THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

My husband arrived home from work one day with some smoked trout from a generous colleague. I had never cooked with smoked trout, but I figured it was a good bet that it could be used in similar ways to smoked salmon. We had it that night in a salad, and then for the next morning, Rebecca's Smoked Trout Scramble was born...and it was VERY good. Smoked Trout Scramble  Serves 2 INGREDIENTS: 4 eggs1 tablespoon of milk smoked trout (equivalent of 1-2 filets, deboned) fresh dill, chopped (1-2 tablespoons, depending on your taste) 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted), split into 1 tablespoon sections salt* (use sparingly, especially if using salted butter) freshly ground pepper  3 spring leeks, thinly sliced (white/light green parts only) fresh basil, 3-4 leaves thinly sliced into strips DIRECTIONS: In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, trout, dill, and salt & pepper (to taste) Sauté the leeks in 1 tablespoon of the butter until tender, with some of the outer l...

What is that?? That, my friends, is an omelet/omelette .  My FIRST omelette.  Now those of you who think I am some sort of gourmet cook will know the truth.  I have never made an omelette. We will address the fact that it looks like a burnt sock in the prose below. The Lord of Shallots is out-of-town and I haven't really touched the stove. I say that it is "cooking for one" that I find difficult, but the truth may be that I don't enjoy cooking nearly as much when the person who does the dishes has left the building. That said, while I've had many lovely dining experiences in the past week, including trying the brand new West Bridge with my friend The Hungry Musicologist ,  economics and the size of my waistline have motivated me to get back into the kitchen. I have long felt some fairly intense shame in not making omelettes.  My father, who in addition to being a brilliant biologist, is an astoundingly good maker of omelettes and he set the bar high. In...

I don't make breakfasts worth blogging about very often, mostly due to the fact that my low blood sugar makes breakfast more of a necessity than a pleasure. That said, sometimes on the weekend I do get a bit creative. This was QUITE good and very easy. If you know how to scramble eggs, this recipe is more detailed than you'll need. As my husband remarked, this recipe probably "collides with most of the American Heart Association guidelines." Not for every day consumption. :) PANCETTA BASIL SCRAMBLE Serves 2 (serve with toast) 4 large eggs 2 tablespoons milk 6-8 slices pancetta 6 large leaves fresh basil, shredded 2 tablespoons soft cream cheese (diced from a bar) 1 tablespoon unsalted butter freshly ground black pepper Pan fry pancetta in skillet then set aside on a plate covered in a paper towel. Absorb the extra grease with paper towels. Reserve any brown bits and grease in the skillet. When pancetta has cooled, chop it. Whisk together the eggs and the milk, addin...