Breakfast for Dinner

Tonight, I was looking for something quick since we both got home a little later than usual. I turned to my menu and saw my Breakfast for Dinner category, and thought, that's it! So, I pulled out the ingredients for New Eggs Benedict from the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites cookbook.

"Old" Eggs Benedict is one of my favorite things, but it's pretty much the OPPOSITE of good for you, and definitely not something you'd want to consume a few hours before bedtime, but this recipe was quite a bit different. First of all, there's no hollandaise sauce - and that's where are the calories lie! The sauce for this recipe did call for some butter, but only a couple of tablespoons...along with some lemon zest, lemon juice, chives, salt and pepper. That makes a world of difference, and actually tastes really fresh, not heavy and fat-laden!

From Flickr - by bef_

I used English Muffins as a base (I tried to find wheat ones, but they were out of them when I went to the store, so I used regular ones) and piled some sauteed spinach on top. The spinach was quickly cooked in a little olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper so, nothin' bad there! I piled on a piece of smoked salmon - mmmm....yummy! - and then, the tricky part...poached eggs.

I think people are intimidated by poached eggs but it's not THAT hard! So, crack an egg, and put it in a small bowl. In a small pot of boiling water, stir until you get a little whirlpool and then drop the egg into the middle of the swirl. Drop one egg in at a time, let it swirl for a minute, keep up the whirlpool and add a few more the same way. I wouldn't poach more than 4 at a time. You should pull them out when the whites are stiff but the yolk still looks "wiggley." Maybe 2 - 3 minutes in a rolling boil.

A perfect poach!

I piled those poached eggs on top of the English Muffin, spinach and smoked salmon and then spooned a little bit of sauce over each one...and guess what, it took me about 15 minutes, TOTAL! And now I'm here talking to all of you lovely aspiring chefs! Looking forward to Friday and the weekend - we're going to visit some friends in Vermont...and I'm hoping we'll make it to the Farmer's Diner...all local and fresh, and if we go - you know you'll be hearing about it!

Leftovers for Breakfast?

It's that time again, the time when I spend a few days using up what's left in the fridge, putting use to the ingredients in the pantry, and cleaning things out for the next shopping trip and even more exciting, the NEW MENU! :) My task today is to see what things I can put together for the next few days of meals, and then plan my menu and make my grocery list. Over the next week, I'll start to gather the ingredients from that list so that the menu can begin.

Shopper iPhone App

This morning, I used some of the things in the fridge to make a great scrambled egg dish! Eggs are a great base for most vegetables and they make for a great way to use up those scraps from previous dinners. I chopped up a tomatillo, which I then sauteed for a few minutes, and some leftover chives. When I make scrambled eggs, I beat the eggs with the ingredients mixed in, so that it all cooks together. Once the eggs, tomatillo and chives were cooked through, I sprinkled a little goat cheese through out and seasoned it with salt and pepper. What a delicious breakfast!

Other great ways to use leftovers: pizzas, pastas, "garbage" salads (salads with LOTS of stuff thrown in)

We have plans tonight, so there won't be any more cooking today, but tomorrow, I'll roast those beets from the farmer's market last weekend, and I have a few leftover cuts of meat from the freezer to defrost. There may even be a parsnip puree in my future!

And now...on to the menu planning!