The Perfect Poached Egg Breakfast

Sometimes, you really need a great breakfast.

Most of the time, you really need a great breakfast because if you're like me, you know that you probably won't be eating for the rest of the day.

(I'm working on that, ok?)

I mean, I've given up noodles, pasta (non-Asian noodles), Reuben sandwiches and eating meat until dinner time. Also, dinner time is about/after 8pm, even though we don't live in Spain, or any other European country where that's the norm.

So when I do make breakfast, I try to make it count.

This is one of my best friends, Amy, on her wedding day.

We woke up at 7am that day, and I knew that with everything going on, we wouldn't have time to eat very much before the ceremony.

It was a bit of a hustle.

(and bustle? Ha ha.)

A few months ago, Amy and I decided it was time we learned how to master poached eggs. After all, we both have extensive restaurant knowledge, and it was plainly an embarrassment that we did not know how to perform this simple task.

Also, it happens to be both of our favorite way to eat an egg.

We went a very long time without eating poached eggs at home. Mostly eating them at brunch in restaurants, hoping that the eggs weren't overpoached and rock-solid. But then we mastered the poached egg, and it was so easy once we learned the tricks.

And I made this for her wedding day breakfast, so we wouldn't pass out before the reception.

At least, not pass out from hunger.

Poached Egg Crostini with Asparagus and Goat Cheese Mousse

Basic ingredients for one

1 egg

4-5 TBSP white vinegar

Salt & Pepper (for the egg)

One thick slice of fresh French loaf

4 stalks of blanched asparagus (Asparagus that has been quickly boiled in hot salted water, then chilled and rinsed in cold ice water)

Goat cheese mousse

Optional: 2 oz. of lox-style smoked salmon

Make the goat cheese mousse:

1 1/2 oz. herbed goat cheese

3-4 TBSP heavy whipping cream

Combine cheese and cream together, mix well with a fork until mousse is light and creamy. Refrigerate while poaching the egg, so the mousse will thicken.

Blanch the asparagus and toast the crostini (french loaf)in your oven, or toaster oven.

To poach an egg:

The easiest way to poach an egg is to use a small bowl or cup to slide the raw egg into the boiling water. I am a HUGE fan of mise en place (the French style of separating all your ingredients into small bowls before cooking, so everything is neat, orderly and OCD)so I have a million small mise en place bowls. You can always use a small teacup, too.

Heat a small sauce pan with water and add the vinegar. As the water starts a rolling boil, slide the egg into the water by dipping the bowl half-way into the hot water. This will make sure that the egg doesn't break from plopping into the sauce pan. Let the egg sit for 2 minutes, longer if you want a harder-poached egg. The egg will come together in a perfect little poached ball. If it hasn't, or has made a milky mess in the bottom of the pan, it probably broke. Crack another egg and slide it in, and recook the new egg. This definitely takes a little practice, and in the beginning, it will definitely take more than one egg. But eggs are inexpensive and this is so worth knowing how to do.

Once the egg has poached, gently lift it out of the water with a slotted spoon and rest in on a small plate or bowl. Don't poke it. You will want to.

Assemble the crostini:

Take the toasted French loaf, slather on the goat cheese mousse (add the smoked salmon at this point, if you're using it), layer the asparagus.

With a small spoon, carefully place the poached egg on top.

Season with salt and pepper. Fulfill that crazy desire to pop the poached egg.

Hooray for a classy, wedding-worthy breakfast!

Avocado is the most perfect food.

Truly, it is.

I have wasted most of what was a perfectly gorgeous day. I spent most of this balmy, 80 degree day inside, watching cheesy action movies on Netflix and trying to make wonton popovers.

I have made plans to take a walk with my daughter.

We shall see what happens.

If I had spent my time wisely, my day would have gone like this:

1. Wake up, wake up daughter and husband

2. Go for a bike ride. (NTS: buy a bike first)

3. Have a picnic by the lake.

4. Yell at daughter not to put her feet in the disgusting lake.

5. Fly a kite.

6. Go home and make this dish.

*To be fair, this day really did happen, minus the bike ride (substitute one long, two mile walk around the lake)and it was a great day. We have a silk frog kite, just so you know.

Healthy, fun and active.

I will assume you can tell why those days don't happen all the time.

I like to pretend they do, though.

(And while I'm pretending, I think I'd also like a pony.)

Spicy Seared Salmon with Simple Guacamole

(Serves four)

Prep the salmon:

4 6-7 oz. salmon fillets

1 tsp each: ground cumin, ground oregano, kosher salt and ground pepper

1/4 tsp (or more if you like spicy)hot chili powder

Combine all the spices together to make a rub. Dry the salmon fillets with a paper towel, then rub with spice mixture.

Make the guacamole:

4 fairly ripe (not overripe) Haas avocados

2 TBSP minced garlic

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

4 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Salt to taste

cilantro leaves (optional)

Hull out the flesh from the avocados, roughly chopping into cubes. Put all ingredients except tomatoes in a ziploc bag, squeeze all the air out of the bag and then seal it. Then commence with smashing the ever-loving bejeesus out of the bag (that is the technical term), until your guacamole is the right consistency. I like mine still chunky. Adjust salt for flavor, add more lime juice if necessary. Squeeze contents out of bag and mix with tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate until the salmon is ready.

Sear the fish:

4-5 TBSP olive oil

Heat a heavy skillet on medium-high and coat with olive oil. Right before it begins to smoke, add the spiced salmon fillets to the oil, letting each side cook for about 4-6 minutes per side. Do not turn the fish more than once. If you are worried that the fish might stick to the pan while turning, spray your spatula well with pan spray before flipping. Once the salmon is seared, remove from pan and top with the guacamole. Perfect!





Seared Steak Salad with Brussel Sprouts and Cambozola

It's been a long couple of days.

I won't lie; I've already had one mommy-freak-out today, and it's not even noon yet. Instantly followed by mommy-freak-out guilt.

And it's not like I haven't been getting enough sleep. I went to bed at 9 pm last night.

My house looks crazy right now. That always puts me in a bad mood. We had a very busy weekend (gorgeous wedding)followed by a play date that was cut short due to an impending tornado.

I'm not kidding. I live in tornado alley, but this was a big day for tornadoes and crazy thunderstorms.

So before I could even think about cleaning my already disgusting, messy house, we had to ransack it again to disaster-pack (yes, that's a real thing) and move important items (i.e., the Playstation 3) into our storm room (i.e., my walk-in closet.)

Eat your veggies, people.

So it's been rough. But prevail we must, and if possible, we must prevail by eating comfort foods. For me, that is cheese. For my husband, that means steak. (For my daughter, that means pancakes, hence the slight, minuscule aforementioned freak-out this morning. Pancakes made with mommy-freak-out guilt are the best tasting.)

If you haven't tried cambozola, you really should. It's what happens when Camembert and Gorgonzola cheeses get together, have a few glasses of wine....

ahem.

Creamy like Brie or Camembert, but with a pungent flavor like Gorgonzola, or Stilton.

And what I love about it is that unlike eating brie, I do not feel compelled to eat an entire wheel. The flavor is so intense, that just a small slice is perfect to eat with an entire entree.

Hooray for moderation!

Hooray for getting my life back in order!

Hooray for adding brussel sprouts to a salad!

(Yes, you heard me. Hooray.)

Seared Steak Salad with Brussel Sprouts and Cambozola



Get some salad greens. I went with baby spinach, butter lettuce and red leaf, and then I added some sliced radishes.

Prepare the brussel sprouts:
1/2 pound of fresh, trimmed or frozen (thawed) brussel sprouts
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the brussel sprouts and cook for about 5-7 minutes, so that the sprouts are cooked through but not mushy. Immediately remove from hot water and blanch in cold ice water. When the sprouts are cool to the touch, add them to the salad greens.

For the seared steak:
1 10 oz. KC Strip steak, pat dry with paper towel.
Salt & Pepper
Butter or Pan-spray

Butter or spray a cast-iron or heavy skillet and set on med-high heat, until almost smoking. Add the steak, searing on each side for 2-3 minutes (for medium-rare). Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and cut into slices:

Lay the steak slices in a crown over your greens, then add a nice slice of Cambozola. Finish with a quick balsamic dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Blend all ingredients to emulsify. Pour over your salad and knock it out!

God's Own Wok

My husband got me the cutest apron for Mother's Day.

It's handmade, really awesome print, little pocket with a button clasp.

Super cute.

And exactly what I asked for.

It made me think of the first really awesome cooking gift he ever gave me. It was a birthday gift, and this was waaaaay before I knew anything about cooking. I knew a lot about burning. And scorching. And also, I was a master of attempting giant cooking projects without doing any research or using the right equipment.

I cooked a lot of food on "high heat" because I assumed that would make it cook faster.

(Everyone knows that, right?)

Oh, the awful, dry pot roasts he had to endure.

(That's how you know he loves you.)

So, it was my birthday, and he wanted to know what I wanted. I declared, "A wok."
I declare a lot. I'm like Scarlett O'Hara that way.

Not sure why I said that. I mean, I'm Asian, so maybe I thought it was high-time I had one. Aren't they a prerequisite? Nevermind that I had no freaking clue how to use it.

I thought he would get me a little, training-wheels-on type of wok. You know, not something I had to plug in, but something in which I could practice (burning) making fried rice.
A beginner's wok.

When I opened my present, I gasped. This wok is gigantic. It's not Mongolian BBQ huge, but for me, and my meager cooking skills at the time, it was like receiving the equivalent of an entire set of Santoku knives, without a box of band-aids to go with them.

This wok is amazing. The first thing my husband said was,

"This is God's own wok."

(Because every Thursday night in Heaven is Lo Mein Night.)

For years, I didn't know how to use this behemoth. It mocked me as every dish turned out too watery, too saucy, too limp.

Then I discovered it also worked perfectly as a dutch oven.

How did I learn this? Because in the middle of making my first Coq au Vin, I cracked the dutch oven I was using. Like, in two. With chicken and bacon and wine spilling out of it. I was desperate.

And God's own wok rescued my first French chicken dish.

So, for the last few years, I've been using it exclusively as a dutch oven, or casserole baking dish for whole-roasting chicken, beef or pork. Stir-fry still snickered at me in the corner, pointing and making lewd gestures.

Four days ago, I punched Stir-fry in the face. And I mastered my first stir-fry dish, with the incredible help of my G.O.W., and my little French cornstarch thickening technique. Go Team ME!

Take that! I'm not a fan of syrupy, sticky-sweet Chinese food, so the sauce I made for this stir-fry was perfect. Flavorful, yet not overpowering the vegetables. I didn't even eat it with noodles or rice, because it was so filling. I did, of course, eat it with a big spoonful of Sambal Oelek chili-garlic sauce.

Shrimp with Stir-Fried Vegetables



2 heads of broccoli, trimmed into florets

5-6 heads of baby bok choi, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

2 stalks fresh celery, thickly sliced

1 cup sliced red onion (optional)

1 tsp chopped fresh ginger (optional)

2 TBSP minced garlic, or 2-3 smashed cloves

16-20 medium-sized cooked/boiled peeled shrimp, tail on

1/2 cup chicken stock, plus about 2 TBSP extra mixed with 1 tsp of cornstarch, in a separate bowl

Soy sauce (to taste)

Olive oil (to heat the wok, about 4-5 TBSP)

Oil the wok with olive oil and set on medium-high heat. Right before the oil starts to smoke, add the garlic, the bok choi and celery. Stir quickly with tongs for about 2-3 min, until the bok choi is slightly wilted but not limp. The celery should still be crunchy. Add the bean sprouts, and quickly toss for about one minute. Remove all vegetables from the wok. Add the 1/2 cup of chicken stock and a few dashes of soy sauce. Let the stock come up to a simmer. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir well, so there are no lumps. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens, adjust for taste with soy sauce. When sauce is thick, add the cooked shrimp and stir with tongs for about one minute. Then add the vegetables back to the wok, give everything a nice toss to incorporate the sauce throughout and move to a warm plate to serve. Stir-fry success!

Because it's fun to say

Pork Butt.

I've never been a fan of barbeque. I know, it's sacriligeous where I come from, but it's never been my favorite. Too much sauce. Too sweet. Too much heartburn and heartache when your best shirt gets ruined eating it. 

Of course, I've always been a fan of the sides though. Who doesn't love a great potato salad or fried okra? My grandmother always made icebox pickles to go with our barbeque, and I'd always eat 3 helpings of icebox pickles before I had finished one serving of brisket. Ah well. You like what you like, right?

My husband, on the other hand, loves barbecue. He doesn't eat any sides with it (a terrible shame, if you ask me). His favorite is pulled pork, and I've failed miserably for years to produce this fork-tender, succulent barbeque for him. Which irked me.

I was in serious irk.

Why was I so annoyed? Because unlike many other types of BBQ, pulled pork requires no grill, no smoker, no outdoorsy man-type cooking implements. Just a slow cooker. And yet, I continued to fail.

Until now.






Slow-cooker Pulled Pork with Icebox Pickles

For the day-before marinade:

3lb. Pork Butt (also called Cheek Meat, I'm told. Even more fun to say)

2 cups apple cider vinegar

4 cloves smashed garlic

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt & Pepper

Pierce the pork all over with a fork, then place in a mixing bowl.

Pour the vinegar over the pork, then add garlic and bay leaf. Cover with plastic and marinate over night, turning the pork over once in the morning.

For the Slow-cooker Sauce

I'm a cheater. I don't make my own barbeque sauce, unless you call mixing different brands of barbeque sauce together with more herbs and spices. In that case, I proudly make my own barbeque sauce.

Take the pork out of the marinade and place in your slow cooker and add  

2 cups favorite barbeque sauce (or a mix of sauces to equal 2 cups)

Shot of hot sauce (or more)

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp. each of dried oregano and cumin

Kosher salt & cracked black pepper

Mix all ingredients well; adjust after tasting. Pour over the pork in the slow cooker and set on low heat. Slow cook for 6-8 hours. The meat is done when you can literally pull the pork apart with your fingers or with a fork. The bone will completely slide out.

For the icebox pickles:

2-3 cucumbers, scrubbed and sliced thick

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup warm water

Kosher salt

Slices of red onion (optional)

Cracked black peppercorns (optional)

1 Tbsp. dried dill (optional)

In an airtight container, add the cucumbers (and onions) and pour the water and vinegar over. Add salt (peppercorns and dill), seal and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

The four smashed cloves of garlic from the marinade

Antipasto Salad with Marinated Mushrooms

Spring is here.

I can tell, because my face is engorged from inhaling all the tree pollen.

As my mom would say, I have "allergies so badly."

Springtime is Salad Season! It's also when I get laziest about cooking, because there's so many other things to do... like making sangria, pruning my roses and generally being a layabout.

However, you can really get funky with a salad. It doesn't just have to be greens and dressing. (Or, as my daughter calls it, "sauce.")

I once saw a sixteen year old girl make a salad that consisted of: chow mein noodles, shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits, croutons, and ranch dressing.

That's it. No lettuce.

I told her to enjoy it, because she will never again be at an age where eating that particular combination of ingredients and calling it a "salad" is acceptable.

I made this antipasto salad for Mother's Day lasagna dinner at my mom's house.

I won't lie; I skipped breakfast and lunch so I could eat two helpings of Mom's lasagna. She only makes it once a year.

And I didn't regret my decision one bit.

I love marinated mushrooms! I love all mushrooms! That's why I starved myself all day; Mom uses at least 3 pounds of whole button mushrooms in her lasagna and it rocks my world. The only problem with marinated mushrooms is that it takes some time to make them, or if you buy marinated mushrooms, they are ridiculously expensive.

But I love getting antipasto platters at wine bars that have a big heaping side of marinated mushrooms.

And I was making antipasto salad.

( a + b = c?)

So I made my own marinated mushrooms.

I've read several recipes on marinated mushrooms, but this one is my own little variation. What I like about this recipe is that unlike some others, you're not required to "boil" the mushrooms in vinegar (which really stinks up the kitchen)to marinate them. You still cook them after marinating, but not as the initial step. And you can add whatever you want to the marinade.

This salad is so easy, and beautiful. I actually served it twice on Mother's Day, as I was hosting a late party that evening. It was enjoyed on both occasions. It just looks like a party, doesn't it?

Antipasto Salad with Marinated Mushrooms

To make the mushrooms:

1 lb. white button mushrooms, scrubbed and trimmed

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 red wine vinegar (or balsamic)

1/4 cup white vinegar

1 cup warm water

1-2 TBSP minced garlic

Juice from one lemon

1 TBSP peppercorns, whole or slightly cracked (optional)

Kosher salt to taste

3 Green onions, both parts, chopped (optional)

1 tsp fresh oregano, chopped

1/8 cup fresh basil leaves, julienned

1/2 red bell pepper, minced (reserve the other half for the salad)

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except for bell pepper and mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight (if possible) or for at least four hours. After marinating, pour mushrooms and marinade into a medium-sized sauce pan and set heat to boil. Once the marinade is boiling, stir the mushrooms until they are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove mushrooms from the pan with a slotted spoon, and drizzle a small portion (1/4 cup at most) of the marinade over the mushrooms. Add the chopped bell pepper, mix, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

For the Salad:

Salad greens (go crazy! I used spring mix, romaine and spinach)

1/2 can of petite whole artichoke hearts, drained

Marinated Mushrooms

Pepperoni, sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 can black olives, drained

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Optional ingredients: Sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, salami, Gorgonzola cheese, imported olives, marinated feta, caramelized onions... okay, just about anything you can eat on an antipasto plate you can throw on this salad.

Layer the salad toppings over the greens in sections, like a Cobb salad. Top with balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows) and toss well before serving. But make sure everyone sees how pretty it is first.

Balsamic vinaigrette: 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 olive oil, 1 TBSP minced garlic, juice from 1/2 lemon, 1 tsp Dijon mustard. Mix well to emulsify.

Happy Spring everyone!

The first recipe my mother taught me

My mom is awesome.

I know that almost everyone's mother is awesome. I know this. But my mother is exceptional. She's even (almost)famous, and she's been on television several times! She's raised five kids, supported all our friends and has fed our entire gigantic crazy Asian family (I have twenty-three first cousins, just on my mom's side) for years. And she doesn't just cook! She knits, crochets, sews, grows freakin' pomegranates, kiwis, and lotus flowers in her garden, and for years during my childhood, she did several famous artworks in needlepoint.

Like The Last Supper.

And Mona Lisa.

Not kidding. They hang in her house today.

For Mother's Day, I wanted to share the first recipe my mother ever taught me how to make, when I was twenty-one. Okay, let me amend this statement: This is the first recipe my mother taught me to make that she didn't purposefully leave out an ingredient.

Mom's notorious for this.

See, when you're a rockstar in the kitchen like my mom is, everyone is always trying to get your recipes. And she would always share them, except for one or two little (necessary!) ingredients. Once, in high school, one of my best friends came over and spent the entire day with my mother in the kitchen, to learn how to make her famous "Miss Kim bread". Mom had taught herself how to handmake about ten different types of rolls and braided honey breads, and the kids at school would scramble to be first in line for lunch trade.

As my girlfriend left, recipe in hand and covered in flour, my mom whispered to me, "Don't worry. I left out one little thing. So it won't be as good as mine." Yeah. Rockstar. Like when Eddie Van Halen would turn his back to the audience so they couldn't see his hand movements and chord structure. Mom's a badass, if not just a little sneaky. (PS- Sorry, Mika, I never told you.)

You'd think, though, that she would want to share all these recipes with me, right? Her first-born? Ah, but old habits die hard. And it's not like she has a book somewhere labeled, "All My Recipes, Easily Categorized and in Alphabetical Order." It's all in her head.

Getting a recipe out of my mother is like an interrogation.

Me(trying to get a recipe for dumplings): So, ground pork, black mushrooms, onions, and garlic? That's it?

Miss Kim: Yes, I think so.

Me: Are you sure?

Miss Kim: And cabbage.

Me: Cabbage? Okay, so pork, mushrooms, onions, garlic and cabbage? Any spices?

Miss Kim: And ginger. Fresh ginger.

Me: Is that it? Are you sure? That doesn't seem like everything that you put in your dumplings.

Miss Kim: Oh, I forgot. Minced shrimp if you want. And a little cornstarch.

Me: Okay, that sounds more like it.

(A week goes by, the dumplings are made.)

Me: Mom, the dumplings didn't taste the same.

Miss Kim: What did you put in it?

Me: YOU told me pork, shrimp, cabbage, mushrooms, onions, garlic and cornstarch!

Miss Kim: Oh, I forgot. You have to have sugar. If you don't have sugar, it doesn't taste good.

(End scene. Actually, end the next twenty scenes like this, because that's how many recipes she gave me without fully divulging all the ingredients.)



With my brother John

 This is the first, complete, "tastes like Mom's" recipe she ever gave me. I think she finally gave it up because I nagged and nagged at her to teach me how to do something as well as she does. She's why I love to cook, why I love my family, and the only reason I managed to graduate college is because I wanted her to be proud. Thanks Mom, for everything and for everything you still do.



Me & my daughter, Ripley


Also, before the recipe, I wanted to also mention some other awesome mothers that I've had the great honor to know in my life:

My husband's mother, Bert, who is one of the strongest and smartest women I know.

My best friend, Cory, who I've known for so long that we put each other's kids in time-out.

My great friend, Katie, and her two daughters (with another on the way!) Just a fantastic mother and friend.

Happy Mom's Day to you all.

Warm Vietnamese Spring Rolls

1 lb. Ground Pork or Beef, browned in a skillet until done, then drained of fat
Pack of rice wrapping paper
Red leaf lettuce
Mung Bean Sprouts
Fresh Mint leaves (absolutely necessary)
Fresh Basil leaves
Fresh cilantro
Green onions, chopped
Shredded carrots and/or shredded daikon radish

Once the meat is cooked through, season lightly with salt and pepper. Using one plate to roll and one plate to place, rinse one rice paper with warm water on both sides. Layer with lettuce, meat, herbs, onions and carrots.

Put the mix close to one end of the paper, so you get a nice, skinny roll, instead of an ugly, fat blobby roll.
Fold the outer sides inward, then roll the paper up (away from you). You're done! Repeat for as many rolls as you'd like. These don't have a good shelf life; they need to be eaten as you make them. However, you can refrigerate the meat and veggies for a day or two and make to order (just reheat the meat). Dip with nuoc mam sauce (recipe follows).

Nuoc Mam Sauce

3/4 cup Fish Sauce (found at Asian markets)
1/2 cup Rice Vinegar
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1- 1 1/2 cup warm water
Juice and some pulp from one reamed lime
Sugar to taste
Shredded carrots/daikon (optional)

Mix the fish sauce and vinegars together, add water until the sauce is light brown (like watered down tea). Add sugar to taste (about 4-5 TBSP) and lime juice/pulp. Soak the carrots/daikon in the sauce. Keeps for about a week.