Spinach, Bacon and Swiss Quiche – (Adapted from Paula Deen)

• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
• 1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 1 /2 cups Swiss cheese
• 1 (9in) pie crust

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Fit the pie crust into a pie pan or pie plate.  If you are using a pie crust that is in a disposable pan, it will be fine. Remember that if you use a dark colored pan or aluminum pan to check for doneness 10 minutes sooner.

Cook the bacon until crisp.

I find that if you slice the bacon before cooking it, you get a more even brown and altogether crispier pieces.

Cut the spinach into evenly sized pieces.

Layer the spinach, bacon and cheese into the pie crust.

I did two layers but feel free to do more.  You will find that it will float to the top of the quiche, but do your best.

In a blender combine the eggs, salt, pepper and cream.  Blend until thoroughly mixed.

Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust over the top of the bacon and spinach.

Place the quiche into the preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the egg mixture is set.

This will all depend on your oven, pie tin and thickness of your quiche.  I found that mine took almost an hour to set.

If you see that your quiche is starting to brown too much on top, feel free to cover it with foil after about 20 minutes in the oven.

This quiche was delicious.  The eggs were light and fluffy and the bacon made it sing.  It was one of the best quiches that I have ever made.

Layered with onions, asparagus and tomatoes this was a great dish.

It is amazing how great of a dish you can make just using simple ingredients.

Asparagus Frittata

• 4 eggs
• handful of asparagus
• 1/2 medium onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tomato seeded
• 1/2 parmesan cheese
• 2 tbs water
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place an oven safe non-stick frying pan over medium heat.  While you pan is heating up dice up the garlic, onion and asparagus.  Also slice the tomato into 1/8 of an inch slices.  Once the pan is heated add the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes.  Then add the onion and garlic and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.  Just until the onions turn opaque.

Cooking the veggies

While your veggies are cooking mix up your eggs.  Crack the four eggs into a bowl.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Then add 2 tbs of water.  This is a little trick that I learned back in the day from watching the frugal gourmet.  By adding the water to the eggs you form steam bubbles that actually make the eggs rise and become fluffier.  I have no idea if this is true, but if the frugal gourmet said it, well it has to be true.  My other trick is to whip the eggs with chopsticks instead of a fork.  Chopsticks allow you to fold in more air, giving you a lighter and fluffier texture.

Chopsticks whip the eggs twice as good as a fork

Pour the egg mixture over the veggies and cook for 2 minutes.  Don’t fold the eggs over or try to make them into scrambled eggs.  Cook until the bottom is set.  Then place the sliced tomatoes evenly over the egg mixture.

Evenly spread out the tomatoes

Once the tomatoes are on the eggs cover the eggs and tomatoes with parmesan cheese.

I like to freshly grate the cheese over the eggs

Place the whole pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  The time will depend on your oven.  Once the top of the frittata is solidified and the cheese is melted it is ready to remove from the oven.

When the cheese is fully melted it is done. You don't want to cook your eggs till they are brown as they will be overdone and dry.

Flip the frittata out onto a plate to serve.  If you wish you can flip it once again to have the tomatoes showing.

The frittata flipped out onto a plate

Cut into wedges and serve with a tad bit more freshly grated parmesan on top.

As you can see the finished product is amazing. It is layered to perfection and perfectly cooked.

The overall final product was awesome.  The eggs had the perfect texture and the asparagus gave a great almost unexpected texture.  You can substitute pretty much any vegetable or even add meat to this meal.  A normal frittata is cooked partially and then the ingredients are added to the top halfway through.  Although not traditional this meal was awesome.  I recommend trying it and then making your own variation using whatever ingredients that you have on hand.  This would be awesome with spinach and ham, or broccoli chedder and bacon.  So many combinations.  Enjoy!!

Baked Eggs with Spinach – (Adapted from Bon Appetit September 2010)

• 6 slices bacon
• 5-ounce bag of spinach
• 2 English muffins halved
• 4 large eggs
• 4 tbs heavy cream
• 1/4 cup jack cheese

Cooking the components

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Halve the English muffins and toast them.

Dice up the bacon, add it to a large skillet and cook it over medium heat until crisp.  Remove the bacon and reserve the bacon grease.

Add the the spinach to the skillet.  Season with salt and pepper and then cook for about 1 minute.

Assembly

Brush four 1-cup ramekins with the bacon grease.

Place one English muffin, split side up in each ramekin.

Then divide the spinach and bacon between the ramekins.  Top with Jack cheese.

Using the back of a spoon make a well in the center of each ramekin.   Gently crack 1 egg into the center of each ramekin.  Spoon 1 tbs of cream over each egg. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake until the egg whites are just set but still have runny yolks.  14-16 minutes.

These were amazing.  The spinach, bacon, egg and cheese all together in a single dish.  The English muffin absorbed the runny yolk perfectly.

This is a must breakfast treat the next time you have guests in town.  It is quick, simple and a little fancy.  Perfect.

The pizza browned nicely and allowed the eggs to finish setting.  The best way to start the morning.

Breakfast Pizza

• 1 pizza dough – (recipe for Basic Pizza Dough)
• 3/4 cup salsa – or 3/4 diced tomatoes
  
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk or cream
• 1/2 pound bacon – cooked
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper

The first step is to make the pizza dough and let it rise till it doubles.  Here is a simple and easy pizza dough. If you are running short on time, almost all grocery stores have pre-made pizza dough in the deli section and/or freezer section, or you can always stop by a local pizzeria and purchase the pre-made dough.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  If you have a pizza stone have it preheat with the oven.

Crack the eggs into a medium bowl.  Add the cream and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Whisk until light and fluffy.  The more air you get into the eggs now, the lighter the scrambled eggs.

Place a skillet over medium heat.  Once the skillet is preheated, add a dab of butter or vegetable spray and pour in the egg mixture.  Using a spatula form the eggs into a partial scramble.  You do not want to fully cook the eggs, but you don’t want them too runny either.  When the eggs are scrambled but still a little runny remove them from the heat.

Roll out the pizza dough and cover with the salsa.  If you don’t have salsa add 3/4 cup of diced tomatoes seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Next place dollops of scrambled eggs over the entire pizza.

Cover the mixture with Parmesan cheese and then top with the bacon broken into bite sized pieces.

Finally top with the cheddar cheese.

Place the pizza in the oven and have it cook for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese and crust are browned.

Let it cool for 1 minute before slicing.

This was the perfect start to a snowed-in morning.  It helped me get the energy that I needed to shovel my car out.

Doesn't look that bad, but the car to the right is camry not a SUV.

With Dana helping it only took 2 hours.  Supposed to get another storm tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

Eggs baked in roasted tomato sauce

Serve with some toasted slices of baguette and you have a great breakfast.

Eggs Baked in Roasted Tomato Sauce – (From Marisa May via December Issue of Food and Wine)

• 1 – 1 1/2 pounds of plum tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp chopped oregano
• 8 large eggs
• 2 tbs freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and then toss them with the extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Place into a roasting pan and arranged cut side up.  Roast for 15 minutes.

Tomatoes ready to roast, arrange cut side up.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and then flip them cut side down.  Continue to roast until the soft.  Roughly 20 minutes.

Flip cut side down and continue to cook

Let the tomatoes cool slightly and then add the tomato mixture to a blender and puree.  Add the oregano and blend again for a couple of seconds.

Look at all of the steam coming from the tomatoes in the blender

Arrange four oven-proof bowls on a sheet pan.  Then strain the pureed sauce into the bowls.

Strain the sauce into the bowls

Crack two eggs into each dish and season with a little salt and pepper.  I found that cracking the eggs individually into a small bowl and then slowly pouring the eggs into the dish worked the best.

Crack the eggs into the sauce

Next grate 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of the cheese over the eggs.

Grate the cheese

Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated 400 degree oven.  When the whites are set, you are ready to eat.

The money shot

Serve it with a side of toasted bread.

Bacon Quinoa with a Poached Egg

Quinoa sounds like (key-new-a) is a grain-like crop that is full of protein, contains essential amino acids and is also gluten free. Unlike cereals like wheat or rice, quinoa is a edible seed from chenopod which is a close relative of the tumbleweed. Sounds gross, I know, but this stuff is good for you. For being a complete protein source it tastes really good. Although, that maybe because I started with bacon fat, but anyways it goes great with bacon. It has a texture similar to couscous and can be used an alternative for couscous or rice.

Bacon Quinoa with a Poached Egg - (From Bruce Sherman via Food and Wine Magazine)

• 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 3 thick slices of bacon, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 sage sprig
• 1 tbs minced chives
• 1 tbs chopped parsley
• salt and pepper

If you purchased slivered almonds and they are not toasted, place them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for about 4 minutes or until they are golden brown.

In a medium sauce pan add the vegetable oil and bacon.  Cook until the fat has rendered out of the bacon, about 5 minutes.  Then add the shallot and cook until it is softened, about 1 minute.

I love bacon fat!!! - I guess my diet won't go so good.

Add the quinoa, chicken stock and sage sprig and bring to a boil.  When the mixture starts to boil, reduce to low and cover.  Let simmer covered for 16-20 minutes, or until the stock is all absorbed.  Remove from the heat and let sit covered for 5 minutes.

Add a whole sprig of sage, that way it will be easier to remove.

While the quinoa is resting, bring 2 inches of water to boil in a deep pan.  Add 1 tbs of vinegar to the water.  When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.   Add the egg(s) one at a time into the pan.  Simmer for 2-3 minutes depending on how done you like your poached eggs.  Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to dry.

Remove the sprig of sage from the quinoa and fluff it with a fork.  Then stir in the almonds, chopped parsley and minced chives.

Add the herbs

Plate and serve with the poached egg(s) on top.  This dish would be great as a side too.

I probably should have made two eggs, but I only had one.

In case you were wondering the average serving of quinoa contains 14 grams of protein, 6 grams of fat, 64 grams of carbs, 7 grams of dietary fiber.  Oh, don’t forget about vitamins B1, B1, B8, B9 and E.

The cure to end all cures

Bacon Mushroom Hash served with a couple over easy eggs.  Look at that yolk run.

Bacon Mushroom Hash – (Serves 1)

• 1 Potato, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 small onion
• 4-6 mushrooms
• 5 thick cut slices of bacon or 7 regular slices
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper
• Hot Sauce – Optional

The first step is to shred the potato and let it sit in cold water to release some of the starches.  My mom recently traded me food processors and my new one has this awesome side shoot that shoots the potato right into the soaking bowl.  How cool is that.

The new food processor - Thanks Mom!!

Fill the bowl with water and let the the potato soak for 10 minutes changing the water at least once.

Soak the shredded potatoes to get some of the starch out

Next dice up the onion and slice the mushrooms.

You can add more veggies, but I am a bacon guy and I didn't want this to be too healthy.

Time for the bacon.  As you can see I went with a cool 1 inch slab of thick cut bacon.  I then diced it up and placed it in the pan for frying.

Nothing says breakfast like an inch thick slab of bacon

That amount of bacon will take 8-10 minutes to crisp up nicely.  When the bacon is crispy remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon.  You want to keep all of the bacony goodness that is bacon grease in the pan.

Look at that glorious bacon

Now with the bacon removed place 2 tbs of grease from the bacon pan into another fry pan so that you can cook the eggs in the bacon grease.  Yep, eggs are definitely better in bacon grease.

In the bacon pan place the mushrooms and onions.  Cook until the onions turn translucent.

Time for the healthy stuff, you can just keep scrolling if veggies give you headaches

Then drain the potatoes.  Make sure to squeeze out all of the excess water.  Then place the potatoes into the bacon pan.

Add the potatoes, more veggies I know, but at least they are starch.

Fry the potato, onion, mushroom mixture for 10-12 minutes or until the hash are soft and starting to turn golden brown.  At this point mix in the cooked bacon, flip one more time and let them sit for a minute to get a nice crust on them.

There was more bacon than potato in my hash, maybe I should have called it potatoey bacon

While the hash is getting a toasty, time to fry up the eggs.  Heat the pan with the 2tbs of bacon grease in it to medium.  Then crack the eggs and let them soak up that bacony goodness.  Cook them until your desired doneness.

I am so jealous that the eggs got to sit in the bacon grease

Flip the hash out onto a plate and then top with the eggs.

Ahh, runny eggs on bacon with a little bit of potato. Awesome!!!

Granted this is not the healthiest meal around (although it does have 4 mushrooms), but by the time you finish it, you will not have a hangover.  50% of the time this works every time, guaranteed!

Eggs Benedict

English muffins, ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce come together to form the best breakfast ever!!

Eggs Benedict

• 1 English Muffin
• 2 eggs
• 2 slices of ham, Canadian bacon, bacon, tofu, crab cake, spinach … pretty much anything you can think of…
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• hollandaise sauce

Blender Hollandaise Sauce

• 1 blender
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 sticks of butter
• 2 tbs cream
• Juice of one lemon – Approx – 2 tbs
• pinch salt
• pinch cayenne pepper

When making hollandaise it is best to setup your mis before you get started.  The sauce comes together quickly so having all of the ingredients handy is a must.

Mis en place - Top left to bottom right, salt, egg yolks, cayenne pepper, cream, lemon juice.

To make the hollandaise sauce melt the two sticks of butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  While the butter is melting add the egg yolks and cream to the blender and mix thoroughly.

Yolks and cream going for a spin

Next remove the small cap from the lid of the blender and slowly pour in half of the butter.  Take your time as you do not want to curdle the eggs.

Add half the butter slowly

Next add the lemon juice, salt and cayenne.  Continue to blend.

Where is the juice, its in the hollandaise...

Finally add the remaining butter and blend for about 30 seconds.  Don’t worry the butter will cook the eggs. Now it is tasting time.  Taste it for salt and spice.  Adjust for your tastes.  Ta-Da.  Hollandaise sauce is ready.

Hollandaise Complete

Time to poach the eggs.  A lot of people are scared of poaching eggs.  It is really simple.  In a large pot or deep skillet add about 2-3 inches of water.  Next add the white vinegar.  The vinegar will help solidify the white part of the egg and prevent it from falling apart.  You can leave it out if you absolutely hate vinegar, but there is so little in the water it shouldn’t add to the flavor.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Crack the eggs one at a time into a small bowl.  Then slowly lower the bowl into the water and let the egg slide into the pan.  Set the timer for 3 minutes.

Slowly pour into the pan

3 minutes will give you a medium hard egg that is still runny.  If you like it harder add an extra 20 seconds and if you like it runnier subtract 20 seconds.  While the eggs are cooking place the English muffin in a toaster to warm it up.

Poaching Eggs

Don’t worry you are going to have a little bit of the white floating around.  But you will see that the majority will stay with the yolk.  When the time is up remove the eggs from the pan with a slotted spoon and then place them on a paper towel to drain.

Let them drain while you assemble the benedict

Next add the ham to the water to warm it up. Time to assemble.  Place the halves of the English muffin on a plate.  Remove the ham from the water with tongs.  Make sure to let it drain.  Then place the ham on the muffin halves.  Gently place the poached eggs on the ham.  Finally cover the eggs with a drizzle of the hollandaise sauce.

How awesome does that look?

This was a quick and easy breakfast.  The total time cooking was 15 minutes and 10 of that was watching the butter melt and the water boil.

A shot of the poached egg cut open. Totally awesome!!!

Hopefully you can try out this awesome treat and have a great brunch today.

Awesome, all crusts should be made of bacon.

You need to make sure to fully cook the bacon before you add the egg mixture as it won’t get crispy with the egg mixture on top of it.

Bacon Crusted Quiche

• 1lb bacon
• 6 eggs
• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1-2 cups of fresh baby spinach
• 1-2 cups of shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Hardware

• 1 cast iron skillet
• 1 piece of parchment paper
• 32 oz of beans – any variety works as you are using them as weight

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Then start to line up the bacon in the base of the skillet.  Work from the center to the edges.  Then wrap bacon around the edge of the pan.

Next line the bacon coated skillet with parchment.  Press it into the bottom of the pan and into the edges of the pan.  Then pour the beans onto the parchment.  The beans will keep the bacon from moving while it cooks.  We want a nice bacon pie crust.  – How awesome is this?

Place the bacon crust in the oven for 30-40 minutes.  You want it to be fully cooked.  Otherwise the end product with be rubbery and not crispy.  When the crust is cooked, remove it from the oven.  Using the edges of the parchment remove the beans and parchment from the bacon.  Watch out as some of the bacon might stick to the parchment.  Remove the parchment carefully.

I removed the parchment too early and had to cook the bacon longer. 30-35 minutes is perfect. I failed to take a photo after I continued cooking. But it should be crispy and fully cooked.

Now in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, salt and pepper.

Layer the the bacon crust with the spinach and the cheese.  The amount that you need will vary as it depends on how high your bacon crust is.  Bacon is a fabulously wonderful creature and cooks differently each and every time.  It is best to have the maximum amount of ingredients on hand.

Now pour the egg mixture over the cheese and the spinach.  Fill it up to the edge of the bacon.  Depending on the height of your crust, you may not use the whole mixture.

Fill with the egg mixture

Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes.  Bake until the eggs are solid and set.  You don’t want runny eggs.  Eww.  When the eggs are set, remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

It was crispy and so amazing. Bacon makes everything better.

How cool is that bacon crust.  It was crispy and delicious.  Definitely the best way to cut the carbs from the diet.  Wonder of blueberries or apples taste baked in a bacon crust.

A slice of perfection

I think I can honestly say that this is the best idea ever.  Bacon as a crust.  Awesome!!

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Egg in a hole, is one of my favorite breakfast foods that you don’t see that often.  If you break the yolk it is the ultimate to go food as the egg is secured in the bread.  If you don’t break the yolk, the bread around egg soaks up the yolk when it is broken at the table.  It is the ultimate breakfast food.

Nothing beats an egg in a hole, except for egg in a hole with cheese.

It is perfect finger food and you don’t have to worry about the egg and the cheese falling all over the place like a fast food breakfast sandwich.

Egg in a hole

• 2 slices of bread
• 1 slice of cheese
• 1 egg
• spreadable butter or spreadable margarine
• salt and pepper

Egg in the hole is a simple yet complex sandwich.  First you need two pieces of bread.  I just made some fresh sourdough loaves the other day so I had some on hand.  I am making cheese stuffed egg in a hole so I needed two rather thin slices of bread.  If you are going to leave out the cheese cut your bread a bit thicker so that the whole egg will fit in the hole.

For stuffed sandwiches cut your bread about 1/2 in thick. For unstuffed sandwiches cut your bread 3/4 to an inch thick.

Now butter your bread.  Since we are making stuffed sandwiches you only need to butter one side of each slice.  I butter the bread before I cut it as it makes it a lot easier.  If you butter after making the hole, the bread tends to tear.

Now place the butter sides of each slice against each other.  This will hold the bread together as you make your holes in it.  I use an extra wide shot glass to make my holes.  The glass is about 1 1/2 inches across. 

Push hard to make the hole. Gently twist the glass when removing the bread plugs.

Now do the same for a piece of cheese.  I don’t cut the bread and the cheese at the same time as the force required to cut the cheese is greater than the bread.  So basically by the time you cut through the cheese you have flattened the bread.

Now peel apart the bread and put one butter side down.  Add the cheese, make sure to line up the holes.  Then add the second piece of bread, butter side up. 

I place the bread on the plastic wrapper from the cheese to keep the counter from getting too buttery.

Next preheat a fry pan to medium/ high heat.  Then place the bread on the pan. Once you hear the sizzle crack an egg into the hold of the bread.

Once you have the egg in the hole make sure to season it with salt and pepper

After about 2 minutes lift the edge to look for doneness.   At this point if you want a completely portable meal you should crack the yolk with the edge of your spatula.  If you are like me and you like your yolks runny, don’t break the yolk.  When the bottom half of the bread is dark brown. Flip the bread/egg. 

As you can see the bread gets a golden brown color.

Continue to check the otherside for doneness.  The otherside will take about 30 seconds less as the pan is continually heating after add the original bread.  Since the pan continues to heat it takes less time, so you need to be on top of it.  You don’t want burned bread.  After about a minute and a half you should start checking the color of the bread and the texture of the egg.  When pressing on the yolk portion, the yolk should be firm if you want it all the way cooked through, or somewhat springy if you like your eggs over easy. 

As you can see from the pics I like my eggs over easy. The eggs are perfectly cooked and bread is perfectly toasted.

I hope that this recipe helps you think of a new and exciting way to serve eggs.  Egg in a hole is perfect for kids.  Who doesn’t love an egg in the middle of their bread.  Remember if you don’t like your eggs runny, makes sure to break the yolks after you crack the eggs into the bread holes.  Let me know what you think.

- Rex