For those of you who have ever gone to breakfast with me, then you will know that I loooooove Eggs Benedict, so this is a little bit of a riff on those: Open-faced Tomato + Fried Egg Sandwich with Hollandaise. No english muffins, instead a piece of Anadama Bread; yellow tomatoes instead of Canadian bacon: a fried egg instead of a poached one. Either way, hit the spot this morning half-way through the week.
lunch
Chicken stews for me are often an autumn or winter meal; nice and hearty to take off the chill. While sometime you need that in the spring too, this one is filled with fresh seasonal green veggies: leeks, peas and pea pods and asparagus, in addition to the chicken and mushroom. Definitely filling and this recipe will feed an army worth of people, so make sure you use a nice big pot!
What do you call risotto that uses no rice? Orzotto, of course! I didn’t have an aborio rice in the pantry and wanted to make a risotto, so instead, I went with orzo. Basically, the same process as risotto, shallot and pasta in the pan with butter, slowly add the liquid and flavorings, in this case vibrant pureed peas. Orzotto does take as long as traditional risotto though; only about 20 minutes. Scallops were on sale so I didn’t have to take out a loan to afford them. Ha ha ha.
This is a super vibrant thing to make for spring — or all summer long really. It’s one of my go-to recipes when I don’t know what else to make. Peas, perlini mozzarella, pesto (yes, the store bought variety is totally fine!) and pasta of your choice. Also works well as a pasta salad if you’re looking for a cool option.
Bacon Caramelized Onion + Cheese Hand Pies
Sticking to the “mildly-Irish” Or “Irish-inspired” theme, here are some more hand pies, I do seem to be making a lot of these currently. They freeze really well and so I always have a lunch on hand. Definitely seek out the right kind of bacon, if you can. Avoid using streaky bacon, aka American breakfast bacon as the recipe will be either too greasy or too crunchy. If you can’t find Irish or British-style bacon, I’d go for Canadian bacon (like the kind in eggs benedict.