BETTER BREAKFAST: Scrambling for Even More Leftovers

Hmm...still trying to make a decent meal out of our refrigerator leftovers.

Last night, my wife made sopes with some chile pork that she cooks up now and again (it's her secret recipe but basically, cook up some stew pork with hot chiles). They were delicious but we had a little more pork than we had sopes for.

This morning, I'm scrambling that up into some eggs and cheese. For the two of us, I start with 4 eggs, a splash of half and half, and a sprinkle of salt.

I warm up the left over pork in a skillet.

Add the eggs and sprinkle on some shredded cheese.

Heat up some flour tortillas on a griddle, wrap it up and serve as breakfast burritos (top).  Very delicious.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

BETTER BREAKFASTS: A Scramble for Leftovers

We all tend to ignore our refrigerators and their crispers until the produce inside goes bad. Then, we're in the unenviable state of throwing out what was once perfectly good food, simply because we forgot it was there.

That's why from time to time, I like to look inside, see what we have, and then see if I can make a dish out of it.

This morning, I'm looking for something I can mash together for breakfast...let's see what's inside.  Here's some mild Italian sausage from Trader Joe's that I used for a pizza once. It was too mild for the pizza but I think it's make a good breakfast sausage.  Here's half a zucchini, some asparagus, and some corn tortillas.

I think I can work with this.

I chop up the zucchini, three spears of asparagus, and one link of the sausage. In a pan with one tablespoon of olive oil on high heat.

I put all that in and cook it up for 5-6 minutes and set aside in a bowl.

Next, I cut up three tortillas into eighths. I fry them till they're starting to get crispy. Then I add the sausage and veggie mixture back in.

Four eggs, a half a teaspoon of cream, a pinch of salt and pepper all go into a bowl.

I scramble this all up with a fork.

Pour the mixture in the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top and scramble until the eggs are set and serve.

I like to add some hot sauce and a little heavy cream on top. Now, I've got breakfast for two.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Menemen

We've been gone for awhile. We were on an extended trip through Central Europe where we started off in Berlin.  Our hotel for the week there was in what I'd guess you'd call the Turkish Quarter or Little Istanbul.

It was a lovey, lively neighborhood full of great friendly people and outstanding cuisine. While our home of L.A. is full of "Mediterranean" restaurants, the food there is nothing like it is here.

One dish that really caught our fancy was menemen, or Turkish scrambled eggs.  The flavor was just off the charts good and a very filling and satisfying meal.

Of course, when I got home I had to try it, and it came out as one of the best breakfasts I've ever made.

INGREDIENTS (for three servings)
7 eggs
1 or 2 medium to large, ripe tomatoes (if you really like tomatoes in your eggs, use 2. If not, use 1)
1 large pepper of your choice (many people use bell peppers, I like a little more flavor so I used a pasilla chile. Whatever floats your boat. For my New Mexico friends, this is just dying for a large Hatch chile)
1/2 medium white onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 - 4 inch long soujuk sausage (my addition of a typical Middle Eastern sausage, you can leave out if you want to have a very authentic version)
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste.

Dice the tomatoes, pepper, and onions. Cut up the sausage into small chunks.

In a 10 inch, shallow sauce pan, heat up the olive oil and butter.  Cook the pepper for 5 minutes. Add the onion and tomatoes and saute on medium heat for another 5 minutes.

Add the sausage and feta cheese and keep sauteing for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the eggs and stir for a minute. Rest for 10 seconds and stir again. Repeat this process until the eggs are thickened but just a bit underdone.

Serve and sprinkle with pepper flakes or salsa.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Barbecued Pizza and Buttermilk Pancakes

Nothing says summertime like cooking outside. Pizza is a baked item but no one wants to turn on a hot oven in the kitchen during this hot season...especially in our neighborhood where over-100 temps are the norm this time of year.



But pizza is still a great summer food, especially with an ice-cold beer in your hand.  If you have a gas grill with a lid, you've basically got an outdoor oven...perfect for baking.



We'll use that to make our pizza.



For breakfast, we put up our third pancake recipe, this time it's the very classic buttermilk pancake recipe.



Everything you need are at the links below.

BREAKFAST: Buttermilk Pancakes

DINNER: Barbecued Pizza

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Classic Buttermilk Pancakes

So far on this blog, we've had a recipe for 49'r flapjacks (our favorite) and the Maui Jim pancakes, a good, no-baking-powder recipe. Both are great but sometimes you want the classic.

Here it is, just the basic buttermilk pancake recipe. And it's delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter
Ghee (clarified butter)

Whisk all ingredients, except for the ghee, into a bowl.

I have a batter dispenser that I got from Amazon.  You can ladle in the mix but I use the dispenser.

On a hot, flat griddle, brush on a thin layer of ghee.

Put three or four 4 inch disks of batter on the grill. When slightly brown around the edges and bubbly in the middle, flip over. Cook until golden brown on each side.

Put the finished pancakes on a covered plate until all are done.

Makes 10-12 pancakes.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Buffalo Style Chicken Thighs and Chorizo and Eggs

Chicken wings are so good but it's a lot of work for just a few bites of meat. We fix that by using thighs instead and a homemade Buffalo sauce that's easy and out-of-this-world good.

Some farmer's market dollar-a-pound squash makes a medley for the side dish and breakfast is one of our easy staples, chorizo and eggs.

Recipes are at the links below.

DINNER: Buffalo Chicken Thighs

SIDE: A summer squash medley using our basic super side barbecue vegetable recipe

BREAKFAST: Chorizo and Egg Burritos

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Tacos de Cachete and Huevos para la Reina

Mexican inspired menu this weekend with a nice fusion of chorizo and chilaquiles for breakfast and dinner for adventurous eaters.

Recipes at the links below.

DINNER: Tacos de Cachete

BREAKFAST: Huevos para la Reina

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Huevos para la Reina

The name simply translates into Eggs for the Queen and is a quick, little breakfast I made for my wife on Mother's Day.

A bit chilaquiles, a bit chorizo and eggs, a tasty treat served in a crown makes a protein rich way to start the day.

I came  up with this by rummaging through the fridge to see what I could throw together.  I've got a bit of chorizo, some small corn tortillas just languishing in the crisper, and some eggs. That's pretty much all I need.

So this is how I'll make two servings...

INGREDIENTS

1/4 pound Mexican pork chorizo
4 eggs
4 small corn tortillas
4 tablespoons olive oil

Heat up 3 tablespoons of oil in a 12 inch frying pan. Coat the bottom of the pan as thoroughly as you can after the oil is hot. 

Cut up the tortillas into small, triangle shaped wedges and cook for 4 minutes in the oil. Let drain on some paper towels on a plate. Set aside for later.

In a smaller frying pan, cook the chorizo.

Add two eggs, mix thoroughly while cooking with a wooden spoon.

Cover and set aside.

In a small frying pan, cook on egg over easy.

Put half of the egg and chorizo mixture into a flat circle on the plate. Make a ring of tortilla chips around the circle so it looks like a crown. Put the over-easy egg in the middle of the crown. Cook the other egg and do the same for the second serving.

We add red salsa and guacamole to finish ours off.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Penne with Pancetta Cream Sauce and Asparagus Cheese Omelet

Going delicious and glucose friendly with this week's menu with a delicious pasta dish (the whole wheat makes it diabetic friendly but you can use regular penne if you want) and a basic asparagus and cheese omelet for breakfast.


Recipes are at the links below.

DINNER: Penne with Pancetta Cream Sauce

BREAKFAST: Asparagus and Cheese Omelet


Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Asparagus and Cheese Omelet

We're cooking up some asparagus to put in a quick omelet for breakfast.

Just put some olive oil in a hot pan, cook up for five minutes, and put in an omelet with cheese using our basic omelet recipe.

Darryl

This Week's Menu: Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup and Our New Basic Omelet

Was noticing I didn't have just a basic omelet recipe up here that I could come back and refer to so this week I correct that with our breakfast link below.  For dinner, this is the soup that you'll dream about...I know, because the recipe came to me in a dream (really!) but I did check out some sites to see if wasn't crazy in how to make it.


Good news...it worked like a charm and turned out to be very easy and extremely delicious.


Recipes are at the links below.

DINNER: Cream of Asparagus and Ham Soup

BREAKFAST: Basic Omelet


Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Basic Omelet

Basically, an omelet is just a quickly fried, beaten egg, cooked without stirring (as you would with scrambled eggs), and folded over.  Most people also put something inside as a filling, such as cheese, vegetables, or meat.  

We're doing a little of all three in our basic omelet recipe.

INGREDIENTS (as shown, you can put whatever you like in your omelet)

2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon half and half
salt 
pepper
2 tablespoons shredded carrot
1 1/2 stalk of chopped asparagus
1/2 oz. shredded cheese 
1/2 oz. chopped ham
guacamole
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a hot non-stick ten inch frying pan, with some olive oil, put in the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the asparagus and cook another five minutes. Set the mixture aside and wipe the pan clean with a towel. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Put the eggs in a bowl, add the half and half, and a sprinkle each of salt and pepper.

Stir the mixture with a fork. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and rock it back and forth to coat the cooking surface and put it on a hot flame.  Pour the mixture into the pan.

As the eggs start to solidify, lift the edges with a spatula and let the liquid mixture fill in the voids.

Put your filling...the carrot/asparagus mixture, cheese, and ham...over one half of the pan.

Reach over to the far edge and carefully put your spatula under the edge. Fold it over the other half. Press down on the top for about 10-15 seconds with your spatula and flip the omelet. Cook another 10 seconds and put on a plate.  I'm also garnishing mine with a little guacamole on top (picture at the top of the post).

These are also good to go, we're taking these two to my convalescing mother in law and her son. Just reheat them for a minute in the microwave and they're ready to eat.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved