Bodega Egg/Bacon/Cheese sandwich

For my continuing breakfast series, I give you the Bodega Egg/Bacon/Cheese sandwich. At least that’s what they call them in the Northeast. In the south, we call these Gas Station Breakfast Sandwiches. The premise is simple, the delivery compact, and the result is divine. The last Gas Station Sandwich I had was in September, 2021 in Haymarket Virginia. It’s been on my mind for a while now. And the execution is pretty simple. Lacking a flat grill, I made mine in a regular skillet. Whisk up two eggs, season as you like. I just ground in some black pepper. Cook some bacon crisp. I actually do use the microwave here. Four slices in a couple minutes, on paper towel. Toast a bun, or two slices of bread in a little butter (Kerrygold!). I usually have some...

Asian Marinade Pork Chops

Asian Marinaded Pork Chops. Tonight’s dinner. Again, something new from me. If you see me posting a lot, you know I’m leaning to my cooking hobby to help get through the moment. I do that. Tonight my thoughts are with my sister Sheila Foley. Cooking give me a feeling of control in an otherwise uncontrollable world. This is a new, and incredibly easy dinner. Make a marinade, toss in some chops, pan sear, oven finish. Serve with the side of your choice. The recipes I’ve seen include brown sugar, but I don’t like sweet dinner. Add a tablespoon if you want to the marinade. I also leave out salt. I think this actually could use a squeeze of lemon too. MARINADE: 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon minced...

Chicken Marsala (Chicken Pinot Grigio)

Monday night’s dinner was something new for me, Chicken Marsala. I got the recipe off the food network, and made a few changes (I will note them with ***). Since the Food Lion usually offers only white and portobello mushrooms, I have been using freeze dried wild mushrooms (as I’ve noted before) and they were perfect here. https://www.amazon.com/…/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin… INGREDIENTS: 4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts. (I used 3 chicken leg quarters) All-purpose flour, for dredging (I skipped this) Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (***I seasoned my chicken with my classic garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and black pepper rub…no salt) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced 8 ounces...

Salmon with Onion Gastrique

Saturday night’s dinner with honey Carolyn Flynn was one for the books. In fact, it came from a book, the National Parks Cookbook. This time it was a splendid meal called “Wild-Caught Copper River Red Salmon with Onion Gastrique. I made a few changes, and scaled it down. While we have portabelas and white mushrooms here in Colonial Beach, often there isn’t much more of an option. These mushrooms add so much to a meal. Lacking said Copper River Red Salmon, I made mine with Coho Salmon. I was cooking for myself, so I halved the recipe. But this is the full recipe: INGREDIENTS FOR ONION GASTRIQUE1 cup red wine vinegar1 cup sugar. This is crazy. I used a tablespoon of agave.2 white onions, thinly sliced FOR DANDELION PISTOU1 bunch dandelion greens,...

The Perfect Breakfast Sandwich

This almost seems too silly to post. But I’m going to do it anyway. Because it was SUCH a good breakfast this morning. This is using my Hamilton Beach Sandwich Maker. I have a skinny loaf of Italian Bread, and I tried it on a breakfast sandwich. It was OK, but I knew it could be better. So this morning I did the following…(spoiler alert, BEST BREAKFAST SANDWICH I’ve made). I didn’t know it would be so good, so I only have the final photo and not my process photo. Bottom Section: 1/2″ slice of Italian bread, with Kerrygold butter (not much) spread on the bottom. Then some mayo on top, with some dry basil and a hint of garlic powder. On top of this is a slice of cooked bacon cut up in 3 pieces. On this I put a slice of cheddar. Middle...