Rosie Makes A Most Excellent Breakfast.

 

  I love a good breakfast, and I must say this one is excellent.  It has all my favorite breakfast elements in it and it comes together quickly and easily in just one pan.

 

 It starts out with fried potato slices to which I add sliced onions and mushrooms and let the potatoes get nice a crisp and golden brown and the onions caramelize a bit.  Oh, I like to thrown in some fresh rosemary also.  And if you want garlic, you can certainly add in some very thinly sliced pieces while everything is cooking.  (You don't want to overcook or burn the garlic.  It gets bitter.)  Then I throw in a handful or two of spinach, make a well in the center into which I drop a pat of butter, let it sizzle and melt, then crack an egg in it, give it some seasoning - salt and pepper, togarashi, cayenne, paprika -whatever you like - place some thin mozzarella slices on top of the egg, cover the pan, and cook maybe one minute.  I want the cheese melted and the yolk running. And that's all there is to it.  All the flavors and textures come together wonderfully.  It's what I call culinary synergy, where the sum is greater than the individual parts.

 

Rosie's One-Pan Breakfast 

1 potato

onion

mushrooms

spinach

egg

Mozzarella cheese

fresh sprig of rosemary 

pat of butter 

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Slice the potato very thinly.  Pat slices dry on paper towels.

Slice onion and mushrooms.  Amount is up to you.

 

Heat skillet with a few tablespoons oil over medium high heat. About 375°.

Place potato slices in single layer in hot oil.

When slices are golden on first side, turn over and add mushrooms, onion, and rosemary.  Simply strip the rosemary leaves off the sprig.  Add salt and pepper.  I always use kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

When potatoes are just done (golden and crisp), lower heat, push potato mixture to edges of pan, drop in a couple handfuls of spinach over top, place a pat of butter in the cleared center, and crack in the egg.  Give it a little salt and pepper, then top with cheese slices.  You could also season the egg with regular or smoked paprika, cayenne for a little heat, or togarashi seasoning, which is a blend of red chiles, sesame seeds, garlic, nori (seaweed), poppy seed, orange zest, and lemon zest.  For the cheese topping, I used mozzarella for a gooey and stringy melt.  Cover and cook for one minute and I turn off the flame after 30 seconds.  As I said, I want the cheese melted and gooey and stringy and the yolk runny.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.

 

This is a perfect one-pan meal for one person.  And it can be  a perfect one-pan meal for two people by dropping in another egg.

 Very thinly slice the potatoes and pat them dry on paper towels.

Add a thin film of oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat.  You want the oil about 375°- 400°.

Single layer the potato slices. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Let the potatoes get golden on the first side.

 Then flip and add the sliced onions and mushrooms.  If you want garlic, you can add that now too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strip the rosemary leaves off the sprig and add them to the pan.

This is looking and smelling quite fine.

I like my potato slices very crisp 

and my onions almost to the point of caramelization. 

Spread the potoatoes out to the sides of the pan,

making a little well in the center.

Plop a pat of butter in the center. 

Let the butter sizzle and melt

and then ...

... crack in the egg.

Season it quickly,

however you like. 

Place your choice of cheese slices over top the egg.

I like mozzarella because it melts soooo nicely. 

 

 

 Cover, reduce heat, and cook for one more minute.

 

 

I want my yolk runny

and my spinach barely wilted.

 

 

 Plate.

 

This is perfect! 

I love gooey cheese.

That's why I chose the mozzarella.

This is beautiful!

Ahhh...

The ravishing of the yolk. 

 

Enjoy.

Do The Hoke Poke.

 

Do The Hoke Poke

Ahhhh…  Ahi.

And tuna poke bowls. 

 A poke bowl is a traditional Hawaiian dish that traces its roots back to the earliest Polynesian settlers.  Originally, poke consisted of freshly caught reef fish which were cut into cubes and seasoned with simple, available ingredients – sea salt, seaweed, algae, and Hawaiian kukui, or candlenuts.  The word “poke” means “to slice” or “to cut,” referring to the preparation of the fish.  As fishing became more advanced in the Pacific and the fleets ventured into deep waters, the predominant fish used for poke became tuna.

 

At its simplest, a poke bowl is a raw tuna salad.  But from that humble beginning, poke bowls have evolved.  With Japanese and other outside influences converging, popular poke bowl ingredients have expanded, with each cultural group bringing its own culinary traditions with them and incorporating their own ingredients to the classic dish.  A tuna poke bowl is ultimately an extremely adaptable and customizable dish and one in which the ingredients can be tailored to the consumers’ preferences.  It’s an infinitely variable dish, embodying the essence of fusion cuisine, combining both traditional Hawaiian flavors and more modern ingredients.  And that’s the beauty of the poke bowl.  There are countless versions of the poke bowl and one can accessorize the tuna however one wants.

 

 My inspiration for this dish came from serving seared tuna fillets to a bunch of people, each of whom liked their tuna cooked to a different degree – from rare to medium rare to medium to “well-done” (which I think is a misnomer in and of itself, but I digress).  In the process, I ended  up with leftover tuna in diverse stages of cookedness.  What does one do with all this tuna of varying doneness?  One makes hoke poke tuna.

 

Rosie’s Hoke Poke

1 lb tuna fillets, seared to any degree of doneness, diced

1 TB chopped red onion

1 small radish, minced

1 TB yellow, red, or orange pepper, minced

1 TB jalapeño, minced

2 TB cucumber, small dice

2 green onions, sliced

1 – 2 TB toasted sesame seeds

½ - 1 tsp pickled ginger, minced (optional)

 

Combine all ingredients.  The ginger is a strong flavor additive, so you might want to omit that at first.  Give the poke a taste test after mixing with the sauce and then decide whether to add the ginger and how much you want.

 

 

Poke sauce

 4 TB Tamari sauce

1 TB honey

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ tsp sesame oil (optional)

Mix ingredients well, then pour over tuna mixture.  Toss to combine.  Cover and refrigerate to allow the flavors to develop and meld.

 Plate hoke poke with a mound of basmati or jasmine rice and fried wontons.  I like to sprinkle sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds over top.

 

 This is my basic hoke poke mélange, but as I said, you can certainly customize it according to your own tastes and predilections.  When you’re choosing what to add, pick from three different categories – aromatics, texture enhancers, and sauces.  For aromatics, consider shallots, garlic (raw or pickled), lemongrass, assorted chilies, peppercorns, microgreens and sprouts, and herbs, such as mint, chives, basil, parsley, and cilantro.  For texture enhancers, go with cucumbers, avocado, watermelon, papaya, mango, pineapple, pomegranate seeds, roasted chickpeas, wasabi peas, and edamame.  For sauces, consider adding something sweet to the basic soy/tamari and sesame combo, like agave nectar.  You also might want to try sriracha sauce, Chinese-style sweet chili and garlic sauce, ponzu sauce which is citrus based, or some flavorful extra virgin olive oils.  Be creative and inventive and let your poke shine!

 

Enjoy.

 

 For the step-by-steps:

Sear the tuna. 

 

Before I sear my tuna, I stir together some brown sugar and tamari sauce and let the tuna steaks sit in that mixture while my cast iron skillet, with a film of oil in it, heats up.  I like it around 400° to 425°.

I like the hint of sweetness the brown sugar brings, plus it helps the outside caramelize, and then you have that nice glaze you can pour over your fillets.

For rare, about 60-90 seconds each side.  Depends on how thick your steaks are.

However, I'm cooking for people whose tastes vary from rare to medium to done (overcooked to me), so all bets are off here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let the tuna rest a few minutes before cutting into cubes. 

While the tuna is resting, prepare the textural components of your dish.

 I have sliced green onions, red and orange peppers, red onions, radish, cucumber, pickled ginger, and sesame seeds.

Prepare the sauce:

tamari sauce

honey

minced garlic

a little sesame oil, if desired (Go easily.  A little goes a long way.) 

 

 

I like to serve the poke with a mound of jasmine or basmati rice and some fried wontons.

Top the poke with toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions. 

Red pepper.  Yellow pepper.  Red onion.  Jalapeño. Radish.  Garlic.  Pickled ginger.  Green onion.

Plate with a mound of rice with cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, and sliced green onions.

Fried wonton strips. 

Avocado slices doused with lime juice, sprinkled with chopped red onions.

Mighty fine!