Quinuevos Rancheros

Whenever I go on vacation, I come back completely disoriented. I forget how I used to function. In college, even after a long weekend, I'd come back wondering "How exactly did I mange to watch so many episdoes of Six Feet Under and do all my homework at the same time?" or even "What time do I normally eat dinner?" Coming back from my honeymoon has been no different. After 10 days of eating out for every meal, plus the weeks beforehand where I was traveling and not cooking regularly, have gotten my routines out of whack. I went to the grocery store the day after we got back since we had pretty much nothing in the fridge and was so overwhelmed, I ended up buying some apples and bananas and coming home. Not exactly great ingredients for dinner.

Slowly but surely I'm getting used to cooking again. The blogging part? That's coming back soon. I made myself a fantastic birthday cake last weekend and took pictures the first half, and then completely forgot about it. So I have pictures of making ganache and that ganache spread over the bottom layer of the cake, but anything else? Nope.

Oops.

I promise to be back in full force soon. There are too many new kitchen toys from the wedding for me not to be! I am super excited to start using my KitchenAid Ice Cream maker. I made my first batch of vanilla, just to get the hang of things, the other day and it is marvelous. I can't wait to try some more complex and delicious flavors. But anyway...to make up for my lack of entries lately, I bring you my dinner:



I got this recipe from Rebecca Woolf at Girls Gone Child. I am loving her new Eat Well section.

No recipe is really needed. Plop some quinoa on a plate. Top with 2 eggs, shredded cheese, salsa, cilantro, avocado and anything else you think would be good. I used cayenne pepper to add a little spicy to it. I don't think I've ever seen quinoa used in a dish like this but I think quinoa and runny egg yolks may be new favorite combo.

Spring Eggs with Asparagus

I stumbled upon this recipe last night from The Perennial Plate and decided to try it for breakfast since I had almost everything I needed.

The Perennial Plate is a weekly webseries in which chef/activist Daniel Klein explores different aspects of food in Minnesota. Topics so far include foraging for morels, making cheese, and butchering a Thanksgiving Turkey. I highly recommend the series. They also host Harvest Dinners as a sort of underground restaurant. Alex and I attended the most recent dinner and had a fantastic meal, every part of which was local. If you are in the Twin Cities, you should definitely check one out.

Anyway, I didn't quite have all the ingredients, plus I added some morels, because the other day I was at the grocery store and decided I felt like spending over $7 on two mushrooms (they were pretty big, but still, these things are $40/pound). Needless to say, they are totally optional.



Spring Eggs with Asparagus
Adapted from The Perennial Plate

2 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp butter
4 asparagus spears
Olive Oil
Red Wine vinegar
Morels or other mushrooms(optional)
Wild Ramp Pesto

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and pour into a cold pan. Heat, along with 1/2 tbsp butter, over low heat and stir constantly.

In a skillet, sautee the mushrooms in butter, then set aside. Add olive oil to the pan and when hot, add the asparagus spears and cook until bright green. Add the rest of the butter and a splash of the red wine vinegar, cover, and cook until tender (1-2 minutes).

Serve with a dollop of ramp pesto.



PS- These are the eggs this blog is named after. Just LOOK at those yolks. They are from Prairie Pride Farm in Mankato and I have yet to find any other eggs that are bright and delicious. Check them out at the St. Paul Farmers Market.