Good morning and welcome to another episode of Stir it Up. OK, so I know that this is an article and episode might be more appropriate for a television series, but sometimes while trying to come up with a recipe, things can turn a little wacky to say the least and, if you were there, it could even seem like it was being staged for some prime time reality show. That was pretty much the case while trying to decide what recipe to feature for Valentine’s Day. For the most part, it was five guys sitting there in the locker room and every once in a while one of the girls would walk through and give her input.
It started out with a little bitterness in some of the tones even though I think only one of the five has a current girlfriend. The initial response was: why is it always the guy that has to go out and get the chocolates, or spring for a fancy meal, or better not forget some flowers? What about her? As I thought about it, I guess the last time a girl cooked my dinner on Valentine’s Day, was … yup, back in third grade, and that was my Mom. Come to think of it, I think that’s the last time I had a girlfriend for Valentine’s Day and her mother said she was too young to be using the stove.
From there, it did settle down with some real ideas for different dishes, again some of those spawned ideas were from the girls passing by and, yes, a lot of them involved chocolate. But there also was something else going on there between the guys – they were evolving. There was this cunningness that was slowly changing to where they were the victors of the spoils as they turned the tide to flow toward them and not away.
The No. 1 request, by the way, was the chocolate blueberry cake and, yes, the guys figured that they could con her into baking it since girls are much better at that type of cooking and it would be a shame to ruin it. That was followed by chocolate mousse, chocolate fondue and then some form of a seafood dinner like crepes or something a little fancier than the norm.
What swung me to breakfast sandwiches was, hey, it’s Valentine’s Day, not Valentine’s night. You might as well start showing the love as soon as you get up right? That also covers you so just in case you pull some bonehead move latter in the day, you are already in the red. There are a million ways to make a great breakfast sandwich so as always, use ingredients you like and that she likes. This one is from Mo, so try it out and enjoy.
Breakfast Sandwich
4 slices of toast (Mo also likes it open faced sometimes, so then only 2 slices)
Touch of mayonnaise for the toast
4 oz. cooked spinach
4 oz. turkey, thin sliced
2 eggs
2 basil leaves, sliced thin
2 slices smoked Gouda cheese with rind removed
Salt and pepper
Warm the spinach and turkey. Cook the eggs to your liking with a touch of salt and pepper. If you like then a little runny, when you flip them, cook them for only about 10 to 15 seconds, then top with the turkey, and basil followed by the spinach and lastly the cheese, which will melt and hold everything in place. Pop it in the oven until the cheese is melted then remove from the oven and place on the toast with the mayo on the plate. Different spreads and cheeses are easy ways to vary this, as well as different veggies.
Smitty is a personal chef specializing in dinner parties, cooking classes and special events. Trained under Master Chef Anton Flory at Top Notch Resort in Stowe, Vt., Smitty is known for his creative use of fresh ingredients. He has been a chef for PGA’s Memorial Tournament for more than 15 years and ran the main kitchen at the World Games. For more information and archived copies of Stir it Up, visit chefsmitty.com. Smitty welcomes questions and comments at smitty@chefsmitty.com or (530) 412-3598.
