Breakfast! The most important meal of the day (2004-2011)

[Pam Brunning]

Since doing the Atkins diet some years ago we try to avoid carbs particularly first thing, I couldn't eat things like muffins for breakfast! This in my take on Eggs Benedict - instead of bacon smoked haddock - on a very small round of toast.

[Blether]

Those look gorgeous, robirdstx and Pam.

Down here at the less sophisticated end of the breakfast scale, I baked off these fridge-retard-dough rolls last night:

and had a lazy breakfast. I've called them 'old-fashioned' before - these are proper country-style eggs, with yolks that really have a depth of eggy flavour - from the chickens eating greens ? You can see where this is leading.

I was going to leave it at that, but I thought from the start I'd be having two, and Percy, I knew you'd be disappointed if I missed it out. Roll #2 - the money shot:

[Kim Shook]

percyn – oh, boy, I want some of that hash!

Blether – OMG! That roll, that egg, that flowy, gushy yolk. You got me!

A much, much more ordinary breakfast:

[Blether]

Blether – OMG! That roll, that egg, that flowy, gushy yolk. You got me!

I may not know much, but i know how I like my egg fried

Bacon is never ordinary. Are those burgers or sausage ?

Edited March 11, 2010 by Blether (log)

[Jmahl]

This morning quinoa pancakes with blueberry compote, stewed apples and agave miel. Yes, as good as it looks.

[emmalish]

Quinoa pancakes?? Any chance of posting a recipe?

That all looks fantastic.

[percyn]

Nice breakfasts all.

Blether, nice money shot - love the color of the yolks. I am sure it was delicious.

mmille24 and Kim thanks for the kind words.

mmille24, there are a few different techniques I use for the scrambled eggs. Usually it simply involves heating a splash of half and half or light cream in a non-stick frying pan on low heat and cracking a fresh egg in. Add a pinch of salt and stir occasionally while on low until desired consistency (as egg starts to come together, turn heat down and keep stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan so that the egg does not stick or get lumpy). Remember, the egg will cook and firm up a bit even once the heat is turned off. Serve hot and it is even better with some truffle butter on toast.

[Food nerd alert] Sometimes I use a high speed stick blender to blend the egg and cream to get a uniform consistency. Have also used a Bain Marie and am looking forward to making scrambled eggs in my water bath and ISI whipper.

Edited March 13, 2010 by percyn (log)

[nonblonde007]

OMG!!!! Blether............Serious "Egg Porn" going on there!!!

[kayb]

This morning (or should I say last night), I started on Alton Brown's recipe for slow cooked steel cut oats using a slow cooker.  Recipe is simple.  What I got this morning was less then ideal.  Outer edges had become really dry and the part that wasn't dry simply did not taste good. 

←

I did Steel Cut oats on my Cuisinart slow cooker overnight. It's a 6.5 quart ceramic pot unit. I've learned that as nice looking as it is it runs hot on the low and high cooking settings. Now that I know this I actually cook everything with the Warm setting. That's the setting the unit switches to after the cooking timer shuts off. Warm goes to about 180-190F on my unit. Because my pot is on the large size the AB recipe would probably burn given the times etc even on the warm setting.

<snip>

Every crock pot/slow cooker has a different heat range. I'm not suprised so many people get questionable results from the AB recipe. I'm going to try sous vide oats next. Crazy talk? Absolutely. After seeing some frozen fully cooked steel cut oats at Trader Joes the other day I'm getting excited about the possibilities of taking frozen vacuum packed oat pucks to work. I can't wait to find out if I'm making glue or something scrumptious.

Have not yet tried this, as I am not a huge oatmeal fan, but I've read on another food blog to use the slow cooker as a bain marie and cook all night on low. Might be worth a try.

Kay (who since she can't cook at present is reading the entire breakfast and dinner threads and clipping recipes)

[Jmahl]

Quinoa pancakes?? Any chance of posting a recipe?

That all looks fantastic.

Your wish my command - enjoy.

Mona’s Quinoa Pancakes

(Wheat free)

Yield 6-8 medium size pancakes –

Ingredients:

3 cups quinoa flour – (grind quinoa in electric mill)

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 tsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

3 Tbs. vegetable oil

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup butter milk (can use yogurt or sour cream diluted with milk)

1 egg

Instructions:

1. Mix dry ingredients together

2. add milk, egg, and vegetable oil

3. pour about a ¼ cup on hot griddle

4. Turn as soon as cakes puff and are full of bubbles but before bubbles start to break.

Enjoy with fruit compote, cooked sliced apples flavored with sugar, cinnamon and cloves, syrup, sliced fruit, chopped nuts or anything else you would like.

[percyn]

Speaking of Sous Vide...

72 Degree Sous Vide Scrambled Egg

Blend 6-8 fresh eggs with a splash of half and half and a pinch of salt.

Place blended eggs in a food grade bag with a long neck and vacuum seal it (you can place bag over the countertop and seal it.

Placed it in the water bath. Started at 68 deg C and slowly kept increasing the temp until the eggs started to get to the desired consistency. For me that was between 72 and 73 degrees.

The consistency of the eggs once they came out of the water bath and were cooled. The eggs were super rich and err...eggy. There was a custard like consistency which made the eggs jiggle a bit even on the spoon. Beautiful.

I had to serve some on Toasts with White Truffle Butter

and what better way to use up some leftover Taiwanese pork belly and Sichuan chili chicken.

[Kim Shook]

Pam – that is a beautiful eggs Benedict!

Blether – well, you are right – bacon is never ordinary and that WAS Benton’s so, yep very good! And that’s sausage – when Mr. Kim sneaks down and does the sausage before I can get up, he makes these enormous thick sausage patties. I prefer mine thinner, so I slice them through the middle for my biscuits.

Jmahl – what a lovely breakfast. It looks and sounds delicous. I haven’t tried agave yet, but mean to. How thick is it?

RE: the slow cooker oatmeal. I’ve done it, with mixed results also. It seems like a lot of trouble to me and a mess to clean up (I thought those slow cooker bags would be great, but you lose a lot of the oatmeal because it clings so to the bag). I don’t eat oatmeal, but Mr. Kim loves it and he really likes the overnight method that MelissaH introduced me to. It couldn’t be easier. I do it in a non-stick pot and he adds water to the empty pot and it is no trouble to clean later.

percyn – gorgeous eggs!

Breakfast this morning:

scrambled eggs, Benton’s bacon, sausages and some really good little frozen croissants that I found at Fresh Market. They are really easy to do – you cook them from frozen for about 15 minutes. They were amazingly crisp and flakey and very tender.

I used the croissant to do a taste test:

As you can see, I have only a dab of my beloved (and outrageously expensive) Little Scarlet strawberry preserves left. I am just stunned by the price every time we buy them and when I saw the Schwartau that I had always liked best before I tasted the Little Scarlet, I decide to try them head to head. A strawberry preserve smackdown, as it were. Well, the Little Scarlet preserves are much better – but 3 times better? I’m not convinced. But the jar lasts me probably 3 months. So I am still up in the air. When the Schwartau are all gone it will probably depend on whether I feel like I deserve a treat or not!

[menuinprogress]

I had to serve some on Toasts with White Truffle Butter

Wow does that look good!

[emmalish]

It's not as sexy as Blether's photo the other day, but I had eggs over easy on toast this morning...

I use my panini press all the time for making grilled sandwiches, but lately I've been using it to make toast too. It's fantastic. Nice and evenly crispy. Why do I need my toaster oven again?

[Nasi_Campur]

Yesterdays wake up meal...

A equally blended mix of steeelcut oats, rolled oats, and red quinoa...cooked then mixed with chopped nuts and dried some dried fruit... topped with maple syrup, yogurt, banana and bee pollen.

Washed down with a nice strongly brewed dark roast organic shade grown coffee. Aaah.

[Kim Shook]

I use my panini press all the time for making grilled sandwiches, but lately I've been using it to make toast too. It's fantastic. Nice and evenly crispy. Why do I need my toaster oven again?

Isn't this the greatest??!! I love toast made in the press. You can even butter it first . It makes for a great toast for spreads and dips, too. Like really rev-ed up Melba toast.

[Darienne]

I use my panini press all the time for making grilled sandwiches, but lately I've been using it to make toast too. It's fantastic. Nice and evenly crispy. Why do I need my toaster oven again?

Isn't this the greatest??!! I love toast made in the press. You can even butter it first . It makes for a great toast for spreads and dips, too. Like really rev-ed up Melba toast.

So, I wonder if you could simply make that kind of toast in an old-fashioned sandwich griller...you know grill sandwiches on one side of the removable plate...and make waffles on the other. Ours, bought last year in Moab second-hand, is SOOO old, it's made completely out of...wait for it...METAL!!!!

[emmalish]

You probably could, Darienne. Give it a shot!

I also use my press all the time to heat up & lightly toast my pita when I'm having hummus. So much better that way, warm and with a bit of crunch. And the lovely grill marks really do add something.

[Darienne]

You probably could, Darienne. Give it a shot!

I also use my press all the time to heat up & lightly toast my pita when I'm having hummus. So much better that way, warm and with a bit of crunch. And the lovely grill marks really do add something.

Such a good idea. I never thought about using the grill in any other ways. Oh dear, our does not make grill marks.

[Jmahl]

Nasi_CAMPUR - Your grain mix BREATHTAKING.

KIM SHOOK - the agave nectar is slightly less viscous then honey. We are using one called Ohgave Amber- blue agave. It is supposedly very low on the glycemic index. Interesting sweet taste.

[emmalish]

Jmahl, somehow I missed the recipe you posted on the previous page – thank you! Can't wait to try it.

[robirdstx]

Poached Eggs on Toasted and Buttered English Muffin

[BobLee]

This is my favorite breakfast, enjoyed at least three times per week.

[C. sapidus]

Bad news: home sick. Good news: time to make Breakfast!

Parsi-style scrambled eggs (caramelized onions, garlic, green chiles, dried fenugreek leaves, and dollops of ghee) on grocery store garlic naan (rubbed with olive oil and toasted on the gas grill). The scrambled eggs weren't as creamy as they could have been, but the flavor hit the spot.

[deensiebat]

Another entry in the "if it has an egg on top, it must be breakfast" category: leftover Middle Eastern-style rice pilaf and stewed okra, topped with a poached egg.