breakfast ‘n brunch
roasted red pepper and bacon breakfast sandwich
ingredients:
roasted red peppers (cooked ahead of time - directions will follow later this week)
1 egg
1-2 strips of bacon
2-3 slices brie cheese
1/4 of an avocado, sliced
fresh basil, chopped
1 bagel, toasted
it’s dead easy to make this sandwich and it was a great post-run breakfast that i wolfed down before class. not many better ways to start a day off right.
fry the bacon over medium heat until it reaches desired crispiness. remove from pan and blot dry with paper towel but leave some grease in the pan. this grease works really well to cook your egg in.
fry your egg, flipping once before adding the cheese to allow it to begin to melt. melted brie cheese = heaven. heat the slices of roasted red pepper if desired.
slice up your avocado, and finely chop up some fresh basil.
now simply assemble your sandwich and add any condiments as desired. this sandwich is really amazing. the salty bacon pairs perfectly with the creamy brie and avocado, as well as the rich flavour of the roasted red pepper.
since i was post run and hungry, i also served this bad boy with some roasted sweet potato wedges i had lying around in the fridge.
hope you enjoy this delicious sandwich and start your morning off well.
green onion and cherry tomato egg-white omelette
this omelette is full of flavour and healthy ingredients. the green onions have a wonderful kick that balances nicely with the soft tart flavours of the cherry tomatoes. plus i thought the colours of this would be fantastic. the hot pepper and garlic just kick the whole thing up a notch.
ingredients:
4-6 egg whites
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 shallots, diced
1 thai chili (or other hot pepper)
olive oil
2-3 green onions, chopped
handful cherry tomatoes, halved
freshly grated parmesan cheese
heat a frying pan over medium high heat. add some olive oil and fry the garlic, hot pepper and shallots for about 30 seconds. whisk the egg whites in a bowl and pour into the frying pan. move around for the first few seconds so the pan is evenly covered and then allow the eggs to set.
you can either allow the eggs to set completely on one side, or you can flip the omelette. i prefer to flip it but this is a bit more difficult and requires some practice.
add all of your ingredients and fold your omelette out onto your plate.
serve with some fresh squeezed orang juice and you have yourself a pretty stunning breakfast.
spinach, ricotta, and pine nut quiche
ingredients -
crust:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ice-cold water
pinch of salt
1 egg white, for egg wash (optional)
add all ingredients to a food processor and quickly blitz until a dough forms. you can also mix by hand but this takes more effort. roll onto a lightly floured surface and kneed into a ball. flatten and begin rolling until large enough to fill a 9” pie plate. carefully transfer and set aside. this step can be done ahead of time, and the pie crust can be wrapped in plastic wrapped and stored in the fridge overnight. when ready to bake brush the crust with egg white for an extra brown and crust.
i made this quiche with what was going to be a rustic crust. leave some dough overhanging, and then trim away after cooking. unfortunately my family wasn’t too happy waiting around while i was photographing this and so i rushed to serve it and take photos and the crust was never trimmed. if you do trim the crust do so in the pie plate and with a sharp knife.
filling:
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
preheat oven to 375 F. whisk together eggs, milk, and both kinds of cheese in a medium bowl and set aside.
in a skillet over medium heat sautee onions in some oil until translucent and soft and add the spinach until it wilts. add this to the egg mixture.
in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast the pine nuts until golden brown. watch them carefully as they have a tendency to burn. add the toasted pine nuts to the egg mixture and add salt and pepper to taste.
pour egg mixture into quiche and carefully transfer to oven. cook for 40-45 min or until top is totally set and lightly browned.
quiches give you so much freedom to experiment with flavours and use whatever ingredients you have on hand. so next time you are thinking of having a lazy sunday morning (or tuesday for that matter) don’t be afraid, and whip up a quiche.
enjoy your morning.
breakfast nests
ingredients:
eggs (1 per nest)
bacon (2 per nest)
mozzarella cheese (grated)
salt and pepper
fresh herbs (optional)
preheat your oven to 350 F. if using uncooked bacon you want to cook it about 1/2 of the way through before starting. either fry it in a frying pan, or cook it in the oven for 5-8 min. don’t overcook it or it won’t be pliable anymore. once cooked pat dry and allow the bacon to cool.
grease your ramekins and then line with your bacon. this will form the nest for your egg. crack the egg into the ramekin and top with some herbs, salt, pepper, and the grated mozzarella.
put your ramekins on a baking tray to prevent spillage and put in the oven for about 10 min. once your eggs have set remove from the oven and switch to a broiler. place under the broiler for about 1 min (watch carefully) to brown the cheese. this step can be skipped but will really take the dish to another level.
feel free to try adding other ingredients such as spinach, feta, and grated potatoes.
enjoy.
avocado and egg breakfast sandwich
ingredients:
1 egg
1/4 of an avocado (thinly sliced)
goat cheese
1-2 strips prosciutto
english muffin
chopped parsley
fresh pepper
heat a frying pan over medium-high heat with some butter and oil and crack an egg into it. be careful not to crack the yolk. cook the egg until all the whites have set and the bottom is crispy and browned.
meanwhile toast the english muffin. spread some goat cheese on one side and lay the avocado slices on top. melt some butter on the other half. once the egg is cooked transfer on top of the avocado.
in the frying pan throw the prosciutto and allow it to become crispy. garnish with parsley and add fresh pepper. you don’t need salt since the prosciutto is quite salty.
next time you are making a breakfast sandwich, throw an avocado in there. it makes a great addition to your morning.
enjoy.
cheese and potato savory scones
ingredients:
3-4 small white potatoes
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tbsp butter
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp paprika
3 tsp fresh thyme leaves
juice of 1/2 a lemon
wash but do not peel the potatoes. bring salted water to a boil and add the potatoes letting boil for 15-17 min. remove from water. peel as soon as you are able to handle the potatoes. the hotter they are the easier the skin will come off. allow to chill in the fridge up to overnight. once cool dice the potatoes into small pieces.
add the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a large bowl and mix with hands. add the butter. you want the butter to just break up into tiny pea like pieces. this will make those nice air pockets in your scones that make it light and fluffy. an easy trick to accomplish this is to grate the cold butter into the flour. then simply toss the two together. next, add 1 cup of the cheese, the potatoes and the paprika. mix all well and form a well in the centre.
add the milk and lemon juice and 1/2 the thyme leaves. slowly incorporate the dry ingredients and mix til the dough holds together nicely. you may need to add some more milk, but do so very slowly and carefully.
once mixed put dough to chill in the refrigerator for 30 min covered in tin foil.
preheat oven to 425 F. remove the chilled dough from the fridge and knead on a floured work surface for 30 seconds to a minute. divide into 12 balls and place on a greased and parchment paper lined cookie tray.
brush with milk and garnish with remaining cheese and thyme leaves. pop the tray into the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until nicely browned on top.
allow to cool on a wire rack. serve with tomatoes, eggs, bacon, potatoes, with jam and fruit, or simply with butter.
mix your breakfasts up a little bit.
goat cheese, basil and asparagus omelette
personally i think an omelette is one of the best breakfasts out there. it is so versatile, almost always tastes delicious and is a little fancier than scrambled or fried eggs for those special occasions like father’s day. for this particular omelet i choose goat cheese, basil and asparagus but be creative, there are so many different options.
four eggs
2 tbsp butter
fresh basil leaves
a couple tbsp of goat cheese
3-4 pieces of asparagus
fresh berries or vine ripe tomatoes
start by cutting off approximately the bottom 1/4 of the asparagus stocks. then half the butter in a frying pan and fry the asparagus for about five to ten minutes (taste tests usually work best here to make sure the asparagus is cooked correctly).
remove the asparagus and place the rest of the butter in the pan and let it melt. meanwhile mix the eggs in another container and add pepper (do not add any salt at this point as it will denature the eggs and make them taste worse if added before the eggs are cooked). add the eggs to the frying pan and make sure they spread out well. turn down the heat. every so often tip the frying pan so the uncooked egg moves to places where is can cook quicker.
once the eggs is almost cooked add the basil, goat cheese, asparagus and a pinch of salt. carefully flip half of the omelette over on itself (this make take a few times to master if you have never made an omelette before so don’t get discouraged if the omelette breaks it will still taste just as good). turn up the heat and continue cooking until the omelette is slightly golden brown on one side, then flip.
fresh fruit or fried vine tomatoes are a great way to add some colour and flare to the dish if you want to jazz up your plate.
buttermilk pancakes
ingredients
3 cups flour
3 tbsp white sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
mix together all dry ingredients into one bowl, and all wet ingredients in another. do not mix these two bowls together until you are completely ready to cook.
once the lightly oiled griddle is sufficiently hot, add 1/2 cup of the batter to the griddle for each pancake. cook the “fluffy discs” until golden brown.
we’ve added our blackberry-raspberry sauce onto these pancakes. the recipe for the sauce can be found here.
potato wedges
baking potatoes (roughly 2 medium to large potatoes for every 3 people if a side dish)
olive oil
butter
cayenne pepper
sea salt
preheat oven to 425. wash and scrub the potatoes. we prefer using russet potatoes but any baking potato will work well. avoid waxy potatoes such as white potatoes as they won’t crisp up as well and tend to fall apart. cut the potatoes into eight equal sized wedges. it is important to try and keep all the potatoes similar sizes so they cook evenly. once cut put wedges into a bowl and toss with some oil and spices until the potatoes are fully covered. lay the wedges out on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and put a few small pieces of butter over top. add a little more oil on top.
place in oven and bake for 15 min. remove from oven and flip all the wedges onto the less cooked side. add a little more oil if the potatoes look dry and return to the oven for 10-15 min.
serve with some ketchup or aioli. enjoy!
scrambled eggs
scrambled eggs are one of those things pretty much anyone can cook, but most people don’t cook well. i see all too often people scrambling eggs by putting them into a hot pan. if you do this the eggs will fry and will lose that amazing creamy nature that you can get from scrambled eggs. instead whisk your eggs very well in a bowl. pour some oil in a pan and allow to heat up for only a couple minutes on medium. add eggs whisking the whole time. continue whisking on medium heat until the eggs just begin to solidify. when the eggs are about 80 percent solidified turn off the heat and continue whisking until the eggs are completely cooked. remove from heat and garnish with some cheese, chives, and salt and pepper.
some people add milk or cream to scrambled eggs to try and get creamier eggs. i have never found any benefit to that. if you instead allow the eggs to cook slowly you will get a far creamier and softer consistency. the eggs will cook quite quickly and dead simple. perfect for a quick hungover morning wrap, or a gourmet brunch.
