A Brunchypoo for Obama

As you may have heard, a fairly large event took place this week in Washington, DC. Last time around, I left the house at 3 am and slept under the Department of Labor in freezing temperatures to watch B.H.S. on a jumbotron from 15 blocks away.   Not even a little bit interested in doing that a second time, I invited some dear friends over for a little brunchypoo.

FatherKef is a big fan of breakfast-making, and especially loves to make a cheesey frittata when there are enough people around to eat the whole thing. He got the recipe from a man named Tyler who is apparently on the Food Network and, as such, this dish is referred to as 'a Tyler' in the Kef household.

I also made a batch of blueberry foccacia, which is most definitely NOT gluten free but I devoured anyway. Whoopsies.

Cheesey Potato Frittata

Ingredients

• 8 extra-large eggs
• 2 TBS heavy cream
• 1 c grated Gruyere cheese
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 TBS unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 small red potatoes, diced
• 1 c diced smoked ham or Canadian bacon (optional)
• 1 c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for finishing top
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 bunch chives, chopped

Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, Gruyere cheese, salt, and pepper until foamy. Melt butter over medium-large heat--make sure this pan can be transferred to the oven (it will say on the bottom "oven safe" and should NOT have a rubber handle!). Add the onion and potatoes and cook thoroughly.

3. Pour the egg mixture over the top. Pull the edges away from the sides of the pan with a spatula so the eggs flow to the bottom of the pan. When the frittata is half set, add the ham if using it.

4. Transfer the pan to the heated oven. Bake for 10 minutes until puffed and golden, with firm (but not dry) center.

5. Remove from oven.  FatherKef has developed an amazing technique for this last part--grab a big serving dish, cover pan and flip in one swoop so that frittata is now right-side-up and on dish. Shower with grated Parmesan and serve garnished with sour cream and chives.

Read More

Return of the JetSet Kef

Big Brother Kef is back in town. Usually it is my dear sister who does the dirty work in the kitchen while I keep the water boiling as the Executive Sous Chef of Keftown (see here for more on that).  But, inspired by the post-DNC 2012 "Clinton bump," she's decided to call in the old dogs to teach some new tricks.  During her tenure, two very prominent themes have emerged:

• dishes are meatless
• photos of said meatless dishes range from unappetizing to "...oh, I see how that might actually taste good if that were a better picture." (I love my sister and her food--but seriously, she really could have benefited from the photography class all the "artsy" kids in our high school took junior year.)

So after months of hiatus from this blog, it is with great pleasure that I break one of these trends and bring you today a great MEAT recipe I promise you will come out beautifully...except you'll have to make do with a truly non-illustrative picture in typical CUK style.  I assume by now you are used to this. LebKef and I made this dish together for Greek Easter 2012 in Beirut and it was a show stopper.  Look closely at the picture below and you will find this perfectly-prepared lamb in between lots of other wonderfully-made dishes:

Still don't think this lamb will be the best thing you put in your mouth this week? Ask yourself this: would a man who willingly dresses like this

ever steer you wrong when it comes to some lamb? I don't think so.


LebKef's Lamb Chop

Ingredients

• 3 tbs Dijon Mustard
• 6 tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 medium cloves of garlic
• 1 c extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt (to taste)
• ground black pepper (to taste)
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 1 double rack lamb rib chops, or 8 lamb loin chops

Assembly  

1. FOR THE VINAIGRETTE: Combine Dijon, balsamic vinegar, and garlic in non reactive metal bowl. Whisk in extra virgin olive oil. Remove rosemary needles from sprig. Chop and add to vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper.

 2. Cut lamb into individual chops by cutting down between the bones (each bone should have a nice round piece of meat attached).In plastic bag with half of the marinade, marinade for 10 minutes (or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator). Reserve half of marinade for finishing chops with sauce for serving.

3. Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium to high heat.Remove chops from marinade. Wipe off excess liquid and season chops with salt and pepper.

4. Grill chops for 2 to 3 minutes per side (or until meat is medium rare).

5. Remove chops from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve lamb chops with reserved marinade.

Read More