Get out the vote: breakfast

[Eastgate]

I've been tapped to prep morning and mid morning snacks for our critical special election here in Massachusetts. What should I make?

The staging areas have no catering facilities to speak of. No staff. And lots of people will want to grab and go, which means breakfast pastry of some sort. Things I have in mind:

- scones: currant, chocolate cherry, chocolate-apricot (Princeton), date

- tea breads: pear-walnut, banana , lemon poppy

- butter streusel coffee cake

- grapes, apples,

- gougeres, or maybe little eclairs?

- something in the donut family (beigneits sur la plage, petes de nonne)

I'm not entirely happy with this, even though I love carbs. What would provide balance? What would be a nifty indulgence? I'm toying with smoked fish or smoked turkey, but will people really like it? Cheese?

Edited June 19, 2013 by Eastgate (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Scones can be savory: cheddar, bacon, Parmesan & oregano, etc.

You could make crepes and fill them with a cold filling like raw fresh fruit.

If you could bring in chafing dishes with fuel canisters, your options would be greater: breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, hot fillings for lunch sandwiches like pulled pork or sloppy joes.

[olmoelisa]

An easy and fast Italian recipe: Farinata, a typical chickpeas bread.

In the northern region Liguria they offer it as a snack whatever the occasion.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of chickpea flour

¾ liter of water

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

1 minced onion

Put the chickpea flour and the water in a large bowl.

Beat with a whisk to mix well, add salt to taste and let rest for twelve hours.

Remove the foam with a spoon.

Stir the dough.

Put the oil in a large and low pan.

Sieve the dough and put in the pan.

The thickness of the Farinata should be between 5 mm and 1 cm.

Stir the dough with a wooden spoon to absorb the oil.

Sprinkle with the pepper and the onion.

Preheat the oven at 430 F.

Bake the Farinata for 20 minutes or until it looks golden.

Cut into big rectangles.

Serve warm or cold.

[prasantrin]

sausage rolls. who doesn't love a good homemade sausage roll (other than a vegetarian, maybe).

I use penzey's breakfast sausage seasoning and commercially made puff pastry. Best eaten the day it's made, but it's OK the day after, too.

[LindaK]

I wish you were in charge of food at my headquarters! It's almost always donuts...You're right to plan for grab and go, and some of us tuck an extra bite into our bags for sustenance later. So nothing messy, please.

I like your idea for savory scones. Filled biscuits are another option if a toothpick will secure them easily. If you insist on being fancy, small brioche would be lovely with a bite of smoked fish tucked inside

If you want something heartier, then quiche, frittata, tortilla hold up well at room temperature and can be cut into slices or squares that are easy to eat out of hand. A Spanish potato tortilla would hit the spot.

What about small bags of granola? individual yogurt cups? Fruit would be welcome if it's something like grapes or precut into bite size pieces.

Don't forget decent coffee, please.

[rotuts]

decent coffee

as noted; someting sweet and something savory... those sausage rolls sound really good.

[SylviaLovegren]

Mmmmmm, sausage rolls. You could also do empanadas or piroshki things -- dough stuffed with savoury ingredients, like meat and onions, cheese and spinach, feta and dill, etc.

Otherwise, decent coffee, and your bread suggestions and easily biteable fruit, sounds way better than most places offer.

[HungryC]

Southern style sausage corn muffins....savory, sweet, & protein all in one. Use whole wheat flour along w/the cornmeal, and they'll be whole grain too.

Make layered yogurt parfaits--cut up fruit, nuts, a layer of yogurt---in lidded cups. People can take one and run.

Whole fruit--bananas, washed apples and pears--are good for grab-n-go, and they keep well for later-in-the-day snacks.

[jjahorn]

On thing I learned from a very high level event my wife organized - Keep things that crumble to a minimum and nothing with mustard/red sauce on it - this would include cream filled pastries.

People don't want to clean off an accident from their fancy suit.

Bretzels - stuffed with butter

I second sausage rolls

small tarts - if they are one bit size

You might want to look into Welsh pasties - A little like a calzone.

[Eastgate]

On the sausage rolls: are they going to stay tasty even if they sit for a couple of hours? Especially on the weekend, volunteers will be streaming in all morning. And on election day, you’ve got the poll workers at 6am and canvassers from 9 on.

Should I be thinking of the sausage in these rolls they way I’d think of a paté? Cold sausage seems odd, but of course chopped liver and egg, or paté de campagne, makes perfect sense to me.

Love the suggestions here! I may just try the Farinata, too.

[prasantrin]

The sausage rolls will be fine at room temp. I would make them up the night before (or several days before--just slice them into sections and freeze them, then bake from frozen adding a few minutes to the baking time), but bake the morning of, though. I find unless you can refresh them in the oven the morning of, refrigerating them does not benefit them.

The last pot luck I attended, I made more than 50 sausage rolls for fewer than 20 people. They were still warm when I got to work at 7:00 am (so I lost a few to people right off the bat), and they were still delicious at 11:30 when the pot luck actually started. I did not put them in the fridge, but kept them at room temperature the entire time. I think there were about 6 or 8 left by the end.

[Jaymes]

Here in Texas, the kolache-style sausage rolls are one of the very most popular breakfast options.

Here's a description and recipe.

http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/11173/

Basically you take a link sausage of some type (and we like Polish or Czech or German sausage), and roll kolache dough around it.

You can add cheese, or jalapenos, or whatever to the sausage.

Of course, the standard fruit or sweet cheese kolaches are terrific, too. I'd bet they're more popular than doughnuts, at least in Central Texas.

[rotuts]

in re-thinking those sausage rolls after a few hours:

sheet-pan coffee cake, sheet-pan foccacia, savory and sweet. with that coffee.

[judiu]

And G-d forbid you run out of time, use 'whomp' croissant dough (crescent rolls) and brown n'serve sausage. Some people like a schmear of mustard before rolling the sausage in the dough. Personally, I like a dab of grape jelly on top. If you're really gung-ho, make potato rolls for them, or the above mentioned store-bought puff works great. If you can get good British bangers, go for it.

[janeer]

If you could plug in a portable microwave somewhere, you could create a sensation with: tamales.

[ericparkr]

Milk with brown bread and some nuts and fruits. It's the best breakfast for me.

[Mjx]

The thin, crip shells for profiteroles are fantastic stuffed with smoked salmon and dill; full of flavour, neat and tidy to eat, a little unexpected, yet not too 'out there' for more conservative breakfasters. Baby spinach might be nice added to these, too.

[annabelle]

Isn't this an awful lot of carbs? I'd make a bunch of itty bitty frittatas in muffin tins and keep them warm. Grapes. Cheese bites. Lots of coffee.

[Plantes Vertes]

Smoothies (fruit and yogurt/milk)

[gfweb]

Given that this is John Kerry's seat, I've been trying to get a Heinz/Swiftboat theme going for you.

But the well is dry.

[ruthcooks]

And how about a bowl of plain boiled eggs for the carb conscious? Peeled, if you can get a volunteer. Be sure to use week old brown eggs , they peel like a charm.

[Lisa Shock]

You could make yogurt parfaits in clear plastic disposable cups. Take plain yogurt and add some honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and layer with berries. Top with granola, keep cold.

[annabelle]

Given that this is John Kerry's seat, I've been trying to get a Heinz/Swiftboat theme going for you.

But the well is dry.

It could be themed with hats. He still has the hat.

[judiu]

And how about a bowl of plain boiled eggs for the carb conscious? Peeled, if you can get a volunteer. Be sure to use week old brown eggs , they peel like a charm.

No, not peeled; who wants someone else's hands on their peeled egg? But easy-to-peel would be good.

[Eastgate]

I'm heavily invested now in kolaches, and I'm in a minor panic.

I've just mixed the dough, scaled up 4x from the recipe Jaymes suggested. (I translated the volumetric measure to 66oz) The dough is described, after mixing, as being "wet and sticky". What I have here is a very slack dough. It’s (barely) pourable.

Can this be right? I'm keeping the faith, but I'm worried.

1. How slack is too slack? How do I distinguish "wet and sticky" from "unworkable"?
2. If, come morning, the dough really is too slack, what’s the best fix at this (6 qt) scale? I'm basically a loaf-at-a-time baker.

Help me, egullet! You're my only hope!

Edited June 24, 2013 by Eastgate (log)