Hash browns for potato lovers

When I think about Traditional American breakfast, I imagine fluffy crisp hash browns served in a large skillet and children fighting over who gets the bigger portion of this delicious potato dish. Because we all love potatoes, this is our family-favorite breakfast to jump start the day!

The key to success in this recipe is to properly remove the excess liquid from potatoes after grating into fine pieces. By doing so, they cook up perfectly crispy on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside. If you are cooking bacon or sausages, use the same pan to cook the potatoes. This will make your potatoes extra tasty.

Hash browns recipe

(serve 4)

2 to 3 whole potatoes

a pinch of salt

a pinch of black pepper
oil for cooking

1.    Peal and grate the potatoes into fine pieces using cheese grater or slicer.

2.    Wrap the grated potatoes using a cheesecloth, and twist to remove excess liquid.

3.    Heat generous amount of oil on a skillet over low to medium heat. Fill the surface of the pan with potatoes to create a thick and large pancake-like shape. Season with salt and pepper and cook for few minutes.

4.    Once the bottom side turns golden brown, flip the pancake and continue to cook until potatoes are browned all over. Adjust the heat to low or medium accordingly. The hash browns are ready once the potatoes are fully cooked and both sides look crispy.

5.    Serve with ketchup on a plate with bacon, eggs, sausages, or toast on the side!

Meyer Lemon curd

  

Today I will show you how to make a delicious homemade lemon curd. I use my favorite kind of lemon called Meyer lemon, which is frequently used in my other recipes. Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and an orange. It has a fruity fragrance with less acidic compared to regular lemon. It can also be substitute for a Japanese citrus fruit called Yuzu. Meyer lemons are easy to find these days and are available all season long!

Lemon curd is a lemon-flavored custard that was served in England back in the days. It goes well with scone, toast, or even as a pie filling. My family is in love with lemon curd; especially my youngest son gets really excited when he sees the jar on the table!

Meyer Lemon Curd Recipe

5 Meyer lemon (around 550g)

1 cup granulated sugar (around 220g)

3 whole eggs

8 tablespoons of butter

1.  Zest Meyer lemons using a peeler or a grater.

2.    Squeeze out the lemon juice into a bowl together with the lemon zest.

 

3.  Add sugar, eggs, and butter into the bowl and sit it over a bain-marie to melt the butter.

4.    Stir the mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes until it starts to thicken and turns custardy. Make sure the water bath doesn't boil, and don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water. This will cause the eggs to harden. If you want to smoothen your custard, you can strain the custard at this point (I find it unnecessary to strain).

5.    Keep the lemon curd in a sanitized jar. Once the mixture cools down, you can cover the top with wax paper.

6.    Put a lid on and refrigerate once the mixture completely cools down. It can be stored for about a week.

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!