Eggs California (By Way of Brooklyn)

My entire culinary life is based on the fact that I used to live in NYC. Hemingway called Paris a moveable feast, meaning that the Parisian experiences stayed with him wherever he went. I feel the same way about New York, where it was not only possible to eat any type of cuisine at any time of day, but find any ingredient (including ones I'd never heard of). I could walk into nearly any small neighborhood boîte and be assured of a good meal. I could frequent grocery stores and farmers' markets all over the city and find endless ingredients with which to experiment. I'm not going to claim I never had a bad meal—I did—but it was rare simply because the competition for food was so high.

And then I moved to L.A.

I'm not going to add to the NYC vs. L.A. debate—they each have their charms. But the food is not the same; perhaps because their influences are not the same. Before living in New York I'd never had sweetbreads, foie gras, gelato, stinky cheeses (some of my favorite foods). Before living in L.A. I'd never had cochinita pibil or chilaquiles (not my favorites, but pretty good). The first time I had foie gras in a restaurant in L.A. I almost hoofed it back to NYC it was so bad. Fine, perhaps if it was a restaurant trying to reach out of its comfort zone, but it was a wanna-be snooty French restaurant charging $26 for an appetizer portion. And it was inedible.

That foie gras experience—more than any other—was what tempted me to start this blog (and it's also what gave me its name: the snob is New York, the avocado is L.A.). It made me realize that just because I don't live in New York anymore doesn't mean I can't have high standards for food—in fact, it's even more important to seek out high quality places and recipes and ingredients. And thus the Snobby Avocado was born.

This is all a rather long prelude to what is a simple, healthier alternative to Eggs Benedict. But I think this dish encapsulates my experience and what I'm all about, and takes influence from the places I've lived: the smoked salmon and bagel are New York; the healthy hollandaise sauce and tomato is California. It even has avocado.

Eggs California (By Way of Brooklyn)

© copyright 2008 Mallory McCreary/SnobbyAvocado.com

1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1 to 2 teaspoons no-salt curry powder, to taste

2 eggs

1 sesame seed bagel, split and toasted

2 pieces smoked salmon

2 tomato slices

4 avocado slices

Mix together yogurt and curry powder; set aside. Poach eggs to desired doneness with an egg poacher kit or free-form in boiling water with a tablespoon of vinegar, turning the egg with a spoon. Click here to see how Martha does it. Drain eggs and assemble: place 1 piece of smoked salmon, 1 tomato slice, and 2 avocado slices on top of bagel half. Top with poached egg; spoon curry-yogurt sauce over.

Serves 2.

Fruit-studded Fantasies at 5 a.m.

I'm trying to limit my baking these days as the temperatures soar—my oven heats up more than just the kitchen—but when I woke up at 5 a.m. the other day I said to myself "who wakes up at 5 a.m.?" And then I realized the answer was "bakers." (Except it's probably more like 3 a.m. for them.)

I've been fantasizing about making scones for months, imagining pillowy soft crumbs of decadent joy cascading from a fruit-studded treat. 

Which is not what scones are. Maybe I'm thinking of muffins.

These have a nice "tooth" and were good—quite good. Using all whole wheat flour makes them healthier but I suspect they might be a tad tastier and a bit softer if there was some white flour thrown into the mix (as the original recipe calls for). 

I used a recipe from Gale Gand, who I find to be a baking genius and a reliable recipe writer. Usually. Though I did modify the recipe, a few things in her instructions gave me pause, having never made scones before. My flour and butter never came together in a "coarse and sandy" mixture. Luckily I saw that wasn't going to happen and went ahead and added the milk, because the one thing I know about scones is that you don't want to overmix. I also assumed that with 3 tablespoons of baking powder there would be some rising going on (there was, just not as much as I expected). She suggests cutting the scones out at a one-inch thickness; I thought that was excessive and opted for about a half-inch thickness, which resulted in a greater yield: 14 scones total. If you are stingy with the cream and brown sugar on top the scones will not brown and get the glaze as shown in the picture here (which makes it hard to tell when they're done.)

Scones are famous for being a one-day-only treat; while they were certainly edible the next day the texture was not the same. I froze both baked and cut out but unbaked (before brushing with cream) scones; the raw frozen and freshly baked (which take about 20 to 25 minutes) scones were far superior. 

Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Scones
Adapted from Gale Gand, Butter Sugar Flour Eggs by Gale Gand,
Rick Tramonto, Julia Moskin (Clarkson N. Potter Publishers, 1999)

2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups whole-grain pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Brown sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Whisk together flours, salt, sugar, and baking powder. With a mixer running at low speed, add the butter and mix well. Add the milk and mix until almost combined, then add the currants and mix just to distribute them evenly through the dough. Do not overmix; there may still be some flour not mixed in. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough 10 times. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough 1/2-inch thick. With a biscuit or cookie cutter or a clean empty can, cut out circles about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet with a spatula. Knead the scraps
together just until combined, then roll out again and continue cutting out circles
until all the dough is used up. Brush the tops of the scones liberally with cream and
sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Happy Summer Solstice! (A few days late.)

What do you bring to a summer solstice party? What says "summer" and "sun" and "light" and hippie dancing honoring Mother Earth? I have no idea. But "summer" and "sun" made me think "yellow," and yellow reminded me of these gorgeous dried pineapple flowers I had seen in Martha's mag a few years back. I knew I was saving all those cut-out recipes for a reason.

I also had a few black bananas lying around, which I typically use either for Low-fat Banana Bread or this cake (but there's nothing low-fat about it). It's buttery, dense, and moist. I typically eat it as-is, no frosting or nothin', but since this was for a party I decided to spiff it up with cream cheese frosting and add the dried pineapple flowers. The pineapples get much sweeter when they dry; their fresh sweetness mixed with the bananas and the frosting is the tropics in a bite.

Banana Cake with Frosting and Dried Pineapple Flowers
Adapted from Epicurious

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cups yogurt (drained if very watery)
3 large mashed ripe bananas (about 1 1/3 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a round 9-inch cake pan. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in yogurt, bananas, vanilla, and lemon juice. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and beat until well blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

The original recipe calls for 30 minutes of baking, but in my oven it took about an hour and 15 minutes, so watch it carefully. Bake cake until top is golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely on rack. Eat as-is, freeze, or frost. (Can also be frosted after freezing; just allow to thaw completely.)


Frosting
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

Beat ingredients in large bowl until well blended. Spread over cooled cake.

Dried Pineapple Flowers
From Martha Stewart

1 3- to 4-pound pineapple

Preheat oven to 225°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.

Peel pineapples (don't core!). Using a small melon baller or the end of a vegetable peeler, remove and discard "eyes." (Note: I thought this would be a pain but it went very fast. And it creates the uneven edges that make them look like flowers.) Slice pineapple very thinly; place slices on baking sheets. Cook until tops look dried, about 30 minutes. Flip slices; cook until completely dried, 25 to 30 minutes more. (I thought my slices were very thin, but it took more than 2 hours for mine to dry completely. So be sure to allot enough time.) Cool on a wire rack. Decorate cake with "flowers" before frosting has set; refrigerate finished cake up to 3 days.

Granola, Again

I was so satisfied with my recent granola experiment that I'm now making it almost weekly. Except this time I omitted the sunflower seeds and added 2/3 cup large, flaked unsweetened coconut and 1/3 cup diced dried apricots to the final mix. I also used a heavy hand with the five-spice powder, but saw no appreciable result, which I fear means mine is a bit old (so your results may vary). I also added about 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger to the oil-sweetener-spice mixture. Click here for the basic granola recipe.

Summer + Pork = Heaven

What's summer without shredded pork? It's like camping without s'mores or a birthday without cake. In other words, you gotta have it.

I don't have a grill so for me it means long hours roasting in the oven. Which is fine, as long as its not 100 degrees out, as it will be any day now. So on a recent unseasonably cool day, I turned the oven on to 275˚F and let this pork slow-cook for 8 hours. I shredded it, froze it, and any day now I'll make yummy barbecue, tacos, maybe a stir fry or Asian-style pasta dish.

I started with about a 3-pound boneless pork loin end; pork shoulder (sometimes labeled pork butt) also works well with this method. I simply salted, peppered, and rubbed allspice all over the meat. Because the loin was lean, I drizzled it with olive oil. When using a shoulder with more fat, I typically cut off excess pieces of fat and drape them over top of the meat while cooking, which helps keep the meat from drying out.

I set the loin on a rack over a sheet pan, and let it cook. It's done when it has a nice crispy crust and shreds easily. It was all I could do not to eat the whole thing in one sitting: moist, succulent, and so flavorful for such little seasoning. And now I have a freezer full of shredded pork just waiting for inspiration to strike.

I Heart Chocolate Cherry Cakes

Remember the trouble I had finding those heart-shaped disposable baking tins? They turned up—how many months after Valentine's Day?—in my local 99¢ store a few weeks ago. The reason I was so desperate to find them is because I was hoping to find the solution to a most vexing dilemma: what do you do when you have a dish that tastes fantastic—truly out-of-this-world, top-of-the-charts amazing—and yet its appearance doesn't quite measure up?

As you can see at left, these cakes usually look a bit like indeterminate lumps. People assume they are either cupcakes or brownies—not bad assumptions, certainly, but they taste so much more gourmet, so much richer, so much more decadent than they look.

Baking in the heart tin helped a bit with appearance (right), though not as much as I had hoped. The saving grace seems to be tempered chocolate either drizzled or generously spread over the top (as in the picture at the top) to clue you in that this is not your average cupcake.

It has something to do with the richness of the chocolate, the moistness of the cherries, the insouciance of the blend of spices. (You barely taste the cayenne; it just gives a little kick in the back of the throat.) I love these cakes so much that I make a large quantity and freeze them (without the chocolate glaze) so I can pop one in the oven any time a chocolate craving hits; you can pare the recipe down if you'd prefer to have fewer on-hand. 

Little Chocolate Cherry Cakes

© 2008 Mallory McCreary/SnobbyAvocado.com

Cakes:

2 cups jar or canned cherries, drained and roughly chopped (if using frozen, defrost first)

1/4 cup brandy

1 cinnamon stick

2 pieces of star anise

12 ounces high-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

7 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Glaze:

12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped, divided

Heavy pinch of cinnamon

Heavy pinch of cayenne

Cocoa powder for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter cupcake tins or ramekins generously.

In a saucepan simmer cherries, brandy, cinnamon stick, and star anise until nearly all the liquid has evaporated (mixture should look sticky but still have some wetness). Discard cinnamon stick and star anise; set cherries aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler over simmering water until smooth. Remove top of double boiler from heat and whisk in sugar, vanilla, and eggs, one at a time, until well-mixed. Add flour, salt, and cayenne pepper, stirring just to combine. Fold in cherries until just incorporated.

Spoon into cupcake tins until they are 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs adhering. Turn out on racks and cool. Continue to cook in batches until all batter is gone.

Cakes can be frozen once cool. To glaze, divide the chocolate into thirds. Melt two-thirds of chocolate with cinnamon and cayenne in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Add the additional chocolate and melt until smooth. (Dividing the chocolate into thirds tempers it which will allow it to harden on the cakes). Dip top of cakes into tempered chocolate or drizzle chocolate over cakes in decorative pattern and set on racks to dry (can take several hours or overnight depending on the humidity where you are). If chocolate is still tacky, use a pastry brush to lightly brush cocoa powder on chocolate glaze.

Cakes keep at room temperature, loosely covered, 4 days.

Makes about 30 little cakes.

"Cheeky" Chicken Love

It was years ago. I was home sick, looking for comfort, watching TV. I landed on The Rosie O'Donnell Show with guest Matthew McConaughey, who's enough to make anyone feel better. But it wasn't just the eye candy, it was that slow, Southern drawl as he talked about beer butt chicken. I curse the Internet that I have been unable to find the exact clip, but the line "... and then the beer starts to bubble" in his inimitable voice has been a mainstay of my vocabulary (and sends me swooning just at the memory) ever since.

Apparently, I'm not alone.

A few days ago in an interview with Howard Stern, Rosie said that she has fantasized about Matthew McConaughey in um, intimate moments—specifically citing the time he talked about beer butt chicken on her show! (The interview with Howard Stern is here. She mentions Mr. McAwesome in part 4.)

These days there's nothing new about beer butt chicken—you can hardly go through summer without hearing about it a thousand or more times. And it's a great subject among those slacker rich kids (you know who you are!) who like to pretend they're from the wrong side of the tracks. Nevertheless, it's new to me, and I've found a recipe that allows you to make it in the oven (versus the grill) any time of year.

And yes, it really is that good. Almost as good as if Matthew McConaughey were sharing it with me himself.

Think you can't make beer butt chicken and still be a food snob? As Matthew would say, "It'd be a lot cooler if you did."

Oven-Roasted Beer Butt Chicken

Adapted from Guy Fieri/Food Network

1 (2- to 3-pound) whole chicken
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 (12-ounce) can beer
4 slices of bacon, trimmed of excess fat

Preheat oven to 450°F. Wash chicken with cold water and pat dry with
paper towels.

Mix dry spices in a small bowl. Massage half of rub on the inside cavity of the
chicken; rub the other half between the skin and flesh on the outside. 

Drink about half of the beer and drop the garlic cloves and any excess spice rub into the can. Place chicken, butt end down, over the beer can and place in an ovenproof pan or casserole dish. 

Stuff about 1/3 of each bacon slice into the neck cavity and drape the remainder over the outside of the bird.

Cook chicken in the oven for 10 minutes; then lower temperature to 325°F and cook for another 1 hour, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Cut up and serve.

You Devil, You

I guess the onset of summer has made me think of picnics and barbecues and languid nights under the stars. How else to explain my recent craving for deviled eggs? Since I am a firm believer in satisfying cravings, I had no choice but to whip up a batch. But regular old deviled eggs? Oh no. Not me. I rummaged through the fridge and spice shelf to come up with two gourmet variations.

I hard-boiled 4 eggs (to make 8 halves); size up the recipes as needed to feed your crowd. And because neither filling contains mayonnaise, these little devils are safe enough to hang around at outdoor picnics and barbecues—assuming they're not instantly gobbled up.

Did you know that how to boil an egg correctly is a matter of intense debate? Leave on the heat, take off the heat. Here's Martha's take, and here's Gourmet's. WikiHow even has a pinhole method, which is new to me.

Feta-dill and Curried Deviled Eggs

© 2008 Mallory McCreary/SnobbyAvocado.com

4 hard-boiled eggs, shelled, cut in half, yolks removed

Feta-dill filling:

Yolks from 2 hard-boiled eggs

3 teaspoons plain nonfat yogurt

3 teaspoons feta cheese, crumbled

1 teaspoon dill

Heavy dash of white pepper

Curry filling:

Yolks from 2 hard-boiled eggs

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 teaspoon curry powder, or more to taste

Grape tomatoes, chives, or cilantro for garnish.

Mix all ingredients for each filling and spoon or pipe into egg-white halves. Garnish as desired.

Tropical Thai Salad

I wanted an interesting side dish to serve with the Chicken Thai Salad. Something refreshing and palate-cleansing, yet something unexpected. I was thinking Thai, I was thinking tropical, and I wanted crunch and surprise. And so I whipped up Mango, Pineapple, and Jicama Salad.

I assembled this using my patented "cook to the pot" method, meaning I add ingredients until they fill the pot (or in this case, the bowl). The trick here is to make sure no one main ingredient dominates: the mango, pineapple, and jicama should all shine, and the sweetness and crunch should play off each other nicely. If your pineapple is on the small side, you may want to use the whole thing. 

And don't dare use canned fruit.

Mango, Pineapple, and Jicama Salad

Copyright © 2008 Mallory McCreary/SnobbyAvocado.com

2 mangos, peeled and sliced

Half a pineapple, cut into chunks

1 1/2 to 2 cups jicama (a little larger than a baseball), cut into thick matchsticks

1/2 Tablespoon Djon mustard

1/8 cup sweet white wine, such as Moscato

2 Tablespoons or more of olive oil, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cilantro

Mix fruits together in a serving bowl. In a separate bowl, mix mustard, wine, and olive oil, adding more oil if desired to your taste. Pour dressing over fruit and dress with freshly cracked ground pepper and cilantro.

Serves 6 to 8.

Thai-rific Chicken and Soba Noodle Salad

I wanted to make something healthy and light but with a big taste wallop. And I didn't want to rely on an old standard that I've made hundreds of times before.

I started, as always, by searching through my recipes (big binders of 'em) and online, and stumbled across two Thai-influenced chicken and noodle salads from Ming Tsai and Emeril. And then I combined, changed, re-ordered, and did what I wanted. Why be held hostage to one recipe? This will certainly become a Snobby Avocado Standard.

Chicken and Soba Noodle Thai Salad

For sauce:

1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
2 Tablespoons canola oil
3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup basil
1/4 cup mint
1/2 of tops of 1 bunch scallions
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeño, seeded to taste
1 thumb-size piece of ginger
1 Tablespoon lime juice

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until they form a thick paste (there will still be some liquid).

For salad:

2 8-ounce packages of soba noodles

4 medium-size skinless boneless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3 carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped

3 Tablespoons peanuts

2 big handfuls of fresh basil, roughly torn

Cilantro

Juice from half a lime

Cook soba noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Mix in chicken, vegetables, and sauce. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes for noodles to absorb excess liquid from sauce. Add peanuts and basil, mix in until basil wilts slightly. Garnish with cilantro and sprinkle with the lime juice. Serve cold.

Serves 6 to 8.