BLT Fried Egg Sandwich

In Guatemala, lunch is the big meal of the day. For dinner most of us have soup, sandwiches, or the “chapin dinner” which consists on scrambled or fried eggs with beans. At home, we usually have sandwiches and when we’re really hungry I’ll make something like this BLT Sandwich. This is simple and very satisfying; I like to give it an extra kick by putting some Sriracha on it (I put this stuff on everything!)

My only advice for this sandwich, is you have to try to slice the tomato and avocado as thinly as you can. That way, you won’t get an overly thick sandwich which will be impossible to bite on without making a mess.

BLT Fried Egg Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich
A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original

Ingredients:
4 thick slices of bacon
2 thick slices of rustic white or whole wheat bread, toasted and hot
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tomato slices
2 leaves of butter lettuce, or spinach
1/2 an avocado, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
1 large egg
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sriracha (optional)

Procedure:

In a skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, turning, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Spread the mayonnaise on one slice of toast, then top with lettuce, bacon, tomato and avocado.
In a small, nonstick skillet, melt the butter. Add the egg and fry over moderate heat, until crisp around the edge, about 4 minutes; the yolk should still be runny.
Slide the egg onto the lettuce; add salt, pepper and sriracha, if you’re using it. close the sandwich and eat right away.

01:59 PM
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- BLT, dinner, fried egg, Sandwich, sriracha
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Parisienne Gnocchi

I’ve been reading Ratio, by Michael Ruhlman which to summarize teaches you how the fundamental ingredients in the kitchen work, such as flour, butter, eggs, milk, cream, water and how the ratios between the ingredients are the base of countless variations in doughs, batters, sauces, etc. Understanding those ratios can set you free from using recipes. Well, I will still use recipes but it has helped me to understand how ingredients work and why they have to be combined in a certain order, especially in baking. I primarily bought this book so I could learn how ingredients work so this will allow me to concoct my own recipes. I’ll let you know how that works out…

I discovered parisienne gnocchi in this book, and immediately tried them out. Parisienne gnocchi vary from the Italian version which uses potato, and are actually easier to make. They are essentially a cheesy puff pastry dough which is boiled and then baked, which results in tiny little bite sized airy but crusty pieces.

I wanted to try the basic recipe, but you can add herbs to the dough such as chopped chevril, parsley, basil, or oregano.

Parisienne Gnocchi

Recipe from Food & Wine
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese or 1/4 cup gruyere or 1/4 cup asiago cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese or 2 tablespoons gruyere or 2 tablespoons asiago cheese

Procedure:

In small saucepan, combine water, salt and nutmeg with 2 tablespoons butter. Bring to boil over high heat.
Add flour all at once and beat dough with wooden spoon until thick and comes away from sides of pan. Lower the heat. Cook, stirring to dry out dough, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to medium bowl. Cool 5 minutes.
Bring large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Set bowl of ice water near stove.
Beat 1 egg into dough until incorporated. Beat in 1/4 cup cheese and another egg until blended. Beat in last egg until dough is smooth and shiny. With spatula, transfer dough to large resealable plastic bag, pressing it into one corner. Cut tip off bag to create opening 1/2-inch long.
Reduce boiling water to gentle simmer. Hold bag over water with one hand and squeeze out dough, using small sharp knife or scissors to cut it into 1-1/2-inch lengths; let drop into water.
Simmer gnocchi 3 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer to ice water. Transfer to paper towels and pat dry. (you can prepare them up to this point, and chill them for up to a day before baking them)
Grease 13- by 9-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Scatter gnocchi in dish; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cheese. Bake in preheated 350F oven until puffed, about 25 minutes. Preheat broiler. Broil gnocchi 6 inches from heat until browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serving suggestion: (From Ratio)

Smash 2 cloves of garlic with the flat side of a knife and chop them to a paste. Briefly sautee the garlic and the cooked gnocchi in a mixture of olive oil. Add a cup of diced tomatoes and 1/4 cup chopped basil. Heat through, season with salt and pepper. Garnish with basil chiffonade.

01:08 PM
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- Dough, Eggs, flour, gnocchi, parisienne, puff pastry, water
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Chocolate & Granola Squares

Earlier this year I started to make my own Granola (Helga can tell you how good it really is!), and it was only a natural progression until I started to make Granola Squares. I looked left and right for different recipes, but most of the recipes I could find all asked for all everything but prepared granola. I finally found this recipe at Lauren’s Latest which is an adaptation of a recipe from Rachael Ray. The original recipe has raisins and thin pretzel sticks – not my favorite ingredients for my precious bars!

So, following the directions from Lauren’s version of the recipe, I just twisted things a bit by splitting all the honey that the recipe calls for, for half honey half light corn syrup. The secret to this recipe is to let the melted mixture to cook as directed and make the granola mix thick enough and really pack it tight enough so they don’t fall apart. Also, helps to stick them in the fridge (before cutting) for 20 minutes and that should help keep them together. If they still fall apart, next time cut the butter to 3 tablespoons.

The recipe as is came out fantastic! I cut them into 1½ inch squares and those are just the perfect size for either a quick on the run breakfast or a snack for those long afternoons when you know you won’t have dinner until later that mind.

Chocolate & Granola Squares

From Lauren’s Latest
Yield: 10-12 squares

Ingredients:
⅓ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups homemade granola
1 cup crispy rice cereal
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside.
In a large bowl, stir the oats and rice cereal together; set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the brown sugar, honey, light corn syrup and butter together over medium-high heat until it begins to bubble. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Pour the melted mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour the oat mixture into the prepared pan and press down to ensure that the ingredients are tightly compacted in the pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the miniature chocolate chips and press down on the top lightly with the back of a spoon.
Cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours, or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars and then into squares. Wrap in plastic wrap or keep in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.