Category: Breakfast

Yogurt with Berries and Granola

Leave a comment


When you want a really light, delicious breakfast, snack or dessert, nothing beats good yogurt, berries and granola. This is a dish that I make all the time, but never think of writing down.

We usually buy the best whole milk plain yogurt we can find (Brown Cow makes amazing yogurt!) and then add a little honey or jam. My favorite jam to add is Spicy Peach, paired with Cinnamon Granola. But you can really use almost any jam or fruit, even a frozen berry mix if you want to, and any granola you have on hand.

Ingredients

1 cup any berries – blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are good
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp Spicy Peach Jam
handful of Cinnamon Granola

In a wide, flat bowl start with yogurt, and drop jam over in little plops. (Technical term.) Toss berries and then granola over. Stir gently and devour.

Mushroom, Leek & Cheese Scrambled Eggs

Leave a comment

Poked through the veggie drawer this morning, hungry for something “brunchy” yet healthy. Fortunately I had some really nice mushrooms and a leek, perfect for scrambled eggs. I made up a recipe on the fly and to my delight, it was surprisingly delicious. Thought I’d have enough for leftovers, but nope – ate the whole thing!

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium leek, halved and cut into 1″ pieces (be sure to wash really well)
1/4 cup diced onions
2 Tbsp diced peppers
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 kosher salt
few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of dried basil leaves
½ tsp butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 slice sharp cheddar cheese (approximately) torn into smaller pieces

Heat olive oil on medium heat in a large frying pan and add mushroom, onions and peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms have released their water and it has dried back up again. (7-8 minutes?) Add the butter, leeks and seasonings and saute for another 5 minutes.

Once leeks have softened up a bit, turn the heat way down. After a few minutes stir in the beaten eggs and start folding and gently stirring. Once eggs are mostly cooked, add cheese and continue folding and stirring until cheese is mostly melted. Check seasoning and serve immediately.

French Toast with Sautéed Blueberries

Leave a comment

I love French Toast. Don’t know why I don’t make it more often. Probably because Kumy is such a pancake guy. French Toast is honestly so easy that I’ve never written it down until now.

I also like using fruit with just a bit of of sugar, maple syrup or honey for sweetening. If the berries are really sweet, you may not need to add all the sugar. You can also substitute eggnog for the milk – it’s delicious – or you could just as easily use Oatmilk if you like.

Ingredients:

French Toast
3 1″ slices of bread (mine was a flatter loaf)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Pinch of salt

Berries
1 Tbsp butter
2 tsp brown sugar or 1 tsp honey
1/2 cup blueberries or any other fresh berries

Mix eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a flat bowl or pie pan. Lay bread slices in the mixture, and flip them over. Let soak in for a few minutes, pushing down on them once in a while to make sure they soak up as much of the milk mixture as possible.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. You can add a little butter to the pan, but you really don’t need it with nonstick.

Place soaked bread in skillet, drizzling any leftover milk mix over. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until it’s starting to get a bit golden underneath. Flip over and cook another 2 minutes, until it’s golden on the bottom and starting to get a little brown.

Remove French Toast to a serving plate.

Quickly add the butter and let it melt. Toss brown sugar over and stir for 10-15 seconds. Add blueberries and sauté blueberries in the sugar butter mixture for a minute. Pour berries and everything over the French Toast.

Delish!

Mel’s Cheesy Bacon Croissant Breakfast Casserole

1 Comment

I mixed this up on Christmas Eve, and baked and served it for Christmas Brunch this morning. It was incredibly delicious – another great recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Mel uses shallots or red onions, and doesn’t add hot sauce, but other than that, this is really her recipe. We all flipped over it and I love that you can make the night before!

Ingredients:

1 pound (454 g) croissants, halved lengthwise (about 5-7 small/medium croissants, or 4 giant Costco ones)
8 to 10 slices bacon, chopped into 1″ slices (I use thick-sliced. See my bacon chopping trick.)
½ cup diced onion
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (freshly-grated is best)
9 large eggs
2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 dashes hot sauce

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice the croissants in 1″pieces and lay in a 9×12″ baking dish. Bake 10-12 minutes, tossing halfway. You want them to be a little toasted.

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon to a plate, and remove all but a tablespoon of the bacon grease from the skillet. Add onion and sauté 3-5 minutes.

Mix eggs, milk, cream, salt, pepper and hot sauce in a bowl.

Sprinkle bacon and onions over the croissants. Then sprinkle cheese over and finally pour the egg mixture over. You don’t need to toss it or anything.

Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Remove cover and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Let stand 15 minutes and serve. Wow.

Baked Apple Oatmeal

Leave a comment

Another MelsKitchenCafe recipe – and I like this because you can prep it ahead of time and it isn’t overly sweet. It makes a great breakfast on a cold morning, but you could even use this as a treat with afternoon tea. Or as a weeknight dessert, served with a dollop of sweetened, whipped cream.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned regular style oats
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground Nutmeg
1/4 – 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 T butter, melted, (omit for a vegan version)
2 large apples, cored and chopped (no need to peel) (I used Gala, but really you can mix it up.)

Mix oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. If you like things a bit sweeter, use the larger amount of brown sugar.

Mix the milk, egg, vanilla and melted butter, and pour into the oats. Stir gently to combine

Place chopped apples in the bottom of a 9×9 cake pan, (or a 9×12 pan as shown) and top with the oatmeal mixture. You can cover and hold this overnight, or you can bake it straight away at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Delish!

Shakshuka with Feta Cheese 

1 Comment

shakshuka-full-size

I love a dish that uses pantry ingredients, and Shakshuka is a great breakfast dish that does so. It serves 4-6 people, and with hot naan and hot tea, this was so good!

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne, or to taste
1 large or two small cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, with juices (can sub out 1 smaller can for Ro-tel if you like things spicy)
1 tsp kosher salt, to taste
¼ tsp black pepper, to taste
5 ounces feta, crumbled (about 1 1/4 cups)
4-6 large eggs

Chopped cilantro, for serving  (use more than shown in the photo – I was almost out!)
Hot sauce, for serving

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook gently until very soft, about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add garlic and cook until tender, 1 to 2 minutes; stir in cumin, paprika and cayenne, and cook 1 minute.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour in tomatoes and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; simmer until tomatoes have thickened, about 10 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Stir in crumbled feta. Using a larger spoon, create one little “crater” for each egg, and gently crack the eggs into them. Season eggs with a little more salt and pepper.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, 7 to 10 minutes. Check the whites to be sure they are cooked. (Unless you like uncooked egg whites, but ugh – not me!) IF you really like your yolks cooked, let it cook a little longer.

Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with hot sauce and warm naan, pita bread or whole wheat tortillas.

Good Morning Muffins/Breakfast Bars

Leave a comment

berries-and-bananas
Beautiful image by Jason Leung – Unsplash

Our local realtor sent another postcard with a wonderful recipe and I can see this becoming a staple in our kitchen. It’s listed as a muffin, but is more dense and chewy – more like a breakfast bar.

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup oats, ground finely
1 1/2 cups oats, old fashioned whole
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup wild blueberries (or mix of strawberries and blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all but the berries well. Then gently fold in the berries, saving a few for topping. Fill 12 muffin cups right to the top. (These muffins have no leavening agent, so they won’t rise.)  Top with remaining berries.

Bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Caitlin’s Curried Avocado Toast

Leave a comment

avocados

Avocados by twinsfisch on Unsplash

My friend Caitlin is a wonderful cook and she made curried avocado toast the other day that was delicious. Don’t know why I never thought of putting a spin on avocado toast, but why not?  Avocados are not a common food in the Indian Subcontinent at all, but putting those flavors together is incredibly good.

Ingredients:

1 avocado, seeded and peeled and very slightly mashed in a bowl
sprinkle of curry powder (Caitie used Madras Curry Powder)
pinch of Cayenne pepper
quick grind of black pepper
sprinkle of Maldon Salt

Toast a good, hearty bread. Scoop avocado onto toast and sprinkle with rest of ingredients. Devour.

Variations: Caitie also suggested an alternative of avocado, salt and pepper and chopped fresh rosemary, which I will definitely try. She also said avocado toast made on Herbes de Provence bread is amazing. I have a feeling this is going to be a summer of Avocado Toast at our house!

Tangy Fruit Salad

2 Comments

Another great recipe from Ree Drummond, that’s both pretty and delicious.  I ended up halving Ree’s original recipe, which serves 12, and still had more than enough for the 6 of us, with plenty left over for nibbling later.

The Orange Vanilla sauce adds just enough sweetness and tanginess to brighten everything up without being too sweet.  We loved it and had leftover fruit and syrup on vanilla ice cream the next day.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
juice of 1 orange
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 pints strawberries, hulled and halved
2 pints blueberries
1 cup red grapes, halved
1 cup green grapes, halved

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the sugar, water, orange juice and orange zest into a small saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 to thicken slightly. Set aside to cool, then stir in vanilla. Store in the fridge until cold.

Mix together all the fruit in a large bowl and refrigerate.  Just before serving, pour the syrup over the fruit, tossing gently to coat.

 

Migas: Tex-Mex Egg Casserole

Leave a comment

 

migas-smaller

With just a little cheddar melted on top.

Last Sunday all the kids were home so we had brunch. Maya requested Baked Apple Pancakes. I also made Migas and a tangy, fresh fruit salad – both recipes from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. These eggs were ridiculously delicious, especially paired with the pancakes and fruit.  I’ll add the fruit salad recipe later, but here is the best new breakfast dish I’ve had in a long time!

INGREDIENTS

4 corn tortillas
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes and peppers, with most liquid drained off (Ree uses 4 plum tomatoes and one seeded and deveined Jalapeno, chopped)
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 large onion, chopped
12 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup Cotija cheese, grated (may Use Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Etc.)
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1/4 cup Half-and-half

In a bowl, whisk together eggs and half & half. Add salt and pepper and set aside.

In a large, cast iron skillet over medium heat, heat 1 Tbsp of of oil and fry each corn tortilla just until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Chop tortillas into 1″ squares and set aside.

Then in the same pan, melt the olive oil with the butter. Add onions and bell peppers and cook until starting to turn brown/black, about 7-8 minutes.  (You may need to turn up the heat a bit.)  Add in Rotel tomatoes and stir around, then add tortilla pieces, stirring gently to combine.

Reduce heat to low.

When the heat has decreased, pour egg mixture into skillet. Stir gently to cook with the peppers, folding mixture very gently as it cooks. This just take a few minutes. Add in grated cheese and chopped cilantro, and stir to combine.

Crazy delicious!!