Spicy tomatillo and Gouda scrambled eggs

Today was a very rushed day, I'll be honest.  I had a lot of meetings and a lot of things to check off on my to-do list.  Nevertheless, I went for a nice swim with some friends in the late afternoon, and came home from my workout with insatiable hunger pangs.  Despite having more than my fair share of pasta and salad, I was still hungry and, in fact, craving something else salty and wholesome.  Also feeling a bit tired from the day, I wanted something that was relatively quick to make, so I decided to quickly rustle up some scrambled eggs.

Initially, I thought I would just throw a diced tomato and some cheese into my eggs, but then I realized that I only have one more tomato left for the whole week.  Yikes!  What to do?  Then I remembered that I had a few tomatillos in my crisper.  Jackpot!  

My love for tomatillos grows as I get older.  I used to strongly dislike them, actually.  I only recently realized how well a cool, tangy tomatillo salsa pairs with heavy Southwestern dishes, as it cuts through the grease and cools the mouth after a spicy bite.  I usually don't branch out much with tomatillos, and that has got to change.  I really believe that tomatillos are incredibly under-utilized, considering how packed with flavor they are.  Well, today was the day to make that happen!  

I ended up improvising a little and threw together some other ingredients that I would have thought were a random mish-mash of things -- a shallot, tomatillo, fresh chili pepper, and some grated apple-smoked Gouda cheese.  Surprisingly, the eggs turned out great!  The slightly crunchy, tartness of the tomatillo complemented the creamy, smokiness of the Gouda cheese pretty well.  Throw in some thinly chopped shallots (or garlic would work in this case) and a sliced chili pepper, and you've got yourself some spicy scrambled eggs with a twist! An important note, though -- be sure to dice the tomatillo into very small pieces or this "Mexican tomato" may overwhelm your eggs.  

Enjoy this simple, yet flavorful dish.  And if it's as nice where you are as it is in good 'ole Atlanta, then please, eat it outside on a lawn chair and enjoy the weather -- or at the very least, crack some windows open (or better yet, a bottle of wine).  Happy fall!

Ingredients:

-1 shallot

-1 tomatillo

-1 small fresh chili

-2 eggs

-Salt to taste

-A small bunch of cilantro

-Small amount of olive oil

Preparation:

1. Finely dice/slice the tomatillo, shallot, and chili.

2. Roughly grate some smoked Gouda cheese (amount will depend on your personal taste :)...I threw in a small handful).

3.  Fry the diced/sliced shallot, chili, and tomatillo with a bit of olive oil on medium-high heat for a few minutes.  When they are about halfway cooked (the tomatillos should be 'sweating' a little and losing a little bit of color), throw in the eggs, Gouda, and salt (to bring out the flavors of the other ingredients).  

3. Cook the egg mixture for a few minutes until it's done.

4. Top with a few sprigs of cilantro, and enjoy!

(Sorry, no picture today!  I was so hungry at the time that I gobbled up the eggs as soon as I took them off the stove!)

Cake Shake: The Ultimate Compromise Between Ice Cream and Cake

Do you frequently have a hankering for both ice cream AND cake at the same time?  Do you often top your cake with a dollop of ice cream and let the creaminess melt into the tiny crevices of your cake?  Do you crave a spongy cake saturated with sweet milk that seeps out into your mouth with each bite?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, I have the perfect dessert for you -- the cake shake.

The cake shakes at Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand perfectly marry the moist, spongy texture of a cupcake with the thick, creamy richness of ice cream to create a true masterpiece.  The cake shake creatively combines Madagascar vanilla ice cream (not sure entirely what that means, except that it is delicious) with one of three varieties of cupcakes -- chocolate (on chocolate chip), red velvet (my personal favorite!), or a seasonal flavor (yesterday it was key lime) -- to make a thick shake that always hits the spot.  However, to be able to truly appreciate the beauty of the cake shake, you really have to see the process in making it.

Delia's makes cupcakes from scratch.  Each cupcake is baked with love and immaculately decorated with homemade icing.**  To make the cake shake, an employee removes the wrapper before throwing the cupcake into a blender with vanilla ice cream, and mixes everything together.  I won't lie -- it does pain me a little to see a perfectly baked red velvet cupcake being destroyed in a blender full of ice cream.  The first time I ordered one, I almost saw this happen in slow motion, as I was screaming in my head, "NOOOOOOOOOO!  SAVE THE CUPCAKE!!!"  But then I tasted the final product and the heavens parted and angels sang.  Why had it taken so long for someone to come up with this brilliant idea?

I'm not sure how many tries it took to get the perfect balance in textures, but it truly is amazing.  Tiny bits pieces of cake are homogeneously mixed in, so that every bite of ice cream contains a sweet, spongy morsel.  As you continue to sip/scoop out your cake shake (yes, it is a tad viscous at first...what did you expect?), the ice cream melts and soaks into the little bits of cake.  The longer you wait to finish the shake, the more the cake absorbs the ice cream around it -- so beware of the soggy cake shake!  If you must, you can store an unfinished shake in the freezer for a late night snack or, better yet, a breakfast of champions.

So, the next time you are itching for some cake and ice cream, head over to Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand for a truly innovative and satisfying treat -- the cake shake.

Oh!  I forgot to mention that Delia's also has delicious chicken sausage "slingers," as the name might imply.  You can't really go wrong with what you order there.  However, if you need something to contrast the sweetness of your cake shake, ask for a side of potato wedges, perfectly seasoned with a blend of savory spices.  These "fries" really hit the spot after a long day!

**Note: They sell the cupcakes by themselves, but to be honest, they're not the best cupcakes in town.  They're okay, but they're not the best.  They're a little drier than I would like, but this actually makes them pair well with vanilla ice cream!