Dirty Eggs

No, there's nothing really dirty about the eggs themselves, the dirt comes courtesy charred fresh herbs that you grill on your new flat-top griddle. The flat-top griddle is newest must have for both expert and aspiring barbequers who really want their grills to sing. And no one knows more about how to get the most out of your new flat-top then Stephen Raichlan. He's the grillmaster behind the new cookbook Project Griddle. Stephen told Tonia's Kitchen that one of the ways he's putting to good use is in recipe called Dirty Eggs. Stephen says he takes fresh herbs, along with a circle of butter on the flat top griddle, and puts the eggs in the center. When it's all said and done, the eggs will have the "dirt" of the fresh herbs on them. Check out his recipe in Project Griddle, and enjoy! 

A Perfect Souffle for Easter

   

If you're starting to make plans for that perfect Easter Brunch, here's a start, little individual goat-cheese souffles.  Jessie Price, who's the Editor-In-Chief with Eating Well Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about how to make them (not hard) and why they belong in your holiday meal (they're pretty).  Give them a try, and start your Easter Brunch off right!

• 1/2 cup packed grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup minced fresh chives, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup reduced-fat milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature, crumbled
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat the bottom and sides of four 10-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle the bottom of each with 1 teaspoon Parmesan and 1/2 teaspoon chives. Place on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in milk, pepper and salt; cook, whisking, until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in goat cheese and the remaining Parmesan and chives. Whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in zest.
• Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer just until stiff peaks begin to form (see Tip); do not overbeat. Gently fold about one-third of beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it; then gently fold in the remaining egg whites until just incorporated. Divide the mixture among the prepared ramekins.
• Bake until the souffles have risen, are browned in spots and do not appear wet or moist, 20 to 24 minutes. Serve immediately.
• Soft peaks are egg whites that are beaten until thickening but still soft enough to curl when beaters are turned upside down. For stiff peaks, keep beating just until the whites are stiff and upright.

An Asparagus Souffle!

 

Who knew that asparagus, eggs and cheese could come together so nicely?!? New York Times Cooking Contributor Yasmin Fahr, who wrote the new cookbook, Cook Simply Live Fully, came by Tonia's Kitchen to tell us about a delicious recipe that can really come in handy when you're feeling a little lazy. She told Tonia about her Sheet Pan Asparagus that's almost Mediterranean since it includes Feta Cheese, along with cherry tomatoes. But the sauce here comes from eggs that you crack right over the pan full of the other stuff. It cooks right up, is delicious, and if you really wanted to, you could eat right from the pan! Dinner...Done!

French Toast on a Stick

 

And that recipe, if you're trying to impress, is French Toast Sticks. Elise Thomas, who wrote the new cookbook Eat Dessert First, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about what makes these sticks special. Elise told Tonia she flatens the bread you're using and put the cinnamon sugar in the center, Then roll up the bread and dip the sticks in the egg mixture and bake. Super easy and really delicious. It's almost like the sticks are crepes.  Serve with maple syrup and whipped cream to make it even more of a special treat. They look elegant and can really impress party guests!

Snackables in 20 Minutes-Or Less!

That's the goal anyway. And one recipe is not only great for snacking, it's also fantastic for breakfast. Amy Traverso, who's the Senior Food Editor for Yankee Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about another cookbook author named Jessie Sheehan. She wrote the book Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes. In that book is a recipe for Egg Puffs. Amy told Tonia it's a savory snack, or breakfast that really satisfies!

Cooking spray, for the muffin tin
12 slices prosciutto
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup (33 grams) all-purpose flour
2 cups (200 grams) shredded Muenster, Monterey Jack, or low-moisture mozzarella
1 cup cottage cheese, 2 percent fat or higher
2 ounces full-fat cream cheese, cubed

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 12-well muffin tin with cooking spray. Line each well with a slice of prosciutto, folding it to make it snugly fit the bottom and sides of each cavity.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, and melted butter in a large bowl. Sprinkle the baking powder, salt, and pepper over the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Whisk in the flour and then the shredded cheese, cottage cheese, and cream cheese. Evenly pour the batter into the prosciutto-lined wells of the prepared tin (each will be pretty full).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating at the halfway point, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the tin from the oven and let cool briefly on a wire rack before running a knife around the edge of the muffin wells and removing the egg puffs. Let the puffs cool for at least 10 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

An Easter Souffle

  

If you're starting to make plans for that perfect Easter Brunch, here's a start, little individual goat-cheese souffles.  Jessie Price, who's the Editor-In-Chief with Eating Well Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about how to make them (not hard) and why they belong in your holiday meal (they're pretty).  Give them a try, and start your Easter Brunch off right!

• 1/2 cup packed grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup minced fresh chives, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup reduced-fat milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature, crumbled
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat the bottom and sides of four 10-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle the bottom of each with 1 teaspoon Parmesan and 1/2 teaspoon chives. Place on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in milk, pepper and salt; cook, whisking, until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in goat cheese and the remaining Parmesan and chives. Whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in zest.
• Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer just until stiff peaks begin to form (see Tip); do not overbeat. Gently fold about one-third of beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it; then gently fold in the remaining egg whites until just incorporated. Divide the mixture among the prepared ramekins.
• Bake until the souffles have risen, are browned in spots and do not appear wet or moist, 20 to 24 minutes. Serve immediately.
• Soft peaks are egg whites that are beaten until thickening but still soft enough to curl when beaters are turned upside down. For stiff peaks, keep beating just until the whites are stiff and upright.

An Easy, Creamy Dessert

  

These cream puffs are delicious, simple to whip up and beautiful, because after all they're swans! Gail Sokol, who wrote the cookbook About Professional Baking, came by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her delicious recipe for these swans that isn't hard at all. Gail told Tonia it's a one-pan deal with some very simple ingredients that you bring to a boil. Play with the dough and make these swans as beautiful as you like!

Cream Puff Dough

1 cup water
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil.
3. Quickly add flour and stir with a wooden spoon. A ball of dough will form. Lower the heat and cook for about 1 minute while mixing constantly. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool for several minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing to incorporate with each addition. The dough should hold its shape.
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with about 2/3’s of the dough. Pipe swan bodies spacing them evenly onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.
6. Using a small round tip and the remaining dough, pipe a neck and head for each swan body onto a different parchment paper lined sheet pan making extras in case of breakage. Bake necks in a 375° F. oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Place cream puffs or swan bodies in a 425° F. oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350o F. and continue baking for 15 minutes or until the swan bodies are puffed, brown and crisp. Cool.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

3/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted if lumpy
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a small heatproof bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water. Stir and set aside.
2. Heat 1 inch of water to a simmer in a saucepan or skillet big enough for the bowl of gelatin to fit inside. Place bowl of gelatin into hot water bath just long enough to melt down the gelatin. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream just to cool down the gelatin.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer using the whip attachment, beat the remaining heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, the melted gelatin, and the vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

1. On a cutting board, slice each swan body in half crosswise. Cut the top portion lengthwise to form two wings. Leave bottom part intact.
2. Fill pastry bag, fitted with a large star tip with cream, and fill each bottom with cream. Place one wing on each side and stick a head and neck on front of each swan. Dust with powdered sugar.

Cinco de Mayo...For Breakfast

Breakfast is a very important meal and you don't want to skip it, even if it is Cinco de Mayo. And there's nothing like a classic, fresh Mexican dish to start your day. Diva Name, who is the owner of La Mexicana in Fort Lauderdale, Florida stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about one of her most popular dishes to serve, Chilaquiles Verdes. It's made with fried eggs and, Diva says, the freshest ingredients you can get. And that, Diva adds, is the critical difference in a lot recipes, using the freshest items you can find. That's part of what makes her restaurant so popular for South Florida residents and tourists alike.

Diva Name La Mexicana-

DIY Easter Brunch

  

If you're starting to make plans for that perfect Easter Brunch, here's a start, little individual goat-cheese souffles.  Jessie Price, who's the Editor-In-Chief with Eating Well Magazine, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about how to make them (not hard) and why they belong in your holiday meal (they're pretty).  Give them a try, and start your Easter Brunch off right!

• 1/2 cup packed grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup minced fresh chives, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup reduced-fat milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature, crumbled
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat the bottom and sides of four 10-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle the bottom of each with 1 teaspoon Parmesan and 1/2 teaspoon chives. Place on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in milk, pepper and salt; cook, whisking, until thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in goat cheese and the remaining Parmesan and chives. Whisk in egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in zest.
• Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer just until stiff peaks begin to form (see Tip); do not overbeat. Gently fold about one-third of beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it; then gently fold in the remaining egg whites until just incorporated. Divide the mixture among the prepared ramekins.
• Bake until the souffles have risen, are browned in spots and do not appear wet or moist, 20 to 24 minutes. Serve immediately.
• Soft peaks are egg whites that are beaten until thickening but still soft enough to curl when beaters are turned upside down. For stiff peaks, keep beating just until the whites are stiff and upright.

DIY Mayonnaise To "Bring Out The Best"

 

That line is from a classic advertising campaign for a nationally known brand of mayonnaise. We all know which one...no need to say it! But one thing we haven't said is how easy it is to make your own mayonnaise...until now! You don't even need a blender says Lisa Steele. She's the author of a new cookbook called Fresh Eggs Daily. Lisa stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about how you can make your mayonnaise that's fresher than anything you'll buy in the store. Lisa told Tonia she takes yolks, lemon juice, mustard, salt, oil altogether in a bowl, and adds the oil of your choice. Just whisk it all and within two minutes, you have mayo! No jar required!  

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white vinegar

Juice from half a lemon

3/4 Cup cooking oil

1/4 Cup olive oil

Break the egg into a blender and add the salt.  Blend on high 2-3 seconds until foamy. Add the vinegar and lemon juice and blend for 10 seconds.

While on high speed, with the cover on and the little insert in the lid removed, slowly pour the combined oils into the blender in a slow, steady stream.  

The mixture should thicken to a beautiful consistency.  

Makes about 1 1/4 Cups of mayonnaise which will last in the refrigerator for about a week.

A Breakfast Ace in The Hole

 

It's called Eggs in a Hole! It's another way to use more of the leftover biscuit dough that's a specialty of Carey Morey. She's the author of the new cookbook Hot Little Supers. Carey stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her recipe for this delicious breakfast dish. Carey told Tonia her kids love this one. The concept is simple, take your cutter, punch holes into the biscuit dough and bake. Then add the eggs and bake again. When you're doing brunch, this one's definitely the winning hand!

• Leftover buttermilk biscuit dough from stamping out biscuits

• Melted butter (amount will depend on how much dough you’re using)

• Medium Eggs (one per biscuit cutout you want to fill)

• Freshly ground coarse black pepper

• Salt

• Garnish of your choice

• After making biscuits, reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

  Transfer the leftover biscuit dough to the baking sheet after all twelve biscuits have been stamped out. You now have your “nest.”

  Brush the nest with melted butter and bake for 12 minutes.

  Pull the biscuit nest out of the oven and crack an egg inside each biscuit cutout. If garnishing with an item such as cheese, add now.

  Bake for an additional 7 minutes, or until the egg reaches your preference of doneness.

  Brush with melted butter again, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

It's a New Take on "Bring Out the Best."

That line is from a classic advertising campaign for a nationally known brand of mayonnaise. We all know which one...no need to say it! But one thing we haven't said is how easy it is to make your own mayonnaise...until now! You don't even need a blender says Lisa Steele. She's the author of a new cookbook called Fresh Eggs Daily. Lisa stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about how you can make your mayonnaise that's fresher than anything you'll buy in the store. Lisa told Tonia she takes yolks, lemon juice, mustard, salt, oil altogether in a bowl, and adds the oil of your choice. Just whisk it all and within two minutes, you have mayo! No jar required!  

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white vinegar

Juice from half a lemon

3/4 Cup cooking oil

1/4 Cup olive oil

Break the egg into a blender and add the salt.  Blend on high 2-3 seconds until foamy. Add the vinegar and lemon juice and blend for 10 seconds.

While on high speed, with the cover on and the little insert in the lid removed, slowly pour the combined oils into the blender in a slow, steady stream.  

The mixture should thicken to a beautiful consistency.  

Makes about 1 1/4 Cups of mayonnaise which will last in the refrigerator for about a week.

A Different Way to Make The Egg

Everyone knows that when you fry an egg, you have to use some kind of oil or butter to cook with, right? Mmm, maybe not! Lisa Steele, who wrote the new cookbook Fresh Eggs Daily says the next time you break out the old frying pan, try using heavy cream, as opposed to oil, butter or margarine. She says it really opens up the flavor of the egg and adds a really different dimension! For example, Lisa told Tonia the whites of the egg get very creamy and pillowy. Her cookbook has a lot of great ideas on how to prepare eggs in a manner you probably would not expect. Find Lisa and some of her ideas on social media today!

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Fine salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• Fresh thyme leaves, for serving (optional)
• Toast or biscuits, for serving (optional)
• Frisée salad, for serving (optional)

Step 1

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the cream and swirl the pan to cover the bottom. Lightly season with salt and pepper and heat until the cream starts to boil, about 1 minute.

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Step 2

Carefully crack the eggs into a small bowl and gently slide them into the cream. As the eggs cook, the cream will boil, start to evaporate and the butter fats will start to caramelize around the edges. Watch carefully, and turn down the heat if the cream begins to burn.

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Step 3

Cook until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still a little runny, 5 to 8 minutes (a couple of minutes longer, if you want firmer yolks.)

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Step 4

Remove from the heat and use a spatula to separate the eggs and slide them onto plates. Scoop up any caramelized cream bits and add them to the plates. Lightly season with more salt and/or pepper, sprinkle with the thyme, if using, and serve with toast or biscuits and/or a lightly dressed green salad, if desired.

Instead of Hard Boiling, Try Steaming Your Eggs

Why you might ask? After all, the hard boiled egg has been a constant breakfast mainstay pretty much since man began to domesticate chickens. The issue is, and always has been, the act of peeling the egg once they've boiled. It's incredibly hard to get a perfect peel. Now, over the years, there have been lots of tips and advice given about getting that hard shell away from the soft membrane of the egg, but there is a better way. Lisa Steele, who wrote the new cookbook Fresh Eggs Daily, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her idea on hard boiled eggs...try hard steamed eggs. Lisa told Tonia you can place the eggs in a hot bamboo wok or vegetable steamer over boiling water. Leave them exposed for 12 minutes, and you're guaranteed a perfect peel!