Posts tagged eggs
Blueberry Raspberry Pancakes with Candied Bacon
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Heat the oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray a wire cooling rack with non-stick cooking spray and place it on the prepared baking sheet. Lay the strips of bacon on the wire rack with about 1/2- inch of space between them.
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!!!
Spinach Ham and Gruyere Quiche
0I wonder where the ‘real men don’t eat quiche’ nonsense comes from… I bet they won’t say it to my husband’s face. lol Now, I will admit that he pretty much KILLED the whole thing so I will say that if you plan for you and the kids to get a bite in, recognize that a “real man may be looking for some bacon on the side” lol. This was terribly simple and makes for a great brunch dish as well.
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
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour egg mixture into crust.
- 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!
I love you, dad.
0We all put a lot more money, time and effort into catering to mom on her big day than we do for dad. Admittance is the first step. Fathers seem to get the more sentimental gifts- monogrammed cigar boxes, golf club cozies, pics of the grand babies, t-shirts etc. and they seem to be fine with it. But let me try my mom with a shirt? Yeah right! Outdo yourself this year with a special breakfast that says it all. Well, you had better put some meat with it if you know what’s good for you. They don’t ask for much but I’m sure meat is on the list.
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!
Baked Blueberry French Toast
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Please don’t ask me why it’s leaning….lol
After depriving my family of my adventures in fat and indulgence for a month, I decided to treat them to a really “good” sunday brunch. Well actually, I’m lying. I need to do a run through for hosting my VERY FIRST CHRISTMAS for the family!! YAY!!! Anyway, I’ve been watching yall watch my figure as I’ve trimmed down just a tad….yeah, I see you looking! lol So I lifted the ban and got in the kitchen…
As usual, I did not do a good job reading the directions and I grossly underestimated the amount of time the recipe called for to prepare this ironically extremely simple meal. The good news for you is that through my ”error” you can rest assured that they grossly overestimated it. I had a hungry crowd coming in from the early service at church that would have killed me if I had to allow the egg mixute to soak into the bread for even an hour let alone 8 hours OVERNIGHT! (How could you MISS that, Zina?! lol) Good thing, it wasn’t necessary. o_O This dish was DIVINE! Cuisine at Home got this one right! It will be a smash hit Christmas morning!
Don’t let the semmingly long list of directions trip you up, it is soooo simple. They’re just long-winded and as you can see, I’m not known for my succinctness. (<–but I am known for making up words, lol) Oh, and you MUST serve it with the Sausage-Bacon Bites with Brown Sugar Glaze. (I know, I know, Recipe coming…) Both dishes can be prepared the night before to make it super easy on Christmas morning.
For the French Toast, Process:
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened (8 oz)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. minched orange zest
10 slices thin-sliced, Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread
WHISK:
3 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract (I didnt have it so I used 2 tsp of vanilla *shrug*)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
FOR THE TOPPING, SPRINKLE:
1 cup frsh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds
MELT:
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
FOR THE SYRUP, COMBINE:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I like Grade B)
2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
DIRECTIONS
Coat a 9X9 3-inch deep baking dish with nonstick spray.
For the french toast, process cream cheese, 1/4 c. brown sugar, and zest in a food processor until smooth. (I myself, do not own a food processor so I went to my blender. It was resistant but I stopped it and stirred and stopped it and stirred until it realized I wasn’t going anywhere, gave in and processed my mixture.)
Line the bottom of baking dish with bread slices, cutting pieces to fit. Spreah half the cream cheese mixture over bread. Continue layering bread and cream cheese, ending with bread. (It came out to 2 layers for me with 3 slices on top and I went in and used all of my spread on top of that too).
Whisk together eggs, milk, extracts, cinnamon and nutmeg; pour over top of bread. (HERE IS WHERE YOU COULD COVER IT AND REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT or 8 HRS. FOR AN EASIER MORNING)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
For the topping, sprinkle 1 cup blueberries and almonds over top of French toast.
Melt together butter and and 1/4 cup brown sugar; drizzle over French toast and then bake until bubbly and set, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes.
For the syrup, combine 1 cup blueberries, maple syrup, and OJ in a small saucepan. Simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes, then serve over French toast. 
Haute Eggs
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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.
