Recipe: Southwest Breakfast Skillet

Posted on March 12, 2012 by The Knife and Steel

Breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. Breakfast skillets are probably my favourite type of breakfast. Beware though, it’s not a healthy breakfast. It’s definitely a guilty pleasure, Saturday morning with the paper kind of breakfast. Get ready.

Southwest Breakfast Skillet
serves 4

8 eggs, poached
4 russet potatoes
butter
sour cream
salsa
green onions, sliced thin
tabasco
white cheddar

Cut the potatoes into half-inch cubes, leaving the skin on. Heat butter in a pan and add potatoes, cooking on medium-high heat until they develop a golden brown colour and start to crisp up. Throw them in a 400°F oven to finish cooking, tossing a few times during cooking. Near the end, season with salt and pepper and add grated white cheddar cheese and let it melt in the oven. Divide the potatoes into 4 small skillets and top with sour cream, salsa, and tabasco sauce to taste. Top with two poached eggs and green onions. If you don’t know how to poach an egg, check out this earlier post with a recipe in which I explain the process. Serve with thick cut toast and some fresh squeezed OJ. Hungry yet?

Recipe: Truffled Poached Egg Salad on Rye

Posted on March 7, 2012 by The Knife and Steel

This is one of my favourite lunches because it’s filling, easy to do, and healthy. It’s great for breakfast or dinner as well. All you have to do is poach an egg, make a simple vinaigrette (a guideline of 3 parts oil to 2 parts acid always works), toss the greens in it, and layer it up. In this particular recipe I add apple slices, goat cheese, and a truffled honey vinaigrette. If you want to know how to poach an egg you can find the directions in another post by clicking HERE.

Truffled Poached Egg Salad on Rye with Apple and Goat Cheese
serves 4

4 eggs

100 ml olive oil
50 ml white or black truffle oil
25 ml honey
100 ml white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
mixed greens

1 apple
soft goat cheese
4 slices of dark rye bread, thick

Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the greens with the vinaigrette to lightly coat. Poach the eggs and toast the bread. Thinly slice apples with the peel still on. Place salad on top of the toast, apples and crumbled goat cheese on top of the salad, and top everything with a poached egg. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on top of the egg. Enjoy.

Recipe: Roasted Garlic Risotto with Guanciale and Soft Egg

Posted on February 17, 2012 by The Knife and Steel

Hey there food lovers!

So the last post was an Ingredient Focus on Guanciale, a type of bacon taken from the cheek of a pig. I promised a recipe to use it in, so here it is. I decided that a great way to showcase the texture and flavour of Guanciale would be in a nice risotto. Check it out.

Roasted Garlic Risotto with Guanciale and Soft Egg
serves 4

1 cup arborio rice
1 litre chicken stock approx. (can be substituted for any other type of stock)
50g shallots, fine dice
1 head of garlic
100ml white wine
100g Guanciale, skin removed and cut into matchsticks
50g unsalted butter
50g parmesan cheese or aged gouda (In the picture I used a 3 year aged Gouda. Money.)

Roast your garlic head (wrap in foil with some oil and salt and cook for about 30 minutes in a 350°F oven) and remove the garlic from it’s skin. Smash it into a paste. Fry Guanciale in a pan until crisp. In a large sauté pan, sweat the shallots gently for a few minutes in the fat rendered from the Guanciale. Add the rice to the pan and toast it for a few minutes over medium heat. Add your roasted garlic paste and fried Guanciale to the rice. Pour the white wine into the pan and stir until it is absorbed. Add your hot stock a ladle at a time and stir constantly to work the starches out of the rice. You’ll know it’s time to add more stock once about 80% of the liquid in the pan has been absorbed. Patience is the key to a beautiful risotto. Cook the rice until it is cooked but still has a slight bite to it. Once the rice is done, mix in the butter and grated cheese to add a richness to the dish. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To poach the egg, bring a pot of water with a couple tablespoons of white vinegar to a simmer. Create a whirlpool in the pot with a whisk and drop your egg into the middle from as low a height as possible. Cook for 3 minutes and refresh it in an ice bath to stop the cooking immediately if you aren’t going to eat it right away, otherwise just serve it straight out of the pot.

I hope you enjoy the recipe! Leave a comment and let me know how it works out!

Josiah