how to poach an egg 

today I tried something a little bit different..  I attempted to make a video tutorial.

It  came out pretty shaky, so if you are sensitive to motion, skip the video and just look at the pretty pictures ☺️

Today is ‘what do you want to be when you grow up’ at my daughter’s summer camp ( she’s a counselor)

She headed off wearing my chef hat and it got me thinking…

Random fact- a chef hat has 100 pleats. The pleats each represent 100 ways to cook an egg.

An egg is a perfect food. 1 egg boasts 7 grams of protein. It’s full of amino acids ( all 9 of them, btw) They are super- affordable, versitile and delicious!

 
I love to poach an egg and place it on top of a salad, then cut into the runny yolk as I’m ready to eat the salad. The yoke acts as a dressing and pairs Amazingly with dark, leafy greens.

 
Eggs got a bad rap a few years back🎧🎧🎧🎧 ( notice my rhyme? 😂😂)
Eggs, like everything are to be enjoyed in moderation. I usually will he 1 egg with 2 egg whites.  The fat is all in the yolk of the egg. And while it is fat, it contains necessary nutrients that we all need.  I find that by having 1 egg with 2 egg whites, I’m getting the lutein that I need and the extra whites really boost my protein intake!

 

(I don’t throw the other yolks out, I save them for making ice cream, or stir into my pups’ food )
So here we go….  Basic egg 101
How to poach an egg

A poached egg is made by cooking the egg in boiling water. It’s really quite easy if you have a few basics down.
Start by bringing a pot of water to boil

Crack your egg into a small dish

Note-  I made 2 eggs, one for the photos, one for the video.  If you were going to make multiple eggs, then opt for a wide-mouthed pan at least 3 inches deep.  The wider the mouth of the pan, the more eggs you can cook at once.

Once water is boiling, add a splash of white vinegar.  The vinegar helps coagulate the proteins, making for a nicer shaped cooked egg

Carefully use a fork, start in the center and begin to make a whirlpool

Once you have a whirlpool, slowly pour the egg into the center of the whirlpool.  You can see the egg start to take shape


Turn the temp down to medium-low

Here is where your timing varies.  I like a cooked white with runny yolk.  I have found that just over 2 minutes gets me exactly what I’m looking for.  If you are wanting a more solid yolk, cook for closer to 4 minutes.
Using your spider or slotted spoon


Remove egg from water


Carefully place on a clean paper towel to remove excess moisture


If you are making eggs for a crowd, ( like eggs Benedict on Christmas morning)  you can make mutiple eggs and get them to this point. You can prep everything else and right as you are ready to eat, drop all of the eggs back in the hot water briefly just to heat through.
This is where I like yo season them. I like to use a flavored sea salt.  Some of my favorites are truffle salt, chili-lime salt, or ghost pepper sea salt . And always, always, black pepper 😁


There ya have it!  My favorite perfect poached egg

Love this with arugula fresh from my garden!
SOO.. here’s the video I attempted.  If you get motion sickness, then skip it. I’ll come up with a better video system for future tutorials ☺️😁

😜😜. Everyone has to start somewhere!

blistered tomato salad with feta and arugula 

last night I busted out my favorite skewers.  

 

 

They are flexible! 

I also have a set of straight skewers, so dug those out 

I am lucky enough to be able to grill all year ..  But there is something extra special about grilling on a warm summers’ night. ( well, summer-like) 

 This recipe is uber simple..  But sometimes simple is simply fantastic. 

 

 

blistered tomatoes with feta and arugula 

bunch of cherry tomatoes

Handful of basil

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar 

A few handfuls of arugula 

Slivered almonds for garnish 

Sea salt * I’m currently obsessed with smoked sea salt *

 

Skewer tomatoes and place over medium coals ( alternatively you could us a grill pan or place under broiler watching carefully so that they don’t burn

Grill for 2 minutes, then rotate.  Repeat this until the skins blister 

 

 Sprinkle feta on a bed of arugula.  While tomatoes are still hot, scatter over feta. ( the heat starts to melt the feta and makes the texture ah-maz-ing! 

Drizzle balsamic and olive oil atop salad, sprinkle with slivered almonds and sea salt.

Toss and serve! I literally devoured this salad! I might make it again tonight! 

  

And a repeat of this 💞

What’s on your grill this weekend? 

lentil love

I expressed a few weeks back about how much I truly enjoy LENTILS.
The bonus is that they are so GOOD for you! .. back in my previous life of being a cosmetologist, I had a client who was in her mid to late 50’s and looked AMAZING. Simply Amazing. I asked her how she did it… she told me that she ate a lot of lentils.. I know this sounds silly, but I swear to you , this is true.

I don’t think that I had really eaten lentils except for maybe in soup? They are readily available in just about every grocery store, there are many different kinds, they are quick and easy to make and if you live near a Trader Joe’s ( field trip there for me tomorrow… suggestion on what I should get??) you can buy already cooked lentil in the refrigerator section at Tj’s.

could it be easier? I think not.

My sweet, daughter in law, Amanda ( and future nurse:) *congratulations on Nursing School acceptance!* Started changing her diet earlier this year and has discovered a whole bunch of new foods in the process ( and also lost over 30 pounds in the process!) One of the companies that she discovered was Laurel Hill.

I bought a bag and….. I’m hooked. ( I found these at Whole foods) And as silly as this little recipe is, I feel the need to share this with you because I eat it 3-4 times a week. True love, I tell ya… true love ❤

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:3]

* side note…after an embaressing weight gain I am going to be re joining weight watchers… as soon as I do I will figure out the point plus info for this recipe and come back and edit it for those who are interested*

I have been using coconut oil for about a year now. This is some good stuff. Coconut oils had gotten a bad rap for many years, but researchers are finding that it has amazing health benefits

It can be a little pricey ( around 10 buck a jar) but it lasts a long time and I swear.. it’s worth every penny… I use it to cook my eggs & fry my tofu. If i had a must -have 20 item list in my kitchen, this would be on there 🙂

If you are new to lentils, I urge you to try them 🙂

don’t they look purty on my beans and grains shelf?

xooxox

~shel

grilled pork chops with mango -jalapeño sauce

I’ve found that some of the best recipes that I’ve made have been largely unplanned. Scott & I had bought these beautiful pork chops  but just couldn’t come up with an idea for them.

blindly heading toward my fridge without a clue as to what I was doing, I spotted the Greek yogurt.

Then I opened the freezer so see a lonely bag of Trader Joe’s frozen mango chucnks

Hmmm… I was onto something.

I grabbed my trusty blender &  added the yogurt, mango, 1/2 of a jalepeno pepper, chopped , 1/4 cup brown sugar, some salt & pepper a little bit of good ol’ H2O.. said a quick prayer to the cooking fairies & whirred my little heart out.

yumminess was happening..

I added a little bit more water to get a smoother consistency & tasted it.

perfect!

I set aside some of this yummy sauce ( and kept tasting it.. you know just to make sure that the flavors didn’t change int he 10 minutes since I had made it..)

and marinated the pork in the rest of it.

of course being VERY careful to not cross-contaminate with any of the raw pork..

I covered both of these babies & stuck them in the fridge and let the pork marinade all day long.

Dinnatime!!! I fired up my grill & grilled both chops….

OOPS.. hot spot… darn it 😦

pork chop #2…  now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ ’bout!!

dear pork police…

*no pork was wasted in this burning misadventure, the crust of that one side of burnt pork was cut off & the pork underneath was wonderful*

I grilled it to an internal temp of 145.. then pull of the grill & LET REST!!.. this is very important!

I made a salad with some Arugula from Plato\’s Harvest Organic Farm.. I added some slivered onion, goat cheese & slivered almonds. Tossed with a little bit of the marinade that I set aside..

next to the sliced pork & a bit more magic sauce on top..

I think I love mango 🙂