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Mmm… breakfast pr0n
Not too sure what to call this because it seems to be straddling the line I have in my head between frittata and omelet. I consider it too thin to be a proper frittata although to class it an omelet seems to diminish it in some way that I can’t quite put my finger on.
At any rate, there isn’t anything hidden, what you see is what it is: Grape tomatoes and broccoli florets sauteed in olive oil for a bit, then three beaten eggs poured in and finished in my little counter top oven. I changed my mind two or three times over what cheese I wanted. Nearly went with blue cheese, then considered mozzarella, and decided to grate some aged Parmesan. It was good.
Breakfast Pr0n
This Tex-Mex favorite is a classic in its own right. Huevos rancheros are a breakfast staple of the Southwestern states out of Mexico. This plate features chorizo sausage, spicy refried beans, and deep fried tortilla wedges along and atop the fried eggs. Garnishes today are shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, pickled jalapenos, and a tomato salsa. Sprinkled with a nice ground dried chili pepper/salt seasoning mix. Mmm..mm…
I had a few wedges left over so I made a snack plate up with them and some of the beans. The tortillas only take a minute to fry up in a deep fryer and they are well worth the warm-up time for the oil.
Mmm… Soups and Stews
It’s getting that time of year for nice soups and stews and such like. We had some seafood gumbo the other day:
I made some pork stock recently, first time I’ve tried it and wasn’t sure it would work but I took a shot at it. We made a big pot of navy beans cooked with smocked hocks a few days back. As usual, I removed the hocks to cool and stripped out what meat I could and returned that to the pot. We have been throwing the bones and skin and gristle away ever since the vet told us not to give any to the dogs, but with the memory of making a wonderful stock from the Thanksgiving turkey carcass still fresh in my mind I did the same with these bones. Roasted them in a hot oven until they were nearly burned (I meant to do that!) and then simmered them in a big pot with celery, onions, carrots, garlic and etc. Worked great! I used it making some ham and beans:
That’s a wedge of my World Famous Cheddar Cornbread in there. Alas, there aren’t any fresh jalapenos in this batch. Here’s a little breakfast pr0n:
We love us some breakfast links! There’s hash browned potatoes under the eggs. Mmm…
Just had a little lunch. Mrs J finished off the beans with another piece of the cornbread and I cooked some fresh rice up because there were some gumbo leftovers I thought would be yummy. I was correct:
Holiday Gift Ideas: Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are pretty and very tasty. They’re easy and just a touch above regular chocolate chip cookies.
Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- dash of salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds or peanuts), chopped
mixing bowl and cookie sheet
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Sift together salt, soda, flour and cocoa, then add to butter mixture, blending well. Add nuts and chocolate chips. Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on cooling rack.
Thanksgiving Files: Cranberry Upside-Down Cake
This is by far the most requested dessert I make. This time of year every dinner I attend, this is what I am asked to bring. I’ll be making two tonight to take to various get-togethers this week. Easy, easy, easy and foolproof, but always a beautiful presentation. If you’re looking to wow, try this one. From 2009:
Cranberries are on sale! Buy them now, because I’ve got some great cranberry recipes coming up. I’m starting with this one, because if you’re going to be a guest at someone else’s Thanksgiving dinner, this is the dish to take. It’s pretty to look at and it’s both sweet and tangy, perfect after a big dinner. You’ll wow everyone with it and it’s foolproof to make.
Cranberry Upside Down Cake
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups cranberries, chopped*
- ½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp orange zest (rind)
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup milk
Topping
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1-1/2 tbsp orange juice (more as needed)
- 2 tsp butter, softened
8×8 glass baking dish & mixing bowl
Preheat oven to 350°
Melt 3 tbsp of butter and pour into baking dish, spread to cover bottom and up the sides. Add ½ cup sugar, mix with butter on bottom of pan. Add cranberries & walnuts, spread over bottom of pan. Cream remaining butter & sugar, add vanilla, egg, orange zest, mix well. Add flour, baking powder & milk, mix until well blended, don’t over mix. Pour batter over cranberry mixture. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden brown and center bounces back at the touch. Invert on plate. Let cool.
Topping: Mix together butter, orange juice & powdered sugar, pour over cake and serve.
* if you don’t have a food processor, you can leave cranberries whole.
Mmm… Corned Beef Hash
With eggs sunny side up. Needing to use up some corned beef. I have another good meal left before it’s gone. Maybe tomorrow I will do some more hash with a different recipe. Some red and green peppers would add some color. Maybe some cheese?
Mmm… Breakfast! (I love my skillet.)
I was browsing around for breakfast ideas and found this recipe. It’s very similar to breakfasts with sausage and hash browns that I’ve done before so there were no surprises. Today I broke up a few slices of the hot salami I bought at that Italian deli and stuck into the freezer for later. It has a wonderful garlic aroma that was a nice addition to the dish. We had a hard freeze last night and my sprig of thyme suffered but it still worked fine.
Breakfast Pr0n
Those salameats we brought back from the Italian deli the other day make just fine breakfast sausages, and those eggs are some Mrs J bought from a free range chicken operation. Interesting how much thicker the eggs shells are than on the supermarket eggs.
Mmm… Deep Fried Hash Browns
I wondered how these would turn out. Took a grated potato and squeezed the water out of it, then tried to make some little potato balls with a cookie scoop for a mold. No binder of any kind, and they fell apart in the fryer basket, mostly. Nothing else to do but let the hot oil work. When they looked nice and brown I tipped them onto a rack to drain, and salted them hot. The end product wasn’t what I had envisioned but they were very good nonetheless-crispy and crunchy, a nice textural counterpoint to the sunny side up eggs. I’m thinking hard about how to exploit these things in another dish. I wonder if dusting them with flour and dipping in egg would help to hold them together? Batter? Time is wasting, work to do!
TaMara
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LFern7
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