To Taste: Pork Breakfast Sausage + Egg Sammie w. chèvre + red bell pepper

Posted by Erin L. in To Taste ~ Recipe and tagged with breakfast, egg, eggs, pork, recipe, sandwich, sausage September 15, 2011

I had every intention of getting up at a reasonable time yesterday to get some things done around the house. Then I woke up at 12:15pm. Might as well whip up brunch for 1!

Monday night, I made The Food Lab’s Sichuan-style Braised Eggplant (which was AMAZING!) and still had 1/2lb of ground pork leftover. When I saw it in the fridge the next morning/afternoon, I knew just what to make with it – breakfast sausage. I blended the pork with a few pantry items and garden herbs (no sage since Hurricane Irene drowned my plant), formed them into patties, and pan-fried them to crispy, yet juicy, perfection. They belonged on a worthy breakfast sandwich.

I toasted some sandwich thins in the pork-greased pan, smeared the top slice w. Shellbark Hollow fresh chèvre spread and topped it w. sliced red bell pepper. On the bottom slice, I piled 2 of my sausage patties on a fried (over-medium) Sandy Ridge Farm egg. It was a delicious combination of textures – toasty + creamy + crunchy + savory + yolky – and easy!

Check out my Pork Breakfast Sausage “recipe” after the jump!

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Weekend Update: Labor… er… Memorial Day!

Posted by Erin L. in Weekend Update and tagged with BBQ, beurre noisette, brown butter, browned butter, butter, chipotle, dessert, deviled eggs, eggs, holiday, Memorial Day, picnic, rice krispie treats, rice krispies, weekend September 5, 2011

Whoa, summer! Slow your roll! I can’t believe it’s already Labor Day and I’m just now getting around to posting about Memorial Day. Dre + I aren’t up to much this holiday weekend so I’m happy to throwback to one of the best BBQs I attended all summer – Jenny C’s White Trash BBQ! I was sort of in “introvert mode” that day so I just laid back, shot some photos, and enjoyed the delicious food into the suburban Jersey night. Of course, I showed up with some solid BBQ staples and was thrilled they were such crowd pleasers. How can you go wrong with deviled eggs and rice krispie treats? You can’t… and I did them oh-so-right!

Chipotle Deviled Eggs FTW

Now let’s take a hot minute to talk about my rice krispie treats. I discovered a super simple way to make them Snap, Krackle, and mother-effing POP like no other rice krispie treat before it. Melt some butter in a sauce pan, melt it some more w. a few swirls of the pan, melt it until it starts to brown but careful enough that it doesn’t burn… and proceed with your usual back-of-the-cereal-box recipe. Brown butter instills a distinct nuttiness that no one can deny. Extra marshmallows are a no brainer, as well, and a sprinkle of sea salt to finish them like a salted caramel doesn’t hurt either. Steal my secrets. Do it. Everyone will love you!

Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

See the rest of my Memorial Day photos on my Flickr photostream….
including Gilly Jo’s Grilled Cinnamon Pineapple and the 100ft Slip + Slide!

Instafood: MMS Gallery

Posted by Erin L. in Instafood and tagged with banana, banana muffin, banh mi, cell phone, chocolate chips, eggs, fro-yo, frozen yogurt, fruit, fruit salad, greens beans, herbs, Instagram, iPhone, mms, muffin, Philadelphia, photo, photography, sangria, smart phone, spices, sprinkles, turkey July 11, 2011

Whew! I’m still here. I may not be posting… er… very often, but that doesn’t mean I’m not cooking, eating, exploring, and shooting it all along the way. Sometimes I forget to pat myself on the back for all the awesome food I make and count the blessings for the food love other people put in front of me. Today, I got the confidence boost I needed, one that came after a quite reflective weekend.

Long story short, a pretty rad lady I know founded and created a simple, yet beautifully-executed concept, The MMS Gallery: Masterpieces Made Simple (acronym intended). It’s an online collection showcasing user-submitted smartphone photography from around the globe. I stopped in here or there to check out their first couple of themes, but the topic of their third was right up my alley: FOOD!

After a month or so of submitting pics, I went about my life. Summer has been flying so I sorta forgot about it all until I got an event invite to the gallery opening… and saw their infographic about the submissions… and realized 7, yes 7, of my photos were chosen!! This shot is my fave – a #nofilter capture of Spring afternoon white sangria with one of my favorite ladies, Heidi.

See the rest of my MMS photos after the jump.

MMS Gallery Opening
Thursday July 14th | 630-930pm |1000 N Hancock St Suite 103

Check out this Geekadelphia article/interview w. my favorite creative couple,
Hilary Sedgwick + Kenny Kim about their creation of The MMS Gallery.

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Instafood: Bacon + Eggs

Posted by Erin L. in Instafood and tagged with bacon, eggs, Instagram, photography, photos, pics, picture, sriracha April 16, 2011

Sriracha sunny’s! Can’t eat eggs w.o it anymore.

Bacon on my Breville panini press.
Fat just slides away… for me to save and cook w. later!

iPhone friends | Follow me on Instagram | SincereFoodLove

Restaurant Rewind: Green Eggs Cafe

Posted by Erin L. in Restaurant Rewind and tagged with artichoke, berries, berry compote, breakfast, brunch, compote, cream, creme anglaise, creme brulee, egg, eggs, french toast, green eggs cafe, maple syrup, mushroom, Philadelphia, prosecco. orange juice, South Philly, toast, truffle, waffle, waffles, whipped cream April 8, 2011

While a I fully agree with Saveur that there’s no better place for lunch on a roll than Philly, I think we’re also a serious contender for best brunch, too. There’s notorious waits at Sabrina’s & Honey’s Sit-n-Eat and Carman’s eccentric interpretation of “down home” at her Country Kitchen and a South Philly spot proud to where its heart on its chef sleeve, Green Eggs Cafe.

Green Eggs’ namesake is about taking care of our Mother Earth, as noted in their mission. Their full commitment to conservation, sustainability, & environmental responsibility deserves respect as does the locally-sourced food they gracefully deliver. They don’t even have freezers so they’re certainly not faking the funk like many other places w. their guarantee of freshness.

As most solid brunch places go, a wait is expected on the weekends. Green Eggs alleviates that with comfy couches & free coffee in their next door waiting room. Finally seated, Dre, my sis, & I mulled over what deliciousness to order and indulged in a “complimentary” bottle of prosecco paired with a carafe of chilled fresh-squeezed orange juice. Just as the mimosa buzz hit, our youthful server delivered the best of their sweet & savory breakfast selections.

Creme Brûlée French Toast w. Fresh Berry Compote

Artichoke + Mushroom Frittata w. Truffle Cream

Cheddar Grits w. Scrapple Toast

Waffles w. Berry Compote + Crème Anglaise

Green Eggs Cafe
1306 Dickinson Street | Philadelphia, PA 19147 | 215.226.EGGS (3447)
http://www.greeneggscafe.net/

CSA: Greensgrow Farm Share

Posted by Erin L. in CSA - Community Supported Agriculture and tagged with aubergine, basil, beet, beets, blog, brown rice, carrot, carrots, cheese, cooking, csa, cucumber, dinner, eggplant, eggs, entree, farm, farm share, farms, farmshare, feta, food, greensgrow, herbs, kale, mushroom, mushrooms, onion, parmesan, pasta, peach, peaches, pepper, Philadelphia, photo, pics, pictures, plum, plums, produce, radish, red pepper, rice, saute, scallion, scallions, shrimp, snap peas, spicy, squash, strawberries, strawberry, stuffed, Superior, tomato, tomatoes, vegetables, white wine, wine, yellow August 25, 2010

This summer, I had an especially good reason to be in my kitchen – my share from Greensgrow Farms. An urban farm tucked amongst residences off of Port Richmond’s Aramingo Ave., Greensgrow Farms is a shining gem of hope in the effort for more farm to table/home options. Lush latticed chain link fence surrounds a full city block of greenhouses, vegetable starters, fresh herbs, flowering & fruit plants – just about anything you could imagine to fulfill your urban gardening needs.

Every other week, my sister and I split a surplus of vegetables, fruit, & dairy from the self-serve farmstand. I had alot of fun exploring the freshest of ingredients, especially those I’ve never cooked with before. Along the way, I managed to capture some moments for your viewing pleasure and in the hopes of encouraging you to eat & buy local.

Urban Greenhouse

Courtesy of Cactus Dan

Plant Pots

Welcome to the Greensgrow CSA

CSA Week 1

(1) bunch each of Scallions & Asparagus - Week 1

(1) bunch of Radishes - CSA Week 1

Greensgrow CSA - Week 3

Beet, Carrot, & Squash Saute w. Brown Rice

CSA Week 9

Spicy Red Pepper Pasta (Superior Pasta Co.) & Pesto

Spicy Shrimp Stuffed Aubergine

I love every part of the current surge in farmer’s markets, CSAs, urban farms, eating local, and eating fresh. It feels good to be a part of the Greensgrow CSA and to cook with meaningful ingredients. I’m just as excited to be hosting a Farm to Table Dinner at Marathon in early October with produce supplied by and benefiting Emerald Street Urban Farm.

Weekend Update: Spring Patio Brunch

Posted by Erin L. in Weekend Update and tagged with bacon, blueberry, breakfast, brunch, butter, buttermilk, champagne, eggs, maple syrup, mimosa, orange juice, pancake, pancakes, patio, Philadelphia, raspberry lemonade, scrambled eggs, Spring, sriracha, syrup May 25, 2010

The last few weeks were a whirlwind as I finished up my last few weeks at my job. I was faced with Sunday as my only day off and was gonna make the best of my 50% of a weekend. Sunday morn, Tom popped over for brunch with champagne in hand. I was stoked to host him & Dre on my cleaned up patio. It was a perfect sunny day over orange raspberry-lemonade mimosas, buttery blueberry pancakes, bacon, & sriracha scrambled eggs with my favorite guys!