Amazing Eggs Benedict

Eggs benedict is notorious for being a time-consuming and somewhat difficult breakfast dish to prepare on a busy morning.  It is, however, definitely a dish that makes everyone happy to eat breakfast so it is worth a little extra effort.

The process of making eggs benedict can be divided into three parts: poaching the egg, making the hollandaise sauce, and preparing the English muffin with ham.

Amazing Eggs Benedict 

 (serves 4)

• 4 whole eggs
• 2 English muffins
• 4 slices of ham
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of vinegar

- For hollandaise sauce

• 3 egg yolks
• 8 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
• lemon juice from half a lemon
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons of salt
• a pinch of black pepper
• optional: cayenne pepper

Poached eggs

1) Heat water in a large pot. When the water begins to boil, add vinegar.

2) Stir the water quickly in one direction with a spoon or spatula to create a circular movement.

3) Gently crack the eggs into a container then gently slide them into the water. When the water begins to boil again, adjust the heat to low and cook for 3 to 4 minutes depending on your preference. Occasionally stir the water to avoid eggs sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4) When the eggs are ready, move them to a bowl full of cold water, and then lay them onto a tray lined with kitchen paper towels. Pat them down to remove the excess water.

Hollandaise sauce

1) Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. 

2) Using a blender, combine egg yolks, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

3) When the loquids are combined, adjust the blender's power to low, and gently pour the melted butter into the blender. If you like a little heat in the sauce, add cayenne pepper here as well.

*If you are using eggs that cannot be consume raw, you need to combine the mixture over boiling water in a pot to cook them through.

 

English muffin and ham

1) Split the English muffins in half and prepare your favorite ham slice and cook as you want.

2) Positon the muffin halves and sliced ham on an oven sheet and toast for 2 to 3 minutes under the broiler. You could also do this process on a heated skillet.

 

Assembling

1) Finally it's time for assembling! On a plate, place a half of an English muffin and slice of ham, poached eggs and generous amount of hollandaise sauce on top. Lightly season with cayenne pepper or red pepper, if you like.

2) Dive in with a knife and fork!

Bundt Apple Cake

For those that have not tried baking in a Bundt pan here is a good recipe to start with. The ring-shaped Bundt pan distributes the heat evenly through the cake and gives a more refined finish on the surface of the cake, which is why Bundt pans have such interesting and fun designs.

This apple cake is full of flavor and moisture.  It can be served as either a dessert or for breakfast with milk or coffee.

Bundt Apple Cake

(using 24 to 26cm diameter bundt pan)

• 6 whole apples
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 and ¾ cup or 450g all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup or 240cc vegetable oil
• 1 & ½ cups or 300g granulated sugar (or 250g if you like it to be less sweet)
• ¼ cup or 60cc orange juice
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 4 whole eggs

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Remove the core from the apple, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle cinnamon and 5 tablespoons of granulated sugar on top of the apples.

2. In a clean dry bowl, sift the flour and mix well with the baking powder and salt.

3. In a different bowl, combine vegetable oil, orange juice, granulated sugar and vanilla extract and mix well.

4. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and add the egg one by one and mix well into a smooth batter.

5. Oil the Bundt pan and pour half of the batter into the pan. On top of the batter, gently place ½ the apples, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

6. Pour the rest of the batter over the apples in the Bundt pan and gently place the rest of the apples on top of the cake.

7. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 1 and a half hours. The cake is ready when you pierce the cake with a toothpick and it comes out clean.

*Remove the cake from the pan while it’s hot- it’s easier. You can carefully drop the pan onto a cutting board placed on the counter from a height of about 5 inches.  This will help the cake drop out of the pan.

You can decorate the cake with confection sugar if you like. It is tasty when hot but it's even better the next day after the flavor settles.

Chicken Liver Pate

Liver Pate is the perfect mate to pair with wine for your social gatherings. Whether it is a fancy dinner party or a relaxing night with family and friends, liver pate is always a perfect fit.

The liver pate that I made today is using white livers. White liver is a bit creamier and more mild than the darker variety as it doesn’t have as much of that distinct gamey liver taste. I first learned about white chicken livers from a local butcher. I asked for chicken liver for my pate and he asked if I wanted white or dark livers.  Not knowing the difference, I got both to test at home. I found that the white variety is smoother and less gamey.  Ever since then, I’ve been getting the white variety whenever I can find it.  Of course, the recipe works for both and some prefer the standard liver flavor of the dark livers.

I normally top the pate with some pink peppercorns. The pink peppercorns are actually a type of fruit that looks like coarse pepper. It has a nice blend of sourness and bitterness and the tastes very nice when mixed with black, white or green peppercorns. The pop of pink also adds nice color. Serve the liver pate with sliced baguette, wine, pickles and topped with the pink peppercorns. 

Chicken Liver Pate

·       700g White or Dark chicken liver (blood, tendon and fat removed)

·       8 tablespoons of butter

·       ½ onion

·       ½ celery

·       2 cloves of garlic

·       3 fresh thyme sprigs

·       3 bay leaves

·       ½ tablespoon salt

·       pepper

·       milk

·       60cc cognac or other brandy

·       30cc red wine

·       30cc Madeira wine

1.    Rinse the liver well with cold water and remove blood, tendon and fat.

2.     Soak the liver in milk for about an hour to remove the smell. Pat the liver with kitchen towel to remove the excess moisture.

3.    In a pot, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Cut onion, celery and garlic into small pieces.

4.    Cook the onion, celery and garlic until they’re soft in the pot.

5.    Add the liver, salt, and pepper and cook until the liver starts to change its color. Make sure not to cook for too long!

6.    When the color of the liver turns darker, add cognac, wine, and Madeira wine. Add the thyme and bay leaves and cook until the moisture is cooked off.

7.    When the mixture becomes thicker and the excess moisture is gone, turn the heat off. Remove thyme and bay leaves from the mixture, and transfer it to food processor.

8.    Add 4 tablespoons of butter in the food processor and process until the mixture becomes paste-like. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

9.    Transfer to airtight container and cover with saran wrap. When the mixture is cool enough, move it to the fridge to let it harden.

*The pate keeps for about a week. You can freeze them if you can’t finish it.

*If you can’t find white liver then just use normal chicken liver.

*If you don’t have Madeira wine on hand, use port wine or more red wine.

We should wait until the pate hardens in the fridge but I usually can’t resist eating when it’s still soft. It tastes great when soft too!

Holiday Eggnog

Eggnog is probably the most famous Holiday season drink in America. Every year, just before Thanksgiving, farms stands and supermarkets start selling a variety of eggnogs. I have a few favorite store bought versions, but nothing beats your own eggnog made at home.   With the home-made version you can also fine tune the flavor and adjust the sweetness and the creaminess to your liking. Over the years, it has become my husband’s job to make eggnog for the holiday celebrations, mostly because eggnog is his favorite.

One year we spent Christmas in Japan and my husband made our eggnog there.  My family loved it especially my mother.  Since then it has become a tradition for us and we always look back at our Christmas in Japan.

My husband and I usually drink the first cup of eggnog straight, but then we add a little bit of rum for the second cup. Drinking our eggnog always lifts my spirits while I am hectically preparing for Christmas dinner each year!

Holiday Eggnog

• 3 raw pasteurized eggs (we use store bought pasteurized eggs that we can get at the Japanese grocery store.  You can make your own by following the correct directions and heating the eggs to over 141 F for a specified time.)
• 240cc whole milk
• 240cc heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• a pinch of nutmeg
• rum, if you’d like

1.  Add all of the ingredients in a blender.

2.  Blend until all are incorporated well and serve in your favorite holiday glass!  Serve with rum or extra nutmeg sprinkled on top according to your taste!

* You can even add a dollop of gourmet vanilla ice-cream to your eggnog.  This is a favorite for children.

Mulled wine with apples and oranges

Another wonderful holiday drink is fruity mulled wine. I really love hot wine during the winter holiday season. I still remember the first time I tried mulled wine at my English teacher’s holiday party. I was stunned by how delicious the drink was… I still regret that I didn’t ask for the recipe!

The mulled wine I make at home is a sweet and citrusy version. I serve it with fruit pieces, cinnamon or star anise mixed in the pitcher but you could also keep it simple if you don’t have everything on hand. I prefer my mulled wine to be a bit on the sweeter side, so I add a generous portion sugar, but if you prefer less sweet then just reduce the amount of sugar according to your taste!

This drink is perfect for holiday parties or with any social gathering with family or friends!

Mulled wine with apples and oranges

•  1 bottle of Red wine (like Cabernet Sauvignon)

•  60cc or 4 tablespoons of brandy

•  2 oranges (organic if possible)

•  1 apple (organic if possible)

•  3 cinnamon sticks

•  3 star anise

•  4-5 cloves

•  4-8 tablespoons of granulated sugar

1.  Wash the apple and the oranges. Cut one orange into 7-8mm wide round slices and the apple into 1cm wide pieces or cubes.

2.  Peel the other orange with peeler and squeeze out the juice. Keep the peels for later use.

3.  In a pot with the apple and orange pieces, add the orange juice, cinnamon, star anise, clove, and granulated sugar.

4.  Add the wine and brandy.

5.  Heat the mixture for about 15- 20 minutes, over medium-low heat so that you will not bring the mixture to boil.

6.  Serve in a cup or glass when the wine is hot enough (but not too hot). You could serve with a cinnamon stick and an orange peel garnish in the cup.

Fig jam for your cheese plate

My favorite fig jam!

It’s great on toast but it really shines when eaten with cheese. Of course, we have to pair it with the correct cheese… maybe I’ll write about that some other time!

This fig jam, which I make every year, is easy enough but you have to follow the recipe precisely. You can use green, black, or brown figs, whatever you can get fresh.  Note that the green figs tend to have a thicker skin.

Fig jam 

•     2 pounds or 900g of fresh figs

•     1 whole lemon, squeezed

•     2/3 cup or 160cc water

•     600g of sugar

•     1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1.   Remove the stem of the figs and dice the figs into small cubes, less than a half inch. Put all the diced figs into the pot.

2.    Squeeze the lemon and add the lemon juice and water to the fig pot. Cook down the figs over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the skin on fig is soft.

3.   When the mixture starts to look a lot like jam, add sugar and vanilla extract and increase the heat to medium heat.

4.   Remove the white layer of bubbles that appear on the surface (look at the picture for reference). Continue to cook until the mixture becomes half the amount now.

5.   Turn the heat off, and let the jam cool. Store in a sterilized, airtight container and store in the fridge.

*If you’re planning to keep the jam for a longer time, you should sterilize the container in boiling water
*It’s key to cook the figs first, with water and lemon juice, until the figs soften before adding sugar!

Enjoy the jam with wine and cheese on a cold winter night!