Fried Eggs and Latkes

 

Another Smitten Kitchen recipe. This is a nice change from hashbrowns and a great little breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 large baking potato, peeled
1 small onion, peeled
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
vegetable oil
fried eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 and line a baking sheet with foil. In a food processor or with a box grater, coarsely shred the potato and onion. Transfer it to a cheesecloth or paper towel or dish cloth and drain it. In a large bowl whisk the flour, egg, baking powder, salt, pepper, ad egg together. Stir in the potato mixture until all the pieces are evenly coated.

Smitten Kitchen's Cinnamon French Toast

This is the a great way to make French Toast for a group. By making cinnamon toast first, the flavor is cinnamony and great, adding some extra sweetness. It's perfect for when you have a group of people to feed for breakfast and you don't want to serve everyone one by one and have to eat alone at the end. Very tasty!

Serves 4 (double to serve 8)
Ingredients:
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
8 pieces of white toast
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
maple syrup

Directions:
To make cinnamon toast, preheat oven to 450. Whisk cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil and place bread on the sheet.

Berry Ice Cream Sauce

 

Jamie loves berries, so I made some berry syrup to go over vanilla ice cream. Wow! Huge success. This is simple and makes for an incredible dessert.

Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
1/2 bag of frozen berries
Sugar (about 1/4 cup, to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter
(vanilla ice cream)

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

I'm a fan of just roasting brussels sprouts tossed with olive oil and lots of salt at high temperatures, but I tried Ina's recipe with bacon - yum! The brussels sprouts get really caramelized and sweet and the bacon is salty. I didn't have balsamic so I drizzled them at the end with a little of rice vinegar. I'm sure the balsamic is better, but honestly, it was great with the rice vinegar too. This is a great side dish!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half or in quarters if they're really big
4 oz thick bacon or pancetta, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and add Brussels sprouts, pancetta, olive oil,  1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Toss thoroughly and spread out in a single layer. Roast for 20-30 minutes tossing once or twice, until sprouts are tender and the browned and the bacon is cooked. Remove from the oven, drizzle with balsamic vinegar, and toss. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Spring!

So it's 30 degrees and freezing and maybe not quite spring yet, but it's pea planting time! The tradition is planting peas on St. Patrick's Day, so Jamie and I are heading out to Long Island to plant our peas this weekend. Can't wait to be working in the garden again. It makes these lingering cold days bearable, sort of.

Fish Masala

This is another incredible Indian recipe from the talented Nimmy in Cochin. She made this for me and Jamie on our honeymoon and it was the best meal we had the whole trip. I decided to make it myself this weekend, and wow, it's amazing! I'm sure Nimmy's version is a little more practiced, but it's her recipe and it's fabulous. My friend Chelsea and I ate it up. It's such a unique recipe because you really don't see Indian style fish that often. There are wonderful spices and a secret ingredient that's such a funny surprise, but upon eating it you'd never guess it was there. I'm going to make it again tomorrow!

(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
2  1/2lb fish filets (1 lb total, any firm white fish)
1/2 tsp Chili Powder (Indian Chili Powder if you can get it)
1 tbsp fruit vinegar (I used apple cider)
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1" ginger, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 green chilis split lengthwise
1 sprig curry leaves (okay to leave out if you can't find them)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
1 tbsp ketchup (secret ingredient)