In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, paprika, and cocoa powder until well combined. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the bacon.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp and the topping is bubbling. Cool completely on the rack. Once cool roughly chop reserving 2 strips for topping. Set aside.

Heat a flat griddle, or other large smooth bottom skillet, to medium-low heat.

In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk until evenly incorporated. Add the buttermilk and whisk until well combined.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to mix. Stir in the chopped bacon.

Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined and no large lumps of dry flour remain.

Lightly fold in the berries, careful not to burst any or over-mix.

Spray the griddle with non-stick cooking spray and scoop the batter, by the 1/3 cup, on to the heated griddle.

Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the first side, or until the batter begins to puff, the edges are no longer shiny, and the cooked side is golden brown.

Flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes on the second side, or until the pancakes spring back when gently pressed in the center and are golden brown.

(of course I decided to photograph the overcooked ones, lol…smh. Trust me, the rest turned out better) To hold pancakes while cooking store in a warm oven on a wire rack. They will hold for up to 45 minutes. Serve warm with a drizzle of the berry syrup and a sprinkle of the candied bacon.

These were so delicious I made them on Saturday AND Sunday. And then I started my diet on Monday. ENJOY!!!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 ½ shallots, minced
• 8 oz. deli sliced ham (kinda thick)
• 1 bag flat-leaf baby spinach, roughly chopped
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
• 1 Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups half-and-half
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare your pie crust by gently unrolling into the pie dish. Push it down into the pan making sure the dough hangover is pretty even around the pan. (If it doesn’t come out perfect don’t worry. Look at mine, lol. I think that it gives it a homemade feeling and rustic quality.   Here is a link to directions on crimping your crust: http://localfoods.about.com/od/piestarts/tp/crimping.htm Totally simple!
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks set in lower third. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium. Add ham and shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add as much spinach to skillet as will fit; season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and toss, adding more spinach as room becomes available, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Make sure all spinach is used.
3. Transfer spinach mixture to a colander. Press firmly with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Put spinach mixture into pie crust, top with cheese. Place crust on a rimmed baking sheet.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour egg mixture into crust.
5. Arrange baking sheet on rack, and bake until center of each quiche is just set, 55 to 60 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through. Let quiches stand 15 minutes before serving.

I would’ve doubled the recipe but I was kinda peed off that I couldn’t find my other pie dish so I lashed out by starving everyone. lol If there are more than 4 people, double up! Also, play with your favorite meats and cheeses etc. It’s impossible to mess up, really. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Directions

Using a cookie cutter or a knife, cut out a small heart shape from the center of a thick slice of bread. Spread each side of bread with herb butter (recipe below).

Heat skillet over medium heat. Saute bread until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower heat, and gently flip toast.

Break an egg into heart-shaped hole. Using a spoon, gently hold yolk in center (for symmetry) until it sets. Cover, and cook until egg white turns opaque, about 5 minutes or so, depending on how soft you like your yolks. Transfer to a plate along with the heart-shaped piece of cutout bread, perfect for dipping into yolk. Don’t forget the meat! I served it with turkey sausage links to my Greggy.

Herb Butter

1 cup loosely packed fresh herbs, such as parsley, oregano, thyme, or marjoram, finely chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions

The ideal setup would be to throw your herbs in a food processor with he butter for a few pulses. By all means do it if you have one but i don’t so i just chopped and chopped as finely as I could and added the herbs to the softened butter, stirring until combined. Store in an airtight container, refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks.

*This butter would be FABULOUS over your favorite pasta dish as well!

I was recently in Miami and the prize for going to early morning service (on top of being closer to God o_O ) was a trip to the Grand Luxe Cafe. lol I have to say that instead of making my little joke  about being rewarded by man or my pancakes in heaven (IDK…I hadn’t worked it out completely which way I wanted to go with it lol) I decided NOT to piss my mom off and be happy that I finally had the opportunity to try their famed Red Velvet pancakes. (Meanwhile, my mom is on the cell phone inviting all of my sisters and cousins who DID NOT attend church with us but not  without a small scolding about eternal damnation. (Trust me, you rather just get up and go with her than hear it, lol) 

Of course the non-churchgoers beat us there but we didn’t hold them up because I’d heard too much about the pancakes and was sticking to it. Once they were served, I noticed they had actual chocolate chips in them and while that wasn’t  my idea of a “traditional” red velvet cake, they were goooood. They serve them with fried chicken but I did it with bacon. Maybe later. 

I took a basic buttermilk pancake recipe and made it velvety. That simple!

Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

oil or butter for pan

Milk (just under one cup)

1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Buttermilk Red Velvet Pancakes

Buttermilk Pancake recipe (above)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Bag of Ghiradelli Bittersweet Chocolate chips 70% cocao (10-12 per pancakes)

2-3 tablespoon red food coloring  (see if that is enough to get the color you want, if not red enough, continue to add)

1 ½  teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting
 

8 oz softened cream cheese (1 package)
2 oz softened butter (1/2 stick)
1/2  teaspoon vanilla extract + more to taste
1 1/3 cups of powdered sugar + more to taste

With a mixer on medium speed, mix cream cheese and butter together. Add vanilla. Mix in sugar gradually.

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt).

In a separate bowl, beat together the wet ingredients (buttermilk, milk, eggs, red coloring, vanilla extract and melted butter).

Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.

Heat a griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. The pan is ready when you can flick water across the surface and it instantly beads up and sizzles.  Lightly grease it.

Once that is hot, pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it’s just blended together. Don’t over stir it. (A little lumpy is ok.)

Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/2 cup for each pancake. Immediately add 10-12 chocolate chips. Wait for the pancakes to bubble (2 – 3 minutes) before flipping and continue to cook for a minute or two. Serve hot with a dollop of cream cheese frosting (recipe follows).

Options:

Top with toasted walnuts or pecans

Top with chocolate chips

Make your own buttermilk (recipe above)

Top with maple syrup

I’ve made this recipe before and could not WAIT to make it for my family. For some reason, whenever I go home, I get really lazy and just love to let my mom take care of everything. However, since I was playing host this weekend, I KNEW this would be on the roster. Greg had reservations about the French Toast and the Shrimp and Grits meal combo but I knew they would appreciate it. We all consider ourselves FOODIES but since I am not in a great culinary city like Miami, I am charged with actually having to replicate the dishes I love….plus they can’t cook…shhhh.

Bananas Foster French Toast

(courtesy of Paula Deen)

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons butter, divided
8 large croissants, halved
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
6 ripe bananas, halved crosswise and lengthwise
1 teaspoon rum extract

Directions:
In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs, cream, and cinnamon. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Dip 4 croissant halves in egg mixture to coat both sides. Using a fork, remove croissants from egg mixture, letting excess mixture drip off. Place croissant halves in hot skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and croissant halves. Set aside and keep warm.
In a large skillet, combine corn syrup, brown sugar, maple syrup and pecans. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add banana halves and rum extract. Coat with the syrup mixture, and simmer 1 minute. Spoon over French toast. Serve immediately.

On Sunday morning, I decided that we would have PANCAKES! My mom didn’t make pancakes for us as kids. She was more of a “grits n eggs”, southern girl and we had no complaints. I recalled watching one of my favs, “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” in which he challenged the famed Clinton Street Baking Company (CSBC) in New York to a Blueberry Pancake Throwdown. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, he finds people that are perceived to make the “BEST” something (pancakes, mac n cheese, crab cakes, fish tacos, etc.) and tries to improve their recipe and then challenge them to a duel. You should check it out….I digress.

Bobby’s Pancakes beat out CSBC’s and made it to my “To-do” list. I planned to perform the recipe as created but there were 2 reasons why I didn’t:

Leeriness – How could I get Greg to eat Ricotta Cheese on his pancakes?

Cheapness – I needed AT LEAST 3 pints of fresh blueberries for the original recipe and at $4.99 a pint, that is waaaaay too expensive for breakfast in my family. On top of that, I needed Crème de Cassis and it was 8 am on a Sunday and Publix Liquors was closed. It also called for fresh mint sprigs and I couldn’t bring myself to purchase another bunch after having thrown a wilted bundle out during my New Year’s fridge cleaning. So, instead of the blueberry overload Bobby intended with the blueberry compote, homemade blueberry syrup and blueberry pancakes, I went with the pancakes alone. If you’d like the original recipe, here is a link: Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes

 Pancakes:

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• zest of one lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 stick butter, (8 tablespoons) cut into pats

Pancake Topping:

• confectioner’s sugar (powdered)
• fresh blueberries
• Warm Maple Butter Syrup*

Pancake Prep:

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, oil, buttermilk, lemon zest and vanilla extract.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Mix together until flour is just incorporated.

In a small bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter just until incorporated. Let sit for 15 minutes, then gently fold in the blueberries careful not to break them. I would hate for you to have blue pancakes batter.  

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Heat a nonstick pan or cast iron griddle over medium heat. Add a pat of butter and heat until the butter just begins to sizzle. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop the batter into the pan or onto the griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the top surface and the bottom is golden brown, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. (The pancakes were a little small so a 1/3 cup measuring cup would be cool too, I think.) Flip over and cook until the bottom is lightly golden brown, about 45 seconds. Remove to a baking sheet and keep warm in a low oven. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with syrup, sugar and fresh blueberries.

Note: The lemon zest gives the pancakes a real fresh taste. Not overwhelming at all but enough to know it was there. Don’t omit if you can avoid it. I was happy that I’d grabbed a lemon in the store.

*To make Maple Butter Syrup, heat 1 cup Grade B syrup and a stick of butter. That’s it! Grade B syrup is a better quality syrup that is a little pricier than the regular “Aunt Jemima” type syrup we typically buy. (If you’re like me, you buy the Publix brand, lol.) Anyway, look closer next time you’re in the store and you’ll see it in the aisles. 

Outcome: They were GOOD! Light and fluffy. I would have made them just a little bit sweeter by maybe adding a little more sugar. : )  

As I told you, I’ve exhausted my Fiercefoodie budget for the month (or until Greg forgets) yesterday on my Patron. Nevermind the fact that he ate 2 cupcakes.  Ummmhmmm…. Anyway, I noticed that I have no breakfast contributions on the site so I decided to try to get some daylight shots for a change (supposedly a key factor in food photography) and scramble some eggs.  Plus, I was in no hurry to dirty my recently cleaned kitchen, so a one-pot dish was ideal.  After a check around the fridge, I found a couple slices of oven roasted deli turkey, deli Muenster cheese, a little white cheddar, a shallot, sundried roasted tomatoes and a little heavy cream.

Of course, you can use ANYTHING for the scramble. Scrambles are quick and more forgiving than trying to fold your eggs over into an omelette. I can do it though (very slowly however) so don’t sleep on my skills. : ) But with the scramble, you get to stuff it with a lot more goodies that otherwise wouldn’t fit in that thin little envelope. Usually, I use leftover mushrooms, onions and peppers but apparently I haven’t cooked anything lately (if you let Mr. Ungrateful tell it, lol) Hey! Birthday girls eat out.

(Recipe courtesy of Food Network.com)

Level: Easy, 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ( I quasi-covered the bottom of the skillet with the EVOO)
• 1 medium white onion, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound andouille or spicy Italian spicy sausage, cut in chunks
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 to 3 bay leaves
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
• Pinch cayenne pepper, adjust to personal preference
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 4 tbsp butter (if using precooked sausage for liquid to make roux)

 Directions:

Place a deep skillet over medium heat and coat with the olive oil.

Add the onion and garlic; saute for 2 minutes to soften.

Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until there is a fair amount of fat in the pan and the sausage is brown. ****

Sprinkle in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to create a roux.

Slowly pour in the chicken stock and continue to stir to avoid lumps.

Toss in the bay leaves.

When the liquid comes to a simmer, add the shrimp.

Poach the shrimp in the stock for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are firm and pink and the gravy is smooth and thick.

Add the cayenne pepper, Tabasco and lemon juice.

Season with salt and pepper; stir in the parsley and green onion.

Spoon the grits into a serving bowl.

Add the shrimp mixture and mix well.

Serve immediately over grits.

Garnish with red pepper.

**** Zina’s note: Because the sausage was precooked (Dairy aisle at Publix), it didn’t render much fat so I added a little more EVOO and 2 Tbsp of butter to add some liquid to the pan before adding the flour.