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!

Oyakodon

Donburi is a Japanese rice bowl dish, similar to what you might find at Yoshinoya, and Oyakodon literally means "parent and child" donburi since it contains chicken and egg. I have had trouble with getting this dish right in the past, but I think I found a good basic recipe that allows for some vibration. It's from a youtube channel called Cooking with DOG!. (note: this is not a video about eating dogs)

Basically you make the sauce in the pan and simmer everything cumulatively in the same pan. The hardest part is boning the chicken thighs...which really isn't all that hard if you've done it before.



I added chopped scallions as well as roughly chopped parsley.

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.

Poached eggs

Poaching eggs is surprisingly difficult. The timing seems kind of weird, because you get a bunch of carry-over after you take them out. Here's what I did:

1. Simmer a few inches of water.
2. Add a pinch of salt and half pinch of sour salt (or vinegar, but I didn't have any white vinegar on hand).
3. One egg at a time, crack egg into a bowl and slide the egg into the simmering water.
4. Cook for 3 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. (Cook longer if you don't like runny eggs, but 5 minutes seemed to give me pretty hard cooked eggs and 4 minutes wasn't runny enough)

I put mine on top of hash browns and chopped proscuitto, with some hot sauce and S&P to top it all off. Next stop, hollandaise!

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.