HAPPY HOT DOG

GOOD MORNING!! ... Who wouldn't want to wake up to a smiling face? Yesterday I made couple of these happy faced breakfast treats for us and one for my neighbor's child who is a finicky eater.I  brought it over to their house before she woke up and gave it to her mother. Her mother was thrilled at the idea . Later she told me that her daughter loved it and ate it all. Sometimes simple things make all the difference. One hot dog cut in half and shaped like a heart with an egg in the middle. After all who can refuse this guy???? 

 

PAN CAKES WITH STRAWBERRY SYRUP

This Sunday morning I woke up with a bad headache. Lingering in bed I said to myself: "self ! you have two choices either get up and brave the day or pull the covers over your head and go back to sleep". I chose to get up only because I don't like being sick. I put on my comfort attire the long pink ,warm puffy robe and big pink puffy slippers and went downstairs.  Put the coffee on and set the table. What should I make for breakfast???. I saw the fresh large delicious strawberries that I've purchased a day before  on the counter. I decided to make pancakes with strawberry syrup. My child hood comfort food. (When we were kids and didn't feel well my mother also gave us toast smeared with strawberry jelly and tea with milk).  For this recipe I used 7-8 large strawberries enough for my hubby and I. The recipe is very simple, wash,  hull and cut strawberries ( I used 7-8 large ones). Place them in a small pot  add 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup of water and two tablespoons of rum (alcohol evaporates as it boils but stabilizes the color) bring to a bubbling boil, turn heat down and simmer for 10-15 minutes, mash with with the back of a spoon. By the end of our breakfast I was glad that I chose to get up and did what I did and felt much better for it.

PAN PIE?

                                  Can you see the steam coming out of my little pie????

How do you name a new dish that you just whipped up and that it looked good,  tasted good and you wanted to share it with your friends??  That's what my this recipe is all about. Yesterday morning preparing for our Sunday brunch I looked into my refrigerator and spotted a box of phillo (also spelled phyllo or fillo) dough (phillo dough is very thin sheets of unleavened flour dough for making all sorts of savory and sweet pies). They can be stored tightly wrapped in the fridge for 10-15 days or can be frozen. Some very talented people can prepare and roll out  the dough at home but be assured that it isn't easy. I usually buy a few boxes at a time and store them in the freezer. Who knows maybe one day I'll get ambitious enough to make it from scratch..   Anyway when I picked up the box  it felt very light and sure enough there where only two sheets of   dough left in it. .Then I remembered a couple of weeks ago I had made a cheese pie and saved a few sheets  to try a new recipe. I must have stuck the box in the fridge and it got hidden away from my view. Now there it was ready for me to try my new recipe, but what ???? .  Pan pie.....!!!!

2 Eggs whipped with 2 Tbsp. of cream (milk etc..)

2 Small breakfast sausage (without casings) chopped 

1 Small red pepper chopped

1 Small tomato chopped

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Sheets of phillo dough shredded

Whip eggs with cream set aside.  Saute sausage, peppers tomato and add to the egg mixture.

Oil the bottom and sides of  a medium size frying-pan. Add the  shredded dough half way up to the sides of the pan, almost like   making a well. Place it on the stove in medium heat. Once the bottom is crispy and golden  pour the egg mixture in to the well.

 Cover the top for few minutes for eggs to cook. With a wide spatula flip it over to give a nice crust for the top ( pictured on the left).  Flip it over again and invert it to a plate. It is crsipy and savory.  Enjoy.   

                                                                

PANCAKES WITH CHOCOLATE SYRUP



We love our Sunday brunches. At the brunch table my husband and I wrap up the past week,  solve the world's problems, make plans to remodel our house for the umpteenth time, discuss who should clean the dishes afterwords or quitely watch the squirrels dig holes on our lawn to  collect their  treasures they buried in our back yard past summer.  So as you see, Sunday brunches are very special to us.  Just as our conversations I try to make different things each time. This Sunday I made a simple chocolate syrup with prunes (!) in it. Why prunes? a) they are healthy, b)  my husband likes them and c) they taste divine in chocolate.  Try it you'll like it. I'm not going to write the recipe for the pancake because everybody has their own favorite. I made my pancakes plain and a little plump so that the delicious chocolate syrup will go into every little crevice of the pancake.

1/2 Cup whole milk;
1/2 Cup light cream or half and half
1/2 Cup of cocoa powder
1/4 Cup milk chocolate morsels
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp of butter
10-12 pitted prunes finely chopped
1/4 Cup white wine (optional)

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan and add milk, half and half  and sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves.  Add, prunes, cocoa powder and chocolate.  Keep stirring until chocolate and prunes dissolve.  At this point I add white wine.  Once syrup starts bubbling it is ready to pour onto the pancakes. Delicious.

BREAKFAST TREATS

I'm sure everybody has their favorite breakfast food. Mine is English muffin and toasted crusty bread. Sunday morning's treat was just those.
Soft boiled egg in English muffin cup with bacon and toasted crusty bread topped with an omelete. 
I fry my bacon after I microwave  it for half a minute to eliminate the unwanted juices and fat. For these treats I used 4 slices of bacon and 1 egg (yolk and white separated).

Make a well in the middle of  a halved and lightly toasted English muffin and arrange 2 slices of bacon around it. Place the egg yolk in the well. (save the separated white for the recipe below) Broil in the toaster oven until the yolk is set to your desired consistency.

 For the toasted crusty bread  in a small bowl mix:

1 small cube of Feta cheese crushed with the back of a fork

 2 slices of bacon torn to small pieces                                      

1/2 tomato diced

2-3 sprigs of  parsley  chopped                  

1 Egg white (from the recipe above) whipped.

Slather this mix over the lightly toasted bread and broil it in the toaster oven. I put both recipes in the same toaster oven to save time.

EASY BREAKFAST TREAT

 I woke up quite hungry this morning. Looking around what to make, I thought to myself how about a healthy omelet that is going to be easy to make. It turned out to be very tasty.

2 Eggs (1 whole and 1 scrambled with 1 tsp. milk)

4 Slices of bacon fried 

1 Medium tomato roughly chopped

2-3 Stems of chives chopped

1 Tsp basil

Butter or buttery spray to coat the baking dish.

Lightly fry the bacon and place it on a paper towel. Discard the bacon  fat from the frying pan and combine the vegetables in the same pan. Stir  gently until tomatoes are just soft but not mushy. Put everything in the prepared oven proof dish and pour the scrambled egg over the vegetable mixture but don't mix. Break the whole egg on the other side of the dish and place it in a 350 degree preheated oven until  eggs are cooked.

(I prefer soft egg to scrambled egg. I tried to kill two birds with one stone. Ha! Ha!)

 

CREPES FOR BREAKFAST AND FOR DESSERT!!!!

While going through old recipes,  I came across my childhood favorite crepe recipe that my mother used to make for us . Reminiscing about those days and having not made crepes for a while I thought it would be a great treat for my husband. Using basic crepe recipe I made a batch  in the morning and served half of it for breakfast instead of pancakes. I rolled  them up like burritos and drizzled sour cherry jam on top.  I saved the rest in the fridge for dessert for that evening.
This recipe yields approximately 18 pieces and can be frozen by placing wax paper between the extra pieces. Just take them out to room temperature an hour before serving.

Here is the basic crepe recipe:

1 1/2 Cups milk
1 Cup flour
2 Eggs
1 Cup milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

In a bowl combine milk, eggs and oil (I don't use salt but for those who want can add 1 tsp.) mix them well.Add flour and beat until smooth. Heat a lightly greased 6 inch skillet, spoon in 2 tbsp of the batter with a ladle and tilt the skillet to coat the bottom. Brown one side (you can check to see if it is done by lifting a corner) only and slide unto a paper towel or place it on a cooling wire. Repeat with remaining batter and grease the pan with oiled paper towel occasionally.

To make this light and airy crepe in to dessert:

1/2 Cup margarine or butter
Rind of an orange pith removed and thinly sliced
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Orange Liqueur (Orange Curacao)
1/4 Cup Brandy (if you want to be really fancy or you can omit it)

Melt butter in a large skillet add orange strips, orange juice and orange liqueur cook and stir until thickened.
Fold each crepe in triangles and arrange them in the sauce carefully. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until heated. Turn off the heat. Pour  brandy in to a large ladle and carefully ignite it and pour over crepes. 

BRUNCH OMELETE

Our brunches on Sunday mornings are very hardy. We like variety of cheeses, olives, jellies and jams in addition to our eggs. This morning I decided to make an omelet with a twist and we both really enjoyed it. Why not give it a try.

2 Whole eggs
2 Tbsp of milk
2 Stems of scallion chopped
4 Slices of bacon cut in to small pieces
1 Medium size tomato chopped
2-3 twigs of parsley chopped
1 Tbsp of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Beat eggs and milk together in a small bowl. In a skillet brown small pieces of bacon until crisp. Add chives and tomatoes and stir until tomatoes are softened. Pour in egg mixture. Once the eggs are set add parsley and cheese and fold the mixture in half, gently turning it over with a spatula . Serve while warm.