y night, Alex and I made a Mexican feast with cheese enchiladas, black beans and rice, guacamole and roasted corn. I didn't follow any recipes except for the Mexican red sauce from the Moosewood Cookbook, which I've made before and really like. Everything turned out great. One thing that came up during our dinner conversation was what to do with the leftovers...if we're cooking everyday, when will we have a chance to eat what is left?? Of course, I'll be packing fabulous lunches this month, but that still won't use all the food. I'm also planning to freeze some things (for example, I froze half the batch of beans I made on Saturday) but freezer space is limited. What I'm hoping is that we'll be able to incorporate some of the leftovers into other meals, cooking new items to serve with them.On Sunday, we had plans for lunch and dinner, so I knew I had to make breakfast. I decided to imitate a recipe from one of my favorite Chicago brunch places, The Bongo Room and make Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Eggs Benedict. In order to do this I had to poach eggs, which I've never done before. That turned out to be pretty easy - I think the key is having the water barely boiling and sliding the egg in gently. In 3-4 minutes, the egg is poached perfectly. Hollandaise sauce, on the other hand, was not so simple. Since it is an emulsion, it requires continuous whisking...I swear, I had it perfectly creamy and smooth and then I let it sit for a minute while I put together the other items and sadly, it had separated. Fortunately, it was still full of buttery goodness even though it didn't look great. To construct this dish, you need a toasted English muffin, upon which you layer roasted red pepper (I roasted the pepper Saturday night so it was ready to go), a sprinkle of Feta, a poached egg and top with Hollandaise. The picture below shows the finished product (clumpy sauce and all). I highly recommend this dish! I'm also beginning to fear that home-cooked January might make me fat...
Looking Good baby :)
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