Cooking
My boyfriend and I haven't been that good at eating dinner together - with the both of us working in the restaurant business, him as the owner and working chef at two cafe's, me at first full time waitressing, then after I started studying, about once or twice a week (who am I kidding - more than that - too much, granted!)
Anyways, hopefully, that's going to change. M., the boyfriend, just said goodbye to the business, hoping to engage in a more 9-5-style of living, with actual sitting down with the loved ones for dinner. As it is, well... I'm still working, but that's only - ONLY! - because I haven't started school yet. For now, that means that the meal mostly shared together at our house is breakfast - brunch you should probably call it, considering it is very seldom eaten before 11 o'clock.
Because of that, we have a rather elaborate repetoire of brunch-dishes we do on a regular basis. Yes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, soft-boiled eggs, omelets - name an egg-dish and I'm pretty sure we've tried it! We are big egg-fans, even considering the sad state of eggs in this country... Why can't we all have nice, fresh farm eggs like Jeanne? One of the not-so-eggy-things we enjoy every now and then is the Croque Monsieur, as pictured above. I'm a cheese-lover, but there always seem to be small stumps left in the cheese-box after a while, and they're perfect for stuffing between two slices of bread, fried and eaten - preferably with an egg on top, of course! ;-)
What we do is spread two slices of bread - one with ketchup, one with Dijon mustard - put thin slices of cheese, like Gruyere or whatever is lingering at the bottom of that box, but something that has a somewhat pronounced taste - on one of the slices, top with the other - then fry in (a ridicously large amount!) of butter. Okay, if you don't do it every day, then butter is alright! To save a bit on the calories I usually just fry the croques till nice brown and crusty, then finish the cheese-melting part in the oven.
You can add ham, tomatoes, ketchup - eat with fried bacon on top, fried egg, scrambled egg - we usually do a tomato salad with a nice vinegary (sherry or balsamic) dressing to eat with it - admittedly, I do need something to lighten it! Serve with coffee, tea, OJ - and, erhm... need I say more?
- Creamy Scrambled Eggs Recipe
I'm not the first to notice the meditative state that sometimes comes about while cooking. When you are completely focused on what you are doing it's easy to get all those pesky thoughts out of your head. But there is another mental state that...
- And Still More Real Food
This time, nice and easy...Potato Cakes with Pancetta and Cheese. Pancetta, cooked crisp. Potatoes (cooked and cooled), grated and formed into patties, cooked in the same pan (with some oil and, of course, butter!), till golden on each side. Top potato...
- The Embryonic Journey Continues...
I actually made this 11 March; I've been saving it till the end of the month...but I simply can't wait. Almost immediately following the last EoMEoTE, I started thinking "what can I do next"? It's so addictive And here's what I came up...
- Because, Life.
My Dad used to boil me eggs. Back when I was little, and I was with him on the weekends, we'd usually have soft boiled eggs in the morning. Two per person. I'd rush to eat my first one before him, so that I could turn it upside down and pretend...
- Dining With The Bloggers - March 16th.
Breakfast. The most important meal of the day - or so they tell you, even in medical school. I know this. I know this. Still, I find it VERY hard to eat anything before 8 o'clock in the morning - actually I find it very hard to eat anything before...
Cooking
Croque Monsieur our way
My boyfriend and I haven't been that good at eating dinner together - with the both of us working in the restaurant business, him as the owner and working chef at two cafe's, me at first full time waitressing, then after I started studying, about once or twice a week (who am I kidding - more than that - too much, granted!)
Anyways, hopefully, that's going to change. M., the boyfriend, just said goodbye to the business, hoping to engage in a more 9-5-style of living, with actual sitting down with the loved ones for dinner. As it is, well... I'm still working, but that's only - ONLY! - because I haven't started school yet. For now, that means that the meal mostly shared together at our house is breakfast - brunch you should probably call it, considering it is very seldom eaten before 11 o'clock.
Because of that, we have a rather elaborate repetoire of brunch-dishes we do on a regular basis. Yes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, soft-boiled eggs, omelets - name an egg-dish and I'm pretty sure we've tried it! We are big egg-fans, even considering the sad state of eggs in this country... Why can't we all have nice, fresh farm eggs like Jeanne? One of the not-so-eggy-things we enjoy every now and then is the Croque Monsieur, as pictured above. I'm a cheese-lover, but there always seem to be small stumps left in the cheese-box after a while, and they're perfect for stuffing between two slices of bread, fried and eaten - preferably with an egg on top, of course! ;-)
What we do is spread two slices of bread - one with ketchup, one with Dijon mustard - put thin slices of cheese, like Gruyere or whatever is lingering at the bottom of that box, but something that has a somewhat pronounced taste - on one of the slices, top with the other - then fry in (a ridicously large amount!) of butter. Okay, if you don't do it every day, then butter is alright! To save a bit on the calories I usually just fry the croques till nice brown and crusty, then finish the cheese-melting part in the oven.
You can add ham, tomatoes, ketchup - eat with fried bacon on top, fried egg, scrambled egg - we usually do a tomato salad with a nice vinegary (sherry or balsamic) dressing to eat with it - admittedly, I do need something to lighten it! Serve with coffee, tea, OJ - and, erhm... need I say more?
- Creamy Scrambled Eggs Recipe
I'm not the first to notice the meditative state that sometimes comes about while cooking. When you are completely focused on what you are doing it's easy to get all those pesky thoughts out of your head. But there is another mental state that...
- And Still More Real Food
This time, nice and easy...Potato Cakes with Pancetta and Cheese. Pancetta, cooked crisp. Potatoes (cooked and cooled), grated and formed into patties, cooked in the same pan (with some oil and, of course, butter!), till golden on each side. Top potato...
- The Embryonic Journey Continues...
I actually made this 11 March; I've been saving it till the end of the month...but I simply can't wait. Almost immediately following the last EoMEoTE, I started thinking "what can I do next"? It's so addictive And here's what I came up...
- Because, Life.
My Dad used to boil me eggs. Back when I was little, and I was with him on the weekends, we'd usually have soft boiled eggs in the morning. Two per person. I'd rush to eat my first one before him, so that I could turn it upside down and pretend...
- Dining With The Bloggers - March 16th.
Breakfast. The most important meal of the day - or so they tell you, even in medical school. I know this. I know this. Still, I find it VERY hard to eat anything before 8 o'clock in the morning - actually I find it very hard to eat anything before...