Weirdest breakfast ever? Probably!

Soli invented this concoction last weekend, and while it was perhaps the strangest breakfast sandwich I’ve had, it’s also one of the best. So here’s to trying new things, I guess!

The recipe is simple, if you dare give it a go yourself. Slice one baguette in half – toast it, and give it a good rubbing with a garlic clove. Top that with some beans you’ve had simmering away on the stove (Soli added sauteed some onions and vodka as a base for the beans), and at the end of cooking, toss in some cheese curds.

Prepare yourself some french style scrambled eggs, aka Ramsey eggs. There are various methods (it’s a method, rather than a recipe) floating around, but the basic idea can be found on this YouTube tutorial. The end result are eggs that are so light and creamy, you’d believe you’re eating buttery, rich clouds.

While all that’s going on, pop in some BBQ’ed eel in the oven (Soli sprinkled some brown sugar over the top) and bake it up until it’s moist and delicate inside, with a sweet crust on the top.

Got all that? Well, top your baguette with the beans, followed by some thick slices of eel, then a complete smothering of your dreamy eggs. It’s quite the taste sensations – full of rich sweetness, salty, melted cheese, robust beans and crunchy garlic bread. Heaven must be one weird place.

Summer is still hitting us hard (not that I mind!), so we’re spending a lot less time in the kitchen. However, this morning, on my first day of vacation, Soli prepared me a fantastic breakfast that had me go straight back to bed after. Wow, I love vacation!

I don’t think there’s much of a recipe for this – Soli created it rather quickly. We toasted up some St-Viateur bagels, as well as popping a tray of fresh spinach sprinkled with olive oil in the toaster oven. While all of that was cooking, Soli made a mushroom duxelle made with chopped mushrooms, butter, smoked sea salt, heavy cream, a shot of champagne (hey, it’s vacation!), and some chunks of brie. With this simmering on the stove, he poached some eggs and sliced some home-smoked salmon from the fish store, Waldman’s.

In under an hour, we had this meal plated and then sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and some chipotal peppers. It was a great breakfast – the slightly wilted, roasted spinach was perfect, the salmon nice and smooth, and the cheesy, creamy mushrooms had me licking my plate.

Hello vacation!

I love sushi. I love tuna. Got this bad boy from work on a Friday night and decided to do it up seared and saucy. So, get the best tuna you can afford and try to find something you’ll be able to cut into a block, avoiding the shaped called steak. Streaks are great for other things, but this techniques works best with thick and evenly shaped pieces of tuna.

Roll your clean tuna in a dish that is covered with untoasted sesame seeds. Untoasted is best because a raw seed can still take a lot of heat. Not much else goes on here beside heating up your thickest skillet to med-high or high and dropping a teaspoon or less of your favorite vegetable oil. Once ready, place the tuna in the skillet for a maximum of 2 minutes per side. For this I like to err on the rawer side of safety. Set the tuna on a cooling rack to rest for a few minutes and slice.

Sauces! Yum. I’ve worked in many restaurants and have had the great pleasure of tasting and tasting and tasting! Ever taste away 1500 calories in an evening? I have. So that said, 2 sauces came to mind this night. A sesame paste vinaigrette and a tobiko, chive, and mayo sauce.

Sesame vinaigrette

Mix together…
1 tablespoon sesame paste
1/2 a lemon
2 tablespoons mirin or other vinegar
2 table spoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
pinch salt to taste

Tobiko and mayo

Mix together…
1 tablespoon Japanese or other sweet mayo
1 teaspoon tobiko
1 teaspoon chopped green oinion
1 teaspoon fine chopped Japanese, Lebanese, or wild cucumber
Rooster sauce to taste (spicy! garlic-y!)

Enjoy!!

Addition:

My chef friend took one look at that first picture and asked “sugar”? Indeed, these was an optional marinade that I had omitted from this post, so for anywhere from 5 minutes to 3 hours, marinate your tuna (in a Ziplock bag) with the following ingredients:

Tuna Marinade

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
some whatever else you might enjoy like garlic, sugar, sake, etc…