oh, I didn't look." Love it.)

But no matter. When Sunday rolls around, and he cranks out the above masterpiece, I don't care how much he spent. Having the cutest husband in the world and that yummy food in front of me had so much more value than the cost of the groceries. And, somehow he knows how to make French toast like, 10 times better than me. Go figure. Maybe it was the sugar-in-the-raw which he says he threw into the egg/milk mixture, for "caramelization" purposes. I love it - caramelization purposes. I may have laughed out loud when he said that, I'm not sure.

Did I mention how cute I think this all is yet?

It's like, really, really cute.

maple-blueberry sausage - delish.