Cured Egg Yolks

So, I think we should start this off on a note of honesty. I rarely make cured egg yolks because it calls for such an inordinate amount of sugar and salt and you can’t really reuse it once it has absorbed all of the moisture from the yolks. But if you have egg yolks that are still intact from making meringue or an egg white omelette, then this is one of the many things you can do with them. Remember, no yolk left behind.

The process is simple and nothing to be intimidated by. You could even do this with your kids, if you have them, but if not – then by yourself or your significant other is just fine. This technique is guaranteed to impress your friends, assuming they aren’t already in the ‘egg preserving’ circle. When I first made these, we had to take off to East Tennessee for a week because my mother-in-law passed out, hit her head and was hospitalized. So, my yolks actually sat in the fridge for 9 days before I got back to them. At this point, they were nice and dry so I didn’t bother putting them in the oven to dry them out more – but you may need to if you let them go the recommended 3-6 day period like most guidelines say to do. And if you want a softer version, simply let it go for 12-hours and you will achieve a runnier egg that is great for serving with crostini and smoked fish, or maybe just a schmear across your morning toast.

img_4905-1This procedure is from The Splendid Table via America’s Test Kitchen. And once you learn the process, you’ll be able to riff and create your own seasoning blends and find out what flavor profiles you do and don’t like. In this batch I added five bay leaves, and a heavy teaspoon of crushed red pepper flake. The spice took a little bit but not enough to make a significant difference, so I would up the quantity next time until I achieved the level of heat that I desire. But enough chatter, the recipe is below and if you make them, tag us @thesaltedtable on Instagram, I’d love to see your results!

“Contrary to popular belief, diamond is not the hardest material known to man. The hardest material in the universe is dried egg yolk. And one day, it will revolutionize the construction industry.”
Ron Brackin

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Cured Egg Yolks

1.5 cups white granulated sugar
1.5 cups Diamond kosher salt
4 egg yolks
5 bay leaves
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake
1 1-2 inch deep dish

Method:
1. Combine sugar, salt, red pepper, and bay leaves in a blender and pulse until ingredients are combined well. Bay leaves and crushed red pepper should be sugar size particles.
2. Pour half the mixture into the bottom of your dish. Take an unbroken egg and use the shell to make indentions in the sugar/salt mixture, or you may use the back of a spoon. Make four spaces and place a yolk in each one. Cover the yolks with the remaining mix.
NOTE: I lightly pressed my fingertip on top the yolk to remember the placemat for later retrieval.
3. Cover the dish securely with plastic wrap and place pan in the fridge. Once the eggs are ready. Do a quick rinse to remove any residual mixture that is still attached. Place them on a wire rack in a 150 degree oven and let them go for about 1.5-2 hours or until your level of dryness is reached. That’s it! Your are ready to grate those babies over soups, pastas, salads and sandwiches. Enjoy!

NOTE: I simply wiped mine off with a damp paper towel and allowed them to dry at room temp before placing them in a weck jar for safe storage. Eggs are good in the fridge up to a month, if they last that long.

A video clip and close-up of the final product:

 

Generous Helpings & A Giveaway! (CONTEST CLOSED)

Second Harvest Food Banks GenerousHelpings RGBSecond Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee started in 1978 with dedicated community leaders who wanted to provide a central distribution center for companies, groups and individuals who desired to help provide food for hungry people in Middle Tennessee. Second Harvest’s mission is to feed hungry people and work to solve hunger issues in our community.

Did you know that one in four children in the state of Tennessee are food insecure? Could you imagine not knowing where your next meal was going to come from? Having to juggle which is more important, getting gas for work tomorrow or buying dinner for your family? Well, you may have never faced these challenges but many families in Middle Tennessee and across the state are. The Second Harvest Food Bank provided somewhere around twenty-million meals to hungry children, families and seniors last year?  

The SHFBMT will be hosting its annual Generous Helpings Fundraiser on Thursday, May 15 from 6-9 p.m. at the Nashville Farmer’s Market. And I’m elated to be partnering with them in giving away two tickets to one lucky winner. How awesome is that?! I love these kind of events because my work schedule is hectic and these awesome events allow me to sample cuisine from restaurants I haven’t had the chance to dine at. I’ve heard the event is phenomenal and I am looking forward to seeing you there! The event will feature 30 of Nashville’s finest restaurants and local beverage/wine distributors. It will be a night full of stuffing your face and mingling with some of the most talented chefs in Nashville. You can find out more on the event here including the list of participants!

Second Harvest Food Bank

The contest rules are simple and as follows:

1. Join Second Harvest’s e-mail list at secondharvestmidtn.org
2. Follow Second Harvest on twitter : @2HarvestMidTN and if you don’t have a twitter account, you can follow on facebook.
3. Follow me on twitter @localforkful and retweet the contest.
4. Come back to this blog post and leave a comment stating that you have completed all three tasks. The contest ends on Wednesday Monday May 5th. A winner will be chosen and notified via e-mail.

I mean, could it be more simple for a pair of tickets worth $100 value which reminds me. If you don’t happen to win the contest, this is such a great cause that I encourage you to head over to the website and make a donation. What better way to bless someone than with food?!

 

 

Sweet Relief Bake Sale!…Come Eat for the Cause.

It’s been over 2 years since the first Sweet Relief bake sale raised over $1000 for the Nashville flood relief efforts. In light of recent events, we felt it’s a good time to resurrect this event and show our support for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. This Saturday, November 10th, Nashville’s food bloggers unite to raise money for the hurricane relief efforts, with all proceeds benefiting the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. The Sweet Relief bake sale will run from 1:00 pm until 4:00pm (or until the goodies are gone!) at the Well coffee shop in Green Hills. All proceeds from the event will benefit Community Food Bank of New Jersey and their efforts to provide relief to victims of hurricane Sandy.

Be sure to come by and show your support by enjoying sweets for a great cause!

Sweet Relief: Nashville Food Blogger Bake Sale for Hurricane Relief
Saturday, November 10th, 1:00-4:00pm
The Well Coffee Shop, 2035 Richard Jones Road in Green Hills (map)

Are you planning on coming? RSVP on Facebook!

We’re also excited that several Green Hills businesses including Parnassus Books will be donating a portion of their proceeds to the cause during the hours of the bake sale. Stay tuned for a full list of participating businesses. A good way to make your trip to Green Hills worthwhile, and maybe get some early holiday shopping done?

Want to bake?
While we’re calling this a food blogger bake sale, it doesn’t mean you can’t participate if you don’t have a blog. Food bloggers, non-food bloggers, and food blog fans are more than welcome to participate! We’re looking for helpers and bakers regardless of blogging status. Be creative! Some ideas for what you could bring include cookies, sandwich cookies, cupcakes, brownies, rice krispie treats, cake pops, whoopie pies, homemade candy, cinnamon rolls, quick breads, muffins, pretzels, etc. If you do plan to bake, here are a few requests:

All baked goods should be dropped off at The Well between 12:15 and 12:45 on Saturday.
If you cannot drop your baked goods off at the specified time, please get in touch. We have folks in East Nashville, West Nashville, and Germantown who are willing to collect baked goods ahead of time.
Everything will be priced at $2, please bake accordingly. You may decide to, for example, package 2-3 small cookies together in a bag or cut your brownies to a specific size you feel warrants a $2 price tag.
Please package your baked goods to make it easy for folks to purchase and take it with them. The packaging doesn’t have to be fancy, but loose cookies or messy cake slices floating around can be problematic. Treat bags, cello wrap, or gift boxes are great options. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just functional.
Feel free to label your baked goods so people know what they are, we’ll also have little signs the day of so that everything is clearly labeled.
Feel free also to bring your blog business cards or package them with your treats. Even better if you feel like sharing the recipe on your blog!

Since we have less than a week to get the word out about this event, please do all you can to promote it. You can use the graphic above to promote the event on your blog. If you need a different format/size or a print version, just shoot me an email and I’ll happily send it your way.

Please don’t hesitate to email Lindsay if you have any questions, suggestions, comments, etc. Thanks in advance for you help in making this event a huge success! See you Saturday!

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Pumpkin Smore’s Cupcakes with Espresso Caramel

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 T. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
  • 1  T.  pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

Directions

For the pumpkin cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 1 (12-cup) muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the butter and both sugars. Beat with a hand-held mixer until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the pumpkin puree and the vanilla extract. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time. Incorporate the dry mixture into the wet mixtures together until thoroughly combined.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way full. Bake until the tops turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

4oz.Cream Cheese (room temp)
1.5 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 heavy whipping cream
pinch of salt

Whip cream cheese with hand held mixer until light and fluffy. Then, add remaining ingredients until desired consistency is reached.

Marshmallows

Preheat oven to Broil. Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and evenly distribute marshmallows.Now, you will have to bend down and stay in front of the oven or else you will start a fire. Watch the mallows until they are browned to your liking and remove quickly. you will be able to pick up marshmallows ans lie them on top of the icing once cooled.

Caramel

Here’s the link for the caramel sauce. You are simply going to add 1 shot of your favorite espresso with the heavy cream and butter.

Assembly: Last but not least. you are going to pipe the caramel sauce into the center of the cooled cupcakes. Ice them accordingly and add your marshmallows on top. This recipe is not for the faint or weary. Enjoy!

The Grilled Cheeserie….Lucky Bread!

Welcome to the first installment of Fork-bites. We decided to start giving you the bits and pieces before the whole cow. It seemed unfair to keep our followers from knowing where they need to spend their precious dollars. So we’re bringing you mini reviews so you know who we reccommend for great dining experiences. And then we will return to give you the Who? What? Whens? and Wheres? of our Culinary Adventures.

We dined @ the delicious Grilled Cheeserie Food Truck parked in the Centennial Park. This was not our first homage to find the nostalgic wagon that delivers those ooey-gooey perfections. Crystal and Joseph definitely have these delectable sammiches down to a science. I had the ‘The Caliente’, which has chorizo, pepper-jack, and avocado aioli layered between two grilled to perfection slices of sourdough bread.I salivate thinking of it. I hope you like it spicy because this sandwich has a kick that’s not intended for those without Pepcid AC in their pocket. (But it’s worth the pain) My wife had the  Gruyere/Swiss blend which she says you can’t eat without asking for a side of pickles. She’s right, there’s something about the sweet, nutty, buttery, tangy and creamy that just works! If this wasn’t enough, we put the cherry on top with The Grilled Cheeserie’s old fashioned Tomato Soup. My grandma never made this unless it was accompanied with rice, but in this version, no rice necessary. It was delicious all on it’s own.

Please, if you visit this little piece of Nashville Food Truck heaven, don’t adorn your cheese sandwich with any extra condiments, you can’t upgrade ‘Cheesy Perfection’.

We definitely will become ‘serial Grilled Cheeser’s’ and we recommend you jump on the wagon. You won’t be sorry!

dose. [coffee and tea]….’java nirvana’

   I discovered dose. [coffee and tea] one day when I took a wrong turn. And I’ve been thankful ever since. I turned in and grabbed a vanilla machiato and realized that I would definitely be back. I am a sucker for warm welcoming environments with good views & eats. When I returned home I plugged into google to discover they were holding a coffee and chocolate tasting that I would refuse to miss. You say Chocolate to me and done deal. The whole experience of the tasting actually elevated the way I thought of coffee and chocolate as a whole. I definitely recommend checking out the next one .

Ummm! Just thinking about a ginger infused cappuccino makes me a happy man. Something about the smell of coffee beans alone I find to be therapeutic.  I mean if there were scratch and sniff coffee scented t-shirts. I’d have one…true story. I mean I am infatuated with everything about that tiny little morsel that creates something so spectacular with the capabilities of curing my headaches, changing the state of my emotions and allowing me to like being around people at 6am in the morning. (sometimes its really hard… I kid you not)

   dose. [coffee and tea], the awesome little coffee shop and cafe in the coveted Sylvan Park area of Nashville is serving up some of the best java you will find. Keith Steunebrink and Heath Henleythe owners of this hip establishment take true pride in all that is coffee. I sat down with Heath at dose., a cozy place decor-ed in vintage wood beams, hard-wood floors, trendy art pieces,high privacy booths and dim lighting that will make you want to camp out….Don’t try it! Somewhere between that euphoric state of fresh joe and the melodic swoons Otis Redding to Bon Iver you’ll become a believer and what I like to call a ‘serial doser’.

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dose. has been open for business for 2 1/2 years  and is still cultivating ways to become a Nashville staple. I’ve encountered many who gaze at me with a look of bewilderment when asking where they get coffee and have they heard of dose. [coffee and tea]? The name itself is a bit confusing if one is not a savvy coffee drinker. But the name dose. Henley explains, “refers to a step in the preparation of espresso, namely when you transfer the coffee from the grinder to the portafilter, known as dosing the coffee.” Aaaah! It’s all coming together now isn’t it, I know, right?

In trying to discover the perfect name for the shop. The guys decided to make a list if 15 options that would be voted on by the people and dose. won the fight.

You might be thinking, OK, well dose. sounds like a pretty cool place to get coffee, but why should I go there? Well if the ginger cappuccino didn’t get you then back to Pilot for your sugary sludge. At dose. they brew coffee by the cup, none of that mass production of some unmarked silver bag that no one knows what the content holds. Just so know, you will be waiting for 4 to 5 minutes for that perfect cup of Joe. Oh! Yeah, if you’re a die hard fan of chocolate, the Omahene chocolate sauce is to die for. After you add it to your coffee ask for a bowl of it!…No, I’m serious, it’s that good. Heath & Keith (don’t you love that it rhymes) are both above and beyond knowledgeable about all that the coffee industry has to offer. Their mission statement embodies their passion for the bean.

‘Our goal at dose. [coffee and tea] is to share in the love of the products that we choose to prepare for our clientele. And to be passionate about the preparation of products and the consumption. The ability to be in control of production and the personal preparation. Lastly, to create an environment we are ourselves would hang out in.’

Heath hipped us to whats known as the ‘third way of coffee’ which is the preparation of coffee that is appreciated for its nuances. Those flavor profiles that are created as a result of soil, climate and location.

   Henley told us they are inspired to do what they do by the producers.Their objective is to ensure that they are producing the best cup of coffee that you have ever experienced because they desire to pay homage to those farmers who put a great amount of love and passion into what they harvest.  When on the hunt for new  coffee the guys bring in several samples and hold ‘cuppings’ (the technical term for slurping coffee to look for quality and those nuances) to determine what they will sell or feature next.The guys are searching for exceptional quality, unique-ness, and appearance of the product. At any given time you can try 6 different single origin coffees exported from different countries or farms all with their own unique flavor profile. You can find the feature of the month on the website if you’re ever in the mood to step up your coffee game. http://dosecoffeeandtea.com/

I  had the pleasure of grabbing some cuisine to go. I enjoyed the Turkey & Brie with caramelized onions on a delicious Brioche Bun made by The Bobby John Bakery.  It was accompanied with a refreshing side of Caprese Salad. It was a delightfully filling meal to accompany my Ginger Cappuccino. And there was a not a patron in the room who didn’t agree the food was just as good as the java. Delicious bagels sourced from the Bagel Face Bakery and Yummy Cheese from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese. We know it’s always better to hear from the source, so we bothered some people and here are there responses. When we asked.

Why dose. [coffee and tea]?

Brent from West Meade told us dose. has the “Best coffee in town. I typically order a vanilla latte with extra vanilla syrup.”

David, a Sylvan Park resident, said the coffee is so good. “I go simple black.”       He patronizes dose. “because the atmosphere is not overwhelming and the food and drinks are great!”

I saw two women on the patio who seemed to be enjoying themselves and  appeared as thought this wasn’t their first time at the coffee shop.

Lauren it turned out was a ‘serial doser’ who claims she practically lives at shop. She continues to return because “They serve a quality food product and the decor doesn’t feel hectic as compared to other coffee joints. It is also convenient to Sylvan Park.” She proved to be a huge advocate for the avocado and tomato bagel that she adds bacon to.

If you want to check out more on dose. [coffee and tea]. Check it out here:

http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/americas-best-coffee-bars/13

http://dosecoffee.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/imbibemagazine-