I will Champion the Cause for Chipotle Mayo

I love Chipotle Mayo. 

Did you hear me?

Here, let me repeat myself: I LOOOOVE CHIPOTLE MAYO. 

Whoever first decided to throw (or accidentally threw) chopped chipotle peppers into mayonnaise was a culinary mastermind on par with the likes of the inventor of fitted sheets. 

BRB stuffing my face...

Appetizer in a hurry!

If there is one trait every single person in my family shares, it's our ability to get HANGRY. What's that, you ask? Oh, that's the mood you get in when it dawns on you you need to eat immediately OR THERE WILL BE DIRE CONSEQUENCES.

That happened late this afternoon as we waited patiently for our food delivery order to arrive (because I already spent all my ambitious cooking energy for the weekend and lived mostly off of photo-shy leftovers). I knew I needed to whip together something super quick and not awful tasting. We set the bar pretty low here. 

Well, I really outdid myself with this one. 

Meet my Mushroom & Avocado appetizer. I was inspired by a conversation I had with dear friends yesterday and an incredible dish I had at a tiny NYC tapas bar named Las Ramblas in the West Village. Super fragrant, super rich, super quick. This will surely be making more frequent appearances in this house! 

Avocado & Mushroom Recipe

Coffee, coffee, coffee. I love coffee.

True story: I only started drinking coffee only after having my daughter. Before then, I was strictly a tea person.

I blame my husband for my complete infatuation with the stuff now. During the past month, while I prepared to embark on my Whole30 journey, I struggled with reconciling no sugar and no dairy in my morning cup of joe. 

My first cup of black coffee was had yesterday. Another true story? I didn't hate it! 

There was a number of little things I did to make the experience a better one. 

First, I added 2 scoops of medium roast beans to my burr grinder, set to a medium grind. 

Second, I added the ground coffee to my Aeropress (which I highly recommend, btw) and added one tsp of ground cinnamon to the grounds. 

Third, the temperature of the water was barely boiling - so probably around 200F/94C - before I poured it over the grounds. I used about 10 fluid oz. 

This was the result:

Hope this helps you kill your sugar demon! 

Coffee Recipe

Thank goodness for Brazilian buffets.

After all my cooking today, I sure didn't feel like cooking tonight. Leftovers were unappealing for no good reason, other than boredom, and so I went to a local place with amazing food. Everything in their diverse buffet is delicious and I frequently find myself trying things I can't easily identify. 

On my plate tonight (clockwise from top left): baked sea bass, baked chicken leg, roasted broccoli, carrots and zucchini, rotisserie beef sirloin with pan drippings and bacon wrapped chicken thigh. aka perfection. 

If (and it's a big if) I get hungry later, I'll grab some pineapple and douse it in lime juice. It's been a good day. 

My mayo didn't break!!

Ive tried making mayo before and it was an utter failure. This time I followed Melissa Jouwen's recipe in her book "Well Fed" and...

IT FINALLY WORKED!

I took one kinda sorta short cut and it really turned out well. From my previous errors, I knew the mayo would break if I over mixed as I added the oil. In the past, my problem was either I drizzled too slowly or too quickly. This time I used a small food processor and added oil in 1/3 cupfuls and pulsed 6 times after each addition. After the last 1/3, I ran the processor for... maybe 5 seconds? until I saw the mayo thicken and I stopped. 

I threw some in tuna with my own spice blend of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and tumeric (hence, it's very yellow). I ate this alongside some halved cherry tomatoes. 

It came out sooo yummy that it's toddler-approved!! 

Quick midday snack

Sliced, sweet, tricolor peppers and the remaining balsamic vinaigrette from this morning. 

Saturday morning goodness

Best Parent Award goes to this gal. I heard my stealthy toddler (oxymoron?) say "Eck!" after spitting something out while she stood behind me. I turned to find her dumping my black coffee on the floor. At least it was 4/5s of the way done.

She was able to get away with grabbing my coffee for two reasons: 

1.) I didn't realize how much she's grown and she can now reach things off a table that was previously a safe zone for my coffee.

2.) I was consumed by my (delicious) meal prep!! 

So here is what I made: Eggs baked in marinara sauce, plantain home fries and a breakfast salad. 

Here's how it was done:

Peel, quarter and season 3 green plantains with 2 tbsps of coconut oil, salt and pepper. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for an hour. Set an alarm for 30 minutes in. 

Wash and peel 6 mushrooms, an onion and 6 asparagus stalks. 

Blanch the asparagus, dice the onion and quarter the mushrooms. At the 30 minute alarm, toss everything together, add more salt and pepper and put it back in the oven.

Fill a small ramekin with 1/4 cup of marinara sauce (my fav is Rao's marinara) and place an egg on top. I overfilled mine because I'm in love with this sauce. Place the ramekins in an oven safe baking dish and fill halfway with steaming (not boiling) water. Bake on 350F for 15-25 minutes, depending on how well you like your eggs done. 

Prep the salad greens and assemble your favorite dressing. My fav dressing goes like this. 1 tbsp whole seed mustard, 1 tbsp superb balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsps good evoo and salt and pepper to taste. I put it in a small mason jar and shook it all up until thick and delicious. 

Get your coffee ready. We're big fans of the Aeropress and I get to customize my coffee by adding a dash of cinnamon to the grounds. 

Everything should finish cooking right around the same time - unless you're like me and you realize you should've put the eggs in the small convection oven since that has reliable temperature control instead of your old apartment oven and your eggs are well underdone. 20 minutes later, I took these: 

If you're the type who likes to keep different parts of your meal separate, by all means, keep the eggs in the cups. I opted to turn it all out and slosh the eggs and marinara with the home fries. Mmm!! 

Enjoy! 

Baked Eggs Recipe

Plantain Homes Fries Recipe

Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe