Tag Archives: Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast in Bed: Pumpkin Cream Crêpes
Post by Alison Hein.
Each Halloween, I like to create a festive, seasonal breakfast recipe. This year, I went with pumpkin crêpes. The bit of pumpkin purée in the batter adds depth, and when cooked, turns the crêpe a lovely golden orange color. The cream cheese-based filling is sweet and flavored with autumn pie spices of cinnamon, ginger and cloves.
Add a dollop of whipped cream to your crêpes for an over-the-top presentation that will delight the eyes as well as the palate. You can make your own, or do what I do and purchase a can of lightly sweetened real whipped cream.
If you like, mix up and refrigerate the filling and batter the night before Halloween. In the morning, fire up the stove and let the batter come to room temperature. Then serve your loved ones a trick-or-treat breakfast in bed that will rival any candy haul.
Happy Halloween!
Filling
¼ cup pumpkin purée (fresh or canned)
6 ounces whipped cream cheese
4 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
Preparation
Mix all ingredients together. Set aside until ready to assemble crêpes.
Crêpes
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup pumpkin purée
2 – 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Whipped cream (optional)
Dash of cinnamon, for garnish
Preparation
In large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Whisk in milk, egg and pumpkin purée until batter is thick and smooth. Let batter rest a few minutes before cooking.
Heat about 1 teaspoon oil in heavy 6-inch pan over medium heat. When hot, but not smoking, add ¼ cupful of batter to pan, swirling to cover bottom. Cook crêpe 1 to 2 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned, flipping once. Keep warm while cooking remaining crêpes, monitoring heat and adding oil as necessary. Place a sheet of waxed paper between cooked crêpes, if you like.
Place crêpes on work area. Spread with about 1 tablespoon of filling and roll up. Top with whipped cream, if you like, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Makes 6 to 7 crêpes.
Breakfast in Bed – Succotash Hash
Post by Alison Hein.
How we got “succotash” from the Narragansett word “msickquatash” is still a mystery. What we do know, is that this succulent corn and lima bean-based vegetable dish originated with native Americans who harvested indigenous crops from the eastern woodlands.
Popularity of succotash has waxed and waned. It experienced a mini-revival during the Great Depression when meat was scarce, and is a wonderful way to showcase end-of-summer sweet corn, The variability of this dish is extensive. Onions, peppers, and squash make lovely additions. Use fragrant herbs for a refined side dish, or spice it up with some hot cayenne. You can bake it, boil it, broil it, or encase it in a piecrust.
In this simple recipe, I replaced the traditional limas with perky and popular edamame (green soy beans), adding a punch of color and healthy protein. I also decided to add a little lean meat – thus the “hash” AND a rhyming recipe. J Feel free to omit the Canadian bacon for a perfectly satisfying vegetarian option.
It only takes about 15 minutes to prepare this bountiful dish. When topped with a crispy fried egg, even the biggest carnivores will be delighted with this colorful cornucopia of veggies and a Narragansett-inspired breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 slice Canadian bacon, chopped into small pieces
2 green onions, cleaned, trimmed and chopped
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1 cup edamame (or use traditional lima beans)
½ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
½ cup vegetable broth or water
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs
Fresh parsley, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
Heat about half the olive oil in heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, Canadian bacon and green onions and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, or until garlic is golden but not yet browned. Add corn kernels, edamame, cherry tomatoes and vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until lightly bubbling, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until most liquid has evaporated.
In the meantime, add remaining olive oil to a large heavy frying pan. Crack eggs into the pan one at a time, making sure to leave enough space between the eggs so the whites don’t run together. Season with salt and pepper. Cook each egg until white is solid, but yolk is still soft, about 2 to 2½ minutes.
Place half the succotash hash in each of two dishes. Top each with a fried egg. Garnish with fresh parsley, if you like, and serve hot.
Makes 2 servings.
Breakfast in Bed: Buckwheat Blini
Post by Alison Hein.
Blini are a type of traditional Russian pancake made with yeasted batter. In ancient times, blini were prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the sun. This tradition still holds today when Russians celebrate Maslenitsa to welcome the spring.
Blini can be made with various flours, but buckwheat blini have an earthy richness that subtly enhance and bend to the myriad of topping alternatives. Serve them hot or cold, sweet or savory. Try them with butter and jam, chopped egg and mushroom, smoked trout and parsley, and most definitely try them warm and buttered with frosty sturgeon caviar and crème fraîche atop.
Freeze the extra. They thaw quickly and impress for last minute brunches, unplanned get-togethers or spontaneous breakfasts in bed.
Buckwheat Blini
3 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 packet yeast
2 cups buckwheat flour
4 eggs
Additional butter for cooking
Preparation
Add milk to small, heavy saucepan and place on stove over medium heat. Allow to heat, without stirring, until tiny ripples begin to form across the surface of the milk (scalded milk). Remove milk from heat and add butter, honey and salt. Pour milk mixture into large bowl. Allow to cool until tepid, then sprinkle yeast lightly and evenly across surface.
Let yeast rest about 10 minutes, until it begins to activate and resembles wet sand. Stir in buckwheat flour, cover with a light tea towel, and allow to rise in a warm, dry place until doubled (at least 2 hours).
Separate eggs into two separate bowls – one for whites and one for yolks. Whisk the yolks until smooth and light, then whisk into batter until evenly mixed. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into blini batter.
Place pan or griddle on burner over medium heat. Melt a small amount of butter in the pan for the first blini. Use a tablespoon to spoon batter into pan and cook until small bubbles appear across surface. Flip once with thin spatula and continue cooking less than one minute until lightly browned and cooked through. Serve warm or cool with a variety of toppings.
Makes approximately 100 2-inch diameter blini.
Buckwheat Blinis with Smoked Trout and Crème Fraîche
10 buckwheat blini
2 tablespoons crème fraîche (or substitute sour cream)
2 to 4 ounces smoked trout
1 tablespoon Italian parsley leaves
Place a dab of crème fraîche on the surface of each blini. Break off a small piece of smoked trout and place on top of crème fraîche. Place another dab of crème fraîche on top of the trout and add a parsley leaf for color. Can be made several hours in advance and served lightly chilled.
Breakfast in Bed: Broiled Florida Grapefruit
Post by Alison Hein.
Kevin and I have the best neighbors in the world. Ann and Frank are always adventuring off somewhere, never failing to bring us a small (edible) memento. (You may recall an earlier post that featured Frank and his fabulous Frittata Italiana-Mexicana. Last year our neighbors traveled to Italy and returned with a small stainless canister, filled with luscious golden olive oil from 1,000-year-old trees! When they visit Florida, we often find a surprise gift box on our doorstep, bursting with citrus bounty from the Sunshine State.
I opened just such a box recently, and tucked inside was a mixture of Florida Valencia oranges and Ruby Red grapefruit – so fresh and so lush, the citrus aroma wafted from the package and filled my kitchen with the scent of sunshine. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply… suddenly, a vision of Broiled Florida Grapefruit popped into my head. It was one of the first dishes I learned to prepare in my seventh grade home economics class, and it sounded pretty dumb to me. Until the taste of warm, caramelized sugar mingled with the tart, juicy citrus fruit snap, each spooned segment a sweet-tart delight. Then, scraping against the inner fruit rind, and filling my spoon to the brim with juice turned elixir from heating and sweetening.
Add a maraschino cherry for garnish if you like, for a pop of color and a retro look for your breakfast tray. Then serve up your loved ones (or beloved neighbors) a little sunshine along with breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
1 Florida grapefruit (any variety)
2 to 3 teaspoons brown sugar
2 maraschino cherries, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
Slice grapefruit in half. Using a grapefruit knife, cut all the way around one half of the fruit between the skin and fruit. Slice along fruit segments remaining in grapefruit. Place in ovenproof dish or pan. Repeat with second grapefruit half.
Turn on broiler. Sprinkle each grapefruit half evenly with 1 to 1½ teaspoons of brown sugar. Place fruit under broiler, approximately 3 inches from heat. Broil for a minute of two, until sugar starts to melt and crystalize. Remove from oven and place each grapefruit half in a small serving dish. Garnish with maraschino cherries, if you like. Serve immediately.
Makes 2 servings.
Breakfast in Bed: Bacon Biscuit Pie
Post by Alison Hein
My greatest inheritance from my maternal grandmother Emily is a pile of frayed newspaper clippings, notebooks, and handwritten, yellowed recipes. I take them out occasionally for inspiration, or for a good chuckle over popular recipes from the 1940s. But sometimes I find them frustrating – Grandma, is this page permanently marked for Glazed Baked Apples or Peach Cobbler? Who were you writing to in your handwritten Starlight Double-Delight Cake recipe when you wrote “Good luck, Little Mother”? Or were YOU the Little Mother?
Well, this time I hit paydirt when leafing through Heckers’ Household Hints. In addition to loads of great tips (e.g. – to take the place of a paper clip, go to the sewing cabinet for a dress-snap), I found many inspiring recipe ideas. Heckers’ suggests making a “Home Prepared Flour” to store in the fridge. Then, when time avails, use it to create a variety of yummy choices such as Pineapple Pom-Poms, Orange Fluff Cake, or Aunt Hattie’s Sugar Cookies. It was the Cheese Bacon Shortcake, though, that won me over. Modified, modernized and renamed for my fellow blogger friend, Bacon Biscuit (take a look at her great blog, coolcookstyle.com, I’m pretty sure the layers of crumbly, cheesy, buttery bacon-topped biscuit will grab you too. Thanks Grandma, for an inspirational breakfast in bed.
Ingredients
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 ¼ cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 uncooked bacon strips, cut in half
Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly grease pie pan and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and mix with flour, using a pastry cutter if you like, until mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir vinegar into milk. Pour all at once into flour mixture, and stir until just mixed.
Roll out and press a little more than half the dough into a pie dish. Brush with melted butter and cover evenly with cheese. Pat or roll out the remaining dough into a circle slightly large enough to cover the bottom layer. Place on top of cheese. Place bacon strips on top, radiating out from the center in a star-like pattern. Bake at 450° until bacon is crisp and brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Serve immediately.
Makes one pie, about 8 servings.
