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...

Reb's Granola It is rare when I find something to be outrageously expensive (like a small box of granola for $9) that I decide to go ahead and make my own. I usually just go without. The other morning, however, I was determined to make my own granola because I had a recipe from one of my favorite books ( The Craft of Baking ), and a whole cabinet full of various nuts and dried fruits which I needed to empty. Is it hard? No. Is it time consuming? Yes. This explains only a SMALL fraction of the markup, I assure you. I doctored the recipe a bit, so we can say it is largely based on the original with a few modifications. Anything I modified or added is in italics. Reb's Granola (based on Karen DeMasco's "Toasted Nut & Honey Granola") INGREDIENTS: 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 2 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 1/3 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped 1/2 cup slivered almonds 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil* 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons packed dark ...

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...