All right, my vegan friends, plug your ears and cover your eyes, 'cause I'm about to say something you're not gonna like. There is no substitution for real butter. I'm not talking about the fatty, flavorless sticks that you find at most supermarkets. I'm talking about Plugra, a European-style butter that has an intoxicating aroma and a delicate flavor. It has the power to transform the simplest ingredients into mouth-watering masterpieces.
This morning my friend Kelly and I went for a 5.5-mile run around East Memphis, then joined The Wife and Michael for brunch in our backyard. Michael brought bottle of Prosecco that he mixed with a homemade raspberry syrup which turned the bubbly a beautiful shade of magenta. It was so much fun. The weather was beautiful, and our dogs provided plenty of Wrestlemania-style entertainment. For our meal we had thyme & rosemary scented potatoes (thanks, Michael), homemade mushroom-sage sausage, and cheese grits topped with a fried egg and tomato-leek confit...which brings me back to the butter.
I'm new to this whole confit thing. I was not even sure what it was until I read about it in Gourmet magazine a few months ago. I did not believe you could confit anything without duck fat, but then I discovered you could do it with Plugra. Thus began my adventure. I have been messing around with recipes since my discovery and have found that an unfussy mix of leeks, tomatoes, Plugra, and time simply can not be beat. Do this:
7 campari tomatoes (peeled)
1 leek (thinly sliced and washed)
2 tablespoons of unsalted Plugra
Everything goes into a pan on the stovetop. Simmer while covered on low for an hour. Remove the lid and raise the temperature to medium. Reduce until thickened. Serve over eggs or potatoes or anything you want to become more delicious.
5 comments:
I've never heard of Plugra but your description reminds me of Ghee! Yum
Mmmmmm.....butter poisoning.
Thank you again for a loooovely brunchtastic Sunday.
Gooey yolks kick so much ass.
Bianca: you'd fit in just fine in the west of scotland, where just every soda (to use the american word) is known as Ginger. This dates back to the days when ( a long time ago) the only soda was fizzy lemonade, and it had ginger in it.. but it is very confusing when someone ask you to pick them up a bottle of ginger and you discover that they did not mean ginger ale or ginger beer but coke or lemonade or fanta !
The prosecco plus strawberry syrup sounds *fantastic*. What a neat way to turn a meeting into a party!
oh yum--that looks fantastic!
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