Eggs eye view

Or, breakfast for lovers of heat. This is a dish a friend of mine likes to have for breakfast when she's sick. It's a normal breakfast, but it'll clear the sinuses.

Eggs. Plum Creek eggs, Ohio Family Farms cream, Snake Hill Farm Siskiyou immature onions, dried chilis de arbol, garden basil, butter, and salt and Urban Herbs tellicherry pepper. I sauteed thinly sliced onion along chilis (seeded and pulled apart) in some butter with a little salt. Once the onions softened I added eggs that had been stirred to combine the whites, yolks, and a little cream to the pan. Stirring constantly, I cooked the eggs over low heat, adding some salt and ground pepper while they were cooking. Once everything was just about cooked (but still very soft), I added a little basil chiffonade. The basil brought out the best from the onions and chili, and generally made everything smell nice.

Potatoes. Small red potatoes from the Shaker Market, shallots from the same place, Parker's pancetta, underformed (green?) garlic from the garden, hot red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. I started by rendering small lardons of pancetta in a cast iron skillet. Once the pancetta was rendered I added cut up potatoes (with the skin still on), sliced shallot, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. I put the whole pan in a 450 oven for a good ten minutes, and then under the broiler for about five more minutes. After the potatoes were cooked just about right I turned off the broiler and added smashed and minced garlic to the mix, stirred, and left the whole thing in the still very hot oven (with the heat off) for about five more minutes. Everything was crispy, but nothing was bitter.

And that was it. With some toast and tea it's a pretty acceptable breakfast that's ready to go in around half an hour.

Yes we can . . .

make leftover sauce taste new, and do a whole lot of other stuff depending on who you ask (One of whose commercials are finally going to come to an end, at least for a short bit.). Pictured above is last week's tomato and sausage sauce, this time on pasta, refreshed with some sauteed sliced onions, diced carrots and celery, and dried hot pepper flakes. I also added a touch of cream and some pasta water. It was a whole new sauce.

After a very good dinner at one of my favorite Columbus (Ohio) restaurants, The Burgundy Room, last night, and with another coming up tomorrow at Bar Cento (check this out if you're curious--in collaboration with Slow Food Northern Ohio), a simple comforting meal seemed appropriate. As for The Burgundy Room, Monday night was retail wine night, with some really enjoyable bottles available for under $30. As for the food, the hits included a Snapper Special, a very solid Mixed Greens Salad (with some of the best onions I've ever tasted), a Beet Dip, a Rabbit Confit (served like a rillette), Shrimp and Grits, and awesome Caramel with very good Honey Vanilla Ice Creams. Misses, in the opinion of a co-diner and me, included the Green Apple and Celery Salad, and, in the same co-diner's opinion, Duck Spring Rolls (which I didn't try). Overall a great eating experience.

Does Cleveland's 2182 Bistro and Wine Bar stack up to The Burgundy Room? It's a totally different feel, but it may be the area's closest answer for small plates of pristine food and great wine priced reasonably. Can't say I'm a fan of the location though.

North Coast Ragu

That Pecorino in the background may be gilding the lily a bit, but I didn't see any reason to forgo the pleasure. Pictured is the remainder of my box of gnocchetti sardi smothered in what may be the richest sauce ever. Making the sauce took a few minutes, but it was pretty simple.

For the sauce I sweated diced seasoned onions and a bit of minced garlic in olive oil with some chili flakes. Once everything was soft I added good quality, local, happy pig, hot Italian sausage removed from the casings and some chopped sage. Once the pork was chopped up, browned, and everything was mixed well I added heavy cream (from the same folks who raised the pig) to cover the sausage mixture and reduced the cream about 50%. To the creamy sausage mixture I added a whole can of tomatoes (organic, California) with juice (prior to adding I crushed the tomatoes, with clean hands, of course). The mixture was brought to a boil, and a good deal of tomato paste was added along with some more salt and pepper. After a little while over high heat it all reduced and got pretty tight.

This sauce is pretty hardy--think dense tomato sauce with a milk braised ground sausage base. If I ever make a non-vegetarian lasagna I'll come back to this.