Well, I recently discovered that I can make and eat Eggs Benedict every day, or at least most days. However, like all things, I change and modify how and what I do to make it. For instance I prefer to use a fried egg (over easy) instead of a poached egg.
The toughest part I found is reviving the Hollandaise sauce that I have stored in the fridge. So far it still doesn't come out as nice as fresh made, but I have learned a few things. The first is low heat, heck, I don't even turn the heat on the stove on, I use the residual heat from frying the bacon and eggs, and even then, it's only on that element for around 30 seconds. Just to warm it up a little.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Saturday Brunch
So far, I have hosted three Saturday morning brunches, the first two I served waffles. The only condition applied to the participants was to be there on time and to bring a topping of their choice. The first event was a flop, people showed up whenever, but more importantly didn't bring any toppings. Needless to say, my Blueberry syrup was taxed to the max and I was left with none (bummer).
The second event went off much better. People were more on time and everyone brought a topping. We had Nutella, blueberry pie filling, my blueberry syrup, some Aunt Jemimas syrup (never got opened) and few other things. All in all, much more of a successful event.
Today, however I changed the menu around, instead of waffles and bring your own topping, it was Eggs Benedict and show up and eat it. This went well, everyone enjoyed it, and it was a great get together. However, from my side of the story, it wasn't so great. I was in the kitchen the entire time, toasting English muffins, cooking bacon (Pork and Turkey), poaching eggs and assembling the "Bennies", while simultaneously bring the goods out to people to enjoy. I didn't mind this at the time, but in retrospect, it was a social engagement that I wasn't attending, I was merely at it. So as a brunch idea, it is great, but I need to find away of engaging others into the cooking process (kinda hard as my new kitchen is smaller and more cutoff from the rest of my apartment) or prepare everything (or mostly everything) in advance and keep it warm in the oven. That way I can spend more time with my guests, instead of on the periphery making them food. Waffles work better in this sense, because I can bring the iron out to the living room and the waffles can cook right there, in the middle of the group.
The second event went off much better. People were more on time and everyone brought a topping. We had Nutella, blueberry pie filling, my blueberry syrup, some Aunt Jemimas syrup (never got opened) and few other things. All in all, much more of a successful event.
Today, however I changed the menu around, instead of waffles and bring your own topping, it was Eggs Benedict and show up and eat it. This went well, everyone enjoyed it, and it was a great get together. However, from my side of the story, it wasn't so great. I was in the kitchen the entire time, toasting English muffins, cooking bacon (Pork and Turkey), poaching eggs and assembling the "Bennies", while simultaneously bring the goods out to people to enjoy. I didn't mind this at the time, but in retrospect, it was a social engagement that I wasn't attending, I was merely at it. So as a brunch idea, it is great, but I need to find away of engaging others into the cooking process (kinda hard as my new kitchen is smaller and more cutoff from the rest of my apartment) or prepare everything (or mostly everything) in advance and keep it warm in the oven. That way I can spend more time with my guests, instead of on the periphery making them food. Waffles work better in this sense, because I can bring the iron out to the living room and the waffles can cook right there, in the middle of the group.
Apple Cider
I made the cider last week, but haven't gotten around to posting it until now... oops my bad.
After all was said and done, I had 500 grams of coarse pulp, 500 grams of fine pulp (first straining vs second straining, there was a distinct difference between them) and 2.5 liters of Apple Cider.
I had intended on spicing it by tossing in a cinnamon stick and some clove berries. But unfortunately I forgot about it until about 2 minutes into the canning process. I could have removed the jars and broken the seal. Though I wasn't sure if I would be able to use the lids again (One use only, they may not seal properly the second time and their dirt cheap). I didn't want to waste the lids so I just left them in the water until they were done being processed. Oh well, maybe next year.
The following is pictures of the haul this year.
After all was said and done, I had 500 grams of coarse pulp, 500 grams of fine pulp (first straining vs second straining, there was a distinct difference between them) and 2.5 liters of Apple Cider.
I had intended on spicing it by tossing in a cinnamon stick and some clove berries. But unfortunately I forgot about it until about 2 minutes into the canning process. I could have removed the jars and broken the seal. Though I wasn't sure if I would be able to use the lids again (One use only, they may not seal properly the second time and their dirt cheap). I didn't want to waste the lids so I just left them in the water until they were done being processed. Oh well, maybe next year.
The following is pictures of the haul this year.
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| ALL of these apples were from one tree in the city (the only tree to bear fruit for me) |
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| These are all of the apples from my parents tree |
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| 5x500 mL jars were the total cider haul this year |
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| Hard (course) pulp and Soft (fine) pulp, about 500 g each |
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| Better lighting in this picture of the apple cider |
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| Side shot to show the opacity of the juice! |
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