Tag Archives: breakfast

A few of my favorite things: Savory Breakfast

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When I think of a savory breakfast, I would have to say an egg needs to be in my breakfast. I love eggs especially poached but I will take them scrambled, over medium (white cooked, yellow runny), or a boiled egg (again like my white cooked and yellow runny).

Some folks find poaching an egg difficult. I am especially picky with them and don’t like them to have a very strong vinegar taste to them (using vinegar stops the whites from spreading – you add it to the boiling water). I actually found these cool silicone poach egg pods which you place your egg into, then once the water is boiling add the pod into the water. You get the perfect semi-circle shaped poached egg, and no vinegar taste – PERFECT!!!

The first of my recipes, no surprise uses poached eggs.

Breakfast Open Sandwich

Ingredients (serving size: 1)

1/2 english muffin
1/4 avocado
2-3 slices tomato
2 slices Canadian bacon
few leaves of spinach
1 poached egg
salt and pepper

I start with boiling the water for the poached egg. As I am using the poached egg pods above – I follow their instructions for cooking the egg. I leave it in the water ~5-6 minutes in the pods.

While the egg is cooking, add two pieces of Canadian bacon to a fry pan and cook; toast the english muffin in the toaster.

Once these steps are completed, spread the avocado on the muffin. I stack the sandwich then, in this order:
Spinach
Canadian Bacon
Tomato
Poached egg

Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Breakfast Bratkartoffeln (Fried Potatoes)

I discovered one of my all time favorite meals in a “pub-like” restaurant Vetters Brauhaus in Heidelberg, Germany – the meal is called Bratkartoffeln. The fried potatoes are fried in a cast iron skillet in probably bacon fat and topped with fried eggs.

This recipe is a twist on that, a light and healthy version that makes a great breakfast or brunch item

Ingredients (serves 1-2)

1 Tbsp Olive oil
2/3 cup frozen grated potato (in the US – Ore-Ida Country Style hash browns)
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (green works best)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 slices Canadian Bacon, chopped
1 tsp dried Paprika
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 Egg (Poached or Fried)
Chives (optional)

Add the olive oil to a heated fry pan, add the frozen potatoes (Hash browns) – stand back a little in case of initial spitting of the olive oil when add the potatoes.  Leave for approximately 1 minute just to defrost the potatoes a little.

Add the zucchini, onion, bell pepper to the potatoes. Spread the ingredients across the fry pan surface. Try not to flip the contents often – it will become mushy if you do. Sprinkle paprika, thyme and salt and pepper over the contents. Cook until the potato mixture until it starts to turn golden brown on the bottom and flip the mixture.

Add the Canadian bacon. Again once the bottom starts to turn a golden color flip the potatoes one last time. Once cooked, plate the potatoes (could split for two if you want – add an extra egg if you do), add the poached or fried egg on the top. Sprinkle a little salt, pepper and chives on top of the egg and server immediately.

NOTE: I love the yolks of my egg running over the potatoes… if you break the yolk and it spreads over your potatoes it tastes fantastic!!

A few of my favorite things: A Sweet Breakfast

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Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. Over the last year I have actually been making time for it – normally I am just a weekend brunch person.

I have a few favorite places we go in the weekend, Guglhupf (a german bakery – an amazing cafe with a great outdoor atmosphere), La Farm Bakery (a French Bakery), then of course an easy, hassle-free family option – iHop (I know, I know, started off well 🙂 but I do like the breakfast sampler).

I also have a few favorite recipes –  a couple of savory ones which I will post next, you are in luck though if you have a sweet tooth. Let’s start with the sweet – you’ll see the european influence.

Strawberry and Banana Crepes
My husband and 5-year-old love these crepes. They take very little time and we actually have enough left over to have them again a couple of days later.

Ingredients (makes 4 crepes; with mixture leftovers – 4 more crepes):
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup White whole wheat
3/4 cup egg whites (5 egg whites)
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup non-fat milk (skim milk; if your mixture is too thick add more milk)
1 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 Punnet Strawberries, sliced (1/2 pound)
1 banana, sliced (optional)
3 Tbsp Nutella (optional)
3 Tbsp Whipped Cream (optional)
Icing sugar

Add the first 6  ingredients in a bowl and whisk it until mixed, set aside. Heat a non-stick fry pan on medium heat. Make sure you have the strawberries, banana and Nutella close to the element, you will need to move fast.

  

My pan does not need any butter, but if yours does, add some before adding the mixture to ensure an easy flip. Use a 1/4  cup soup ladle and spoon the crepe mixture into the fry pan, move the fry pan in circular motion to spread and thin the crepe mixture. Once it starts to bubble all over, flip the crepe (I use another crate and barrel tool – spatula). Quickly spread a tablespoon of Nutella on 1/2 the crepe, add 1/4 of the strawberries, 1/4 of the banana) – I leave the crepe ~1-2 minutes just to turn a slight golden color on the bottom.

  

Platter the crepe and fold over the top, using a sift sprinkle icing sugar over top and a dollop of whip cream. Serve immediately. Repeat for other crepes.

NOTE: For me, I prefer a lighter version and I omit the Nutella and cream – you won’t believe the strawberry taste you get :-).
NOTE: We have also tried these with caramelized apples (apples cooked in butter and brown sugar) – very good as well.

Bircher Muesli
This recipe works great for the working week. It stores well in the fridge for 5 days – due to the apple juice.

Ingredients (serving size 1/2 cup):
2 cups rolled oats (not the instant kind)
3 cups apple juice
1 grated granny smith apple
1 container plain greek yoghurt (~6oz)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of dried fruit (e.g.. sultana’s, apricots, dates)

The night before, add the rolled oats and apple juice together in a medium-sized bowl. Place in the fridge until morning.

In the morning, added freshly grated granny smith apple, greek yoghurt – stir. Add other ingredients, mix again. I tend to use sultana’s (golden raisins) as my dried fruit.

NOTE: You will find that the mixture will thicken slightly by day 2. If you want it thinner add milk; if you want it thicker add less apple juice.