Brinner!

Brinner!  Otherwise known as “breakfast for dinner” – perfect for a quick, tasty meal after work.  Now, I may have cheated just a bit (I prefer to call it “creative license”).  Yes, technically this is eggs and toast.  But the toast is made with garlic scape butter, seared on both sides in a cast iron skillet (yum!!) and the eggs are sitting on sautéed garlic scapes and Swiss chard.

I think it’s time for me to admit something:

Until this year, I had never fried an egg.  Please don’t judge me!  I truly had no idea what I was missing.  I was convinced that I hated the squishy egg yolk and only liked eggs scrambled, so that’s all I ever made.  I wasted years of glorious yolk-dipping!  Years, people!  (The garlic scape toast was fantastic dipped in the egg yolks, by the way.)  The yolks on these got a little overcooked, but I’m getting better.  Part of my egg yolk conversion may be that I’m getting fresh eggs now, and the difference in taste is unbelievable.

Whatever the reason, I am now a sunny-side up fan!  That’s right, Mom.

The Swiss chard and garlic scapes are from my first CSA box from Basket of Life, picked up just hours ago.  Because I have no patience, I brought it home and immediately started cooking.  In my defense, I was hungry and the chard looked really good!

Swiss chard, Bib Lettuce, kohlrabi, spring onions and garlic scapes.

Box #1 for 2013:  A great start to the CSA season.  I already can’t wait for next week!

Are you a fan of brinner?  What’s your favorite way to cook an egg?  And how do I know when a fried egg is done?  Help! 

Roasted Garlic Scapes and Red Curry Bison

One more week, folks!  Next Friday my weekly CSA boxes from Basket of Life Farm start again.  And with that, I’m going to do my best to resume regular blog posts.  I’m thinking that I’ll shoot for Tuesdays and Fridays, so be on the lookout!

While I’m waiting for my CSA boxes, I’ve been frequenting the Countryside Farmers’ Market, and this week was a jackpot!  Garlic scapes as far as the eye could see!  (Okay, maybe not that many, but a lot for sure.)  I ended up buying two large bags – probably 1 1/2 to 2 pounds altogether.  After I made several batches of pesto and garlic scape butter with the larger, longer scapes, I still had a bag of smaller, thinner, more delicate garlic scapes.

I had never tried roasting the scapes before, but it was fantastic!  I just tossed them with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven for about 5 minutes at 375 degrees.  It mellowed some of the garlic flavor, and they were tender and beautiful and delicious!

The roasted scapes paired perfectly with a grilled bison ribeye marinated in a mix of Thai red curry paste, olive oil, honey and lime.  The bison steak was also a farmers’ market purchase – from Red Run Farm in Marshallville, OH.  I have had bison burgers before, but never a full on steak.  It was awesome – lean and flavorful, and it went wonderfully with the red curry marinade.  I’ll definitely be buying bison again!

Plus, it gave me a chance to use another purchase from earlier in the season.  In the beginning of May, I bought an assortment of honey from Kline’s Honey Bee Farm.  You can see that they’re labeled Summer, Fall and Buck Wheat.

Each honey has a really distinct, lovely taste.  The Summer honey is light and sweet, the Fall honey is warmer – more like a clover honey, and the Buck Wheat is a dark, almost astringent taste that reminds me of a little of a dark molasses.  Yum!!  I used the Fall honey in the marinade.

Even better – after days of gray skies and rain, the evening was sunny and beautiful!  That means outside pictures and dinner on the back patio.

Thai Red Curry Marinade

• 1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• juice of 1 large or 2 small limes
• salt and pepper

Combine all ingredient and mix well.  Pour over steaks (beef or bison, your choice) and marinade at least 1 hour up to overnight.

Grill steaks and enjoy!

This post is linked to What’s in the Box? at InHerChucks.