Holly Jolly Southern Holiday

I trust not everyone is recovered from this years holidays. And if you are, it's just in time for New Years so we can start the recovery process all over again!

I come from a long line of Georgia women. And nothing says "Georgia at Christmas" like pecan pie. The recipe below is inspired by three different recipes from three very different southerners, but with my own twists.

By adding bourbon, white vinegar, and honey I didn't have to use corn syrup like most traditional pecan pies do. This cuts the sugary content down and makes it corn free if you have an allergy.


Honey Bourbon Pecan Pie
--1 pie shell
--3 eggs
--1/2 stick of butter, melted
--1/4 cup of honey
--1/3 cup of brown sugar
--1/4 cup of sugar
--1 Tbsp. white vingear
--1 Tbsp. flour
--pinch of salt
--1 tbsp. vanilla
--1/4 tsp. lemon juice
--1/4 tsp. cinammon
--2 Tbsp. bourbon
--1 cup of chopped pecans


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl whish the eggs until just barely beaten. Add each ingredient and give a few good stirs (you don't want to over beat the eggs) until all ingredients are mixed.

Pour into pie shell and bake for 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown and pie center has a nice brown crust.

Easy as pie!

Family, Friends and Cafe Berlin

Good morning and Merry Christmas Eve! I love this time of year. The lights, the music and especially the food! This is the time when everyone pulls out all the stops, forgets the diets and just eats for pure enjoyment.

That being said, last night we went out to CAFE BERLIN for dinner--a perfect place to go on a cold and snowy night. It is a small German restaurant in downtown Denver with good a atmosphere, good libations and definitely good food. I have eaten here before and I am never disappointed.




I sipped a glass of dry Riesling, as I perused the menu. I usually order something different whenever I am in there, but last night I went back to my favorite, the Jagerschnitzel. A classic German dish of breaded pork in a creamy mushroom sauce. A good hearty meal after a 2 block walk in the snow.

I started off with a bowl of White Bean and Bratwurst soup, which was very good. It was a solid broth base with a nice blend of beans. diced brats and spices. After a decent time interval ( I hate restaurants that bring your entree before you even finish you starter!!!) my Jagerschnitzel arrived.

It was exactly as I remembered. A perfect blend of pork, mushrooms and sauce, nothing over powering the rest of the ingredients. I chose spatzel and the green beans with bacon as my sides. I like my vegetables on the crisp side, so I thought the beans were a bit overcooked but still very good. There was just a bit of bacon in the beans but they must have been sauteed in bacon fat because they were very flavorful.

Everyone at the table ordered something different and of course there was a bit of sharing going on, which is the way family meals should be. We ordered the apple strudel and chocolate cake for dessert and 6 forks. Both were wonderful, but since the chocolate cake had a hint of cherry to it, I stuck to the cake.

As we left Cafe Berlin, we were treated to a shot of Apple Schnapps and a Fröhliche Weihnachten! Overall a great evening.

I am including a recipe for Jagerschnitzel that I make. It does not have a heavy cream sauce, so it is a bit healthier. You can always make a sauce for it if you prefer. This recipe will serve 4 to 16 people depending on if it is the whole meal or one of several courses.

Mise en Place:
Sauce pot, meat mallet, plastic wrap, nonstick frying pan, a large plate, a small mixing bowl and a serving platter

Jagerschnitzel:

--6 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided into 2 and 4 teaspoons
--3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
--3 cups coarsely chopped red bell peppers
--2 cups coarsely chopped onions
--1 cup thinly sliced carrots
--2 minced garlic cloves
--1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes undrained
--1 tablespoon all purpose flour
--1 teaspoon paprika
--2 tablespoons water
--1 lb Pork tenderloin
--1/2 teaspoon coarsley ground pepper
--1/4 teaspoon salt

Trim fat off of pork and slice crosswise into about 16 pieces. Place between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and flatten into 1/4 inch thickness with the mallet. (If you do not have a mallet, use a rolling pin or the base of a drinking glass). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside on the large plate.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in the sauce pan over med-high heat. Add next 5 ingredients and saute for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

While vegetables are cooking, Place the frying pan with 4 teaspoons oil on med-high heat. When hot ( splash a little water into pan, if it pops, the oil is hot) add pork in batches and cook 4 minutes per side. When each batch is done set it on to the serving platter, try not to overlap the cutlets.

In a small bowl, combine flour, paprika and water. Stir into tomato mixture cook 3 min until slightly thick. Do this while last batch of pork is cooking.

The serving of this meal is very versatile. I usually serve this with egg noodles, and either place the egg noodles, sauce and pork in different serving bowls and platters, or put the egg noodles in a bowl and the pork, with the sauce over it, on a separate platter. A third option is individual plates, egg noodles, pork then sauce.

Hope you enjoy!

Thinking Soup Outside the Bowl

Every year Mr.F. and I throw a cocktail party for Festivus, and every year I serve 10 to 12 fairly labour intensive appetizers. I fall into the trap of too much time in the kitchen and not enough time with my guests. To correct this problem, I planned only a few appetizers and a full buffet style meal. I just needed to come up with a few apps. served in a really creative way.

We had attended a wedding back around Thanksgiving and one of the courses was a Pumpkin and Squash soup served in oversized shot glasses. I loved the presentation! Simple and different.

I found a recipe in Food Network Magazine by Ted Allen that was for White Bean soup with Bacon and he actually served it in shot glasses so I knew it would work.

White Bean Soup Shooters with Bacon

2 strips bacon diced and divided
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 shallots chopped

2 15 oz cans cannellini beans - drained and rinsed

6 fresh sage leaves

4 cloves garlic chopped

3 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

ground black pepper

Brie or goat cheese

Fry 1/2 of the bacon in a medium sauce pan, over medium heat until halfway done (3 min.) Add olive oil, butter and shallots, saute until soft (6 min.) add the beans, sage, garlic and broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 min more.

Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor in batches. Puree until smooth. WARNING : Hot items tend to explode when whipped so do this in SMALL batches or give yourself an extra 45 min. and let it cool before blending.

Return the soup to the sauce pan and stir in the cream, cayenne and salt to taste. If you let the soup cool, bring it back up to a simmer, reduce heat and stir in the cream, cayenne and salt. Cook off the remaining diced bacon to be used as a garnish

I used a turkey baster to get the soup into the shot glasses, the ladle I had was too big and messy. Garnish with the cheese, pepper and bacon and serve!

Now the recipe I used as a guide, garnished the soup with 3/4 inch croutons smeared with goat cheese. Since goat cheese is not my favorite, I opted to use and herbed Brie and rather than use a crouton, which seemed a bit bulky for a shot glass, I used diced bacon.

The results were wonderful. My guests were wowed by the presentation, the brie in the hot soup gave it an additional creaminess and of course you can't go wrong with more bacon.

This recipe can easily be adjusted for Vegetarians. Just replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock and you can use a small amount of a product called "liquid smoke" in place of the bacon.

Stew + Pie Crust = Pot Pie?

I love pie crusts, as you may have noticed. And I welcome any excuse to put dinner inside of one. So I decided I would make a cioppino-inspired stew but with less fish and baked inside a pie crust. So it was to be a seafood pot pie of sorts...

Seafood Pot Pie

--1/2 stick of butter
--minced garlic
--mushrooms, sliced
--asparagus, snapped into 1/2" to 1" pieces
--scallops and/or rock shrimp
--14.5oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
--flour or corn starch
--2 pie crusts, rolled out

In a non-stick pan with deep sides, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic for one minute before adding the mushrooms and the asparagus. Cook in the butter until veggies are tender and mushrooms begin to brown. Remove from pan.


In the same pan, add the scallops/shrimp. I cooked mine in a "dry" pan (which means I didn't add any new butter or oil, and just used what little residue was left from the veggies).


Fish is often over cooked (and since this fish was added back into a stew) I seared the scallops for only about a minute.

Add the can of tomatoes and simmer on medium for a few minutes to allow the tomatoes to get warm. Add the mushroom/asparagus mix back into the pan and stir all together. If sauce is fairly liquid, add cornstarch or flour, 1 teaspoon at a time to make it a more sauce-like consistency.


Line a pie pan or bread loaf pan with the pie crusts, leaving enough edges hanging over to cover the top once filled. Scoop the seafood mix into the pan and cover completely with the pie crusts.


Bake at 425 until pie crust is delightfully golden brown on top.

Top 10 Kitchen Musts...

10 - Make friends! Find a good butcher, spice shop, seafood supplier in your neighborhood and get to know them. They will make your cooking adventures easier. Also find out which of your friends has a good stash of kitchen equipment and will actually let you borrow it.
9 - Ask questions. When do shipments come in? How long has the seafood been sitting? Even cooking times and temps. Suppliers know their product better that you do.
8 - When it comes to age, in beef, cheese and wine its good... seafood, herbs and vegetables its bad. Don't be afraid to buy frozen seafood either, the beautiful looking product in the grocery store that is on ice has done nothing but age.
7 - Plan your menus a week in advance whenever possible. This will save you time when shopping since you will be making less trips. Money, since you are creating 1 list and utilizing those pesky leftovers. Nothing is better than taking leftover chicken and making a caesar salad. You will also spend less on takeout since you won't be spending time standing in front of an open fridge before getting frustrated and ordering Chinese.
6 - Read your recipes completely before you start cooking. The only thing worse than getting half way through cooking and realizing that a key item is missing is that you need to let something proof for 2 hours and you have planned on serving dinner in 1.
5 - Mies en Place! This is French for everything in its place. Basically to have all the ingredients necessary for the dish being prepared and ready to combine up to the point of cooking. You should get all your equipment together as well.
4 - Clean out your refrigerator and cabinets periodically. I would suggest at least every 3 months. If you have marinades that you don't even remember buying, throw them out!
3 - Invest in a book called "Food Lovers Companion". It is a comprehensive dictionary of over 6000 food, drink and culinary terms. Very helpful when you come across a food item that has you scratching your head.
2 - Don't be afraid to try new things! Use those relationships you developed to explore new foods and tastes. The clerks in my local spice shop will mix herbs and spices for me as well as suggest recipes.
And the number one kitchen must...
1 - Start off your day reading the latest post on Bacon and Other Bad Habits! Especially on the day when you are planning your menus!

Kitchen Basics Part I - Your Pantry

While doing some basic kitchen housekeeping this week, I realized that I have accumulated a lot of spices, herbs, vinegars, sauces, marinades, etc etc etc. from various recipes that I made once.
As I went through my cabinets, I began separating everything into what I use regularly, what are my specialty item and of course, the items purchased for those previously mentioned recipes I made once (who really needs 3 different kinds of paprika?). The following lists are the results of my labor.
Now everyone has different tastes, so use this as a guide and add or subtract to your preference.
Must Haves: These are items you will probably reach for the most.
flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, table salt, Kosher salt, ground pepper, whole pepper, garlic powder or garlic salt.


Herbs & Spices:
basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, dill, chives, ginger, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin, curry powder, tarragon, cilantro, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, chipotle powder (or another dried pepper) and specialty salt like Himalayan Pink. I also have Lowerys seasoned salt, Mrs Dash and taco seasoning on hand.
I keep these all of these in dried form. The first 7 I bought fresh and dried myself and the rest I use just often enough to keep on hand but not often enough to purchase fresh every time. I will always buy fresh when I am making large batches and will be using all of it.
Remember that if you are substituting dried for fresh the ratio is 1 teaspoon dried for 1 tablespoon fresh.
Oils & Vinegars:
Extra Virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, hoisin sauce, and another cooking oil such as regular olive oil or vegetable oil. Extra virgin is too expensive to use when a large amount of oil is called for.
Pantry:
dried mushrooms, onions, rice, beans, yeast, honey, molasses, semi sweet chocolate chips, brown sugar, raisins, pine nuts, and chopped nuts (your preference). I also have canned diced tomatoes, green chilies and beans for last minute menus.
The fridge:
horseradish, capers, lemon & lime juices, minced garlic, soy sauce, sun dried tomatoes, chili paste, ketchup, at least 2 types of mustard, butter, pesto, and either stock or a concentrated base.
So there you are. I hope you find these lists helpful and maybe even inspire you to add something new to your pantry or perhaps to even clean it out!

Banishing Breakfast Routines

I often fall into routines when it comes to making and eating breakfast at home. During the week I eat a bagel or a banana every morning. When I'm out of fruit or on the go I'll have a Luna bar. If I have enough time I might fry up two pieces of bacon and maybe an egg. Even on the glorious times known as weekends--when I have often enough time and creativity to think through different breakfast ideas--I'm still a creature of habit though and often turn to the omelette as a stand by.

So in an attempt to break some of that routine, I decided to use up some spices, work some deli meat, and do something a little different--but just as quick and easy as all those other stand-bys.


Rosemary Ham & Eggs

--butter
--1 shallot, finely chopped
--3 slices of ham, coarsely chopped
--2 eggs, lightly beaten
--1 sprig fresh rosemary

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium sized skillet. Saute the shallots for 2 minutes, until beginning to brown.

Holding the rosemary sprig in one hand, move the other hand against the grain to shuck the nettles from the sprig. Add as much or as little rosemary as you desire to the pan with the shallots and saute for 1 minute or so, stirring fairly constant.


Add the chopped ham and saute until starts to brown. Pour the eggs over the pan and using a wooden spoon or spatula move the mixture around so that the eggs scramble with bits of ham in the mix.


Scramble to your liking (I like my eggs very dry so those poor babies have to scramble 'til they can't scramble any more) and eat!

Freezing Outside, Hearty & Warm Inside

It's been f-ing cold in Denver. Single digits, negative temperatures, wind. And to make this cold snap even more delightful, there is no heat in my house. Apparently there is a problem with the boiler and they're "working" to get it fixed. Meanwhile, I have nothing to do but freeze and cook to try to stay warm (the oven is an excellent space heater).

There's a dish over at Root Down that I quite fancy, and I decided to warm up by making my own version. This dish is completely different from theirs (which I crave constantly) but is inspired by it. I eat so much bacon that I keep bacon fat on hand but the recipe below assumes that you don't just have bacon fat hanging out in your fridge. (Sidenote: You really should have bacon fat hanging out in your fridge. It's the perfect flavoring for any kind of greens or beans).


Lamb Meatballs In Broth W/ Veggies

--olive oil
--1 lb. ground lamb
--several cloves of garlic, minced
--salt & pepper
--4 slices bacon
--small onion, chopped coarsely
--can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
--1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
--chicken broth
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Mix garlic and ground lamb together and form into meatballs. Season with salt & pepper. Cook 2 minutes on each side, turning so all sides are brown. Remove from heat.

In the same skillet/dutch oven cook the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon but leave the fat in the pan. Feel free to eat the bacon!

Turn heat down to medium and toss the chopped onion in. Cook for 2 minutes until begins to brown on the edges. Remove pan from heat.

Now the "tricky" part. Take a bowl or measuring cup and place paper towels on top of it. Take the pan and strain the onion and bacon fat through the paper towels. You'll have a golden liquid of rendered bacon fat (with onion flavoring) in the bowl and all the funky stuff is caught in the paper towel.

Pour the rendered fat back into the skillet/dutch oven. (I added some of the onions back in but that is completely up to you!)

Add the chickpeas/garbanzo beans and kale. Cover beans and kale with chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Add the meatballs back to the pan. Add more chicken broth if you like and allow to simmer until broth has consistency/amount you desire!

A Cure for the Winter Blues

I love cold weather, but these past few days of single digit temps have got me reminiscing for warmer times. So last night I broke out the electric grill.

I know what you are thinking "What! grill indoors? and on a electric grill? What about the flavor?" Well I do admit, I don't get the charcoal-y taste that you get from an outdoor grill, but I live in a condo and have no place to put a grill anyway.

The model we have is the Krups Canyon Deluxe. It has a 1 - 5 temp setting on the side and on the top by the grill, there is a chart of food items, cook settings and cook times for a quick reference. It is a great piece of equipment. You get a bit of smoke but not enough to set off the fire alarm, and of course the grill lines.

I grilled off onion slices, mushroom caps and tri-tip steaks which I topped with some bleu cheese crumbles and chopped bacon. Yum!

The whole meal took about 5 minutes to prep, 15 minutes to cook and since the grill and drippings pan are dishwasher safe, 5 minutes to clean up. Perfect for these cold winter days when you don't want to spend too much time away from that someone special as well as the roaring fire.

P.S. Yes I know charcoal-y is not a word.

Everything Tastes Better In A Pie Crust

I had a pie crust left over from Thanksgiving living in my freezer. I used to make my own crusts from scratch, until I discovered that the ones I bought from the store tasted exactly the same. (What? Sometimes you have to cut corners).

I also had steak and chicken thawed in the refrigerator. And buttermilk left over from mashed potatoes and pancake making. I also had a very pregnant, very hungry, sister and her very tall, always hungry, husband to feed.


I decided to make some sort of version of Shepherd's Pie based on the ingredients we had handy. I'd never made one before and just sort of, well, was winging it based on what I remembered from dining at many a fine Irish establishment.

Upside Down Shephard's Pie:

--chicken, sliced into bite-sized chunks
--steak, sliced into bite-sized chunks
--olive oil
--1 onion, diced to your size preference
--garlic
--sliced mushrooms
--beef bouillon
--Worcestershire sauce
--1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
--tarragon
--parsley
--flour
--3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks for mashing
--buttermilk
--1 stick butter
--1 pie crust

The Meat & Gravy:
Cook chicken in olive oil over medium to medium high heat until free of salmonella. Remove to plate. In same pan cook steak in olive oil over medium to medium high heat until outside is brown but inside is still mostly rare. Put with chicken.


In same pan, melt 1/3 of stick of butter. Add garlic and onion. Cook 2 minutes until fragrant and onion begins to get translucent. Add mushrooms and cook down. Add 2 spoonfuls of bouillon paste (or 1 bouillion cube). You do NOT need to melt the bouillon first. We are making gravy with it! Splash in some Worcestershire sauce and shake in parsley and tarragon.

(I'm terrible at measuring, so here's my tip: don't over do it! I just shake it a little at a time until it tastes like delicious).

Add the can of diced tomatoes and scrape all the bits together. Add the cooked chicken and cooked steak back into the mix. If mix seems too liquid, add a tsp of flour and stir it all up. The flour will thicken the gravy.


The Mashed Potatoes:
Cover the chopped potatoes in large pot with cold water. Heat on high heat until water is boiling. (I'm at altitude so I don't know how long it takes potatoes to cook at lower elevations). Let potatoes/water boil for a few minutes. Potatoes are ready to be mashed when you can easily stick a fork into them.

I used a hand held potato masher to smash up the potatoes. Then I added the other 2/3 stick of butter and a few splashes of buttermilk. Pregnant sister mashed her little heart out and added buttermilk as needed to make the potatoes fluffy but not too creamy.

Then I added it one TBSP of flour to make them thicker and sticky for the pie.

We put the potatoes in the bottom of the pie crust (or Shepherd's Pie was upside down, remember?!) and smoothed them around to make a nice potato bed for all the meat mix to live inside of. The meat/gravy mix went on top of the potato bed.


Bake in the oven at 350 until the pie crust is golden on the edges.

The Rise and Fall of Bacon Mashed Potatoes

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we gather with friends to do what has become known as "Thanksgiving Run Thru". This is this a great opportunity to see as many of our friends as possible, and the leftover potential is awesome.

We also get chance to try out new recipes before serving them to our families at the big event. My addition to the menu was Bacon Mashed Potatoes and I have to say that they were just "good". I used a recipe from Food Network's 50 Mashed Potatoes booklet and it had me drooling in anticipation, but left me wanting more once we made them.

Bacon Mashed Potatoes:

2 lbs. Yukon golds or russets

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup hot milk

1/2 lb. chopped bacon

2-4 tablespoons bacon drippings

salt & pepper

Cover 2 lbs of whole potatoes with cold water; simmer 45 minutes.

Cook bacon until crisp then chop. Retain 2 - 4 tablespoons of drippings. Set bacon and drippings aside.

When potatoes are fork tender (stick a fork into one, if it goes in easily, they are done) drain, peel and add butter, milk, bacon drippings and 3/4 of the chopped bacon and mash until smooth and fluffy. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Put into a bowl and garnish with the rest of the bacon.

I made my dish with the Yukon golds which I happen to prefer over the russets. I find the russets to be a bit grainy. Since I was timing the dish around the standing time of the deep fried turkey, I cut the potatoes into cubes to have them cook faster and left the skins on as well. I ended up adding almost a full stick of butter and an extra tablespoon of the drippings. I used a hand masher rather than a hand mixer to keep a bit of texture (read as "slightly lumpy") although either method will work when mashing.

The end product was less than stellar. The flavor just was not there. I expected the salty smokey bacon and the creamy butter to blend into a mouthwatering delight that would have me undoing my belt and loading up the seconds, but alas no. So needless to say we had regular mashed on Thanksgiving. Since we all know everything is better with bacon, I plan on trying this dish again and tweaking the ingredients a bit to hopefully get better results.

Who knows, maybe a thick cut maple bacon, peeled potatoes and a hand mixer will do the trick.

Impressing Your In-Laws

I love making dinner for other people and this is one of those simple dishes that tastes really awesome and seems more complicated than it really is. It's the kind of dish you make when trying to impress your mother-in-law. Or, guys, this one is good to make for a date.

Most recently, I made this for my friends, Matt and Andra, and their tween daughters. For our meal we served it with broiled kale and sweet potato biscuits (pictured here), but the recipe below serves it with greens two ways.

Pork Tenderloin & Two-Way Greens

--olive oil
--garlic
--6 slices of prosciutto (available at the deli counter)
--salt & pepper
--1 lb. pork tenderloin
--balsamic vinegar
--bag or bunch of spinach
--bag or bunch of arugula
--bag or box of grape, plum, or cherry tomatoes (I like to mix n' match)

Prep:

Wash the greens. Cut off stems and dry.
Trim excess fat off of pork loin. Slice into 1/2" thick rounds
Roughly chop prosciutto into fingernail sized chunks. You can also rip it with your hands instead.
If tomatoes are large, chop them in half. If they are smaller this is unnecessary.

Heat oil on medium high heat. Cook garlic and prosciutto until brown. Set aside.

Salt and pepper the pork rounds. Sear pork rounds, cooking 5-7 minutes on each side (depending on size and thickness of the rounds). Set aside.

Deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar. Newbies, what this means is dump some vinegar into that hot pan and scrape all the bits up. The vinegar will evaporate some and what's left will make a thin sticky sauce.

Add half of the arugula and half of the spinach in fist fulls and toss with tongs. Add more greens as mixture cooks down. Add 3/4 of the tomatoes into the greens mixture, tossing and heating until tomatoes are warm and squish in your mouth. Add 3/4 of the cooked prosciutto/garlic mix and toss until evenly mixed. Spoon this over the pork pieces.

Use the remaining uncooked greens, tomatoes, and prosciutto to make a salad. Top with balsamic vinegar as a dressing.

Table 6 Inspired Brussels Sprouts

Table 6 is one of those Denver restaurants that doesn't really need the help of any food writer. The place wins awards all the time (Best of Denver, Top of the Town), and is consistently written up in magazines (Food & Wine, Esquire).

I've eaten there several times over the years but never for brunch. This weekend I changed all that.

Table 6 has brunch Saturdays and Sundays. The brunch starts a little later than most of its fine dining counterparts and runs from 10:30am-2:30pm. The menu changes throughout the season to accommodate the freshest ingredients and seasonal spreads.

We ate Table 6's version of a Benedict: delicious crumpets layered with shredded ham and fresh made hollandaise, swimming along side perfectly poached soft yolk eggs.

I love bennys but hate pre-poached eggs. There's nothing worse to do to a Benedict than force it to live with the shame of an egg that (because it was poached hours ago) is gummy and chunky in the middle.

The eggs at Table 6 are soft poached inside the shell (our waitress, Karen, informed us). Which means each egg is made per order and lovingly placed with the crumpet each and every time. It is a preparation where you can truly taste the difference.

Feeling the need for something "healthy" and green, I also ordered the fried brussels sprouts. I personally would probably eat shoe leather if it was fried, but the sprouts were more sauteed than oil soaked. As I dug my fork in, I noticed each layer gave the hint of a different flavor. First the cheese, then truffles, then a lemon finish.

Here's how I replicated them (not nearly as awesomely) at home:

Fried Brussels Sprouts

--1/2 lb. small brussels sprouts
--olive oil
--garlic
--lemon juice
--shredded manchego cheese
--truffle oil

Rinse the sprouts and remove and discard the outer leaves. Break sprouts up into leaves and smaller chunks of leaves (I chopped mine in half).

Heat olive oil on medium high heat. Saute garlic and sprouts until crunchy and browned. Add olive oil as necessary. While cooking, dash in lemon juice to taste.

Remove from heat and top with shredded manchego. Dot with truffle oil.

Eat!