Archive for January, 2013


Avocado Prosciutto Egg Toast

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While they’ve obviously been pretty popular for years, doesn’t it seem like the avocado craze has gained even more momentum in the last year or so? Just the other day I saw a tweet from @MangoTomato about a NYC bagel spot that sells avocado cream cheese (read: best idea ever!) and then a couple hours later I saw another tweet about an avocado hummus at Trader Joe’s. I personally can’t get enough avocado and can only dream about the possibility of having enough time in the morning to make an Avocado Coffee Milkshake every day. And I still make my Avocado Spinach Egg Salad like pretty much all the time. Basically, an avocado a day… makes me happy. And I bet they make you happy, too.

If you are dreading the day ahead, I’m thinking this Avocado Prosciutto Egg Toast is the perfect way to start, warding off all evil dangers ahead. Then again, it always helps if you have someone who will whip this up for you at 7 a.m. Wouldn’t that just be the most fabulous thing in the world? I don’t know who first started eating avocado toast, but now it seems like everyone and their mother is doing it. I LOVE it, but wanted something more to fill me up in the morning (you don’t even want to know how ridiculously hungry I get if I don’t eat protein-packed foods every couple hours).

You guys, as I was writing this, no joke, @FrenchFoodieMom tweeted about this Avocado Margarita. Seriously? As if I needed my point proven even more. I’m a bit uncertain about this one, but as it involves tequila AND avocados, I think it’s pretty much a go. Annnd the perfect companion to this breakfast. Who needs coffee anyway? Gahd, I love Twitter for helping me make these discoveries when I’m not even looking. It’s a beautiful place.

Avocado Prosciutto Egg Toast (serves 2):
Print this recipe

  • 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 T white vinegar
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 slices ciabatta bread
  • 1-2 avocados
  • 1 t freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 4 pieces prosciutto

 

Avocado Prosciutto Egg Toast Ingredients.jpg

Quick, easy and all-around amazing, there’s nothing difficult about this recipe. The tomatoes take the longest amount of time, but you can roast them ahead of time if you want. I popped mine in the oven the night before I made this brunch, roasting them at 375 degrees on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and brushed with olive oil and salt and pepper for about 35 minutes .

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And then I popped them in a Tupperware container so they’d be ready in the morning.

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In a large sauce pan, with water coming up a couple inches on the side, bring water to a boil, along with 1 T white vinegar and a pinch of salt. Turn heat down to medium.

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Crack eggs into an individual ramekin one at a time.

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Carefully, set egg into boiling water, using a spoon to push the white to the yolk if necessary. Repeat with other eggs.

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Cook for about 3-4 minutes and then remove from water with slotted spoon to a paper towel-covered plate.

While the eggs are poaching, toast bread and mash avocado with a little bit of lime and salt and pepper.

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Now, I spread a generous layer of avocado (slash guacamole!) onto my toast.

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Then I topped with roasted tomatoes.

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A healthy dose of prosciutto. And an egg, of course!

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A super easy meal, but one that’s perfectly delicious. And satisfying to the very core. I mean, does this meal not have all the food groups in it? Really, it does. Unless you consider avocados and tomatoes to both be fruits… Then we’re missing out on vegetables. Close enough, though, right?

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A coffee on the side makes this the most complete meal ever. And one that I’d be perfectly happy to see on my dinner table, as well.

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Oh, avocado. How is it I want you more than butter, cream cheese, hummus, or anything else I can think of? It’s just not right, but it’s so fine with me.

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Bonus points awarded if your yolk is cooked perfectly and ultra runny.

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If there’s one thing better than avocado toast, it’s avocado toast soaked in egg yolk. Stop trying to deny it.

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A breakfast you really wouldn’t mind seeing at your dinner table, would you? WITH coffee, too, as I can pretty much drink coffee at any hour of the day and fall asleep with no problem at all. Probably not a good practice and one I should work on… But convenient for most occasions.

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And now I’m right back to craving avocado and thinking of other meals it would go perfectly with and other foods it can substitute for it.

Now I’d like to see if I could go ahead and create an avocado hollandaise. Yes? Something tells me it already exists!

What’s your favorite way to pig out on avocado? And furthermore, would you drink an avocado margarita?

[Sues]

Flank Steak and Gorgonzola Quesadillas

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Happy Monday! I guess? I personally could have used another day or 10 of the weekend, but time kept moving, as it so often does, and suddenly it’s Monday morning once again. Just once I’d like time to actually slow down on the weekends or to magically add an extra 24 hours in there. But all I can do is thank goodness that at the end of most every weekend, I can at least say I had a fabulous one.

File THIS under coolest thing I did this weekend:

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(No, not get afflicted with a weird lazy eye). I went flying! My friend Libby recently got her pilot’s license and she took me and Chris on a little tour. I’m not going to lie– I was SUPER nervous beforehand. If you know me in real life, you know adventure and I don’t really get along. But I wanted to try it and even though Libby is a new pilot, she’s the kind of person that you just sort of trust in situations like this (though come to think of it, maybe I should have worried she’d try to get revenge for when I was allegedly mean to her in 7th grade. Luckily that didn’t happen!). Anyway, we flew around the Gloucester and Rockport area and were lucky to have a perfectly clear day.

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The ride was slightly bumpy from the wind, but not too bad and definitely worth it for all those crazy awesome views. It felt kind of crazy to be thousands of feet above ground with just my friend and my husband… Who would have thought back when we met in elementary school that Libby would be flying the skies? I love it! And now I’m pretty sure Chris has caught the flying bug, so this should be interesting!

Safely back on the ground in my kitchen (phew!), I whipped up some dinner. Quesadillas! Sometimes quesadillas remind me of the after school snack I prepared pretty much every day when I was in middle school. But I’m pretty sure those ones just involved cheese and some salsa. These ones involved flank steak. And gorgonzola cheese. So I would say that equals a major life improvement.

Flank Steak and Gorgonzola Quesadillas (makes about 4 quesadillas):
Print this recipe!

  • 1 lb. flank steak, marinated and grilled (see below for preparation and marinade)
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 jalapeño, sliced
  • 8 flour tortillas
  • 4 oz. gorgonzola cheese
  • 1 avocado

Flank Steak Gorgonzola Quesadillas Ingredients.jpg

Southwestern Marinated Flank Steak:
Print this recipe!

  • 1 lb. flank steak
  • 1/4 C freshly-squeezed lime juice
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 T chili powder
  • 1 t cumin
  • 1/2 t coarse salt
  • 2 T olive oil

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My flank steak was pretty large and I knew I wouldn’t need all of it for the quesadillas, so I cut it in half and wrapped one half in plastic wrap, put it in a freezer ziplock bag, and popped it in the freezer.

I put the lime juice, minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and olive oil in a large ziplock bag. Then I placed the flank steak in bag and made sure marinade was distributed evenly. I put the steak in fridge for 1-3 hours to marinade.

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I heated my grill pan (you can use an outdoor grill if you have one!) until extremely hot and placed flank steak on it.

Grilled for about 1.5 minutes and then rotated for better grill marks. Grilled for another 1.5 minutes.

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Now I flipped the steak and grilled for another 1.5, rotated, and grilled for 1.5 more. At this point your smoke detectors will probably start going off. Mine did. And let me tell you, the smoke detectors in this apartment are not fun. I think my head still hurts.

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My steak was cooked to a nice medium-rare, so I removed from grill pan and placed it on a cutting board to cool a bit.

Then I sliced it into strips, cutting against the grain.

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In the meantime, I put my onions in a sauté pan with a little bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper.

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After sautéing over medium heat for about 5 minutes, I tossed in my sliced jalapeños.

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I continued to sauté until onions were nice and caramelized.

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I lightly brushed tortillas with olive oil and placed one on my grill pan (cleaned from the steak!) over medium heat. I sprinkled some gorgonzola cheese on the tortilla, topped with steak, onions and jalapeño, and then a little more cheese.

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And placed another tortilla over the top, cooked for about one minute, and then flipped and cooked for another two minutes.

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And continued with remaining tortillas and filling.

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If you’re so inclined, mash up an avocado as a little condiment. Avocado is always welcome at my dinner table, especially when Mexican-style food is involved.

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I cut the quesadillas with a pizza cutter and then let the feast begin! These made me really, really happy and were most definitely an upgrade from the ones I used to make in middle school. Though who knows where I’d be today if I came home from school and whipped up flank steak with gorgonzola cheese when I was 12. We’ll never know.

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I’m just happy I made it to here now. Because it’s a marvelous place to be.

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All of these flavors just went together so well and made me incredibly happy. If you think you don’t like gorgonzola cheese, try it like this and I think you might change your mind.

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This also made me kind of crave summer when we can actually cook the steak on the grill. And then go sit in the sun. And then go for a dip in the pool. And just be amazingly happy and warm. Sans down winter coat and ridiculous fur earmuffs. Hey, at least it’s supposed to be in the 20s here in Boston today? And it might even rise above 32 tomorrow. Hallelujah!

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But at the same time, this really is the kind of comfort food that 10 degree weather craves. It’s all warmth and coziness.

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I keep getting crazy happy that I have another pound of flank steak in my freezer and wondering what I’m going to do with it. But if we’re being honest, I’ll probably make more of these quesadillas because I’m totally already craving them again. I’m pretty sure that’s a sign of a good meal.

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My Monday would be so much happier if these could be waiting for me when I got home. With open arms. And cheesy filling. At least I know I have The Bachelor waiting for me. It’s Monday, so I’ll take what I can get.

What’s your ideal quesadilla?

[Sues]