recipe: corned beef hash

we had a ton of corned beef leftover from St. Paddy's day... i never used to be into the corned beef hash thing (growing up i just thought it sounded & looked gross), but considering i love all the ingredients in it, seemed like a must-make. i had just bought fresh eggs from Otis Egg Farm so they seemed like a match made in heaven. i didn't follow a recipe, just did a chop & throw into pan deal... it came out better than i expected, though i do wish the potatoes came out a bit more crunchy/brown... it's VERY hard to get them crisp for hashbrowns in the absence of a full griddle cook top. 

ingredients list: (makes enough for 2 large servings) 
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded & finely diced
- 1 large potato, shredded
- 1 & 1/2 cups (roughly) of leftover corned beef, shredded
- 3/4 cup leftover corned beef broth
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- crushed red pepper to taste
- salt & pepper to taste

to make: add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil to a large saute pan and heat over medium heat. add green & red peppers, onion, & jalapeno. 

dab the shredded potatoes with paper towels to remove excess moisture, then add to the pan with the veggies. season with garlic powder, crushed red pepper, & salt & pepper to taste. cook until the veggie & potatoes start to turn a little brown on the edges. add corned beef & the leftover corned beef broth and cook for 2-3 more minute, until the broth is absorbed and the corned beef is heated through.

while the veggies & corned beef is cooking, heat a small saute pan over medium heat, then fry the eggs to desired temperature (for this, i prefer them extra runny so the runny egg runs all over the hash). serve egg over the hash & done! 

recipe: eggs biscuidict

on the way back from CT yesterday we drove past Otis Poultry Farm in Otis, MA. the place is super cute from the outside with little chicken coups & signs everywhere, so i was happy i finally got to pop in. since we had freshidy-fresh eggs, it was a perfect occassion today to make some hollandaise and poached eggs (i'm usually too nervous to make any of that with grocery store maybe-fresh eggs).

i used Tyler Florence's Hollandiase Sauce recipe, from foodnetwork.com, followed verbatim but cut in half. we made sorta eggs benedict, except no english muffin (not really a huge fan) and no ham. we served it over pillsbury buttermilk biscuits (the flakey kind), which i think beats a lousy english muffin anyday.

ingredients list (for 2 ppl / 4 biscuidicts):
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- pinch cayenne
- pinch salt
- 4 pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 4 eggs
- cheese for sprinkling (shredded cheddar or parm)
- pepper to taste

to make:

preheat oven to 350 degrees, then bake biscuits according to package directions (they should take about 13 minutes total)

start hollandaise while biscuits are baking: vigorously wisk the 2 egg yolks and lemon juice in stainless steel bowl until mixture has thickened and doubled in volume. place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water, making sure the water is not high enough to touch the bottom of the bowl. continue to wisk, making sure eggs do not start to cook/scramble. slowly pour melted butter into the bowl, continuing to wisk until the saucee becomes thick. remove from heat and mix in cayenne and salt, adding a dash or two or warm water if it becomes too thick.

to poach the eggs, bring a large saucepan of water to a gentle boil, and add in vinegar. CAREFULLY drop in the 4 eggs, one by one, and let cook for about 3-3.5 minutes each. carefully remove with a slotted spoon. 

place poached egg on top of toasted biscuit, and drizzle with hollandaise. sprinkle on a little cheese & salt & pepper to taste.

this was great. my hollandaise was not as creamy as what i've had out before, but it was still tasty. not sure if it was the temp of my butter or the eggs over the water which is why they didn't combine right? while it tasted fine, they just didn't drip over the eggs like the should and have that super-creamy appearance like you'd except. biscuits were GREAT with it since they had a nice buttery flavor that you can't go wrong with with eggs & cheese. yummmmz. 6.5 ******~.

iHop, uHop, weHop

the consensus was iHop for breakfast today (translation: double gym session). i didn't give a damn because all i wanted was delicious pancakes in my tum tum, whether we cooked them or bought em. usually when we end up in iHop we're hungover and it's "so bright in here, ugh". today i was on the up and up... turns out it's ACTUALLY just that bright in there. duly noted.

i ordered the pumpkin pancakes. odd choice, since i don't like pumpkin and all. but i've done blueberry/apple so much lately figure why not live a little, it is the iHo of pancakes.

now, the first thing i notice when i'm served that these cakes must have been poured from a guy standing on a 12-ft ladder. LOOK at those splatter marks. these are pankcakes in motion - they have a story to tell, and i only wish they could talk. they can't tho. so i eat them (after schmearing the whipped cream off... i just don't do pancakes + whipped cream, period). i have to wiggle my fork a little extra when cutting through them... uh-oh... somebunny has gotten the bottom of a pile of pre-cooked cakes in waiting. nbd, i've been in this situation before. i shrug it off and focus my attention to the sweet pumpkin cinnamon party flavors before me. cinnamon is delicious as per usual. pumpkin flavor is very mild. since i don't like pumpkin, i'm relieved, but at the same time a little disappointed as i was kinda curious. it did definitely make them more moist (i hate that word but can't think of another), and all in all, they would be on the up and up if i was eating a fresh stack of them.

my cakes came with bacon & eggs, and hashbrowns which were a surprise addition. bacon was delicious as per usual. eggs... well i don't think they were eggs at all. definite egg substitute, kinda scared of how many ingredients were involved, and can't figure out what's in them that's giving them an almost slimy finish (way too many jokes that can be made here haha). i only eat half, knowing these are probably more bad than good. next up hash browns. i'm usually a cube-hashbrown lover, but these little shredded effers had a sneak attack of onion that was just delicious. almost had a tangy hint of sour cream, but it was no where in sight. what was in sight was a massive pool of butter which was a bit unnecessary. i had to call it quits mid-serving (it was big enough for 2 anyway) as i just can't justify the calories. if i was able to ring out the butter, they'd probably go from good to great.

all in all 4 stars **** (note: this is rated on a sit down/chain QSR scale, not a standard restaurant scale). it's down & dirty breakfast food, and this one was cooked from a ladder - it doesn't get more authentic than that.