Mushrooms & Egg in Crispy Ham Cups

This one was an incredible brunch treat and while it was a bit labor intensive it was well worth it. Giving this one a try is a must!

- Chez

Ham Cup Ingredients

• 3/4 lb mushrooms, finely chopped


• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallot


• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 cup sour cream


• 1 tablespoon thyme


• 12 slices Black Forest or Virginia ham (without holes; 10 oz)


• 12 large eggs
  

Garnish: Fresh chives and fresh thyme sprigs
Accompaniment: Hot Sauce Paste (recipe below)
Special equipment: Muffin tin with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Prepare mushrooms:

Cook mushrooms and shallot in butter with salt and pepper in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring, until mushrooms are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Lower heat and stir in sour cream. Reduce volume by half.

Assemble and bake:

Fit 1 slice of ham into each of 12 lightly oiled muffin cups (ends will stick up and hang over edges of cups). Divide mushrooms among cups and crack 1 egg into each. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, about 15 minutes. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons or small spatulas.

Hot Sauce Paste

• 1/4 stick butter
• 5 tbs hot sauce
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flake
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 tbs milk
  
  1. Melt butter over medium heat
  2. Add flour and whisk into paste
  3. Add hot sauce and pepper flake, stirring constantly (sauce will thicken)
  4. Remove from heat, stir to cool slightly and add milk.
  5. Allow paste to cool at room temperature before serving.

The Moscow Mule

We saw this mentioned on ICA (Iron Chef America) on 7/12 (Michael Symon added pineapple) and since it was unknown to us, we did a bit of research followed by a bit of creation. Bottom line... good stuff! Try this one, cocktail aficionados!

What you'll need:

• 1 lime


• 3 ounces vodka


• 1 bottle ginger beer (You can use ginger ale but ginger beer brings much more KICK and make it MUCH MORE better!)
  

How you prepare it:

• Squeeze lime into mixer.


• Add 2 or 3 large ice cubes,


• Pour in the vodka and fill with cold ginger beer.


• Serve in Tom Collins glass with a lime slice, a few ice cubes and a stirring rod.

Roasted Garlic & Cauliflower Chowder

Here is a super-simple and super-great addition to your soup repertoire. If you like creamy goodness this one is for you.

This recipe won ‘Star Status’ for 7/12 and brought a veggie goodness coupled with a velvety texture to our table and the roasted garlic addition was sublime.

Service with a salty stick pretzel is a must.

I hope you enjoy!

- Chez
Ingredients

1. 1 small russet potato
2. 3 heads of garlic
3. 1 ½ lbs frozen cauliflower
4. 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5. 3 cups chicken stock
6. ¼ tsp salt
7. 1/8 fresh ground pepper
8. Fresh ground nutmeg to taste
9. Garnish with curly parsley
   

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Break apart (but leave in skins) the garlic cloves and wrap in aluminum foil.
3. Roast garlic for 30-45 minutes.
4. In a medium sauce pan, bring chicken stock to boil.
5. Add peeled and quartered potato. Cook until just fork tender.
6. Add cauliflower and continue to cook for an additional 3 minutes.
7. Remove from heat, strain out solids and place them in a food processor.
8. Reserve 1/3 cup of cooking stock.
9. Remove garlic from skins and add to processor.
10. Add cooking broth and process for 2-3 minutes.
11. Drizzle in cream slowly as the puree is processed.
12. Continue to process until smooth and velvety.
13. Plate, garnish with just a touch of fresh nutmeg and add sprig of parsley.
14. Serve with a hard pretzel stick or two.