Poached Eggs and Playdates

We had some friends over last night...Baxter the Pit/Boxer mix, along with his human, Josh! Oia and Baxter had a field day playing and running around while I made sure the humans were fed some yummy dinner, and we all had a lovely evening! While they chowed down on treats for tricks, we dove into bowls of gooey risotto loaded with crispy pieces of bacon, and silky, sauteed leeks. The best part though? The poached egg broken over the top of each mound of risotto, dripping and oozing into the dish, adding that much more texture to an already flavorful dish!

I got a later start than I had originally planned, but the bacon was crisping when Baxter and Josh walked in the door! I was moving along in my creation of Bacon and Leek Risotto with Poached Egg. After the bacon was done, I sauteed the leeks in the drippings and eventually added the rice as well as the wine. I've explained the risotto-making procedure over and over, so I won't bore you with the chicken-stock-ladling and stirring process, but I did happen to have two more containers of homemade stock so that added to the flavors! Once the risotto was ready, I stirred in the bacon, some fresh parsley, and some grated Parmesan, and then seasoned it all up with some salt and black pepper.

While the risotto was cooking, I sliced a bunch of ingredients for an Escarole, Apple and Raw Golden-Beet Salad. I used my mandoline to thinly slice some raw golden beets and radishes. I was a bit skeptical about eating beets raw, but the freshness combined with the really bright flavor of the golden beets worked really well. I paired the radishes and beets with some escarole, Granny Smith apple, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and hazelnut oil. I topped it all off with some sea salt flakes. This salt adds a mild saltiness to salads, but with a really interesting texture. They are very fine flakes, so you don't get that crunch that you would get with other types of salt. I like to use it instead of Kosher salt when I'm adding it to salads. I decided not to roast the hazelnuts and sprinkle them over the top, and the salad really worked without them. It was a very bright dish, for one described as a winter salad in the recipe. It was much lighter than what I would imagine a winter salad to be.

The final step was to poach those eggs for the top of the risotto, and by a stroke of luck, I managed to get all three of them perfect on the first try! I usually spend time screaming and yelling at a pot of boiling water when my eggs break, or don't cook correctly, but these three...they went in perfectly, they cooked perfectly, and then, they oozed gooily over that mound of risotto! Score!

Go-Go Gadget: Mandoline

I have to say that the mandoline is one of my favorite gadgets, and I'm not talking about the musical instrument! So many recipes call for thinly sliced vegetables, but it's so difficult to do that with a knife. Either they aren't all the same thickness (which means they don't all cook at the same rate) or you've sliced up your fingers trying to get the whole piece cut! But I have the solution to all of your woes, and then some!

There are many versions of mandonline slicers out there, and depending on how much you want to spend will determine what you get for your money. The OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer that I have is a mid-range choice, and has lots of great features. The slicing guard is key for getting those small pieces sliced. The blade, which I find to be perfectly sharp for the jobs at hand, can be raised or lowered depending on the thickness you're looking for.

This gadget also allows for julienne cuts! What's a julienne, you ask? This is a knife technique that results in "matchstick" pieces of whatever you are slicing. This can be quite time consuming with a knife (although I find knife work strangely calming), but the mandoline can help you save time in this department as well. You'll quickly have a growing pile of matchstick veggies to throw into whatever recipe you're following!

From Flickr - by Gino LoCascio

Lastly, I like that this particular mandoline has rubber feet and a little prop stand so I don't have to hold it while it's in use. I can place a cutting board underneath to catch my slices and have my hands free to concentrate on the task at hand. There are quite a few handheld mandolines out there, but I can only imagine that they are a bit unwieldy.

Now, what can you MAKE with a mandoline? Homemade potato chips, marinated cucumber salads, and of course, a quicker mise en place are only a few of the uses for this wonderful invention. I find it easy to use and easy to clean! This gadget is one of my favorite things that I registered for when I got married, and it came from two of my favorite people! xoxo Lauren and Sara! :)

From Flickr - by SmithsEdgeWare

From Flickr - by Paula.X