Grilled Peach + Burrata Salad

Guys, I started graduate school. Things have been busy. It still feels a bit surreal, that in less than 5 years I'm on track to be Dr. Buckley. I still don't feel like I'll ever be smart enough to live up to the title, and try to hold off thinking about it because there is a lot of work to be done between now and then. Nevertheless it's all super exciting. I get to read like 300 pages a night, most of which is actually super interesting, and all of which I'll actually integrate and use in the profession. 

Though it's barely a recipe, this is the first that I've made in the new apartment. Finding my way around the new kitchen has been a bit awkward. The day after we moved in I had my first bout with my new electric range. You see, I've been anxious about having to switch to electric since we signed the lease. Everyone told me how finicky it is, how it takes forever to heat up and provides limited control for temperature. Cast iron also takes forever to heat up, so when I turned on the stove for the very first time to make crispy fried eggs in my cast iron I took everyone's advice and turned it all the way up to high. The pan smoked, as it usually does, the fire alarm went off. No biggie. Setting the fire alarm off while cooking is something most apartment dwelling cooks are used to. But then it kept going off. Until I heard fire trucks, and sirens which eventually lead to a knock on my door by three fire men and the doorman completely dressed in fireman garb, gas masks, oxygen tanks and all. It was one of the most mortifying moments of my life. Needless to say, I steered clear of the stove for a solid week after the incident and our smoke detector is now fitted with a perfectly sized piece of aluminum foil we put up every time we cook. 

We've made this salad now a handful of times. It's simple and perfect for savoring those last juicy peaches of the season. One of my favorite things about Chicago is the Farmer's Markets. There's one within biking distance of our apartment almost 7 days a week. I'm in heaven pretending winter is never going to come! 

Grilled Peach + Burrata Salad
Serves 2-4 as an appetizer

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3 peaches
3 big handfuls arugula
~1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon pine nuts
4 oz burrata* 
freshly ground salt + pepper to taste

Heat the balsamic over medium heat until just barely simmering. Stir occasionally until the mixture thickens to the consistency of syrup and reduces by two thirds. It will take around 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat a grill or grill pan over medium heat. Quarter the peaches then cook over the grill just until grill marks appear. Flip the peaches, cooking both sides. 

Toss arugula with olive oil and a generous amount of freshly ground salt and pepper. Top with pine nuts, peaches, and burrata then drizzle with balsamic and serve. Option to serve with a toasted baguette or a slice of toasted sourdough.

*If you can find an authentic italian deli, that would be your best bet for finding great burrata. Otherwise I usually get mine from Trader Joes. If you can't find burrata, high quality mozzarella stored in liquid could work. 

Shaved Asparagus & Roasted Blueberry Quesadillas with Herbed Yogurt

We are officially Chicagoans. I must say packing then unpacking my kitchen was probably one of the most difficult things I've ever experienced. I think between Nate and I we uttered the words "If I have to unpack another (insert expletive here) mason jar I'm going to kill someone" at least a dozen times. But hey, at least all my kitchen stuff is being put to good use? 

Parts of living in the city feel seamless; I live five minutes from whole foods and trader joes. Pumpkin is loving the dog friendliness of it all and is getting tons of walks. Everything is so accessible. I could go to a farmer's market 7 days a week if I wanted to. The energy of the city is right outside my door. It's good.

But parts feel more difficult, readjusting to a new space, without jobs, without community, without connection. I attach so much of my identity to that of a yoga teacher, so I wonder who I am if I'm not teaching. I wonder if and when life here will feel normal. I panic when I hear the voice in the back of my head questioning whether or not we've made the best decision. Whether this will ever feel like home.

Then I find a yoga class and even though the teacher is a stranger and the studio is new and I'm in a different city in a different region of the country, I feel my breath and almost instantly I'm brought back home again. What a gift this practice is. That no matter where I am or what I'm doing I can bring myself back. I find more often than not my intention for class is "to come back home to myself". Rumi says "When you feel a peaceful that's when you are near truth". And I think that's beautiful. 

One of the last things I made before the we packed up the kitchen were these quesadillas. They are filled with more vegetables than the ones you ate as a kid. And don't worry, asparagus and blueberries may sound like a completely odd pairing but it totally works. I wish I could take all the credit but it's totally a recreation of a quesadilla I had in a restaurant recently. These quesadillas are good, in a funky, super interesting, fresh summery kind of way. 

Shaved Asparagus & Roasted Blueberry Quesadillas with Herbed Yogurt
Makes two quesadillas

for the yogurt: 
2/3 cup greek yogurt (I use Fage 2%) 
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
2 small garlic cloves, minced
pinch of salt

2/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 pound asparagus
4 spring onions
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
large pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper
2/3 cup grated extra sharp cheddar
1/2 cup crumbed goat cheese
4 tortillas

Preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 425 degrees. Line a small baking sheet with parchment. Combine all the yogurt ingredients in a small prep bowl, stir, cover and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients. 

Cook blueberries on baking sheet for about 5 minutes until some are just beginning to burst. Set aside to cool. Using a vegetable peeler, Y-shaped ones work best, shave the asparagus. Don't worry about making the shavings perfect, they can be different shapes and thicknesses. Toss the shaved aparagus in a bowl with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Dice the green onions, set aside about 1/4 cup for topping, then toss the rest in with the asparagus and combine. Heat a fry pan over high heat. Cook the asparagus for about five minutes until slightly browned. Set aside.

Warm two tortillas at a time in a fry pan. Top one tortilla with half the cheddar and goat cheese. Top the cheese with half the asparagus. To the asparagus with half the blueberries. Then top with the second tortilla. Cook on medium until slightly crispy. To flip, don't risk disaster by transfering quesadilla to a plate. Top with another plate and invert. Finish cooking both sides until crispy and slightly browned. Repeat. To serve, top quesadillas with yogurt, and green onions. 

 

Creamiest Restaurant-Style Scrambled Egg Tartine with Sriracha Aioli

You know those foods that only taste good when made either in someone else's house or in a restaurant but when made by you taste infinitely more boring, and almost inedible? Enter, the creamiest restaurant style scramble eggs. For me, scrambled eggs epitomize this food group. At home they are spongy, over-cooked, and flat but in restaurants they are velvety, creamy, and flavorful. The gap between the two left me uninterested in making scrambled eggs at home for years. Then, about a year ago I read an article from Food52. They claimed the secret to restaurant style eggs was actually through a "low and slow" method  of cooking over excruciatingly low heat. I experimented with great success but the eggs took upwards of 25 minutes to make. Not cool for hungry Sunday mornings...

It wasn't until I stumbled upon an Gordon Ramsay youtube video (with 11 million reviews!) a couple months ago, that my creamy egg experimentation reached a new height. So here we are, the secrets to the creamiest, ever, restaurant style eggs (and all the things we've been doing wrong all these years!) 

1. Ditch the fry pan. Cook your eggs in a saucepan. Weird, right? That's what I thought until I tried it. Then I went to the famous Egg Slut in downtown la and sure enough they scramble their eggs in a saucepan. 
2. Low heat. If your eggs stick to the pan, your burner is too hot. (When we move next month I'm getting an electric stove. It's going to be a sob story.)
3. On and off heat, whisking constantly. As Ramsay says, think of making scrambled eggs like making risotto. Stir constantly and don't take your eyes off them. Also, remove the saucepan from the burner every 1-2 minutes. The eggs will continue to cook from the heat of the pan, and will stay creamy. 
4. Season last. Apparently adding salt right away, like I've done my entire life, breaks down the flavor of the eggs. Add it at the very end. 
5. Add fat. Which I'm sure isn't news to you. For extra creamiest add an extra yolk, a knob of butter, a splash of cream; in our case we added goat cheese.  

I've been making these open face egg sandwiches almost weekly since discovering the secret to the perfect scramble. They're ready in under 15 minutes, tastes fresh and restaurant-made, and keep me full for hours. If you can swing it buy cage-free, organic eggs, or better yet pasteur-raised eggs from a local farm available at most farmer's markets. Farmer's Market eggs, though a splurge, will yield the brightest yolks and richest flavor, and the chickens they come from will live happier lives. It's a win win. 

Creamiest Restaurant-Style Scrambled Egg Tartine with Sriracha Aioli, Goat Cheese, and Avocado
Makes 1 tartine  

For the sriracha aioli: 
3 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon sriracha 
pinch of salt 
1 small garlic clove, minced 

3 large organic eggs 
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, plus more for topping 
1-2 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese 
1 large slice sourdough bread 
avocado for topping 

Make aioli. In a small prep bowl combine all of the ingredients, stir, and refrigerate. This aioli can be made in advance and stores well in the fridge for about a week. For larger portions feel free to double or triple the recipe. 

Crack the eggs into a small saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk the eggs to scramble, then continue to gently whisk. After about 1-2 minutes, remove the saucepan from the burner (keeping the burner on) and continue to whisk for about 30 seconds off-heat. The heat from the pan will continue to cook the eggs. Return the saucepan to the burner, and repeat, whisking constantly, and removing the saucepan from heat every 1-2 minutes until the eggs begin to curdle and thicken.

If the eggs begin to stick to the pan, turn your heat down. Keep the eggs creamy, be mindful not to overcook (see photos). The eggs should come completely together in about 5-6 minutes. When the eggs are about 85% done, stir in the chives, goat cheese, a generous pinch of salt, and fresh ground pepper. Toast the bread. Remove the saucepan from the heat right before the eggs are done. If you wait until they're done, they will overcook. 

Top the toast with sriracha aioli (you probably won't use it all), eggs, avocado slices and extra chives. Enjoy! 

Notes: 
This is more of a technique than a recipe. Take 4 minutes of your time and watch Gordon Ramsay's video, which shows the technique perfectly.