Tag Archives: breakfast

Breakfast and Brunch, Easy to Prepare, Egg Dishes, Recipes

Truffled Eggs with Pancetta, Arugula and Fontina Flatbread

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Recipes for a Cure
This saucy dish is part of a collection of recipes written to benefit the National MS Society. In 2008, my sister Lexi (then 21 years old) was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. We formed a team of friends and family called MS is BS (Mind Strong is Body Strong), and each year we raise thousands of dollars for MS research. This recipe was written in tribute to a generous donation towards my $1500 fundraising minimum for the 2013 Capital Challenge Walk, a two-day 50K walk through Maryland, Virginia and DC. Learn more about team MS is BS on our website at http://msisbs.org.

Brunch Buddies 4 Life

Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take ages to forge a friendship of worth. Case in point, take my BFF Tara – we met as sketchily as a Craigslist missed connection (not that I know what those are all about…) Back in 2010, my homegirl discovered Adesina’s Kitchen through our fave food blogger hub, FoodBuzz. After hitting me up for my thai dumpling recipe, I meandered over to her site What We Chow, and found that we enjoyed waxing poetically over luxe ingredients, price tag be damned.  I was enamored at the prospect of making her virtual acquaintance, but had no idea that shit was going to get real.  Pronounced: rull. Continue reading Truffled Eggs with Pancetta, Arugula and Fontina Flatbread →

Breakfast and Brunch, Poultry Dishes, Recipes

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Butter Pecan Waffles

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Chicken + Waffles + Booze = Inhalation

If you’ve not been turned on to the allure of the goodness that is chicken and waffles, now is your chance. Sweet and salty get sweaty in a tryst that goes hard through breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m talking a slow jam of culinary perfection, with lacy spiced chicken batter playing against the buttery maple goodness of pecan waffles. It’s everything good on a plate, and well worth heating up some oil and firing up the waffle iron.

I like to get my waffle on as soon as possible, so I go with chicken tenders for faster cooking, and a syrup remix that is partially homemade and partially drunk. Yep, booze is invited to the party. You can’t be surprised. It’s my kitchen we’re talking about. Continue reading Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Butter Pecan Waffles →

Breakfast and Brunch, Cheese Dishes, Egg Dishes, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Recipes

Breakfast Quesadilla

I don’t know why, but this recipe makes me think of Napoleon Dynamite and his aunt yelling at him to make himself “a dang quesa-DILL-a”.  Nobody would need to twist my arm to make this quesadilla – scrambled eggs and crisp bacon join melted cheddar and mild green chiles, sandwiched between two perfectly crisped flour tortillas.  It beats a traditional bacon, egg and cheese sandwich any day of the week, and the portable nature of pliant triangles of breakfasty goodness make this a prime contender for late-night, post-drinking binge food.  Come to think of it, this quesadilla is the perfect reminder that breakfast is good at just about any hour of the day.

Making a quesadilla is similar to a grilled cheese sandwich – if you cook the thing over high heat, the outside will burn before the cheese gets a chance to melt. Cook your quesadilla slowly to allow it to crisp up as the cheddar turns into melty gloriousness.

Recipe for

Breakfast Quesadilla

Ingredients
1 tbs. of butter
1/2 tbs. of olive oil or cooking spray
6 eggs, beaten
4 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
3 tbs. of chopped roasted green chiles
black pepper to taste
3 large flour tortillas
3/4 c. of shredded cheddar
cilantro to garnish

Warm a pan over medium heat and add the butter. Slip the eggs into the pan and stir slowly, allowing the eggs to form curds. Shut off the heat while the eggs are still wet and stir in the chiles and bacon. Place a tortilla on a cutting board and top with 1/3 of the eggs. Sprinkle a 1/4 of cheese on top and fold the tortilla over to create a half-moon. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas, eggs and cheese.

Heat a large skillet over medium-low and add the olive oil. Cook each quesadilla until golden brown and toasted, about 5-6 minutes on each side. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut each half-moon into 3 triangles. Serve with salsa or guacamole.

Breakfast and Brunch, Egg Dishes, Recipes

Breakfast Tacos with Potatoes, Chorizo and Egg

Breakfast Taco with Potatoes, Chorizo and Egg © Photo by Angela GunderSay what you will about Texas, but they get things absolutely right when it comes to fast food – chiefly, above all else, the glory of Taco Cabana.  The name is so misleading in its plebian nature, while the franchise dishes out tasty fillings in tender, pliant tortillas.  May all the Taco Bells be stricken from the earth in place of this bastion of tex mex wonders.

I first had Taco Cabana on a trip to Austin City Limits – the hubby and I woke up early at the hotel and decided to forage for breakfast.  We wandered out of the hotel and found a shopping center with a closed Whole Foods and a very open Taco Cabana.  With the best of intentions, we ordered a dozen mixed breakfast tacos in the hopes of bringing back the bounty to our friends back at the hotel.  But no – we lapsed into total food amensia and ate every single taco without even realizing what we were doing.  Dennis and I stared at each other in wonderment after attacking the mass of eggs, beans, potatoes, chorizo and cheese.  It was just so good, we devoured the goodness with no hesitation.

In that I don’t find myself in Texas too often (read: ever), I had to find a way to get my breakfast taco fix at home.  I’d be lying if I told you that I actually eat this for breakfast though.  This is the kind of home cooking that is thrown together at midnight and eaten directly from the kitchen island standing up.  Utensils be damned, eating this dish transports us back to that day where we found some serious goodness in a Texas parking lot in a moment of unexpected perfection.

Recipe for

Breakfast Tacos with Potatoes, Chorizo and Egg

Ingredients
2 medium potatoes, cubed
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tsp. of salt

1 lb. of fresh chorizo (pork or beef)
6 eggs
flour or corn tortillas

chopped tomato
shredded cheese
salsa
cilantro
chopped onion

Add potatoes, garlic and salt to a small saucepan and cover with water.  Heat on high and boil until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.  Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, cook the chorizo, breaking up the large pieces with a spatula.  When the meat is just about cooked through, add the potatoes and allow them to crisp up with the chorizo.  Set aside.

In another skillet, heat 1 tbs. of olive oil on medium.  Scramble your eggs in small bowl and slip into the pan with the oil.  Turn the heat to medium low and gently push the eggs around the pan, allowing curds to slowly form.

Assemble your taco by scooping some of the chorizo and potatoes onto a warmed tortilla.  Top with eggs and a bit of the condiments of your choosing – Dennis likes shredded cheddar, but I love a bit of cilantro, tomato and onion.  Dab with a bit of salsa and eat with reckless abandon.

Breakfast and Brunch, Cheese Dishes, Egg Dishes, Low Brow Treats, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Recipes

Easy Western Scramble

When I was a kid, on Saturday mornings or Sundays after church, my parents would occasionally take us to Bob’s Big Boy for their breakfast buffet. A veritable smorgasbord of all things bad for you, I used to tuck into the absolute same dish every single time – a big plate of fluffy scrambled eggs, home fries (the deep fried square kind), a mixture of cooked ham, peppers and onions, and cheese sauce over all. It was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. Like taste bud good and cholestoral bad news. But whatever – I was a kid and as much as I didn’t care about 401Ks and Roth IRAs, I wasn’t really invested in wholesome ingredients at the breakfast buffet. It was Big Boys for goodness sakes.

Easy Western Scramble © Spice or Die

I’m older and wiser now, with (at least I like to think) a more discriminating palette. The equivalent of breakfast cheese fries and eggs (which were probably dehydrated for all I know) don’t have the same appeal. And yet, the strange combination of peppers, onions and ham has stuck with me all these years. It was odd – the diced ingredients were kept warm in a broth of sorts, keeping the ham moist and the onion mellow. In an effort to recreate some atavistic memory of my childhood, I set upon a method of recreating this Western blend for a breakfast of my past. Served atop delicately scrambled eggs and sharp cheddar cheese, it may not be the low-brow brunch of my yester-years, but it still manages to make me smile.  And given the wholesome ingredients, your arteries are not at risk 😉

Easy Western Scramble

1/2 c. of diced onion
1/2 c. of diced green bell pepper
1/2 c. of canadian bacon, diced
1 c. of water
1 tsp. of salt
pinch of finely cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp. of olive oil
4 eggs
splash of whole milk
1/4 c. of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tbs. of butter

To a small pot, add the onion, bell pepper, canadian bacon, water, salt, pepper and olive oil.  Bring contents to a boil, and then immediately turn off the heat.  Let sit while you prep your eggs.

In a shallow dish, scramble eggs and milk together, making sure not to overbeat.  Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  When warm, turn heat to low and add butter to the pan.  Swirl butter around the pan to slick the bottom and then add the eggs.  As the eggs slowly cook, use your spatula to push the curds to opposite sides of the pan and allow the uncooked egg to run across the surface of the hot pan.  Continue gently pushing the egg around until it is all cooked and just set – I like mine still a bit glossy and wet, but cook to your liking.  Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and allow to melt from the heat of the warm eggs.  With a slotted spoon, scoop up some of the ham, pepper and onion mix and top a portion of the eggs.  Dig in to straight up breakfast comfort.

Baked Goods, Breakfast and Brunch, Egg Dishes, Main Courses, Recipes, Vegetarian Dishes

Savory Breakfast Strata

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I’m a bacon and eggs girl all the way, and I believe in the savory goodness of a breakfast served 24 hours a day.  And given my proclivities to resurrecting leftovers with simple ingredients lying around, a strata is a glorious combination of toasted bread and eggy custard, studded with your favorite toppings.  Bacon, mushrooms, spinach, chard, cheese, tomatoes, peppers, you name it – if you can put it in an omlette, you can most likely include it in a strada.

Savory Mushroom Strada  © Spice or Die

I love this recipe for brunch guests for a couple of reasons.  It’s a great make ahead recipe that requires little to no babysitting.  Assemble leisurely and pop into the oven an hour before you want to eat.  Drink mimosas until it’s time.  Another thing I love is that this recipe rarely involves a trip to the grocery store – if you save your old bread when it gets too hard to eat, and just pluck some choice toppings from the fridge, you are in business.  Worst case scenario, you have to go to the store for eggs and cream.  Lastly, and most importantly, when this comes out of the oven, it looks incredibly impressive for being absolutely no work.  The best kind of recipe there is.

If you are watching your waistline, you can absolutely make this recipe with egg beaters in lieu of eggs and fat-free evaporated milk instead of the cream.  It is not as luxe, but it tastes damn good for having little to no fat.  You’ll just need to figure out what you want to do about the 2 c. of cheese and 1 c. of filling – if you use full fat cheese and say, bacon, don’t assume that it’s full fat.  Canadian bacon, good veggies, and a bit of sharp cheese (you need less because the taste is stronger) are good alternatives.  I don’t even want to talk about fat-free cheese – why waste the calories on tasteless drivel.  Lemme tell you how I really feel (ha!)

Ok, breakfast time!

Savory Breakfast Strata

3 c. of old bread, cubed (or fresh bread, cubed and toasted with a bit of olive oil)
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. of cream
1/8 tsp. of salt
1/8 tsp. of nutmeg
1/8 tsp. of white pepper
1/8 tsp. of black pepper
2 c. of grated cheese (sharp cheddar, swiss, provolone, mozzarella, fontina, etc. – definitely blend types)
1 c. of cooked meat and/or veggies (chopped bacon, ham or prosciutto, spinach, swiss chard, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease a medium sized casserole or small ramekins with cooking spray or butter (I used some el cheapo parchement rounds from Sur La Table for the version in the photo above).  Sprinkle 1/2 c. of the cheese on the bottom of the ramekins or casserole.  Place on a cookie sheet and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the one cup of your choice of meat and veggies, and 1 c. of the cheese.  Dump into the casserole dish or split amongst the ramekins.  Using the same bowl, beat the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, black pepper and white pepper.  Pour the custard over the bread, pushing down on the cubes to make sure that they are all saturated with the liquid.  Let sit for about 5 minutes and then gently push the cubes down a second time.  Top with the remaining 1/2 c. of cheese and then put the pan in the oven.  Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly and the strata has puffed up like a soufflé.

Serve hot, or wait a bit and eat at room temperature.