Farmer's Omlette

With Easter tomorrow, I thought a big breakfast was the best way to start the day of preparation.  I looked out my back window early this morning and saw gray skies.  Not what I wanted for the day.  I sat down with some coffee and read a few blogs, morning ritual,  and came across some very inspiring pictures from My Year on the Grill's Daily Photos.  These took me away from the dreary Birmingham, AL scenery and reminded me of a great breakfast treat from the coast. The Farmer's Omelette at Tacky Jacks in Orange Beach, AL is one of my favorite breakfast items and has been for years. I didn't have everything on hand, but I was not leaving the house before 8 on a Saturday.  

I first diced a potato and roasted them in some olive oil, salt and pepper.  I put them in the oven on 450 and tossed them every few minutes until crispy.  About 20 minutes.

While the potatoes were cooking I:
Diced 2 thick slices of bacon.
Diced some white onion and green bell pepper.
Grated about a cup of mild cheddar cheese, its what I had.
Scrambled 3 eggs, didn't want this to be to big of a breakfast.

Cook the bacon until crispy and remove from omelette pan, don't remove the bacon grease.  Then add in the onions and peppers with a little salt and pepper.  I also added a pinch of CRP for a little spice.  Once they are tender add in the potatoes and then the bacon.  Pour the scrambled eggs on top.

Make sure to move the egg around in the pan as to not burn the bottom.  Once it is almost fully set, top with the cheese.  Then under the broiler until fully set.  Top with a few of the left over potatoes.  Then flip out on to a plate.

My favorite topper for all things eggs.

I am not sure if this is technically an omlette or a fritata.  But either way it is delicious.  I know I will definitely not be hungry while all the Easter prep is going on.

Brinner

Brinner (I heard this term on Scrubs, one of my favorite TV shows) is breakfast for dinner.  Growing up I lived across the street from my grandparents and at least once a month she would have everyone over for supper, as she called it, and it was breakfast.  This was one of my favorite night/nights of the month.  I am not sure if she used pancake mix, I doubt she did, but I always have.  Tonight that changes.  I looked through a few cookbooks and decided to go with the buttermilk pancakes recipe from "the all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook."  The batter was thicker than the usual pancakes, which come from the Aunt Jemima box, but I guess that is to be expected.

Another component of tonights Brinner is country scrambled eggs.  My mom calls them this, so I do as well.  Brown a little butter, then let the egg whites cook before breaking the yolk.  Then scramble.  Add cheese if wanted, Byrd wanted.

 I wanted to try something a little different so I dipped half a slice of bacon in the pancake batter, just to see how it would taste. Not that it can be bad, its bacon.

All together now.

I am glad I tried the non box pancakes, not that box pancakes are bad, these were just much better. Around here we have brinner a good bit, so I am anxious to try more things inside pancake mix, such as sausage or just more bacon.  I wonder if you could bake the batter in a muffin cup with several different fillings?  May have to try that soon.

Chocolate Chip Cornbread Breakfast Cake

I want to start this off by saying I am not a baker.  I am not great at measuring anything exactly right.  I also have a hard time not messing with stuff while it's cooking.  But earlier today I was reading Noble Pig and saw this one, well Byrd saw it and had to have it.  So I set out to actually bake something today.  I followed the recipe almost to the T.  I did stray on 3 things, only out of me being cheap.  I don't own a metal loaf pan, I have a glass one. I  didn't have yellow corn meal, I had white. Also I had Milk Chocolate Chips, not Semi Sweet.

At this point I was doing well.  I had successfully mixed, but not over mixed, the dry and wet ingredients.  I also got everything into the loaf pan with out a major spill.  I was happy.  After being in the oven for the required time and letting stand for the 10 min here it is.  

The smell from the kitchen was intoxicating.  One of the hardest things I have done lately was to let this sit for 10 minutes after it came out.  As excited as I was, Byrd was drooling.  She started to get a little angry that I had to take pictures before we cut into the loaf of heaven.  

For some reason all of the chocolate chips fell to the bottom.  So here it is upside down.

This was delicious.  As directed we ate it warm with lots of butter.  I can't wait to have this again tomorrow morning with my coffee.  I am glad I tried something new.  I will definitely make this again, but I will follow all the directions.  Lesson learned, follow all directions when it comes to baking.   

Forgotten Hashbrowns

Most Sunday mornings we like to have more than our normal breakfast of yogurt. This is a dish that I used to make in college, and honestly had forgotten about. Recently a friend called and wanted some ideas for brunch dishes and asked about this one. I am glad he did. Maybe with this blog I want have the worries of forgetting dishes anymore. I would normally use frozen hasbrowns, but I happened to have a potato around so I grated it. To start I diced bacon, cooked and removed it from the pan. I left the grease from the bacon in the skillet and started the hasbrowns. After flipping them I added the bacon and onions.
I seasoned these with Boar's Breath Blazin' Cajun Seasoning. A friend of mine brought this back from Louisiana a while back and I love it, thanks Jake. It is not hot, just has great flavor.
After the potatoes are fully cooked add the eggs, careful not to break the yolks.
We don't have a lid for this skillet, so a plate will have to do. This allows the steam to cook the eggs and eventually melt the cheese.
I should have steamed the eggs a little longer before adding the cheese, if you don't this happens.
Even with the "sliding cheese factor" this was a great breakfast. Its nice to be reminded of dishes forgotten.

Bacon breakfast bowls??

We had a great weekend of family and food. We spent Saturday afternoon and evening with Byrds family cooking ribs, and I think everything else that you can put on a grill, then Sunday my folks wanted us to drive down for dinner. We usually don't like to travel on Sunday, but since we have plenty of time at the moment why not. It is not only good for your heart to get to see your family, but it's always a culinary treat. I have said it before, but I learned my love for food in my mom's kitchen. She taught me the basics, and is still teaching today. I am not sure what you should call this dish, but bacon breakfast bowls is what comes to mind. Taking half cooked bacon and wrapping them in a muffin pan, then placing some green onion and cheddar grits is the beginning.
You leave a small dent in the grits so the egg yolk will stay on top and the whites will run down.
This was a neat little trick, like I said she is always teaching and I am always willing to learn. Top with some shredded gruyere and mild cheddar cheese, green onions and thyme.

Bake on 400 until the eggs are done to your liking. These tasted as good as they look. Mom also made some baked french toast.
Brinner, or breakfast for dinner, is always a favorite of mine. Now this was a little fancier than the normal brinner, but I will say it was delicious and a lot of fun to make. This is a great idea for any meal. Using ham instead of bacon, polenta instead of grits, or next time I may use ham for the base and put bacon in the grits and on top. The combinations are endless.