Getting huge

I went on a weight-lifting stint this winter in order to add some body reserves before I start residency this summer. My goal was to evenly distribute 10 lbs more to my frame. The easiest way to do this?



Protein! This stuff actually worked pretty well as a work-out shake, and was generally pretty palatable. But Table Vibrations is not about filling your body with chemicals produced in some factory (my friend refers to the term "edible food substitute").

I decided to turn to the good old egg to fuel my muscle-building adventure. How do you make an omelet in 5 steps?

Beat eggs --> scramble briskly in preheated nonstick pan for 10 seconds --> add ingredients down the center --> fold one third of the egg over the ingredients and wait --> flop it onto your plate free edge first, so you complete the 2nd fold.







I think I gained about 3 lbs and promptly lost it all after a week of working again. Foiled by my own metabolism!

Would you like some cream cheese with those veggies?

Veggie cream cheese is something I gladly pay the extra 50 cents for at a bagel place, but I never tried to make it at home.

Seemed easy enough...fine dice carrot, celery, and green onion, mix it with cream cheese, add some salt (if you can't tell I'm a salt addict).


Turns out you should only try this with a surplus of cream cheese. A 1:1 veggies to cream cheese ratio is a little too high. Next time I'll try it when I have more than a few tablespoons of cream cheese to work with.

Carrot cake

Alton Brown's carrot cake needed no extra vibration. It was good, but make sure you bake it long enough. Mine was a little too squishy in the middle. And for the love of all things sweet, please use cream cheese frosting.

Dancing Sausages

Down in Sarasota, Rich tries to make us breakfast, with an interesting revelation.

First time I've tried this, but here is a video:

Two part breakfast bash: waffle sandwich and carrot cake

I like making bigger breakfasts on the weekend, when I am foggy from the night before and hungry because I normally eat breakfast at 5:30AM on weekdays.

This is easy, different, and soul quenching. Two over easy eggs on top of frozen toaster waffles with lots of pepper and syrup on top. Use butter to fry the eggs. If you're feeling crazy, try it with hot sauce, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, ham, etc.



This is what I made last night for breakfast this morning. Carrot cake with tons of fresh ground nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. Golden raisins keep it looking fresh and summery. If you're into it and have a cuisinart, check out Alton Brown's recipe.

Home fries

I freaking love home fries. Hash browns are good too, but home fries are typically seasoned much better. I hate it at diners when they only give you the toast option. No, maam, I don't want toast, I want home fries. And both home fries and toast? Just give me double home fries.

1. The key is to precook the diced potatoes, because they won't cook through correctly while frying (you're not deep frying these suckers). Give em 5 minutes covered in the microwave with a pad of butter
2. Spread them out in a single layer on a hot cast iron skillet.
3. Walk away for 5 minutes. Read the paper. Empty the dishwasher. Contemplate your being. Just don't futz with these for a good 5 minutes.
4. Turn the potatoes and try your hardest to get an unexposed side onto the pan. At this point you can add finely minced onion. Season well with S&P and any herbs you like.
5. Walk away for another 5 minutes.
6. Test out the potatoes. They should be a bit dried out on the outside and crispy, but still puffy and nice on the inside. If not, season, turn one more time, walk away for a few minutes.
7. These go well with any egg/meat combo. I like to fry my eggs in the skillet with all those flavors remaining.
   

Quiche and Lentil soup

Soup is easy in theory but takes a bit of experimentation to get the textures and flavors just so. This lentil soup took the following:

1. A good tasting stock of ham hocks, bay leaves, onion, carrot, celery.
2. A bag full of lentils, along with a can of diced tomatoes and a lot of chopped carrots thrown in about 1.5 hours before serving.
   
3. An immersion blender to smooth it all out.

As for the quiche, it's pretty much the easiest way to make a meal with less than 10 minutes prep

1. Precook broccoli in the microwave (covered to steam it)
2. Grate some cheese, chop some ham
   
3. Mix up a royale (two eggs, one cup milk or cream). Add nutmeg for a french touch.
4. Pour royale over ingredients in a frozen pie shell
5. Bake for about 45 minutes, let rest for 15.
   

French meals in the dead of winter? I guess so.