Deviled Eggs

Easter brings out the egg in us!

According to Apicius, a collection of Roman recipes believed to have been compiled sometime between the fourth and fifth century A.D., boiled eggs were traditionally seasoned with oil, wine or broth and served with pepper and laser (which was also known as silphium, a plant driven to extinction by the first century A.D.). Another recipe called for poached eggs to be dressed with soaked pine nuts, lovage (an herb of the parsley family with an anise, celery flavor), pepper, honey, vinegar and broth.

 Sometime in the 13th century, stuffed eggs began to appear in Andalusia, in what is now Spain. An anonymous cookbook from this time period instructs the reader to pound boiled egg yolks with cilantro, onion juice, pepper and coriander and then beat them with murri (a sauce made of fermented barley or fish), oil and salt. After stuffing the mixture into the hollowed egg whites, the two halves were then fastened together with a small stick and peppered.

By the 15th century, stuffed eggs had made their way across much of Europe. Medieval cookbooks contain recipes for boiled eggs that were often filled with raisins, cheese and herbs such as marjoram, parsley and mint and then fried in oil and either topped with a sauce of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and raisins with verjuice (a tart juice made from unripe fruits) or powdered with sugar and served hot. In the United States, stuffed eggs began making an appearance in cookbooks by the mid-19th century.

The first known printed mention of ‘devil’ as a culinary term appeared in Great Britain in 1786, in reference to dishes including hot ingredients or those that were highly seasoned and broiled or fried. By 1800, deviling became a verb to describe the process of making food spicy. But in some parts of the world, the popular egg hors d’oeuvres are referred to as “mimosa eggs,” “stuffed eggs,” “dressed eggs” or “salad eggs”—especially when served at church functions—in order to avoid an association with Satan.

Eggs even find there way into soups - Lenten  Zurek for Easter. www.thebrainygourmet.blogspot.com





http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/the-ancient-history-of-deviled-eggs

The Easter Egg

Easter is a religious holiday, but some of its customs, such as Easter eggs, are likely linked to pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.

*source ~  http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols

WonderBag Cooking!

It's clean, smart and fun. The best thing that you can do with a WonderBag is to let it do some of the cooking for you. As you can or have already read about it, just start on the stove a pot of stew or chili, then remove from heat and insert the whole pot in the WonderBag. Now, you can go outside for a walk, and later invite friends over to play a board game, and by the time the game is over, you can share a delicious meal.

While this product is a cleaner means of cooking as in having low environment impact, the WonderBag should not be used as a substitute for stove or range top cooking. It needs to be understood that food must be thoroughly pre-cooked before using the WonderBag; and therefore, always make sure that your food especially meat is cooked properly. The WonderBag is in my opinion more of a warmer and certainly good for traveling food from your house to someone else's; i.e. attending a pot luck supper.

Chef Cut Lean Pork in Creamy Mustard Sauce

I can always count on a nice lean cut of pork from the local butcher. This dish requires very little time and money. You will need besides the pork loin some heavy cream and your favorite Dijon mustard.  Tonight's side, roasted potatoes and mushrooms if you like.

Take your covered skillet out and melt in 3 tbs of olive oil and the same of coconut oil.  As you have already noticed, I always start every dish of meat with those basic. Why reinvent the wheel. However, if you want a new and exciting taste, you can always reduce your savory to simple salt and pepper with a fresh squeeze of citrus or fresh herbs; i.e. mint or thyme. The loin can be 'chef' cut into thick wedges. They take no time at all to sear up. Simmer then for 8 min. At the end, add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and a large dollop of Dijon.

As for a side ~  potatoes, simple... cut halves into a glass dish, coat with olive oil and parmesan along with dried herbs and bake for 30 min and or until tender. You can do them quicker in the microwave for 10 min. and then in the broiler for 3 on high.

 

Chef cut lean pork with creamy mustard sauce.

Kitchen Art ~ Splash Out and Treat Yourself

Personally, I am not into kitchen gadgets but some people are. And, that's ok. Just know that all you need to prepare and cook any good meal is a knife, a board and a pot.

Sometimes, though, there is nothing like a new kitchen gadget to inspire the cook in you.

Heritage Pork ~ Cubed Steak with Savory Roots

Just ask yourself, how does a chef approach his/her cooking. He/she takes a skillet and melts in cooking oils and then seasoning and then the food item they want to cook. I personally like to get the seasoning a little hot before I add any meat or veggies. Once the oils are just disappearing in the pan, shake in all desired seasoning, of course having them handy to do that.
For this dish, I used red pepper flakes, garlic powder, sea salt and dried herb seasonings* rosemary, oregano, basil and thyme. Once the seasonings start to pop and spit in the oils, I lay in the meat - cube steaks searing them quickly on both sides. Reducing the heat, I cover and let them finish taking about 5-6 min. In this time, French sliced the root veggies.

Remove the steaks from the heat, put them onto a serving platter and cover with foil to retain the heat. Add your root veggies to the skillet that the steaks were cooked in. Since there is nearly no fat in the skillet, only wonderful juices, I take advantage. Cover and let cook for 8 min. When they are just getting tender, I uncover, turn up the heat and brown the edges to pull the sweet savory taste from the veggies.

Add them to the platter and serve.

Blessings!

Swiss Steak ~ its green cause its lean

And, I mean 'green' as in low environment impact. If you are lucky to get good grass fed beef, then you know the taste isn't comparable to anything super market store bought.

Now, what to do with a lean top round steak - Swiss Steak. The key is good beef, lots of onions in olive oil, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and dried herb seasoning. Cut your steak into small pieces, but not chunks. Brown with onions, olive oil and seasonings on med heat, and cover for 10 min on low to get the juices flowing. Then you add your tomato paste or even left over homemade tomato soup jarred in the fridge will do with a little thicker to get the necessary gravy. 
You can peel and boil potatoes to mash or use potato filled pierogi like I did for this meal. That's it and don't be surprised if everyone calls you the best cook ever!

and its also 'green' as in low impact when you don't spend all your time in the kitchen suing up energy; thus... this kind of cooking lets you spend most of your time eating with family and friends who are amazed and so happy you care!