Chilaquiles - The Best Thing to Happen to Hangovers Since Menudo (the spicy soup, not the band)

As promised, here is my basic version of chilaquiles, a classic Mexican mixture of fried tortillas, cheese, and salsa verde, often made with eggs to produce one of the world's great breakfasts. Like all the great breakfasts of the world, it has been long touted as a superior hangover cure.

It's ability to revive the body, mind, and soul from the ravages of alcohol poisoning is reportedly second only to the famous Mexican soup, menudo. Since mendo takes much longer to make, and traditionally contains, among other things, brains, cheeks, tails, hooves, and other organs, I tend to prefer the chilaquiles as my remedy.

According to the extensive research I did regarding the name, and by that I mean the three minutes I spent on Wikipedia, the word "chilaquiles" is derived from the Nahuatl word chil-a-quilitl, which means "herbs or greens in chile broth."

I can't say how that particular recipe eventually became what you'll see here, but thankfully it did - I can't imagine a bowl of stewed greens in a chili broth would work as well after a late night out at Senor Diablo's Casa de Las Margaritas Grandes. Enjoy!



Ingredients for curing 2 hangovers:
5 eggs
3 corn tortillas
1/2 cup cheese
1/2 cup salsa verde
vegetable oil
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Check Out These Other Great South-of-the-Border Video Recipes:

Aunt Mary's Pollo en Crema

Pineapple Pork Al Pastor

Spicy Tomato Rice

Chicken Chili Verde


Margarita photo (c) House Of Sims' Flickr photostream

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What I Had for Breakfast: Gourmet Gruel

Here are three simple pieces of advice for turning that, "I'm so bored, please kill me," bowl of oatmeal, into something special.

First, use "steel-cut" oatmeal instead of those rolled oats. The difference between steel-cut and regular oatmeal is like the difference between a walk on the beach, and standing in line at the DMV. The superior texture and taste of steel-cut, with basically the same cooking time, makes this a must-try.

Second, find some grade "B" maple syrup. To me it tastes more maple-y than the standard supermarket grade "A." I get mine at Trader Joes, but you should be able to find it somewhere close. I had heard it was better tasting long ago, but never bothered to try it until recently. I'll never get those wasted years back.

Finally, put some real, unsalted, sweet, creamy butter on top. The thin slice of butter you see here (only 1/2 teaspoon), slowly melting into the hot oats, mocking you with its luxurious sheen, has exactly 16 calories.

Hey dieters, why turn a delicious breakfast into prison food to save 16 calories? It doesn't make any sense. Enjoy!

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It Takes Some Huevos to Cook on a Ranch

I was very excited when I saw Huevos Rancheros on my assignment list for About.com. It's one of those breakfast recipes that I love, but never remember to make.

Huevos Rancheros simple means ranch-style eggs, and if you've ever worked on a ranch, like I have (I picked corn one summer), you understand the importance of a hearty breakfast.

There are many variations of this dish, all which includes some kind of eggs topped with some kind of tomato and chili-based sauce. This video recipe shows a fairly traditional preparation with two slight twists. I like my ranchero sauce kind of smooth - where as most classic versions are quite chunky. Also, instead of the plain tortilla base, I slip in a slice of cheese for a little quesadilla action.

If you decide to go ahead and try this (and when you see the money shot at the end, you really won't have much choice), you should follow my lead and have it with the rice and beans. I love homefries the much as the next ranch hand, but there's something about the way the egg yolk and ranchero sauce mix together that works so well with frijoles refritos and arroz.

Since this recipe was produced for About, the following video link will take you off the site to watch the video, just don’t forget to come back. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 tsp of vegetable oil
1/2 cup diced onions
big pinch of salt
2/3 cup diced green chilies - combination of hot or sweet i.e.jalapeno & Fresno chilies
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp oregano
14.5-oz diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of water
salt and cayenne pepper
Corn tortillas
Pepper jack cheese
2 eggs
Cilantro

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I'm in Corned Beef Hash Heaven

When I'm cooking corned beef, watching it simmer in the aromatic broth, I'll sometimes close my eyes and picture the delicious plate of food I have coming. The funny thing is, it's not the sliced corned beef and cabbage I'm dreaming of, it's the corned beef hash I'm going to be making with the leftovers.

There are certain dishes I would never talk someone into trying, or argue on behalf of its virtues. It's one of those, "there are two kinds of people in the world" things. Either you really love corned beef hash, or you don't eat it. It's not a dish for the indifferent.

Now, that the non-hash people have stopped reading, let's talk crust. As you well know, what separates a great hash from a transcendent hash is the "crust." You can't rush a corned beef hash crust - it's built slowly, over medium heat, with multiple turnings and pressings, the meat and potatoes crisped and caramelized in the combination of butter and beef fat.

I've always felt it's a poached eggs greatest achievement to meet its end on a pile of perfectly crusty corned beef hash. In addition to the textural pleasures, it also features one of the food world's greatest sights - the egg's golden yolk slowly running over and through the steaming hash. They don't know what they're missing. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 pounds cooked corned beef, diced
1 1/2 pounds white potatoes, peeled quartered
1/4 cup prepared roasted tomato salsa
2 clove garlic, crushed
1 bunch green onions, white parts chopped, green parts reserved for garnish
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Here are some more great breakfast video recipe ideas!
Sausage and Egg Pizza
Lemon Soufflé Pancakes
The Hangtown Fry
"Flattata" with Bacon, Potatoes, and Greens
Fancy Restaurant-Style French Toast



* Please help support free video recipes, and visit my new sponsor, MOZO Shoes. Find out why chefs (like me) are buzzing about their great shoes!

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Taking the Scrap Out of Scrapple

I did this scrapple video recipe for my America food site on About.com, and decided to make a couple minor changes to the original recipes - like leave out the main ingredient.

Scrapple, a Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast staple from days gone bye, is basically a bunch of hog scraps (you don't want to know) bound together with a cornmeal mush. Once cooled, it's sliced, fried, and "enjoyed."

This more user-friendly variation uses polenta as the binding agent, and is studded with pieces of pork you can actually identify and would eat on purpose, like pork shoulder and ham. This is the perfect day-after-pork-roast breakfast.

Now that I've guaranteed a flood of email and comments from insulted Pennsylvania Dutchmen who swear by the heirloom recipes, I will say this slightly usual morning side dish is quite tasty with a couple eggs, and certainly fills you up for a long day of doing whatever they do all day in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Enjoy!

Click here for ingredients and recipe transcripts.

* Please help support free video recipes, and visit my new sponsor, MOZO Shoes. Find out why chefs (like me) are buzzing about their great shoes!

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Happy Birthday Michele! I'd like to Make a Toast...

It's my wife Michele's birthday today, and this is a photo of her pumpkin bread French toast breakfast. If you think the pumpkin bread looked good, wait until you use the leftovers for French toast! Unreal. This would make the perfect day-after-thanksgiving breakfast before you take off for the mall to not spend money.

We're off to celebrate, and the San Francisco weather could not be nicer - we are having an unusual fall heat wave and it's going to be in the seventies today! Enjoy your weekend, and just in case you missed it, below you will see my patented method for the best French toast ever. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
6 thick slice of French bread (or homemade pumpkin bread)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
butter for frying
maple syrup?

Read original post here!

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NEW and IMPROVED: Eggy Potato and Pepper Pie - Now with Scintillating Narration!

By popular demand, here is a version with narration. I still wasn't in the mood, so I decided to try and have a little fun with it. By the way, it is very inspiring to know I can have a positive effect on some of you just by talking! Thanks!

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Eggy Potato and Pepper Pie - Breakfast, it's What's for Dinner

This really should have been called a frittata, but I've already done a frittata video recipe, and I'm tired of giving everything European names. Sure they made all these recipes first, but they had like a few thousand years head start, so it's hardly fair.

By the way, this video recipe doesn't have a voice-over (I wasn't in the mood), and there is no written recipe (I wasn't in the mood). I can’t confirm or deny that this has anything to do with my brunoise-sized stock portfolio.

This is simply meant to remind you that a big, broiled omelet makes a great (and cheap) dinner. This is one of my favorite combos - potatoes, sausage, peppers and eggs. This recipe can also be cut into squares and served room temperature as party snacks (a popular item in Spanish tapas bars). And, the real measure of any recipe…the leftovers are delicious in a sandwich (with some ketchup of course). To paraphrase Homer Simpson, "Eggy Potato and Pepper Pie…is this anything you can't do?" Enjoy!

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Robert Rodriguez Makes Breakfast - Finally, a Celebrity that Can Cook!

While checking messages on YouTube, I got a tip about some cooking videos done by Robert Rodriguez, who directed such films and Spy Kids, and Sin City. I usually jump at the chance to post celebrity video recipes, like I did for Paul McCartney, and Christopher Walken. They are fun to watch, easy to ridicule, and usually generate some interesting conversation. But, much to my surprise (and slight disappointment) this Rodriguez guy can cook! He not only makes a great looking breakfast taco, but he makes his own tortillas. That's some serious cooking chops. Check it out.

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I'm Moving to France!

I'm not moving to France...yet. Every four years, around election time, some celebrity will inform the nation (even though nobody asked them) that if a certain somebody wins the election they are moving to France. To which I say, "Bon voyage, and say hi to Johnny Depp for me."

If I ever get so fed up with America that I decide to move to France, it won't be for political reasons, it will be for the crepes. This video of an egg, cheese, and ham crepe shows the stunning (and embarrassing) difference between our fast food, and theirs.

Next time you queue up (that's how they say "line up" over there) for one of those limp, warmed over, drive-thru breakfast wraps, ask yourself why can't we have this instead?


photo (c) Flickr user Al Ianni

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You Don't Have to Be a Cheese Whiz to Make Your Own Fromage Blanc

Usually making something like fresh cheese at home is done because it's higher quality, and much cheaper. Today's video recipe for making Fromage Blanc, or Farmer's Cheese, flies in the face of that conventional culinary wisdom.

If you consider the fact you need to buy a package of cheesecloth, along with the dairy ingredients, the cost of your cheese is no less expensive than at the store. And, while the results of your homemade cheese adventure will be rich, creamy, and delicious, there are some fantastic brands of fresh cheese available in the better markets, so it's hard to argue that our version will be "better."

So, why bother? Because, for any self-respecting foodie, making a batch of homemade cheese is definitely on the culinary "bucket list." Before you cash in your apron for good, you should experience the magic of watching a pot of milk turned into cheese. And if all this sounds kind of cheesy, so be it. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 quart fresh, local whole milk
1 cup active-culture buttermilk
2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar, more if needed
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste

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The Hangtown Fry - A Gold Rush Classic, and the Perfect Before Execution Snack!

During the California gold rush, legend has it, a miner who had just struck it rich, walked into a restaurant in Placerville (known then as "Hangtown") and demanded the most expensive breakfast possible. The cook fried together the three priciest ingredients at the time; bacon, eggs and fresh oysters. This delicious and decadent breakfast became known as the Hangtown fry, which is the subject of this video recipe.

Another interesting historical angle to this dish was its popularity as a "last meal" request among those unfortunate souls awaiting a walk to the gallows. Since it often took a few days to procure all three of those ingredients, the condemned man could stall his inevitable fate. Maybe is gang could think of a way to bust him out, and he could brag from that point on how his life was saved by a scrambled egg recipe.

By the way, the original recipe had the raw oysters cooked right into the eggs, but this modernized versions places fried oysters on top of the eggs for a more "fancified" plate. Enjoy!
Click here for ingredients and transcript

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Sausage and Egg Pizza - Fundamentally Delicious

I know what some of you are thinking. Eggs are for breakfast, and pizza is for dinner, and never the twain shall meet. I used to think like that. There was a time, early in my career, when I was a culinary fundamentalist. Chocolate was a candy, and not something one added to a sauce for short ribs (see post below). But, like all fundamentalists, I was missing out on a lot of pleasure. So, if your rigid belief system prevents you from giving this pizza a spin, then it's your loss. This is a truly magnificent pizza.

I first saw pizza topped with eggs in the Chez Panisse Café cookbook. Alice Waters, the chef of Chez Panisse, and one of my personal heroes, used eggs to top a similar pizza using proscuitto instead of sausage. I decided to try it, and it was a transcendent experience. The golden yolks oozing slowly over the spicy sausage and melted cheese is TDF (to die for). I hope you give this a try. Which reminds me to warn you that it may take a few tries to achieve the perfectly cooked eggs. But, when you do, there is bliss. Enjoy.



Ingredients:
pizza dough (enough for 1 large pizza), brought to room temperature
2 tbsp cornmeal
3/4 cup pizza sauce
red pepper flakes (optional)
6-oz shredded fontina cheese (may substitute mozzarella, or Monterey Jack)
6-oz hot or mild Italian sausage, sliced, cooked, drained
4 whole eggs
black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
baby arugula, washed and dried
olive oil

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Life Before IHOP - Hi, My Name's Johnny, and These Are My Cakes

You've just been transported back to colonial America. You've been up since dawn, doing colonial stuff, and you're hungry for breakfast. You open the cupboard to grab a couple of Pop-Tarts to toss in the fireplace. There are no Pop-Tarts. You decide to settle for some pancakes, and reach for the Bisquick. There's no Bisquick. Okay, you decide to make your own pancakes from scratch. You check for the flour and baking powder. Again, you are denied. The only thing you have is ground corn and water. What do ye do…what do ye do?

Make Johnnycakes! This video recipe, I did recently for About.com, shows how to make America's first pancake, the Johnnycake. Nowadays, the Johnnycake is nothing more than a regular pancake batter with a little cornmeal sprinkled in, but that's not what it used to be. I decided to stay true to the earliest johnnycake recipes I could find, which were just fried cornmeal gruel. The Indians showed the early settlers how to make a basic cornmeal mush, which pretty much kept them alive in the early days, before Pop-Tarts. Well, if you have leftover cornmeal mush around, and some bacon fat, and a frying pan, you can turn that cornmeal into the surprisingly delicious Johnnycakes. Check out this video recipe, and experience what breakfast was like 300 years ago. Enjoy. Click here for the transcript and ingredients.

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Introducing Ron Jeremy's Omelet Diet - Warning: This May Be the Most Disturbing 10 Minutes in Culinary Video History!

Adult film star Ron Jeremy, inspired by Christopher Walken's chicken video recipe, decided he would film his "famous" vegetable omelet. What follows is ten minutes of horrific cooking technique, lame jokes, and Ron's mullet in all it's dyed glory. The reason I called today's post the "Ron Jeremy's Omelet Diet" is for the simple fact that this video recipe is guaranteed to make you lose your appetite for several days after each viewing. With all the food you ate over the Thanksgiving holiday, this is the perfect way to trim off a few pounds before the Christmas feasts. Every time you feel like eating something you shouldn't, simply watch this clip and your hunger will quickly dissipate.

By the way, you can now finally admit you've watched a Ron Jeremy video! I was going to warn everyone to not let the kids watch this clip, but he butchers the attempts at dirty jokes so badly they are indecipherable. I'll apologize in advance for the nightmares this video will cause to viewers of all ages. Someone will have to explain to me how this man became the most popular adult film star in the world. Actually, I changed my mind; please don't explain this to me. Lastly, I should warn all of you right now, any comments regarding Ron's resemblance to me, only with longer hair, will be deleted immediately!

Due to a bug with the Safari browser on the Macs I had to remove this embeded video clip. It was playing automatically without the play button being pressed which rendered my warning useless. If you want to see the clip you can click here. Sorry, Ron.

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Lemon Soufflé Pancakes - Beat it, just beat it!

I was recently commissioned to do a video recipe demo for About.com on the topic of "folding." Of course, this culinary technique is most commonly preformed when introducing egg whites into some type of batter. I was going to show "folding" using some sort of soufflé recipe, but since I already had a cheese soufflé recipe clip on the blog, I decided to use it on something much more common, the humble pancake. 
Every homemade pancake recipe, and almost every store-bought mix, calls for eggs. In almost every case the eggs are simply mixed into the batter and the recipe relies on the baking powder to make the pancakes rise. This is usually fine, but if you use the little extra step of separating the eggs and beating the egg whites, you will create "soufflé" pancakes that will rise to a whole other level...literally. By "folding" in the stiff egg whites, you are introducing millions of tiny air bubbles that expand when the pancake is flipped. As you will see in the video, the site of the pancake rising in the pan is pure magic. Well, actually it's pure physics, but people like magic better than physics.
So, I'm not sure if this is a "folding" video with a bonus pancake recipe, or a pancake demo with a bonus cooking technique included. But, who cares, you're making soufflé pancakes! By the way, this trick will work for any pancake mix that calls for eggs. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 3/4 teaspoon lemon zest 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 cups milk 2 eggs, seperated

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Frittata "Flattata" with Bacon, Potatoes, and Greens

In case you don't know, a frittata is rustic Italian omelet-like concoction. The main difference between an omelet and a frittata, is an omelet is cooked on the stove and served folded, but a frittata is only partially cooked on the stove top and finished under a broiler (or sometimes oven), and served sliced into wedges. What is a "flattata?" It's a made-up, Italian-sounding word. The new pan I used was a bit larger than the one I usually use (12-inch vs.10-inch), so when I sliced it, it looked much flatter that I expected… it looked like a, well, flattata. One of the fun things about cooking, and creating recipes, is you get to name them anything you want; no matter how ridiculous. So, this was deemed the "Frittata Flattata."

Just like omelets, you can use almost anything in these, but this classic combination of bacon, Swiss chard, and potatoes I used is highly recommended. Bye the way, I don't want you to think of this as a breakfast item. It's a wonderful meal anytime of the day or night. You'll hear me mention my Grandfather at the end of the video. He used to make frittatas quite often, but instead of finishing it under the broiler, he would cook it halfway, then put a plate on top of the pan, flip it over and slide it back in the pan to cook the other side. Sometimes it would stick, and only part would "flip," and other times the hot oil would drip on him as he performed this somewhat high-risk maneuver. It was during these moments that I learned all the really good Italian curse words I still use to this day. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
8 eggs
6 strips bacon
1 clove garlic
1 potato
1 bunch Swiss chard
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper to taste

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French Toast - The Fancy Brunch Restaurant Style

So, you think you know how to make French toast? Maybe you beat a couple eggs, a splash of milk, a quick dip, fry it up in some butter, drizzle with a little syrup? Sounds pretty good, and for 95% of the world that is what they consider "French Toast." But, if you want truly amazing French toast, give this classic restaurant method a try.

The main difference is the bread is sliced thicker, it's soaked in a custard batter (really, really soaked), and then after being brown slightly in a pan, it's baked. That is the real secret. The baking cooks the custard inside the bread and gives it an unbelievable texture. The outside is crisp and golden, and the contrast between the two is magical. The problem with just pan-frying is by the time the inside is really cooked, the outside is too dark and bitter. You can use thinner bread, of course, but then you don't get the same creamy, custardy, almost bread pudding-like texture, as from the thicker slices. Give this a try. The one extra step of baking it is sooo worth it. When you bite into this, I'm sure you'll agree. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
6 thick slice of French bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
butter for frying
maple syrup?

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Cracking Eggs…with one hand tied behind our backs!

Here’s the clip I mentioned in yesterday’s post regarding making culinary history. Like I said, if you can learn this trick from watching one of my video recipe clips, I am confident that I can teach you anything.

Even though I did several loops of the key moments in the procedure, as well as some slow-mo, this is a clip you will probably have to watch a few times to get down. As you’ll soon see, the golf ball trick should save you a few dozen eggs as you get the hand movements down. A very light grip is the most important key, with just a slight pressure on the middle finger, as I will explain. Of course, all this will make a lot more sense as you watch the clip.

Another thing I mentioned yesterday that is very true, it only takes one successful one-handed crack and you’ll be able to do it forever. For the home cook this is just a way to show-off at the next brunch party, but for the professional cook this is a huge time saving technique that will literally halve the time it takes you to crack a case of eggs, as you’ll be using both hands and doing 2 eggs at a time! Trust me, your Chef will be impressed, especially of he or she can’t do this!)

Once you move on from golf balls to real eggs, you still may crush a few (you will be holding them too firmly). Don’t worry, just strain the cracked eggs through a sieve and make some perfect scrambled eggs. I put a direct link to that recipe video in case you haven’t seen it yet. Good luck. Enjoy!

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Making Culinary History

In tomorrow’s clip I will attempt something that’s never been successfully done in the history of “long distance” culinary instruction. I will teach you how to crack an egg with one hand. That’s right, crack an egg with one hand. Why? First of all, you’ll double the speed that you currently crack eggs. Secondly, you will be able to lord over other foodie friends that can’t crack eggs with one hand (for some reason this really impresses people). And finally, the clip will act as an important experiment regarding learning actual culinary techniques simply by watching.

I’ve been getting lots of emails asking about the online cooking classes, and if you can really learn specific skills without “hands-on” training. I think so. That’s why I chose the one-handed egg cracking challenge. It’s something that is not shown in many cooking schools, as it is not as easy thing to show, even in person. It is normally a skill a cook picks up cracking cases of eggs for a large brunch, and learned by trying over and over until they finally “get it.” By the way, once you do “get it’ you never lose it. So, if I can teach you to crack eggs with one hand, I can teach you anything! Tune in tomorrow and let’s make history together.

Additional Site Update: If you’re bored, please read this!

I just deleted a comment on the Happy Birthday post I did for my mother (literally, a post only a mother could love). The comment said that the site was “becoming a bore.” The nerve! But, to be honest I have to agree with the ungrateful jerk that wrote it. As I explained in previous posts, while I experiment with the new equipment, and spend more time on the promotion of the site, I will not have new clips to post everyday. Believe me, I can’t wait until I get to a point where all I have to worry about is what to film and edit for your viewing pleasure.

Please remember, as much as I try to make it seem like one, this blog is not a public service, or a hobby. It will either serve as my full time job, or it will cease to exist. I must develop the site to a point that I can at least generate enough traffic and revenue to sustain myself. This is not the type of site (meaning daily video recipe clips) that can be done in someone’s spare time. I think most of you understand this, as the positive emails and comments out number the negative ones by 100 to 1. The response to this site, and what I’m trying to do, has been overwhelming and incredibly inspiring.

So, please bear with me as I attempt to improve the site’s video quality, significantly increase traffic, and most importantly, finish the online culinary classes. And, if you can’t, and do get bored with the site, you can always stop visiting for a few weeks and catch up on your Emril reruns. Bam!

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