Brunch for Mom

This year we had our very good friends from Illinois, Terrie and Mike,  visit us for an awesome Mother’s Day weekend. It was a great weekend. Friday night was dining al fresco at Yia Yia’s. That evening we watched out Abbey perform at the BVNHS Mustang Showtime. On Saturday Mike and I went golfing while the ladies went to the Designer Home Tour, and, of course, shopping. Sunday morning was the meal. It started with some delicious Strawberry Hill Apple Cinnamon Povitica French Toast. The rest is all your basic breakfast fare, but it came together real well. All dishes serve 6 people.

Brown Sugar Bacon

2 lbs Hormel Black Label thick sliced bacon

4 tablespoons brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Cover cookie pans with aluminum foil. Lay bacon on pan, and lightly sprinkle with brown sugar, salt and pepper. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until desired crispness. Transfer paper towels to drain the grease. Serve warm.

Scrambled Eggs de Provence

8 eggs

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons Milk (divided)

2 teaspoons herbs de provence ( I use Penzey’s)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat frying pan over medium heat. Coat with non-stick spray or melt butter to coat the pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs and herbs and beat lightly to blend. Add ¼ cup milk and continue to beat until well-blended, or about 2 minutes. Pour egg mixture in to the pan. As the egg mixture starts to set, push the cooked egg to the center allowing the mixture to settle around it. Do not allow the eggs to cook to where it sticks to the pan. As the eggs approach completely set, add the remaining 2 tablespoons and cook until no longer liquid. Transfer to serving bowl.

Povitica French Toast

4 eggs

1 cup milk

½ cup half and half (or sub heavy cream)

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sugar

Pinch of salt

12 slices of Povitica

Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat. Coat with non-stick spray or melt butter to coat the pan.

Add the eggs to a wide, shallow bowl and beat lightly. Add the milk, half & half, nutmeg, vanilla, sugar, and salt and beat until well blended.

Place the bread slices, one at a time, into the egg mixture, allowing the slices to soak up egg mixture for a few seconds. Carefully turn to soak the other side. Soak (or coat) only the slices the you will be cooking at one time.

Place the bread slices on griddle or skillet, cooking until bottom is golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Serve French toast hot with butter and warm syrup. For extra touch, serve with fresh blueberries, sliced strawberries, or sliced bananas.

Bacon Lovers Breakfast Casserole

I am not much of a breakfast casserole guy. But I love to cook up a hearty breakfast. I was looking for a good recipe for an Easter brunch, and not finding exactly what I want, I took the best of three and came up with this. What I really like about this is that you don’t need to refrigerate it overnight and it will still turn out good.

Cheezy Hash Brown Egg Casserole

Serves 8

1 package (30 oz) of Mrs. Dell’s shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed.

½ cup onion, finely diced

1 ½ pound thick cut bacon

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (divided)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

6 eggs

1 ½ cups milk

1 tablespoon flour

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” X 13” casserole dish.

Cut all but 4 strips of the bacon in to 1” X 1” squares and cook until firm. Cut the remaining 4 strips in half and cook the same way.  Be careful not to get it too crisp. Transfer the bacon as it is cooked to paper towels to reduce the grease, and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, onion, bacon, 1/3 cup of cheese, salt and pepper. Transfer to the casserole dish.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, soup, and flour until creamy. Pour over the hash brown mixture. Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup of the shredded cheese. Spoon the soup from the can to the casserole, evenly covering the top. Place the 8 bacon strips on top. (Evenly spaced, these will define your 8 servings.) Sprinkle the top with paprika, and pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour.

Bake for 45 - 60 mins, or until it starts to brown and the bacon begins to crisp.

Remove from the oven, cover with the remaining cheese, and cook for additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes prior to serving. Enjoy!

Banana Nut French Toast

I love weekends. And I really love cooking on weekends. Just so happens I also love a big breakfast on the weekend. Most weekends I’ll make my famous pancakes. That recipe is top secret. I toss in some chocolate chips for the kids, and bacon and pecans for the wife. I prefer my pancakes plain. With a fried egg in between. So good.

But since the first of the year, the family is on a healthy lifestyle program (aka diet). What I like about that is it challenges me to find new foods that are filling, but not fattening. And they really need to taste good. This one is really good. Peggy tells me it’s too good to be healthy.  The trick is to find a dense bread. We love the Tuscan loaf. I buy it at SuperTarget, but I have seen it at several places. Another nice thing is if you have an overripe banana, what do you do with it? Not enough for banana bread, right? Here’s a healthier option. If you try it, let me know what you think.

Banana Nut French Toast

Serves 2

1 banana (ripe)

1 packet sweetener (optional)

1 egg

2 egg whites

¼ cup skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 slices Tuscan bread (28 g per slice)

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Mash the banana and mix in sweetener until mushy (that’s a technical cooking term).

Whip the eggs until frothy. Add milk, continue to whip.  Add banana mixture and vanilla and mix well (I use a hand blender at each step).

Dip bread into egg mixture, soaking both sides, and place in hot, preheated skillet coated with non-stick spray. While in the skillet, sprinkle pecans on top of the uncooked side of the bread.  Cook until each side is golden brown.

Serve with light maple syrup. Two slices (one serving) is only 290 calories, without the syrup.