Fried Mash Potato, Egg & Cheese

This is a pictorial account of a dish I like to make. Mexican influenced brunch. Really simple, start with oil, onions. Smash potatoes in with some butter, sea salt, pepper and any other spices. Get it toasty brown by frying it, mashing it into pan and letting in brown on low heat once the butter and oil work their way through.

Part the sea of potatoes for your eggs. Add more butter. Let the eggs go over easy for a little then fold it all over a few times, add cheese and start flipping like a pancake until it is both sloppy and crispy.

Mash avocado on the 2 tortillas, squeeze some lime and pinch of salt over it. Place eggs over and throw broken tortillas on top, with extra cheese and hot sauce, if so desired. Eating for 2 to share or a hungry man. Man that was good! Completely vegetarian. Ingredients at the bottom.

2 baked potatoes pressed into pan with onions in oil

Add butter, spices, mash & flip the potatoes

Press into pancake once butter & oil have worked its way through, flip until brown

Create a trough, parting the pancake with spatula

Crack the eggs and let them partially cook over-easy

Cheese

Fold potatoes, eggs & cheese together

Mash avocado on tortillas, drop the lime & salt

Plate over tortillas, cover with tortilla chips & cheese

Mexican-style fried mashed potato, egg and cheese:
oil
butter
2 potatoes, baked and mashed in pan
1 onion, diced
pepper, sea salt, cayenne, hot sauce
2 eggs, over easy
shredded cheddar cheese
tortillas
1 avocado
1 lime

Soup Weather

As we get deeper into winter, I have a desire for hearty soups, stews and chili. Stick-to-your-ribs kinda food. Although, it can also be light and filled with healthy ingredients. Soft food can also extend well by adding broth or water, depending on how dense it is. The best part about soup is that it’s so simple to make. It can be altered easily for any kind of dietary needs.

I love the variety of texture and color that makes it visually stimulating, which can not be ignored. Presentation of food and anticipation has an impact on your dining experience. For instance, after having this amazing potato soup on previous occasions, the expectation is that it will be satisfying and enjoyable. Especially when you go out to eat. Consistency is important to a restaurant’s success for that very reason.

Soups combine well with other food creating an original meal using the same soup. A classic combo: soup and grilled cheese, which has many variations on its own. I love cheese, maybe why I like French onion soup. Or straight up onion soup for those who can’t do dairy, just omit the cheese and bread!

How about a simple garden salad to go along with that chili or heavier soups? For me, I like using iceberg lettuce, some romaine, diced vine-ripe tomatoes, carrot shavings, sliced cucumber, finely diced red onion, chopped bell pepper (green/yellow), olives, avocado (pinch of lime and salt), almond slices or Chinese noodles, with Italian dressing. I shake all the ingredients in a covered Tupperware bowl, after I’ve added the dressing. Never liked having dressing on top, I don’t like to mix it manually.

Try adjusting recipes to experiment if you’re feeling adventurous. Adding crunchy crouton, crackers or tortillas (tortilla soup is one of my favorites) add some additional texture that kicks it up a notch. Dip things in it. Hot sauce. Drizzle grated cheese. Get wild to warm yourself from the inside out.

 

New Year’s Eve Dinner

There are many things I love, but most of all… having people for dinner. Not literally “people eating”. That would be cannibalism. I had a small group on New Year’s Eve 2015. We ate, we drank, we partied the night away. But an army doesn’t march on an empty stomach. We had terriaki/bbq chicken pieces with home-made roasted red peppers on top. There was a cucumber tomato salad over a slice of mozzarella lightly tossed with Italian dressing. Oven-browned baked potato wedges with cumin, grated parmesan cheese and drowned in butter. And just to be healthy, steamed broccoli in garlic butter. We didn’t bother with dessert. Just wine. It was just enough to prepare us for a night of celebration, but not too much that would make us sleepy. Hope you are having a flavorful new year.