Dad's Egg Salad and My Kickass Deviled Eggs

My father is known throughout the mountaintops of the Adirondacks for making the best post-hike egg salad sandwiches you've ever had. Everything tastes good in the mountain breeze after a 5-mile hike, but his sandwiches are beyond compare at any altitude. Recently I took his recipe for the perfect hard boiled eggs, and adapted a newly created recipe of my own for the world's best deviled eggs. I didn't measure anything, so the portions below are estimates. Deviled eggs, like everything, should really be made to taste. Add or subtract anything you like.

Dad’s Egg Salad

12 eggs
Mayonnaise
Salt/Pepper
spices (optional) such as dill, parsley, cayenne, etc.

Cover 12 eggs with well-salted water (it helps the shells come off) to 1 inch above them in the pot. Heat the water from cold to boiling with eggs in it, and once boiling, boil for 15 min. Dump out most of the water, keeping the eggs in the pot, and immediately run cold water over the eggs continuously, knocking them gently against the edge of the pot here and there for 4-5 min. Peel the eggs, trying to get your finger under thin membrane beneath the shell. Put the eggs back in cold running water as you peel them. Wipe off the eggs with a paper towel, and put them in the fridge for a few hours (**this step isn't really necessary if you cool them down enough in the running water or add ice to the water and let them sit for 15 min**). Make sure the eggs are dry, and finely dice or use an egg slicer in 3 different directions. In a bowl, add a teaspoon of salt spread evenly, fresh pepper, and Hellman’s light mayonnaise. Stir in carefully, and add other spices if you want.

Kickass Deviled Eggs

12 eggs
(all these measurements below are estimates! taste and experiment as you go along)
1 cup Mayonnaise (I use Hellman's Light Mayonnaise)
2.5 tbsp fresh horseradish (in the chilled section at the supermarket)
2 tbsp mild dijon mustard
2 tbsp pickle juice (poured from a jar of kosher dill pickles)
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
salt pepper to taste
paprika as garnish

Use the recipe above for perfect hard-boiled eggs. Now, instead of chopping the cooled, peeled eggs, slice them in half and deposit the yolks in a separate bowl. Add mayonnaise, mustard, pickle juice, worcestershire, salt, and pepper to the bowl with the yolks and mash until smooth and creamy (a mashed potato masher or food processer work well here). As I said, all of this is to taste, so add more of whatever you feel is missing. I like lots of creaminess (mayonnaise) and lots of spice so my above estimates are conservative. Using a spoon (or if you're a fancy-pants like me, a pastry bag), distribute the creamy yolk goodness evenly to the cavities of the halved hard-boiled egg whites. Sprinkle paprika (and if you want extra color some freshly-chopped chives or parsley leaves) as a garnish. Serve room temp or chilled. Yum.

Mushroom Egg Drop Soup

Since it has been winter for several months now, and the aroma of meaty, hearty, fragrant mushrooms have been permeating New York restaurants awaiting summer produce, I have found myself desperately craving fungi. So yesterday when I saw a recipe for mushroom soup, I thought "I must." Then a few minutes later I saw a recipe for egg drop soup and I thought, "Even better!" And then I got tired of looking at recipes and decided to create my own amongst these fortuitous inspirations. Here is the fan-frickin'-tastic result of my mad scientist experimentation:

12 cups water
2 carrots (peeled)
2 celery stalks
1 onion (quartered)
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1.5 cups egg noodles
4 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
1.5 lb fresh mushrooms
1 cup white wine
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup (or more) soy sauce
1 tbsp chili garlic or sriracha

Fill a stock pot with 12 cups of water. Add carrots, celery, onion, broccoli stalk (optional), bay leaves, garlic, dried porcinis, and a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, covered, and allow to simmer for 45 min.

While the stock is simmering, cook egg noodles per instruction and set aside. Beat 4 eggs and set aside. And sauté the fresh mushrooms in olive oil and sesame oil, removing the liquid from the sauté into the stock as it seeps from the mushrooms, so they brown instead of boiling (cooking in a wok is best for this). After 10-12 minutes when the mushrooms have browned slightly, add the white wine and fish sauce and allow to simmer for 5 min.


Strain the stock to remove the vegetables, but take the porcinis out of the vegetables and return to stock. Add mushroom/white wine mixture to stock, and allow to simmer 15 more minutes. During this time, check seasoning, and add salt/pepper, soy sauce, and chili garlic/sriracha to taste. Go light on the last ingredient or it will overpower the flavor of the broth.

Bring the soup back up to a simmer, and finally add the beaten eggs in a very slow steady stream, while stirring vigorously so that they break apart into very small strands. Add the egg noodles. Taste/season again. Serves 8.

A Photo Tour of New York City Drinking

We all love to read about delicious cocktails and enticing New York City bars, but sometimes, the most mouthwatering device for titillating our palates is a photograph. So this weekend I decided to take epiqueereans on a photo tour of what and where to drink in New York City. Well, at least what and where I drank in New York City this past weekend ;)


Aperol Spritz at Piola


Italian Aperitivo at Piola


Classic Martini at Essex


It's so pretty it deserves two photos...


Moe's, Brooklyn


Brooklyn Lager at The Whiskey Brooklyn


I love giant ice cubes. Especially in a...


Perfect Manhattan at The Whiskey Brooklyn.
It really was perfect.


Lunch at the bar at Union Square Cafe


Homemade Limoncello at mi casa

A Martini Is A Drink Not A Glass

Here is my personal pet peeve of the century: People who do not know what a Martini is, and yet order one at every bar in the city.

A Martini is, by definition, gin, vermouth, and olive(s). A vodka Martini is the same but with vodka in place of gin. Any good bartender will ask you which you would like. A poor bartender will just make it with vodka if you don't specify.

A Martini "extra dry" is, colloquially, a martini without vermouth. Here's the rub: A Martini without vermouth IS NOT A MARTINI !!

Nor is a chocolate martini, appletini, or anything else simply because it is served in a beautiful yet precarious cocktail glass (Like the drink pictured above. You get a photo example of a non-Martini because I don't have a photo of a real Martini).

Ordering a Martini "extra dry" is like ordering "gin with vermouth, without vermouth." Say whaa?

And let's face it, you want vodka. You want grey goose up with olives (Also grey goose is thin and I despise it. Yeah I said it.).

There. Rant finished. Every blog needs one, right?

I Miss Tomatoes

Oh summertime... concerts in the park, flip flops, tank tops, tomatoes... tomatoes... I miss you tomatoes. I miss you like a summer fling.

It's the dead of winter and I just stumbled upon the above image. Bruschetta inspired by Union Square Cafe's heirloom tomato salad. Basically I put their salad on toast. Yummmmm. It is absolutely the most refreshing, bright, aromatic little bite you'll ever have. Click to zoom in on that picture if you really want to know what I'm going through.

Here's the recipe without quantities. I do most things to taste and it's the easiest thing in the world. Don't worry, you can do it!

Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta

Heirloom tomatoes and/or heirloom cherry tomatoes
Sliced red onion
Coarsely chopped fresh basil
Olive Oil
Sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper
Goat Cheese (Ardith Mae chèvre if you can get it. Best in the WORLD)
Baguette toast slices

Wait until May or June. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Add whatever else you like (corn, peppers, pork. pork? mmm.. yes pork). Spread the goat cheese on the toast slices. Top with mixture. Eat. Lick Fingers.

Hot Sauce Belongs On Everything

Yeah I mean that. Everything.

Is it wrong that I have had approximately 10 meals without hot sauce in the last month? (The correct answer is No... ahem.)

So I think it's time to admit something I am mildly embarrassed by and mildly proud of... Almost an entire shelf on my refrigerator door is taken up by different kinds of hot sauce. My favorite being, without question, D'Elidas from Panama. Seriously. Amazing.
Still, it's never enough. Never enough Muah Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!

So thank you to the New York Times for sparking the idea of making my own! I followed their recipe fairly closely. Less garlic, more sugar, slight blender explosion.

The product was sweeter than bottled stuff, and had a ton of incredible flavor! It says to let it sit for 3 days and yes that makes it better but you can definitely start spooning it on everything you eat the moment it's ready.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/dining/25apperex2.html

Garlicky Red Chili Hot Sauce

Time: 20 minutes plus 3 days’ standing

4 hot red or orange chili peppers, such as habañero

2 red bell peppers ( 3/4 pound), roughly chopped

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.

1. Wearing rubber or latex gloves, roughly chop the chilies. Combine all ingredients in a small pot over medium-high heat. Once mixture is simmering, reduce heat to low, cover and continue to simmer until peppers are tender, 7 to 10 minutes. Do not inhale vapors; they will sting.

2. Transfer mixture to a blender and purée. Pour into a medium jar and allow to cool uncovered. Cover tightly and refrigerate for three days. Keep stored in refrigerator; sauce will last for several weeks or months.

Yield: 2 cups.