A special breakfast

This dish looks pretty fancy, but it's easy to make. The most important part is getting a good French baguette, one that is crusty on the outside and soft but not doughy on the inside.

If you're not fond of runny egg whites and don't mind the yolks to be a little bit hard around the edges, you can cook the eggs until the whites are completely set, which will take a few more minutes.

Lori K's French bread eggs for two

Ingredients
1 6-inch section of crusty French bread, cut in half
2 eggs
4 artichoke bottoms
1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Take the French bread halves and pinch out an indention in the middle of each one, almost down to the crust. Place on a cookie sheet.
Crack an egg into each indentation.
Lay the slices of mozzarella on either side of the eggs. Place an artichoke bottom on each side of each egg. Season each bread half with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the Parmesan over the artichokes.
Bake for 15-17 minutes.
Remove from oven when the egg whites are no longer jiggly. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Thank cod

Cod is an underappreciated fish, mostly because it's been inexpensive and plentiful in our lifetime. It has been close to being overfished, however, since it's the main ingredient in McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich and the favorite fish of fish and chips.

For a fast dinner, it can't be beat, and you don't need to go out to get that speed, either.

For instance, including the prep time, last night's dinner didn't even take 30 minutes.

You will need:
Panko bread crumbs (Progresso makes them now, or use a Japanese brand)
Mas Guapo seasoning (masguapo.com, or use Lawry's seasoning salt)
Cod fillets (3/4 pound for two people)
Vegetable oil
Two ears corn
1 can artichoke bottoms (about 6)
Italian seasoning
Parmesan cheese (the kind in the can is OK)
Butter, salt and pepper to taste

The drill:

Heat oven or toaster oven to 450 degrees.

Wash and pat the fish dry. Spread out the breadcrumbs and sprinkle with seasoning. Dredge the fish in the crumbs until it is well covered.

Put the oil in a pan big enough to hold the fillets without touching. Heat to medium hot (about 375 degrees), then put the fish in, largest piece first. In another minute or two, put in the other piece.

Put the artichoke bottoms bowl side up in a broiler proof pan. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, then Parmesan. Put in the oven.

Chop off the ends of the cobs. At least one row of kernels should come off the end. Do not shuck.

After 5 minutes, turn the large piece of fish. Put the corn in the microwave and set to cook for 5 minutes. Turn the other piece of fish.

About a minute before the corn and fish are ready, pull out the artichokes and turn the oven to broil. Put the artichokes back in.

When the timer goes off, take the fish out of the skillet and drain on paper towels. Take the corn out of the microwave, grab by the silks end and shake out the cob (if the corn is fresh, all the silks will be gone, too). Take the artichokes out of the oven and serve.

You will have to use a bigger skillet if you are cooking for 4 or more, but no extra time; add 2 minutes for each extra ear of corn, more if the corn isn't that fresh.

Any questions? Leave a comment below.

I believe in cod

A chef at a fine restaurant once said, "My customers are always asking for a firm, white fish without an assertive taste. I give them exactly that, and they never order it!" The fish he was talking about is cod.

Blame it on the Filet O'Fish sandwich, or soggy fish'n'chips, but cod gets no respect. Yet it is a nutrition powerhouse: Cod has almost the same amount of protein as sockeye salmon with half the calories.

And because it's a mild fish, you can spice it up just the way you like.

Here is a dinner I fixed last night. The prep took a little more than 15 minutes, since I grated the potatoes by hand, but the cooking took a little less than that.

Prosciutto-wrapped Cod with Artichokes and Hash Browns
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 white or red potatoes (not russets)
Salt and pepper
12 ounces cod
6 slices prosciutto or other strips of semi-dry ham
Olive oil
4 small spring onions, sliced
Handful of parsley leaves, snipped
1 cup of marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed of oil and chilled

Instructions
Grate the potatoes into a bowl of water. Drain, put on a clean dishtowel, and squeeze all the water out of them. They must be very dry. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry the cod, and cut it into 6 strips, 4-6 inches in length. Season with salt and pepper and wrap each strip with a slice of prosciutto.

Lightly oil a sturdy pan that will hold the cod. Put about a tablespoon of oil in a large cast-iron frying pan and heat to medium.

When the oil starts to smoke, put the grated potatoes into the frying pan and spread them out thinly. Sprinkle with the onions and parsley. Fry undisturbed for about 10 minutes so they form a golden crust. Flip and cook 5 minutes more.

After you put the potatoes in the frying pan, put the pan of cod into the oven. Bake for 14-15 minutes until the fish turns opaquely white.

Serve with the chilled artichoke hearts.

A light country ham supper

Since coming to Virginia, I've been experimenting with country ham and what to do with it. Originally, tasting it on the ham biscuits (that seemed to pop up at all the parties we went to when we first got here), I thought it was similar to the jambon of Provence or prosciutto, but it's courser than the latter, and not quite as dry as the former. It's delicious, but not good to eat as is or by itself.

Last night, I prepared a couple of thin slices (did I mention it's extremely salty?) in the following manner:

Slice a large yam in half, then each half in quarters. Spray with olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper, and roast at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until soft. 

Rinse ham briefly,  and fry to the recommended temperature of 160 degrees in a deep skillet. Remove, cover and keep warm. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan (or if you have any drippings, enough olive oil to make a tablespoon). Sauté a large onion, sliced, and a clove of garlic, minced, with a few grinds of black pepper. Add a can of plain (not marinated) artichoke hearts, drained. Cook until the onions are golden and the artichokes are lightly browned on all sides. Serve with the ham to one side and the yams on the other.

All in all, as a meat, it makes an excellent seasoning (if you don't have to watch your salt intake too closely).

Cooking what's on hand

One of the stories my friend and good cook Al always tried to get me to do is making a meal from what's in the fridge. Since I cook a lot, I do that a lot. Not every night lends itself to blow-out meals, and trying to creatively combine what needs to be used before it spoils (with a little help from pantry items) is a joyful exercise for me.

Last night, it was the hummus that was on the verge of spoilage. It was a red pepper hummus, which seems to have a shorter shelf life than the regular. So a quick peek as to what's on hand and I came up with the following dish, which my husband couldn't say enough about as he polished it off.

Lori K's fast brown rice and artichokes bake

1 bag Success brown rice (see note)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 14-ounce can artichokes (8-10 count), drained

1 tablespoon butter

4 ounces red pepper hummus

Chicken broth

2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the bag of rice in a saucepan and cover with water. (If you like your rice salty, put a teaspoon of salt in, too.) Bring to a boil, then keep on low for 10 minutes. Drain.

In a heavy medium-size skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Mix the crumbs and seasoning in a small paper bag.  Put the artichokes in the bag, two at a time, and shake until they are well-coated. Put on a plate and repeat until they are all breaded. Add the butter to the skillet, and when it is melted, put in the artichokes. Saute until browned on all sides.

Thin the hummus with a little chicken broth until it is the consistency of gravy.

Put the drained rice in a small casserole dish or pie plate. Pour the hummus gravy over it.

Arrange the sauteed artichokes on top, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve.

Note: The hummus, rice and cheese combine to provide a complete protein in this dish. You can use regular brown rice, but allow 40-50 minutes extra for it to cook. Unlike Success white rice, which takes almost as long as regular rice to prepare (with half the taste), its brown rice is an incredible timesaver and tastes pretty good, too.