I’m not a vegetarian although sometimes I do naturally gravitate towards a meat-free day. I eat chicken, beef, and pork with the occasional seafood and pretty much don’t go outside of that list. I’m also someone who really needs my protein to have an abstract quality – I don’t do well with being served a dish that still has eyeballs, for example. And while I require (as much as possible) that the source was free-range, organic, pastured, and treated as humanely as possible, I prefer not to know other process details.
That said, the full Irish breakfast was a bit of a challenge for me when it was time to try the black pudding. I recently saw a segment on the Food Network on exactly how black pudding, sometimes called blood sausage, is made. I completely understand that it’s a matter of what one is used to eating, and that for many countries black pudding isn’t something to be squeamish about, but before my trip to Ireland I had never consumed anything with pig’s blood as the main ingredient.
I promised myself I’d experience the full Irish breakfast though, and I ate it! I actually ate it twice – the first time I forgot to take a photo (darn it!), so I ordered the dish again at the The Arches Country House where Noreen served us this gorgeous meal. Okay, technically both times I gave half of the pudding to Chris, but I still think it counts.
If you’re wondering whether or not I am now a fan of black pudding, um…no. I still can’t get past the ingredients, but it was a huge step for me to try it! I’m not usually good about trying new foods, but I’m pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone (within reason). And in case you can’t tell from the photo, the rest of the breakfast was fantastic.
It’s another breakfast lesson this week! I made Huevos Rancheros this morning, and before today I didn’t even know what Huevos Rancheros was, so I’m putting that in the “what I learned” bucket for sure. And, I had never cooked or eaten a sunny-side-up egg before. I found the recipe at Annie’s Eats. She has a ton of yummy-looking recipes I’d like to make!
I followed the directions in the original recipe, except I didn’t want to use my new food processor because Chris was still sleeping and I wasn’t sure how loud it would be. I decided to use my hand blender instead, and that worked just fine since it was just mixing beans and spices. Oh and I didn’t have a heavy cast iron skillet to heat the tortillas, so I just used a regular skillet. I also copied Annie’s food presentation almost exactly because I have no idea what this usually looks like.
What I learned: I learned what Huevos Rancheros is, and I learned that sometimes it’s totally fine to use another appliance instead of what the recipe calls for – a hand blender instead of a food processor, for instance.
What went well:It was delicious!
What I can do better next time: I made a huge mess. Maybe I can work on cleaning as I go?!
Huevos Rancheros
Author: adapted from annies-eats.com
Serves: 6
Ingredients
3 cups cooked black beans, divided (or 2 15-oz. cans, drained and rinsed)
Juice of 1 lime
¾ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt
2-3 tbsp. chicken or vegetable broth (optional)
2-3 tbsp. butter, divided
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
6 large eggs
To serve:
Shredded cheese, such as pepper jack, white cheddar or Monterey jack
Fresh salsa (about 1½ cups)
Sour cream
Hot sauce
Sliced avocado
Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
In the bowl of a food processor, combine 1½ cups of the black beans, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Process until smooth. If necessary, add broth 1 tablespoon at a time to achieve an even consistency. (Alternative method: you can use a hand blender to process the beans, spices and lime juice.) Transfer the mixture to a bowl or saucepan and mix in the remaining 1½ cups of beans. Set aside.
In a skillet, melt ½ tablespoon of the butter over high heat. One at a time, add the first three tortillas to the skillet, flipping once, until slightly charred on both sides. Transfer to a plate. Melt an additional ½ tablespoon of butter and brown the remaining tortillas. Set aside.
In a large non-stick skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Gently crack the eggs into the pan. Season with salt and pepper and let cook until the white is fully cooked through but the yolk is still soft. (Cook eggs in batches if necessary.) Meanwhile, heat the bean mixture until warmed through either in the microwave or on the stove.
Place each tortilla on a plate. Spoon some of the bean mixture over the top and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Top each tortilla with a cooked egg. Top with salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, and avocado as desired. Garnish with cilantro.
Okay, so let’s get cooking! This is the first of my Learning To Cook posts, and I’m a little late in getting started. When I first created my lessons list I intended to do one lesson a week (in no particular order) throughout 2013. Well, unfortunately the first two weeks of this year I was battling a cold, and who wants to cook while sniffling, sneezing and coughing? But I’ll do my best to play catch-up. I’m starting this weekend with an easier lesson – oats.
In the search for a breakfast that meets my challenging array of dietary restrictions (lactose-intolerance, wheat-intolerance, and an egg allergy), I have finally grown to like oatmeal which I actually used to detest. I found this clean-eating recipe for Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Oatmeal and thought, well that’s different. I’ve never had sweet potato anything for breakfast. And I’m not super skilled at making steel-cut oats, so I figured this should be good practice.
I gathered my ingredients and followed the directions word-for-word. I used the correct size slow cooker, I measured everything exactly, and I gave it the proper amount of time to cook. By the end of the 2.5 hours on low, it was still incredibly liquidy. The oats seemed cooked even though they were all afloat in there, so I ended up just putting the whole batch through a fine mesh strainer to drain the extra liquid. The remaining oats were the consistency I prefer, so this recipe turned out fine in the end! Can I chalk this up to developing good instincts in the kitchen?! Or maybe some people just like liquidy oatmeal. The original photo does look soupier than mine.
Short of draining the liquid after the cook time was up, what else could I have done? Should I have let it cook longer? Was there a way for me to know from the start that this was too much liquid? I suppose if I make it again, I will try cutting the milk and water in half, or maybe just leaving out the water altogether.
What I learned: Liquid apparently does not evaporate much if at all in a slow cooker. The ingredients have to absorb the liquids or else the results are soupy.
What went well: I didn’t grate my thumb while preparing the sweet potato! Success!
What I can do better next time: I actually didn’t have cinnamon in my pantry like I thought I did (I usually do?!), so when I was ready to cook, I didn’t have all the ingredients needed. Chris ran to the store for me while the oats were cooking. So next time I’ll physically gather all the ingredients ahead of time to make sure I have everything.
This will be good with some walnut pieces mixed in. Chris also suggested marshmallows (like in the traditional sweet potato side for the holidays), but I think I’ll keep it clean and wholesome. Well, okay…I did sprinkle a little brown sugar and extra cinnamon on top. Lesson complete!
Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Oatmeal
Author: adapted from skinnyms.com
Ingredients
1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups low-fat milk
2 cups water
1 cup grated sweet potato
2 tablespoons unrefined sweetener, more or less to taste. I used honey, but some other options are: coconut palm sugar, sucanat, or 100% pure maple syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker, cover and cook on low 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until desired consistency is reached. Recommend 4-5 quart slow cooker.
If desired, add chopped nuts and/or raisins.
Stovetop Method: Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook approximately 20 – 25 minutes or until desired consistency has been reached.
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of photographing the SESMA Savor a Sunset reception at Indigo Landing in Alexandria, and I just want to post a few photos to show off this fantastic space for events. You might recognize it from Kim and Blaise’s wedding this past August! The warm and cozy environment inside has access to a roomy deck with a beautiful view of the Potomac. The combination provided the perfect space and flow for conversation and mingling. Guests were treated to cocktails and some of the most beautifully presented hors d’oeuvres. Indigo Landing’s staff couldn’t be more sweet and gracious, and I had a wonderful time hanging out with them. Enjoy the photos!
