Tag: breakfast

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The Mindset Needed To Create This Fritatta

“Don’t let failure be final”. -Steven H. Shomler

 

I love this quote and it lends itself beautifully to the concept of embracing improvisation; in cooking and in life. If you give up after one fuck-up and remain afraid to try new things, you will never progress.

This is exactly the mindset needed to create something out of (seeming) nothing. Like this frittata. I made it this morning from odds and ends I found in my fridge and pantry. It took me some time and lots of experimentation to get a good feel for how to throw stuff together like this. Has every single one turned out perfectly? No. But so what? They were still edible ( most of the time). I just filed away the errors I made or the tweaks I thought would improve the dish and incorporated that knowledge into my next effort. Cooking without a script is so much fun though – there is reward in that all by itself.

Back to that frittata: It is a cozy Saturday morning here at HavenHome and I knew I had some goodies in the fridge from last night’s dinner and lunch last week to use up. So I chopped up the tater tots, some red onion and leftover cooked bacon. Tossed that into a greased baking dish. Added some diced green chilis from the pantry and some pepperjack cheese. Then whizzed up some eggs and coconut milk (unsweetened and unflavoured). Seasoned with salt, pepper and dried tarragon from the garden (I am obsessed with tarragon right now and add it to whatever I reasonably can). Baked it in the oven until done. So good with crusty baguette toast topped with butter and marmalade. If I didn’t have shit to do today, I’d also have a ruby sunrise (champagne and ruby red grapefruit juice. WAAAAYYY better than a lameass, boring mimosa).

Cooking is science, but it is also art. No wrong answers here. The worst thing is to become so afraid of failure that you stop trying. Cooking can be a daily, creative outlet that nourishes both body and soul. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

 

 

 

 

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You Could Just Have a BLT, But a BELT is Better!

My sweetie loves BLTs and so does my mom. I’ve never really been a big fan, but I do understand their appeal, in theory. Very simple, good quality elements come together and elevate the whole sandwich.

How could I put my own spin on it though and make it more appealing to myself?

Then it hit me – no one eats BLTs for breakfast, but they should! I think there could be a niche for them there in my world. I am all about the savory breakfast after all!

I always cook my bacon in the oven these days on a foil lined sheet pan to make the cleanup easy. No more standing over a pan patiently turning bacon strips while the fumes coat my hair and then having to deal with the disposal of a shitload of grease. For my sandwich I chose pepper bacon and then picked some cute lil’ cherry tomatoes and basil from my yard. I chopped those guys up along with some white onion. Tossed all with olive oil, salt and pepper then roasted in a slow oven on a lined sheet pan til soft and squishy. Cooled them down and ran them through the food processor with some balsamic vinegar. I left it pretty chunky. Once the bacon was done, I fried up an egg, toasted an English muffin and spread some of the tomato onion mix on there. Then layered the egg, bacon and lettuce. My egg got a shot of Tabasco, but you don’t have to.  

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Slightly Slimy Spinach Gets a Second Life as Joe’s Special

We buy a lot of greens in this house. For smoothies, salads, tacos (I’ll tell you about that one later), but frequently, despite our best efforts, the greens turn on us. You know, when the leaves look fine one day and then a wet, inky blob the next? Total bummer. You just have to throw that shit out.

But what about when there are just a few rogue leaves polluting your bag of otherwise perky greens? I’ve got the perfect vehicle – Joe’s Special.

Joe’s special has a special place in my heart because my dad loved it and so do I. It was something we would excitedly order whenever we went out for breakfast and happened to find it on the menu (rare) or would cook up for ourselves on leisurely weekend mornings. I still make it at times and think of him; miss him. I take a lot of liberties with it though (duh, see name of this website). And in my adult life, I have learned that it is also a perfect dinner when I want something easy, meaty and satisfying.

Sautee up some chopped white onions and add some crumbled up ground meat or meat-like product. I’ve used everything from vegetarian TVP to leftover hamburger patties; in these pictures it happens to be turkey sausage. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, if using raw. Then add your spinach to the pan and cook it until it is shrunken down; no worries if there are a couple of slimy bits in your greens going in, they will still taste ok once cooked. I’ve also used other greens here like baby kale, arugula, but spinach is traditional. I like to season with garlic salt and lots of black pepper. Sometimes I add some chopped jalapeno if I’m feeling spicy. Then add some scrambled eggs to the pan, or tofu if you are going veggie. Cook til the eggs are how you like them. The proportions are totally up to you – I tend to go heavy on the spinach and lighter on the meat and eggs, but you do you. If you are feeling cheesy, feta is super yummy on this. In my mind, Tabasco is the perfect finish. Serve with toast, wrapped up in a tortilla or all by itself.

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Bagel Breakfast Strata

Bagel Breakfast Strata? Sure, why not?!

So I had a couple of forgotten everything bagels and a neglected tub of chive cream cheese that were begging to be used. This rainy Sunday morning, inspiration struck! What if I made these into a breakfast strata? For those not in the know (or younger than 50) , a breakfast strata is a baked eggy, custardy, brunchy kind of casserole thing that uses cubed bread as a base.

I love bagels. The chewy salty outside of a well-made, REAL bagel is sublime. But not nearly  as perfect without a cream cheese partner. I could have simply used the bagels mixed with the eggs and other stuff here, but incorporating the cream cheese as well was simply irresistible. Might just be crazy enough to work.

How to add the cream cheese though? Mix it in with the eggs and milk? Spread it on top after baking? There had to be an answer…then it hit me. Keep it simple stupid!

Heat up the oven to 350. Grease up a baking dish, I used 9×13. Spread cream cheese on a couple of bagel halves, I don’t care what kind of either one you use. Stick the 2 halves together and then chop them up into cube sizes. Toss those into the baking dish with whatever other stuff you want or need to use up. I added chopped red and yellow peppers, a handful of spinach, sausage, some purple onion and a small can of diced green chiles. Then I mixed up some eggs and (almond) milk with salt and pepper and poured that right into the baking dish (you need enough of the egg mix to saturate everything). Mix it all together until everything is moist. At this point you can cover this and let it sit in the refrigerator for a while so the bagels soften up a bit to make it more custardy. Even leave it overnight. I baked mine right away the first time because I’m impatient and it was fine, but letting it sit for at least an hour before baking was better. Bake until done ( eggs set, not runny, brown on top). Let it cool a sec before you cut it. It is good hot, lukewarm or even cold straight from the fridge.