Ham and Egg Ramekins
December 16, 2008 | Filed Under Breakfast, Eggs, Fellow Bloggers, Ham | 18 Comments
When Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice recommended the cookbook, à la di stasio by Josée di Stasio, as a nice holiday gift, one of the recipes she tried from the book was Ham and Egg Ramekins. One look at what she’d made and I knew I had to try them, too! I love that it was a really easy meal to prepare, I love that the ingredients were simple (bread, egg, ham) and I love its unique presentation (the bread, itself, acts as the ramekin and holds the eggs and ham!) Love it!
Paz
Ham and Egg Ramekins
From à la di stasio by Josée di Stasio.
Serves 4.
4 slices of whole wheat bread (trim off crusts)
1 tablespoon softened butter
4 slices Black Forest ham
4 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Using a rolling pin, think out your slices of bread as much as possible (don’t go too thin or they’ll rip).
Divide the butter equally among the four slices and spread it on side of each slice.
On the unbuttered side of bread, lay a slice of Black Forest ham.
Carefully transfer the bread and ham to a muffin tin, making sure that the buttered side of the bread is the side that goes into the muffin cup.
Once all your bread and ham slices are in, crack open an egg and carefully drop one egg into each ham and bread cup.
Bake for 20 minutes and check the bread cups. If the egg is cooked, then remove otherwise keep it in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
Once out of the oven, let rest for a few minutes before carefully popping out the bread ramekins. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Virtual Hug for Barbara!
December 6, 2008 | Filed Under Fellow Bloggers, Food Blogging Events, Virtual Hug for Barbara, Winos and Foodies blog | 18 Comments
Victory, Barbara, victory!
Fellow food blogger and plain awesome person Barbara of Winos and Foodies is going through a tough round of chemotherapy. I just found out that this weekend (December 5-7, 2008), Ilva and Bron have put together a Virtual Hug event to show our love and support for her. Of course, I wanted to participate.
I first met Barbara, years ago, when we participated in a postcard swapping event. Neither of us were paired together. She had a different partner and so did I but we drifted towards each other and exchanged cards without being assigned to do so. We’ve been friends ever since.
Barbara has the most wonderful posts on her blog and some time ago, she started a foodblogging event called Live Strong with a Taste of Yellow. It’s an event that supports Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong Day, which in turn raises cancer awareness and funds for the fight against cancer. Check out her 2007 roundup and 2008 roundup part 1 and part 2. You can see my entries for the events here and here.
Dearest Barbara: As you go through those grueling rounds of chemo, I’m sending you the best of thoughts; I’m sending you positive energy; I’m sending you lots of love; and I’m sending you the biggest virtual hug.
Victory, Barbara, victory!
Paz XOXO
P.S. If anyone is interested, feel free to join in this Virtual Hug to Barbara. You can post photos, poems, songs, recipes, whatever you feel would cheer Barbara up. Then let Ilva and Bron know you’re participating. Also stop by their blogs to check out the links of other participants.
Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup: Happy Thanksgiving!
November 27, 2008 | Filed Under Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once blog, Corn, Eggs, Fellow Bloggers, Green Onions, Scallions, Spring Onions, Holidays, Poultry, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos, Thanksgiving, Vegetables | 18 Comments
Yes, more soup. 
It’s still cold here and I’m still tired and stressed. So, I decided to make more soup, using a recipe I found on Hallo’s blog.
Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the States. I never had Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup before as part of a Thanksgiving meal, but this is what I wanted to eat. It was definitely a good soup for a weary body and soul like mine. I felt much better after eating it.
What am I thankful for this holiday season? Many things. I’m especially thankful for all of you who stop by my blog with your very kind and encouraging comments. Without you, it would be no fun here.
Paz
Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup
1 litre chicken stock
4 slices ginger
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
4 chicken thigh fillets, skinless, sliced finely
420 grams canned creamed corn
2 cups corn kernels
salt and freshly ground pepper
sesame oil
2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with a little water, optional, to thicken soup
1 egg white, lightly whisked with 1 tablespoon water
Place the chicken stock and sliced ginger into a pot and bring to a simmer so to allow the ginger to infuse into the stock.
Separate the white from the green parts of the spring onions. Slice both finely.
Heat a little neutral oil in a large pot and when it’s come to temperature, add the sliced white part of the spring onion and the ginger. Let this gently sauté for a couple of minutes before adding the chicken pieces – just add a quarter of the chicken at a time. When the chicken has changed colour, add the creamed corn and corn kernels.
Turn the heat up a little and stir this well before adding the stock (strain off the ginger slices). Add half the sliced green parts of the spring onion and let the soup simmer until the corn has cooked through.
Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper and a few drops of sesame oil.
If you prefer a thicker soup, then at this stage, stir in the mix of corn flour and water.
Just before serving add in the remaining sliced spring onion greens and while stirring the soup, drizzle in the lightly whisked egg white – this sets as soon as you add it to the soup so it’s important to keep stirring to break it up and get a speckled finish.
Vegetable Soup with Orzo
November 24, 2008 | Filed Under Carrots, Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once blog, Fellow Bloggers, Green peas, Orzo, Pasta, Soups/Chowders/Gumbos, Sweet Peas, Vegetables | 19 Comments
Oh! The past couple of days have been extremely cold. This past Saturday was the coldest day so far. Freezing.
I wanted something hot. Something to warm me up. Then I remember a simple soup recipe from Haalo (Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once). I’d saved it a long time ago. It was time to pull it out. I liked that the recipe was simple. I like simple recipes. I like no fuss recipes. This was my kind of recipe.
It called for fresh peas. I bought frozen peas, which worked fine. The recipe also called for capsicum. Capsicum? What was that? I had no idea. After looking it up, I found that that it’s a common name in Australia and Britain for pepper. In North America and Canada, it is commonly known as Bell Pepper ( In other countries it’s also known as Cayene Pepper, African Chillies, Tabsco Peppers, Pimiento and more.). Ahhh! Now I understood. One Red Bell Pepper coming up. I love to learn something new from my fellow bloggers.
I prepared my soup. It tasted delicious! I offered some to my mom. At first she was hesitant and then she said, "yes."
She finished one bowl and then asked, "Is there any more soup?"
LOL! Yup! My soup tasted Mmm, Mmm good. We were both warmed up by this simple, delicious Vegatable Soup with Orzo.
Even one of my dogs got in on the action when I left a few drops in the bowl. I turned around for just a second and she reached up on her hind legs and pulled the bowl down to the ground from the table. She quickly cleaned it out with her long tongue. Yup! I’ll say that even the dog enjoyed the soup, too.
Thanks Haalo for this recipe!
Paz
Little bit of soup left in the bowl, before the dog got to it. *sigh*
Vegetable Soup with Orzo
Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once
For two
1 large red onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 small red capsicum, finely diced
1 large stalk of celery, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced
1 large tomato, diced finely
fresh peas
salt and freshly ground white pepper
handful of orzo, per person
I’ve made a very simple vegetable soup and the ingredients should only be used as a guide – feel free to substitute whatever you have on hand.
Place a little olive oil and butter into a saucepan over a medium heat – when butter has melted add the onion, carrot, celery and red capsicum and cook slowly until the vegetables start to soften (you may need to turn the heat down to ensure they don’t colour).
Now add the zucchini and cook until it has started to soften and then tip in the tomato. Wait until the tomato starts to break down before adding the orzo followed by enough boiling water (or stock if so desired) to cover the vegetables by about 2cm/1inch.
Turn the heat up to maintain a boiling temperature and cook for about 5 minutes. Remember to keep stirring so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add the fresh peas and then taste and season with salt and freshly ground white pepper.
Turn off the heat and cover and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes – during this time the pasta will finish cooking by absorbing the cooking stock but won’t become mushy.
Before serving add a little more stock if it looks a little dry and bring it back to temperature.
New York Monday #146: Le Pain Quotidien
October 26, 2008 | Filed Under About New York blog, Fellow Bloggers, New York Monday, Other NY Photos, The House in Marrakesh blog | 18 Comments
Beligium Hot Chocolate — the messy looking one was made by yours truly.
Last weekend, Elizabeth of About New York and (The House in Marrakesh) and I had planned on meeting and going to Central Park to take photos. However, it was extremely cold and neither of us felt like wandering around in the chilly weather. Instead, we decided to do the next best thing — find a nice warm place to sit, eat and talk. We found the place at Le Pain Quotidien — a comfortable bakery/eatery with long communal tables. There are several locations in the city. We went to the one in the Gramercy/Flatiron area.
They have an extensive menu of different foods. We talked over Belgium Hot Chocolate and a basket of different delicious rustic European breads. The waiter brought us cups of hot milk with the melted chocolate on the side and we poured the chocolate into the milk. I made the crazy design you see in the above photo. The breads were served with different jams (apricot and raspberry) and a hazelnut-praline spread. Very nice!
Afterwards, we went next door to browse in ABC Carpet & Home. It’s a huge store filled with everything from chandeliers, candles, books, carpets, furniture, jewelry and more.
If you’re in the neighborhood, you may want to check both places out.
Paz
Le Pain Quotidien
38 E 19th St, New York 10003
Between Broadway & Park Ave
212-673-7900
ABC Carpet & Home
888 Broadway, New York 10003 (19th Street)
212-473-3000
Melted dark chocolate to make hot chocolate
Basket of different delicious rustic breads
A small portion of ABC Carpet & Home
