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

[vkn]

Most part of the world is experiencing one of the most damp and chilly days where the weather changes are affecting everyone out there. We at My Dhaba wanted to post about some dish today which those affected friends would really enjoy accompanied by a cup of steaming hot Special Masala Tea or coffee. We have chosen and cooked wheat suji and vermicelli Khara Baath aka Upma for our today's post as a virtual treat to you folks. Enjoy and stay warm!

[vkn]

I must give credit to a lady I work with.  On Thursdays my work assignment is at our Hospice House, which is a five bedroom residence where five of our Hospice patients live, receiving end-of-life care.  (Other days I visit private homes and nursing homes.)  Judy, the CNA, taught me by demonstration when she was fixing breakfast for a resident.  ...To do one egg, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil of course, but she put only enough water in it to just cover the egg.  The sauce pan had a partially rounded bottom, and I've been looking to buy one of those ever since.  In the water put about a teaspoon of vinegar and about a teaspoon of butter.  She gently cracked the egg into the water.  I felt the steam and thought it was going to burn me, so my drop of the egg into the water was not as gentle.  Then let it go for a while before trying to get it all back together.  Once the white starts to firm up, then gently spoon it toward the middle to get it to be intact, and spoon some water over the top of it as it cooks.  Then when it's done, lay it on paper towel to dry a little.

Judy loves to cook.  At the House, we (staff) cook for the patients who are still eating.  (That could be another topic...  it is quite interesting for a "foodie.")  Judy is retiring at the end of this month, so thanks for asking, and thanks for allowing me to give her a tribute here!

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That was brilliant results Susan. Last month, we had made the Poached Eggs this way few weeks ago. Please do check it out; the methods look quite similar.

[Ling]

I had ham and eggs. And leftovers from last night--roast pork.

Then I had the last slice of my pecan tart, a pecan sable, a variety of cookies from my sister's mom (today I tried a piece of a brownie tart, a pinwheel, another chocolate crinkle, and another pecan pie bar). I also ate a bunch of candied pecans (that I using to garnish a caramel cheesecake) and cheesecake batter!

Mmm...gluttony.

[Ling]

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The hazy border on those photographs only add to their allure. They are like the biscuits you find in the most delicious of dreams.

Shalmanese: sourdough pancakes! It's been forever since I've made sourdough pancakes! They're so light and rich at the same time...Mmmm...must...make...pancakes....

Edited December 23, 2005 by Ling (log)

[mizducky]

Late breakfast: big bowl of congee with sliced scallions, fermented bean curd, and a dollop of dark soy sauce. I'm getting to be a major congee fan here (kudos to the established congee fans here on eGullet for encouraging me). I suspect I make the stuff a whole lot thicker than is traditional, but I like it that way. Very soothing to the system.

[racheld]

Oatmeal, left with the lid off the last few minutes of cooking, to make it thick and clumpy, perfect for a melty pat of butter, a big sprinkle of Turbinado sugar, and a tiny moat of cold milk around the bowl. The contrast of sweet cold milk and a bite of warm, buttery oatmeal in the same spoon---one of life's treasures. Crisp bacon and a slice of moist, raisin-rich banana bread, made by my Mom's recipe. Kona in the presspot.

[Soup]

Last 3 morning its been cold. I had Kong Namul Guk (bean sprout soup) made with dashima stock. Add rice from night before, a great warm filling breakfast.

[Alinka]

Oatmeal, left with the lid off the last few minutes of cooking, to make it thick and clumpy, perfect for a melty pat of butter, a big sprinkle of Turbinado sugar, and a tiny moat of cold milk around the bowl.  The contrast of sweet cold milk and a bite of warm, buttery oatmeal in the same spoon---one of life's treasures.  Crisp bacon and a slice of moist, raisin-rich banana bread, made by my Mom's recipe.    Kona in the presspot.

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What a beautiful description! Perfect, perfect breakfast... Thank you, Rachel!

Not that I have a reason to complain: this morning I was served a breakfast of whole buckwheat pancakes, which I ate with an eclectic combination of Russian red bilberrry preserve (each tart berry bursting on the tongue) and sweet, smooth pure maple syrup:

Camera: Canon PowerShot G5. Settings: Av 2.2, vivid, overcast WB.

Edited December 25, 2005 by Alinka (log)

[spaghetttti]

What wonderful, perfect pancakes Shalmanese & Alinka!

Rachel, I agree with Alinka. Glorious description of a breakfast of my dreams!

Have y'all met my very dear friend, crumpy?

A creamy Belgian chocolate and hazelnut spread that's delicious on toast.

Or all lickety by itself.

[percyn]

Great looking breakfasts all...

Since poached eggs seem to be in vogue, I decided to try a new method of making poached eggs, which actually worked out quite nicely.

Bring the a pot with water and a dash of white vinegar and salt to a gentle boil. Then crack an egg in a ladle type spoon sprayed with Pam (or similar) and gently immerse in the water.

Serve as desired...in this case on a toasted English muffin and canadian bacon.

Cheers

Percy

P.S: Merry Christmas !!

Edited December 26, 2005 by percyn (log)

[Sottise]

Yesterday was the traditional post-Christmas eve dinner pre-Christmas day lunch full breakfast cooked on the BBQ. Sausages, bacon, eggs, beans and toast. Completely unnecessary, but it's Christmas, so we make these sacrifices.

Today it was lunch rather than breakfast or brunch, since we both slept in far too late. Boxing day hash: potatoes, asparagus, tomato and ham, cooked with cream and topped with a poached egg. Again, completely over the top - the bran cereal lurking in the cupboard would have been the virtuous (but not at all festively appropriate) choice.

[Eden]

Mmm I might need to make boxing day hash for lunch.

I made pompe al'huile for one of our desserts last night, so this morning we had orange-brioche french toast sprinkled w/orange sugar

[percyn]

Since people are sick of seeing me eat eggs on this thread, I decided to do something different...

Crab cake on toasted english muffin, topped with Thai chili sauce

Sorry...already took a few bites before taking the pic

[devlin]

Waiting for heat with Bella and Pete:

The durum loaf:

A slice slightly crisped with goat cheese and slow-roasted tomatoes:

And a brisk walk with the dogs :

[percyn]

Nice oven devlin.

[devlin]

Nice oven devlin.

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And ya gotta know I'm totally in love with my oven. The face of it needs finishing (as does the rest of the garage conversion -- nearly there), and though it scared me just after it was built (it's big), once I'd used it a couple of times I was happier than I knew I'd be with it. It's an Alan Scott oven (package #4). And it really does make all the difference.

Edited December 28, 2005 by devlin (log)

[Ling]

devlin: I'm drinking tea out of the exact same mug you have pictured! It's my favourite....

I had Chinese sticky rice (with Chinese sausage, ham, dried shrimp, shiitake, and a bunch of other goodies), some sourdough with butter, Christmas cookies, and some coconut cream filling (for my friend's cake.)

[devlin]

devlin: I'm drinking tea out of the exact same mug you have pictured!  It's my favourite....

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That's my favorite mug too. It's great for perfect klutz's like me, because I'm thinking even if one threw it full force at a brick wall it would just thud to the ground still intact. They built those things like Mack trucks.

[spaghetttti]

Wow, devlin -- awesome!

I am such a lemming. The poached egg sits atop some sweet potato homefries and is accompanied by some beef bacon.

As usual, Vietnamese coffee with scm.

[Alinka]

devlin: I'm drinking tea out of the exact same mug you have pictured!  It's my favourite....

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Me too, me too! Half a liter of tea in the morning - lovely .

devlin, nice pictures. I want a slice of that beautiful bread. With the cheese and the tomatoes. Or, goronzola with honey would be nice, I would think...

Since people are sick of seeing me eat eggs on this thread, I decided to do something different... 

Crab cake on toasted english muffin, topped with Thai chili sauce

Sorry...already took a few bites before taking the pic

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Nice...

Wow, devlin -- awesome! 

I am such a lemming.  The poached egg sits atop some sweet potato homefries and is accompanied by some beef bacon. 

As usual, Vietnamese coffee with scm. 

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So, Percy has decided to deprive us of egg breakfasts... Not to worry: Yetty takes over, complete with the percy-esque hole poked in the egg to let the wonderful orange yolk ooze over the potatoes... How is Vietnamese coffee different from just coffee? I must have missed that one.

[Chufi]

Great looking breakfasts all...

Bring the a pot with water and a dash of white vinegar and salt to a gentle boil. Then crack an egg in a ladle type spoon sprayed with Pam (or similar) and gently immerse in the water.

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that's a neat trick.. so you actually let the water run into the spoon and cover the egg? Maybe this way I can finally master the art of egg-poaching.. nothing else has worked so far..

[I_call_the_duck]

You guys and all this talk about poaching compelled me to try it for the first time.

I first tried Percy's method, but not having Pam, I sprayed a ladle with olive oil (using my Misto sprayer). I wasn't sure what to do next, but I carefully lowered the ladle into the pot, tipping the ladle a bit to let the water in slowly, but the whites started to cook immediately, forming threads. Also, I wasn't sure if you poach it in the ladle or remove it, but I did the latter, and some of the whites got stuck to the ladle. I managed to salvage most of it.

I think the temperature of the water for the first egg was too hot, so I lowered the temperature, and tried the centrifuge method with the second egg. I used my mini milk frother that I normally use for my weekend cappuchino to create an eddy in the water, and dropped the egg in when the water started slowing down.

Both eggs turned out fine, but I preferred the centrifuge method. These were served on top of a mashed potato croquette made out of leftover mashed potatoes from a previous night's dinner mixed with browned, chopped lap cherng.

[jrichman]

Breakfast this morning was an egg white omelette with salt, pepper, scallions, american cheese, and a few slices of tomato on top. Also had a bagel on the side....

Edited January 1, 2006 by jrichman (log)

[spaghetttti]

Great looking eggs, Karen and jrichman!

Wanting something different for b'fast, this morning I had a ripped hot dog with relish on a toasted, buttered bun.

Milk soda to wash it down.

[Soup]

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.

The kids and the wife was great about it. They put in a ton of maple syrup and ate some but I couldn't choke it down. I was for once happy that I did not own a digital camera. I didn't know if I should post here or on the regrettible food thread.