Happy New Year gourmetcubicle readers! 2016 is finally here. Put everything related to 2015 behind and start over. It’s a new year, meaning that you’re free to set new goals and resolutions for yourself. It’s the perfect time to do it. It’s a known fact that the success rate of resolutions made while intoxicated during a NYE party don’t have a high success rate, so if you did that, my advice is for you to go and revise them. Be honest with yourself, because at the end of the day, you’re not fooling anyone other than yourself.

I made an extensive list of resolutions that I broke down into 5 different categories: health, personal, travel, passion (aka gourmetcubicle) and career. I don’t think that it’s a good idea to share my personal ones, nor the ones related to my career, but I’m more than happy to share the rest. I’ll start with gourmetcubicle and I'll come back to the rest in my future posts. I tried to make my goals simple and achievable, but challenging enough to keep me going. I value a strong foundation over anything else and even though it takes longer to take baby steps, organic growth combined with good planning are always the fastest way to success. So without further ado, I present you with gourmetcubicle’s resolutions for 2016:

Keep posting once a week
Keep the “Cooking with Friends” series rolling
Improve photography with emphasis on props
Increase exposure on social media (double the number of Instagram followers)
Attend events and seminars for established bloggers

Only 5 goals you may ask yourself? Well I could think of a lot more, but the point is that I want to be able to stay focused on all 5 categories (health, personal, travel, passion and career) with 5 goals related to each. That’s 25 goals to focus on and it takes a lot of discipline not to get sidetracked. Gourmetcubicle is my hobby so it wouldn’t be fair to turn it into something more than that as for right now.

Anyway before I bore you too much with resolutions, I will go ahead and move on to today’s recipe: Deviled Eggs. They are the perfect party food: flavorful, easy to make and no-fuss to pick up and chow down on. What’s really great about them from a cook’s perspective is that they require low effort to prepare a bunch (for example 10 eggs will yield 20 deviled eggs).

I’m not sure where the English name originates from, but I will assume it’s due to the use of Tabasco sauce in the American version. In Hungarian they are called Casino Eggs (Kaszinótojás) and in Romanian simply Stuffed Eggs (Oua umplute). They are slightly different from the variations I’ve tasted here in the U.S. in that both in Hungary and Romania they are covered with a thick and heavy mayo based sauce. For the sake of the most commonly mentioned of all resolutions (eat healthier) I decided to skip the sauce.

In Romania, the filling often contains egg yolks, mustard, mayo, and a fair amount of chicken liver pate. It’s an acquired taste, which I personally love, but I know it’s not that well received here in the U.S. I will eventually post that recipe as well, but for now you’ll have to settle for this vegetarian variation with mushrooms and cornichons. In the recipe I recommended kewpie mayo which is a traditional Japanese mayo that I find a lot less heavy and greasy. Kewpie mayo reminds me more of homemade mayo both in color and consistency. If you can’t find any in stores, just make your own mayo. It will make a huge difference. I also sprinkled crunchy bacon bits on them, a trick I learned from a fellow blogger friend of mine, Mike. Enjoy!

DEVILED EGGS

Yields 24-28 pieces
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

12-14 large eggs, pasture raised
1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (about 1 medium-sized shallot)
1/3 lb cremini mushrooms, washed and finely diced
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry vermouth (or dry red wine)
1/3 cup cornichons, finely diced
1/3 cup kewpie mayo (or homemade mayo)
1 TBS plain yogurt
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
thinly sliced jalapeño or serano, for garnish (optional)
chives, for garnish
crispy bacon, for garnish (or croutons) (optional)

Instructions

Place eggs in a single layer in medium saucepan. Fill the pot with cold water to cover the eggs well over an inch. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes.
In a stainless steel skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until it starts shimmering. Add shallots and sauté for 2 minutes stirring frequently to avoid burning them.
Carefully add vermouth and cook until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue cooking for 5 more minutes stirring occasionally. If it becomes too dry add a tablespoon of water.
Season with black pepper and give it a last stir. Set aside to cool down.
When the eggs are done, drain the water from the pot and run under cold tap water until they are cool enough to be handled. Crack the eggshells, gently roll them on the counter and peel the eggs.
Slice the eggs in half lengthwise and scoop the yolks into a medium bowl. Set egg whites aside.
Using a fork, finely crumble the egg yolks. Add mayo, yogurt, mustard, mushroom sauté and lemon juice. Mix well. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes. Taste, adjust seasoning and stir.
Using a piping bag or a teaspoon disperse the egg filling into each egg white half. Sprinkle with crispy bacon bits (or croutons for vegetarian version) and chives. Optionally add a drop of Sriracha sauce and a thin slice of hot pepper.

Notes

CAUTION! Adding vermouth to the skillet may cause an open flame. Do not panic as it will die out as soon as the alcohol evaporates (matter or seconds) but stand back a bit when adding it.
To clean mushroom, fill a quarter of a bowl with cold tap water. Drop mushrooms into the bowl. Submerge each one and then lift them out of the water with your hands. Place them on a paper towel and let them dry.

The time has come for me to post a heartier and manlier dish here on gourmetcubicle. As of late, I committed to getting back in shape by losing the extra weight I gained during my business trip. I picked up running again and, for the first time since college, I started lifting weights. Getting enough exercise has never been a concern of mine though, as I've always been active, either playing soccer in Zilker Park or volleyball on various leagues around town. The biggest challenge for me when it comes to losing weight is to hold back from eating so much. I severely lack discipline in the kitchen.

I love carbs. It doesn't matter if it's pasta, fresh crispy breads or starches, I embrace them all. I like to blame my weakness for carbs on the Romanian and Hungarian food culture. Bread and potatoes are two things that are never missing from the dining table. Abundance is the word that best describes both these cuisines. You'll never walk out of the house of a Romanian or Hungarian feeling hungry or anything short of being completely full.

It all comes down to our culture of hospitality, and Romanians take hospitality extremely seriously. We greet our guests and visitors with fresh baked bread and salt. It's a tradition that dates back to before Christianity and it is seen as a symbol of acceptance and kindness. But why two simple things like bread and salt, you may ask? Well, bread was the main source of food representing the wealth of the fields for the peasants, whereas salt, for a long time in history, was one of the most expensive and valuable assets in trading.

Fun Fact: the word companion, which is defined as a person or animal one shares significant time with, comes from Latin and has at its roots the words com- meaning "with" in English, and panis, which is "bread".

Moving on to our recipe today, this is a dish so versatile that you can serve it for breakfast, brunch or even dinner. It is a savory, flavorful and filling dish, easy enough to be prepared even by a beginner cook. The pork belly can be substituted with bacon if that's something that is more accessible, and the brussels sprouts can be replaced by broccoli florets of roughly chopped cabbage. Enjoy!

PORK BELLY AND OYSTER MUSHROOM POTATO HASH

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients

1 lb pork belly, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 TBS sunflower seed oil (or peanut)
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
2-3 jalapeños, sliced (remove seeds and membrane for milder version)
1 1/2 lbs medium potatoes, unpeeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp smoked paprika
3/4 lb brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved
4-5 green onions, roughly chopped
1 lb oyster mushrooms, rinsed
1 TBS unsalted butter
1/2 medium lemon juiced (about 1-2 TBS fresh lemon juice)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 eggs, pasture raised
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped (for garnish)
1 tsp smoked paprika (for garnish)
salt, to taste

Instructions

Sprinkle the pork belly with salt and pepper.
Heat one tablespoon oil in an oven proof cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add pork belly and cook for about 10 minutes until the bits become crispy and golden brown. Stir occasionally.
Remove the pork bites from the pan and transfer them to a paper towel lined plate or a wire rack. Add the rest of the oil to the skillet.
Preheat oven to 400F (200C) degrees.
Add onion to the skillet carefully. Be careful not to toss it in because you risk getting burned by the splattering oil. Cook for 3 minutes. Add jalapeños and cook for another 2 minutes. Add potatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper and one teaspoon smoked paprika. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes stirring every now and then. Add the brussels sprouts. Cook for 10 minutes and then add green onions, mushrooms, butter, lemon juice and quarter cup parsley (half of the total amount). Cook for 5-7 more minutes. Toss and stir occasionally.
Remove skillet from the heat. Toss in the pork belly bits and gently stir. Crack the eggs on top of the hash and place the skillet in the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the eggs are cooked to your favored consistency. 10 minutes baking will yield a runny egg (my favorite) whereas 15 minutes will get the egg cooked all the way through.
Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and smoked paprika. Taste and adjust saltiness. Serve hot.