Savory Egg and Cheese in Ham Cups

I saw this recipe on Pinterest (surprise), and knew I had to try it for its simplicity and versatility alone. It's virtually like choosing ingredients for an omelet, but a whole lot easier and prettier to cook. I don't think there are enough fingers in the world to count how many times I've tried to flip an omelet and screwed it up- so then said dish suddenly morphs into Crumbled-Omelet-in-a-bowl, my specialty. These turn out pretty as a picture with no effort at all. They are so versatile too. Want broccoli? Extra cheese? Even cooked sausage added? Go for it!

I'll share what I came up with for ingredients simply for the fact that it was delicious and perfectly seasoned for our taste. A couple of notes: I used two slices of ham for the cups to ensure the cup was thick enough to hold the egg sufficiently; I sliced the veggies I used very thinly so they cooked well and didn't disrupt the texture too much.

Savory Egg and Cheese in Ham Cups
Smoked ham lunch meat (two slices for every cup you want to make)
Eggs (one egg for every cup)
red bell pepper, sliced thin and into small pieces to sprinkle into the cups
minced onion, fresh or dried
Monterey jack w/roasted red pepper cheese, cut into small chunks just larger than shreds (this ensures some of the chunks of cheese will sink into the egg and cook throughout)
garlic salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Spray your muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In your muffin pan, place 2 slices of ham lunch meat over each muffin tin and press down into the cup until the ham forms a little cup. Next, crack open one egg into each ham cup. Season the egg, then add your sliced and minced veggies. Place the pan in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are set just a bit. Pull them out and add the chunks of cheese on top of each cup. Put it back in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or just until the egg white looks cooked. Leave in longer if you want harder-cooked eggs.

Ratings from the Experts*: 10. Perfect. Easy. Fantastic flavor. Perfect portion sizes. They also freeze and reheat well and are great for taking in the car if you want something portable, just be sure to wrap them in a paper towel or saran wrap after heating.

Chicken Satay

Satay is one of those gold standard dishes that I tend to judge a restaurant by. I've had some realy horrible Chicken Satay that more closely resembled leather on a stick than actual food (usually found at chinese buffets), and I've had some that still makes my mouth water just thinking about it (such as Sakura's Satay- which I had in Paris last year- shown below).

For me, this recipe falls closer on the scale to Sakura's and a bit more even towards the authentic than even Sakura's, which is not a bad thing at all. I must mention that I gleaned this recipe from yet another cookbook find this past weekend. It's called Street Food, by Clare Ferguson. It's a collection of street food recipes from every corner of the world. I was thoroughly impressed by the gorgeous pictures and rich, varied recipes I found... and I got the book for only three bucks!

I didn't really have any issues with ingredients for the recipe thanks to a trip to the Asian market in OKC this past weekend (other than not having fresh lemongrass stalk or tamarind paste), so I think my dish came out pretty close to the book's. I did lack tamarind paste, so I just left it out of the peanut sauce and added a little bit of peanut butter for some consistency, then when my mixture was still too thin, I brought the sauce to a boil, added about a teaspoon of corn starch, and the problem was solved.

Chicken Satays
1 lb. boneless chicken breast
2 T peanut oil
2 T distilled white malt vinegar (I substituted apple cider vinegar for GF purposes)

-Spice paste-
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 shallots or 1/2 small onion, chopped
1 T coriander sees, crushed
1/2 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped (I didn't have this, but I did have a Thai spice mix with some in it, so I added 1 t. of that mix)
1 t. ground turmeric
2 small, fresh hot red chilies, finely chopped (optional in my opinion)

-Satay sauce-
1 t. fish sauce, toasted on a piece of foil for 1 minute
1 t. tamarind paste (sold in jars- but I didn't have any, so I added some natural peanut butter instead mainly for consistency)
1 oz. macadamia nuts or peanuts, chopped,
1 T brown sugar
1/2 stalk lemongrass, finely sliced (again, same substitution of spice mix here)
4 shallots or 1/2 small onion, chopped
2 small, fresh hot red chilies, finely chopped (optional in my opinion)
1/2 c canned coconut milk

Cut the chicken breasts into thin ribbons about 1 inch wide, then put pieces into a medium bowl. Chop the spice paste ingredients, mixing them all together in a food processor until it becomes a paste-like consistency (if you need to, add 1 T of water to help the consistency). Heat the oil in a skillet, add the spice paste, and saute until aromatic. Let it cool, stir in the vinegar, then add to the chicken. Marinate for about 20 minutes or up to 2 hours. Meanwhile, soak 8 wooden satay sticks in water.

To make the satay sauce, put the fish sauces in a food processor, add the tamarind paste (or peanut butter in my case), nuts, sugar, lemongrass, shallots or onions, and chilies. Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan to near boiling point, then add to the processor and puree briefly to form a sauce. Preheat your broiler or light your grill until very hot.

Push the meat onto the sticks, threading it on in waves- then grill or broil or cook for about 3 minutes each side until done. Serve with the satay sauce.

Ratings from the Experts*: Hubby gave this (even lacking some ingredients) a solid 10. Better than 95% of the other chicken satay I've had, I gave it a 9, simply for the fact that it was a tiny bit dry for what I prefer, compared to the satay in Paris which is the best experience I've had.

Pinspiration.

Pinterest has become a new interest of mine. Well... scratch that. It's not just an interest, it's an obsession. There. I said it. *Breathes deeply*. Hello, my name is Jen... and I'm a Pinterest addict.

I can freely admit that I've gone through every one of my pinboards and selected the 'best' cover; I have categorized and recategorized my pins into more and more boards as time goes by. Checking Pinterest as much, if not more than Facebook is not uncommon. My favorite Pinners, like my cousin Tara, who consistently posts some of the best DIY pins out there, Jane Wang (who posts fabulous recipes) and Lauren Conrad (yes... that Lauren Conrad) who has a great eye for fashion and design, pepper my pin boards.  I have three boards for food alone. I have two or three for fashion, and several for home decor, design, and organization. If I'm looking for a specific type of recipe, I check Pinterest first. If I have a vague design idea for furniture but want some more ideas, I check Pinterest. I confess that a lot of thought patterns end in "I should check Pinterest!" these days and frequently I'm met with eye rolls from my husband.

Thus, I am going to start blogging some of the Pinterest projects that are inspiring me in my own household off and on. (I know I'm only adding to the addiction, but really, it can't be helped. It's like the compulsion to scratch an itch...) I'll be posting the inspiration project, then following up with updates on my projects as they come along.

So, without further ado...

I want to take this.... (old beat-up chest of drawers currently being used as my craft supply storage.)

To something resembling this.

My chest of drawers is obviously a lot simpler in design than the inspiration piece and I don't intend on using Eiffel tower artwork in the decoupage, but I have some vary old hymnals that I think would work nicely for the drawer fronts. I'm trying to decide if I should paint the whole dresser the shade below.  I have this shade as an accent piece throughout my living room, but I'm unsure if I want to use such a vibrant color on a piece as large as the dresser... so. I don't know yet. Thoughts?

But regardless, I will post progress pics once I decide what exactly I'm doing to it. I'm excited to see how it turns out and I hope whomever my readers are, that they enjoy the process too!