Polenta with Arugula, Fresno Chiles, & Egg

September 22, 2015 at 8:19 AM

I definitely need to consider toning down this early bird behavior of mine. I laughed to myself as I waited for the sun to rise so I could have enough light to take this picture of my breakfast. I mean, I love my mornings as you clearly see and know, as followers of my blog but I think I’m going to resolve to maybe rise more with the sun instead of before it, if I can. The warning signs of a sleep deprived and overly ambitious Abigail are hilariously abundant. For example, I started driving to work this morning and didn’t realize that I didn’t have my glasses either on my face or even with me for about 15 minutes. I began to consider this whole sleep thing as I headed back home to get them. Enjoy this morning’s breakfast and try to make it, if you can, after the sun comes up.

I love this method of cooking of polenta and it’s always been proven foolproof for me. I topped the creamy polenta with a spicy garlic, fresno chile, and lemon vinaigrette, some arugula, and a medium poached egg. This recipe would be a great candidate for some creative changes to the toppings–maybe cilantro for your green and sliced jalapeños and lime in the vinaigrette? Would love to see what you guys try. Have a beautiful day, everyone. Zzzzzzzz.

Polenta with Arugula, Fresno Chiles, & Egg
Serves 2
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
45 min
For the polenta
  1. 4 cups water
  2. 1 cup cornmeal, medium grind
  3. 1 teaspoon salt
For the vinaigrette
  1. 2 fresno chiles, seeds removed and thinly sliced
  2. 1 garlic clove, smashed
  3. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  4. 1/4 cup lemon juice
  5. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the toppings
  1. 1 cup micro or baby arugula
  2. 2 eggs, poached
Instructions
  1. Prepare the polenta. In a medium saucepan, bring water and salt to a rapid boil. Stir in cornmeal and whisk until thickened (a couple of minutes--until cornmeal no longer settles to the bottom of the pan when you aren't whisking) and cover. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to reduce sticking.
  2. Start another medium saucepan of water to boil, for poaching eggs.
  3. Make vinaigrette. While polenta simmers, heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add smashed garlic clove and sliced chiles. Sauté until chiles are just soft, about 1 minute. Add lemon juice and salt, cook for 1 more minute. Remove garlic cloves and toss. Set vinaigrette aside.
  4. Poach eggs. Crack each egg into its own small dish or bowl. When water for poaching eggs is at a low boil, use a large spoon to stir water in a circular motion until a whirpool forms in the pan. Drop eggs, one at a time, into center of the whirpool. Start a timer for (exactly) 3 minutes. Remove eggs with slotted spoon and place on paper towels.
  5. Serve. Divide polenta into bowls and top each with a poached egg, arugula, and a drizzle of the fresno chile vinaigrette.
Notes
  1. Method for poaching eggs, yields a medium poach.
  2. If you're feeling lucky, stir unsalted butter into finished polenta.
One Happy Place https://www.onehappyplace.com/
Filed Under: Breakfast, Eggs, Presented With Little Comment, Recipes, Vegetarian

Breakfast Tart + Summer

June 23, 2015 at 6:00 AM

Summer has announced its arrival with a signature gripe-fest from yours truly about how hot it is in my apartment (sorry to all those affected.) I have an air conditioner that does a pretty good job in the bedroom but no such luck in the living room so a good few weeks out of the year, I actually wear one of those spa velcro towels and terry cloth slippers around the house and pretend I live in a real sauna. Always perfectly timed–the increase of the sun’s influence upon the city has collided with go-time for LA County Fair pickle entry preparation (new folks, read all about it here.) This means, of course, that I’m paying for my procrastination by having to boil large vats of water for hours at a time on hot summer days. 

I haven’t traveled since my time spent in Nashville, back in March, and the time to get back out there is finally here again. I’m leaving for New York City before the sun comes up tomorrow morning and I couldn’t be more giddy about it. I haven’t been in a couple years and it’s more than time to get all up in some everything bagel business. I don’t think I’ll attempt the feat I did in 2013, again though, which was bringing home a dozen everything bagels from Absolute Bagels in my suitcase. My suitcase still smells like onions (completely not true.)

Last but not least, the first day of summer brought Father’s Day. If I start writing about my Dad, I will miss my flight tomorrow morning because I wouldn’t be done yet, twelve hours from now. So, I’ll leave it at these breakfast tarts that I made for him. Quite the prettiest and quite the easiest. Click through for the recipe. Oh, and two egg posts in a row?–this might as well be an egg blog.


[Read more…]

Filed Under: Breakfast, Eggs, Recipes

Dippy Eggs & Broccolini Gruyere Soldiers + Movies Lately

May 22, 2015 at 7:24 AM

My new hobby, over the past couple weeks, is watching romantic comedies. I’m shamelessly into my newly acquired pastime, too. I have long since burned through the ones, that I adore, like “About a Boy”(I bought that particular one on DVD from a thrift store for $3 and then got home and the box was empty–so I ended up renting it), “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, and my all-time favorite–“About Time.” After all the greats were done and watched, I even went on to discover a few new ones on suggestion from others (“It’s Complicated” and “Defending Your Life”–both Meryl Streep movies.) 

Now though, I have basically been reduced to be in a competition with myself to see how crappy of a rom com I can watch and exactly how much of it I can get through. Bonus points are awarded if I manage to cry during an atrociously scripted scene. Two weekends ago, I got knocked out in the first round  by “Good Luck Chuck” (starring Dane Cook and Jessica Alba)–I only made it 12 minutes through before turning it off. But then I redeemed my failure in round two by managing to shed a tear during the final scene of “Maid in Manhattan.” 

The egg dish featured in today’s post was enjoyed this past, beautifully cloudy, early Sunday morning during a 6:30am re-watch of “Notting Hill.” I talk all the time about various egg cooking techniques and that is, of course, the foundation of an amazing egg dish but this recipe focuses more so, on what is served with said egg. I adore eggs and toast but with a bit more time and effort, the toast part is given quite the delicious upgrade.

Now, don’t accuse me of Rachael Ray like behavior for the cutesy “Dippy Egg” title. “Dippy Eggs and Soldiers” are a thing, that I did not invent nor name. Typically it involves a simple soft-cooked egg served in an egg cup with pieces of toast, cut into dip-able sized pieces. In my version, the egg is a 5 minute egg (remember the 7 minute egg?) served with what can only be described as an amazing grilled cheese sandwich (filled with sharp gruyere cheese and roasted broccolini,) cut into previously referenced dip-able sized pieces. The crappy romantic movie is an additional serving suggestion. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Breakfast, Eggs, Recipes, Vegetarian