I first tried this dish in a small restaurant in NYC while visiting friends for the weekend.  My friend Amy recommended the scrambled eggs with asparagus and feta – how could I pass that up?  I was hooked.  The crisp, clean asparagus is a sweet contrast to the faint tang of the feta – all enjoyed against the background of fluffy, creamy eggs.  While I am not as fortunate to live in the city and order up these delectable eggs every weekend, I decided that something this simple should be easy enough to duplicate at home.  Turns out – it is.

Scrambled eggs are probably one of the most traditional breakfast options.  Ranging from a over-cooked rubbery mess, to heavenly fluffy melt-in-your-mouth creamy, scrambled eggs can mean several things.  Once you learn a couple of simple tricks, it is easy to produce those creamy eggs every time.  With a good technique for creamy eggs, the possibilities are endless to “spice them up” and turn a simple dish into a true breakfast. My first “perfect egg tip”: Don’t forget to season. After you have cracked your eggs, don’t hesitate to add a good amount of salt, pepper and even some fresh herbs.  I also like to add a splash of heavy cream to my raw eggs.  Whisk the eggs and the seasonings until well incorporated.  (One of my biggest pet-peeves is scrambled eggs with distinct chunks of whites and yolks.)  Tip 2:  For those perfectly smooth eggs, don’t be afraid to give those suckers a good beating. You know your eggs are properly beaten when you lift the whisk and the eggs run off smoothly – you should not have any remaining clumps of egg white.  Now to the cooking process.  Tip 3: Eggs are often ruined because they are overcooked – either too long a stay on the stove or too high of a temperature. Low and slow is the way to go (more…)

Neither my husband or I are lovers of tomato sauce.  Because of this, we rarely eat lasagna…at least the traditional form.  I came across this recipe and was terribly excited at the concept of a “white lasagna” (a lasagna that layers the noodles with a cream sauce instead of the traditional tomato).  This recipe pairs a creamy garlic sauce with spinach, broccoli, and peas for a fresh and clean twist on the Italian classic.  White lasagna is the perfect way to transition the comfort-food lasagna we crave in Winter into a fresh vegetable lasagna for Spring. (more…)

Spring has sprung at The Crown, which means … they are back!  The butterfly cupcakes have returned to the Crown Supermarket.  These are our seasonal Spring “kids” cupcakes, although suitable for the kid in all of us.  We made these colorful butterflies for the first time last year and our customers really seemed to enjoy them.  Each butterfly wing is a cookie, dusted with pink and purple sugars.  I pipe the body with pink buttercream and add red licorice antennae.  (All Kosher Parve, of course!)  These signs of Spring retail for $1.69 and are available all season.

Yes, I am that crazy that I am now making my own cheese!  Actually, making ricotta is supposedly very simple, so I decided that I would give it a try.  (It was my day off, why not?)  The recipe sounded simple enough…1/2 gallon of whole milk, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, and a teaspoon of salt.   That’s it – all you need to make your own creamy ricotta cheese.  If you have never had fresh ricotta, you are missing out.  Unlike the processed brands found in grocery stores, fresh ricotta has a light airiness about it.  Without sounding over-dramatic, it has the texture of what you would imagine a creamy cloud.  The flavor is subtle, yet with a sweet tang, and with millions of uses and recipes, fresh ricotta is certainly a treat to cook and bake with.

With much anticipation, I set to work boiling a large pot of whole milk.  And in this process, I certainly tested the “watched pot does not boil.”  I stood there, in front of the stove, for what seemed like hours.  I was excited to get to the curdling stage and so, like an impatient child, literally stood and watched milk boil.  (I know you are thinking, what kind of time does this girl have to sit and watch milk boil?  Unfortunately things like this just really intrigue me.)  The recipe called for the salted milk to come to a slow boil.  And so I watched as it began to simmer, thinking ok – just a few more minutes.   And then it boiled lightly and I thought, “now?”  To be sure, I let the milk come to a full rolling boil.  I reached behind and grab the lemon juice, and by the time I turned back around, the milk formed a thick foam and almost appeared to begin curdling (picture on right).  I dumped in the lemon juice quickly and gave a stir to find large curds already formed.  (The recipe said that it would take 1-2 minutes after the addition of the lemon juice for the curds to form – clearly my curds were as impatient as I was.)  To be on the safe side, I let the milk boil for an extra minute, and then fished out my curds using a small mesh sieve.  The recipe directed the ricotta drain for 1 minute.  Well, it took me about 5 minutes to remove all the curds, so by the time the last addition went into the colander, I was much past the original “draining” time.  Oh well, I figured it would be fine.  I was excited enough as it was that I had curds at all! (more…)

Spring is here!  (well, sort of, but to us New Englanders, any day with a temperature above 50 is considered Spring).  And with Spring comes the first vegetables of the season.   To be honest, the Spring harvest is not the most abundant.  However, when you have been so starved for the fresh taste of green, the first asparagus and rhubarb are truly welcome signs.  Unfortunately, in New England, our gardens don’t really start producing until much later in the year, usually May-June.  So although I would like to say I am collecting all these wonderful Spring harvests from local farmer’s markets, in reality, my produce comes straight from California (via Whole Foods).  Obviously not as “farm to table” as I would like, but sometimes you just can’t make it work.  (I refuse to forgo asparagus and rhubarb on principal alone!)

So let’s talk rhubarb.  For those of you rhubarb virgins, here’s a little crash course.  The rhubarb plant consists of long red stalks, leading to large triangular leaves.  We consume the bright red stalks (the leaves are poisonous), however the stalks are only enjoyable after cooking (and adding some sugar to combat their tart nature).   This is also why rhubarb is most classically paired with sweet strawberries.  The two flavors work well together to balance out the tart of the rhubarb and perk up the sweet strawberry.  You will most likely find rhubarb in grocery stores or farm stands trimmed of their leaves.  If you’ve never seen fresh rhubarb, think bright pink celery. (more…)

As most of you know, Scott and I enjoy our monthly wine tastings through our local wine store, Manchester Wine & Liquors.  March’s subject, South African Wines, proved to be the best yet.  I admit that I had high hopes for this particular tasting.  I was interested to learn more about the wines from this region and was really hoping to pick up a couple of good bargains.  The little I knew about South African wines was simply that they are decent wines, relatively new to the market, but still have “undiscovered” prices (a.k.a. dirt cheap.)  I am happy to announce that the tasting did not disappoint – I learned quite a lot about the area and even more importantly, found some wonderful buys (both white and red) in the $10.00 range! (more…)

Unfortunately, I cannot take creative credit for these too-cute cupcakes.  These “Rabbit Hole” cupcakes are featured in the cookbook, Hello, Cupcake! which I picked up recently and have since fallen in love with.  With cupcakes ranging from fish bowls, to sunflowers, to corn on the cob, authors Karen Tack & Alan Richardson have it all covered in this book.  With the idea that all the cupcakes can be made by the home chef, using equipment and tools on hand, Track & Richardson display true creativity.

With a family Easter gathering on the horizon, I knew exactly what I would make.  I have been waiting for an occasion worthy of these playful cupcakes.  I did make this batch myself, following most of the directions, but of course, tweaking it a bit.  When all the cupcakes are lined up together, hopefully it looks as if these bunnies are scurrying back into their holes, with only their fluffy tales left in sight.  I will be honest that piping all the grass on each cupcake was quite a lot of work, so be warned that these treats are time consuming.

Check out Hello, Cupcake! at Amazon.com