EoMEoTE - 20th Anniversary Edition

I definitely had some favorite blog events, and one of them was Jeanne and Anthony's (formerly of Cooksister and Spiceblog) End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza.

 

Ok. I didn't love when they expected me to write poetry, but throwing together a version of eggs and toast? Yes, please. They're some of my favorite foods!

I even hosted a couple of times (Hard Boiled, round-up here, and Seventies song lyrics, round-up here), I loved it so much.

So when I was thinking of ways to celebrate Dispensing Happiness's 20th year on the blogsphere, I knew I had to egg on toast one more time.

It's something we do almost weekly here, in fact. Saturdays and Sundays are the only days when there's enough time to make breakfast for Matt, and I try to not only come up with something tasty and filling, but to use up the tail ends of whatever I'd made during the week. 

There were a few of the ciabattas I'd baked earlier (again, finding decent bread here is inconsistent), as well as a few pieces of prosciutto from something (a sandwich, probably).  

So I split them open and toasted them in the frying pan with butter, then made some of the most perfect fried eggs to date. Layer up, and breakfast is served.  

The rolls got used up, the last few eggs in the carton - gone, and those last pieces of salty ham, finished. 

It's eggy, it's toasty. What more can you ask for?

Wartime Wednesdays: 20th Anniversary Edition- Potato Omelet

 

Potato Omelet

To ease ourselves back into Wartime Wednesdays, start with the most important meal of the day: breakfast!

"To test an egg for freshness, place it in a glass of water. If the egg falls to the bottom of the glass and lies on its side, it is a fresh egg; if the large end rises slightly, the egg is somewhat stale; if it stands on end or floats, it is very stale. The shell of a fresh egg has a bloom; that of a stale egg is usually shiny. If the contents of an egg rattle when it is shaken, it is not fresh."

The Victory Binding of the American Woman's Cook Book; Wartime Edition---published 1943

This recipe calls for cold boiled potatoes, but does not specify the type, or if they should be peeled (I don't mind a bit of peel, myself). I did a quick bit of research, and Russets seemed to be the widely available spud at the time.
I did peel the potatoes, but I wasn't precious about it.

They are cubed and cooked in bacon fat - so first, cook some bacon! 

Mt grandparents kept a bacon grease pot on the stove, which, genius. But since only Matt eats actual bacon and because I love him and want him to live for many more years, I try not to feed it too him that often. 
We are without a bacon fat pot.

Anyway, bacon gets cooked and removed, grease left in pan. Tiny cubes of cold potato get cooked in the fat with 'the seasonings' (1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 pepper; oh, how cute) for a few minutes. 

Two eggs get beaten with a little bit of milk, then poured over the potatoes. 

Cook until set, fold, and turn on to 'a hot plate'.  I really do not want to be a 1940's housewife. 

It was simple, but despite the what...six ingredients...he said it was not only really tasty, but filling. I guess those ladies at the Culinary Arts Institute, The Delineator Cook Book, and College of Home Economics, Cornell University, knew what they were doing. 

A reminder that I'll be bringing Wartime Wednesdays back all month, and Blog Party will be making its return on the 17th!

My Kind of Zero Waste

Thai-Ish

 

 

 

 

 Matt & I think of Sunday mornings as 'our time'.

Shopping's done, maybe we've convinced the dogs to let us sleep past 7, & we can have breakfast together.

It's often, though not always, some variation on eggs. I'll survey what we have in the fridge and cupboards, and that's our (ok, usually his), dish.

But this time I was kind of sort of prepared. 

We'd eaten something Southeast Asian earlier in the week, and the lovely Thai basil was still edible. 

So I told him he was going to have a Thai omelet. 

I said this having never made a Thai omelet, but that's what cookbooks and food blogs are for!

I found a recipe by The Food Monger which I more or less followed (I mean, that's why cooking's fun, right? Play around and make a dish your own). No scallions, because...we didn't have any.

But dang it if that gloriously anise-y basil didn't get used up! And the tail end of a carton of eggs.

Oh, right.  

He loved it.

Inspired - And an Announcement!

Cheddar Chive Biscuit & Prosciutto Eggs Benedict

 Hey! Hi there.

It's been awhile, yeah?

I've been meaning to drop by, honest.

Part of my absence can be explained by the OH MY GOD IT'S BEEN TOO HOT-ness of all it.

No, seriously. One night, as the temps were hovering around 100 degrees, I told Matt that he was going to Dairy Queen.

He laughed.

"No. We are having ice cream. For dinner."

Friends, that's exactly what we did.

Gloriously cold & indulgent ice milk belongs on the food pyramid.

There's been some other stuff going on (I would like to stop living in 'unprecedented times', thankyouverymuch) and I just haven't felt like writing.

But I have STUFF! to talk about, so here I am.  Sometimes the best way to deal with a block is to just smash through it.

 

A week or so ago, an artist friend (parasocial relationship!) was talking about making a biscuits & gravy-based eggs Benedict.  

And I could see how it would work?

I don't eat it myself - poached eggs make me gag.  But Matt likes the dish.  And while they are not the sort of thing you want to eat on, say, even a monthly basis, I love cooking something special for him.

So I riffed on their idea: stick with the biscuit, lose the gravy. I used a cheddar biscuit recipe from KAF (and finally had a reason to use the Vermont cheese powder I'd bought) and prosciutto. And of course, Hollandaise. 

 

So, that worked.  And gave me the push I needed to sit down & type, which is good. Because ok, are you sitting down?

Dispensing Happiness is turning 20 next month!

I KNOW, RIGHT?

I'm kind of baffled, & trying to process.  No way has it been two decades.  Can't be.

But according to the archives, yep.  Twenty years. 

And while this little blog of my is seen by fewer eyeballs these day, I think it deserves to be celebrated.

So get ready for some fun call-backs.  Sort of a 'Greatest Hits'.

Hope to see you there!

I Did It Again

Fried Egg & Prosciutto Pretzel Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich

 

King Arthur has my number, man.

KAB:"Hey, look at this new recipe!"

Me: "OHMYGODGIVEITTOEMNOW."

 

Seriously.

 

The most recent was a Pretzel Biscuit, which...yes, please.

 

Stupidly easy, and so damn good.

 

They are biscuits, but they taste like pretzel. Really.

We turned ours into breakfast for dinner, only one of the best things in the world.

Matt had leftovers with a bit of mustard and prosciutto, and that worked.

 

And now I wait, Pavlov's dog-like, for the next KAB treat.

To quote the sage...

 We love breakfast foods. 

We love pizza.

No brainer - Smoked Salmon Breakfast Pizza (for Matt!)

The 72 hour dough, the tiniest scattering of mozzarella, cracked eggs, a bit of S&P.

Bake, top with smoked salmon, creme fraiche, dill & capers.  Eat too much.

For Alex & me, it was lots & lots of cheese (mozzarella & a 'pizza blend'), eggs mixed with milk, dried sage & red pepper flakes - poured over, and chopped up Morningstar Farms 'bacon'.  Bake until gorgeously golden.

Once again, eat too much.

Save any leftovers for (gasp!) tomorrow's breakfast.

Fancy

 

For the last couple of weeks, I've had this urge to poach eggs.

 

I don't know why; I won't eat them (it's a texture thing).   But Matt will.  

 

So I slotted in a breakfast for dinner night, and planned this for him.

 

 Eggs Benedict, with a bit of a twist.

Instead of English muffins, I made boxty.
Smoked salmon in lieu of a ham-like product.

And on top, in addition to the Hollandaise, a thick and tangy avocado crema. 

And yes, he nearly wiped the plate clean.

Chilaquiles Rojos with Fried Eggs and Cotija

 

Matt can't handle a large breakfast early in the morning, so before work, it's usually a couple of pieces of toast and some tea.

But weekends and vacation days, I get to have fun.

Recently, I made these chilaquiles (which took a bit more work as our broiler no longer works...sob).  

He didn't quite lick the bowl clean, but it was a near thing.

Easter breakfast

Whoa; I know. A post!

Easter dinner plans had to be rescheduled due to a Very Ill Child, but Matt still gets spoiled.

A solid layer of smoked salmon, soft and creamy scrambled eggs and a gorgeous, ripe avocado - all dotted with sriracha.

Some times, the simple things really are the best.

Irish breakfast dinner for St. Pat's

Forget stews or corned beef.

When we were in Ireland it was all about the breakfasts.

Wonderful, creamy eggs. Smoked salmon for Matt (just about every day). There were always potatoes, in some form.
And of course...the bread. Wonderful brown bread.

So that's what we made.

Eggs made the Nero Wolfe way: stirring constantly for a very, very long time.

Potatoes: baked potatoes cut into wedges, dipped in buttermilk then a mixture of flour, cayenne, salt & pepper (twice), then deep-fried.

Bangers for Matt. Yes, they're hard to find but I lucked out (The Vermont Country Store, I thank you).

And brown bread. Perfect, amazing bread with Kerrygold butter.

Mugs of Brigadoon tea from Adagio Teas...& it was almost like being back.