Breakfast #51: Fried Egg in Aligue (crab fat)

I am a relic.  In a world where fitness has swept the universe on its endorphin-powered chariot, leaving in its wake legions of runners, bikers, triathletes,and plana forma disciples, I remain resolutely languid.  Feel the burn?  Runner’s high? I listen to a multitude of people wax delirious about their physical activity of choice, still as puzzled and as dubious as I’ve always been.

It’s not that I question fitness or physical activity.  Not at all!  Exercise, it all its many forms, is good for you – and that’s the inescapable truth.  But I just can’t get on the fist-pumping, limit-pushing, sweat-dripping  bandwagon, try as I might.  And I have tried.  Really and truly.  But where other feel a sense of glorious exhilaration, I only feel nauseous and ornery.

Sports are definitely out.  Not only do I possess zero coordination or athletic prowess, anything to do with competition makes me miserable.  Solo activities like running or biking do not attract me in the least.  And don't even mention the gym to me.

So as far as physical activities are concerned, that leaves power-shopping, power-erranding, and my once a week walk to the neighborhood market.  Not much.  Although a step more active than reading…which is my preferred activity, truth be told.

I love decadence, indulging, napping with pajamas, long scalding-hot showers, burrowing under soft cool sheets, stretching, dancing , sleeping outdoors, sleeping in, 3-hour lunches with wine, hammocking, floating on my back, sniffing my baby pillow, brunch cocktails, stirring hot chocolate, lip-synching, and kneading dough.

The world is leaving me behind.  But it’s ok.  Because I have this to keep me company.

Fried Egg in Aligue (crab fat)

• 1 egg, the best you can find or afford
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small clove of garlic, very finely minced or passed through a garlic press
• 1 tablespoon aligue (crab fat)
• Sea salt

- Heat a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.  Add the oil.  When the oil is hot, add the garlic.  After a few seconds, when you can smell the garlic frying, add the aligue (crab fat).  With your spatula/turner, quickly mix the aligue with the oil and garlic.  Blend well until you have a deliciously dangerous looking mass of bubbling orange sin. 

- Onto this bed of foamy orange, gently lay your egg.  As the whites set, gently flip the aligue onto the egg whites and yolk.  Keep doing this patiently until the whites are set but the yolk remains runny.  Sprinkle a little sea salt on the yolk.

- Slide the egg and all the aligue onto your plate…or better yet onto a steaming mound of rice.  Consume immediately.  This dish does not like waiting around.

Aligue is crab fat and, over here, in a country of truly fearless people, it can be easily acquired sold in bottles.  If you are not comfortable having 2 tablespoons of fat (one animal and one vegetable…I’m nothing if not fair) in one serving then please feel free to reduce either to the quantity you are comfortable with.  If you are, however, comfortable having more, by all means indulge!  I would compensate though with some extra strenuous reading after ;)

Please don’t get me wrong.  I would love to one day be bitten my some hyper-energetic bug that will miraculously turn my potential into kinetic and my soft curves (I have lots to spare) into hard angles (I sure could use those).  Until then I suppose I’ll just have to be content with the passions I’ve been dealt.  I’m certainly not complaining.  Pass the cozy and wake me when the coffee’s on please :)

Breakfast #50: Multigrain Pancakes

Who doesn’t love weekends?  Long stretches of time (well, in truth, never long enough!) to fill up as we please – spending time with friends and family, staying out late, sleeping in, morning cuddles with no time limit, 3-hour lunches with wine, impromptu jaunts, dressing up, dressing down, naps!  You time and your rules.

If you are a Monday to Friday worker bee like I am, you enjoy it even more.

One of my favorite things about the weekend (although I would really be hard pressed to pick only one favorite) are long lazy breakfasts that don’t need to be on the table in 10 minutes or less – breakfasts during which the whole family can sit together and enjoy each other’s company without having to rush off to work.  During the week, we are hardly able to have breakfasts together – C is usually rushing out the door to work, little C has breakfast earlier, and I put together something quick that I can eat in front of my computer (shock!  I know…I’m a real person, I eat in front of my computer!) as I get started on my workday.  Not the ideal situation, but that’s life, and we’re working on it :)

So anyway…thank goodness for the weekends!  And there is nothing that says weekend breakfasts quite like pancakes.

Multigrain Pancakes

(slightly adapted from Multigrain Pancakes in SuperNatural Every Day by Heidi Swanson)

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled a bit (plus more for the pan)

- Whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  I always use a whisk when mixing dry ingredients because I feel like I am mixing and sifting at the same time. 

- In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs, add the melted butter and whisk again until everything is evenly combined.

- Heat a skillet (or griddle if you have one…I don’t, but maybe someday!), add a sliver of butter and brush across the surface.  Make sure the pan is hot – Heidi says if a drop of water dances across the skillet then you are good to go!

- While the skillet is heating, pour the wet ingredients into the dry while gently stirring until just combined.  Do not over-stir.

- When the pan is hot pour some batter on the pan.  You can make small pancakes or large ones...your choice.  Cook until the bottoms are golden and the edges as toasty then flip the pancakes and cook until the other side is golden as well and the pancakes are cooked through.

- Repeat with the remaining batter, or cook just the amount you want and store the rest in the fridge.  Serve with butter and maple syrup, or any syrup you like, or fruits, or compote, or vanilla bean ice cream!

Heidi’s original recipe calls from whole wheat, oat, and rye flours.  I only had whole wheat pastry flour on hand so that is what I used, combined with regular all-purpose.  I also used dark muscovado sugar for the simple reason that I love it.  Another bonus with our local muscovado, especially when you get it sourced directly from the producers with little refinement, is that it is shot through with lumps of clumped up sugar.  Hard nuggets of dusky sweetness that can vex a cake batter (I need to whiz the muscovado if I’m to use it for a cake) but are nice surprises when dotting your pancake.

These pancakes are a far cry from those you get from a packaged mix.  It is much less sweet with a slight tang from the buttermilk and an earthy taste from the whole wheat.  The pancakes themselves are as surprisingly light as Heidi promises and are perfect with any and all manner of sweet toppings, never reaching a too-cloying state the packaged-mix pancakes can sometimes get when drenched in syrup.

Heidi shares that the batter keeps for days in the fridge, and you know what that means – your weekend breakfast can easily turn into a weekday treat.  Hope your weekend was filled with only good things – great people, fun times, and pancakes!  Have a great week ahead! :)

Pink Cake and Growing Up

Growing up.  It happens to the best of us.  Often I feel that there is too much “leaving behind” and “getting older” associated with growing up, and not enough “ripening” and “getting plain ole awesomer!”.  It is, undoubtedly, a struggle sometimes, but it can also be one amazing ride.  I like to lean towards the awesomer side and do my best to ignore the little creaks and crankiness of the former.

Besides, growing up doesn’t mean letting go of everything.  On the contrary, I believe we shouldn’t let go.  There are precious treasures in childhood that will never come again – wonder, curiosity, unbiased-ness, simplicity, the ability to be happy with only a shovel and a mound of sand.  I say take them with you – you’ll be happy for their company on this journey.  If you’d also like to keep a ratty old pillow that has been smoothed down to an impossible silkiness and whose smell can heal almost any hurt…well, I promise I won’t tell ;)

And sugar spun confections too…let’s definitely not outgrow those.  Layer cakes in whimsical colors, made and sampled right before dinnertime.  We all need a bit of whimsy and irrationality in our lives, perhaps even more so when we are all grown.

As time passes, it is not our own growing up that surprises us so and catches us totally unawares, but that of our children.  Little C changes so fast that I’m wont to press the slow motion button and just hold on to moments as tight as I can.  And my little godchild Z is growing as well.  That little girl we made bakies with now has more make-up than her mother and I combined (and she is quite the expert with it too…I am definitely taking her up on her free makeover offer)!  She is an artist up, down and sideways, with music running through her veins.  It’s nice to see that she hasn't outgrown sugar spun confections either.

We (godchild Z, her mom - best friend K, and I) baked this cake late Sunday afternoon, dividing the batter into three and trying vainly to get three different shades of pink while breathing in the scent of butter and sugar.  It was delicious, like our bakies, but different too, like us.  We used the recipe I used for little C’s first birthday cake – we divided the batter into three and tinted each batch with a different amount of pink food coloring.  The batter was enough for 3 8-inch cake layers.  The icing was a simple vanilla frosting we got here.  I have to say again what a fantastic party cake this makes – yummy and easy to adapt in terms of theme and appearance.  The greatest testament however is the raves it got from K’s husband – when a man raves about a pink cake you know that it’s more than just cute.

Now, speaking of children, and super spun dreams, my beloved blog grows too.  After more than 6 years, I’ve finally updated its look and feel!  I am still in the process of cleaning up (odd links, a more detailed About Me page, and so forth) but so far I love it!  I hope you do too :)  It wouldn't have been possible without the awesome talents of Patricia of Fancy Girl Designs.  Thank you Patricia!  And thanks as well to Dainty Mom, who led me to her. 

So here’s to growing up while still keeping those parts that never grow up!  To pink cakes and friends!  To old things that keep us comforted and new things that make us giddy!  Cheers!

HHDD: Cucumber Dayap (Lime) Cooler

Once upon a time, when I was single, with no dependents, fancy free and super-messy, I had more time to join blog events.  I loved blog events!  They were a chance to connect with other like-minded individuals, discover new food blogs, and find inspiration and encouragement.  To this day I’d be hard-pressed to find a friendlier or more positive online atmosphere.

Now I am happily married, the blissful parent of onehungry dependent, just-slightly-messy, and fancy free only part of the time.  And blog events, sadly, have slipped to the back burner.  I still explore, when I can, the posts and round ups of my old favorites.  One such favorite, if not the favorite, was/is Hay Hay It’s Donna Day…HHDD for short.

Started by the lovely Barbara of Winoes and Foodies, I was immediately drawn to it.  How could I not be?  My ardent love for DonnaHay is evident in my table, my bookshelves, and the frankly embarrassing way I can go on and on about her to people I just met.  So when Barbara called for an HHDD round to celebrate the 10^th year anniversary of Donna Hay Magazine (of which I am a loyal subscriber) with a round of festive drinks I was definitely joining in!

Cucumber Dayap (Lime) Cooler

(inspired by the drinks in the 10th year anniversary edition of Donna Hay magazine)

• 3/4 cup dayap juice (or lime juice)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, split in two lengthways
• 3 slices of ginger, each about the size of a 5-peso coin
• 1 cucumber per person
• ice cubes

- First make the syrup: heat the dayap or lime juice, sugar, lemongrass, and ginger in a saucepan, stirring until all the sugar is melted.  Bring to a boil and let this bubble for about 2 minutes until the syrup is slightly thickened.  Strain and set aside.

- Peel the cucumber and remove all the seeds.  Place in a blender with a generous scoop of ice cubes.  Blend until the ice is crushed.  Add a tablespoon or two of the syrup and blend again.  Taste and adjust to your liking – more syrup if you’d like it sweeter more ice if you’d like it milder.

- Pour into a glass and enjoy!

Dayap is our local version of a lime, not to be confused with calamansi, which, although delicious in its own, is not the same thing.  For me, dayap leans more towards the lime end of the spectrum while calamansi vacillates between lemon-lime.  I love dayap, which I feel is more bracingly flavored than calamansi (though I love calamansi too...our local citrus rocks!).  It is also less available, so when I see it in the markets I snatch it up.  Feel free to use calamansi here as well, or limes if your outside my shores.

This works miracles on a hot, humid day when you are stuck at home working and too cheap to turn on the A/C.  I’m not saying that’s what happened, but you never know, I’m not spilling any beans.  In any case, this is cool, zesty, and refreshing whether you live in the middle of a hot city with skyrocketing electricity costs or not.

Since I just made one glass for myself, I had a lot of the syrup leftover.  That is by no means a bad thing!  You can store the extra syrup in your fridge for 2-3 days and use it to make all sorts of libations.  Here are just a few suggestions: You can put a few spoonfuls in a glass of ice-cold water, add to soda water to make your own lime soda with a twist, or add it to some vodka on ice…I’m sure it would also be good brushed atop a hot-out-of-the-oven pound cake.  So don’t you worry if you’ve got extra.

Happy HHDD to all of us Donna-heads out there!  And a special hug to Barbara who may have passed on the HHDD torch but still does her part to keep the fires burning! :)  To all those interested in joining future HHDD events the current facilitator is Chez Us :)

Breakfast #49: French Toasted Egg-In-A-Hole

This blog has always been something personal for me.  Not personal in such that it was a secret in any way.  I mean, it is out here for the whole universe to see, right?  But personal in that it has always been very much just (or is it really just a “just”?) a journal of my culinary exploits.  And not fancy exploits by any means.  My home cooking, what I like to eat, what I like to make for my family, what I like to prepare just for me.  And with that, little bits of my (and our) life as well.  What we cook and eat and live every day.

For over six years blogging has been my beloved hobby, my baby, my solace, my me-time, “my place”.  Yet, when I think about, over these past six years, it has grown to be more than just mine.  It’s yours too.  You, who leave wonderful comments, words of encouragement and great suggestions.  You, who email to say that “you’ve never really cooked before” but you read something here that gave you a push and oh how wonderful it felt (how I love these!!!).  You who never comment at all but keep coming back.  You must know that to me, you are all the bee’s knees.  You are a big part of what inspires me to keep blogging, to keep reaching out.  So in a way, YOU are a part of this blog as well. 

And for that I’d like to say THANK YOU!!!

And, although I never have before, I’d like to take this moment to ask:  What would YOU like to see more of on 80 Breakfasts?  I’d love to hear your suggestions, your whims and fancies, simple or fantastical.  I would truly be so happy to hear them all!  Leave a comment or send me an email at eighty_breakfasts(AT)yahoo(DOT)com.  You can also send a message via Twitter @80breakfasts.  The year’s end is almost upon us and it will soon be time for another set of resolutions…maybe you can help me with my list.

Meanwhile, let’s enjoy some breakfast shall we? :)

French Toasted Egg-In-A-Hole

• 1 + 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk (full fat or low fat are fine, not skim)
• 2 slices of your favorite bread
• A couple of generous pats of butter

- Whisk 1 egg and the milk until fully incorporated.  Place the mixture in a shallow bowl.

- Cut out a circle in the middle of a slice of bread with a 2.5 inch cookie cutter.  Repeat with the other slice of bread.

- Place the bread (slices and the small circle cut-outs) in the milk egg mixture.  Soak one side and then the other, for about half a minute on each side (not too long or it will get soggy!).

- While your bread is soaking, melt a pat of butter in a non-stick skillet.  When the foam has subsided add the bread.  Cook until toasted and bronze on one side – flip to cook the other side.  Right after flipping the bread over; pour one egg into the hole.  Let this cook until the bread is golden brown and the underside of the egg whites are set enough to flip.  Flip carefully to cook the top of the egg to your liking – I like the white to be just set and the yolk to still be runny.  This happens in a matter of seconds so be confident and quick – flip, pause, and remove from pan.  Repeat with the other slice.  Cook the bread circles as you would regular French toast.

- Serve immediately!

I like to use a hearty brown bread for this.  Try to get an unsliced loaf so you can control the thickness of your slice.  This is quite an important part of the whole procedure I think.  Here’s what I do: I crack an egg into a small bowl or cup that is more or less the diameter of my cookie cutter, then I slice the bread as thick as the depth of the egg in the bowl.  Pretty clever, huh?

This is already a delicious and nourishing breakfast as is, but if it’s the weekend, and you’re with the people you like best in the world, you may want to serve this with some breakfast sausage and maple syrup.  I’ve sprinkled a bit of arugula flowers on top as I had just come from the market and my favorite organic farmer waved a bouquet of wild arugula at me, knowing how much I love it.

Thank you once again for being a part of this blog, and to that extent, a part of my life.  Sending you all warm thoughts and virtual hugs this weekend! :)