Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

The kids wanted to cook breakfast this morning, so Lydia browsed through her many cookbooks for kids, and settled on Cheesy Scrambled Eggs with fun-shaped toast.



The kids did this all by themselves, and I'm very proud of them. Lydia still needs to focus more and pay better attention to the recipe instructions, but she's definitely showing improvement!

They spread their toast with some mayhaw jelly that Brad's cousin Emily gave us for Christmas. I've only ever seen it around here, but if you can find it in your area, it's delicious! It has a nice, mild, mellow flavor, and the best I can compare it to is the pomegranate jelly my mom used to make when we lived in Spain. There were several pomegranate trees on base, growing wild, and we could pick a bunch of 10-gallon pickle buckets' full for free. Imagine how much that would cost at the store. Yikes! Anyway, the mayhaw jelly has a similar flavor to pomegranate jelly, and is so good on toast.

I had more leftover Thai Tofu Wraps from last night, since the eggs obviously weren't vegan, but the girls loved them!

Here's Miss Meg, proudly sporting her Monkeywoman t-shirt from Mary. Please forgive the bedhead, since this was Saturday breakfast, and we're being lazy this morning.



And Lydia gives the breakfast a thumbs up!



Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

3 eggs
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp margarine
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
bacon bits, if desired (we used Bacos)

Whisk together the eggs and milk. Melt margarine in a skillet over medium heat. When the margarine is melted and bubbling, add the eggs. Leave them alone for 1 minute, then stir gently until the eggs are scrambled and set. Remove from heat, add the cheese, and stir until the cheese is melted. Add bacon bits, if desired, and serve immediately.

My take on tamagoyaki

I started making tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled eggs) last year when I began packing bentos for the kids, and Meg has been hooked ever since!  That girl has an astonishing affinity for eggs, particularly of the hard-boiled, scrambled or omelet variety.  One of her favorite things to eat is a plain egg omelet...no cheese, no meat, no veggies, just eggs.  Tamagoyaki is great in that regard, because it doesn't have any filling.  Traditional tamagoyaki has dashi stock, sugar, salt and soy sauce whisked into the egg before cooking.  For Lydia I usually just add soy sauce and sugar, for a nice salty/sweet flavor, but Meg prefers hers with just plain eggs and nothing else.



I learned to make tamagoyaki from this tutorial, and have been off and running ever since.  I have a cheapo rectangle pan that I bought at the Daiso in Japan, but I've had the best luck just using a standard crepe pan.  

Meg asked for this for breakfast this morning, so I whipped one up.  I will try to take more photos of the cooking process next time I make it, but for now, here it is:  the finished product!

She likes it!



Updated:  Meg requested this for breakfast again today, so I snapped a few more pictures of the process.  Here's how it looks after several layers, while the last layer is cooking.



Here it is all rolled up.



Then I used a sushi mat to shape it into a triangle, then sliced it and had time to quickly snap a picture before Meg devoured it.

Cheryl's Eggs Benedict

2 English muffins, split
2 Tbsp butter, softened
4 sliced Canadian bacon, cooked
4 poached eggs
Hollandaise sauce (below)

Prepare Hollandaise sauce. Spread cut sides of muffins with butter. Broil 3 inches from heat for 1 minute, or until lightly browned. Place a slice of Canadian bacon on each muffin half; top with poached egg, and cover with Hollandaise sauce.

Yield: 2 servings. And you don’t want to know the nutritional information. Trust me, these are worth it.


Hollandaise Sauce

3 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ c butter, cut into pieces

Whisk egg yolks, salt and red pepper in top of a double boiler; gradually add lemon juice, stirring constantly. Add about one-third of the butter to the egg mixture; cook over hot, not boiling, water, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until butter melts. Add another third of the butter, stirring constantly. As sauce begins to thicken, keep adding pieces of butter, whisking constantly until smooth. Serve immediately.

Breakfast Casserole

1/2 of a roll of breakfast sausage (I think that'd be 1/2 lb)
1 pkg frozen hash browns (diced or shredded)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cans diced green chiles, drained
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
8 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown the sausage, breaking into pieces, and drain thoroughly. Sprinkle evenly into a 9x13 pan. Layer potatoes, onions, chiles, and half of the cheese over sausage.
Whisk together eggs, milk and flour. Pour over all. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out mostly dry.

Note: To make this recipe vegetarian, omit the sausage.

Cheese Grits Casserole

2 lbs mild pork sausage
4 c water
1 ¼ c quick-cooking grits, uncooked
4 c (16 oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 c milk
½ tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp garlic powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown sausage in a large skillet, stirring until it crumbles. Drain well and set aside.

Bring water and salt to a boil in a large saucepan; stir in grits. Return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add cheese, milk, thyme and garlic powder, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in sausage and eggs.

Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish; sprinkle with paprika. Bake 350 for 1 hour or until thoroughly heated and lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Quick Quiche

4 eggs
1 c half-and-half
½ c mayonnaise
2 Tbsp flour
1/3 c diced onions
Salt and garlic powder
3 ounces shredded Swiss or sharp cheddar cheese
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350. Whip eggs, half-and-half, mayonnaise and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Quiche Lorraine

Pastry for 9” one-crust pie
8 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 c shredded Swiss cheese (4 oz)
1/3 c finely chopped onion
4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground red pepper

Heat oven to 425. Prepare pastry. Ease into 9” pie plate. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in shell. Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingredients. Pour into dish.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300. Bake about 30 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.