Potato pancakes with poached eggs and bacon

Have you ever found yourself with a tub of leftover mashed potatoes?

This morning we made a wonderful brunch using a few cups of leftover wasabi mashed potatoes and a set of new egg poaching cups. Magnifique!


The egg poaching cups are from Crate and Barrel. At $3.95 a piece, they're a little pricey, but they're so worth the investment. Gone are the days of watching your egg deteriorate in a bath of boiling water. These neat little cups catch the egg as you break it into the water, allow you to pull the eggs out to test for doneness and release the egg like a charm - no oil needed! It's a super-healthy, wonderfully satisfying way to eat eggs. The yolks stay runny and warm while the whites cook through. Cleanup is a breeze - the cups wipe clean with soapy sponge.

We served our poached eggs over a pair of light-browned potato pancakes and two strips of healthy turkey bacon. In true Yankee-fashion, I cooked the bacon first, using the remaining grease (not much, it's turkey) to add flavor and help brown the pancakes.

Simple Potato Pancakes

2-3 cups leftover mashed potatoes (approx)
1 egg
3 T flour (use coconut, rice or other gluten-free flour as desired)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix together the ingredients in a large bowl. Form 1/2 inch thick pancakes with your hands. Cook them in a fry pan with a little oil (bacon grease!) or non-stick cooking spray. Brown both sides.

Serve pancakes with an egg on top of each, salt and pepper to taste, with a side of bacon and coffee or tea. It's a perfect, filling, Saturday brunch!

Roasted Tomato Soup (so easy and so good)

Ah, fall. When the squash come in and the tomatoes head out. Here's a great use for those last tomatoes... the bland ones that didn't get enough sun and too much rain. Oh wait, that's all the tomatoes on the East coast this summer. heh. heh.

Little about this recipe is exact, so don't stress about amounts. Start it as soon as you get home from work (prep is ~10-15 min, 5 if you're DK). Get it roasting and it's literally 5 more minutes of work and you have amazingly tasty home-made soup!

Preheat oven to 400

Ingredients:
* About a dozen Roma tomatoes (or other less flavorful variety), halved and cored/seeded
* 10 whole garlic cloves
* 2 red peppers, quartered
* 1 lg onion, quartered
* few sprigs of fresh thyme
* 2-3 Tbs olive oil
* 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
* can of tomato paste
* 2 14 oz cans veggie stock (give or take), chicken's ok too
* salt and pepper

Did you preheat the oven? 400

Directions:
1) Toss the tomatoes, garlic, peppers, onion, and thyme with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic in a large bowl. Pour out onto a baking sheet. (I put parchment down on the sheet because I hate scrubbing baking sheets). Just give it a shake to spread everything out and throw it in the oven.

2) Roast for 45-60 minutes - until peppers start to char and tomatoes look caramelized and yummy. Remove from oven and pick out the thyme sprigs.

3) In soup pot or stock pot, put whole can of tomato paste and saute for about a min. Dump the entire contents of the baking sheet (minus parchment) into the pot and stir around with tomato paste. Add veggie stock.

4) Blend with a hand blender (wohooo!!!). Bring to a simmer. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

It's SO delicious! We had it with fontina grilled cheese last week... yum!

How to get your honey to make an apple pie: The 3-in-1 Apple Peeler Corer Slicer

It's apple time again, and who doesn't love a good homemade apple pie?

Last weekend we went to Poverty Lane and picked far too many apples, and I discovered the secret to getting an apple pie in my oven with zero effort: The Apple Peeler Corer Slicer. Yes, ladies, this fantastic invention makes pie making a breeze. Why? Well, what person can resist using a toy that doubles as a tool... that's right, no one. Especially Tom. Thanks to this kitchen device, I sat at the table with my sister and sipped coffee while Tom whipped up two beautiful and tasty pies. So if you're craving a pie and don't want to make one, I strongly suggest buying your partner this toy. I guarantee it'll be an apple-tastic afternoon in your kitchen if you do.

Here's the recipe that we're using for crust these days. It's flaky and buttery-- pretty yummy, but I'm open to other recipes if you gals have some!

Pie Crust
2 1/2 c flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
8 Tbsp shortening, chilled, and cut into 1/2" pieces
12 Tbsp butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
6-8 Tbsp ice cold water

Process flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Scatter shortening in and process ~10s until the texture of rough sand. Scatter butter in and process ~10 pulses, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbles. Add 6 Tbsp water and stir the mixture by hand with a spatula, just until mixed. Add more water by 1 Tbsp increments until mixture is able to be patted together well. Divide dough into 2, pat into circular patties, cover in saran and chill for at least 1 hour before rolling out.

huskies win the PAC-10!!!!

students swarm the court

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Snow and Soup!

Temperatures drop and soup becomes my favorite meal! This is one of my go-to recipes that I started making last year when I was craving peanuty foods. I made it this weekend while I was babysitting Murphy for Sarah and Martha-- he can't really peel carrots well, but he's great company, not to mention he eats up anything that drops on the floor. The soup is simple, cheap, and I get to use my favorite semi-new kitchen gadget... the stick blender! (Thank you, Decker, for highly recommending adding it to my kitchen cupboards. For any of you without one, invest in it!) Try this out when you need something flavorful and filling, not to mention warm. Oh, one trick-- I never measure the veggies, which means I always end up adding a bit more than needed, but it just makes the soup a little thicker and yummier. Enjoy!

West African Peanut Soup

2c. chopped onion

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp. peeled, chopped ginger

1 c chopped carrots

2 c chopped sweet potatoes

4 c veggie stock

2 c tomato juice

1-2 c smooth natural peanut butter (I always use the full 2 c., but it depends on how thick you want the soup)

Honey

Scallions, chopped

Saute onions in a little oil until translucent. Stir in the cayenne and fresh ginger. Add the carrots and saute a few more minutes. Mix in the potatoes and stock, bring soup to a boil, and simmer for about 15 minutes until veggies are tender. In a blender or with a stick blender, puree the vegetables with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice. Return to soup pot and mix in peanut butter with a whisk until smooth. Taste the soup-- if it isn't naturally sweet enough, add a little honey until desired sweetness is obtained. Reheat the soup if necessary. Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions and crushed peanuts if you want.

Just thought I'd post a few photos of recent meals here in Prov.

Mmmm. "Sliders" and roasted potatoes with fresh greens and a home-made balsamic vinaigrette!

Substance 4-pack sampler

oh my goodness... the chemistry geek-chef inside me is crying out for these! how amazing are they?
wine woot strikes again...
AND, they're from Washington :)