Tag Archives: breakfast

Making Room In the Fridge For Thanksgiving

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We often have remnants of veggie odds and ends in our crisper. I’ll usually make a quick soup with the veggies, broth and some thyme and oregano. It’s a family staple. But I thought I’d try something new since I also had a bunch of eggs from the girls (our chickens).

This is also a quick meal you can prepare in the “week before Thanksgiving” calm.

Cleaning the kitchen frittata

Egg and Veggie Frittata (kinda)

  • 4-5 eggs, beaten
  • Any veggies cut into bite sized pieces (I used broccolini, cabbage, leeks, peas and zucchini) Leeks are really good in this.
  • 3 TBSP goat cheese (chevre)
  • 1 TBSP butter
  • salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in a large non-stick pan. Add all your veggies and cook until just tender. Reduce the temperature to medium/low. Add the eggs and goat cheese. Move the bottom of the eggs around so they begin to cook through (but don’t stir). Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Flip the egg mixture and cook until fluffy.

Enjoy with a nice salad or toasted bread!

Blueberry Crumb Cake

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Do you ever have a craving that the grocery store just can’t satiate? Add to that an overwhelming desire to just sit on the couch and do nothing, and you might not be able to curb that craving. However, this recipe is so easy and delicious it’s super easy to get motivated.

Make this for your day after Thanksgiving breakfast treat and you’ll be happy to put a pot of coffee on and continue being thankful for life’s little joys (like not cooking after days of slaving over the stove).

This can be made 3 days in advance…it only gets better with time.

blueberry crumb cake

Blueberry Crumb Cake (by SmittenKitchen)

Serves 8 in big wedges or 16 in the 2×2-ish-inch grid I cut mine roughly into

Topping:
5 tablespoons (40 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup, 2 ounces or 55 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
Pinch of salt

Cake:
2 cups minus 1 tablespoon (i.e. 1 3/4 cups + 3 tablespoons or 240 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup, 2 ounces or 55 grams) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint (2 to 2 2/3 cups, 12 to 16 ounces, or 340 to 455 grams; see Note) fresh blueberries, clean and dry
1/2 cup milk, whole is ideal, any kind should work
1/2 cup (55 grams) walnuts, chopped medium fine (optional)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Heat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch round baking pan (with at least 2″ sides) and dust it lightly with flour; line it with a round of parchment paper.

Prepare the topping by mixing the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt, then cutting the butter in with a pastry blender, fork or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until combined. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and zest together until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Beat in 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture until just combined, followed by 1/2 the milk; repeat with remaining dry ingredients and milk, finishing with the dry mixture. The batter will be very stiff, but don’t fret. Fold blueberries into cake batter until evenly distributed.

Scoop cake batter into prepared pan and smooth so that it is flat. If using walnuts, scatter them on top. Sprinkle with prepared streusel. Bake in heated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out batter-free. You can let the cake cool complete in the pan on a rack, or just cool it in the pan for 20 minutes before flipping it out onto a cooling rack, removing the parchment paper lining, and flipping it back onto a plate. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if using.

Do ahead: Cake keeps covered with plastic or foil at room temperature for three days. If longer, it might be best to keep it in the fridge. It gets more moist each day.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Breakfast Fried Rice, a family staple

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Ever since munchkin started eating solids, rice has been the starch option for the majority of our dinners. I make it at night for our dinner and then use the leftovers for her favorite breakfast: steamed rice and eggs (often with spinach or other greens in the eggs). (pro tip: steamed rice freezes perfectly. Put it in individual ziplocks and just pop it out of the bag when ready and microwave for 30 seconds.) Munchkin adores her rice and eggs for breakfast. But what she loves even more is breakfast fried rice. Who wouldn’t with all that soy sauce and bacon?

We’ve already eaten our quota for 2013! It’s super easy to make for large crowds. I think I made it every day for the Papa visit in HI (of course, bacon was replaced with the HI staple: spam!)

And now since NY Nana and Papa have arrived, we’ve eaten it at least 5 times.

The next time you have guests over for breakfast, skip the pancakes and throw on a pan of breakfast fried rice. They’ll love it!

Breakfast Fried Rice

• 4 cups of steamed jasmine rice
• 1 lb of bacon (or ham or spam)
• parchment paper
• 4 scallions chopped
• 3 large eggs
• 2 TBS veggie oil
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• freshly cracked pepper

Heat the oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (do not use the totally flat cookie sheet or all your bacon drippings will be in the bottom of your oven. You need a cookie sheet with at least a 1/2″ lip around it). Place the bacon on the parchment paper and bake until crispy (around 15 mins).

Carefully remove the bacon from the oven. That oil is going to be hottttt! And put the bacon on some paper towels. Then chop up about 4-5 slices into 1/4″ strips. Set aside. (the remaining bacon is for the cook to share).

Scramble the eggs and cook them in a bit of veggie oil (or bacon drippings if you’d like) until done in a large nonstick frying pan. Set aside.

Using the same pan, add the rest of the oil or 1 TBS of bacon drippings and fry the rice for 2 mins. Add in the soy sauce and stir until the rice is no longer white. You may want to add more. Add in the eggs, bacon, and scallions. Top with a bit of pepper. Be sure to taste. It should be salty goodness.

Enjoy!

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Leftovers reincarnated into Sonoma Browns

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New potatoes* are everywhere in HMB right now and they’re delicious. Since they don’t take as long to cook, adding them to a weeknight meal means dinner can still be ready in 30 mins. But this post isn’t about new potatoes, it’s about what the hubby inspired for breakfast the next day: A rendition of Hobbee’s Sonoma Browns.
I can’t remember what the prior night’s meal was but it included smashed potatoes (15 min boiled new Yukon Golds, Red fingering and Blue potatoes with their skin still on, drained then smashed a bit with a dollop of butter, a slash of milk and a generous pinch of salt). Before the leftovers were put in a storage container and put in the fridge, hubby says “these would make good Sonoma Browns”. After a quick mental check for ingredients, I knew what breakfast would be the next day.
Does anyone else plan their next meal before finishing the meal in front of them? Please tell me I’m not the only one.

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G Browns Recipe
(makes 1 serving)
• 1 cup or so of leftover cooked potatoes (smashed if they’re still whole)
• 2 TBS pesto (recipe below)
• A bunch of greens (I used arugula but spinach would also do fine)
• Cheese if you’re not a lactose adverse person like me
• 4 cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1 egg (fresh from the chickens out back)

Put a bit of butter in a nonstick pan. Smash your potatoes and cook until warmed through. It’s better if you get a little bit of golden crunchies so don’t turn over the potatoes too often. About halfway through cooking, add your tomatoes.
Once warmed, put in a bowl, add your greens, and cheese and pesto on top of the potatoes.
In the same pan, add a bit of butter and fry your egg.
Then place the egg on top of the layered scrumptiousness.

Pesto recipe

• 3 handfuls of basil leaves (Purple basil is what was at the market and it adds a bit more spice to the pesto)
• 1 handful of toasted nuts (pine for traditional pesto but you could use pecan, walnut, hazelnut, etc)
• 1 handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 3 cloves of garlic smashed with the skins removed
• about a quarter cup of olive oil (more if necessary)
• salt and pepper

Put the first 5 ingredients in a blender (shout out to the Vitamix). Start your blender on low and slowly add more oil if needed. Once done, add salt and pepper to taste.

This freezes really well. But if you’re keeping it in the fridge, you’ll want to press some cling film into the pesto. Otherwise, it’ll turn brown (think guacamole).

* New potatoes are potatoes that are recently pulled out of the ground.