My Go-To Breakfast

Have you ever had guests come to visit, and been at a loss for what to make them for breakfast the next morning? This recipe will bring you out of that slump, I promise you that. It's delicious every time, it's easy, fast, and showcases your culinary expertise, even if you may think it's limited! This is something I found in the back section of my Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs cookbook. I've used this book so much that all the pages have come away from the spine, and I'm about ready to hole-punch the pages and make a binder out of it!

It's called Baked Eggs with Farmhouse Cheddar and Potatoes, it uses a minimal amount of ingredients, and is a one-pot wonder! Less dishes = happy hostess, right? The majority of the prep time is taken up dicing the potatoes into pretty little squares. The recipe calls for red-skinned potatoes, and that makes for a very pretty dish, but I usually use whatever I have on hand, and everyone has potatoes on hand. This time around, I had some Yukon Golds to use up! If the potatoes are larger, I usually do 1 - 1 1/2 potatoes per person, if they are small, then I go with the weight measurement of about 1 1/2 pounds. I was feeding three of us this weekend, so I used about 5 medium-sized potatoes, and I've got a good trick for dicing them into lovely little squares! Cut the potato into thick slices and then split it in half and stack them with flat side down. Now you can cross-cut, horizontally and vertically, making beautiful, mostly symmetrical squares when the pieces fall apart!

Once the potatoes are prepped, you can start cooking, and then prep the rest of the ingredients while the potatoes cook. It's best to use a cast iron skillet for this recipe as it gives nice color to the potatoes, and can also transfer to the oven when you're ready to use it. I melted some butter into the pan first, and foremost.

Once the butter had melted, and I had spread it around the pan, I added the potatoes and left them to sizzle and brown, while I turned my attention back to my cutting board, where I had a few more things to chop. I chopped some parsley and a couple of garlic cloves, amidst intermittent potato-stirring. 

I got the eggs out of the fridge, in preparation for the next stage in the process:

...and shredded some sharp cheddar for the last step in the process.

Now, let's check on those potatoes, shall we!? Once they were tender and cooked through, I stirred in the parsley and garlic, along with some salt and pepper and let everything meld together for another minute or two. Now, it's time to make the wells for the eggs. The amount of people you are feeding will determinehow many areas you need to clear. For three people, I made a kind of peace sign out of my cast iron skillet, with the potatoes. If you had four people, you could move things around a bit to accommodate that. More than four people, and I'd say it's time to use two pans. Once you have your wells made, you can break two eggs into each of them.

At this point, the whole thing gets to go in the oven to bake! The recipe quotes times but I usually eyeball it, and move on to the next step once the whites of the eggs are stiff. That's the part that NEEDS to be cooked through. This time, I think I left them in a minute too long, and the yolks got a little overdone, but usually, they stay a little runny and ooze out into the potatoes when you cut into the whole thing!

Once the whites are stiff, it's time for that last step! Sprinkle the shredded cheddar all over the top, and stick back in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes, giving it time to get ooey, gooey and cheesy! It's a crowd-pleaser...every time, I guarantee it!

Marinated Grilled Flank Steak with BLT-Smashed Potatoes

Tonight, I opted for a recipe from the Food Network Favorites cookbook. I really like this book because it showcases a few wonderful recipes from each of the stars on the Food Network. This specific one is by Rachel Ray. For the most part, I'm not really thrilled with Rachel's recipes, but I have to say that the BLT-Smashed Potatoes in this recipe were just...awesome! The flank steak was, well...just a flank steak, but those potatoes made the dish! You can find the recipe here.

Here's what you'll need:

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend

1 teaspoon smoked paprika, ground chipotle chile power, or ground cumin

2 teaspoons hot sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling

2 pounds flank steak

2 1/2 pounds small, red skin new potatoes

1 leek, trimmed of tough top

4 slices thick-cut smoky bacon (I used thick-cut pancetta instead.)

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1 vine-ripe tomato, seeded and chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sour cream

The first step was to marinade the flank steak. Mix the garlic, steak seasoning, smoked paprika, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar in a bowl with a whisk. Slowly whisk in the 1/3 cup of olive oil until everything is blended together nicely. Once the meat is placed in a shallow dish, pour the marinade over the top, distribute it evenly, and allow to sit for at least 15 minutes.

When you are ready to start cooking, this one goes pretty quickly so get all your burners going. Place the potatoes in a pot of water, boil and cook for about 12-15 minutes. At the same time, heat your grill pan and place the flank steak on the heat. It should cook for about 7 minutes on each side.

While the potatoes and flank steak are cooking, drizzle olive oil in your pan and cook your bacon (or pancetta) until cooked through, and crispy, and then add the leeks, allowing them to wilt in the heat.

Everything should finish up around the same time. Once the steak is done cooking, remove it from the heat and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes. I opted to tent mine with aluminum foil as well. Drain your potatoes and then return them to the pot. Start smashing them, using the chicken broth to help with the job. Add the bacon (or pancetta), leeks, and some chopped tomato to the potatoes and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Slice the steak against the grain to avoid chewiness. Although I did do that, mine was still a tad on the chewy side. I'd say maybe it needed to cook a minute less, but really, it was on the rarer side as it was, so I'm not sure how to fix it...possibly a thinner flank steak would not have been as problematic. 

Fix-It of the Day: I've stressed the importance of tenderizing meat to obtain a more succulent dish. While I don't normally tenderize flank steak, I think I should have done that with this one. It was thicker in some spots than others, and I think that contributed immensely to the chewiness of the meat. A little tenderizing could have turned this one around, for sure!