blog — molly yeh

lunch

eggs benedict salad with dill hollandaise dressing

in

something that doesn't show through on the internet is my chicago accent. i have been told that it's very strong. i won't admit that it's strong, but after hearing myself talk on video a few months ago, i'll admit that an accent indeed exists.

no one growing up ever thinks that they have an accent, right?

chicagoans don't have accents right? (lol!)

i was first informed of my accent towards the end of high school when i started spending my summers on the east coast, at tanglewood. it was the first time in my life that a majority of my time was spent with people who weren't from chicago, and suddenly i was *different*. i couldn't say "practice" or "alex" or any word with an "a" without being giggled at! and what really gave my chicagoness away was my pronunciation of "salad." i could not order an effing salad without a percussionist saying "syaaaaaalad? do you want a seeeyaaaaalad? what's a seeeyalad anyway???"

so i stopped eating salad altogether.

i stopped using the letter "a" altogether.

i stopped talking altogether. 

i mean, no, i didn't actually do that, but i still can't order a salad without holding my breath for a moment and waiting for someone to mock me.

so, here's a salad that's worth every unit of mockery on the east coast. an eggs benedict salad that's basically all of the great eggs benedict ingredients, tossed with fresh greens: soft cooked eggs, warm canadian bacon, a hollandaise drizzle that's got a nice bit of dill, and the best part, english muffin croutons. here, i've used homemade english muffins from the huckleberry cookbook because they are the absolute best english muffins in the world, but if you want to use another english muffin, go ahead.

eggs benedict salad with dill hollandaise dressing

makes 4 servings

ingredients

2 thick english muffins, chopped into cubes

6 slices canadian bacon

4 large eggs

8 oz mixed greens

1/4 purple onion, thinly sliced

kosher salt and black pepper

hollandaise dressing:

1 large egg yolk

1/4 c unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

1 sprig fresh dill, chopped

kosher salt and black pepper

clues

make the croutons: spread the english muffin cubes out on a baking sheet and bake them at 400 for about 15 minutes or so, until they reach your desired crispiness. i like em still a little soft.

cook the bacon: brown it on both sides over medium high heat, and then chop it into 1/2-inch pieces.

boil the eggs: bring a large pot of water to a boil, carefully add the eggs, and cook for 7 minutes. transfer them to an ice bath, peal them, and then slice them in half. 

place the greens, onions, croutons, bacon, and eggs on a serving platter. sprinkle everything with salt and fresh pepper. 

to make the dressing, add the egg yolk to a food processor or blender. blend the yolk, and then gradually drizzle in the butter, lemon juice, and olive oil, and then add the dill. season with salt and pepper to taste.

dress the salad to your liking and enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you to the american egg board for sponsoring this post! america’s egg farmers launched the good egg project to educate americans about where eggs come from and encourage people to eat well and do good every day. check out the good egg project site to learn about hen nutrition, environmental improvements that have been made by egg producers in the past few decades, and to see a slide show illustrating the steps that eggs go through to get to the grocery store.

 

sriracha egg salad

in

here are two equal and opposite reactions: making your own mayonnaise and then eating your own mayonnaise. that is, if you make it by hand, which is actually really satisfying and the best* thing that you can possibly do in the kitchen now that it's short sleeve season. 

*in addition to a whole bunch of other things, like kneading bread dough by hand...

it's also really fascinating to see with your own two eyeballs how mayonnaise really is just eggs and oil, and i think that makes egg salad extra funny. eggs coated in eggs. lol. you'd think eggboy would move mountains for the stuff, but he despises it. i told him how weird that is and his response was i'm not mayo boy, which is probably fair since i love olive oil but can't really do olives. 

and all that means is more egg salad for me. yay!!!!!!!

i love egg salad because: 

1. i'm 90,

2. it's so soft,

but it has to be severely mayo-y and salted ferociously, which you can do easily when you make it from scratch. and another thing that you can do easily when you make it from scratch is use olive oil in your mayonnaise, for a healthier option, and then eat all of it in the comfort of your own home without worrying that you're offending someone with the smell of hard boiled eggs.

i'm about to tell you how to whisk mayo by hand for this egg salad.

i know, i know, making mayo in a blender takes but one second. i know.

you can also buy mayo at the store. i know. 

but we're going to make it by hand because it's fun, it's good for you, and you might find yourself in a blender-less, mayo-less world one of these days and you need to know how to fend for yourself. the rest of this recipe is an easy peasy straightforward egg salad scenario that gathers sweetness and crunch from chopped onion and a bite from dijon and sriracha. (there's no celery here, i didn't want it here.) it's equally at home on crunchy toast as it is sandwiched between fluffy white bread, and if you want to just eat is straight with a spoon, you can do that too.

sriracha egg salad

makes 4-6 servings

ingredients

1 large egg yolk

1 tb dijon mustard

1 tsp sriracha

1/2 tsp sugar

kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

1 tb lemon juice

8 large hard boiled eggs

1/2 small white onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

 

 

clues

in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, mustard, sriracha, sugar, a good pinch of salt, and a couple turns of black pepper. continue to whisk, vigorously, and do not stop until i say. using your other hand, drizzle in the oil as slowly as possible. the oil stream should be the thickness of a strand of hair. once the mixture has thickened and become pale, you can increase the speed of the pour slightly. (how is your arm? do you need to switch hands? you can do that quickly.) once all of the oil has been added, whisk in the lemon juice. stop whisking. taste and adjust salt, pepper, and sriracha as desired. 

transfer the mayo to a small container. there's no need to dirty up another large bowl, you can just go forth and make your egg salad in the bowl where you just made your mayo. 

to do this, place your eggs in the bowl and use a pastry cutter to give them a rough chop. alternatively, you can chop the eggs with a knife before putting them in your bowl. fold in the onion and garlic and add a good pinch of salt. like i said, i like a severely mayo-y egg salad, so if it were up to me i'd stir in all of the mayo that we just made and be done. but i don't want to offend you, so start by folding in half of the mayo, and then add more as desired. reserve any unused mayo for anything you want. eat all of your egg salad at once! or within 3-4 days. 

enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you so much to the american egg board for sponsoring this post! check out their good egg project site to get to know the family-owned farms that are part of the board and read about their efforts to create sustainable, healthy, and comfortable environments for their chickens.

fettuccine carbonara with green beans

in

our yard is bursting with glee at the moment: there are adolescent popcorn stalks, herbs that are putting up a good fight, enough squash blossoms to feed your extended family, endless leaves of lettuce, chode-ish cucumbers, kale, almost-red tomatoes, and a crap ton of the prettiest wildflowers i ever did see.

can i tell you something though?

i have never been more afraid of vegetables.

in the past month, i've eaten more bread and cheese and less vegetables than i'm really at liberty to say without cringing and patting my belly. i've just been such a sissy about the bugs and the whole washing/salad-spinning process, and of course i refuse to buy any salad greens at the grocery store because there are so many in our garden. 

oy veyzmir!

i think i know why they invented triple washed spring mix.

(it's ok. baby steps..?)

so, my salad intake has been at an all time low, but i've had spurts of courage that help me go out and pick some things that are easy to inspect for bugs. you know, vegetables that don't hide secrets: green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers... and i thought that onions were fine, but then a small friend crawled out of one earlier this week and i did a little nervous dance for all of my imaginary friends to see before placing it down the drain, followed by a drizzle of bacon fat.

i feel guilty now...

this pasta showcases our green beans, which have been very good to us. it's a variation on a simple carbonara that i've made tons and tons of times and grown extremely partial to. i typically refrain from ordering carbonara at restaurants because i've had one too many versions with lots of heavy creamy that make me feel like a roly poly after just a few bites. in its bare bones form, my favorite carbonara is bacon (or other salty meat), a heavy dose of pepper, some parmesan, and a beaten egg, cooked by the heat of fresh pasta. ad lib onions and other vegetables.

i like carbonara like i like my men: eggie, comforting, and difficult to get sick of.

fettuccine carbonara with green beans

makes about 4 servings

ingredients

salt

4 strips thick cut bacon

1 medium onion, chopped

1 heaping cup of chopped green beans (or peas)

8-9 ounces fettuccine*

2 large eggs

black pepper

parmesan, to taste

 

*to make this gluten free (for a certain mr. eggboy), i've been using and loving cappello's almond flour pasta

clues

set a large pot of salted water on the stove so that it can come to a boil while you cook the bacon.

in a large skillet, crisp up your bacon. transfer it to a cutting board, let it cool slightly, and chop it into 1/2-inch pieces. set it aside. meanwhile, drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat from the pan and then set it back on the stove, over medium heat. cook the onion in the fat until it's soft, about 5 minutes. (if your water is boiling by now, it's probably best to add the pasta at this point.) add the beans and a pinch of salt to the pan with the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, or until desired doneness.

crack your eggs into a small bowl or measuring cup and beat them up with a healthy dose of black pepper. i use around 15 turns of the grinder. keep this mixture standing by.

turn the heat under your onion/green bean skillet down to low. (if the pasta still needs to cook more, you can let the onions and green beans hang out, stirring occasionally.) when the pasta is ready, use tongs to transfer it directly into the skillet. it's ok (good, in fact) if some of the pasta water sneaks in there.

fold together the pasta, onion/green beans, bacon, eggs, and parmesan. add pasta water as desired. adjust seasonings.

enjoy!!!!

-yeh!