Oh, The Possibilities!

My dear friend, Marion, is always looking out for me. She just sent me this blodder (blog fodder). Thank you, Marion.

I can't wait for that watermelon fizz for Aunt Sandy to tart this up.

EXECUTIVE MANSION Andrew Cuomo's new home, which was vacated by David A. Paterson and his family two weeks ago. Its 40 rooms overlook the Hudson River.

Rosie Makes Eggs Benedict Arnold With A Twist.

I wanted to start the New Year off on proper footing, and what better way than with Eggs Benedict for breakfast? Instead of my usual Hollandaise, I'll be making a Cajun Hollandaise. Instead of my usual English Muffins, I'll be using Arnold's Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins. I had the Food Network on this morning and Booby Flay was making Eggs Benedict with a Cajun Hollandaise, hence my inspiration for the Acadian accent.

Sadly, I had no English Muffins on hand and Mr. Hawthorne didn't want to wait for me to make Homemade English Muffins, so I used Arnold's Whole Wheat Sandwich Rounds for the base. And WALLAH ! Thanks, Aunt Sandy, for that pronunciation. I have Rosie's Eggs Benedict Arnold. WHOOT!

I put a bunch of spinach in the steamer basket and happily steamed away until wilted.

The last of the Christmas double-smoked ham, sliced and browned in buttah.

Spinach is ready. Keep warm.

I used three egg yolks for my sauce. I had the yolks leftover from my chiles rellenos batter.

You know how I love my egg shots!

I squeezed in the juice of half a lemon. Oh gosh. I just realized, hours later, that I have 4 yolks in the pan. Should've used 2 sticks of butter, sliced in half-tablespoons.

I didn't have all the Cajun ingredients Booby used, so I used what I had: onion powder chile powder garlic powder Hungarian hot paprika oregano Cajun seasoning Lea & Perrins cayenne pepper flakes, homegrown

I used a big pinch of each spice - totaling maybe 1 teaspoon.

And I added the spices to my whisked yolks and juice.

I haven't started heating yet. I'm getting my flavors together. As for Monday morning quarterbackin', you could have used 2 teaspoons of the spices here.

Before I started heating, I decided to add in my new favorite spice to the Hollandaise - the annatto paste.

Making Hollandaise is not hard or tricky. It just demands your full attention. If you're sketchy about doing this, use a double boiler. Barely simmering water underneath your pan of eggs, not touching. I use a hovering pan over very low heat. You do NOT want to end up with scrambled eggs so this is where you need to pay attention. Heat the eggs, whisking constantly, until yolks get lemon-colored and thickened. Mine aren't lemon-colored since I have so much annatto paste in there.

I hovered my pan over very low heat, whisking the entire time, until my yolks thickened. Then I whisked in 1 pat of butter at a time, stirring until the butter was incorporated. Keep adding small pats of butter, one at a time, whisking to emulsify. All in all, for three yolks, I used 3/4 stick of butter. You could use more. Probably the three yolks could take up to 1 1/2 sticks of butter, but I'm not Pauler. I just realized I used four yolks. I could have emulsified two sticks of butter, easily.

I added in a few drops of that new thick Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. And my Cajun Hollandaise is done. And it's quite tasty. Lemony with a bit of heat and spice. Nice contrasts.

Now, on to the poached eggs:

Bring vinegared water to a boil. (I add a tablespoon or two of white distilled vinegar to the water.) Stir briskly to make a vortex and drop the egg into your little tornado.

The swirling water wraps the white around the yolk making a lovely little package. Cook for 2 minutes.

Assemble. Pretend that's a homemade English muffin on the bottom, not a Benedict Arnold. Place a slice of ham on the muffin. Make a nest of spinach. Put the poached packaged egg in the nest. Spoon on Cajun Hollandaise.

This is my favorite part - puncturing the delicate, fragile shell of albumen, and releasing the lovely liquid yellow yolk.

The lava flow of sunshine cascades down. 2011 has started out very well. Indeed.

YO! Bro Haw!!

Brother Hawthorne, you'll be happy to know that my assistant, Tiffany Garcia, finally figured out how to enlarge the picture of you. Imonna hafta give that gal a raise.

Wednesday Night Dinner With Maxine.

Maxine and I headed to Harris Teeter Wednesday afternoon to get the fixin's for our dinner. Lobster tails at $5.99 a tail and mahi mahi for $7.99/pound. Thanks, Maxine.

The slaw is courtesy of Mr. Hawthorne.

Mr. Hawthorne shredded some green cabbage, some red cabbage, and some radicchio. Added some julienned carrot and lime juice. Tossed with a bit of mayo, some rice vinegar, and a dash of sugar.

Mr. Hawthorne always puts about a teaspoon or more of oil in his slaw. He insists the slaw will last longer.

Next, he sliced out the bloodline in the mahi mahi. This is rather oily and strong-tasting and I do not like it.

Fillets are ready for frying.

To prepare the lobster tails, Mr. Hawthorne snipped down the inside of the tail ...

... and spread it apart. This keeps the tail from curling way up when you cook it.

And the lobsters are ready for Rosie to start cooking.

I decided to poach my lobster tails in champagne. I love lobster and champagne together. It's decadent.

I poached the lobsters in the champagne for about 2-3 minutes each side.

Set lobsters aside and keep warm. Reduce champagne.

Add a little butter.

Some cream.

Then I threw caution to the wind and sprinkled in some tarragon.

Add the lobster tails back in and keep warm.

On to the mahi mahi.

I ground up some pistachios in my Magic Bullet ...

... and mixed it with some flour.

Dredge the fillets in the pistachio/flour mixture.

Heat up the skillet and add butter and some olive oil.

Place fillets in oil and cook about 1 - 2 minutes each side.

Two of the fillets were a bit thinner, so they got turned first.

Perfectly seared mahi mahi with the delicate, subtle nuttiness and saltiness of the pistachios.

The lobster in champagne sauce was delightful. Such buttery goodness!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Happy 1/1/11 !