Category Archives: Meat & Main Dishes

Meat and main dish recipes

Farm Fresh Eggs

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eggsMy friend Kathrynn Saari is a genius at coaxing food from the earth. She’s always been a source of garden delights, but after a recent move to property large enough to raise chickens and keep bees, she’s become my regular supplier of farm fresh eggs. For just $3 per dozen, I get two cartons of eggs at the end of every week, and frankly, I can’t wait for the honey.

For those of you who have only ever tried supermarket eggs, I urge you to seek a source from the farm. Many people do not realize it, but eggs at the grocery store (even the organic ones) are several weeks old by the time they make it to your refrigerator. While this makes them ideal for hard boiling (older eggs peel much more cleanly than fresh eggs), there is a payoff in flavor and color.

The eggs I get from Kathrynn have been plucked from beneath the butts of chickens hours earlier. They arrive in a colorful array – white, brown, blue, and sage green. Just looking at them in a carton is a delight. When I crack one open, the yolk is a deep sunshine-colored orangey-yellow that is so much more intensely pigmented than a store-bought egg. They also typically have a higher yolk to white ratio, rendering anything you make from them silky and delicious.

Just last week, I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies from these wonderful eggs. Jim assures me they are the best chocolate chip cookies he has ever had, and he’s not really a fan of that type of cookie. He’s more of an oatmeal raisin man. Still, the cookies were spectacular. Although the eggs are slightly smaller than a supermarket egg, I used the normal amount. The result was cookies that rose to a spectacular height. Yesterday, I made zucchini bread with them. I have never made a quick bread with such a perfect, moist crumb.

Baking aside, farm fresh eggs make homemade pastas tastier and more velvety, homemade mayonnaise richer, and taste delicious when you feature them in humble scrambled eggs. Since I’m currently working with beautiful vegetables straight from my CSA box, I also enjoy a really good frittata. With farm fresh eggs, they are even better than you could image.

Heirloom Tomato and Zucchini Fritatta

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp. unsalted butter
  • 1/4 zucchini, sliced
  • 3-4 thick slices heirloom tomato
  • 3 Tbsp. (or more) of grated cheese. For this, I enjoy Asiago.
  • Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
  • 3-4 leaves of fresh basil, torn into small pieces
  • Pinch of sea salt

Method:

  1. Set oven to broil.
  2. Whisk together eggs until well combined.
  3. Whisk in heavy cream, and black pepper to combine.
  4. Heat an oven-proof saute pan on the stove top over medium-high heat, melting the butter in it to prevent sticking. Use more butter if necessary.
  5. Pour egg mixture into pan. As the eggs begin to set up around the side, gently work them towards the center with a spatula and tilt pan to distribute unset eggs.
  6. When eggs have mostly set, remove from heat. Arrange zucchini and tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
  7. Place in oven under broiler, watching carefully. Cook for just a few moments, until frittata puffs slightly and cheese melts and begins to brown.
  8. Remove from oven.
  9. Slice into wedges.
  10. Drizzle each slice with olive oil, and sprinkle with basil and a little sea salt. My son will also tell you that drizzling these with truffle oil in place of olive oil makes the frittata even better.
  11. Serve immediately.

The Quest for the Perfect Crab Sandwich

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BaguetteMy quest began simply enough about five years ago. On vacation in Cannon Beach, Oregon, my husband and I wandered into the Wayfarer Restaurant. While enjoying the magnificent view of Haystack Rock, I stumbled on the one menu item I had to have. It was listed quite simply. “Crab Sandwich.”

When it arrived, it was the perfect combination of sweet dungeness crab baked with melting local cheddar cheese, a hint of garlic and herbs, and a buttery, chewy, crunchy baguette. Combined with a glass of Sokol Blosser Evolution, a crisp, tropical white wine, it was heaven. I was sad when it was gone.

On my return home, I decided it would be easy to recreate in my kitchen. Unfortunately, while I got several of my tries close, I could never quite get it right. It was, however, a fun five years of trying. We returned frequently to Cannon Beach, which is just down the road aways, and every time we were there, I stopped by on my super secret taste test quest.

I am happy to report that, on Monday night, to the delight and joy of my family, I got it exactly right, and maybe, just maybe, even a little better than the Wayfarer. If you’d like to try out the Wayfarer’s crab sandwich, stop by the next time you are on the Oregon Coast. If that’s not in your schedule, here’s the recipe I spent five years attempting to steal recreate.

Crab and Cheddar Sandwiches

Per sandwich you will need:

  • One small sandwich baguette or part of a large baguette, sliced lengthwise but not quite all the way through (like a hotdog bun)
  • Three to six ounces of lump crab meat. If you don’t want to clean it out of a crab yourself, I buy the fresh lump crabmeat in a container in the fish section of my local Top Foods.
  • One tablespoon each plain cream cheese and herbed cream cheese (or a little bit of Boursin herb cheese)
  • Three tablespoons of Plugra butter, melted
  • One clove of garlic, pressed through a garlic press
  • 2-3 tablespoons of shredded Tillamook medium cheddar cheese
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt the butter, and combine with minced garlic.
  3. Brush butter on both sides of baguette, and place on a baking sheet.
  4. In a small bowl, combine both types of cream cheese until well mixed.
  5. Drain crab and toss with cream cheese.
  6. Place crab mixture in baguette.
  7. Sprinkle with cheese.
  8. Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and filling is warm.

Serve the sandwiches with a simply dressed salad of greens and a crisp white wine such as Sokol Blosser Evolution or an unoaked Chardonnay. At the Wayfarer, they serve it with pommes frites, thin sliced and crispy with a hint of garlic and salt. It would also work well with Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris (or Grigio), or an American sparkler such as Argyle’s fantastic Blanc-de-Blancs (an all Chardonnay sparkling wine) or vintage Brut. While I enjoy this sandwich with Dungeness crab, I am sure it will work equally well with your local favorite. Just make sure when  you eat the sandwich, you step away from all distractions and really take the time to enjoy it.