Category Archives: Breakfast in Bed
Breakfast in Bed –Crêpes Mandarin
Post by Alison Hein.
I’ve got orange on my mind – the color, that is. Warm, vibrant, fiery orange. The color of sunsets and pumpkins and autumn leaves. The color of accents in my sister’s revamped living room.
We wanted to surprise Janet with a birthday gift, and got some help from our good friend Luis of Luis Acevedo Interior Designs (http://luisacevedointeriors.com/). Luis created a hip “shades of gray” theme, with jaunty splashes of orange to spice it up. So he sent me shopping. For pillows. Candles. Dishes. Anything I could find that was just the right shade of orange.
All that shopping turned my thoughts to food – a vivid, orange birthday breakfast dish. Sweet mandarin oranges turned into a sprightly sauce, spooned lavishly over delicate cream-filled crêpes.
Happy Birthday, Janet! Hope you’re loving your new orange-accented room and your vivid, orange breakfast in bed!
Mandarin Orange Sauce
1 12-ounce can Mandarin oranges in light sauce
1 cup sugar
Place Mandarin oranges and sugar in a small, heavy pot. Bring to a boil, stir, and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook at a bubbling simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until the oranges break apart and the sauce thickens. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Filling
6 ounces whipped cream cheese
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Set aside.
Crêpes
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 – 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Powdered sugar for garnish
1 11-counce can mandarin oranges in light sauce, drained
Mint sprigs for garnish (optional)
Preparation
In large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Whisk egg into milk, then whisk milk mixture into flour mixture until batter is thick and smooth. Let batter rest a few minutes before cooking.
Heat about 1 teaspoon oil in a heavy 6-inch pan over medium heat. When hot, but not smoking, add ¼ cupful of batter to pan, swirling to cover bottom. Cook pancake 1 to 2 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned, flipping once. Keep warm while cooking remaining pancakes, monitoring heat and adding oil as necessary.
To assemble, place crêpes on serving plates. Spread each crêpe with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cream cheese filling. Roll up, top with Mandarin orange sauce. Garnish with a few mandarin slices and mint. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 to 7 crêpes.
Breakfast in Bed: Egg in a Nest
Post by Alison Hein.
Sometimes it’s the simplest things in life that bring the greatest pleasure. With no more than one egg, a slice of bread, and a dab of butter, you can make a breakfast that satisfies salt, fat and carb cravings in one fell swoop. Start by dipping the crisp, butter-soaked toast center neatly into the warm, golden yolk for a perfect first bite, or save it – for the last joyful crunch.
I first learned about this wonderful dish when I was just knee-high. My mother, a big movie buff, learned to make Egg in a Nest by watching Claudette Colbert in the 1947 comedy film The Egg and I. We watched that funny film together countless times, and afterward, Mom would always make some for us. (You can see the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8z_kOuAG0w.)
You may know Egg in a Nest by another name. The list is quite long: Toad in a Hole; Egg in a Basket; One Eye; Birdie’s Nests; One-Eyed Egyptian Mummies; Rocky Mountain Squattled Eggs; Gas House Eggs; Cowboy Pancakes… who knows? Perhaps you call it something else?
Such an uncomplicated dish easily lends itself to all sorts of variations – serve it over a bed of wilted greens, or top with a slice of Canadian bacon. Melt some Swiss cheese on top of the egg near the end of cooking, or sprinkle with a dash of parmesan. Or just keep it plain ala Claudette Colbert for a simple breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
1 – 2 tablespoons butter
1 slice bread (I like sourdough)
1 egg
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a large, heavy pan over medium heat. In the meantime, cut a round hole in the center of the bread using a knife, cookie cutter or the rim of a glass. Place bread and cut-out center in pan and toast to a light golden color, about 1 minute. Flip bread and round center, adding more butter as needed. Crack egg into center of bread slice and reduce heat to medium low. Continue to cook, another 1 to 2 minutes. When egg white is almost set, cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid to finish, about 1 minute longer. If you prefer, you may choose to carefully flip the bread / egg combo for an over-easy egg. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Makes 1 serving.
Breakfast in Bed – Spätzle mit Eier
Post by Alison Hein.
Spätzle, or “little sparrow,” is a hand-cut egg noodle from the region of Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I love spätzle fried in butter, liberally salted and peppered, and browned to a crisp perfection. Topping that with a gooey poached egg and specks of fresh parsley nearly sends me into a dreamy food delirium.
Making these eggy little pasta bites is easy – no need for fancy contraptions. My Austrian grandma taught me to make them with nothing more than a knife and spoon. Be careful as you gently push your thin globs of dough into the boiling water – wear gloved potholders, if you like, to be safe.
Fry them with bacon or onions, bake them with Swiss or Gruyere, spice them, sauce them, herb them but definitely serve them – for lunch, for dinner, or for a joyfully delirious breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
Spätzle
½ cup unbleached white flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 to 2 tablespoons water
Spätzle mit Eier
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh curly parsley, chopped
Preparation
To make spätzle, mix flour and salt together in small bowl. Whisk in eggs until smooth, thick batter forms. Gradually add water until you achieve the desired consistency. The batter should be somewhat thick, but thin enough to slide slowly off the edge of a spoon.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Scoop up a tablespoon of batter with one hand and hold over the boiling water. In the other hand, hold a butter knife parallel to the spoon, and gently (and carefully) push the strip of dough into the water. Repeat the process. As the spätzle cook they will rise to the surface. Skim them off and place in a separate bowl. When all the dough is gone and all the spätzle are cooked, rinse them in cold water and allow them to drain.
Makes about 2 cups of spätzle.
When ready to eat Spätzle mit Eier, melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the spätzle and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. To poach eggs, fill a heavy saucepan with enough water to cover eggs (3 to 4 inches) and heat until very hot and simmering, but not boiling. Break eggs into individual small dishes. Or you can use an egg poacher. Carefully pour the first egg into the simmering water. Immediately use a wooden spoon to wrap the cooking white around the egg yolk to prevent the white from feathering. Repeat the process with the second egg, and cook for about four minutes, until the white is firm but the yolk is still soft. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain. Trim edges if necessary.
Divide the spätzle into two equal portions. Top each portion with a poached egg. Add salt and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 servings.
Breakfast in Bed: Maple Morning Cake
Post by Alison Hein.
Kevin and I took an old-fashioned vacation this summer. We unplugged our electronics, stocked up on books and movies, and hopped in our car for the five-hour drive to Vermont. Our “private camp” (otherwise known as a cozy little house) was nestled up tight against the banks of the bountiful Lake Champlain.
We had envisioned lazy days sunning on our tiny shale beach, punctuated only by cooling dips in the lake or sunscreen breaks. Instead, we arrived to a mighty, swelling lake, soon to reach its 100-foot flood mark level, and rainy, rainy days.
So I scouted out the best spots for farm fresh produce, local dairy products and my all-time favorite Vermont comestible – maple syrup. Then I moved my activities indoors to the small kitchen. Perhaps slightly decadent for daily breakfast, this Maple Morning Cake seemed fitting for our sleepy vacation. Lightly sweet, the rich, mellow maple flavor shines through. Skip the buttercream frosting, if you like, and sprinkle the top with some maple or cinnamon sugar.
Cool lake breezes, pattering rain, and blessed silence had us sleeping soundly, dreaming only of the morning ahead and our Vermont maple-y breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
¼ cup maple syrup
½ cup sour cream
Frosting
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon milk
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one at a time. In a separate small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Mix the milk and maple syrup together in another small bowl. Add alternately with flour mixture to the egg batter, until well mixed. Fold in sour cream.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for at least one hour before frosting.
To make frosting, mix softened butter and confectioner’s sugar together until well blended. Stir in maple syrup and milk, mixing until smooth. Apply a thin layer of frosting to cake using a butter knife or spatula. Refrigerate cake until ready to eat.
Breakfast in Bed: Strawberry Smoothies
Post by Alison Hein.
When the summer temperatures skyrocket and remain relentlessly above 90 degrees, when the air is so thick with water it’s hard to breathe, when the air conditioner gulps and strains to keep up the good fight against Mother Nature – those are the rare times when I don’t want any breakfast. My solution? An icy, frothy tall drink lush with fresh fruit and thick as a milkshake, tasting of summer and chilling like winter – a Strawberry Smoothie.
While fresh fruit/milk drink combos have been around for a long time, food historians generally believe the smoothie is a 20th century concoction, first appearing in West Coast health food stores during the 1920s, then later becoming popularized in the mid-1960s. Regardless of their history, they are delicious, nutritious, thirst-quenching and easy.
You will need a blender. After that, all you need is some fresh fruit, a handful of ice, and a little imagination. I like to put some low-fat vanilla yogurt in my smoothies – not just for thickness, but for a bit of protein. Experiment with different kinds of fruit, add a drop of honey or some protein powder. You can even use frozen fruit, and omit the ice entirely. Whatever you come up with, I’m sure it will be a recipe for a smooth, chill breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh strawberries, plus 2 strawberries for garnish
1 cup ice
½ cup low fat vanilla yogurt
Preparation
Rinse strawberries and gently pat dry. Hull strawberries, except for the two garnish strawberries, using a small paring knife. Carefully cut around the green stem of each berry in a conical shape. Discard leaves and white inner part of berries. Make a small slit in the bottom of the two berries to be used for garnish, and slide one over the rim of each glass.
Place ice in blender. Add hulled berries and yogurt. Purée until thick and smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into glasses, add a couple of straws, and enjoy immediately.
Makes 2 smoothies.
