So, let’s say hypothetically that you went to a party on Friday night and had a smidge too much champagne. Maybe you woke up Saturday morning with a tiny headache and a slightly delicate stomach. Not a hangover, goodness no, nothing like that, you know better than that. You just woke up feeling a little off. What would you eat for breakfast?
Not that I really know what that’s like. But if theoretically I drank a little too much of the bubbly and needed to feel better fast, I would first drink a lot of water or something with electrolytes. Then I would want something comforting like pizza, pancakes, or maybe mac n cheese. But first thing in the morning? I’d probably reach for what we call around here a holey egg sandwich. You might know it as a birdie in the nest, egg in the basket, one-eyed Jack, or one of several other names.
Not that I ever need a hangover remedy, but here is one of my favorites:
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Tagged as:
breakfast,
eggs,
hangover remedy
I’ve been thinking about Christmas morning lately. Like for the last couple of weeks. I haven’t been thinking about presents. No, I’ve been thinking about breakfast. Remember, it’s the most important meal of the day. And you’re going to need your strength on Christmas day. Even so, Christmas morning is about presents and witnessing the joy of others opening the gifts you so carefully chose (or made) for them, right? It’s not about fussing over a lot of stuff in the kitchen. But this doesn’t mean you have to eat cereal. There are a number of things you can prepare ahead of time so that breakfast is nearly as memorable as that shiny new toy. Things like biscuits and scones can be made ahead of time and frozen before they are baked. But sometimes you want a little more substance. Maybe something that is eggy, cheesy, and all around delicious. Maybe something like this breakfast casserole?
Breakfast casserole? Yes. I know, the name could use some work. But I think casseroles get a bad rap. Besides, it sounds better if you say it with a little Southern accent. Okay, maybe not. But if you want to be fancy, you could call it a savory bread pudding.
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Tagged as:
baked,
breakfast,
casserole,
eggs,
leftovers
As a kid, I had a love-hate relationship with eggs. I loved deviled eggs. And egg salad. I hated fried eggs. But not always. I can distinctly remember a time in my early childhood when I would happily eat eggs with my pancakes and even dip the syrup-soaked bites into the runny yolk just like my mom did. And I ate poached eggs on toast with my dad regularly. Then at some point around age eight, I decided I didn’t like eggs. Or rather, I only liked the stinky eggs as my ex-husband called them (he hated the stinky eggs and I hated the non-stinky eggs. It made breakfasts difficult). I suppose whether or not it was coincidence that my dislike for fried eggs manifested itself around the time my mom remarried is something for a therapist to figure out.
Anyway, one day in my late twenties I decided to give eggs another try. I started out always eating it with something more powerful in flavor. But you know what? It didn’t take long for me to get over the hate. And I love them now. I’m in my thirties, living alone with two cats, and I love eggs (Ok, my situation is not as bleak as that last sentence sounded. I have more love in my life than just eggs. I’m lucky to have found a wonderful man who loves when I cook eggs for him). Who knew I’d come around so whole-heartedly? Now, I sometimes find ways to add eggs to a meal just because (even ramen… well, especially ramen. I love to add veggies like bok choy and then poach an egg in the broth while the noodles are cooking).
Even though I always liked hard boiled eggs and dishes made from them, it took me years to learn to properly cook a hard-boiled eggs. Not for lack of trying, it was just lack of patience or brain cells. I would always forget how long the eggs needed to cook or forget to set a timer and walk away and then forget about the eggs on the stove. So I overcooked a lot of eggs to the point that the yolks were dry. But now, thanks to the “spinach salad” episode of Good Eats, I know how to cook a hard-boiled egg… reliably. And best of all, you cannot over-boil it to the point of all of the water evaporating from the pot and the egg exploding. I hear that can be very messy. Don’t try it.
Hard-boiled eggs:
I don’t mean to insult anyone’s intelligence by writing out the steps on how to boil an egg, but I’m happy to have a method that works that I can remember and so I wanted to share it (just in case there is anyone as clueless as I am out there. Unlikely, but a girl can dream).
1. Place eggs in a pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the eggs.
2. When the water begins to boil, cover the pot and remove it from the heat. Let eggs sit in the hot water for 12 minutes.
3. Immerse eggs in cold water.
4. Peel and eat (don’t forget the salt!)
Tagged as:
Alton Brown,
eggs,
hard boiled eggs,
love-hate eggs
Between my work and D.’s move, we haven’t spent a lot of quality time together in the last couple of weeks. Sure, we’ve hung out, but we’ve both been preoccupied and exhausted. So we planned to have a date night yesterday. We decided to go see a movie. D. chose the last movie we saw (Valkyrie) so I got to choose and I was feeling like a comedy or chick flick… of course, he still had veto power and used it to nix New In Town. So we went to see He’s Just Not That Into You. It was opening night and the theater was packed with about 80% women but for a chick flick, it was not too over the top so the guys in the theater had fun too. I laughed, I almost-cried… it was a good movie.
Before the movie, D. and I stopped at this random little wine bar called Cafe Torre. We saw it earlier this week tucked into a strip mall. We weren’t too hungry, so we sipped some wine and split an appetizer and a salad. I’m not usually one to gush over a salad, but this one was so good! Just a simple salad of baby spinach topped with a warm garlic and pancetta dressing. That dressing rocked. I am going to try to recreate it sometime soon… pancetta, garlic, olive oil, and… ?
Anyway, last night was just what the doctor ordered. I got a good night’s sleep, started my morning with a little easy yoga and a good breakfast: sun dried tomato chicken sausage and cheddar frittata with a side of leftover pineapple upside-down cake. Yum and yum.
I love frittatas because they are infinitely versatile and really easy. Whatever you have on hand will work. This morning I happened to have sundried tomato chicken sausage, cheddar cheese, Italian flat-leaf parsely, and green onions. But I’ve used ham and swiss, all veggies with a light sprinkle of parmesan, etc…
Frittata
5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
about 3 oz cheddar cheese, cut into cunks
2 sundried tomato chicken sausage, cut into small bites
1-2 tbsp Italian flat-leaf parsely, rough chopped
2 tbsp green onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and milk. Stir in the parsely and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In an oven-proof (small-ish) pan, saute the sausage for about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg mixture and stir it around like scrambled eggs. Cook it until it’s almost done (still runny on top).
3. At this point you could sprinkle more cheese on top if you were in an especially cheesey mood (and who doesn’t like more cheese?). I decided I had enough cheese inside already, so skipped it this time. With the added cheese or no, the whole pan goes into the oven under the broiler for about 3-5 minutes or until the top is cooked and the cheese is melted.
4. Sprinkle with green onions, crack some fresh pepper on top, slice it up and…
6. Enjoy!
Tagged as:
eggs,
frittata,
movie,
wine
