Mexican Baked Eggs

We are lovers of all things breakfast in the Coats house. If you were to look at our meal plan every week you would most likely see brinner (breakfast for dinner) at least once. Breakfast food is so good! I don't know what it is about it. But with our busy schedules, we don't often eat good breakfasts. I mean who has the time to cook a huge breakfast in the morning? Not us.

I did a summer study abroad in Mexico while in college and we stayed with this sweet Mexican woman. She was so nice and treated us like her kids...maybe better than her kids. She left for work early in the morning, but still managed to make breakfast for us before she left. Knowing we were lazy college kids she didn't wake us up, but instead left our food covered up and ready to heat back up. Every time I woke up it was like Christmas morning going down stairs, giddy to see what delicious gift was waiting to be unwrapped. Then we would watch some Mexican version of Jerry Springer and try to figure out what was going on while we ate. Those were simpler times.

Pasta Carbonara

Pasta Carbonara got second place in our vote and I have been very excited to make it ever since. I know I'm not supposed to tell, but this is what I voted for. As you all know by now I'm obsessed with eggs...and bacon...and butter...and this pasta has it all. 

Source

Egg-in-a-hole

Hi everyone, my name is Matt and I’m an egg-aholic. I have been trying to cut back, but it’s just too hard and this morning I had a hardcore relapse. I decided to write this post just minutes after I finished my breakfast so I can capture the emotion of my food high! I always have my eye on a ton of recipes that I want to make, but I just never make them. I am an ambitious lazy cook. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true. I get excited to make all these cool things, but never do. This morning I decided to do something about it.   

Picture by Holli Coats

Huevos Rancheros mis amigos!

After a brief hiatus from the blog, I am back! Holli has done a great job blogging lately and has even posted some recipes! Poor thing…she’s a good cook, but just doesn’t like to do it. Working full time and with the baby I just don’t get to do the extravagant meals that I enjoy. However, on our way to Utah I took a gander at Spirit magazine on Southwest Airlines. I must admit I love their dollar bill origami. In April’s issue the main article was on eggs and I found this recipe. One thing you must know about me is I love eggs. If I can put an egg on something I will. The Moco-Loco Hawaiian plate lunch (rice with a beef patty gravy and an egg on top) LOVE IT! The Royal Burger from Red Robin (Burger with an egg on it) LOVE IT! Eggs Benedict LOVE IT! I wouldn’t go as far as the Rocky raw egg shake, but let it be known I love eggs!

Grits so good it will melt your face off!

Trust me when you eat these grits it will be like that Nazi who looked in the Ark in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Last Ark! If you do not get that reference you should take some time out of your day to watch that movie. Since coming to Virginia about 5 years ago, I have heard southerners rave about the southern staple known as grits. I decided to give them a go several years back and almost gagged. Over and over again I was duped by some smooth talking southerner to try them again. Every time I naively gave them another try I was left with the same result, Barf! I admit I didn’t have too high of hopes for grits in places like waffle house or even quick grits from Wal-Mart, but I was confused with the wonderful flavors of southern food and the bland and tasteless flavor of their ever so popular grits. They would tell me to load it up with cheese and butter and bacon, but even with the celestial meat known as bacon I could not choke grits down.

Then I ate at a little restaurant in Lexington known as the Red Hen. (www.redhenlex.com/) One of the main courses included grits and rabbit bacon. I was so excited about the rabbit bacon I completely ignored the grits altogether. When the food arrived I looked at my plate and saw the grits. My heart sank! “Why did I order this?” I thought! Then I decided to just suck it up and give them one last try. This was in fact a high class restaurant. The first bite with the grits and rabbit bacon was like biting into heaven itself! The grits were almost as good as the rabbit bacon, which is on a very short list of the best things I ever ate! From that moment I became a true convert! I knew that not all grits were created equal. So I asked the waitress what kind of grits they used and she said they used stone ground white grits from Wades Mill here in Rockbridge County.

It’s been over a year since I had them and I am not sure why I didn’t make this trip sooner. This Saturday we made a trip to Wades Mill. It was so cool! They use local ingredients from the Rockbridge County Farmers Co-op and stone grind everything from grits, flour, polenta, to barley. They have pancake mixes, bread mixes, and beer bread mixes. I got a small bag of yellow and white grits. Then this morning made creamy stone-ground grits with bacon and cheddar and threw on a fried egg to top it off. It was awesome! Not quite Red Hen quality, but close. If you do not live close to Rockbridge County here is wades mills web site (www.wadesmill.com). Now all my friends out west can order grits if they want to. This recipe is worth your time!

Creamy Stone Ground Grits

Ingredients
4 cups water
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup coarse stone-ground white grits
1 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preperation
Bring water, salt, and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan, then add grits gradually, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, covered, stirring frequently, until water is absorbed and grits are thickened, about 15 minutes.
Stir in 1/2 cup milk and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally to keep grits from sticking to bottom of pan, 10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and grits are thick and tender, about 35 minutes more. (Grits will have a soft, mashed-potato-like consistency.)
Stir in pepper and remaining tablespoon butter.

Decisions, Decisions

Matt here! I have been thinking a lot of my of hamburgers. I have also been wanting to make eggs benedict. So I started thinking… what if I make an egg benedict hamburger? I would have a hamburger patty and Canadian bacon on it for sure. I’m not sure if I would want to put a poached egg or fried egg and I’m also debating if I would want to use a burger bun or an English muffin. Is there anything else that would be good? Caramelized onions would be good, but would that take away from the classic eggs benedict? (of course I’m straying away from the classic because I’m making a hamburger) To top it off I would add a hollandaise sauce and maybe a little chopped fresh parsley. What are your thoughts? I want to make a cool hamburger before summer is over. I need some feedback and maybe I’ll start fiddling around with some things. Oh, I just thought of a name…The Traitor!

Another decision I need help with is which font to use for Holli’s logo. I have been working on one, but we are having a hard time choosing one. So I figure we would put it up to a vote.

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4

I would love as much input on these two topics as I can. Thanks for your help!

Bacon, egg, and Toast Cups

Saw this in Martha Stewart Everyday Food (Don’t judge me). It was super easy to make and had normal breakfast ingredients that we already had. It made for a nice Sunday breakfast! It was a fancy spin on a normal everyday breakfast or brunch. I may try to make a hollandaise sauce to drizzle over next time and Holli wants to try it with sausage. You can even do different variations in the same muffin tin. There are so many things you can do with this! Try getting this at a Waffle House!

Bacon, Egg, and Toast Cups

Total Cook Time: about 35 minutes

3 Tablespoons Unsalted butter, melted

8 Slices of White or Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread

6 Slices of Bacon

6 Large Eggs

Corse salt and Ground Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly butter six standard muffin cups. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slightly and, with a 4 ¼ - inch cookie cutter, cut into 8 rounds. Cut each round in half, then press 2 halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly making sure that bread comes up to the edge of the cup. Use extra bread to patch any gaps. Brush bread with remaining butter.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp, 4 min, flipping once. (It will continue to cook in the oven.) Lay 1 slice of bacon in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20-25 minutes. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toast. Serve immediately.

Try cook crumbled sausage in place of bacon or make a vegetarian dish with sautéed spinach.

Lost

Well Lost is over, but we took it out with a bang! For the past few months we have been having Lost dinner nights with our friends Stephanie and Michael. We would switch off making a fancy dinner or a fancy desert. This week we combined forces and made a five course dinner. We started off with a salad with bacon vinaigrette and a poached egg next was carrot apple bisque, then a balsamic cherry tomato bruchetta. The main course was homemade cheese ravioli with a roasted garlic and tomato cream sauce. Desert was the crème brulee recipe that I posted last week. Let's just say it was delicious and I shed a tear for every course. I was even more satisfied after watching the LOST series finale. Ok here are a couple of recipes.

Frisée Salad with Bacon-Shallot Vinaigrette

Ingredients

3 slice(s) bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

12 ounce(s) (2 to 3 heads) frisée or 2 bags (5 to 6 oz. each) mixed baby salad greens

1 medium shallot, minced

2 tablespoon(s) white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon(s) Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon(s) salt

1/4 teaspoon(s) pepper

2 tablespoon(s) olive oil

6 large eggs

Directions

In 2-quart saucepan, cook bacon on medium 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, heat 1 inch water to boiling on high to poach eggs in later. Trim and discard stem ends from frisée; cut leaves into bite-size pieces. Place greens in large bowl.

Remove saucepan from heat. With slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain; discard all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat.

Into bacon fat remaining in skillet, whisk shallot, vinegar, Dijon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper. In slow, steady stream, whisk in oil until combined. Add warm vinaigrette to bowl with frisée and toss until evenly coated.

Reduce skillet heat to medium to maintain water at gentle simmer. Break eggs, one at a time, into cup. Holding cup close to surface of water, slip in each egg. Cook eggs 3 to 5 minutes or until whites are set and yolks begin to thicken. With slotted spoon, lift out each egg and quickly drain, still in spoon, on paper towels.

To serve, divide frisée among 6 salad plates; top with bacon and egg. Sprinkle egg with coarsely ground black pepper if you like.

Carrot Apple Bisque

4 Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1 Tbsp. butter

4-8 C. chicken broth

1 large apple, chopped, or 1 C. apple sauce

1/2 C. heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/3 C. green onion or chives, minced

In a sauce pan, combine carrots with butter and 1 C. of the chicken broth. Cook, covered, until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes. Add apple and cook 5 more minutes. Remove pan from heat, take off lid and allow cooling for about 10 minutes. Whirl carrot mixture into a blender until smooth or force mixture through a strainer. You may need to add more chicken broth to blend. Return to saucepan. Stir in the cream and nutmeg. Stir in remaining chicken broth until the soup reaches the desired texture. I like mine a little more liquidy. Serve hot or cold. Top with chopped chives or green onions.