Breakfast Cheese Toast

I turned 25 a few days ago and it made me realize how much of a great life I have.  I'm healthy, have a great job, live in a great city, and have fantastic friends and family.  That being said, I got to go to Incanto for dinner last night to celebrate with the boy.  We had a really offal dinner that included Pigs Trotters, Calf Kidneys and Lardo.  Waking up this morning, I was craving some bacon and eggs and remembered this breakfast that I used to make in college when I had a late morning.  You toast some bread, rub some garlic over it, add cheese and a fried egg on top.  Add a side of bacon and a mimosa and you're off to a great Saturday.

Breakfast Toast:

2 slices of a baguette, on an angle
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 clove of garlic, pealed
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed
4-6 slices of Gruyere cheese
2 eggs
chives for garnish

Preheat an oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Put the bread on the baking sheet and drizzle a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Toast the bread for 4ish minutes, until it starts to get a nice golden color but is still a bit soft in the middle of the bread.  Rub the bread with the garlic and then spread the tomato paste on the bread in a even layer.  Season the bread with more salt and pepper, also add the thyme leaves.  Top with the slices of cheese and put back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

While the cheese is melting on the bread, fry 2 eggs in a skillet, to your preference (I like sunny side up with a runny yolk but you can scramble them as well).

Top the cheese toast with the eggs and garnish with chives.  Add a slice or two of bacon and you have a great weekend brunch.

Quiche Lorraine

I had brunch the other day with a friend and had a fantastic Quiche Lorraine at Cafe Devine in North Beach.  I decided to remake it for breakfast this morning.  It's a perfect way to start a rainy Sunday and prepare for the Giants game tonight.  I decided to not make a crust with this quiche because it takes time and frankly, I didn't feel like it.  This recipe is for 2 quiche cups that I made in mini Ramekin dishes which turned out pretty damn tasty.  I added some frozen peas for some green but you can substitute scallions or leeks instead if you have them on hand.

Crustless Quiche Lorraine:

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1/3 cup half and half

1/2 - 3/4 cup graded Gruyere cheese

pinch of salt

freshly cracked pepper

large pinch nutmeg

2 slices of bacon, thinly sliced

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

1/4 cup frozen peas or sliced green onion or leek

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves removed

Preheat oven to 375F.  Combine everything through the nutmeg in a bowl and beat till a little fluffy (20-30 seconds).  Heat a saute pan on medium low heat and add the bacon to render the fat.  When the bacon is crispy, remove with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb the fat.  Add the shallots and saute for a minute or so, add some cracked black pepper, then add the peas and the thyme.

In the 2 Ramekin dishes, separate the bacon equally on the bottom.  Spoon enough of the egg mixture on each dish to cover the bacon, then add the shallot and peas.  Spoon the rest of the egg mixture and top with the rest of the cheese and a few more thyme leaves.

Bake in the oven with a tray underneath to catch spillage for about 20 minutes.  Till the egg is set but a little jiggly.

Linguine alla Carbonara

Thehave made the playoffs!!! This is very exciting news for the Bay Area and calls for a celebration. They play in their first playoff game for the first time in 7 years on Thursday, October 7th at 6:30pm and to celebrate I'm going to make a deliciously tasty dish that is saved for special occasions, well at least for me it is. I'm making Linguine alla Carbonara. My version isn't awful for you, I use whole wheat pasta, it doesn't have cream or butter but it does have eggs and lots of Parmesan cheese (ehh give and take right?). I add some vegetables also, and today I used bacon rather than pancetta because I had it in my fridge. I did tweak it a bit by adding some lemon zest at the end because, well, it sounded delicious and I had some lemons from my parent's lemon tree.

Linguine alla Carbonara

(2 dinner portions)

1/2 pound of whole wheat linguine pasta
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 slices of bacon, chopped into slices or 1/3 cup of pancetta
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
zest of 1/2 a small lemon

In a large pot, bring a lot of water to boil. Salt the water with 1/3 cup of salt (a nice big handful) and place the pasta in the water, stir to make sure they don't stick to one another.


In a bowl, take the egg, 1/2 cup of the graded Parmesan and some freshly ground pepper, and whip together for a few minutes. Make sure there are no lumps in the egg mixture. *If you want you can add a splash of cream to make it extra creamy.

In a saute pan, add the bacon or pancetta on medium low heat and render the fat from the bacon. When the bacon is cooked and crispy, take out with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In that same saute pan, add the garlic and shallot and saute on medium heat till the shallot is tender and translucent. Add some cracked pepper, red pepper flakes, and frozen peas (it's going to be salty from the bacon so hold off on the salt for now) and stir to combine. When the pasta is almost done, add it to the pan with 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Turn off the heat and wait 1 minute. Add the egg and Parmesan mixture and quickly toss everything together making sure the eggs don't scramble but thicken a bit. Add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and the lemon zest and combine everything one more time. Taste for seasoning.

Garnish with some flat leaf parsley and some basil. FYI I'm enjoying this right now.

Asparagus

I made a very delicious dinner last night with the boy. It was my take on Steak Frite (recipe soon to follow), however, the asparagus with a bread crumb and egg topping was probably my favorite side dish of the night. I roasted the asparagus instead of steaming them because I like the flavor it develops in the oven. As for the topping, I wanted to use a crumbled egg but put my own little twist on it. This is probably one of the easiest side dishes I've done and yet extremely flavorful.

Asparagus with a Bread Crumb and Egg Topping

2 eggs

1/3- 1/2 cup bread crumbs, unseasoned

1 tbsp butter

1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. salt and pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

4 springs of thyme and parsley, minced

1/2 tsp lemon zest or half of a lemon zested - eyeball it

1 bunch of asparagus, ends trimmed

extra virgin olive oil - enough to coat the asparagus

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a saucepan, put the two eggs in and add enough cold water to cover them completely. Put on the stove and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, put a top on the lid and take off the heat. Let sit in the hot water for about 15-20 minutes, then drain and fill back up with cold water. Once cool, remove shell (they should come off fairly easily) and separate the yolks from the whites.

While the eggs are cooking, in a pan coat the asparagus in the olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes.

While the asparagus is roasting. Heat a saute pan with the butter and toast the breadcrumbs till a golden brown, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Transfer to a bowl and let cool a bit, add the Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and the crumbled cooked egg yolks. Add the fresh herbs at the end and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste.

Once the asparagus are cooked, align them on plate and sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top in a line, allowing the asparagus to be visible on both sides.

Mini Quiche Cups

I'm getting very sick and tired of eating some of the same things for breakfast. Everything had a ton of sugar and a ton of carbs in it, and doesn't fill me up till lunchy lunch time. I got an idea to make mini quiche cups that I can take to work, warm up and eat fairly quickly, that saves me from eating another cereal bar.



I know right now my mother is telling me "Well darling girl, why don't you just wake up early and make yourself some nice breakfast?" My response, "I like sleeping."



So last night, after the Lakers won the championship I tackled this task of trying to make these mini quiches. My first attempt went pretty well. It was a twist on Quiche Florentine, the flavors were really amazing and I was fairly happy with the first round. However, I definitely need to tweak it a little bit. I wanted to add some protein so I used Chicken Apple Sausages, turns out, too sweet with the caramelized onions. I would suggest substituting a hot or savory sausage, like a Jalapeno Cheddar, or just a plain Hot Italian Sausage, just make sure they're cooked before you combine it in the egg mixture. This recipe can be easily turned into a fritata or a scramble, you can even substitute the Gruyere cheese with feta and add olives for a Mediterranean twist.



Mini Quiche
8 eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper and beaten slightly
1/2 - 1 cup milk (anywhere from skim to whole depending on how many calories you want to save)
1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, I used Gruyere
1/2 bag chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and drained of all water
1 savory sausage, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
2 scallions, chopped
1/2 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 pinches nutmeg
1/2 tsp garlic powder
olive oil
cupcake liners
non-stick spray



Preheat oven to 350 F.


In a saute pan, heat up the olive oil and saute the onions with a little salt and pepper till translucent on medium heat, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, spinach and chopped up sausage and stir to combine. Add the red pepper flakes, nutmeg and garlic powder and turn off heat.


While the onion mixture cools, mix the seasoned eggs and milk together in a big bowl. Make sure to beat for a few moments to incorporate air to the eggs. Add the cheese, sun dried tomatoes, a touch more red pepper flakes if you wish. Add the onion mixture to the bowl and stir to combine.


Using a muffin tin, place the liners in and spray each cupcake liner with non stick cooking spray. Then spoon in the combined egg mixture into each liner. Make sure not to fill up completely because the egg mixture will rise a bit.


Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Then at the last minute, turn on the broiler and brown the tops so it has a nice crust. These can be rewarmed in a microwave very easily. Just make sure to use the cupcake liners that don't have metal in them.