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Alone in the kitchen...

Have you heard of the book, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant? It is a fantastic collection of stories from various individuals telling their experiences with cooking and dining alone. My personal favorites are in the beginning of the book, where mostly food industry people discuss what they "cook" for themselves when they're alone. Mostly when they lived alone in college, as a young professional or when a spouse is out of town, etc.  The stories are fascinating; one of those great confessionals that make me realize my own oddities are, well, not that odd. When I am alone in the kitchen I seem to walk the line between oddly creative and over the top. This morning being in the former camp. Last night I had Thai takeout followed by half a pint of SOODelicious "ice cream".  Yum! Those leftovers (of the thai food, not the ice cream) would be the inspiration for my breakfast.

I love a good breakfast and have a strong affinity for eggs with no preference on cooking method. Considering I am not working every day, I have plenty of time to make myself homemade breakfast and try to stick to that plan. I also have a love for farm fresh eggs that may be a little crazy. My different morning meals over the last few weeks have included poached eggs on flavored grains, yet another poor attempt to flip a fried egg and 1 decent omelet filled with tomatoes and spinach. Today I decided to try carrots in my eggs, something I have always wanted to go for. Two things I seem to always have in the fridge, eggs and carrots, and often think about combining in a scramble or making a carrot omelet filling. However, I seem to keep missing where this combination is showing up in menus or in recipes (I don't see it?!). Today however, I also had in my possession the leftovers of my Thai Green Cocunut Curry with chicken and vegetables. This, I decided, would be the key to a successful carrot & egg marriage. I shredded a carrot and sauteed it with some stiff scallion tops I picked up at the farmers market last week. Then I added about 3 hefty tablespoons of the green curry/coconut sauce to two eggs in a bowl and whipped them up and poured it into the pan over the eggs. A few minutes of stirring and the eggs were cooked, still a little shiny to avoid overdone scrambles. The result was delicious! So much so, that I may have it again for "brunch"...meaning I won't wait until lunch for my 2nd meal of the day.

I love the options eggs bring to the world and give great thanks to the farmers out there keeping good care of those little hens, letting them roam the grass and eat the bugs and weeds they love ;) I'll be checking out the Northville Farmers Market today, hopeful of finding another egg farmer.
Cheers!


Carrot & Curry Egg Scramble, for one
1 tbl oil
1 scallion, dark green parts only
1 carrot, shredded on the biggest side of a box grater
2 eggs
3 tlb of leftover curry sauce (or if you have coconut milk and curry paste, just mix it up to taste and it should work too)

1. Heat a small pan over medium heat, then add the oil. To the warm oil add the scallions, then the carrots after 30 seconds. Stir occasionally and cook for a minute or two, enough to soften the carrot.
2. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and add the sauce, whisk to combine. Pour into the pan with the scallion and carrot and stir to cook and scramble evenly until the eggs are cooked, but retain some of their sheen.
Put in a bowl and garnish with a pinch of salt and enjoy a solo breakfast. Delicious ;)

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