365:8

It looks like this outside. All of my windows are frosted. Marginal snow but frigid temps. It was -2 when I took my high schooler to school. But my little ones don't have school because it's s "cold day". So we started a fire and made this. Simple. Comfort. 

What's better than two "perfectly" (according to my son) poached eggs and wheat toast for a cold day breakfast? Nothing.

Too much!

When you have a full house in the coop,

And you find a handful of these,

With these springing from the garden,

You should most definitely sauté them together in butter.

And fill an omelet with them. 

the farmstead :: this week's developments

18 eggs today!

kale, revisited

Kale.  I love it.  This is not the first time I've sung it's praises on TLB.  I realize there are those of you who don't enjoy it and those who roll your eyes and those who think that I might even be faking how much I enjoy it.  But I'd venture to guess that you nay-sayers have never had kale prepared by someone who loves it.  We're not simply talking about old fashioned braised southern greens.  There are so many ways to prepare it, and I'm always reminded by the fall abundance in the farmers' markets just how much you can do with it.

Fried Kale with eggs

Heat two tablespoons olive oil and add two grated garlic cloves and one teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes.  Saute for 30-60 seconds or until garlic is fragrant.  Do not let the garlic get brown because it will be in the pan for another 15 minutes and will have plenty of time to get yummy.  Add two heads of kale, chopped roughly, in small pieces.  Saute kale over medium heat- watching that it doesn't burn before it's fully cooked. It will go through a few different phases, softening and then starting to crisp up around the edges.  When it starts to get crispy, sprinkle it with the following 1/4 cup pine nuts, 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese and 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs.  You could use store bought, but not only do the fresh taste better, in this recipe the chunkiness of the crumbs add a great additional texture.  Lightly toss around the bread crumbs and cheese with the kale.  You don't need to go crazy stirring here, just make sure that each bit of kale is graced by pine nuts, bread crumbs and cheese.

Continue to saute on medium heat for another 2-3 minutes or until the pine nuts begin to brown.  When the cheese has melted in, spread the kale around the pan, creating four divots in which you will be able to crack and fry an egg.   Cook the egg to your favorite consistency.  Salt and pepper the egg as desired.  You won't need a lot of extra salt on the kale itself because of the other seasonings.  So taste it first to make sure you don't overdo it. 

Although this picture is not great, it will give you an idea of how I served it.   Frying the eggs in the kale worked out so well.  It was last minute impulse decision, but the crispy kale pieces nestled into the eggs.  Yummmm...  We were all fighting over the crsipy bits in the pan when this was done.  I served it with Nigella's salami pasta.  But it would be also great alone, split this into two portions with some good bread on the side to dip into the yolk.

happy happy yolky yolky:: the story of our first egg

~ click on any of these pictures to see them in full screen ~

Cornman Farms :: Yolks extraordinaire

A gift of Cornman farms eggs directed dinner this evening. Once I cracked the beauties I knew that they had to be the centerpiece of our meal. As often happens, a last minute throw together becomes a new favorite. The technique and flavor of this is similar to a carbonara dish, but without the guanciale or bacon. You could certainly add the pork, but in this case it might mask the delicacy of spring asparagus.

Ingredients:

• Six gorgeous eggs yolks. Saved the egg whites in a ball jar for another time.
  
• One pound pasta, boiled in salted water.
  
• Hand snapped fresh asparagus from Plum Market, blanched in the last two minutes of the boiling pasta.
• 2 cups of reserved pasta water
• One-two cups grated parmigiano reggiano. (start with one. add more to taste)
  
• Two tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper.
  

Assembly:

Place yolks in large serving bowl. Pour drained pasta and asparagus on top of the yolks. Immediately toss. Toss again. Keep tossing, so that the yolks slowly coat the pasta. As you're tossing, slowly add 1/2 cup hot pasta water, watching the yolks then become a creamy yellow sauce instead of scrambled egg yolks. I admit that the timing and touch of this is a little bit difficult. You might have to add another 1/2 cup or more, and you will certainly need to use some gourmet intuition. Just put on your chef hat. Once you've noticed a sauce-like texture, it's time to add the parmigiano and black pepper. And toss gently until combined.