Breakfast Zucchini Pizza

Take home your leftovers whenever possible.

Because really, you've paid for your meal, you may as well get to eat it all!

Granted, some things are harder to rejuvenate the next day, but in general, I'm all for doggy bags. Especially as I am more of a Grazer than a 3-Squares-A-Day type of gal.

Below see a gorgeous half zucchini pizza from Franny's that I just could not finish the night before.

Now known as Breakfast Pizza.

I opted to add a poached egg because I like the runny yolk and soft white, but if that's not your style an egg fried in bacon fat would be a perfect topper for this (including some crumbled bacon, of course.)

You've got carbs, vegetables, and protein ready to go.

Just make sure to use a skillet to re-crisp your pizza crust while your egg is cooking.

I do not understand countries that don't believe in doggy bags.

Like my dear beloved Italy, a country that knows not to waste stale bread because they can thicken soups with it or make a panzanella salad, but they don't believe in taking home leftovers.

Luckily I'm writing this in the USA, so doggy bags are go!

Get creative with your leftovers next time.

Poached Egg Over Quinoa

I ate way too much grilled meat this weekend, as I'm sure many others did as well.

It's time to lighten up and get some healthy food back in my system.

Unfortunately, that much grilled meat also makes me feel rather sluggish, so combining that with the 90º heat makes me a very lazy cook.

Luckily lazy does not have to mean bland.

I took leftover quinoa (I always make extra as it keeps well in the fridge for quite a few days) and placed it in a ramekin (or bowl) with a bit of grated pecorino, some crumbled goat cheese that was like a smoother ricotta salata, and some chopped basil.

Mix well and form in a patty.

I did not bother to fry this in any way. It's just room-temperature quinoa with cheese and basil.

Simplicity works sometimes.

Next step: poach an egg, 2-3 minutes in almost-boiling water.

Place poached egg on top of quinoa.

Sprinkle with salt and more grated pecorino.

Allow warm runny yolk to ooze.

Yum.

A schmancy-ish and filling breakfast for sure, and done in about 5 minutes.

Dessert Fail = Breakfast Brilliance

You'd think since this is the post immediately following the one in which I describe how I perfectly cooked two 14lb turkeys for five people, I would tell you how to do something interesting with all that leftover meat.
Maybe a stew, or soup recipe?
Or curried turkey dinner like the one I made on Tuesday night with the very last of the leftovers?

Sorry. 

Nope.

I'm going to talk about pie.
But I'm not going to tell you how I made the pie. That would be too easy!
(And require me getting the recipe from NJ...)
Instead I'm going to tell you what to do when pie goes wrong.
At least with the crust...

Since the hubs's favorite dessert at the holidays is pumpkin pie, my mother and I made one for him from scratch.
And it was DELICIOUS.

However, our first attempt at pre-baking the pie crust left us with a slightly burnt crust, and we did not want that to be our final product. So we tried again.

My mother was ready to throw away the slightly over-cooked crust, but I would not let her because I have a thing about making use of as many leftovers as possible, and I had an idea for the extra-toasty crust:

Quiche!

I looked in the fridge and found smoked salmon and cream cheese, and instantly had a lovely breakfast planned for the next morning.

Crappy kitchen photography. My bad.

Five eggs for five people, whisked with a hefty splash of cream, seasoned with only a pinch of salt since salmon is salty, pepper, and poured into the crust.

I then used kitchen scissors to snip pieces of smoked salmon into the mix, along with some fresh cilantro (because that was also in the fridge) and little dollops of cream cheese.

Next time I will make it big dollops...

Bake in a preheated 350º oven for about 20 minutes, or until the eggs have set.

It may not be the most picture perfect quiche in the world, but it was tasty, it was quick to assemble, easy to clean up, and allowed me to get on with cooking Turkey #2 before noon.

And the slightly burnt crust was just fine.

Impromptu Breakfast Party!

So one of my dearest friends who lives waaaaaaaaaaaaay out in Brooklyn, and (unfortunately for me) lives in a little apartment block full of awesome people, so really, why venture to Manhattan other than for work?

Well, apparently for a really good yoga class just 3 blocks south of me!
SCORE!!!
It meets at 9AM... on a Saturday.
BUMMER!!!

However, that still led to a lovely little impromptu breakfast date at Casa RocknRoll.

Worst photo of tomatoes ever.

By definition, impromptu means you have to work with what you have on hand. So while asparagus, smoked salmon, and goat cheese might have made an elegant fritatta for company, instead ours had tomato, basil, and arugula.

Step one: Preheat your broiler, then in a non-stick pan sauté 1 medium shallot in olive oil. Add tomatoes and season with salt.

When the tomatoes have cooked down for about 3-4 minutes, add one large clove of garlic, grated, about a TBSP of chopped fresh basil, and stir to cook and combine.

Next I add 5 eggs, beaten together with about 2 TBSP of cream (optional).

I had previously seasoned the eggs with a generous pinch of salt as well.

Once the egg has coated everything I added a handful or so of fresh baby arugula. 

(If you want more of a peppery bite, throw a couple handfuls of the arugula in to wilt with the tomato in the earlier step before adding the egg.)

Grate about 1/4 cup of parmigiano reggiano and sprinkle that over the top of the eggs.

Cook this on medium-high for about 4 minutes, or until the sides begin to set.

Once the sides of the eggs have set, place the whole pan under the broiler and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, until the eggs have cooked and the top has turned a light golden brown.

Fritattas are super easy to make, as versatile as your imagination, and easily feed a crowd.

Aside: I just made a killer dinner for 7 last night for some of the hubs's coworkers. It was definitely a success, and I am very excited to share it with you. However, since it took 3 days to prepare, I am a bit wiped out. So instead I am just dangling this little carrot for you so you check back in here in the hopes of finding that meal posted here.

And it will be.

Soon.

Promise.

San Francisco: Day 2

We started off Day 2 breakfasting on a tip from a friend (thanks Sam!) and headed to Dottie's True Blue Café. This was some serious breakfasting, well worth the 45 minutes or so that we stood in line...
(But of course, we're from New York. This was not an unusual thing when it comes to Brunch lines.)

This may truly have been the best omelette that I have ever eaten. 

You know I'm not a big breakfast/brunch person, so when I tell you it was good, it has to be really good.

It was on the specials board, but I'm sure it's up there fairly frequently. It had lamb-fennel sausage, spinach, tomato, roasted garlic, and goat cheese, served with toast and potatoes. Brilliant breakfast.

The hubs had french toast made w/ pumpkin chocolate chip bread, another special.

There was none left.

With full bellies we ventured to the Legion of Honor museum/building, which had a lot of Renoir statues, as well as pieces on loan from the Musée d'Orsay for an exhibit on the Birth of Impressionism.

That exhibit was shared by the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park.

There is an observation deck at the de Young museum that is free to enter.

Nine storeys up you have a clear view (depending on the weather) of the whole city.

Do you remember my post about the Met and "Please Don't Eat the Pictures"???

The little dude has a brother!!! 

And no, it's not the same one on loan because if you compare their left hands, they are different. The one in NYC also seems to have earrings on little rounded ears and is holding what may be a rattle sideways, as well as wearing a skirt of sorts.

The one in SF has long bodhisattva-esque ears and has a vertical rattle.

How crazy that this little guy was made more than once!

If you read the page at the Met link it explains who the little guy is and why he was a common statue to find, albeit frequently only as a head. 

Ancient Mexican Dionysius!

After that excitement we went across the park to the California Academy of Science Museum.

Because they had penguins.

And lots and lots of sea life.

This fish was HUGE tho you can't tell from the picture. 

He could easily eat my arm.

And for the hubs, Sea Dragons.

For dinner that night we met up with more friends of the hubs and ate at Spork in the Mission Disctrict.

And  yes, it's named after the spoon-fork that KFC apparently invented, or at least highly utilized, because the restaurant is on an old KFC site.

However, getting there was an adventure.

First, we got on a trolley car... and just missed our stop. 

So at the next one the hubs goes to step out the back door, only there's a handicap railing in the way of the doors... so he hops over it. 

As soon as he does that, the doors shut, and I am whisked down 3 more blocks while he runs at top-speed after me as though I would get lost going in a straight line.

Isn't that sweet?

While running he didn't hear me calling his cell phone telling him I'd just walk back to meet him where he got off... oh well. At least I know he wasn't trying to ditch me.

We then walked the equivalent of six NY avenues into the Mission District to get to dinner because it was too cold to wait for yet another bus (which did not pass us until we were just about there).  

Plus, we were running late.

We were not cold by the time we arrived...

The hubs ordered two items they are famous for: Cauliflower & Calamari Unite! and the In-Side-Out Burger. I got to taste the first, and it was delicious. The hubs devoured his burger without so much as a crumb in my direction. Everyone at the table seemed quite pleased with their choices, tho I enjoyed mine less than I expected. Still, it was a good place to eat, and the wine list was surprisingly well-rounded for a place named after a plastic untensil. 

I very much enjoyed a bottle of Grenache from the Unti Vineyards we shared.

Methinks I shall try to find some now.

Mmmm...

Nothin' Says "I Love You" Like Stuffed French Toast

At least that's the case if your hubs is a die-hard breakfast man as mine is.

The setup. 

(Note: I should have used 3 eggs for the two large pieces of french toast I made.)

The store was out of challah when I got there, except for one loaf that had raisins in it, and since I know the hubs is not a fan, I went with brioche instead. Annoyingly, the brioche also had a HOLE in the middle  due to air bubbles, which I did not know until I started making breakfast the next morning. That made stuffing the french toast much more difficult. Oh well. I persevered.

The pocket.

In order to make stuffed french toast you could simply make regular french toast and put a tasty filling between two slices. Instead I chose the harder way.

I sliced the bread extra thick, and then cut a pocket about 3/4 of the way into the bread in which to spoon the filling of choice. This time around for the filling I simply combined roughly equal parts good strawberry preserves and room temperature cream cheese, because the fresh strawberries that would garnish looked and smelled divine. Simple but super tasty is the way to go.

While the brioche was sucking up scrambled eggs, a splash of cream, a TSP of cinnamon, and a waft of nutmeg (I don't know how else to describe it... about 6 passes over the fine microplane) I got started on the... appetizer? Amuse bouche? Whatever. The tasty first round, also known as BACON.

Ammendment: Nothing says "I love you" like stuffed french toast and BACON.

Note: the longer you let the bread sit in the egg mixture, the more flavorful and decadent your french toast will be. I'm not talking days, but twenty minutes can make a big difference.

The rest was pretty straight forward. I poured the fat from the bacon out of the pan, added about a TBSP of butter, and cooked the egg-laden toast until crispy on both sides. (In the same pan for "essence of bacon" in the toast :)

 Fresh strawberries, extra filling on the side, a dusting of powdered sugar, and the extra piece of bacon the hubs kindly saved for me while I was still cooking. (I totally ate one piece before serving him because I wasn't sure I'd get out of the kitchen in time to eat any myself!) and breakfast was done.

And really, really good.

Try it out some morning when your S.O. is especially deserving.

Breakfast Prosciutto Cups

Having a big brunch party and don't want to have people eating in shifts? I have a delicious solution for you, via Rachael Ray. (I know. She's not my usual resource, but this was a really good idea. Plus she called it "Green Eggs & Ham" which was just cute...)

With this dish you can cook for a dozen (or more) and have everyone sit down at the same time.

I made this over Mother's Day weekend, and even my father, who is much harder to please food-wise than my mother, enjoyed this. He kindly told me after devouring every bite that he did not expect to like it when I put it in front of him. 

Awesome.

The hubs, being a breakfast lover, was truly psyched when I made this for just the two of us one weekend out of the blue. 

Preheat your oven to 375º

I start this by folding slices of prosciutto into cupcake tins. You can substitute deli ham if you prefer... but really, why would you prefer deli ham to prosciutto???

No need to grease the pan, as the natural fat in the prosciutto will allow these little beauties to release on their own.

For the filling I used defrosted chopped spinach, which I sautéed in a pan with olive oil, salt, minced shallot and garlic (half a small shallot and one small clove of garlic), and grated nutmeg (only a fine dusting for one package).  Once the shallot and garlic have softened and the spinach heated through, add about 3 tablespoons of cream or half & half, whatever you have on hand. Let this cook out and combine for just a couple minutes. 

 (Note: if cooking for many people, definitely use boxed frozen spinach. One large container of fresh spinach wilts down to be only enough to fill about 3 cups, and will cost much more. Since this is baked, you will not be able to taste the difference between fresh and frozen at all.)

Then place a spoonful or two of the spinach mixture into each prosciutto cup.

Pat down to create a well.

Into each well crack one egg. Season the top of each cup with a little salt (and pepper if you like pepper).

Note: crack the egg into a separate container and then add it.

Large Note: Do not use Jumbo eggs for this dish. There will be too much egg to fit in the cupcake tin and it will spill over. Stick to large eggs.

Carefully slide your trays into a 375º oven to bake.

For still slightly runny yolks, cook for about 12 minutes.

For fully cook-through yolks, cook for about 18 minutes.

Either way, keep an eye on them as ovens vary.

To remove I simply slide a butter knife around the edge of each prosciutto cup and then lever them out gently. Try to avoid touching the yolk, as you do not want to break the tops.

How cute are they?!

I of course made extra spinach as I like to have vegetables with my eggs/breakfast whenever possible. Serve with some nice toast, maybe a mimosa,  and enjoy your hot breakfast!

Surgeries, Travel, Great Movies, Mini-Golf, Father's Day, & A Hot Pink Mess

It has been something of a madhouse around here lately. Last week my dad had another stent put in, and of course that took 3 days instead of 2 because he was dehydrated and had to stay in the hospital for two nights instead of just one, and my mother stayed with me so she could stay with him before & during the procdure, and then pick him up from the hospital the next day without having to travel back to NJ.


("Why would you move so far uptown? Mike can still commute to the Bronx from below 96th street! It was so nice when you lived nearer your brother down in Gramercy..." Well, I guess living above 96th street has come rather in handy as I am now the way station between Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and NJ.)


My father came through it just fine, but the next day I had to travel to NJ to help my post-major-shoulder-surgery mom shift to their summer digs at the Jersey Shore, as she still can't lift anything with her right arm. So I helped haul bags, a 20 lb. cat, groceries, cat food, cookbooks, camera bags, and do a little cooking and food prep on the side. As a reward for Day 1 of hard work, on Friday night my mom and I  shared a Caprese salad as well as some brie and hard salami while watching Evil Under the Sun, which I have mentioned before as one of my favorite movies of all time.
(I am absolutely naming my next two cats Hercules Parrot and St. Gudrun the Inquisitive in homage to that movie... I guess I'll have to nickname them Parrot and Goody... mayhap I need to put a bit more thought into this.)
Blissfully, after a bit more food shopping and hauling on Day 2, there was also some down time reading a book on the porch to the sound of the ocean, which is pretty much heaven in my mind. The weekend was getting better every day.

Father's Day this year was celebrated, surprisingly, at the boardwalk where we ate horrible food, fried dough, got covered in powdered sugar, and played a round of mini golf.
And guess what?

I WON!!!

I never win at miniature golf. I usually do fairly well, but more often than not I land in the middle of the pack, so having won this game I had to keep the score card for posterity.

(Adorable/Nauseating side story: the first 3 times I played mini golf against the hubs we tied! We even have one of the score cards on our refrigerator as a keepsake. Nerds. Yes.)

If you check the score card above, you will see:

D = Dad - 49

C = me - 41

Mike = hubs - 51

J = my big bro - 47

Mom = self explanitory - 52

Whoohoo!!!
Also notice that the hubs, my bro, and my mom all scored a hole-in-one along the way. Nicely done. That is a skill/stroke of luck (ha!) that I don't believe I have ever acquired.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled (and previously written) posting, as I did not take pictures of myself making fish tacos w/ black bean & corn salsa from scratch over the weekend. 

(But it was good. Future post? I think so.)

I really love roasted beets. Their tenderness, their sweetness, the fact that they are full of vitamin C... the only negative would be the fact that they turn you and everything you don't even realize you have touched hot pink. But it's a mess that I will put up with for their tender sweet flesh.
Especially now that Fresh Direct makes a roasted beet "salad" that is delicious and does all the messy work for you. (Ok, not ALL the messy work. The liquid in the container of beets is magenta and will stain everything it touches, so be extra careful when you're prying the lid off should you purchase them...)

While I love roasted beets, I have not really come up with any more enlightened ways of eating them other than in a salad, preferably with a cheese of some sort tossed in the mix.

Which brings me to another Breakfast/Brunch post. Specifically this one.

I made another nice little mesclun salad, dressed it with lemon juice and olive oil and salt, and then topped it with diced beets. I did not, however, have any goat cheese on hand with which to finish the stereotype classic. Instead, that little white dollop you see is fromage blanc, which if you are not familiar with it is actually more of a yogurt in flavor and consistency, but as it is tangy and creamy, it had the desired effect  on the salad once mixed together.

I was so happy with my fluffy scrambled egg the other day that I made another one in order to round out my meal and provide the protein needed to start my day.

Simple, I know, but many good things are.

Breakfast Experiment

Having made it through two days of Jury Duty in NYC, I have since been in NJ taking care of my post-shoulder-op mother, so I'm a little out of the loop. To make things more confusing, we are celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow, rather than last week, so expect some kind of wrap-up on that done in a foreign kitchen. I have been cooking up a storm here (feeding both my parents, ah how the tables have turned) as well as doing the menial daily tasks of laundry, errand running, scolding the patient for removing her sling less than 48 hrs after invasive surgery, and keeping track of at least four medications.
I think I shall need a nurse/caretaker when I get back to the city.
Until then, I leave you with one of my less sane attempts at breakfast making. (I mean really, who eats soft boiled eggs other than characters in English novels from the 1800's?)

For some reason I had soft-boiled eggs on the brain, and decided to try to make them for breakfast.

I will not be having that urge again any time soon.

I served my two soft-boiled eggs (no I won't even bother telling you how I did it because I'm sure it was wrong) on a piece of whole wheat toast with a mesclun salad on the side. I guess that almost qualifies as Brunch, but as I am not especially fond of Brunch, we'll stick with Breakfast.

Dressing consisted of the juice of half a lemon, about a dime's worth of dijon mustard, salt, and some good olive oil. Done in seconds.

I do not recommend trying to peel soft-boiled eggs. They are hot and temperamental.

However, seasoned with some garlic salt and grated pecorino, they were quite tasty.

They also would have been good with some Bloody Mary Salt.

What have I learned from this experiment?

Just make poached eggs.

They are very similar in texture and consistency, and vastly easier to make.

At least for me.

Also, the shell is already off before cooking.

Big plus in my book.

Breakfast, Broken

Lately I have been making myself real breakfasts. For someone who has professed to hate Brunch this may seem a little strange, but as I get older I find that I actually enjoy eggs in most forms, so long as they are served up with things that I like, and so long as I give my tummy enough time to wake up in order to digest without any nauseous, squidgy side effects.
The best way to make sure all of that comes together?
Make it yourself.
Preferably in a non-stick pan to avoid an oily breakfast. Cuz really, just, bleh.

Ok so this was by no means something I would typically make for breakfast, but I had bought some fresh chorizo, and I was just so excited to eat some that I decided to use it for a kind of egg & sausage breakfast.

The tragedy in this meal is that I bought fresh Mexican-style chorizo, whereas the chorizo that I covet and devoured as a child is the Spanish-style chorizo. But of course I didn't really realize this until after I had browned this one piece up, and by then it was a little late to adjust.

(However, I have a wonderful solution to this problem that I plan to implement for dinner this evening. It involves lots and lots of garlic, natch.)

In the pan with the (meagerly) flavored drippings of the chorizo I scrambled up an egg, simply seasoned with salt. (Yes, this would have been an opportune time to put other mexican flavors in my scrambled egg to tie the whole meal together. However, I was feeling like a bit of a purist and just wanted to taste egg in my egg. But a little cayenne, cumin, and paprika probably would have made this a Brunch-worthy dish.) In the back (and because my brain requires vegetables at just about every meal) I put a little mesclun salad dressed w/ lemon juice, salt, and good olive oil to balance out the sausage. It worked nicely in placating my brain.

And if it looks like I ate half of my eggs before taking the photo, you would be mistaken. My tummy remains a bit sensitive, so I only make the one egg for myself, and it just looks very small and sad compared to the rest.

Happily, it was not small and sad. It was light and fluffy and softly scrambled perfectly. And exactly the amount of egg that I can eat for breakfast before my tummy goes squidgy.

However, if this had been made with Spanish-style chorizo, it would have gotten two gold stars for Awesomely Tasty.