Asparagus With Oranges

This is a dish that I found while scrambling for something easy to make on Easter Sunday. PF and spent Easter at my parents' house this year and I was tasked with bringing a few sides. As it happens it was just not in me to cook anything therefore I decided to run by Central Market after church and grab a few selections of their pre-made items. Well, also as it happens, Murphy's Law kicked in and Central Market was closed as well as HEB (should have seen that coming before we drove there).

Luckily the brand new neighborhood Randall's was open and we had one hour to shop and one hour to cook two sides. I ended up having my own personal Top Chef Quick Fire Challenge: Easter Edition in my kitchen. I scoured the internet for an asparagus dish and an au gratin potato dish that I could possibly whip up with the help of my trusty sous chef (also see patient and helpful husband) in about an hour.

I came upon this recipe for asparagus with oranges and thought I could pull it off. Cooked asparagus, orange vinaigrette, and sliced oranges-no problem. I didn't even realize the best part until we had gotten home with all of the ingredients. YOU COOK IT IN THE MICROWAVE! This was extremely flavorful, looked impressive, and most of all it was extremely easy. You can serve it hot, cold, or room temperature. PF and I love this dish and I hope you love it too!

Enjoy!

(recipe courtesy of epicurous.com)

Asparagus With Oranges

2 oranges, preferably navel

6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1⁄2 tsp. dried oregano
2 scallions, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
16 stalks large green asparagus (about 1 lb.)

 1. Zest 1 of the oranges; set zest aside. Slice off the ends of each orange. Working with one orange at a time, set an orange on end; with a small knife, slice off and discard the peel and the white pith. Holding the orange in your hand, use a knife to cut the orange segments away from their membranes (see Three Chef's Techniques.) Place segments in a bowl and set aside. Over a separate bowl, squeeze the remaining orange pulp to extract any remaining juice. Repeat with second orange. Whisk 4 tbsp. oil, lemon juice, oregano, and scallions into orange juice and season with salt and pepper; set dressing aside.

 2. Cut off about 1" from the tough end of the asparagus and transfer asparagus to a 9" x 13" microwavable baking dish. Sprinkle asparagus with reserved orange zest and drizzle with remaining oil and 1⁄4 cup water. Cover pan tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high heat for 2 minutes. Rotate dish and microwave until asparagus is just tender, about 2 minutes more. Uncover and drain off cooking liquid. Toss asparagus with reserved citrus dressing and season with salt. Top with orange segments. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Red Neck Eggs

PF and I at Snug Harbor on Frenchmen St. in NOLA

This past weekend PF and I headed down to New Orleans for a weekend of some RR with some great friends. If anything, the people watching alone made it amazing. I could fill you in on the major creeper we ran into on Friday night but I'll save that for another time. Other highlights of the weekend include a tour of the Old New Orleans Rum Distillery, an interesting adventure to a hotel pool that went awry (again, for another time), great live music and of course delicious food.

One of our favorite places that we went this weekend was called Elizabeth's. This place was a little hole in the wall next to the levy away from the French Quarter with some pretty edgy staff (cue waitress with bunny tats with revolvers as heads on her chest).  The water was a little peppery but the coffee was great and the food was even better. Next time you're in the Big Easy, I would strongly encourage you go there. You

PF ended up ordering a little gem called Red Neck Eggs. Fried green tomatoes topped with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Heaven on a plate. It was one of our favorite things we had all weekend and we couldnt't wait until the next time we make it back to NOLA to eat it again. So here I am charged with the mission of recreating this delectable concoction.

Step 1: Fried Green Tomatoes



Green Tomatoes aka Unripened Tomatoes

In searching for a fried green tomato recipe you'll find two things: a million different versions of the "best" recipe out there, and all kinds of reviews and write ups for the actual movie staring Kathy Bates. The recipe that I ended up with had cornmeal (I like the texture) and celery salt. I love the flavor of celery salt and never get to use it enough. It always makes me think of a good bloody mary. Since this has to do with tomatoes I felt it a match made in vegetable Heaven.

Another thing that had me confused was the actual picking of the tomatoes. They pretty much all looked good to me and felt nice and firm-good for frying and holding up to poached eggs and hollandaise.

(recipe adapted from The Flying Biscuit Cafe recipe)

Fried Green Tomatoes

3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon celerly salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3-4 green tomatoes
2 eggs
6 cups vegetable oil

1. Wash and slice tomatoes in 1/4 inch thick slices

2. Mix breading mixture (1 1/2 cups flour, cornmeal, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, celery salt, onion powder, and garlic powder).

3. Set up your dredging stations. I usually use pie plates. Divide the plain flour (1 1/2 cups) in one pie dish, the 2 beaten eggs in another, and the breading mixture in the third. Like this:


1 1/2 cups plain flour, 2 beaten eggs, breading mixture

4. Heat the oil in a heavy duty skillet or a dutch oven. We used our fry daddy but if you don't have one make sure that its deep enough. The oil should be about 350 degrees. You can test it by dropping some flour in the oil and if it starts bubbling and floats to the top then it is ready.

5. Begin frying until golden brown, drain on a paper towel.

6. Once you're done, keep these warm in the oven while you make the eggs and hollandaise.

Step 2: Hollandaise Sauce

PF likes to call this Heaven sauce, probably because its practically all butter. The first time I tried to conquer it I whipped it by hand and to be blunt it sucked. I figured out how to make it in a blender and never looked back. This sauce is rich and really for special occasions as it has a cup of buter in it. You really only need a little to go a long way. We also like ours pretty lemony so I end up adding more at the end to thin it out. Enjoy!

Hollandaise Sauce

1 cup melted butter

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

1. Mix on high in a blender the egg yolks, lemon juice, and water until light and fluffy. Will be a light yellow color.

2. Melt butter in microwave safe container.

3. One butter has cooled slightly, stream in the butter while the blender blends the mixture on low. Once the butter is fully incorporated taste and add salt, pepper, and more lemon to taste.

Step 3: Poached Eggs

I happen to love poached eggs but they aren't everyone's cup of tea. This dish can be great with fried or scrambled eggs as well.

I usually do 2 eggs per person. You will need to bring a generous amount of water to simmer with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. This is the KEY to keep the whites from going all over the place in the water. I like to crack the egg into a ladel like this:

so that I can easily slide it into the water. Cover the pot and let stand 3 minutes for runny yolks and 5 minutes for set yolks. Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon onto a plate.

Now that you have completed all the steps put three tomatoes on a plate, put the two eggs over the top, and drizzle with the hollandaise sauce. I topped it with some green onion and served with orange asparagus (watch for the blog post). It was just as yummy as we remembered.

And there you have it, Red Neck Eggs!