Mexican Breakfast with Tomato Avocado Salsa

This is one for the rotation. I want to eat it everyday. We were literally head-over-heels in love at first bite, and...it's a complete meal. Not a side, not a dessert as I seem to have been making these days. However, the following is more of a guide than a recipe, a little of this a little of that-I warned you. This "guide" was adapted from a cookbook (more on that later) that I got for Christmas and have been dying to use. This dish just makes me even more excited to try more. Think a cleaner, brighter, simpler huevos rancheros. The salsa was the key; my own, crazy simple, yet euphoria-inducing little concoction. Instead of a rich tomato and onion stew-like sauce, the salsa brings a fresh flavor to the mix, the best part being the major kick of lime.

Mexican Breakfast
adapted from The Family Chef, the recipe titled:
"jill's favorite mexican breakfast"

4 corn tortillas
canola or peanut oil for frying
1 c. black beans (from a can), drained and rinsed
cumin
garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 c. shredded cheese - we used a combo of colby-jack and cheddar
4 eggs, fried, poached, basted, scrambled whatever you prefer

1. Prepare the salsa (recipe below). Set aside.
2. Preheat a tablespoon or two of oil in a skilled over medium-high heat. You can test the oil by putting a strip of tortilla in it. Once it sizzles and bubbles, the oil is hot enough. Fry one tortilla at a time until golden brown and crispy. Remove tortilla from the pan and place on a plate or cookie sheet lined with paper towels.
3. In a microwave-safe bowl, season the beans to taste with a sprinkle of cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper and smash them up with a fork or potato masher. Microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until hot. (You can do this on the stove too, but I was trying to save a little time.)
4. Divide the crispy tortillas onto plates. Spread 1/4 c. of beans on each tortilla. Add cheese, dividing evenly.
5. Place one egg on each tortilla. The heat from the eggs and beans will melt the cheese.
6. Top each one with a spoonful of salsa. Enjoy!
Serves 2-4

Tomato Avocado Salsa

1 avocado, diced
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
the juice if 1/2 a lime
onion powder and salt and pepper to taste

I cut into this one, but Dan likes to pick them up like a piece of pizza.

Cheddar Cheese and Red Bell Pepper Strata

2 posts in 1 day? Inconceivable!
Here is another red and green thing that I made over the holidays. Apparently I was subconciously festive the entire week. The motivation for this one was to have a nice breakfast or brunch when we woke up. It smelled awesome in the oven, but again left something to be desired. This is one of the few strata recipes I have come across that does not say to refrigerate (I always want to put a "D" in that word) it overnight. We did and it was mushy. Too mushy for Dan to even eat. I made him some scrambled eggs and put this back in to oven to bake a little longer for myself. It did dry out some more, but maybe I shouldn't have let it soak so long, or reduced the amount of milk. The flavor was great though, so I'll give it another try.

Cheddar Cheese and Red Bell Pepper Strata
adapted from Bon Appetit via epicurious
The cooking time below includes the additional baking.

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 large (or 1 1/2 smaller ones) red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 cup chopped green onions

6 slices whole wheat bread
1 1/2 c. grated medium cheddar cheese
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper to skillet and sauté until just tender, about 4 minutes. Mix in green onions; sauté 1 minute longer. Remove from heat.

2. Cut bread into 1/2-inch pieces. Layer half of bread in 8 x 8 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Cover with half of cheese, then half of bell pepper mixture. Repeat layering with bread, cheese and bell pepper mixture. Beat milk, eggs, mustard, dry mustard, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend. Pour over strata.

3. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Bake strata until lightly browned on top and set in center, about 50-65 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes; cut into squares.

Deviled Eggs

The older I get the more I miss my great-grandmother, Marie. She was incredible. She passed away when I was 18.
As a child, I was very blessed by spending my days at my great-grandparent's house, rather than a daycare. I know how special this was because many people never even get to meet their great-grandparents let alone see them 5 days a week. Grandma was a firey Irish, Catholic woman who always made her opinion clear, especially in conversations with my grandfather. She also made it abundantly clear that she loved me to death. She read Little Red Riding Hood to me so many times that she probably could recite it in her sleep. She taught me how to prune and pick flowers from her rose bushes (after a five-leaf cluster), and place them in a glass on the kitchen window sill above the sink. She would let me play in that sink for what seemed like hours. I would put a stool up to the counter so that I could splash in the soap bubbles, and fill and pour out measuring cups full of the steamy water. However, Grandma didn't hesitate to shove a fresh bar of Caress in my mouth after I got angry with her and called her a name. All done with love.
For the most part Grandpa was the cook, and what a cook he was. From fresh baked breads, which made the most incredible toast, to soups, roasts, casseroles, and cookies. He grocery shopped every day. While eating breakfast, he would often ask us what we wanted for lunch or dinner! I used to think he was crazy, and now I find myself thinking about it too. So he was the daily chef, but on Easter and Thanksgiving, Grandma and Grandpa would both be in the kitchen, with the doors closed. The holidays always felt different in that house. Oh, the smells coming from that kitchen. The china placed just so on the white linen covered dinning table. It was very different from the work week. Occasionaly, I'd sneek past the double doors to watch as she basted the Ham with Sprite, or stirred something on the stove. One specialty that appeared only on Easter was her deviled eggs. She never had a recipe that I knew of-just a little grandma magic. When she slipped away, so did the recipe. For the next few years, Easter came and went, but without the deviled eggs.

After searching through many cookbooks I decided to try them for myself, but it didn't pan out. Something was not quite right. I tried onions, onion powder, garlic, vinegar, etc.. Finally, Easter 2006, after consulting with various family memebers. I got it-well, as close as it gets. So, without further adieu, my (grandmas's) deviled eggs.

Deviled Eggs

12 large, hard cooked eggs

2/3 c. Miracle Whip

1 tsp. yellow mustard

1 tbsp. dill pickle juice

salt and pepper

paprika

Peel eggs, slice in half lengthwise, and remove the yolks. In a small bowl, smash yolks with a fork until fine. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill a piping bag (or a plastic freezer bag with a corner cut off) with the yolk mixture, and fill the whites. Sprinkle with paprika for garnish.

I know, after all that build up, it's a very simple recipe, but it's a great one. The secret is using Miracle Whip rather than mayo, and adding the pickle juice. Note that the pickle juice and mustard measurements are approximate becuase I ususally just add some and taste until they are right. I do have a few tips though. For easier peeling, boil the eggs and refridgerate them overnight before peeling. I was in a hurry this time and peeled them after refridgerating for 3 hours, and I did notice the difference. Also, tap the eggs on the counter to crack the shell all the way around, and peel under cold running water. Even though I do measure the Miracle Whip, they do turn out a bit different each time. This time I think my yolks were smaller than normal and the proportions were a bit off. Not perfect, but very, very good. Enjoy.

Individual Potato Broccoli Frittatas - 2 ways

If I could design my perfect day, the recipe would be as follows:

Sleep in and wake up slow
Have a lunch of cider and doughnuts at your local cider mill of choice
Take a brisk hike in the woods
Eat a delicious, healthy, and leisurely prepared dinner
Watch Michigan football

Execute each step in this order with a good friend or loving spouse. Well, this was my Saturday. Exactly the respite I needed after a long week of work and not seeing my husband. : ( So, back to the food. I went with the idea of baking individual frittatas because I have made frittatas in a mini muffin pan for parties, and they turn out quite good. Also, I don't have a decent pan to go from stovetop to oven (ahhh...daydreaming of cast iron skillets), and I do have these great little non-stick 4 1/2 inch springform pans that we recieved as a wedding gift and have never used. You could, however, scale up the recipe for a 9 inch pie pan, or prepare the frittatas in a regular or jumbo size muffin pan.

Potato Broccoli Frittatas
adapted from Cooking Light

1 large redskin potato, cooked and diced
1/2 c. cooked broccoli
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 sliced cooked bacon, chopped  (for my meat lover)
2 tbsp. chopped, cooked onion  (for me)
1-2 tbsp. chopped parsley
4 eggs
2 egg whites
1-2 tsbp. milk
2/3 c. grated cheese  (I used about 1/3 c. of 2 different kinds)
1/8-1/4 tsp. thyme
1/8-1/4 tsp. paprika
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray pans with non-stick cooking spray. Add half of the potato, broccoli, and garlic to each pan. (I did cook the garlic with a little bit of olive oil ahead of time) Now comes the "2 way" part. To one I added the bacon and some grated cheddar cheese, and to the other I added the onion and my new favorite cheese, which is a combo of white cheddar, swiss, and parmesan. Mmmm. In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, parsley, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over other ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. They will puff up quite a bit.

I did learn a valuable lesson when preparing this dish. Make sure that your springform pans are sealed properly and are liquid tight. Some of my egg mixtue leaked out when I poured it into the pans. One was worse then the other, and it just continued oozing. I kept saying "Oh, NO!" and laughing as the eggs weeped out of the side. But, since it was not completely gushing out, I gingerly threw them onto a cookie sheet with a piece of aluminum foil, and prayed for the best.  What I realized is that unlike a cheesecake, this egg mixture is thin and there is no crust to seal it off the bottom of the pans. Maybe not the best bakeware choice for this, but live and learn I guess.  The oozing did stop shortly after I put them in the oven, and the loss was not that much. They still turned out OK, and were very tatsy.  I served these with some crusty bread, and a tomato avocado salad drizzled with my homemade balsamic vinegarette.

I think my favorite thing about frittatas is that they are so versatile. You can put just about anything inside, like an omelette or a quiche. The possibilities are endless. Mushroom, onion, and swiss. Tomato and basil with parmesan. Ham and cheese.  Zucchini and squash, etc. Plus, it's a great way to get rid of some leftovers. Hmm...a Thanksgiving leftover frittata? Probably not. ;)