Monday, October 17, 2011

Breakfast...uh.. Concoction

Over the course of the past 9 months or so, Sam and I have dedicated our Saturday / Sunday mornings to perfecting this, um, breakfast…concoction.  In our hazy mornings, we have tried numerous combinations of some sort of carb, breakfast meat, eggs and cheese in a casserole dish. We’ve tried many, many different combinations over the months such as, puff pastry, crescents, small biscuits, frozen biscuits, large biscuits, eggs, eat beaters, bacon, sausage patties, bacon bits, thick cut bacon, maple sausage links, etc etc etc….This past Sunday morning we all agreed that we hit the jack pot. Our mouths were quite happy. What is this mysterious wonderfulness, you might be wondering to yourself…. The perfect combination we’ve discovered is as follows:

Ingredients:
½ pack of Pillsbury Grand Layer Biscuits
1 pack of Maple Jimmy Dean Sausage Patties (cooked)
½ cup - 1cup cheddar cheese
2 eggs- scrambled 
 ¼ cup  egg whites egg beaters
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat the Oven to 350 degrees. Cook the sausage patties and lay on paper towels to drain off excess fat.  Cut the patties into small chunks. Spray a 8X8 glass casserole dish very well with non-stick spray. (remember, you’re going to put eggs into it….that mess doesn’t come off! So be generous with the spray… if not, I warned you…) Peel the biscuits into half long ways  to make them thinner and line the bottom of the dish with as many as you can fit without scrunching. Layer on half of the sausage, half of the egg mixture, and half of the cheese. Add another layer of biscuits and repeat. Top with remaining cheese, salt and pepper.  Bake until biscuits and eggs are fully cooked and top is brown and crispy. 


annnnddd.... Yum Yum yum yum yum


Why the specific ingredients?

The Carb:
We’ve found that refrigerated biscuits work better than frozen ones. They don’t take as long to cook. The ‘Grands’ puff up enough in the oven to give the casserole a solid amount of bread, but it’s not too much biscuit to overpower the dish. We ruled out crescent dough as it is too flaky and  wasn’t quite the consistency needed to uphold the other ingredients. Phillo dough…..next. Small biscuits were also ruled out. I tried to go bargain brand on these and…ewh. It turned out horribly.  Drop biscuits also don't work either. They are too crumbly. 

The Meat:
We chose to go with sausage vs. bacon. I know, I know what you’re thinking! Blasphemy! While we DO love this option with bacon, the sausage is much more dense and holds up in the dish. Also, because it’s not straight fat, it’s not quite as greasy.  Remember to always cook the meat first. It doesn't have enough time in the oven to cook fully so precooking it is the best option. We went with the patties because they are already formed, easier to cook, and have more maple flavoring. “ Maple???? Really?? “ YES. Its perfect. Don’t question this. Sweet and savory? Just go with it.

The Cheese:
We love good ol’ fashion cheddar. American is… just weird in this dish. Mozz is …also too weird. We just like the cheddar option. It’s bold, cheesy, and tasty. Perfect on the top!

The Eggs:
You might be wondering why I put egg whites in with the 2 other eggs. Well. I’ve found that if you have too many egg yolks in the dish, the egg consistency gets to be too over powering.  It’s too…”eggy”. But if you add more egg whites than egg yolks, it seems to work perfectly and be nicely balanced. **Nerd alert ** If you cook eggs in a gray / silver cooking dish, the eggs will turn gray/greenish.  This is due to the iron and other proteins in the egg.  Also, because the biscuits need to be cooked at such a high temperature the egg yolk might also turn slightly in color, but its normal. They won’t taste any different. But this is another reason why I don’t use as many egg yolks in the dish. The less you use, the less green/gray so it doesn’t “look as off putting” (yes…I know a lot about eggs…thanks FACS Ed Degree)


Happy eating! 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Super Sneaky Mac and Cheese Adventure

Somewhere between being savvy and being healthy, this delish culinary adventure morphed from a mere dream to reality. Come along for the ride! This recipe is one that I found on SneakyChef.com (again…love that site!) and I’m actually VERY impressed with how well this turned out. AND there’s a serving of veggies in it! SUPER EASY TOO!

Ingredients :
- 4 cups cooked elbows or other small pasta shape (about 1/2 pound dry)
- 1 1/2 cups evaporated skim milk
- 1/4 cup White Puree (see Make-Ahead Recipe #4)
- 4 ounces reduced fat light colored cheese (like white cheddar)
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard (ideally honey mustard; don’t use spicy mustard)

> Mix all together in pot over low heat, mix; add pasta, stir 


I didn’t have any mustard….so naturally is substituted this with bacon bits. (don’t judge me) it was excellent! I literally could NOT taste the veggies in it.  I had to stir this a little longer to get the evaporated skim milk to thicken into more of a sauce, but it was worth the wait. I recommend! 






Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry .....with bacon

“I’m not trying to toot my own horn but…..”   This dish was excellent if I do say so myself.  As you begin to go through this recipe, you might say to yourself, “ramen noodles??? REALLY?! Who eats those anymore except poor college kids?” Welp, I DO.  Do brace yourself from the shock that this recipe is actually fantastic and budget friendly (also did I mention everything IS better with bacon????):

1 pack chicken ramen noodles—cooked and drained

1.5 chicken breast -- cubed
½ cup bread crumbs
½ cup flour
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp olive oil

2-3 slices of bacon—cooked and cubed
2 tbsp almonds (sliced)
1.5 cups mixed veggies (I used a combo of carrots, celery, broccoli, green bell peppers, and green beans)
2-4 tbsp teriyaki sauce

Directions: cook the ramen noodles according to the packet, drain and set aside.  Cook bacon and set aside.  Cube the raw chicken breast. Combine the flour, bread crumbs, and spices. Roll the chicken in the flour/bread crumb mixture. Heat oil in large skillet to medium heat. Cook chicken until just under done. Add almonds and mixed veggies to skillet. Cook until veggies are just under done. Add teriyaki sauce, bacon, and noodles to skillet and continue to cook until veggies and chicken are fully done.

Serve hotttttt

YUM J