Lovin The Latte

This is how I start every single day.  And I’m not stopping.  Nope.  Never.  It’s heavenly liquid, I’ll tell ya.  Don’t you just want to dive into this?

Everyone has certain things in life they can’t live without.  Ok, well, let’s not get overly dramatic with ‘can’t live without’ – that would mainly be water and food.  I’m talking about certain things people have or do each day that has become a ritual.  A habit.  For me, it’s this latte first thing in the morning. 

It all started four years ago in Paris.  Yup, Paris did it to me.  They truly excel in the casual sidewalk cafe arena.  I went to a different cafe every morning and had myself a latte, the thing to do in Paris.  I loved lazily watching the Parisians pass by while sipping this hot, frothy conconction.   So, when I returned to NY I thought why not make it for myself at home?  Being Italian, I already had a stove top espresso maker.  So that’s exactly what I did, every Saturday and Sunday morning.  It was my weekend treat.  I yearned for Saturday to come each week! 

It was about six months into this new ritual of mine that I thought to myself….why am I limiting this special treat to only on the weekends?!  Why on earth am I not having this every single day?!  What am I nuts??  So, I started making it every day.  And it’s been about 4 years and still going strong.  There are mornings that just thinking of having this latte is what gets me out of bed in the morning.  There are nights that as I go to bed I am looking forward to waking up to have this latte.  Hmmm…good thing I’m not talking about Scotch. 

I use either Lavazza or Kimbo espresso coffee.  And although I started with regular lowfat milk, I now primarily use Soymilk.  Sometimes I throw in a splash of half and half if I’m feeling particularly wild that day!  But it’s not really needed, the Soymilk frothes wonderfully.  And for a little extra somethin-somethin I always…always…add into my milk, before frothing, a pinch of cinnamon and a touch of freshly grated nutmeg.  That’s just how I roll. 

My ritual is this…I either sit on my living room couch and sip my latte while looking out the window at the trees in front of my apartment.  My cat Billy likes to cuddle up to me during this time, so I pet him and we just hang out.  Or, I sit in my comfy ‘romantic’ chair (an antique slipper chair I had re-upholtered) in my bedroom and look out my window at the trees in the back and listen to the birds and watch the squirrels chase each other up and down the trees.  They are very active and quite funny to watch.  Basically, it’s just a relaxing, quiet, comforting time before the day starts.  Before the craziness of the day ahead.  And I love starting my day this way. 

It truly is a simple pleasure that I treasure.  And afterall, it’s all about the simple things in life, right?

Steak N Eggs

Some nights I just don’t feel like making a production out of cooking.  In other words, I get lazy.  I want something yummy, but quick.  I saw Giada make this on her show once and it stuck in my mind, so I thought I would give it a try.  I didn’t follow her recipe exactly – I didn’t put olive oil on the steaks because I sprayed my grill pan with Pam that contains olive oil.  And, I used some butter to cook the egg in, not olive oil.  I used my stove top Le Crueset grill pan and the steak came out great with wonderful grill marks.  Next time I might broil it in the oven, in an attempt to not smoke out the place. 

I am a big fan of goat cheese and I really like it in this dish.  The heat from the egg gently melts the goat cheese so it becomes creamy.  And once you cut into the egg, the yolk starts to run and you have a terrific gooey creamy mess to slather on each bite of steak.  The parsely adds a nice freshness to this dish.  In my opinion, almost everything is better with parsley.

Traditional combination of steak with eggs is most commonly seen on menus for breakfast.  But really, it works well for any meal of the day.  Personally, I can’t have a steak for breakfast….brunch, possibly.  For dinner it was great.  This recipe serves one.

1 rib eye steak

1 tbsp herbs de provence

1 egg

1 tsp parsley

goat cheese (about a 1/2 inch slice)

salt & pepper

Place grill pan over medium high heat on the stove top.  I sprayed mine with Pam, as mentioned above.  Season both sides of the steak with some salt and pepper and the herbs de provence.  Grill away until it is cooked to your liking.  Once the steak is done, set aside on a plate to rest for about 5 minutes.  At this time, put some butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and crack an egg directly into the pan.  Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Place the egg directly onto the steak.  Break up some small chunks of goat cheese and scatter all over the egg.  Lastly, sprinkle parsley and serve.

Giada’s recipe can be found here…

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/everyday-italian/grilled-tuscan-steak-with-fried-egg-and-goat-cheese-recipe/index.html