FOOD

FLASH IN THE PAN Mom’s Egg Salad Recipe

“Boil the eggs for nine minutes. Mix them with onion and celery. Salt and No strings attached very little pepper. Add the mayonnaise. Carefully.”

Mom’s love Serves 2 • 3 large eggs — and celery — • 1 stick celery come unfettered • 50g onion (about 1/4 of a medium sized onion) • ¼ teaspoon salt Ari LeVaux • 1 dash pepper More Content Now • 2 tablespoons mayo USA TODAY NETWORK Heat enough water to nce, when Mom cover two eggs by at least was out for a visit, an inch. When it reaches she made egg the boil, carefully lower O salad sandwiches. the eggs into the water The kids wolfed them down with a spoon. Boil for nine before I had a chance to minutes. Remove the eggs nab a sample. Their mouths and place them in cold were still full when they water. When they are cool asked for another round. enough to work with, peel I paid close attention as them. she prepared another batch, and watched her pull a move Break the celery stick I didn’t even know existed. in half. If the two halves She snapped a piece of You don’t have to chew a cud remain connected by celery in half, leaving the of twine when you eat celery. threads, gently pull the two pieces connected by [ARI LEVAUX] two pieces away from the fibers that run down each other such that the the ridge of a celery stalk. strings pull out. Once they She pulled the two pieces under the impression that we are on the cusp of our we can from her, too. are separated, remove apart, yanking the strings chewing a cud of twine was first Mother’s Day under These days when mom any more strings you from both pieces at once. just the way celery eat- the same roof in decades. makes egg salad, I do the can by digging them out Then she hunted for more, ing went. The new way, The problem with Moth- heavy lifting and fiber pull- with the tip of a knife digging and tugging out the crunchy and juicy but not er’s Day is that if we choose ing, and she leans against and pulling. You don’t fibers with the tip of a knife. chewy, ushered in a brand one specific, extraordi- the counter, watching need to fuss about trying The de-stringed cel- new celery honeymoon nary day a year to pamper, and tasting progress. The to remove every single ery had a glowing, freshly Pulling those strings will remember or otherwise salt has to be just right. fiber. But every bit that scrubbed look, while the make any celery snack more celebrate the moms in And you can’t overwork you do remove will make strings sat in a tangled palatable, and won’t leave our lives, we simultane- it. Little things. But if you the salad a little easier to pile like a green hairball. your heart deprived of fiber, ously create 364 days of don’t do the little things, chew. The resulting egg salad, because there will be plenty ordinary treatment. the kids will complain. which I managed to taste, left in that string-free Nobody’s mom is get- As for mom, she won’t Mince the celery and onion was crunchy and soft, stalk. If you could some- ting any younger, and those complain, even if you together. Chop the eggs as chunky yet smooth. how remove all the fiber who’ve already lost their leave the string in. She finely as possible without Next time you want to from celery there would mother, or never experi- never complains. It’s a turning them into a paste, give someone the royal barely be anything left but enced what it’s like to have lesson I hope to learn and add them to a bowl. treatment, peel their celery. a green column of water. a mom, might advise you to some day myself. Add the minced celery and With Mother’s Day com- Mom lives alone, and treat every day like it’s the In the meantime, I’m onions, salt and pepper. ing up, now is your chance. spent most of her 91st year last Mother’s Day on Earth. going to keep doing the Gently mix with a scooping String-free celery is a luxury in near isolation thanks And while of course little things for her that motion to avoid crushing on par with breakfast in to COVID-19. In Janu- we should pamper mom, she used to do for me. In the eggs. Taste to check bed, minus the mess. ary she came out to stay let’s remember to learn life, as in egg salad, the seasonings. Gently fold in Until then, I had been with us for a while. Now and absorb as much as little things add up. the mayo.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT FLEUR DE LOLLY

TIP OF THE WEEK than spinach or aru- Make restaurant-quality gula. And watercress Enjoy the perfect pastrami sandwich salads at home and arugula will add a peppery bite compared Throwing some leafy to mild Bibb lettuce or hot pastrami, you will likely greens into a bowl with simple green leaf lettuce. not have evenly thin slices. I some dressing is techni- 4. Mix in fresh herbs: allowed the pastrami to cool cally considered a salad, Salads are the perfect for about 45 minutes, then but there are numerous place to use up whatever wrapped it tightly in foil. After ways you can jazz up any herbs you have in your 24 hours in the refrigerator, I salad. According to a refrigerator, but you can LauraTolbert was ready to begin slicing. study conducted by the also lean all the way in UCLA School of Public and use leafier herbs like For the best pastrami, go Health, those who eat cilantro or parsley as a purchased a corned for eighth-inch-thick slices. salads and raw vegetables green in their own right. beef and had planned Remember to cut against with salad dressing have Ion Reuben sandwiches the grain of the meat. I have 5. Don’t fear the fat: considerably higher lev- A few easy ways to for days. Sweet Harold Pastrami and Swiss on Rye. a meat slicer and had a few els of vitamins C, E and bring fat to your salad recently purchased a new [LAURA TOLBERT] trial-and-error slices until I folic acid, which are key is with the dress- smoker, and I decided to found the perfect thickness. nutrients in promoting a ing, or ingredients christen the new smoker by • 2 tablespoons ground If you don’t have a slicer, use healthy immune system. like avocado, toasted smoking the corned beef. coriander your sharpest knife. Here are a few tips nuts, bacon, smoked So instead of hav- • 2 tablespoons dry yellow for making restau- salmon or cheese. ing Reuben sandwiches, mustard After the pastrami is sliced, rant-quality salads 6. Dress it before you pastrami and Swiss on • 2 tablespoons light brown it’s time to reheat. I found at home, according plate it: Wait until just rye will be on the menu sugar that the best way to do that is to Thekitchn.com: before you eat to add here at Chez Lolly. • 1 tablespoon paprika by steaming. Place a steamer 1. Make the salad dress- the dressing so the salad When purchasing a • 1 teaspoon kosher salt basket into a saucepan and ing: The classic ratio for won’t turn soggy. Start corned beef, choose one • 1 teaspoon granulated garlic add water to just under the 1 basic homemade vin- adding a little at a time; with a consistent thick- • ⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves basket. Cover the pan and aigrette is three parts you can always add more. ness, and that is as square • 2 tablespoons coarsely bring the water to a gentle oil to one part vinegar. as possible in shape. This ground black pepper simmer. Add however much of However, you can skew DRINK will help you have an the pastrami you’re reheating it more towards two Children and coffee even surface to smoke. To create the signature crust to the steamer basket, and to one if you like your Trim off any excess fat on the surface of the pas- recover. Four or five minutes dressings on the acidic According to a 2017 and any loose pieces. Cover trami, apply the rub liberally later, the pastrami slices will side. Once you know study conducted by the the corned beef with cool to thoroughly coat the corned be heated and tender. the ratio, you can mix National Coffee Asso- water and soak for 4 to 6 beef. Because of the intense and match with lots of ciation, 37% of children hours in the refrigerator. flavors of the rub, use a Now it’s finally time to make ingredients. Whisk in ages 13-18 drink coffee Most of the salt will be mild wood for smoking. For your own Dagwood Bumstead mustard or honey to every day, which is an removed, but there will best results, aim to keep the Pastrami and Swiss on Rye! keep it emulsified, or add increase from 23% in be enough remaining to smoker’s temperature as Slice a loaf of rye bread into flavor with chili flakes, 2014 and 31% in 2016. flavor your pastrami. close to 225 degrees as pos- half-inch-thick slices and shallots and herbs. After soaking, drain the sible. A good rule of thumb add a generous layer of spicy 2. Season your greens: FUN FACT water and pat the corned is to smoke about 1 hour per brown mustard to the bread. Chefs make a point of Peanuts beef dry using paper tow- pound of corned beef. The seasoning the greens, els. Now it’s time to add pastrami is done when the Next, pile on the pastrami not just the dressing, Peanuts have an the seasonings. If you internal temperature reaches to the bottom slice of bread. with a touch of salt and oil that is used as an want a milder flavor, 165 degrees. The meat’s exte- Don’t forget to top with pepper. Fresh produce ingredient while mak- start out simple and only rior will be almost black. slices of Swiss cheese. Add shines with a little salt ing glycerol, which use freshly ground black the top piece of bread, and and pepper mixed in, too. is a main component pepper and ground cori- If you’re starving, by all you’re looking at a sandwich 3. Use a mix of greens: of nitroglycerin. ander. But to add extra means, dig in and start masterpiece! Don’t forget the Romaine and iceberg flavor, I used a combina- making sandwiches. How- obligatory dill pickle spears have more of a crunch More Content Now tion of the following: ever, if you begin slicing the and side of coleslaw.