Something New, Something Blue

As is obvious, I have been absent from the blogosphere and DDF for just over a month.
I've been really busy with work, tired, and just generally flying at half-mast when it came to my ideas, enthusiasm, and committment to the blog. For me, it is a fledgling project, a hobby, not a business enterprise or a creative outlet I rely on for my sanity. Not that I don't appreciate those who do read my blog and the easy access to free speech and expression that it gives me. I've just been tired and busy.

But, I'm back! With a brand-spanking new design and template that I like much much more than what I had before. Thank you Blogger for giving me more to work with! I like the clean white background, the light blue text, and the welcoming open space of the blog. Perfect for summer. I hope that you will be able to find everything easier and more appealing and refreshing and fun to read!


Below is the reason for my post: a perfect omelette I made a few days ago. Free-range, organic two-egg omelette with local organic pea shoots, local Windset Farms hot peppers, and parmesan cheese. Mmmm good.

An Egg A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Alright, so there is no such saying. It's just a riff off of the original, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". Neither is really true, but the point of all this is is to discuss my relationship with eggs.

Unlike Julie Powell, I have always eaten and loved eggs: scrambled, eggs benedict, omelettes, quiches, sunny side-up, soft-boiled, egg salad sandwiches, and on and on. But, sometime in January 2009, Anthony and I learned that his cholesterol was a bit high. Not dangerously so, I mean, after all, he is a pretty healthy young man. But, we did consume a lot of eggs.




Eggs while high in cholesterol (in the yolk) are also one of the healthiest foods out there. They are not high in calories, they are full of really important protein that gives you long-lasting energy and improved brain functions, they are an excellent source of easily-absorbed iron, and the list goes on. (Although, after a quick inspection of the "Health Care Professionals" section of www.eggs.ca, perhaps the cholesterol in the egg yolks are not as bad as I thought. Further inspection is required. Doo doo doo doo doo doo, Inspector Gadget!) Regardless, the point is that they are healthy and as long as you're not a vegan, you should eat them (not the vegans, the eggs).

Now, for quite a while now, I can't get this one piece of nutritional advice I read in a magazine (probably Glamour) about eggs: eating six whole eggs a week is healthy, but you should not go over this amount. Yes, advice found in mags is often questionable; however, there is a lot of valuable tips as well. To me, I think eight whole eggs a week works best. Think about it, most people (including myself) usually eat two eggs at a time when they have eggs. Not one or three (I personally couldn't stomach three eggs at once), but two. So if I eat eight whole eggs a week, two at a time, once a day, that is four days a week with eggs, and three days off. That would describe me. Although I have never actually set the six eggs/week goal on the fridge or something, I would keep it in my head as a very lofty goal that I may or may not reach. Eight eggs, however, was something I could do.

I'm not one for diets or ridiculously constrictive eating habits. I love good food to much for that, I value my personal health and happiness too much. But, I do recognize the value of diversity in your daily nutrition and diet. That is part of the reason I try to at least have two days a week when I don't eat eggs. On those days, I'll have oatmeal with milk and honey, and maybe some fruit and yogurt instead. Or, baked beans and toast. I remember a friend suggesting a tofu scramble as a high-protein, hearty, and healthy breakfast alternative, but I never got around to making it. I bought the tofu and then I never ate it. I'm the type of person who has to have a big breakfast or else I just get hungry right away, and if I don't eat breakfast, I'm miserable. So if any of my few cyber-readers out there has any egg-less breakfast suggestions that are easy and filling, send me your thoughts.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I did have eggs for breakfast today.

Eggs

Eggs. I couldn't live without them. I read somewhere recently that you should consume no more than six whole eggs a week due to the high cholesterol content of the yolk. And I've tried to stick to that, sometimes succeeding, sometimes eating eight whole eggs in a week, sometimes...more. This week has been an egg-cellent week (horrible pun totally intended) for eggs and I. I made some great scrambled eggs for Anthony and I with peppers, chives, and the stupidly good Brise du Matin brie. I made a couple successful over-easy eggs; I still haven't really got that skill down yet. And really, if you have ever had Rabbit River Farms eggs, you will know that it is virtually impossible to not eat them every single day and ascend to gustatory heaven. They are the creamiest eggs with the largest, richest orange yolks I have ever had-absolutely bar none!-and they are the only example needed to show that happy, well-loved, well-fed chickens produce delicious, nutritious, hearty eggs, and that eggs of that caliber can only come from chickens living that kind of life, the life they deserve.

I urge you all to eat ethically. Not locally or organically necessarily, but ethically. Really think about the choices you are making when you purchase food, go grocery shopping, eat out at restaurants. What kind of system are you supporting when you eat at KFC? A disgusting vile operation based on torture of animals and lack of standards or morals of any kind. What kind of system are you supporting when you buy free-range, antiobiotic-free, vegetarian diet-fed beef? A kind, ethical, normal, natural, and authentic system based on respect and care for nature and all its creatures and the invaluable gifts of life and nutrition that they give us. Which one will you choose? The latter, I hope.

Quintessentially Quiche

Greetings and Saluations Fellow Food Lovers,
Another chanterelle mushroom recipe down and another success! The recipe is actually entitled "Chanterelle & Porcini Mushroom Tart", which it certainly is; however, really it is quintessentially a quiche. Of course I did not make my own pie crust-frozen Tenderflake thank you again-and all the ingredients are outside of the crust are mushrooms, roasted garlic, cream, gruyere cheese, salt, and thyme. I didn't have any thyme-I have to cut costs somewhere-and I just used chanterelle mushrooms. It was super easy and it did turn out great. I was feeling a bit bloated when I ate it, so I probably will enjoy it better when I eat it when I'm really hungry. I think 1.5 times the amount of cheese and mushrooms would be better, and bit more salt. Also, I'd like to try it with the porcini mushrooms. I know that Chanterelles are supposed to be the goddess of mushrooms, but I'm not wholly convinced. Their strength is their delicate, almost sweet texture and taste, and their bright orange colour. But, they lack a pungence (I mean this in a good way) of flavour, a real mushroomy impact. I like my 'shrooms to taste like 'shrooms. I think I'd try this recipe again, but with some shitake and porcini mushrooms instead. Live and let learn right. Especially in the kitchen. If all else fails, I've always got my mushroom risotto, which is reliably fucking awesome every single time. Only if I use OXO 25% less salt chicken stock. That's my chef's secret. Another thing, it may be different if I made my own pie crust, but warming up the defrosted pie crust (in provided tinfoil pan of course) for 10 minutes in the oven is questionable. The bottom of the pastry was puffing up a lot, so I took it out after 3 or so minutes warming up and just left it on top of the heated oven.
So, what shall I do with the rest of the mushrooms I have left. An Asparagus and Mushroom Puff Pastry Pie is calling me. No eggs. And hollandaise sauce. And asparagus. Perfect.
On the future food docit: Parmesan Scones, Cranberry Scones, and Chocolate Oil Cake. Ahhh yeaaa.

The Perfect Breakfast