Fresh Breakfast Sausage

Finally made this recipe from Everyday Food this morning. Really good and very fresh tasting. There's really no reason to buy frozen since this took maybe a minute to put together.

Crazy Easy Granola

I got this recipe from the Everyday Food Twitter feed and made it last night. My favorite kind of recipe: simple and tasty.

Here's the recipe in 140 characters or less: Simple granola: Mix 3c oats+ 1.5c nuts+ 1/2 cup ea maple syrup & olive oil. Toast at 350, then add salt & your fave dried fruit.

Simple granola
3 C oats
1 1/2 C nuts, chopped (I used 1 cup organic, salted cashews and 1/2 cup organic sunflower seeds)
1/2 C maple syrup (I don't think there's any point to making this if you don't use real maple syrup!)
1/2 C olive oil

Mix ingredients together and toast at 350, then add coarse salt and your favorite dried fruit (I used dried blueberries). In my oven and on a smaller rimmed baking sheet, this took about 20 minutes to toast up nicely.

Omelet for Two

Mmmm, we started 2010 off right with this breakfast from Barefoot Contessa. What I liked most (besides the taste) is that everything is all mixed up together: meat, eggs and potatoes.

Omelet for Two
1/4 pound good thick-cut bacon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup medium-diced Yukon gold potato
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
5 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons milk or cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts 4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, diced, plus extra grated cheese, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the bacon crosswise in 1-inch slices. Cook the bacon in an 8-inch ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard the fat from the pan. Add the butter to the pan, and then add the potato and yellow onion. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the jalapeno pepper and cook for 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the scallions and diced Cheddar. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, (it took more like 30 minutes for me) until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated Cheddar and bake for another minute. Serve hot directly from the pan.

The nice thing about this is that you could easily switched up the meat or cheeses, or add more veggies or use egg whites for a different flavor. I found I had enough cheese and did not have to add more at the end.

Streusel Coffee Cake

The holidays with my family often brings this streusel coffee cake. Direct from my Minneapolis great-grandparents Lutheran church cookbook, this is basically the perfect coffee cake recipe. We always double it, but I'll include the single and double measurements.



Streusel Coffee Cake

Single
1 1/2 C flour
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C butter
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1 t vanilla

filling
1/2 C brown sugar
2 T powdered sugar
1 T flour
1 t cinnamon
2 T soft of melted butter
nuts if you wish, I omit

Cream sugar, butter, egg, milk and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix dry mixture into creamed mixture.

In separate bowl, combine ingredients for filling.

In greased 8 x 8 pan, layer a little less than half the batter. Top with 3/4ths of the filling. Layer remaining batter (this is the hardest step because the batter is so thick, I try to drop and spread the batter without picking up the filling). Sprinkle remaining filling on top and bake 25 minutes in a 350 oven.

Double
3 C flour
6 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter
2 eggs
1 C milk
2 t vanilla

filling
1 C brown sugar
4 T powdered sugar
2 T flour
2 T cinnamon (Allspice is a good substitution, in addition to a pinch of nutmeg)
4 T soft butter

Double baking time is between 30 and 40 minutes, depending on your oven. Photo from Krusteaz.com

My new favorite frittata

I've made many a frittata but this is my new fav...such an easy and delicious way to make eggs for a crowd.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Frittata

1. 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2. 6 thin slices of pancetta (3 ounces) – or cubed (available at T-Joe’s)
3. 1 leek, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
4. 1 cup baby spinach – I used a bit more
5. 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes roughly chopped
6. 8 large eggs, beaten w/ splash of milk
7. Salt and freshly ground pepper
8. 3 ounces fresh goat cheese (approx. 1/2 cup)

Preheat the broiler. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add the pancetta and brown over moderately high heat, about 3 minutes. If you’re using slices, transfer the pancetta to a plate and let cool, then crumble it and add back to skillet.

Add the leek to the skillet and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and tomatoes and sauté until spinach is nearly wilted, about 1 minute.

Season the eggs with salt and pepper and whisk in splash of milk and the goat cheese. Pour egg-mixture over the veggies in the skillet and use spatula to combine all ingredients. Bake on medium to low heat for about 15 minutes ( *While cooking run spatula around the edges of the pan to assure frittata isn’t sticking), until the frittata is nearly set. Place on middle rack under broiler just for a few minutes to complete cooking process and brown the top.

Slide the spinach and goat cheese frittata onto a cutting board or serving tray, cut it into wedges and serve at once. Serves about 4.

Margaret's Confetti Egg Strata

This breakfast casserole is my sister-in-law Margaret's recipe. Very adaptable and hard to keep from hungry people.

Confetti Egg Strata

1/2 loaf Italian bread, cut into 1 inch cubs
8 oz ham, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup red or green pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup green onions with tops, sliced
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
10 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups milk
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

In a greased baking dish, layer half of bread, cheese and veggies. Repeat. Whisk milk and seasonings into eggs until well blended. Slowly pour evenly over layered ingredients. Cover with foil and refrigerate several hours overnight.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes or until strata is set and top is golden brown.

As far as substitutions, you can do all kinds of things. I skip the mushrooms. Bacon or sausage both work great. I like a lot of green onions, so I load up on those. We eat a lot of sourdough bread and don't always make it through a loaf before it starts to go bad, so I freeze it. This last time I made it with all my leftover bread, including sourdough, boule, two croissants and some country Italian bread. You could make it Mexican with chorizo, salsa and Mexican cheese.

Untested Breakfast Recipes

Mmm, these are some of the recipes I've flagged, but not yet tried.

Carrot Muffins
Strawberry Coffee Cake
Apple Tart
Homemade Bagels
Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Pink Grapefruit Yogurt Cake
Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles (which I've both had and made a variation of after being introduced to them by Joe)

Some of my favorite breakfast foods to eat or bring when staying at someones house are banana bread and strawberry bread. At home we usually do waffles or buttermilk pancakes (recipes from Joy of Cooking) or Anthony makes really tasty egg sandwiches.

I'll post a few other favorites like danish puff and my sister-in-law Margaret's confetti egg casserole. Photo from here.

Breakfast Foods and Recipes

I've been thinking about breakfast foods, in part because of tailgating, but also because cold mornings make me want toasty good things to start the day off right.

Should we do some breakfast related posts this month?

Laura's Sausage Bake

The basic recipe, can be adapted as needed:

Cut up bread - enough to fill the bottom of the greased pan (I typically use leftover hamburger/hot dog buns)

Then mix:
6 to 8 eight eggs
Can of mushroom soup
Sausage (this time I used a 1 lb of plain sausage and 1/2 lb of sage sausage)
Cheese (this time I used 3/4 block of cream cheese & some leftover cottage cheese in the mixture)
Sautéed onions, garlic and peppers (typically I use a yellow onion, but this time I used red onion. I also don't always add pepper, but did this time)
Pepper & salt to taste

Then bake covered -- typically an hour or so (more if it's frozen). But, I don't think you can actually over bake this thing - it's amazing. I also tend to add shredded cheese to the top about 15 minutes before it's done.

This recipe is relatively easy, uses a bunch of leftover stuff and freezes well.