A Make-Ahead Breakfast Muffin

I'd heard of egg muffins before and I've had baked eggs. These seemed a good idea because I tend to be in a rush in the morning before work, and these reheat in 30 seconds, are satisfying to chew and are filling too.

I came across this recipe (hat tip to the author!), and immediately thought of ways to improve it to my tastes. I also made half a recipe because I wanted to make sure I would like them before I committed to using a dozen eggs.

So the base recipe is

• 6 eggs
• 6 ounces of your favorite breakfast meat
• 2 ounces cheese 
• 1/2 Cup of chopped onion
• 3 teaspoons of water

I used 2 bun-sized sausages that had habaneros in them, and a sharp cheddar cheese. Instead of shredding the cheese as the original recipe said, I cut it into small chunks. This way we got a bigger taste of gooey cheese in some bites. To go with the habaneros, I put in a teaspoon of dried cilantro and 1/4 teaspoon of oregano. The herbs got lost, I'm afraid. I blame the habaneros.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. If you don't have an oven thermometer, get one. Apologies for repeating myself, but I can tell you from experience it makes a huge difference. My oven is 50 degrees F cooler than what it says on the readout.

Lightly scramble your ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Using a 1/3 Cup measuring cup, spoon your egg mixture into your muffin tin (grease it lightly unless you're using non-stick or silicone). Do what you can to make sure your mix-ins are evenly distributed without making too much of a mess.

You might be wondering why I added water to the recipe. The idea was to keep the eggs moist while baking and to make the texture lighter by also having steam help cook them. I think it worked pretty well.

Bake the muffins in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes. You'll also be able to see the muffins start pulling away from the edges of the tin, and if you insert a knife it will come out clean or with only a little moisture on it..

Put the muffin tin on a cooling rack for about ten minutes. Remove your muffins and serve. We had them with yogurt as a dessert , but the damn raspberries I bought on Friday went a bit off, so the yogurt was plain. You could also serve these with a side of fruit, or if you're not in a rush, a potato of some kind.

I got some good feedback from Nexx, which is always nice, and I have some for quick breakfast this week before I get on a crosstown bus. I live in the Theatre District, sometimes referred to as Midtown West, and the ride to where I work, which is near the United Nations, is a tad annoying. A full stomach will definitely have me in a better mood.

I plan on trying some variations. Manchego, onions, bacon, and rosemary. Possibly bacon, potato, onions, and cheddar. Right now, I'm staying out of the kitchen because Nexx is threatening to make flan.

Cheers!

Who Says You Can Only Have Dressing at Thanksgiving?

I didn't try it until I was in my teens, but when I did, I fell in love with stuffing (in the bird) and dressing (out of the bird). I've had both in multiple forms and formats including:

• Wonder bread cubes (hi Janet!)
• Pre-seasoned bread cubes, which are a bit salty, even for me, and Nexx will tell you I put salt on my salt.
• Rice, usually a mix of short grain and wild rice, which isn't rice at all.
• Cornbread, which is not my thing. So very not my thing.
• Stovetop out of a box. Again, a bit salty, but convenient as all get out, and if you add a few things, you can spread the salt among the other ingredients.
• Leftover bread from that Italian place in Stamford. Fabulous food, and we ordered delivery one evening and they send us enough bread that I was easily able to fill my 9x13 baking dish.

Getting into ingredients, and I'll * the ones I've used. This year's ingredients are in blue:

• Celery*
• Onions*
• Chunks of roast pork (yum!)
• Oysters*
• Chestnuts (not my thing)
• Walnuts*
• Apples* (I adore apples and onions together)
• Hard-cooked eggs
• Breakfast sausage--before you say "wrong kind of sausage," note that a lot of breakfast sausage has a nice measure of sage)
• Smoked sausage* (a personal favorite)
• Kielbasa* (bring on the garlic!)

While Nexx was trying yet another store to find us a turkey breast, I asked him to pick me up some bread. He came home with a sliced round loaf of "country bread," which was perfect. The ingredients on the package said, "wheat, yeast, salt." Not sure how sugar got left off the label to feed the yeast, but it was nice that it wasn't the first ingredient.

I spread out the slices on a baking pan on Tuesday night, put it in the oven and ignored it for 24 hours. One Wednesday, I cut it into cubes (we need a serrated knife, sweetie), but the actual creation didn't get going until the duck was in the immersion circulator.

• Bread cubes from above
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2.5 Cups chopped onions
• .5 pounds of kielbasa--about half a package (I wanted smoked sausage, but let Nexx have his way), chopped into .75" pieces
• .5 pounds of shucked oysters, chopped. We had a can, and reserved half the oyster liquid
• zest of half a lemon (I wanted a little brightness to counter the richness of the oysters)
• 1 quart turkey stock
• 1 stick of unsalted butter to be melted 
• 1 egg, beaten (I'm honestly not sure this is necessary, but it seemed like a good idea).
• 2 Tablespoons Rosemary
• 2 shakes of garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon parsley
• 1 Tablespoon Fines Herbes 

Saute the kielbasa over medium heat for about 5 minutes, to the point where it starts releasing fat & juices, but take out of the pan before it gets brown. 

Chop your vegetables. Put them in a bowl, no need to separate

I used our stew pot, as our biggest bowl was too small. Put in the bread cubes and the herbs in your and toss until well-mixed. Next up, the vegetables and meat, a little at at time, stirring constantly with a rubber scraper.

Add the melted butter and stir in, then add the broth one cup at a time, continually stirring until the bread cubes are damp and soft. Put in 9x13 baking pan, cover with foil. Bake at 400 F for 60 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until top is crispy. The most fun thing about dressing, to me, is the interplay of all the different textures.

Next time, more oysters, but otherwise I'm very happy with this. I think Nexx is too because he's been very busy the last few minutes scarfing the leftovers.

Cheers! 

Who Says You Can Only Have Dressing at Thanksgiving?

I didn't try it until I was in my teens, but when I did, I fell in love with stuffing (in the bird) and dressing (out of the bird). I've had both in multiple forms and formats including:

• Wonder bread cubes (hi Janet!)
• Pre-seasoned bread cubes, which are a bit salty, even for me, and Nexx will tell you I put salt on my salt.
• Rice, usually a mix of short grain and wild rice, which isn't rice at all.
• Cornbread, which is not my thing. So very not my thing.
• Stovetop out of a box. Again, a bit salty, but convenient as all get out, and if you add a few things, you can spread the salt among the other ingredients.
• Leftover bread from that Italian place in Stamford. Fabulous food, and we ordered delivery one evening and they send us enough bread that I was easily able to fill my 9x13 baking dish.

Getting into ingredients, and I'll * the ones I've used. This year's ingredients are in blue:

• Celery*
• Onions*
• Chunks of roast pork (yum!)
• Oysters*
• Chestnuts (not my thing)
• Walnuts*
• Apples* (I adore apples and onions together)
• Hard-cooked eggs
• Breakfast sausage--before you say "wrong kind of sausage," note that a lot of breakfast sausage has a nice measure of sage)
• Smoked sausage* (a personal favorite)
• Kielbasa* (bring on the garlic!)

While Nexx was trying yet another store to find us a turkey breast, I asked him to pick me up some bread. He came home with a sliced round loaf of "country bread," which was perfect. The ingredients on the package said, "wheat, yeast, salt." Not sure how sugar got left off the label to feed the yeast, but it was nice that it wasn't the first ingredient.

I spread out the slices on a baking pan on Tuesday night, put it in the oven and ignored it for 24 hours. One Wednesday, I cut it into cubes (we need a serrated knife, sweetie), but the actual creation didn't get going until the duck was in the immersion circulator.

• Bread cubes from above
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 2.5 Cups chopped onions
• .5 pounds of kielbasa--about half a package (I wanted smoked sausage, but let Nexx have his way), chopped into .75" pieces
• .5 pounds of shucked oysters, chopped. We had a can, and reserved half the oyster liquid
• zest of half a lemon (I wanted a little brightness to counter the richness of the oysters)
• 1 quart turkey stock
• 1 stick of unsalted butter to be melted 
• 1 egg, beaten (I'm honestly not sure this is necessary, but it seemed like a good idea).
• 2 Tablespoons Rosemary
• 2 shakes of garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon parsley
• 1 Tablespoon Fines Herbes 

Saute the kielbasa over medium heat for about 5 minutes, to the point where it starts releasing fat & juices, but take out of the pan before it gets brown. 

Chop your vegetables. Put them in a bowl, no need to separate

I used our stew pot, as our biggest bowl was too small. Put in the bread cubes and the herbs in your and toss until well-mixed. Next up, the vegetables and meat, a little at at time, stirring constantly with a rubber scraper.

Add the melted butter and stir in, then add the broth one cup at a time, continually stirring until the bread cubes are damp and soft. Put in 9x13 baking pan, cover with foil. Bake at 400 F for 60 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until top is crispy. The most fun thing about dressing, to me, is the interplay of all the different textures.

Next time, more oysters, but otherwise I'm very happy with this. I think Nexx is too because he's been very busy the last few minutes scarfing the leftovers.

Cheers! 

Variations on a theme: Split Pea Soup

I find myself in a position with a lot more time on my hands than I'd like. My day job, which was grant-funded, ran out of grant and eliminated my position. No projects, no money, no Kate. This means right now, I have two jobs: finding a new day job and staying sane. Part of staying sane is finding things to do.

I know I've made split pea soup at least twice since this post, but I can't seem to find the links to the posts. This is rather embarrassing. The good news is, the base recipe worked fine with the tweaks I remembered, and of course I tweaked it again.

The final ingredients list for 4 servings

• 1 pound dry split split peas 
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 leeks, thinly sliced, then cut into half-circles. Rinse well. Rinse again.
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 6 cloves of garlic chopped
• 2.5 quarts low-sodium chicken broth
• garlic salt to taste
• freshly ground peppercorns to taste
• 1 Tablespoon tumeric
• 16 oz smoked sausage, sliced to 1/2" pieces

The process was pretty much the same. Lightly heat the sausage on the bottom of your pan for about ten minutes, stirring constantly. You want it to release fat, but not get crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add your garlic and onions, if you need more fat, add a bit of butter. You could, if you had some, use duck fat, I plan to try that some time. Love the stuff, but that's for another entry.

Toss in the carrots and leeks, then add your spices. Tumeric will combine with the fat turning everything a lovely golden color. Stir every 2 minutes are so until onions are soft--you should be able to cut one in half easily with your stirring implement. I use a wooden spoon, but as you wish.

Add the broth, add the peas, stir well. Bring up to medium-high heat until it starts to bubble. Stir some more until everything looks mixed. Put the heat down to simmer.

Eat lunch. Do some laundry. Watch some Netflix. Stir once an hour. When the peas are soft, they will begin to split and you're ready for blending. I ended up simmering for several hours because Nexx was scheduled to be home late. 

I prefer my stick blender on high speed for turning the soup velvety smooth. If you have a regular blender, don't add more than 2 Cups at a time and keep a hand on the lid.

About five minutes before serving, stir in the sausage. Ladle into bowls, serve with chunks of Swiss cheese and some crusty bread.