Citric Acid Source

Such a sexy title for a blog post, I know.

Back in the day, when I wrote about my clone recipe for Baskin Robbins' Daiquiri Ice, I said citric acid might be hard to find outside of health food stores, so I gave a couple other options.

A lovely reader (I have readers?!) just let me know that she spotted citric acid near the canning supplies at her local Uber Mart. So, if you are looking to get your citric acid, now's the time.

Citric acid is the best ingredient to use if you can get it, because it adds tartness without adding sweetness or any other flavors. But, any of the other subsitutes like Fruit Fresh or even unsweetened Kool-Aid powder, will work fine. The main thing is to add a little at a time, and taste as you go. 

Each time you make the recipe, your limes will be a little different, so each time you'll need to add a different amount of sour.

Great Minds Think Alike (aka "Sloppy Eggs")

I’ve added a few dairy-free recipes to my normal routine, even though I can have the “good stuff” again. Most of these recipes were borne out of frustration and desperation—no time to cook with the liebschen underfoot, and no time to shop, and limited in what prepared foods I could purchase. But eggs and salsa were always A OK, cheap, and in my fridge.

So I created Sloppy Eggs. 

Now that the liebschen is sleeping better, and therefore I am sleeping better, I’ve had more time to cook, shop, and look around for recipes, but I still make sloppy eggs at least twice a month, because it’s so easy and so good.

Imagine my surprise when, paging through How to Cook Everything Vegetarian last night before bed, there was Mark Bittman’s version of Sloppy Eggs (though he calls them something else.) 

He takes more care with his version, but mine is better, if you don’t mind scrubbing your pan a little bit.

Sloppy Eggs (serves 2)

If you like things spicy, you can use a medium salsa. If you like spicy, but your partner does not, toss some hot sauce in after you serve.

4 eggs

Half a jar of tomato salsa with black bean and corn salsa

Hot sauce (optional)

Grated cheese (optional)

Starch for sopping – cup of pasta, rice, noodles, bread, baked/mashed potato, polenta, whatever you’re in the mood for. Enough for two generous servings.

Equipment: medium saucepan or skillet with a lid

Steps:

Start your starch if you need to boil something.

Dump the jar of salsa into the pan. Turn heat to medium. Stir salsa until it starts to bubble just a little, then turn the heat to low.

Make a hole in the salsa with a spoon. Crack in four eggs.

Let eggs sit for 30 seconds, then spoon a little bit of sauce up and around the eggs.

Cover and let cook for another minute, then turn off heat and wait 2-3 minutes.

Get your starch ready.

Check eggs. If the whites on the tops of the eggs start to cloud over, you’re done. If they aren’t, cover, turn the heat on for another 30 seconds, then wait another minute or two.

Sloppy eggs aren’t fussy.