Baked egg on a bed of greens with mushrooms. (Nikki Sawyer Moore/MincedBlog.com)

Food writer and chef Nikki Sawyer Moorethis week offers a meal for one, or more: Baked egg with spinach, mushrooms and leek. She made it one recent evening, inspired after coming across lots of magazine recipes for baked eggs.

“Brilliant yellow yolks sit framed by their whites in a pan filled of sautéed greens or a yummy tomato sauce,” she writes on her food blog Minced. “It’s casual food, but also alluring.”

Find the recipe at MincedBlog.com

Pork Banh Mi Sandwich (Nikki Sawyer Moore photo)

Our foodie friend and Davidson grad Nikki Sawyer Moore has a delicious sounding recipe over on her Minced blog today: “Vietnamese Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches With Sriracha Mayo.” It’s not close to lunch but my mouth is watering. She describes it:

“Ground pork, lemongrass, green onions, garlic, jalapeno, and fish sauce combine to make juicy meatballs.  The meatballs are then seared off in a pan, before being placed on a noisily crunchy baguette and topped with pickled carrots, fresh cilantro, and a spicy sriracha mayonnaise.   It’s about the farthest thing from boring and it’s perfect for a quick lunch or dinner, a late-night snack, or a Sunday football game.”

“This is a sandwich you want to feed people,” she writes. OK, we’re ready.

LINK: Sept. 1, 2011, Nikki Sawyer Moore’s “Minced” blog,  “Vietnamese Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches With Sriracha Mayo.”

Peppermint profiteroles are a cream puff with a sweet filling.

To heck with New Year’s resolutions. I know the season of over-indulgence is over, but I won’t deny that I’ve stockpiled peppermint ice cream and have frozen Christmas cookies to make sure the season lasts just a tad bit longer. I recently had to test a recipe for cream puffs for an upcoming class, and before I knew it, I was whipping up a batch of peppermint profiteroles. Read the full story

Berry Tart with Mascarpone (Nikki Moore/DavidsonNews.net photo)

Finding the perfect pint of strawberries has become less and less difficult recently which means the height of berry season is almost upon us.  I have a weakness for fresh berries and when I decide to splurge on them, I want to make sure that I use them in a way that lets them reach their fullest potential.  Fortunately, this tart does just that.

Tarts begin with the all-important crust.  Illustrating the importance of pastry dough to any good cook’s repertoire, I use the same recipe for sweet and savory dishes.  After all, flaky, buttery crusts tend to work well for both chicken pot pies and apple pies, not to mention everything in between.

Read the full story