Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays.

We are taking a break to spend time with friends and family during the holiday season.
Edible Menu will be back with new posts starting at the beginning of 2010.
Best wishes this Holiday Season and have a Happy New Year.

Edible Menu

All-in-1 Veggie Breakfast

This week we're making an all in one veggie breakfast that's so hardy and delicious you'll want to eat it right out of the pan... and you can. We're simply going to add ingredients together in a pan about every 10 minutes until there is a complete and satisfying breakfast blend roasted in its own juices.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. Potatoes, cubed
1/4 C. Olive Oil
Fresh Sprigs of Thyme
1/2 lb. Mushrooms
1 doz. Cherry Tomatoes
4 Eggs
2 Tbsp. Parsley, chopped
Buttered Toast
Salt & Pepper


Spread the potato cubes out in a roasting pan. Drizzle over half the oil, scatter over the thyme sprigs and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a preheated over for 7-10 minutes at 425 degrees.


Stir the potato cubes well, then add the mushrooms and bake for 10 minutes.


Add the tomatoes and bake for another 10 minutes.


Make four hollows in between the vegetables and carefully break an egg into each hollow. Bake for 3-4 minutes until the eggs are set.


Garnish the vegetable mixture with parsley and serve straight from the pan or serve on a plate with buttered toast.

Chicken Salad Stuffed Tomatoes

The idea behind this presentation is one that I took from Ms. Paula Deen. She produced a home-made chicken salad and served it inside some large homegrown tomatoes. I thought this was a wonderful idea and have even presented my own stuffed tomatoes to friends drizzled with a nice balsamic vinegar reduction. For this blog, I didn't want to get too fancy so I came up with a recipe that I think will please everyone. There is heated debate in the chicken salad world surrounding the use of mayonnaise. Some people like chicken salad drenched in mayo, others prefer an olive oil and mustard base. I came up with a fusion of the two in order to keep everyone happy.

INGREDIENTS
"Dry Ingredients"
4 C. Chicken, oven roasted, diced
1 C. Red Bell Peppers, chopped
1 C. Corn
1/4 C. Red Onion, minced
4 Tomatoes
Grapes*
Spinach**

"Wet Ingredients"
6 fl. oz. Olive Oil
1/2 C. Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp. Parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp. Mustard
2 Tbsp. Mayo
2 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Salt

* I love grapes in my chicken salad. If you think it's weird, you're welcome to leave them out.
** The spinach (or lettuce) will be used for garnish inside the rim of the tomato.


I like my chicken salad to be pretty smooth and wet, so I process the chicken in a food process until it is very fine. I pulse the "dry ingredients" together in the processor, adding the grapes as the final ingredient so they don't turn to mush. In a separate bowl, whisk together the "wet ingredients" to make the base of the salad. When the base is finished, add it to the dry ingredients and mix well either by hand or in the food processor.

So, essentially, this recipe is three steps. Make the dry ingredients, make the wet ingredients, then combine the dry and wet ingredients. Done!


For the presentation, cut the top of a tomato and, holding a knife vertically, cut an "X" in the tomato from top to bottom without piercing the skin. Next, cut around the edges of the tomato. At this point the tomato has been quartered only on the inside. You can now insert a spoon and carefully extract all the fruit in one fluid motion. This step is easy to do, but hard to describe so E-Mail me if you have questions, or just hollow out the tomato however you can. Now, place a piece of lettuce or a few leaves of spinach along the inside of the tomato and spoon in the chicken salad.