Easy, Speedy Breakfast: Cheesy Grits with Poached Egg

My husband’s favorite breakfast of the moment. After living in Texas for over 2 years, something had to stick, and it was the grits. He loves them. And I don’t blame him. They are heart warming, stick to your stomach goodness that will keep you full until your next meal.

What are grits? Grits are coarsely ground, hulled corn, which are then boiled with water. They are eaten for breakfast in the southern US.

But wait a minute, what is the difference between polenta (discussed in a previous post) and grits? Are they the same, since they are both coarsely ground cornmeal? Well, yes, they are both ground corn, although polenta is usually ground a little finer than grits. Also, the true grits are hominy grits, which have been ground from lime soaked corn which has been hulled and had the bran and germ removed (okay, it’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea), giving it a different taste and texture than polenta.

Anyway, back to the cooking and thus, the eating… my suggestion for a fast, easy, and filling breakfast is… (drum roll please)…Cheesy Grits with a Poached Egg!!

Not only is this recipe for a single serving, making it a really easy breakfast, but once you get this recipe into your routine, it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to make. If you don’t want the egg, you could skip it and just go for the grits, but I am telling you, try it once with the egg, and you will never go back!

For all you skeptics out there, don’t forget that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And we all know, if you don’t eat breakfast or you skimp and eat just a measly piece of toast, banana or (heaven forbid) cookie, you will lack both the energy to make it through the morning, and the concentration, since the disturbance of your loud, growling stomach will prevent you from being even the slightest bit productive.

So, I am going to go make myself a bowl of grits. Are you joining me?

Cheesy Grits with Poached EggMakes 1 serving

1/4 cup Grits
1/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Water + 1/4 cup water
Add 1/4 cup Grated Cheese (Sharp Cheddar, Emmental, Gruyere)
1 Egg
1 tbsp White Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Fill a pan or pot about 4 inches high with water. Add 1 tbsp white vinegar and bring to a boil (this is for the poached egg)

In the meantime, place the grits, milk, and 1/2 cup of water in large, microwave proof bowl (must be large so that grits do not boil over in the microwave). Microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes, keeping a close eye on them. Stir in 1/4 more cup of cold water and microwave again for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir in the cheese.

By this time, the water should be boiling. Turn the heat down to low. Crack 1 egg into a small bowl, then slide it into the pan. Leave it for about 2-3 minutes, until you can see that the egg white is cooked, then gently lift it out of the water with a slotted spoon. You should feel that the yolk is still soft, but the white is cooked. Drain well and slide this egg on top of the cheese grits.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Warm Lemon Polenta Cakes: Au Naturel, with Berries, or a la Nutella!!!

I love polenta. For those of you who do not know what polenta is, you've been missing out. In fact, I missed out also. I was never introduced to polenta until my 20's, when I encountered it in restaurants and then started to use it at home.

So, what is it? Basically, polenta is coarsely ground cornmeal. It is a staple food of Northern Italy, but has made it's way onto restaurant menus and into households around the world. It can be used in a variety of ways. Basic polenta is cornmeal made into a thick porridge by boiling it in water. It can be eaten plain and fresh, with the addition of cheese, butter, milk, vegetables, or as an accompaniment to fish or meat. You can also allow it to cool and set, then cut it into shapes and fry or grill it.

Polenta is a great alternative to rice or potatoes. It is an especially good substitute for mashed potatoes, since you can add butter and cream and achieve the same consistency, creaminess, and therefore comfort factor from a bowl of steaming hot polenta as you can from mashed potatoes.



Until recently, I mainly thought of polenta as a savory food. Yes, I have encountered polenta in baked goods, but mainly in bread to add texture and crunch. But today, I made some delicious, sweet polenta cakes. They were flavored with some fresh lemon and I tell you, they were divine! To sweeten things up a little more, I “stuffed” two of them with a nutella center. I also considered mixing some berries into the batter, but that will have to be for another day…

Warm Lemon Polenta CakesMakes 4 individual sized cakes (the size of muffins)

75 grams Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
60 grams White Sugar
75 grams Almond Powder
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
Zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of ¼ Lemon
¼ tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Salt
40 grams Polenta (yellow cornmeal)
Optional: Nutella or ¼ cup fresh berries

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in almond powder, then egg, then vanilla extract, then lemon zest and lemon juice, being sure to beat well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, mix together polenta, salt and baking powder. Add these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture.

Grease 4 muffin cups or 4 ramekins, then dust with flour.

To make Polenta Cakes au Naturel:

Fill the ramekins ¾ of the way full with the batter.

To make Polenta Cakes a la Nutella:

Fill the ramekins ¾ of the way full with the batter. Then make a small hole in the centre and add about 1 tbsp of nutella into each one.

To make Polenta Cakes with Berries:

Stir about ¼ cup of fresh berries into the batter (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or strawberry pieces). Then fill the ramekins ¾ of the way full with the batter

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes before flipping onto a plate.

Enjoy warm as is or with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

The Perfect Margarita

Margaritas are the perfect drink. A delicate blend of sweet, sour and salty all in a one glass.

I have tasted many margaritas. Flavored, frozen, shaken and strained, over ice… some good, some bad, and some really really bad.

Some would argue that it’s the tequila that matters. Me? Well, I disagree. I believe it’s the limes that make the difference. Use freshly squeezed lime juice and I guarantee that you will have a fine margarita. Use the best tequila with powdered or bottled “margarita mix” and, well, you might find that you should have just drunk the tequila from the bottle.

Another factor that makes a big difference is the balance of sweet and sour. If you use too much sugar, you end up with a syrup, watery mess.

Finally, no need for a thick rim of kosher salt. Just a thin rimmed or half rimmed glass is enough.

When you get the right balance, a margarita is perfection in a glass. If you mess it up, well, it can be really, really disappointing. So, follow this recipe to make the perfect margarita. I also use some lime zest, to give my margaritas an extra little kick!

The Perfect Margarita
Makes 2 on the Rocks

Juice of 3 large limes
Zest of 2 large limes (save a little for garnish)
50 ml Tequila
25 ml Grand Marnier
15 ml Simple Syrup
Ice cubes
Salt for rim

To a cocktail shaker, add the lime juice, zest, tequila, grand marnier, and simple syrup. Fill the shaker with ice and shake until cold.

Rim 2 glasses with salt by dipping the rim of the glasses first in lime juice, then in kosher salt. Shake to remove excess salt.

Pour the margaritas with the ice into the 2 glasses. Garnish with some fresh lime zest.

Fresh Pesto: Easy and Versatile

I am definitely not a gardener, although I try really hard and pretend to be one.

I grew up with a garden. Or I should say, my parent’s house in Victoria, BC has a great garden. As a kid, I used to help water, weed, and pick fresh strawberries, beans, zucchini, blueberries, figs and other good stuff. I can’t say that I loved it. In fact, I cringed when I would uncover a big fat slug, munching away at my perfectly ripe strawberry or a huge earthworm slithering its way towards me. But I did it because my mom asked me to help.

Okay, I didn’t fool you there, did I? Fine. I’ll be honest. I didn’t do it out of the goodness of my heart. I did it for the goods… the edible fruits of my labor. Out of pure selfishness rather than selflessness. I know. Probably not right, but everyone got what they wanted in the end. The garden got watered, weeded, picked and pruned, my mom was happy that the work got done (even if she had to yell at me to do it), my siblings were happy that they didn’t have to do it, and I got the goods. It’s fair, right?

Anyway, regardless of how I got into gardening or why I did it, the exposure and experience helped me in the end because as I became interested in culinary, I started experimenting with herbs. First cooking with them, then growing them. One day, I went crazy at the garden store and bought every plant and seed whose name sounded even vaguely familiar, then tried to grow them all in fancy window boxes in my parents sunroom. Lemon verbena, lavender, chives, curry leaf, thyme, savory, rosemary, basil…. You name it- I probably bought it. But, I never had the time nor the patience to nurture my plants, and I never used half of them, and so they died. All of them except the ever faithful and easy to maintain rosemary which is now in my mom’s garden. The moral of this story? Quality, not quantity.

When I moved to Dubai with my husband, we decided to plant a “garden” on the balcony of our apartment. Apparently, I never learned from my mistakes because I did the same thing. Bought loads of seeds, started them well, lost interest, lost patience, forgot to water and prune them, and poof…they all died. I could blame it on the weather, the sand storms, or the plants themselves, but really, it was me. I just put my eggs in too many baskets and they all got rotten.

Nowadays, I take care of the few plants which are like staple herbs to me: Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, and Cilantro.

Of these four, basil is by far the one I use the most. It grows fast and it’s versatile.

One of my favorite ways to use basil is in fresh pesto. The great color, smell and flavor, combined with pesto’s ability to cure all the daily stresses (both in the making and in the eating) make it a winning condiment for pastas, sandwiches and salads. And the best part is that it requires only seven ingredients: 4 of which are salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil-- pantry staples! Could it be any easier?

In this recipe, I use emmental cheese instead of the traditional parmesan. If you prefer to use parmesan, reduce the rock salt to 1 teaspoon. Also, I use a stone pestle and mortar to grind everything together, but if you don’t have one, use a blender (of course, you lose out on the therapeutic properties of this recipe).

Fresh and Easy PestoMakes about 1 cup

2 Whole Cloves of Garlic, peeled
1 ½ tsp Rock Salt
3 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
¼ cup Pine Nuts
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ cup Emmental Cheese, Finely Grated
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Place the 2 cloves of garlic, the salt, and the basil in the mortar and grind into a paste. Add the pinenuts and grind until smooth. Mix in the olive oil until combined. Add the cheese and stir. Season to taste with black pepper.

Serving Suggestions:

Simply toss the pesto with pasta and enjoy
Make a potato salad, but toss in pesto instead of mayonnaise dressing
Use as a spread on sandwiches, toast, pizza, burgers
Use as a dressing for raw or cooked veggies
Use as an accompaniment for fish, meat, or chicken

Ravioles du Royans

Ravioles…nope, I didn’t say Ravioli… I said RAVIOLES. What is the difference you ask? Well, as you know, Ravioli are traditional Italian stuffed pastas, either round or square. Ravioles du Royans are a specific dish; a speciality of the Dauphiné region in the Rhône Alpes in France. The concept is the same- stuffed pasta- but these ones are tiny and filled with a blend of cheeses and herbs.

These tiny parcels of rich goodness are the perfect cure to a long, hard day. Enjoy them with a little bit of chicken broth, tossed in salted butter, or kick them up with some cream and cheese “au gratin” style.

Now, you are probably wondering…”Are we about to make these tiny things?? They probably take ages to make!” Yes, they do take some time and patience, but once you get in the swing of things, it is quite easy and sooooooooo worth it. Plus you can make loads and freeze them for later.

But if you are not convinced, or you want to try them before you invest the time in making them, here are a few other options:

1. Buy them and try! The brand we most commonly buy is “Reflets de France.” Depending on where you live, the cost of these little guys ranges and of course, you may not be able to find this brand. But in the view of my husband, these are the best.
   


2.  Make them slightly larger (use the same filling, but use a large mold or just cut them to the size you like). Given, they won’t be exactly the same cute little ravioles, but they will be just as tasty
3. Invest in a pasta machine with a ravioli maker. Haven’t tried it (I prefer doing everything by hand), but from the looks of these things, you just put the filling in one place and roll the pasta, and the pasta is stuffed for you.

But after you have tried all those options, nothing really is quite as satisfying as making them 100% by hand. Invest a couple hours doing it and you will have enough ravioles to last you for all those nights when you just couldn’t be bothered to spend more than a few minutes in the kitchen.

Try it. It’s worth it!

Ravioles du Royans
Makes about 6 dozen ravioles

For Dough
6 Eggs
600 grams Flour (I used a mix of 400 grams white and 200 grams fine WW and it was great!)

For Filling
160 grams Fresh Goat's Cheese
120 grams Parsley
250 grams Gruyere, grated
1/4 cup Butter
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
Salt
Pepper

To Make the Dough: 
In a bowl knead eggs and flour until a paste.

To Make the Filling:
Chop the parsley finely and then fry in a skillet with butter. - Remove from heat and add eggs, lots of pepper, goat cheese, grated Gruyère, salt. Mix well and put it through a mill/ pulse with blender if needed. Let stand a day in fridge.

Preparing the Ravioli: 
Roll out the dough to #1 setting on pasta machine. Use small ravioli mold (approximately 3/4 of an inch square)(must be well floured!!) to fill pockets with filling (only about a hazelnut size of filling). Place sheet of pasta over top and use rolling pin to seal edges and cut ravioli. Remove raviole from mold.

Cooking time: 
A few minutes in boiling, salted water or chicken broth

Serving Suggestions:
- Serve with chicken broth
- Drain and toss with salted butter (and top with freshly grated parmesan)
- Place in an oven proof dish, add some cream and grated cheese, and bake for about 15 minutes until bubbly and golden on top