Huevos Rancheros Chilaquiles

Huevos Rancheros Chilaquiles

Oh what to make for breakfast? I needed something easy but delicious. Mark loves Huevos Rancheros so how about making them into a Chilaquiles dish. So here you have that very idea. Simple, easy and so delicious.

Ingredients:  yields 4 servings

• 1/2 pound of ground sausage
• vegetable oil
• 1 dozen corn tortillas, cut into strips or pieces
• about 2 cups of leftover tomato salsa
• ground cumin, garlic salt, ground black pepper
• 5 eggs, whisked well with a little bit of water
• shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 3 green onions, green and white parts sliced

In a medium size skillet, brown the sausage, remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside to drain. Add about a half-inch of vegetable oil in the skillet and heat over medium. Add the tortilla strips and cook until lightly browned and crisp. In a large bowl combine the sausage, cooked tortilla strips, salsa, a couple shakes of cumin, garlic salt and pepper. Add in a handful of the shredded cheese blend and gently toss it all together.

Preheat your oven to 350 and butter a 9 x 9 baking dish or a glass pie pan.

Spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish. Pour the whisked eggs over the mixture and bake for 15 minutes. Now top that mixture with a couple of handfuls of shredded cheese and sprinkle with the green onions, bake for another 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melted and the eggs are completely cooked. Serve with some Cilantro Crema or sour cream.

 

Breakfast Pie

Breakfast Pie

Breakfast Pie? Yes I know it’s a Quiche. But you have to understand, Mark doesn’t like Quiche. Mark will tell you he will never eat a Quiche. According to Mark Quiches are horrible. So…. I call this breakfast pie and watch his eyes light up when he smells the aroma hit the kitchen. He enjoys every piece of it, from his first bit to the very last and even part of mine. So even though Mark will tell you he hates Quiche, he loves my breakfast pie. I use Betty Crocker’s basic Quiche recipe then add flavors we enjoy.

Ingredients:  serves 2 to 4 people

• 1/2 pound ground sausage, cooked and crumbled
• 1 @ 9″-inch pie crust
• 4 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream, (whipping cream)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
• half of an onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• one big handful of Kale, shredded

Preheat your oven to 425. I used 2 small cast iron skillets, they’re about 5 1/2″-inch diameter. You surely could use a 9″-inch cast iron skillet or a 9″-inch pie pan. (If using the large pans increase the heavy cream to 2 cups.)

Place your pie crust into your pans or pan. In a bowl stir together the cheeses, onion, garlic, kale and sausage, place this in your pie crust. Then whisk together the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and ground mustard. Pour this over the other ingredients.

Bake for 15 minutes on 425, then lower the oven temperature to 300 and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the pies or pie and let them rest for 10 minutes before serving.

 

Breakfast Chilaquiles

Breakfast Chilaquiles

The holiday season is finally over for us. All the traveling to and from to visit those we love has worn me out. I haven’t been cooking much over the holidays, hence I have missed my kitchen. Here’s a quick and easy breakfast recipe and the best part it can use up some leftovers from the refrigerator.

Ingredients:   feeds 2 to 4 people

• 6 to 10 corn tortillas, cut into strips
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 strips bacon, cooked and minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 4 eggs
• shredded cheddar cheese, divided use
• Tapatio Sauce, or hot sauce
• cumin
• dried yellow mustard
• black pepper
• garlic salt
• 2 Roma tomatoes, or 1 big tomato
• 1 green onion, sliced

Preheat your oven to 350.

Heat some vegetable oil in a 10″-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Use a skillet that can go from the stove-top to the oven. Add the corn tortillas strips and fry until just crispy. Remove and let drain over paper towels. Turn off the heat, wipe the skillet with a paper towel to remove excess oil and place the skillet back on the warm burner. Add the onions, bacon and garlic, let them heat in the hot skillet until the onions are soft. Do not turn the heat back on.

In a medium bowl add the parsley, eggs, a handful of shredded cheese, a shake of hot sauce, cumin, dried yellow mustard, black pepper and garlic salt. Now add the softened onions, bacon and garlic and whisk all the ingredients together. Toss the fried tortilla strips into the wet ingredients until covered with egg mixture. Place this mixture back into the skillet. Bake for 10 minutes after which you will sprinkle the top with more cheddar cheese and tomatoes. Bake for another 15 minutes. Top with sliced green onion, cut into wedges, top with some sour cream or salsa and serve. Try serving this over a bed of greens and re-fried beans for a complete breakfast plate.

 

Easy Cinnamon Spice Pancakes

This is an easy way to change-up your regular breakfast of pancakes. Try adding about a 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats, ground cinnamon and ground pumpkin spice to your pancake mix. Hey and maybe some chopped pecans. Now I also changed up my pancake syrup by adding some local natural honey. What a fabulous topping to my cinnamon spice pancakes. Sorry that I don’t have any pictures to share, but blogging this experiment was a complete after thought, trust me it was a very nice breakfast.

 

Baked Oatmeal

What a delight this is. Please forgive me as I can’t remember who originally posted this recipe. I loved it so much I had to re-post it. So….if you’re out there and see it please let me know so I can give them credit for adding such a delight to my breakfast.

Ingredients:  yields 4 servings

• 2 apples, chopped (In these photos I used Honey Crisp but Granny Smiths are also a wonderful treat in this recipe)
• 2 cups old fashion oatmeal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup salted sunflower kernels
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 couple of tablespoons of salted butter
• Honey or Maple Syrup (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375. Butter ramekins or baking cups

Stir together the apples, oatmeal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, brown sugar and sunflower kernels.

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, olive oil and vanilla. Fold this into the apple oatmeal mixture. Spoon into the buttered baking dishes and dot with butter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until firm. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup and serve.

 

Peppered Breakfast Bacon

While visiting Louisville Kentucky this summer I was served bacon with so much deep flavor. Come to find out the difference between my bacon and theirs was that they peppered their bacon while frying. What an easy way to enhance the wonderful flavor of good breakfast bacon.

 

Potato Cakes “Leftover Delight”

Potato Cakes

Over the years I have tried and tried to make potato cakes from left over mashed potatoes, never successfully. Well never successfully until now. I used my left over “Baked Mashed Potatoes” ….. and yes, finally, something I can’t get enough of.

Ingredients:

• 9 to 12  patties made from leftover cold “Baked Mashed Potatoes”, about the size of a big biscuit, flattened.
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten with a fork
• bacon grease or vegetable oil

First thing, make sure the Baked Mashed Potato leftovers are cold, hopefully refrigerated overnight. Patty up the potatoes. I make them about the size of a big biscuit. In a bowl stir together the flour, Italian Bread Crumbs, salt and pepper. In second bowl, add your beaten eggs.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat, then add your bacon grease, or vegetable oil if that’s what you prefer. But I promise the bacon grease brings another level of flavor that is wonderful. You’ll need it about 1/8″-inch deep. Fry on each side until golden brown. Serve hot or warm.

 

Peaches and Cream

Summer Peaches

I am in love with summer fresh peaches. So for breakfast why not just slice them up, sprinkle with a bit of white and light brown sugar. Pour sweet cream or milk over it all, stir and enjoy. Just like my Gramma would give me when I was little. Love them!

 

Bisquick Coffee Cake

Bisquick Coffee Cake

Every time I buy a box of Bisquick I look for this recipe from my youth. It’s never on the box. When did they remove it? Why did they remove it? And shoot, why didn’t I ever write it down. Then I think to Google it and thanks to the internet, I have found it. As with many people, this was the first coffee cake I ever made. I am glad to have it back into my recipe file where it remains a favorite of mine.

Ingredients:   Batter

• 2 cups Bisquick
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 TB sugar

Ingredients:   Topping

• 1/3 cup Bisquick
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 TB salted butter

Preheat your oven to 375 and butter a 9 x 9 baking dish.

Mix the batter ingredients together and pour into your baking dish. Using a pastry cutter combine the topping ingredients until it become very crumbly. Spread this over the batter and bake for 25 minutes.

Now that I have this recipe back in my life it’s time to start tweaking it. Hmmm….maybe it calls for some pecans.

 

Cranberry Pancakes with Walnut Pecan Syrup

Here’s an easy way to change-up your Weekend Pancakes. Try adding fresh cranberries to your pancake batter and toasted walnuts and pecans to your syrup.

Ingredients added to your regularly used pancake batter:

• 1 TB sugar
• a couple sprinkles of cinnamon
• 1 cup frozen fresh Cranberries

Ingredients added to your regularly used maple syrup:

• 2 TB salted butter
• a handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
• a handful of pecans, roughly chopped
• a couple of tableware teaspoons of dark brown sugar

Using your food processor, grind the cranberries and add them along with the sugar and cinnamon to your regularly used pancake batter. Cook your pancakes just like you always do.

In medium skillet over medium heat melt the butter, add the roughly chopped walnuts and pecans, toss in the butter and toast for about 5 minutes until they become fragrant. Reduce the heat to low, cool slightly then add your maple syrup to the level you desire. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and toss until all the nuts are well coated. I set the mixture aside to cool a bit before serving.