Filed under Breakfast …

May 07 2012
1 Comment
Breakfast, Salad, Sides, Weekend Eats

Weekend Eats – 5/7/12

A lot of cooking last week led to a lot of leftovers taking up space in the fridge, so there weren’t many big cooking events at our house this weekend.  It’s kind of nice every once in a while to have a few days off from kitchen messes and subsequent cleanup, but eventually the desire to roll out pastry dough outweighs the desire to have a clean countertop.  Less time in the kitchen meant more time for reading a strange book that I cannot wait to be done with, watching (in the most inactive way possible) never-ending hockey playoffs and golf tournaments, going to Target three days in a row (it’s a step toward getting my Minnesota driver’s license, which I may or may not have just done after living here for almost five years…) and working through a stack of food magazines to decide what to cook next.

On one of those trips to Target I bought ice cream cones – sugar cones for Matt and baby cones for me.  The baby cones are both hilarious and adorable, and I can’t look at them without laughing.  They’re about an inch tall, one serving is three cones, and three cones add up to a whopping fifteen calories. Look out!  We filled our cones with vanilla ice cream and the best chocolate sauce in the world, which I made sure to stock up on during my recent trip to Iowa.  Baby ice cream cones and Dateline make for an incredible Friday night.

I wasn’t very motivated to go running on Saturday morning, but I knew that I had to get out before breakfast to pick up two copies of The Onion so we could have our weekly race to finish the crossword.  In order to get myself out the door I stuck a twenty in my pocket and spent my run thinking of the loaf of cinnamon swirl bread that I would pick up at Great Harvest before coming home.  I proceeded to cancel out the calories burned on my run with the bread, some black forest bacon and garlic and herb spiced sunny eggs.  Then I finished the crossword well before my competitor – booyah!

On Saturday night we headed to the suburbs to see The Avengers, which was entertaining even for someone who doesn’t know who the Avengers are and was unaware of the movie’s existence until Friday night.  This was our conversation on the way to the theater:

Matt: (after explaining the movie’s premise) Have you seen any of the movies leading up to it other than Captain America?

Me: (with a confused look and about to say that I haven’t seen Captain America) …

Matt: (reading my mind) Yes, you have seen Captain America. We saw it together.  Remember?

Me: Oh, I get Captain America and Captain Planet confused.

No wonder my dad was so surprised when I told him that I’d gone to the movie.

After a crazy, crazy storm during the night on Saturday, Sunday morning was beautiful.  I made use of our new deck furniture and enjoyed breakfast outside.

You never know what will end up in the cart on the rare occasion that Matt joins me while shopping.  Last time we ended up with Nacho Cheese Doritos (his) and Cheetos (hers), and this time we came home with a loaf of sandwich bread, braunschweiger, and Miracle Whip (all his).  I took advantage of the bread and made a giardiniera hummus, snow pea and smoked gouda sandwich for a late lunch on Sunday, and Matt made a braunschweiger and Miracle Whip sandwich.  To each his own.

By Sunday afternoon I was ready to spend some time in the kitchen, and I decided to make empanadas with the chorizo that we failed to make use of on Cinco de Mayo.  I used a Tyler Florence recipe for potato and chorizo empanadas, leaving out the olives and raisins, which I forgot to buy.

They were great!  A little painstaking to make, or really just to fill, but worth the effort. I loved the addition of masa to the pastry dough, both for the texture and the flavor.  These were a huge step up from the soy chorizo and puff pastry empanadas that I used to make.

Along with the empanadas I made a big salad with romaine, radishes, strawberries, pickled red onions, avocado, feta, and a balsamic vinaigrette.  While the salad and empanadas didn’t really go hand in hand flavor-wise, they were both good enough on their own that choosing a favorite was impossible.  The weekend wouldn’t have been complete without another baby ice cream cone and a few HBO shows.

Apr 09 2012
1 Comment
31 in 2011, Breakfast

Easter Brunch: Ham and Cheddar Waffles

I accomplished a lot this Easter. I had a religious experience when I ran/walked up Ramsey Hill with my mom (we ran by several churches and the cathedral, too – contact high!), I cracked the code to the long answers on The Onion’s crossword before Matt did, and I fulfilled my long-running desire to stuff waffles with ham and cheese.  Being that it was a holiday and we had a houseguest, I might have missed a great opportunity to make scotch eggs, but waffles that are both sweet, savory and rimmed with crispy cheddar bits are quite possibly superior to hard-boiled eggs encased in breakfast sausage.

I made Marion Cunningham’s raised waffles for the base, which I’ve made once before to break in my waffle iron, but this time I remembered to add the eggs and baking soda right before cooking them.  They weren’t bad the first time, but they were definitely better with all of the ingredients – go figure.

To make stuffed waffles, I poured half of the normal amount of batter onto the iron, my mom quickly sprinkled on maple ham and sharp cheddar, and then I ladled more batter over the top.  You could also pour all of the batter onto the iron and then top it with ham and cheese (seen here), but I like the idea of layering and having a surprise in the middle.

As you can see, the tops of the waffles didn’t crisp as well as the bottoms (bottoms up on the left, tops up on the right).  Judging by pictures of other people who have made them, it might just be this particular recipe, but it also might have been me or my waffle iron or, most likely, the fact that the bottoms had a longer time to cook while we sprinkled and poured on the remaining batter.  Even though both sides weren’t evenly golden, the waffles were fully cooked and fully delicious.

I know I said this the last time that I made waffles, but this is my new favorite waffle recipe.  Given the choice between a sweet or savory breakfast, I will choose savory almost every time, but with these waffles you don’t have to choose.  You get a little of both – the slightly sweet waffle and the crispy bits of ham and cheese.  You can push them further into sweet territory by dousing them with maple syrup, or you can stick to savory and top them with a fried egg (I haven’t done this yet, but I plan to do it with the leftovers).

We rounded out our waffle feast with bacon, fruit, mimosas, and coffee.  The Peep was just a spectator.

Can you believe I made it to the end of the post without making a “they have risen” joke?

Apr 06 2012
5 Comments
Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Salad

An Abundance of Mangoes

Fact: I am slightly allergic to mangoes.

Fact: I bought a case of mangoes at Whole Foods last week.

Fact: My face is itchy and I have microscopic bumps in the corners of my mouth.

Fact: I am almost through with my case of mangoes.

Fact: I am very grateful that I am not lactose intolerant.

Fact: I just made mango ice cream.

These are some of my preferred methods of mango consumption.

Strawberry-Mango Smoothie

1 mango + a handful of strawberries + a few spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt + a few ice cubes -> blended until smooth

Kale, Coconut and Mango Salad

I’ve been hooked on this salad, and variations of it, for the last month.  I started with this recipe and pared it down based on the ingredients that I had.  Every version that I’ve made has consisted more or less of this:

  • 1 bunch lacinato kale, chopped or shredded
  • 1 apple or mango, chopped or cut into matchsticks
  • 1 large handful of almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup grated pecorino (or feta, parmesan, crumbled goat cheese…) (optional)
  • 1/4 cup dried coconut, toasted (optional)

For the dressing I use equal parts olive oil and some sort of vinegar – apple cider is good with apples, but white wine or balsamic would be good, too – then add a glug of maple syrup and a little salt and pepper.  Whisk and adjust to taste.

Lately I’ve been using this passion fruit vinegar for the dressing, and while it was good with apples, it’s even better with mangoes.  I found it at a local cooking store, but it’s also available on Amazon.

Once everything is combined, you can either eat it right away or let it marinate for thirty minutes or so.  Thanks to the hearty kale, it will hold up for at least a day or two.

Mango and Oat Breakfast Bowl

Oatmeal + puréed mango + strawberries + toasted almonds

Mango-Vanilla Ice Cream

Vanilla ice cream with mango purée added during the last few minutes of churning

Even without mangoes, I highly recommend David Lebovitz’s vanilla ice cream.  I added a couple of extra egg yolks and some extra whole milk to this batch, and every time I taste it I can’t believe that something as simple as vanilla ice cream can taste so good.

Mar 27 2012
2 Comments
Breakfast, Eggs

Saturday Breakfast: Frittata, Fruit and Cinnamon Toast

After spending the better part of the winter obsessing over custardy, bread-filled stratas, I’ve more recently been on a major frittata kick.  They don’t require the forethought that stratas do, they’re the perfect way to employ bits of leftover vegetables, meats, and cheeses, and sometimes it’s nice to have a slice of toast alongside your eggs rather than inside of them.  As long as you have five or six eggs, you can make one for yourself.

This weekend I used fresh dill, half of a white onion, a quarter or so of a red onion, 1-2 cups of leftover dill fries and roasted tomatoes, 4-5 leaves of kale, a handful of sharp cheddar cheese, and, thrown in at the last minute, a couple handfuls of baby spinach.  Smoked salmon would have been perfect in there, too.

There are several ways to make a frittata, and my preferred method is to start it on the stove and finish it in the oven.  The stove top gets the eggs cooking, and the hot oven helps them puff up and brown a bit.  The ratio of ingredients changes from week to week, depending on what I have around, but in my 12″ skillet I typically use 6-8 eggs, 2-3 cups of veggies and 1/2-2/3 cup of cheese.  This particular frittata only had five eggs, which definitely worked, but another egg or two would have been nice.

Here’s the rough process that I use:

  • Preheat oven to 350-375.
  • Chop veggies and meat.  Grate cheese.
  • Whisk eggs with a couple of tablespoons of water or milk.  Add any fresh herbs or dried spices, most of the cheese (I like to save a little to sprinkle on the top just before baking), and salt & pepper to the eggs. Whisk to combine.
  • Heat a little butter or oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Add veggies to skillet in order of cooking time.  I started by softening the onion, then I added the potatoes and cooked them for a few minutes until they had warmed through, and finally I added the greens, which I cooked until they were just softened.
  • Spread everything around in the pan so it’s evenly distributed.  Pour in the egg mixture, tilting the pan so they spread evenly.  Cook on the stove for a few minutes, until the bottom is starting to set.  Sprinkle on any reserved cheese, and transfer to the oven.
  • Bake for 10-15 minutes (maybe more, maybe less), or until the top is set and starting to brown.  Remove from the oven, and let rest for at least five minutes before slicing.  If you skip this resting period, chances are the eggs will still be fused to the pan.  Give it a few minutes, and they should pull away, even if you’re not using a non-stick skillet.

Veggie frittata, fresh fruit with a dollop of yogurt, cinnamon swirl bread from Great Harvest, and The Onion.

Leftovers are great, too.  I like to sandwich a wedge of it between two slices of bread or, better yet, a bagel and top it with more cheddar and liberal amounts of Cholula.  A strip or two of bacon or a little ham wouldn’t be an unwelcome addition, either.

← Older posts