139. Matzo Brei (p. 630)

A few months ago, I read Ruth Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires. It's the story of Ruth's time as the restaurant critic at The New York Times. Like a lot of people, I've fantasized about being a food critic, but as Ruth's book shows, it's not as glamorous as it seems. Sure, you get to eat out at fancy restaurants like Le Cirque and Daniel (and somebody else pays for it!), but eating out almost every night means that you miss a lot of meals with your kids. And as a new father who usually gets home after my son is asleep, I understand how difficult that can be. There's a touching scene in the book when Ruth gets home after a lousy meal at a highfaluten restaurant, and for some reason, her son is still up. She whips up a batch of Matzo Brei and has, what I think she might agree was the best meal that she wrote about in the book.

Ever since I read that book, I've been looking forward to making this recipe. I had some matzos leftover from the Haroseth that I made, so, last Saturday, I decided to make this for breakfast. First, I broke up a matzo into a sieve. (The Book calls for four, but I was only making half of the recipe, and my matzos were huge, about 7 inches square, so I couldn't see using two of them for one person.) I ran some cold water over the pieces to moisten them just a bit. Then I put the pieces in a bowl and added a couple of eggs and some salt and mixed it up with a fork. I heated a generous amount of butter in a pan and then added the egg and matzo mixture and cooked for a few minutes.

Now, as you can see from the picture above, this is not the prettiest thing that I've cooked so far in The Project, and I wasn't too impressed after the first bite. But, as I kept eating, I liked it more and more. The eggs were tender and buttery and the matzo gave it some substance and a nice crispiness.

Speaking of Ruth Reichl, her new book, Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way, was published last week. The description on Amazon calls it "a clear-eyed, openhearted investigation of her mother’s life" drawing from her mother’s letters and diaries. Ruth sometimes talks about her mother, and her cooking, in her letters from the editor in Gourmet, so I feel like I already have a little bit of a sense of what Ruth's mother was like. I'm looking forward to reading the book and getting to know her better. Ruth's going on a book tour to promote the book, and it'll be bringing her to a few cities in my neck of the woods. I'm hoping to make it to one of the events, and who knows, maybe I can even convince her to sign my copy of The Gourmet Cookbook.

Date Cooked: April 18, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+

137. Deviled Eggs (p. 27)

I suppose that there is something not quite right about making "deviled" eggs on Easter. After all, the word "deviled" has been used since the 1700s to describe firey foods based on the obvious connection between intense heat and the devil. But, eggs just seemed like something I should make on Easter, and deviled eggs are such a crowd-pleaser, I knew I couldn't go wrong by making these as an appetizer for the big family meal.

There really isn't too much to say about this recipe. I mean, it doesn't get any easier than this to make a fancy, yet familiar, and totally delicious appetizer. I hard-boiled a dozen eggs. (The Book calls for six, but I made twelve because I knew they'd go fast). I think I've mentioned this before, but it's worth saying again, the Book's method for cooking hard boiled eggs works every time to make a perfectly set egg and a brilliantly yellow yolk without a hint of green. Next, I cut the eggs in half and removed the yolks. I combined the yolks with some mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I piped the filling into the egg halves, sprinkled with some paprika and that's it!

These deviled eggs were perfect. The filling was creamy and delicious with just a touch of heat from the cayenne. I'll make these again and again. They're just as at home at a picnic as they are at a fancy cocktail party.

Date Cooked: April 11 - 12, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: A

117. Tarragon-Shallot Egg Salad Sandwiches (p. 185)

I had a bunch of fresh tarragon leftover from the Asparagus with Tarragon Sherry Vinaigrette that I made a little while back. It's become my mission to waste as little food as possible these days (times are tough, and anyway, wasting food is so ... well, wasteful). So I looked through The Book to find other dishes that used tarragon, and I came across this recipe for egg salad sandwiches.

I've always loved egg salad. I know a lot of people get turned off by the smell of hard-boiled eggs or the texture of egg salad. But for me, I really like it's rich creaminess. This recipe takes the run-of-the-mill chopped-eggs-and-mayo salad to the next level with the addition of some finely chopped shallot and tarragon and a shot of red wine vinegar. The Book says to add the tarragon "to taste." Well, I love tarragon, so I used a liberal handful of the stuff. The flavor was great. The shallots gave the salad a little bit of texture and just the right amount of mellow "oniony-ness." The vinegar lightenend it up and gave it a little bit of a zip that mayo alone can't provide. The Book calls for topping the sandwich off with fresh tender pea shoots, but seriously, folks, where am I going to get fresh pea shoots in February? Thankfully, The Book says that shredded lettuce is an acceptable alternative.

I'm really glad that I made this recipe since it's been so long since I've had an egg salad sandwich that I'd forgotten how much I like them. I don't know if I'd make this exact recipe again (I don't know if it's worth shelling out four bucks to buy a bundle of fresh tarragon just to make a sandwich for a weekday lunch) but I'll certainly make something similar again soon.

Date Cooked: February 22, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+