Egg Soft Taco: the best breakfast you haven't tried

I did my Memorial Day weekend shopping at Pete's Market in Pilsen (the Mexican community on the lower west side of Chicago). What a treat! I picked up some glorious produce, a great selection of dairy (cotija, crema and queso fresco) hunks of roast pork and piles of fresh corn tortillas. Nearly every meal since has employed the corn tortilla in some form.

The breakfast featured above is known as the Egg Soft Taco. It cannot be beat. Scramble up some eggs, heat up your fresh corn tortillas on the stove top or griddle. I prefer the former. Toss a tortilla directly on the burner with the flame at a medium heat. Leave it to warm through for a minute or so then flip, using tongs or - for the brave - fingers. Cook the other side until softened or a bit charred and then transfer to a towel to keep warm. Divide the eggs between the tortillas, shake on your favorite hot sauce (Cholula and de cero's hot sauce are my faves right now) and serve immediately. As for quantities, I recommend one egg per tortilla.

I cannot recommend Pete's Market in Pilsen highly enough. The produce was spectacular ($.58 for a perfect avocado!), good organic selection, roast pork carnitas were great (with the caveat that I did remove a lot of fat while shredding it) and fresh corn tortillas?!? C'mon! Go shopping in Pilsen. You won't be disappointed. And get some caramel lollipops for dessert. Mmmm...cajeta.

Pete's Fresh Market
2526 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL
(773) 254-8400

* Warm thanks to Mariana for making the Pete's introduction.

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Raspberry Breakfast Bars

It was 89° yesterday in Chicago. It was 44° this morning at 7am. That sad fact, coupled with a return to school following a leisurely long weekend, told me that I needed to show my kids some extra love this morning. They were ecstatic I chose to show it in the form of Raspberry Breakfast Bars.

These lack nutritional value entirely, and are perhaps better suited to a tea time or midday snack. All the same, I often make them in the morning for afternoon consumption only to have half the pan devoured right out of the oven.

You can make these pretty quickly. Having streusel on hand in your freezer definitely helps.


Raspberry Breakfast Bars
Print recipe only here

For the crust:
Preheat oven to 350°

Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with canola spray

Melt:
• ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

In a small mixing bowl combine:
• 2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• Pinch salt

Add butter to dry ingredients and stir with a fork to combine.

Press the mixture into the baking pan evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden.

Remove from oven and spread a layer of raspberry jam on the crust (I probably use about ¼ cup or a bit more).

Top with about ½ cup streusel and return to the oven for about 15 minutes or until the jam bubbles up and the streusel is golden brown.

Streusel:
Combine in a mixer with the paddle attachment:
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup oats
• 1 T cinnamon
• ½ t salt
• ½ t nutmeg

Add and mix gently for 2-3 minutes until just combined:
• ¼ cup (½ stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed

To use, press a handful in your palm and squeeze together to form clumps. Scatter clumps over surface of muffins, pies, tarts and the like.

Streusel keeps well in the fridge and in the freezer indefinitely. Be sure that it’s well covered to protect it from absorbing odors.

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Happy Asparagus Season

The Chi-city farmers markets are up and running. It’s early, of course. This week was heavy on baked goods and potted herbs. As for produce, it was mostly about asparagus - thick ones, thin ones, purple ones, green ones. I have never tried the purple ones. James Peterson's Vegetables cookbook reports the purple ones turn green when cooked and taste the same as well. I chose a few bunches of thin stalks and served them up alongside lamb burgers last night.

I didn’t see the white ones that Europeans like so much. The white asparagus (spargel, in German) isn’t albino; it’s deprived of light while being grown. Cauliflower lacks color for the same reason, but with white asparagus the effect is achieved artificially by keeping a cover of dirt on the stalks. No light means no chlorophyll and no color. To read more about the glories of white asparagus (and find recipes) check out Delicious Days - a food blog run by a couple in Munich.

After years of grilling asparagus and losing a few through the grates I now only roast them on a baking sheet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper (400° for about 7 minutes). So delicious and simple.

The only thing I dislike about asparagus is the strange smells it causes in [insert your favorite word for pee, wee-wee, tinkle or urine here]. I had long understood that people digested asparagus differently and were either excretors and non-excretors of asparagus metabolites (sulfuric compounds). Further, not every excretor could smell the metabolites, breaking down the excretors into subgroups of perceivers and nonperceivers. But an Israeli study showed while all individuals excrete chemicals that make the urine smell, only about 40% can smell the chemicals. If you enjoy asparagus and have no idea what I’m talking about than you’re likely a nonperceiver. Or at least further along on the evolutionary chain for keeping your head out of the toilet.

Fröhliche Spargelsaison!

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Broccoli Rabe: It's not easy eating green

The title is misleading; I really enjoy broccoli rabe. What's true is that my husband and children find it repellent.

Broccoli rabe (pron: rob) is not a type of broccoli. Both are members of the large Brassicaceae family but rapini (as it’s also known) is of the species Brassica rapa along with turnip, napa cabbage and bok choy. Broccoli hangs with cauliflower, brussles sprouts and kale in the Brassica oleracea species.

When I cooked and served it recently no one cared about its scientific classification. My loved ones do not resemble Barbara Kingsolver’s gleefully omnivorous family (as chronicled in her still great book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle). No, my loved ones hated broccoli rabe with a fervor usually reserved for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Don’t tell them, but I only cooked half the large bunch. I plan to sneak some into a spring soup au pistou tonight.

For the adventurous - or unsuspecting - here’s how to prepare broccoli rabe as a side dish.

Sautéed Broccoli Rabe
Print recipe only here

In a sauté pan, heat (over a medium flame):
• 1-2 T olive oil
• Pinch chili flakes

Add 2 cloves garlic, smashed slightly and sauté until the garlic is lightly browned and fragrant.

Add one bunch rapini - about 12 ounces and cook for about 5-6 minutes until tender, tossing gently every so often. I prefer it cooked al dente; cook longer if you like.

Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and serve.

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On Selecting Artisan Cheese

Back to front: Adante Dairy's Piccolo, Bucheron, Bayley Hazen Blue

My last post discussed moderation and portion control in daily eating, and weekend feasts. Cheese is the best part of the feast. You can enjoy it first, you can enjoy it last. It goes well with crisp Prosecco or a deep red wine. My weekend plans involve tucking into a sparkling Muscato and a selection of cheeses from my favorite cheese counter in the city.

Having a great cheese shop at which to shop makes all the difference in what you'll bring home. As nice as Whole Foods makes their cheese counter look, I’d sooner toss $50 (₤1) into the wind than waste another dollar (3,000 Zambia kwacha) on poorly kept cheese. When not stored or cared for properly (temperature, rotation, wrapping each need to be taken into account) cheese will suffer greatly.

At a great shop chances are the person at the counter will be happy to teach you what they know, allow you to sample a variety of cheeses and send you home with items you will be excited to serve.

A very simple way to put together a cheese board is to pick a selection from each mammal: sheep, cow and goat, and then round the board off with a blue. I like to serve cheeses with a good baguette or Carr’s Whole Wheat crackers – they have a nice heft and sweetness to them and are a wonderful platform for any cheese.

The cheese shown above are, left to right, Piccolo (a triple crème made from Jersey cow’s milk and crème fraiche from Adante Dairy in Petaluma; Bucheron (delicate, semi-firm goat’s milk log from France’s Loire Valley); Bayley Hazen Blue (a raw cow’s milk, Stilton-like blue from Jaspar Hill Farm in Vermont). All three were lovely (I’m not a huge fan of Stilton, so the Bayley Hazen was my least favorite).

I’m very much looking forward to trying Adante Dairy’s Bel Canto, which presents like a Valançay (a pyramid with a flat top). The Valançay, named after a town in central France, has a story behind it. It’s a goat’s milk cheese with an ash-washed rind and was originally a full pyramid. Napoleon passed through Valançay on his way home from his failed conquest in Egypt. The pyramid-shaped cheese must’ve mocked him; he took his sword to it, removing the peak.

Either that or the cheese maker’s imbecile apprentice dropped the cheese form. (Isn’t it way more amusing to think of Napoleon being rattled by an arrogant fromage?)

Chi-city cheese sources:
Pastoral
2945 N Broadway Chicago, IL 60657
773 472 4781

Fox & Obel
401 E. Illinois Chicago IL, 60611
312 410 7301

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How Then Shall We Eat?

Given global hunger it’s a sad state of affairs that overweight is such a problem in America. Rising food costs could likely make it a bigger problem as the cheapest consumables are the highest in fat, sugar, and starch.

We need a better national sense of What Not to Eat (or at least an eponymous TV show) and access to affordable healthy foods to trim America's girth.

The most practical recommendations on How to Eat that I've read recently came in the form of an introduction to Mexican Everyday from Rick Bayless (his book and his introduction) and Jane Brody’s New Year missive in the New York Times Well Blog. Bayless advocates sensible choices on a daily basis and enjoying weekly feasts. Brody cuts thru the clutter of weight-loss advice with simplicity:

“And really, it doesn’t matter whether you choose a diet based on your genotype or the phases of the moon, or whether you cut down on sugars and starches or fats. If you consume fewer calories you need to maintain your current weight, you will lose.”

Controlling consumption is key. As we age our muscle mass depletes, only to be replaced by fat. Muscle mass and caloric needs are directly related: muscle burns more calories than fat. The effect of muscle loss is a lower metabolism and, if caloric intake isn’t curtailed, increased body fat. Maintaining an ideal weight means eating less every year.

For those of us who love to eat, this sounds horrible.

Luckily, there's good news. If you work (via strength training) to create or maintain muscle mass you’ll be able to enjoy extra calories without losing them to fat. The trick is finding that balance - how many calories, how much strength training.

I’m still trying to find that balance and there’s great fun in the process. Especially when enjoying those weekend feasts. More on those later in the week.

Read More About It:
New York Times Well Guide
Mayo Clinic Food & Nutrition
USDA My Plate (the re-tooled Food Pyramid)

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Creating Your House Salad

In the home kitchen it seems people who really enjoy cooking turn out a fine salad.

Your house salad depends entirely on your tastes. It's fashioned with some balance to the sweet and salty elements in every dressing. I tend to pour about 3 T vinegar to 5 T olive oil. Since your dressing has to season a whole bowl of greens, always add salt and a few turns of the pepper mill. Sugar, too - it balances out the acidity of the vinegar. Other additions (Gorgonzola, Parmesan, fresh pear or pomegranate, garlic, dijon) or substitutions (fresh lemon or lime juice instead of the vinegar; using different oils) depend on the mood I'm in as much as what else is on the menu that night.

I'm often asked what brands to chose for oils and vinegars. I just love Colavita - they're so dependable for all their products (they produce oils and vinegars). I exclusively use their aged red wine, Champagne, and balsamic vinegars. As for olive oil, I've been really happy with a relatively inexpensive Spanish olive oil from Trader Joe's. It comes in a clear glass bottle, squarish in shape. Always use the best quality oil for your salads. Since they're not cooked you'll get great flavor and all the health benefits.

As much as my family could live on romaine and red leaf alone, I like a variety of greens: spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, frisee, and butter or Bibb. Usually the market dictates the salad. I buy what looks good and cook accordingly. Of course standbys like romaine are always available which is one reason the Chicken Caesar Salad is such a family friendly meal.

Eight Favorite Pinch Salads
1. House Salad
2. Caesar
3. Seatown Salad
4. Greek Salad
5. Spicy Baby Spinach
6. Asian Salad
7. Balsamic Vinaigrette
8. Spring Salad Nicoise

Care to share your favorite dressings?

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