Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Strawberry Pie, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Another strawberry rhubarb pie. Same recipe as last time. (Although in looking back it has been quite a while since I made the last strawberry rhubarb pie). For some reason I remember this pie being easier to make last time. This time I struggled with the crust, but in the end it turned out ok.

This pie tasted fantastic warm, but it slowly got less tasty as time went on. We can't eat a whole pie real fast, so next time we should try to share it while it is still in its super tasty phase.

Elderflower Lemon Pound Cake

Elderflower Lemon Pound Cake, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Sometimes things just don't turn out well. This cake has a wonderful premise. Lemon and elderflower sound like they would be delicious with a pound cake. Lemon and elderflower syrup are delicious together, but they are not so good when combined with a mediocre pound cake.

I got this recipe from the Kitchn. The cake turned out a little dry and the middle fell in. Upon doing a little research, the Crusader discovered that if a cake is cooked at too low a temperature it can fall in the middle. If you would like to try this recipe, try cooking it at 350 rather than 325 for a little less time.

The cake tastes ok, but I am not sure that I want to waste the calories eating just an ok cake. I should stick with pie.

Asparagus and eggs

Asparagus and eggs, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Spring has sprung and it is time for asparagus! Two weeks in a row we have gotten asparagus in our csa box. Not long ago we ate at Outerlands and we had a fantastic asparagus dish with poached eggs on top. As it turns out, this is fairly easy to make. We roasted the asparagus in the oven in a baking pan with olive oil and salt and pepper. Then we poached the eggs in some water with a little vinegar. I'm sure we've talked about poaching eggs before: add apple cider vinegar to water and bring to a boil in a medium size sauce pan, reduce from a boil to a light simmer, break egg into a small dish, create a whirlpool in the simmering water by stirring in a circular motion with the wrong end of a wooden spoon, stop stirring and plop the egg into the center--then let it cook for a few minutes (about 3) until the white is cooked through and the yolk is still runny.

Put the poached eggs on top of the asparagus and sprinkle with a little bit of gray salt and shave some parmesan on top. This is delicious. We recommend very fresh eggs for this--as fresh as you can get. We recently switched to very fresh locally farmed eggs and it makes quite a difference. The yolks are orange rather than yellow and taste fantastic.

Anyway, this is a delicious simple dish. The Crusader made his fake rice a roni again and it was a good compliment to the asparagus and eggs.

Oscar Night Snacks

Oscar Night Snacks, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Cara cara oranges, cheddar cheese, piave torro del tempo stravecchio cheese, strawberries, honey, dates stuffed with goat cheese and pistachios, some extra goat cheese to eat with crackers, and cajun peanuts in the back.

Roasted Chicken and Fennel

Roasted Chicken and Fennel, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

This is one of the best things we've made in a while. We found the recipe on the ever useful "Kitchn" from Apartment Therapy. The original recipe calls for chicken thighs, but we used chicken breast. We just put a probe into the chicken while it baked and took it out when it came up to temperature. The Crusader also made some wonderful mock riceroni to go with it by toasting some orzo and rice in a pan with some olive oil and then cooking it like regular rice--very tasty.

Blueberry Danish

blueberry danish, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

I used to make this blueberry danish quite a bit, but it relies heavily on a food processor and when our old cheapo food processor died several years ago, we didn't replace it. However, thanks to Costco, we now have a fantastic new food processor and we have been using it almost every day. I don't know why we just didn't get one as soon as the old one broke because we really do use it a lot.

The danish is from a food magazine from years go. It is fairly low fat, using low fat cottage cheese in the crust and low fat cream cheese in the filling. The dough and the filling are both made very quickly and easily in the food processor. What really makes this recipe is the blueberries--it requires a lot of fresh blueberries. The recipe specifically says "use only fresh blueberries." I was surprised to find fresh blueberries at this time of year, but they were very tasty. Perhaps I will make a few of these now that I have the tools to make it.

Favorite Breakfast

favorite breakfast, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

As you may already know, I am a big fan of potatoes. I have discovered the fastest and tastiest breakfast that perfectly satisfies my potato jones.

The ingredients can vary depending on what you have one hand--onions, green onions, garlic, fresh herbs, etc.

But the basic recipe involves 1/2 bag of frozen hash browns, an egg, olive oil (maybe 1/2 a tablespoon) and some spices (and I always include catsup, but that is up to you).

Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium/high heat until shimmering. If you are going to add onions or some other kind of fresh veggies, this would be the time to add them in the pan and soften them before adding the potatoes.

Add the potatoes and then add herbs and spices of your choice--one combo that the Crusader likes is a pinch each of cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika. Add salt and pepper to taste and then cook until the potatoes are done all the way through and slightly browned.

Then, crack an egg over the potatoes and then mix it in until the egg is cooked through. I just crack an egg in there, but the Crusader likes to lightly beat the egg before adding it to the potatoes.

When done, you will have a potato/egg mess that is pretty tasty. I then slather it with catsup as shown.