Thursday, March 10, 2011

Most important meal of the day!!

So it was cookbook club last night - and the theme was "Breakfast for Dinner".  Everything we tried was SUPER yummy - and I have little comments for each one!!  (See below)  One of my goals is to start eating breakfast every day - so the freezing options below are awesome!!  YUM!!  Eat up!!


English Muffins: Super good - and freezing them and pulling them out each am for bfast is super good idea!!  I'm in need for some quick / healthy breakfast options - so I loved this!!   I'm going to try to freeze them - so I'll let you know if they are soggy or if they hold up pretty good!!

Taquitos: I think this was everyone's favorite....and you can put whatever you want on these bad boys.  The dipping sauce was the best part :)  I think Ross would have drank that or dunked all the breakfast dishes in that!  Again, you can freeze these - so check that out too!!

Mini Quiche cups: I thought these were super good - and I kept thinking of how perfect they would be for a wedding / baby shower or something.  They were just so quaint and little - the perfect finger food for a brunch!  We went with using the ham instead of the foil liner - half of us thought that was good / other half would have preferred it without the ham - so play around with that!

Crescent Braid: So don't look at this and think "it's too hard" - it was actually really easy and a super cute / pretty idea for a brunch!!  It tasted really good!!  We thought it would taste better with sausage - instead of bacon, so next time I'm trying that.  Ross thought the Taquitos dip should go with this too :)

.English Muffin Breakfast Pizzas
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients:
6 whole wheat English muffins
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
10 dashes Tabasco sauce
10-12 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1 cup shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
Whatever topping: green onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray or brush with oil or melted butter. Set aside.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and Tabasco sauce. Gently pull apart each English muffin and soak each side (like you would for French toast) in the egg mixture–you want the egg mixture to soak into the bread, but you don’t want the English muffin to be completely falling apart. Place the muffin, cut side up, on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top and add any additional desired toppings and then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 15 minutes and serve immediately.

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: After baking, loosen them from the baking sheet with a spatula and then allow them to cool completely. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer. When the pizzas are solid, transfer them to a large Ziploc freezer bag. To reheat, place on a plate and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes at a time until the pizza is heated through (actual time will depend on how powerful your microwave is).

Baked Breakfast Taquitos with Lime-Chipotle Dip
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Makes 16 servings
Ingredients:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
12 large eggs
1/2 cup Breakstone’s Sour Cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped roasted red bell peppers
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 tsp hot sauce
16 - 6″ flour tortillas
cooking spray or olive oil

Dipping Sauce:
1 1/2 cup Breakstone’s Sour Cream
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up.  Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Crack eggs into large mixing bowl.  Whisk in 1/2 cup sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  When skillet is hot, add egg mixture to pan.  Using a rubber spatula, gently scrape bottom of pan and fold eggs over to scramble.  Remove from heat when slightly undercooked.  Add cheese, roasted red peppers, green onions, cilantro, and hot sauce to taste.  Gently fold to combine. 

Warm tortillas in microwave to ease rolling process.  Working with a few tortillas at a time, place a scant 1/4 cup egg mixture into the center of each one and roll up into a cylinder.  Place rolled tortillas on prepared baking sheet, seam-side down, so they are not touching each other.  When all tortillas are rolled and filled, lightly spray tops with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil.  Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.

While taquitos are baking, coming 1 1/2 cup sour cream, lime juice, chipotle chili powder and kosher salt.  Stir to combine and store in fridge.  Remove taquitos from oven , let cool for 5 minutes, and then serve with dipping sauce.

Make Ahead Prep:  The egg mixture can be made a day ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to use.  You can also prepare the taquitos and instead of baking right away, cover tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight, or freeze for later use.  To prepare frozen taquitos, place (un-thawed) directly on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  Follow original baking instructions, increasing time by 5 minutes or until taquitos are golden brown.

Mini Breakfast Quiches/ Baked Ham and Egg Cups
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients:
8 eggs
3/4 cup shredded low-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cottage cheese
5 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, water squeezed out and roughly chopped (that’s half a standard frozen box of spinach)
1/3 cup roasted red peppers, diced
1 oz finely diced ham, Canadian bacon, or crumbled bacon (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt / pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
foil muffin tin liners OR 12 slices ham

Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl, combine all ingredients (except ham slices) and stir well.

If using ham slices, spray muffin tin with non cook spray and place one piece of ham in each well to form a bowl.    If using foil muffin liners, spray the insides of the liners with non-stick spray. 
Evenly divide egg mixture between the 12 muffin wells (about 1/4 C each), being careful to keep ingredients well dispersed.  You want them to fill right up to the top.
 
Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. The tops should be puffed and just barely set on top. Eggs will sink after cooling.
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze them. When reheating in the microwave, make sure to take off the foil liner! And if you’re reheating from frozen, I try to take them out the night before so they can thaw in the fridge. Then when you microwave them, set them on a folded paper towel to drain excess moisture.

Easy Breakfast Crescent Braid
 
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Makes 12 servings 
Ingredients:
1 roll Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations
Scrambled Eggs (used 3 eggs, 1 egg white, 1 1/2 tablespoon milk, salt/pepper)
4-5 strips bacon (sausage would be great too)
1 cup grated cheese
Hot sauce
Scramble eggs in a skillet. Since this will cook again in the oven, under cook your eggs. You want them to be cooked enough to hold together, but leave them a bit wet. Cook bacon strips and set aside. (I bake my bacon in the oven. Just lay flat on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 for about 12 minutes or until crisp)
Next, use a rolling pin and a lightly floured work surface to roll out the crescent dough to about 10 in x 12 in. Lay the eggs down the center of the rectangle, leaving room on both sides and the 2 ends, as pictured below. Top with bacon, cheese, and a couple shots of hot sauce if you want.

Use a pizza cutter to make cuts:
Fold over both ends:
Now starting on one end, bring the side pieces in and overlap them. You’ll want to alternate- one from the right, then one from the left and so on and so on.
Keep doing it until you get all the way to the end.
When you get to the end, just tuck where you can to make it pretty!

Bake according to package instructions. I believe it’s 375 for about 15-20 minutes - and actually, if you want it shiny on top, give it a quick egg wash before you bake. When it’s done, it should be golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Slice on a slight diagonal and eat immediately!

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