Fancy Breakfast Friday: Biscuits

I definitely have a little bit of an imposter syndrome when it comes to biscuits because I am not from the south, and I don’t have a family tradition of biscuit making. You can really go down a rabbit hole reading about biscuits and people have strong feelings about the type of flour, the method, everything. I have asked, and been given, Dave’s family recipe on more than one occasion. But where is it? I can’t keep track of it. However, I think I am ready for it now. Because these biscuits were pretty good. I felt no stress making them, even though I normally do drop biscuits instead of a using a biscuit cutter. The recipe made just the right amount. Everyone had two biscuits with their bacon and eggs, and then I sent a biscuit as a snack at school.

There was only one concern that I had. Did I add the salt? Because there was a distinct lack of something. I remember thinking that I should read a conversion for kosher salt to table salt because I am out of table salt. The kosher salt was on the counter… but did I use it? I have to make these again to know for sure. Now that I am over my fear of biscuits, I should make biscuits more often. In college, my friend and roommate Janine would make biscuits every Friday, and sing a little, “It’s Friday Biscuit Day!” song, and she generously shared her biscuits and it was the best thing ever. I loved her tradition of a little something special on Friday mornings for breakfast. And here I am a few (24 years) later enjoying biscuits on a Friday.

The recipe is from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours which I do love.

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Pan Purdue

I call my French toast Pan Purdue when it’s as delicious as the Pan Purdue at Lucille’s. Especially when I am also drinking the hickory coffee that my loving father sent me from Cafe du Monde. It was all very Creole. Dave doesn’t like chicory coffee, so this all obviously took place when Dave and Luke were in Crested Butte for Fat Bike Worlds. Jack and I treated ourselves (I treated Jack) to a couple yummy breakfasts.

I made this bread the night before from the new cookbook that my sister in law got me for my birthday: Flour Water Salt Yeast. (Thanks Suzanne!). Then I haphazardly threw together eggs, milk, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. As I was making the egg mixture I was imagining teaching my grandkids how to make French toast, (can’t get my kids interested so I am biding my time) and I imagined myself saying, “Just a hint of nutmeg, it’s the secret ingredient.” But I was paying more attention to my imaginary, loving and attentive grandchildren then to what I was doing and I put more than a hint of nutmeg in. I opened the wrong side of the spice jar, and let’s just go ahead and call it a teaspoon. Maybe two. Regardless, the French toast was delicious.

We had the Pan Purdue on Saturday, and not just because Friday’s breakfast was less than photo perfect. Friday, I made oatmeal blueberry pancakes.

I made a full recipe, and Jack ate everything except these two burnt pancakes. That’s all that was left for me. I need to perfect the recipe before I share, but it’s basically oats, whole wheat flour, and then the usual. I’m so glad I made it when it was just Jack and I because… it doesn’t make that many. They are very hearty, but Jack still said they tasted like an oatmeal cookie. They would probably be good leftover too, but I may never know.

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Round Up

Can you believe it’s been a month of Fridays since I posted anything? (Possibly more, but who’s counting?) Where to start, where to start? Well, I made babka for Grandma and Grandpa when they were here for Christmas, and we took a loaf to a friend’s condo for New Years.

My mom gave me this gorgeous china plate for Christmas, and I made my traditional blueberry scones to match it. Hmm, I wanted to link to the last time I made these, but I can’t find a Blueberry Scone FBF, is that possible?

I also got this pancake dispenser from my mom (she gets me) for Christmas and let’s just say it’s very fun but also a great opportunity for #nailedit photos.

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My attempt at a fun face… #nailedit.

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Ok, this has nothing to do with breakfast, but I did make this Smitten Kitchen appetizer for Christmas.

Finally, last Friday, after a Christmas break that went into the middle of January and then a trip to Reno we got back into what seemed like a routine and I made these delicious muffins. These are the blueberry muffins from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook, but I used raspberries instead.

Ok, now I’m all caught up… but the breakfast I made today was less than stellar so I may need to double up this week. Back on track! Making Fridays Fancy in 2018.

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Granola

Happy Holidays! Last week I made granola from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook and it was pretty good and easy! I’ve made a bunch of the recipes so I can recommend the book. (Lentil Soup, Granola, Blueberry Muffins, Potato Skins, Tofu and Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts Pasta Bake)

Today I am making Babka again for our Christmas guests and some people are sad that it isn’t ready yet. Fortunately Dave is making eggs to order. We are so lucky!

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Muffins and Potato Skins

As I mentioned last week, I recently purchased the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook, and I knew I’d be making some new breakfast recipes right away. I planned to make the potato skins with an egg baked in them, but then thought, why not also make blueberry muffins? I did measure some of the ingredients the night before, but get this: My alarm went off at 6:00 am, I hit snooze, but got up. I staggered into the kitchen, making the muffins as I slowly woke up. When my snooze alarm went off at 6:15, the muffins were already in the oven. That’s pretty amazing. They were delicious.

The potato skins were also delicious. But the crazy thing is – the kids were eating breakfast when I was making lunches so I wasn’t totally paying attention. Turns out – they don’t know how to eat potato skins?! They just ate the egg and cheese and bacon and scallions out of the potato skin, and then left the little potato boat on their plate. I guess the 90’s really were a long time ago. Remember when we used to order potato skins in restaurants as an appetizer? My kids have never done that, or seen that being done. It’s a new era of appetizers. On the bright side, this whole trip down potato skin memory lane reminded me of the time my friend Rosanne and I went to see a movie in high school. (Not the time we saw Pet Cemetery, that’s a totally different story.) I’m talking about the time we saw Silence of the Lambs. After the movie we went to Michael’s Family Restaurant for a snack. We thought about just getting coffee, but we were a little hungry. What to get? Grilled Cheese, mozzarella sticks? No, we settled on sharing a plate of potato skins. Why not, they are delicious, right? While we waited for our order we discussed the movie and (spoiler alert) how creepy it was that the villain was making a suit out of human skin. Then the waitress came by with our plate and said, “HERE ARE YOUR SKINS!!!” It was horrifying. But we ate them anyway, and they were delicious. But I’m not sure I ever ordered potato skins after that, and then they went out of fashion.

So thanks for bringing them back into my life, Smitten Kitchen Cookbook!

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Mexico

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It’s catch up day here Meta Megan on this beautiful Fancy Breakfast Friday Morning. Is it beautiful out? I have no idea, I’m just looking at this photo and thinking of where I was last week. Dave and I went to an all inclusive resort in Cabo San Lucas Mexico to celebrate our 20th anniversary. This is the view from the breakfast buffet. The food was delicious. I left some cereal for the kids and Aunt Suzy!

I skipped a couple FBF posts in November, and I had two good excuses. I made waffles both Fridays and they were fine, but I didn’t take any pictures. I made pumpkin waffles the day after Thanksgiving, but I realized after I started that I didn’t really have time for waffles, and I made half the batter into pancakes. They were just OK. Nothing to write a story about. But speaking of stories, in November I did NaNoWriMo, where you write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. (I guess it’s really a novella.) I did it, and I was very proud. The main thing I learned was that if I have a plan, I can easily write 2,000 words in a relatively short period of time. The other thing I learned was that if I keep typing, words will come out and then I’ll have a first draft to work with. Lastly, I learned that I have no desire to ever let anyone read anything. But my goal is to write a book, not to have people read my book, so mission accomplished! Just kidding, I plan to get back to writing and see what I can come up with in a second or third or 10th draft.

The last bit of exciting news is that I went to see the Smitten Kitchen author this week and I bought her cookbook! As I type this, the kids are eating not one but two recipes from the cookbook for what will be an exciting FBF post next week!

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Dutch Baby

This isn’t a recipe for a crowd, or I suppose it could serve more people if it was just one of many items being service for breakfast. I made it on a day that Dave was going into the office, so he missed out. Jack and I both ate a a fourth, and Luke ate half. It was delicious. I’m sure I served bacon and fruit with it, but I can barely remember.

I followed this recipe from the New York Times, and it was amazing. If you were stressed about the butter, you could maybe cut it in half. I was surprised at how much melted butter was just resting on top of the dutch baby when it came out of the oven.

I covered the butter in cinnamon and sugar, and that was delicious.

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This was the start of a marathon baking week. I made cookies for Jack’s class, then I baked a Game of Thrones cake for his birthday. Then I made FBF today, and we are having a recital at our house tonight, so that will be dinner for 13. That just leaves one more cake to bake for Jack’s birthday party. And then I can just relax until… wait is Thanksgiving next week?

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Khachapuri

I was flipping through Food and Wine recently and I saw this picture:

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There wasn’t a recipe, just a reference to the Walnut Street Cafe in Philadelphia. So I googled Khachapuri and read a bunch of different recipes, and then just decided to wing it. It kind of reminded me of the breakfast pizza I tried to make a while ago, with terrible results. But the shape seemed promising. The idea with khachapuri, is that you have a bread boat full of cheese and a lightly cooked egg. You tear off bits of crust and dip it in the melted cheese and yolk. Sounded like a perfect breakfast.

I made my normal pizza recipe, but I subbed milk for water, and added two tablespoons of butter. Then I let it rise in the fridge over night. In the morning I let the dough sort of warm up while the oven preheated, and then I rolled up the boats and added cheese. I just used mozzarella because I decided to make this after dinner on Thursday night, and I didn’t want to go to the store for fancier cheese. (Also, I am boycotting our normal grocery store because the remodel was causing me to experience anxiety every time I went, which was about two times a day. In my new, post grocery store life, I am happy and calm. I’m shopping elsewhere, at Costco and Lucky’s. Lucky’s serves $2 pints and has some carts with a beverage holder. The opposite of anxiety inducing! They also don’t really have a lot of food, and what they do have is kinda expensive. And I accidentally bought decaf coffee there, but after two days of severe headaches, I figured it out. $2 pints!!)

The khachapuri bakes at 500 for about 15 minutes and then you add the egg and cook it for 4 minutes more. I couldn’t decide if I was going to add the egg at all until the very last second, but I did, and I’m glad, because it was so delicious. Only one egg slid out of the boat, but I got it back in there quickly with the yolk intact.

Everyone thought they were delicious. The boys couldn’t finish theirs so I said to eat the messy part and then I put it in a tupperware for lunch or snack. Luke at he rest of his, but Jack forgot about his, and somehow his tupperware ended up back in the cabinet, and I found half a khachapuri in there 4 days later.

Other than that, huge success! A bit ambitious for a school morning though.

Fancy Breakfast Friday:Breakfast Enchiladas

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Have you ever watched one of those food videos on Facebook where they cook something beautifully on fast forward and you think, “Yum, and that’s so pretty!!!” Sure, of course you have. But have you ever, then, followed the recipe? Is anyone going to make those fancy pie crusts for Thanksgiving? I mean, I would love to… but my crust isn’t so perfectly easy to manipulate. I know that would be a literal recipe for disaster and a #nailedit photo. Plus I’m currently all out of doilies. (That is a sentence I said last night when I was explaining why I brought a cake to a potluck in a cake carrier that wasn’t the cake carrier my friend gave me. I knew I’d see her, and if only I had put the cake on a doily I could have more easily transferred it to the pretty cake carrier when I remembered I was going to see her.) (If you are wondering why I brought up doilies, it’s because in the pie crust tutorial, you roll your crust out on a doily to get a cool pattern.)

Any who, last week I saw a cute video about breakfast enchiladas on Facebook and it inspired me. This recipe is very customizable. The night before I made bacon, and I boiled cubed potatoes. I filled the tortillas with bacon, potatoes, cheddar, mozzarella, and scallions. I sautéed peppers but I served them on the side for picky eaters. I rolled the enchiladas and I think I fit 10 in a 9×12 pan. Then I whisked 6 eggs, and a cup of milk* and a tablespoon of flour with some salt and pepper. I poured that over the tortillas and put the casserole in the fridge over night. In the morning I baked it at 400, which may have been too high, but whatever.

They were good. I served them with sour cream and salsa. I feel like they would have been better with beans, and salsa mixed in. They were a little dry and bland to be honest, but they felt pretty nourishing for a breakfast.

I’m trying something super complicated this week, and I’m already wishing I had some easy casserole in the oven and my feet up. Stay tuned!

Fancy Breakfast Friday: Swedish Sweet Pretzels

The full name of this recipe, from Food and Wine is Swedish Sugared Sweet Pretzels, which seems excessive and redundant. Call the D.R. Department, as I used to say. (Department of Redundancy Department… I’m sure you got that, I’m just being…redundant.) Anyway – these were really pretty, and everyone liked them. Well everyone except for me. I thought they were a little bland and kind of tasted like I could have made them out of pillsbury dough which would have taken significantly less time. I asked Dave if he was sure he didn’t taste any pillsbury dough flavor and he said, “Maybe I enjoy the taste of pillsbury dough.” I think after all these Fancy Breakfasts my palate is getting more sophisticated. These pretzels have baking powder, presumably so you can make them in 2.5 hours instead of 5 or so. But since I was letting them rest overnight in the fridge that was unnecessary. Now I want to remake them with a better dough recipe. But if I am going to do that… it seems like I should just make the chocolate chips pretzels chocolate chips pretzels because: chocolate.

(At least I think everyone liked them. I sent 4 off with Luke to Eagle to the State Championship mountain bike race and I didn’t get any reports back from that crew. Well Luke said they were good. I did get high praise for my pumpkin muffins at the cyclocross bake sale on Saturday, so all the baking last week was worth it.)

This week I am going savory, and the kitchen smells so oniony. I love onions but no one else does so this should be interesting.

MetaMegan

kids, bikes, books, food