Chile Cheese Egg Bake, December 12, 2017

It was breakfast for dinner last night, with a scrumptious and super cheesy egg bake, sausage patties, fresh fruit, and maple cornbread with molasses maple butter. Boot adores cornbread--I wish y'all could have seen the two giant wedges he has. One great benefit about having your kids move back in with you for a bit is that there's much, much less food waste. Honestly, I would skip the maple syrup in the cornbread next time and just serve it with the butter, which is sweet enough for anyone. The bread and butter recipes came from Bon Appetit, although I modified the butter.

Chile Cheese Egg Bake

10 eggs, beaten

1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

Grinding of pepper

8 oz. diced green chiles (I prefer Hatch chiles)

16 oz. lowfat cottage cheese

16 oz. colby jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add dry ingredients to eggs. Mix in everything else. Place in greased 13x9. Bake 30-35 minutes. Cut into squares for serving. Serves 8-10.

Maple Cornbread

2 1/3 c. cornmeal

1 c. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 1/3 c. buttermilk

4 eggs

3/4 c. maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 12" cast iron skillet (you can also use a 9x9 baking pan). Pulse dry ingredient briefly in a food processor or mix well by hand. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse meal. Whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and syrup together. Add dry mixture and stir just until moist. Put in skillet. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Serves 10-12. 

Maple Molasses Butter

1 stick butter, softened

1/8 c. maple syrup

1 tbsp. dark molasses

Mix well and serve with the above cornbread or any other sturdy bread. 

Spinach & Gruyère Strata, Weekend Brunch, May 7, 2017

We didn't have fancy dinners on Saturday or Sunday. We always, always end up throwing away entirely too many leftovers, so I decided to institute a weekly Leftoverpalooza. It's going to work out especially nicely the weeks my wife has to travel for work, as they won't even seem like leftovers to her. That was true this week. She was eager to sample the curried turkey pot pie and North Indian style mashed potatoes I made while she was in New Jersey. I heated some for myself, too, but took longer to get the baby to sleep than expected and then fell asleep in the nursery chair. Oops! When I awoke, it was 3 a.m. and my wife was asleep on the couch. My leftovers had long since gotten cold and didn't seem at all appealing. So, I had a bowl of raisin bran and prepped a strata for our breakfast before climbing into bed.

As I was sautéing onions at 3:30 in the morning, I was questioning my sanity and thinking it'd be far better just to go to bed and have fried eggs in the morning. However, when we actually ate the strata, I was congratulating myself for going ahead with my plan, ever how late it may have been when I did. It was truly delicious. I'd wanted to create a wonderful meal for Jeannene before she had to fly out to Montreal that evening and I succeeded quite well. This dish would make for an excellent one to serve guests, as it's impressive and super simple. Plus, you can make it the night before and you just have to pop it in the oven in the morning. The original recipe came from Gourmet Magazine back in 2003 and I've altered it only very slightly.

Spinach and Gruyère Strata

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tbsp. butter or olive oil

Salt & pepper

A grating of fresh nutmeg

5 oz. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/2 loaf French bread (4 c.), cubed

3 oz. Gruyère cheese, grated

2 oz. parmesan, grated

1 1/2 c. milk (2% or skim is fine)

5 eggs

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Sauté onion in butter/oil until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add spinach and cook another minute or so. Place 1/3 of the bread into a greased (I use cooking spray) 2-quart casserole dish. Top with 1/3 of the spinach mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheeses. Repeat with another two sets of layers. Whisk everything else together, adding a bit more salt & pepper, if desired. Pour evenly over the layers in the casserole dish. Cover and chill 8 hours or so. Let stand at room temperature half an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until puffed golden, and cooked through, 45-55 minutes. Serves 4-6. 

We had early dinner Sunday, too. We found a gorgeous heirloom tomato at the farmers' market that I just had to use in Russian sandwiches, an open-faced concoction beloved in my family for at least 4 generations. Apparently, if you Google "Russian sandwich," you will find a sandwich with salad as the filling. This is not that Russian sandwich---in fact, there's not much Russian about it. My friend, Lisann, says, "Except people will be rushin' to eat it." It's basically toast with a layer of tomato, a layer of crisp bacon, and a layer of extra-sharp cheddar. I made this round on flax & sunflower bread. I served our sandwiches with kale salad ((recipe here) and had angel food cake (from the grocery) topped with macerated strawberries and whipped cream.

Fried Eggs on Dandelion Greens, April 4, 2016

I'd never eaten dandelion greens, unless you count munching them straight from the lawn as a kid. I read a Rachael Ray recipe suggesting frying them up with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and anchovy paste, then serving them with fried eggs. So, I decided to try it. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat them again, but they were pretty good. A bit bitter. Poor Jeannene made a terrible face when she tasted hers, but, then, she has absolutely no tolerance for anything bitter or tart. We had toast with them. I also did some fried potatoes with herbs and snow peas with mint, both adaptations of Madhur Jaffrey recipes from her marvelous World Vegetarian cookbook.

Crispy Herbed Potatoes

7 potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Thyme

Rosemary

Oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large, ovenproof skillet, heat some olive oil. Create a layer of potato slices, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and pinches of the herbs. Drizzle with olive oil. Create another layer and top with seasonings and oil, as before. Bake 35-40 minutes, until tender. Serves 6.

Snow Peas with Mint

Sauté snow peas in a little olive oil and butter. Sprinkle with sugar, salt, and dried mint, stirring until tender. 

Quiche, April 3, 2016

Last Saturday, I put together a quiche with some leftover ham for our brunch. It was so delicious that we had it Sunday night for dinner, along with some steamed asparagus and Chambord-macerated strawberries (chop strawberries and toss with some sugar, vanilla, and Chambord---allow to macerate while you eat supper) on ladyfingers. It was a wonderfully spring-y dinner!

Ham & Cheddar Quiche

Crust for 9" pie

A handful or two of chopped ham

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp. butter or olive oil

8 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk or cream (I used 2%)

Salt & pepper

2 c. shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place crust in deep dish pie plate & flute the edges. Sauté onion in butter/oil until tender and slightly browned. Whisk eggs with milk, salt, and pepper. Add ham, onions, cheese. Pour into pie shell, cover lightly with foil, and bake 45 minutes. Bake another 10 minutes uncovered. Remove from oven and let stand at least 15 minutes before cutting into wedges for serving. Serves 6. 

Potato, Pea, & Onion Frittata, August 18, 2015

I'd planned to make vaca frita, a traditional Cuban dish that requires hours of cooking time, for last night's supper. However, I unexpectedly got to meet my friend, Kerry, and her 11-year-old daughter at the Toledo Zoo, a couple hours from home. Luckily, I had the ingredients to make a frittata, which I paired with a bagged Caesar salad, peaches, and a batch of truly scrumptious s'mores bars (Betty Crocker Hershey's S'mores Bars). Frittatas are great life-saver meals because I almost always have some veggies, some eggs, and some cheese on-hand and they are so quick.

Potato, Pea, and Onion Frittata

4 or 5 smallish new potatoes, finely diced

1/3 c. frozen peas, thawed

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

8 eggs

Salt & pepper

A handful grated parmesan

A handful grated cheddar

Preheat broiler. Cover potatoes with water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Heat oil in 10" oven-safe skillet (I like my cast iron skillet for frittatas). Cook the onion translucent, then add potatoes and cook another 7 minutes or so. Make sure the potatoes don't get browned and crispy. Add peas and cook a minute. Beat eggs with salt and pepper. Add cheeses. Pour into skillet with veggies. Cook until the bottom is set, 5-7 minutes. Broil until the top is set and golden-brown. Loosen the edges gently and invert onto a large plate. Cut into wedges to serve. Serves 6.

Mexican Scrambled Eggs, July 7, 2015

We had kind of a progressive dinner last night. I was out running errands in the late afternoon, way before my dear wife is usually home, when she called to ask if I wanted to go out for drinks & appetizers with her. Of course, I was delighted at the prospect. Once home, I discovered that she didn't have any particular place in mind. After suggesting some of her favorite chains that I usually nix, it became clear that she truly didn't care where we went, as long as we could get drinks and "some kind of cool appetizer."

Having had the veggie plate at 24th Street Grill (Oxford, MI) the week before for lunch---and having dreamt all week of the cool, crisp veggies and perfect ranch dip---I decided to take her there. I had a Raspberry Stoli & Sprite, which the waitress suggested when I said I wanted something "girly and sweet, no gin," while Jeannene stuck to domestic beer. I had no need of the menu whatsoever, with my tiny, little heart set on a giant platter of deep orange, juicy carrot sticks, crisp celery, and sumptuous cucumber ovals. They serve their veggies cold as a Himalayan spring. I just adore them. Jeannene, after asking the waitress' favorite appetizer and being told it was spinach and artichoke dip because the freshly made pita chips are soooo good, picked the buffalo chicken dip, which had the same chips but satisfied her meat tooth. It was terrific, too.

Since we'd already had appetizers, I didn't make the guacamole I was going to serve with chips when we got home. Since my appetizer, which Jeannene also dipped into, was basically salad, I didn't bother with a salad, either. I simply made Mexican scrambled eggs. They're basically a variation on my cousins' garbage skillet, scrambled eggs in which they toss whatever needs to be used up. In my case, it was a little more deliberate, but with the same yummy sort of result. I heated some Ro*Tel (tomatoes and green chiles) with some chopped scallions in just a smidge of butter. You could just use cooking spray. While it heated a bit, long enough to reduce the juice to practically nil, I whipped 4 eggs together. Then, I threw them into the skillet, too, along with a handful of Fritos that were on the verge of becoming stale and a little bit of Mexican-blend shredded cheese and cooked, stirring gently, until the eggs were done. We both loved the result!

Skillet Quiche, April 15, 2015

We had leftover ham and Jeannene asked me to make quiche, so I decided to try this idea I'd seen in Jeffrey Saad's Global Kitchen for quiche you make in a skillet on top of the stove. I don't think it really qualifies as quiche, but it was definitely yummy and a lot faster than regular quiche. It's more like a frittata with a crust. The nice thing about it is that you can use whatever fillings you like.

I made a fennel & cabbage slaw and some pears with honey and queso fresco to go with it. I don't like traditional, mayo-based coleslaw, but I am a huge fan of non-creamy slaws and fennel is one of my favorite additions. For this slaw, I just tossed a package of cole slaw mix with a sliced bulb of fennel. Then, I added the juice of 1 lemon, a big pinch of sugar, a couple glugs of olive oil, salt, and pepper. I tossed it all around to get it all coated with the dressing. The red d'Anjou pears were heavenly drizzled with a little warmed honey and served with queso fresco. I might dust them with a bit of freshly ground pepper next time, just to see what that does.

Skillet Quiche

6 eggs (you can probably do this with egg whites or Eggbeaters, too)

1/4 c. half and half (milk is fine, too---even skim)

A pinch of salt

A grinding of pepper

1 c. shredded Swiss cheese (this can be low fat or even omitted)

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 c. panko (regular dry breadcrumbs are fine, as well)

1 tsp. herbes de Provence

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese 

1 slice of spiral ham, chopped

7 grape tomatoes, halved

A handful of spinach leaves, chopped 

Whisk eggs with half and half, salt, & pepper. Stir in the cheese. Cook panko and herbes de Provence in olive oil in a medium skillet. Press into the bottom and sides to form a crust. Sprinkle the bottom with parmesan. Add ham, tomatoes, and spinach---or whatever fillings you like! Pour in the eggs & cheese. Cover and turn down heat to medium-low. Cook until set, 10-13 minutes. Serves 4. 

Breakfast Casserole in the Morning, Creamy Split Pea Soup & Cabbage-Carrot Salad in the Evening, January 3, 2015

I'm trying to get into the habit of making us something nice for breakfast on Saturday mornings. I'm not at all a morning person, so that is one strike against this working. We also tend to hit the door shortly after we get up, so that's another strike. But, yesterday, I succeeded in making a really yummy breakfast casserole for our brunch. I put it together Friday night before bed, so all that was left for me to do yesterday was bake it. With a Harry & David's pear, it was a splendid thing.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Casserole

1 lb. sausage, browned and drained

6 slices bread, torn into pieces

4 oz. chopped green chiles

2 cups shredded Cheddar

6 eggs

1 c. milk

Salt & pepper

 Mix sausage, bread, chiles, and cheese. Whisk eggs with milk, salt, and pepper. Mix with sausage. Place in a greased 13x9. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover casserole and bake 50 minutes. Serves 8-10. This can be made with turkey sausage or veggie crumbles, whole grain bread, reduced-fat (but fat-free is not so hot) cheese, and skim milk for a more healthful breakfast. 

We had a simple soup and salad dinner. I love split pea soup, while my wife is not as enthusiastic as I am about it. All I can say is that she's lucky it wasn't lentil soup, which she abhors and I adore. Actually, she ended up liking the soup, after all. The salad, a cabbage and carrot combo, was a little bit sweet and very refreshing, a nice counterpoint to the stalwart flavor of the soup. Both of these recipes are inspired by recipes from the Monastery soup & salad cookbooks by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette. They are marvelous cookbooks and I strongly suggest getting yourself a copy of each!

Creamy Split Pea Soup

40 oz. chicken or veggie broth

1 c. dried split peas

1 onion, chopped very finely

1 carrot, peeled and chopped very finely

1 bay leaf

Salt & pepper

A handful of chopped parsley

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 tbsp. flour

2 c. milk (skim is fine; vegans can probably use soy milk)

Put the broth, split peas, onion, & carrot in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook about half an hour. Add the bay leaf, salt, pepper, and parsley. Cook another 15 minutes, covered. Remove th bay leaf. Mix the oil and flour into a paste, then stir into the soup. Add milk and, stirring the whole time, bring the soup to a boil. Serves 4-6.

Cabbage & Carrot Salad

2 c. shredded green cabbage

2 c. shredded red cabbage

3 carrots, peeled & grated

1/2 c. golden raisins

1/3 c. olive oil (very good quality, please)

5 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

5 tbsp. orange juice

2 tsp. sugar

Salt & pepper

Mix vegetables and raisins. Whisk the rest together until it thickens and blend with the salad. Serves 4-6.

Bacon & Egg Salad Sandwiches

My wife usually doesn't dig it when I make egg salad. She never eats it on purpose and when she sees it on the menu, she groans. I really like it. Perhaps I should just make it for myself during the day while she's at work, but I just have to make it for supper every now and again. There is actually a backstory to her eschewal of egg salad. You see, back when she was young, her older brother used to mow the lawn barefoot. Then, he would come inside and sit at the kitchen table, clipping his toenails. Some people would be totally skeeved out by his even clipping them in a common area of the house, but the kitchen table??? But it gets worse. When he was done, he would just leave them there on the  table! Blech.

Now, if you have ever had teenaged sons, you will not be surprised that such a thing could happen. However, you might be surprised at what finally happened. If you have siblings and grew up in a household like Jeannene's, though, you might not be so surprised. As siblings do, Jeannene and her brother who is closest to her in age got tired of Jeff's gross, green toenail clippings on the table. I don't imagine her mom was too thrilled, either. So, the time came when retribution became inevitable. Joel & Jeannene decided to be sweet and make egg salad for lunch. However, they weren't so sweet, after all, because they put his toenail clippings in the egg salad and fed it to him!!! He never noticed.

If you ever come have egg salad at our home, I promise we won't serve it with any body parts in it. And, if you aren't too revolted by this story ever to eat egg salad again, this is a pretty awesome sandwich! Even Jeannene loves it.

Bacon & Egg Salad Sandwiches

8 slices bacon

8 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1/3 c. mayonnaise

1 tsp. chopped fresh dill

Salt & pepper

12 slices pumpernickel, toasted

Romaine or red leaf lettuce

Tomato slices

Cook the bacon crisp. Mix eggs, mayo, dill, salt, & pepper. Make sandwiches, with bacon, on toast. If you're like me, you'll want your sandwich cut in half diagonally. Serves 4.

Frittata Goodness

Pie & The Girl are visiting us this week, prior to moving closer, so I'm trying to make meals that will be fairly easy to pull together and that everyone will like. Tonight, we had a simple potato, onion, & parmesan frittata with a romaine salad blend (from a bag) and fresh fruit (cantaloupe & red grapes). It pulls together in about half an hour and is great for vegetarians.

Potato, Onion, & Parmesan Frittata

                     1 tbsp. olive oil                                    2 egg whites

                    1 lb. red potatoes, thinly sliced            3 tbsp. chopped parsley

                    1 onion, thinly sliced                            1/2 c. grated parmesan

                    8 eggs, beaten                                      Salt & pepper

 Heat oil in large skillet. Add potato & onion. Cook until tender & starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Whisk eggs, egg whites, parsley, parmesan, salt, & pepper together. Pour over potatoes, cover, & cook 15-20 minutes. Serves 4-6.

Looking at Snow, Cooking for Spring

After spending 2 weeks in New Jersey, first in Cape May for our wedding and then in Parsippany for her work, it's been rather unpleasant to return to the single digits (and sometimes those in the negative) & huge heaps of snow showing no sign of melting. There was no snow at all in Cape May, so we got spoilt. So, last night, in the hopes of piquing Spring's interest, I made a very light and spring-like supper. I started us with a mixed greens salad with lardons and poached eggs in a tarragon shallot vinaigrette. Then, we went on to chicken salad with smoked almonds on thin white bread. We'd had green eggs (scrambled with lots of chives) & ham Sunday for Dr. Seuss Day and dessert was honeydew melon, so we finished that, as well.

I've been intimidated by poaching eggs and have never tried it without my egg poaching set, which just didn't do a proper job. So, I decided to plunge in and try it. It was astonishingly simple and the eggs turned out perfectly! I'm pretty silly about some of my cooking intimidations.

Mixed Greens with Lardons & Poached Eggs

4 strips thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4" wide strips

2 tbsp. vinegar (I used cider vinegar because I couldn't find my white)

2 eggs

2 tbsp. finely-chopped shallots (can sub white onions)

1 tbsp. tarragon vinegar

A pinch each salt & pepper

Mixed greens, enough for 2

Cook bacon golden brown. Set aside, in pan. Fill small skillet with about an inch of warm (not hot) water. Fill a large pan halfway with water. Add a pinch of salt and the vinegar. Bring just barely to a simmer. Break each egg into its own very small bowl or cup. Slide eggs into simmering water and poach at a very gentle simmer until whites are firm, but yolks are runny, about 3-4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, place eggs gently in skillet of warm water. Reheat bacon and add shallots to bacon & fat. Cook, stirring, a minute or so. Add vinegar and boil for about 5 seconds. Pour over the mixed greens and toss well. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Divide between 2 plates. Top each with a poached egg, making sure to drain egg well in slotted spoon before placing on salad. Serves 2. This salad was inspired by one in the Gourmet Cookbook.

Chicken Salad with Smoked Almonds

32 oz. chicken broth

2 lb. chicken breasts (skinless, boneless)

1 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. minced shallots

1 tsp. minced tarragon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Salt & pepper, to taste

1/2 c. chopped smoked almonds

Bring stock to a boil in a 12" skillet. Add chicken and poach at a very gentle simmer, turning once, 7-10 minutes, until cooked through. Allow to cool 15-20 minutes. Chop & mix with the rest of the ingredients. Good by itself or on sandwiches. I like this on the very thin Pepperidge Farm white bread. It makes perfect tea sandwiches, as well, which is what the original recipe (also from the Gourmet Cookbook) intends. Serves 2 for supper, with plenty left for lunch the next day, or 4 for one meal. Jeannene has declared this the best chicken salad she's ever had in her life. 

Egg Monday---Casserole & Quiche

Jeannene bonds with people by feeding them. Well, don't we all? But there is a strong tradition in her family of showing love and respect by feeding people. Her dad was brilliant at it and she's following in his footsteps. At every plant she has managed, she makes sure to feed her people well. Earlier in the year, we were at the plant until 2 a.m., making sure there were burgers, hot dogs, and all the trimmings for third shift just as for first & second. I loved helping her, piling great mounds of potato salad on plates, smiling as people turned into little kids choosing their cookies. 

This time, it was breakfast and I got to lend a hand again, going into action to recreate variations on our traditional family Christmas breakfast casserole. I generally throw a sausage & cheddar one together in the crockpot on Christmas Eve. For the team at work's kickoff of the Year of No Excuses, I put together a ham & swiss version and a chorizo version. We did our shopping Sunday afternoon and I put them together before we went to bed so they'd be ready when Jeannene headed to work early. Here's the basic recipe, given to me by a Russian friend, Kira, years ago.

Breakfast Casserole

30-32 oz. package frozen hash browns (make sure to break up any large clumps)

1 lb. diced ham or cooked, crumbled sausage (vegetarians can omit or sub veggie sausage or beans---black beans are especially nice using the extra spices I used with the chorizo)

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced (omitted from the ham & swiss version)

2 c. shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend of pre-shredded cheese for the chorizo version, but crumbled cotija or asadero would be good, too)

12 eggs

1 c. milk (skim is fine, as is 2% cheese)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Make a couple layers in the crockpot in the following order: potatoes, meat, onion, pepper, cheese. Beat the eggs with the milk & seasonings. I added chile powder, cumin, & oregano to the chorizo casserole. Pour over layers in crockpot. Cover & cook on low 8-10 hours.

We awoke to the mouthwatering smell of a delicious breakfast. The food was whisked out the door, but the aroma lingered, forcing me to make scrambled eggs for myself. Jeannene had breakfast casserole for breakfast & lunch, then arrived home to artichoke quiche for dinner. She wasn't complaining. I served a Greek-inflected cauliflower casserole, a green salad, and grapes with it. The quiche was delicious and tender. As a bonus, it reheats quite nicely for lunch the next day. Some folks even like it cold or room temp.

Artichoke Quiche

1 crust for a 9" pie (my friend, Nicola, is trying to assure me that this is easy to make from scratch, once you get the hang of it---you can do that or use Pillsbury)

4 tbsp. butter (it won't be the end of the world if you use 2)

9 scallions, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

12 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

A handful of grated parmesan

2 c. shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

1 1/4 c. milk (again, skim is just fine, as is 2% cheese)

3 eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fit crust into pie plate and bake 10 minutes. Pie weights are not a bad investment to help prevent the crust from puffing. Remove crust and lower oven heat to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add scallions & garlic and cook 3-5 minutes. Add artichokes and cook another minute. Sprinkle the crust with parmesan. Spread artichoke mixture into an even layer in the bottom of the pie plate. Top with cheese. Beat eggs, milk, & seasonings together. Pour over cheese. Bake 35 minutes. It is wise to place a cookie sheet underneath in case of overflow. Let stand at least 10 minutes before cutting into wedges for serving.

Greek-Inflected Cauliflower 

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 c. diced tomatoes (I would probably omit this next time, though. I would add a squeeze of lemon and some chopped olives)

A pinch of oregano

A pinch of salt

A pinch of garlic powder

A grinding of pepper

About a cup of feta cheese

A sprinkling of dry bread crumbs

A healthy drizzle of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or just throw in with the quiche for the last little bit of its cooking time, if serving together). Steam the cauliflower until tender. Toss with the other ingredients & place in a greased 2 qt. casserole. Bake 10-15 minutes.

A Simple Meal to Eat Under the Covers...or Wherever It's Warmest

Yes, yes, I love making a big pot of soup, a delicious roast, a soul-warming casserole in the winter. I love the extra heat in the kitchen and the cozy feeling of eating cold weather meals. But sometimes, I get sick of heavy winter food and sometimes, it's so cold that I just want to hibernate! This would be great with a green salad or a fruit salad and some excellent crusty bread.

Garden Frittata
2 tbsp. oil
2 small potatoes, diced
1 c. shredded zucchini, squeezed dry
1 green pepper, cut in thin strips
1 red pepper, cut in thin strips
4 scallions, sliced
8 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. parmesan
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat and add veggies. Cook 5-8 minutes. Spread them in an even layer across the bottom of the pan. Beat the rest together and our over the veggies. Prick the mixture in a few places and, as the edges get firmer, gently lift them to allow uncooked egg mixture to flow underneath. Do not stir as you do this! Cover and cook on low 10-12 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate and cut in wedges to serve.

Christmas Breakfast

When I was growing up, we would often make a Christmas Eve run to Young's Dairy for pecan sticky rolls to have in the morning. My mom and I would also make eggs and a basil potato pancake to complement the sweetness of the rolls and stocking candy we inevitably got into along with our stocking oranges. One of my favorite Christmas breakfasts, at my almost-grandma's house in St. Petersburg, Florida, included orange juice squeezed that morning from fruit we picked in her back yard.

As a young woman, I continued to spend Christmas with my mom, stepdad, and almost-grandma. My almost-grandma and my mom made stollen every year, a tradition from my almost-grandma's side of the family. We also had eggs & the potato pancake.

Since I began spending Christmases at home with Jeannene, 13 Christmases now, we've had a breakfast casserole I can pop in the crockpot before bed on Christmas Eve. We awake with breakfast already prepared and all I have to do is make our sweet. I've done cinnamon coffee cake, cheater sweet rolls, and stollen. But ever since I came across Paula Deen's recipe for gorilla bread and tried it, that has been our go-to sweet treat Christmas morning. If you like monkey bread (another of my almost-grandma's favorites), this is the same thing, amped up with cream cheese. Decadent, for certain! The first time I made it, Jeannene said, "That is a food group of its own. And it is elevated above all food groups."

Christmas Crockpot Breakfast

32 oz. frozen hash browns

1 lb ham (diced) or sausage (browned)

1 onion, diced (I just threw in a handful of minced, dried onion this year and it was great)

1 green pepper, diced (optional)

2 c. shredded cheddar

12 eggs

1 c. milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

Layer first 5 ingredients in a crockpot. Beat eggs with milk & seasonings. Pour over layers in crockpot. Cook about 10 hours on low. 

Gorilla Bread

1/2 c. sugar

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 stick butter

1 c. brown sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, cut into 20 cubes

2 (10 count each) tubes whomp biscuits (as Jill Conner Browne describes them, on account of you whomp 'em against the counter to open 'em)

1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray. Mix the cinnamon & white sugar. Melt the butter with the brown sugar over low heat. Sprinkle each biscuit with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon sugar and then seal a cube of cream cheese in each. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the Bundt pan. Add half the biscuits. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and pour half the butter-brown sugar mixture over the top. Repeat, starting & ending with nuts. Bake half an hour to 45 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before inverting into a plate. Serves 12-15.

Easy New Year's Brunch

When I was a little kid, my mom and I made all kinds of baked goods like teddy bear bread and cookies. But one of the things I loved best of all was Pillsbury sweet rolls, either cinnamon or orange. They were so much fun! It was fun to pop open the tube, fun to separate the rolls and place them in a cake pan, not so much fun to wait for the oven to preheat, but lots of fun to slather the hot rolls with glistening icing.

Turns out Jeannene loved them, too, and still does. She especially loves picking up a couple tubes when the boys are in town. She wants gorilla bread Christmas morning, but we always have a tube of prefab rolls in the fridge during the holidays. Boot especially loved them as a kid and would eat as many as he could get away with and always gravitating, like his stepmama, to the ones most heavily iced.

I didn't want to spend all of New Year's Day cooking, so I came up with a quick and easy brunch that also felt special. Jeannene had said, a couple days ago, that she was in the mood for eggs in a nest. So, I made those with the orange rolls we had on hand and home fries made from last night's leftover baked potato. The home fries are so easy. Just slice leftover baked potatoes and fry in a combination of butter and olive oil until they're golden brown on each side.

To make eggs in a nest for two, cut or tear holes about 2" in diameter from the center of two slices of bread. I love to use a cookie cutter to make hearts, suns, stars, or whatever shape seems fun. It was hearts today, using a vintage cutter that belonged to my grandmom, a little way of including her in my 2014. 

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet on medium heat. When it begins to foam, add the bread & the cut-outs. Carefully crack an egg into each hole. Season with salt & pepper and cook about 3 minutes, until bottoms are golden. Flip carefully and cook another minute or so. Serve with the cut-outs.