¡Chili con huevos!

Vegetarian chili topped with spinach, cheddar cheese, and a poached egg. Kind of like The Soup but it's chili instead of soup. I'm tempted to say that my chili recipe is TOP SECRET but I already gave it to Laura and it's here for anyone to see. I make it with NO TOMATOES BECAUSE I HATE THEM. Also, I can not stress enough how much of a difference bulgur wheat makes to a vegetarian chili. Much meatier. Or you could just put in meat.

Zucchini Challenge: Disastrous Plating Failure

While drunk in a Manhattan bar after a trip to the Guggenheim, Erin and I were discussing the challenge. Here's what we came up with. Tuna tartare with chopped vinegar soaked zucchini topped with a poached (because I wasn't sure about raw) quail egg. The plate is rimmed with tonkatsu sauce and dollops of spicy kewpie mayonnaise and garnished with zuchinni peel (as per Kyle's bitching). I have never been able to plate dishes for my life so trust that it tasted better than it looked. Erin agreed.I started with fresh sushi grade tuna I had gotten at the asian market on rt 18. I badgered the hell out of the guy because neither of us could find a common language but eventually we agreed it was in fact fresh sushi grade tuna and that we are both fans of giving thumbs up. I guess we all speak the international language of The Fonz.Here is the chopped zucchini sitting in vinegar. I did that just for some extra taste. We then rinsed the zucchini and incorporated it with the tuna.I couldn't get the water spinning fast enough so the eggs poached a little wispy but they were still good. Not quite as good as a raw egg yolk sitting on your tartare but I wasn't 100% sure about these quail eggs so I didn't want to chance it.Erin spent most of the time snacking on these spicy wasabi crackers and cherry tomatoes I picked up at the asian grocery while getting the tuna. I eventually convinced her to chop up some zucchini and tomatos together for a cracker topping. Here's her rebuttal to my dish. She incorporated leftover tuna. It was miles better than what I made.She also topped these suckers off with some spicy kewpie mayonnaise leftover from my dish. These little bastards were increadible. Perfect spice to match the coolness of the zucchini and the tuna. I think she beat me. Not afraid to admit it.

THE SOUP

Anyone who knows Meredith and me know our obsession with THE SOUP. The story goes back years. Ever since we both started coming to Rutgers, we've always had dinners together to celebrate stuff. Anything we can find we celebrate. The first was the fact that we were both there. We chose to go to Noodle Gourmet. Excellent place. I think most of my greatest college take-out memories are tied to Noodle Gourmet. Eat there. The first time we went I got a giant noodle soup. I'm not sure if any of you have ever had their noodle soup but that fucker is cheap and giant.

After that we spent a few years with Edo as our hangout before we eventually started celebrating at Saporo. That was a big leap for us and also the first encounter with THE SOUP. I can't remember what we were celebrating but we were there and decided to get the Nabeyaki Udon and some rolls. We could absolutely not finish that soup. Its not quite as big as the Noodle Gourmet soup and nowhere near as cheap, but the taste is infinitely better. Its like comparing a Kia and a Porshe. We've been hooked ever since. Any time we can we go sit and wait for that glorious pot to get set down between us where we delicately divy up the treasures burried within and setting atop those wonderful noodles and that flavorful broth.

Years later when I finally balled up the plate, this was the goal. Ever since we've been attempting to find others like it through our own cooking and through little eateries in the area. It's been a staple of my dutch oven cooking and my almost daily breakfast/dinner. Something about soup with an egg cracked into it is just the perfect breakfast/dinner combo I need to complete my day with the sunrise. Meredith has been getting on me forever to finally post one so last night with my extra time off work i finally decided to do so.

This was a quick one. I used a granulated bonito for the dashi with a little extra soy sauce and sesame oil. Once that was going I threw in two frozen dumplings and the miso. From there I added udon, seaweed, chicken, and dumped in a raw egg to poach in the soup. Thats always been my favorite part. Just before it was ready i threw in some kimchi. I've had it sitting around and I don't have many ideas so it went in. Just enough to sweat some of the flavor into the broth. I gotta tell you, its wonderful.

This kimchi will haunt me till the day I die. Or that day I move out and decide to not take it with me.

A fast soup

Swiss chard, shiitake mushrooms, tofu, and bean threads in a red curry coconut broth, garnished with lime and dark tamari. Brown the tofu in some sesame oil first and use dried mushrooms so that you can add a little of the rehydrating broth to the coconut milk mixture. Then crack an egg in the whole mess and let it poach for a little while in the soup. Sub brown rice for bean threads and sprinkle on some chopped cilantro. Not a bad weeknight dinner.

Benedict in stereo

Poached eggs, smoked tofu, sautéed baby spinach, on top of whole wheat toast with a smear of earth balance. Replace eggs with avocado (you know, same idea) for the house vegan.