Easter Brunch Recipes – Bon Appétit.
Having a brunch on Easter is always a great idea for a special family meal that you can do early in the day, giving everyone time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. Bon Appetit has 21 great Easter brunch recipes here for you to try that can help to round out your meal with a little bit of everything. Check it out!
I’ve had a craving for biscuits and gravy lately and yesterday stopped over at Adam’s Farms and got some of their homemade bulk breakfast sausage so I could make some this morning for our Sunday breakfast. Sunday breakfast is usually the only day during the week where Sean, Michelle and I get to eat breakfast together, so we try to make it something different and special each week. I was looking for something quick and easy to use for the sausage gravy and for the biscuits, but I wanted homemade biscuits, not the stuff you get out of the refrigerated can. I turned to Food Network and found a good biscuit recipe from Alton Brown for southern biscuits to go alongside of the sausage gravy recipe I got from Bobby Flay. Both are really easy to make so you can get a different taste for breakfast in no time at all.
Alton Brown’s Southern Biscuits
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like crumbs.Try to do this quickly so that the fat does not completely melt. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, dust the top of the dough with flour and gently fold the dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out the biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough. Place the biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform the scrap dough, working it as little as possible and continue cutting.
Bake until the biscuits are tall and light gold on top, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Bobby Flay’s Sausage Gravy and Biscuits
1 1/2 pounds bulk breakfast sausage or mixture of hot and mild bulk sausage
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 gallon milk
Salt
Pepper
Biscuits, store-bought or homemade (see Alton Brown’s Southern Biscuit recipe above)
In a large pot, add the sausage and cook until it is browned and cooked through. Drain the grease and add the flour to the sausage. Cook the sausage in the flour over medium-high heat until the sausage is well-coated with the flour. Add the milk and stir until the gravy has the desired thickness and add salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with the biscuits.
I did change up the sausage gravy recipe a little and did not use the 1/2 gallon of milk. I only use about 3/4 of a cup along with a 1/4 cup of heavy cream because we like a gravy that is much thicker for the sausage, and it turned out perfect. The real star here though is the biscuits. These are really easy to make, smell great and taste awesome. You could use these for all kinds of breakfast sandwiches that you like if you didn’t want the sausage gravy, like bacon, eggs, ham or anything else. They are also a great dinner biscuit and I plan to use the rest to go along with dinner tonight. You could even just have one warm with some butter to go with your tea or coffee in the morning and you would be all set.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
While I am not a big breakfast eater myself, I do like to have something around once in a while that goes nicely with my coffee in the morning. Very often I will make an easy banana bread, which is tasty, but I was looking for something a little bit different to try to that had some different flavor to it but would still be easy to make. I was also looking for a use for some of the whole wheat flour I had bought to make brown bread for St. Patrick’s Day. So I was quite fortunate when I came across this recipe from Kitchen Daily for a tasty banana-blueberry buttermilk bread that was simple to make.
Banana-Blueberry Buttermilk Bread
One other note about this recipe. the original recipe calls for whole-wheat pastry flour instead of just whole wheat flour, which I did not have. The whole wheat pastry flour has less protein than regular whole wheat flour, so you will get less gluten in the results and it will make for a more tender bread or muffin. If you would prefer to go that way, then use the pastry flour instead. I think the results came out just fine with the regular whole wheat flour. I liked the flavor to go along with the mix of the bananas and blueberries and it was great as a breakfast with my coffee in the morning. it gives a nice, different and easy option for something like this or to make quickly when you are having guests at the last-minute or need something to bring to someone’s home.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
A Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all! While for most people who think of Irish cooking as simply corned beef and cabbage and nothing more, I can tell you there are a lot of great Irish dishes you can try beyond that typical meal. There are some great meals you can choose from all over the Internet and I have posted a lot of Irish recipes on here, being he good Irish boy that I am. I have always wanted to see the cuisine beyond the corned beef and when Michelle and I went to Dublin we got to see, smell and taste a lot of different things. So if you are looking for some things to try this St. Patrick’s Day, here are some Irish meals I have posted on the blog that you can check out, including the classic corned beef and cabbage.
Irish Cream and Coffee Cookies
Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting
Irish Mussels in Guinness Cream Sauce
Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Pressure Cooker
There are also lots more great recipes out there on the Internet that you can check out from some great sources if you are looking for something a little different. I will be making the corned beef and cabbage in the pressure cooker, along with some Colcannon, cabbage and the brown bread. Of course there will be Guinness and Irish coffee later on as well.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more great recipes. Until then enjoy the rest of your day, have a happy St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy your meal!
I took a few days off from blogging to spend some time with the family over Thanksgiving weekend and it was my Sean’s birthday this weekend as well, so it got my away from the computer for a few days, which is not always a bad thing. I know many of you are probably beyond the leftovers from Thanksgiving, but this leftover dish I prepared for breakfast on Sean’s birthday can really work any time of the year when you have leftover turkey or really any leftover poultry at all. It is a simple turkey has that you can put together quite easily and make use of some of your leftovers.
Turkey Hash
4 tablespoons butter
3 strips bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound red potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 – 2 inch cubes (about 4 large potatoes)
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups cooked turkey, shredded into 1 – 2 inch chunks
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2-3 dashes hot sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
4 fried eggs (optional)
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the bacon, and cook until the bacon is brown and crisped, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and the peppers and cook until they are lightly softened, about 12 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, thyme, garlic and the turkey and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Whisk together the chicken stock, cream, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and the sherry in a separate bowl and then pour it evenly over the hash. Mash the mixture together lightly and press it firmly into the skillet. Cook until the hash is well browned on the bottom and the hash holds together in a loose cake, about 25 to 30 minutes. Place a large plate over the skillet and invert the hast onto the plate; set the plate aside.
Melt the remaining butter in the skillet, scraping up any browned bits, and return the hash to the skillet, uncooked-side down. Cook until the has is browned on the bottom and the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes more. Cut the hash into quarters and top each quarter with a fried egg.
You have lots of options with this particular recipe. If you have other vegetables that are leftover that you might like to use in the hash, like squash or Brussels sprouts, by all means throw them in. They will add some nice flavor to the hash. You can always place the skillet in a 350 degree oven after the first initial frying instead of trying to flip it over if you are worried about how that might go. You just want to leave the hash in the oven long enough to crisp up the top and the potatoes get crunchy but tender. We actually didn’t serve this with the eggs since it was Sean’s birthday breakfast; he wanted pancakes instead so we all had hash and pancakes as our meal. I thought it was pretty tasty and the turkey went nicely with everything else and the hot sauce added a nice little kick to the hash. I think you could easily make this with any leftover poultry or meat and it would turn out just as well.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. I have a number of things to share that we have made recently, including a turkey pot pie, some lasagna, fettuccine alfredo and we have lots more still coming up, so check back to see what is next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Sean has been asking me to make this one for a long time and I am not really sure why. I tried to tell him that chicken and waffles is just what it sounds like – fried chicken with some waffles. For some reason he really wanted to give it a god so I tried to find a recipe that specialized in both. You could simply just take your favorite fried chicken recipe and any waffle recipe and go to town if that is what you wanted to do, but I found this recipe from Emeril Lagasse that was easy, basic and made really good chicken with some spice to it and very tasty waffles to go along side of them.
Chicken and Waffles
Chicken:
1 (3 1/2 pound) fryer chicken, cut into 8 pieces, giblets removed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Essence seasoning, recipe to follow
Vegetable oil, for frying
Waffles:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Butter, for topping
Maple Syrup
Essence Seasoning:
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
To make the Essence seasoning, combine all the dried herbs thoroughly and store them in an airtight container.
For the chicken: Heat enough vegetable oil to come about 1-inch up the sides of a large, deep cast iron skillet. Heat the oil until a candy thermometer inserted into the oil registers 350 degrees.
Rinse the chicken pieces under cold water and do not dry; leave the pieces wet. In a large, sealable plastic bag, combine the flour and the Essence seasoning. Add the chicken pieces one at a time, seal the bag, and shake the coat the chicken evenly. Remove the chicken and place it on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Repeat this process until all the chicken is coated. Allow the chicken to rest on the wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes.
Carefully add the chicken to the hot oil and fry, turning once, until the chicken is golden brown and the meat is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes total for the pieces being cooked. Do not overcrowd the skillet and cook the chicken in batches if necessary. Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and drain on paper towels. Place the cooked chicken pieces on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and place in a 250 degree oven to keep them warm while you finish cooking the rest of the chicken.
For the waffles: Preheat a waffle iron and lightly spray it with cooking spray. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the butter and buttermilk and beat to combine. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix them well until combined.
Pour the batter into the hot waffle iron and cook until the waffle is golden brown and lightly crisp. Remove the waffle and repeat the process until all the batter is used or you have the desired amount of waffles. Top each waffle with a slice of butter, if desired, and serve with the chicken and maple syrup.
It certainly is an interesting combination if you have never had it before. The crispy chicken along with the crispy waffle and the maple syrup make for a tasty dish. I did not use a cut up fryer but only bone-in chicken thighs that I had on hand to make things a little bit easier. you could use whatever type of chicken pieces you prefer. For the Essence seasoning, the recipe makes about 2/3 cup, so you will have some leftover to use for other meals as a rub or seasoning. You could always just use whatever you like most on fried chicken instead and you can even buy your favorite waffle mix and use that if you did not want to make your own. I think it was certainly easy enough that it would warrant making again and it was different to try. Sean seemed to really enjoy it. This recipe made 4 servings, so it was just enough for the three of us with some leftover fried chicken that we can use for other meals.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. I still have a few Thanksgiving items to post, including another turkey recipe I am trying, so stay tuned. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Michelle likes to make a homemade breakfast on Sundays and this past weekend was no exception. She had asked me what I felt like having and I had suggested biscuits and sausage gravy. I know it is far from the healthiest breakfast out there, but it tastes really good and it is something we almost never have. I found this recipe from Cook’s Country that was simple and quick to make and didn’t use any ingredients that we didn’t already have in the house, which made it even better to try.
Homemade Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Biscuits:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Sausage Gravy:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 1/2 pounds bulk pork sausage
3 cups milk
Salt
For the biscuits: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter, and shortening in the food processor until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the buttermilk until combined.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it is smooth, about 8 to 10 kneads. Pat the dough into a 9-inch circle, about 3/4-inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds of dough and arrange them on a prepared baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough, pat it into a 3/4-inch-thick circle, and cut out the remaining biscuits. You should have 8 biscuits in total.
Bake until the biscuits begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then rotate the pan and reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes, then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack and let them cool.
For the sausage gravy: Combine the flour, fennel, sage, and pepper in a small bowl. Cook the sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the sausage and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour has been absorbed, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in the milk and simmer until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and serve over split biscuits. The biscuits can be stored in a zipper-lock bag for 2 days to be used again later on.
It’s a very simple meal that makes a great breakfast. You could just have this alone with your coffee, tea or juice or serve it with an egg over easy or scrambled eggs and you have a really nice breakfast for a weekend. We actually made extra so there was some left over for me to have another day. I just heated some of the sausage gravy up and added a little milk to it to loosen it up and had some with a biscuit. It was pretty darn yummy.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. As always, there’s still lots to come, including more Thanksgiving ideas and recipes to use. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
Our Best Breakfast How-To’s | Food Republic.
Sure, we all make breakfast all the time,but if it is not something you do a lot, even the basics can seem a bit out of reach. Food Republic goes over some basic breakfast how-to’s in this post, like scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon. It’s worth a look and they have some new recipes too. I’ll be back later today with a regular blog post now that I am back from vacation. Check it out!
One of the favorite meals around our household is the breakfast for dinner concept. I have posted different breakfasts we have used on here before, and one of the most common things we eat are pancakes. Of course, there are varied ways and recipes you can use to make pancakes, including using tried and true methods such as Bisquick to help you along way. There’s nothing wrong with Bisquick; we use it around here when we feel like having some easy pancakes or biscuits without any fuss. That being said, there is nothing quite like having some homemade pancakes that are cooked just right. You love them when they are fresh off the griddle with a little bit of butter and lots of syrup. I love fruit pancakes like blueberry or banana, but this time we kept it simple with just some regular pancakes.
Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk
1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees so you have a place to keep your pancakes warm while you cook more. Set a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet and set it aside.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter and then the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, and whisk very gently until the buttermilk mixture is just incorporated. A few lumps should remain in the batter. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Brush the bottom of the skillet with 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil. Using 1/4 cup of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet. Only 2 or 3 pancakes are likely to fit in the skillet at one time. Cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until they are golden brown on the second side, about 1 to 2 minutes longer. Spread the pancakes out over the wire rack on the baking sheet and hold them in the warm oven. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, remembering to brush the bottom of the skillet with oil for each batch you make.
Pancakes freeze pretty well, so you can make a big batch and have them as leftover breakfast during the week if you like. Just defrost them overnight in the refrigerator and throw them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes and you can have them for breakfast. They should last for about a week in the freezer.
Since we had pancakes already, I wanted something extra to go with it since this was dinner. I have had a hankering for some hash browns lately and I saw this simple recipe from America’s Test Kitchen and decided to give it a try. This was much easier to do with the food processor, but if you don’t have one, you can use a box grater (just watch your knuckles!).
Hash Browns
1 pound russet potatoes (2 medium potatoes), peeled
2 tablespoons grated onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter
Grate the potatoes using either the large holes of a box grater or the shredder attachment of a food processor. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of shredded potatoes. Wrap the grated potatoes in a kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly of any excess moisture, then toss the potatoes with the onion, parsley (if using), salt and pepper.
Melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to brown, swirling to coat the entire pan. Scatter the potatoes evenly into the skillet and press down on them firmly to form a cake. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook the potatoes until they are dark golden brown and crisp on the first side, about 8 minutes.
Slide the hash brown cake onto a large plate, then invert it onto a second plate so that the browned side is facing up. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and melt, swirling to coat the pan. Slide the hash brown cake back into the pan, browned-side up, and continue to cook it over medium heat until the second side is also golden and crisp, about 5 minutes longer. Slide the hash brown cake onto a plate or cutting board and cut it into wedges.
Using a non-stick skillet here really makes a big difference in making your life easier and flipping the hash browns over. With this method, they come out crisp and delicious and are easy to serve and they have great flavor. I also had some sausage links we made to go along with everything.
That’s all I have for today. Check back to see what recipes come up next. We’ll be out for the evening tonight, so no cooking for me, but I’ll be back with some more recipes to try out, including a hot dog recipe with onion sauce and pepper relish, lemon icebox pie, Tar Heel pie, roasted chicken from Marc Murphy and more. Check back and see what is next. until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!
We don’t get to spend enough time together as it is, so trying to take advantage of the holiday weekend and spend time with each other is a premium for us. This particularly involves any meals that we may have. As it is with most families, it’s pretty rare when all 3 of us can sit down together and actually have breakfast at the same time. So when it does happen, I try to make it something special. This was the case yesterday when I decided we were going to have a completely homemade breakfast. It’s much simpler than it sounds and you can easily do any of these things in moments. I kept it even simpler by just sticking with scrambled eggs, homemade sausage, and home fries. We added in a couple of store-bought items as well, including Taylor ham and English muffins.
Easy Scrambled Eggs
8 large eggs
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter
Whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat the pan. Add the eggs and cook while gently pushing, lifting, and folding them from one side of the pan to the other until they are nicely clumped, shiny, and wet, about 2 minutes. Remove the cooked eggs from the pan quickly.
I know it seems kind of ridiculous to actually have a recipe for scrambled eggs since it’s a fairly basic recipe, but I think it’s actually pretty easy to mess these up. Michelle actually makes much better scrambled eggs that I do; her eggs seem to come out fluffier and taste better and I think it’s because she follows this method exactly. Having a hot pan to start with is a key and you also want to be sure that you fold your eggs and push them instead of stirring them. Stirring them keeps them from getting as fluffy as they could be. Naturally, there are many things that you could add in to scrambled eggs if you choose to, such as onions, herbs, various cheeses, hot sauce, ham, bacon – the list seems to go on and on. Make them how you feel most comfortable.
Next up is a very simple recipe for some homemade breakfast sausage. Now there are few ways you can do this, and if you want to make it a little differently you could certainly grind your own pork. It will take you more time to do it that way but if that’s what you’re looking for then you should go right ahead. I chose to just use already ground pork and keep things simple.
Homemade Breakfast Sausage
2 pounds ground pork
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons of vegetable oil
Spread the pork out in a large bowl and sprinkle with the syrup, garlic, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, and cayenne. Using your hands, gently fold the flavorings into the pork, then portion and shape each into sixteen 2-ounce patties (about 1/4 cup each).
Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add half of the patties and cook until well browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the patties to a paper towel-lined plate. Wipe out the skillet, add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil, return the pan to medium heat until shimmering, and cook the remaining patties.
Of course if you’re going to grind your own pork and maybe you even have your own sausage casings you can make breakfast links instead of breakfast patties. It really depends on how ambitious you happen to feel, but this seems to be the simplest way to do it. You could also easily freeze some of the patties between wax paper and have them portioned out for use at another time. Then it is simply a matter of placing them in a hot skillet with a little bit of butter to get them started and then add a little bit of water and cover the pan so they steam first to help them cook, remove the cover, turn the heat up and cook the patties until they are browned. You could also make this with ground turkey instead of ground pork. I actually have a turkey sausage patty recipe that I will post at another time which is a great breakfast alternative.
I also made some home fries to help round out the meal. Home fries are really easy to make, and if you happen to have some leftover potatoes already done you can easily use them as well. You have a lot of options here when it comes to what you want to use. Even if you have a can of diced potatoes around you could use that as well. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, actually recommends that you microwave your potatoes first to help get some of the starch out of them before you do any of the frying. This helps to build up the better crust on the potatoes.
Home Fries
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes (4 medium), scrubbed and cut into one half-inch cubes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper
In a large microwave-safe bowl, toss the potatoes with the oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high until the potatoes are tender but not falling apart, 5 to 10 minutes, shaking the bowl without removing the plastic to re-distribute the potatoes every 3 minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap, transfer the potatoes to a colander, and drain thoroughly.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes to the skillet and, using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, distribute them evenly over the pan. Cook undisturbed until the potatoes are golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Carefully turn the potatoes to ensure even browning and add the onion to the skillet. Continue cooking, turning the potato and onion mixture every few minutes, until the potatoes are well browned and the onion is softened, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Again, there are other things you could add to the potatoes if you want to get a little bit of a different flavor. I actually added a little bit of orange bell pepper and some paprika to my recipe and I think they tasted great. I know they do sell frozen diced potatoes, but I think if you’re planning to use them you need to make sure that you thaw them and that they are dried very well to remove as much of the moisture as possible if you want them to cook well. Otherwise they will just steam in the liquid and not get crispy.
While I didn’t make any bacon with our breakfast, I have found that making the bacon in the oven has worked much better and gives the bacon a chance to cook and crisp up much more evenly than it does when you cook it in the pan. You can also cook a lot more of it all at once if you are making breakfast for a large crowd, which is an advantage.
Oven Bacon
1 pound bacon (16 slices), thin or thick-cut
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400°. Arrange the bacon on a rimmed baking sheet (the slices can overlap just slightly) and bacon until crisp and browned, about 10 to 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet front to back halfway through. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and let the excess fat drain off before serving.
If you’re going to cook it this way, you could also consider using a wire rack set inside the rimmed baking sheet so it keeps the bacon from sitting in the fat and allows the air to circulate around it, making it a little more crisp. As I said, I did make Taylor ham with the breakfast because it is one of Michelle’s favorites. It seems to be mostly a Northeast thing, and even more particularly a New Jersey thing to have Taylor ham with breakfast. It is basically a pork roll that you slice and fry for a minute or 2 on each side just to get it crisp. I didn’t have time to make any homemade biscuits or anything like that, but they would be great to go with a traditional home breakfast. Of course I had coffee with mine, and you could certainly have homemade orange juice if you have a juicer or whichever store-bought juice you prefer.
The important thing with the breakfast like this is that it actually brings everyone to the table all at the same time. It doesn’t really matter what you make; you could just each have bowls of oatmeal or bagels and coffee if that’s all you really want as long as you’re enjoying some time together.
That’s all there is for today. Check back again later on in the week and I’ll have some new recipes to share, including a pound cake, oatmeal cookies, a black bean salad, and I do have a few other things planned in for dinner this week including baby back ribs, meatloaf and chicken so check back and see what comes along. Until then, enjoy the rest of your 3 day weekend, and enjoy your meal!
Fun, unusual and forgotten designations on our calendar.
Happily Ever After Lives Here
a little bit naughty a little bit nice
Letting Life Lead
Simple and delicious dinner inspiration
onedadskitchen 