Tag Archives: Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast in Bed: Salade Arc-en-Ciel
Post by Alison Hein.
Yay! We’re on vacation and escaping the miserable cold and snowy weather back home! Our traditional winter getaway to the French Caribbean was never more welcome.
One of my favorite things to do while away (besides enjoying the tropical sun and sugary sand) is to poke around in the kitchen of the house we rent. Our hostess, Veronique, has stocked charming Casa Azul with many intriguing cookbooks. A little French salad cookbook filled with glossy photos caught my eye. Paging through, I came across a lush and colorful fruit salad – Salade Arc-en-ciel. I used a different assortment of fruit than the original recipe calls for, but the golden pineapple, vibrant orange, lush green kiwis and ruby red grapes conspired to create a festive Rainbow Salad (recipe name translation).
A little rum to assist the maceration process is also very nice for depth and flavor (and vacation-y, too), but feel free to substitute a rum extract or omit the alcohol entirely if little ones will be enjoying the fruit. The traditional French crème fraiche topping is also lovely and different when blended with sugar and vanilla. The sour cream-like texture and density perfectly complements the rum-soaked tropical fruit. Then, finally, the pièce de résistance – a dusting of finely chopped, lightly salted pistachios.
Close your eyes and imagine balmy breezes and whistling surf. Now dig into this little gem of a fruit concoction, and for just a few moments, you will be transported to a French Caribbean breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1 orange, peeled and chopped
2 kiwis, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 banana, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 cup seedless red grapes, cut in half
¼ cup orange juice
1 teaspoon rum
1 teaspoon honey
½ cup crème fraiche (or substitute yogurt or whipped cream)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons finely chopped pistachio nuts
Preparation
Place all prepared fruit in a large bowl. Mix together orange juice, rum and honey. Pour sauce over mixed fruit and toss gently to cover. Place in refrigerator and let chill at least one hour before serving.
Mix together crème fraiche, sugar and vanilla to make topping. Place chilled fruit salad in four individual serving bowls. Garnish with a dollop of crème fraiche topping, and sprinkle each serving with chopped pistachio nuts.
Makes 4 servings.
Recipe adapted from Les Salades by Christian Teubner
Breakfast in Bed: Jalapeño Quesadillas
Post by Alison Hein.
Enough with this winter already! Snow, ice and an iffy furnace have caused the chill to permanently settle into my bones. So, I decided to start the day with a little extra heat, in the form of petite and piquant jalapeño peppers. These little green jewels can pack a surprising amount of kick, so strew them with caution if you are sensitive to fiery flavors.
Whole wheat tortillas stuffed with a tangy Mexican cheese blend host the fresh, fragrant jalapeños. Serve these quesadillas straightaway as an aromatic starter or snack, or breakfast-ize them, as I did, by enhancing with a gob of fluffy scrambled eggs. A dollop of sour cream mellows the spice, while a smidge of fresh chopped tomatoes and cilantro enhance the Latin flavors and add dramatic color.
So fight back – bundle up, cover up. Or fire up – a breakfast in bed guaranteed to melt some ice.
Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 jalapeño pepper
1 whole wheat tortilla
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup Mexican cheese blend
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon milk or cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon sour cream (or queso fresco)
1 tablespoon diced fresh tomatoes
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Wash jalapeño pepper. Slice off stem end. Remove seeds and ribs with paring knife. Slice pepper into thin rounds and set aside. Place tortilla on a flat work surface. Brush lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle about two-thirds of the cheese on top. Strew about two-thirds of the sliced jalapeño on top. Fold tortilla in half. Brush again with olive oil, and sprinkle the remaining cheese and jalapeños on top, retaining a little of each for garnish if you like. Fold tortilla in half again to form a quarter round. Brush with remaining olive oil. Add a sprinkling of cheese and jalapeño on top, if you like. Place in preheated oven, and bake until cheese is melted and beginning to bubble, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Cook eggs while quesadilla is baking. Melt butter in small, heavy pan over medium low heat. Break eggs into small bowl and whisk well with milk or cream. Add eggs to heated pan and allow to cook slowly and gently. Stir and lift frequently with wooden spoon to avoid sticking. Season with salt and pepper.
Place quesadilla on plate. Spoon eggs out gently on top of quesadilla. Top with sour cream, chopped tomatoes and cilantro. Serve with hot sauce on the side, if you like.
Makes 1 serving.
Breakfast in Bed – Game Day Breakfast: Denver Omelet and Strong Seattle Coffee
Post by Alison Hein.
I was rooting for the Patriots during the football playoffs. The reason? New England cuisine (think clam chowder, lobster rolls and brown bread) would be preferable to Denver fare (think, uh, lamb, beef and, uh…) at our annual Super Bowl team-themed party. And while I’m still not sure how to appropriately represent Colorado for the evening meal, I’ve got breakfast covered super-bly with a Denver Omelet!
Fresh green peppers, chopped onion and country ham are the basis for this colorful, flavorful omelet. My version also calls for some sweet red peppers and zesty cheddar. If you chop everything up the night before, with 10 minutes prep time, you can be settling in for a super game day breakfast in bed. Just don’t forget the strong Seattle coffee. Heck. Make it an espresso. Stay alert as you cheer your favorite team to victory.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup cooked ham, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs
¼ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Pour olive oil in heavy frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add chopped onion, red pepper and green pepper, and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the ham at the last minute, just to warm through. Set aside.
Melt butter in a separate small, heavy pan over high heat. Break eggs into small bowl and whisk until mixed. Add eggs to heated pan all at once and swirl to even. Tilt pan slightly, and every few seconds, use a jerking motion to pull the pan towards you so the eggs move away as they begin to cook. When the eggs begin to set but are still very soft in the center, remove the pan from the heat for a few seconds.
Spoon about 2/3 of the onion mixture over the top of the eggs. Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top of the onions, peppers and ham. Return the pan to the stove, reduce heat to low, and continue the jerking motion, this time holding the pan at an even higher angle, until the omelet begins to flip over onto itself. Give it a little push with a spoon or spatula if necessary. Leave folded omelet in pan and cook on low heat until cheese melts, less than 1 minute.
Turn the omelet out onto a plate, top with remaining onion/pepper/ham mixture, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.
Makes 1 serving.
Breakfast in Bed: Eggnog French Toast
Post by Alison Hein.
Please forgive me! I purchased too much eggnog this holiday season. Last year, we went through it like water so I wanted to be prepared. Don’t get me wrong – I absolutely adore eggnog (see the recent Eggnog Waffles post. The trouble is, with too much eggnog on hand and not enough milk, I was forced to concoct another once-a-year holiday breakfast treat – Eggnog French Toast.
Rich and golden, eggy and sweet, it only takes a few minutes to prepare enough for your whole family. This thick, yellow batter works best with stale bread – allow it to sit for a few minutes to fully absorb the pure eggnog flavors. If you like, sprinkle in a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg, for holiday cookie-like flair. Cook the bread somewhat slowly (medium-low heat) and you’ll achieve an all-over golden brown glow on your French toast. Start off the new year right and let the kids help on this one – it’s super easy and almost foolproof. Your children will delight in creating this egg-a-licious meal.
So, if you didn’t try the recent waffle recipe, and find yourself (like me) with an overabundance of eggnog in your fridge, perhaps you might whip up a batch of Eggnog French toast for a lazy New Year’s Day breakfast in bed.
Happy New Year!
Ingredients
1 cup eggnog
2 eggs
Dash of cinnamon (optional)
8 slices day-old bread
2 to 4 tablespoons butter
Preparation
In large, shallow bowl, whisk together eggnog and eggs. Stir in cinnamon. Dip bread slices into the eggnog mixture, turning once to completely saturate. If bread is very hard, let it soak in the eggnog mixture for a few minutes until softened. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in heavy skillet. Add soaked bread slices and cook over medium to medium-low heat, turning once, until golden and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add more butter as needed. Remove from pan and serve warm with real maple syrup.
Makes 4 servings.
Breakfast in Bed: Indian Pudding
Post by Alison Hein.
Here’s an oldie but goodie – just in time for Thanksgiving. If you’re from New England, this may be familiar, old-fashioned holiday fare for you. If not, read on.
The first known recipe for Indian pudding appeared in what is considered America’s first cookbook – Amelia Simmons’ “American Cookery,” published in 1796. Amelia kindly provided three variants: one very eggy version with raisins which required less baking time, one simple and sweet, and one to be boiled in cloth for 12 hours! I used her sweet and simple version for inspiration:
A Nice Indian Pudding
3 pints scalded milk to one pint meal salted; cool, add 2 eggs, 4 ounces butter, sugar or molasses and spice q. f. it will require two and half hours baking.
Typically fuzzy food history opines that this dish was based on traditional English pudding, which is either baked or boiled, sweet or savory, and usually bread-like and custardy. Fine flour was not so easy to come by in the New World, so our ever inventive forefathers replaced it with “Indian” maize, or cornmeal, obtained from Native Americans. Sweetened simply, usually with molasses, this new “pudding” must have been a rare treat back in the day. Rumor has it that colonists contributed this dish to some of our earliest Thanksgiving celebrations with Native Americans.
I baked my Indian pudding slowly at a low temperature, and found it to be an inviting blend of custard, corn bread, and pudding. A subtle treat, and an old-fashioned and familiar breakfast in bed.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ingredients
3 cups whole milk
4 ounces butter
1 cup corn meal
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
¼ cup maple syrup (or substitute molasses)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon mace
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°, and spray an 8×8-inch pan with cooking spray. Scald milk by heating in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, without stirring, until tiny ripples begin to form on the surface. Add butter and remove from heat. When butter is melted, slowly add corn meal, stirring rapidly to ensure no lumps form. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
Stir eggs into corn meal mixture. Add sugar, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, ginger, mace and nutmeg and stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 2 to 2 ½ hours until pudding is set and a toothpick in center comes out clean.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
