Creative Commons photo by bookgrl
Headed into the last stretch of the MIP, which was called 100 Breakfasts and will be something else, though we don’t know what yet. It will be out in January. (Yay!)
I’ve hit the stretch of the book when I’m not really doing anything but writing. For most of my process of writing a novel, I keep regular hours, write a regular number of pages, jog along at a nice, steady pace, taking the weekends off to rest and recharge.
At a certain point, right near the end, that all goes out the window, and I’m writing all day, every day, often going back into tinker late at night. The book world becomes my world and there’s really only enough of my brain to live in one world or the other, so the book wins. I do try to eat very healthy foods and get walks and exercise in on most days, to be kind to my body housing the brain, and I get a regular massage about once a month, which really helps work out those neck kinks and shoulder freezes.
I’m having a blast with this story, the town, the backstory, everything. I think you’re going to love it.
Delicious recipes, though I need more. Breakfast recipes, your favorites–if you send me something I can use, any kind of breakfast recipe, I’ll acknowledge you in the credits and send you a book of your choice. Post to the comments, or email them to me directly. (If you want credit, remember, I have to be able to contact you!)
Arroz a la Cubana
Half bowl of cooked white rice
Half-cup tomato sauce, heated just short of simmer.
Banana split lengthwise and fried in olive oil.
Two eggs over easy.
Pour the tomato sauce over the rice, top with banana and eggs. Salt and black pepper to taste. Cut it all up together and eat while its still hot. You can’t predict the taste from the ingredients — it’s great (and a favorite lunch dish in Spain.)
Japanese brunch item from Palace Hotel, San Francisco
Small bowl congee
Two soft-poached eggs
Soy sauce
I love breakfast. I don’t have my recipes with me but I tend to go for some variation of pancakes. There is a cafe near me that makes ricotta hotcakes with orange curd which I love, but I’m also a sucker for pancakes and crisp bacon and maple syrup. But I also love a chopped up potato, thinly sliced or in chunks (but it must be small pieces), chopped up chorizo, fry them in olive oil or butter so the potato is soft (and if you have chorizo full of paprika if will all go a deep and satisfying orange),then pour in three beaten eggs and cook on a lowish heat. You can try and flip it over if you want to so you get an omlette, but that never works for me and I end up with scrabbled egg (which is fine). Or you can put the fry pan under the grill and have a kind of fritata. Makes a good lazy dinner too.
These are really wonderful! Keep ’em coming.
If there are left over mashed potatoes the next morning, I warm a pan up with non stick spray, pat some potatoes into a patty and then lightly brown them. A pinch of salt, sometimes, and pepper to taste then comes my favorite part– cheddar cheese sliced very thin, placed on top.
It’s one of my comfort foods. 😉
Polenta and extra crispy bacon. Take leftover polenta from dinner and press into a bowl or glass dish to chill overnight.
Next morning, cut the polenta in slices. My grandfather from the old country used a string. Fry the bacon extra cripsy and set aside. Fry the polenta slices in the bacon drippings, and serve polenta and bacon with butter, or apple sauce, or real maple syrup. Sit quietly reading the newspaper until arteries finish clogging.
One of my favorite dinners is chicken cacciatore and polenta. Lucious red gravy (sauce) with many many olives. The polenta is a pain to make but I do it anyway. And I always make extra polenta for breakfast.
I love baked egg recipes. So here’s a frittata…
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes
vegetable oil spray
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1.25 cups chopped spinach
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
2/3 cup chopped ham
2 cups egg substitute (like egg beaters)
Directions:
Microwave potatoes 3 to 5 minutes on high, or until hot. Drain excess fat. Spray pie plate with vegetable oil spray. Pour in the egg substitute. Layer potatoes, salt & pepper, vegetables, meats, and 1 cup cheese into the pie plate. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350° for about 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool slightly before serving.
Breakfast really is comfort food, isn’t it?
Crustless Quiche
1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I use the feta that has sundried tomatoes in it.)
1/2 cup milk
Dill (A couple of pinches. This is optional.)
Cook spinach in microwave and drain it very well. Put spinach into a bowl. Add the other ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture into a shallow quiche dish and bake at 325 degrees, or until set.
I serve this with:
Greek Fried Potatoes
Peel 4 – 6 potatoes and cut them into 2 inch cubes.
Pour about a half inch of good olive oil into an iron skillet.
Heat the olive oil until it is very hot.
Carefully place the potato cubes into the skillet. If you’re not careful hot olive oil will fly everywhere. Trust me! I found that out the hard way.
As the potatoes are cooking, turn them over a lot so that they cook evenly on all sides.
Fry the potatoes until they are golden brown.
Place the potatoes on a paper towel so that any extra olive oil is absorbed.
Sprinkle salt and grated parmesan cheese on the hot potatoes and serve immediately.
The trick here is to turn the potatoes a lot and to use an iron skillet. The potatoes will end up with a sweet flavor from the olive oil and will be crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. My little Greek auntie used to make these just for me when I was little because I loved them so much.
Serve these dishes with some fresh fruit and some good breads and pastries and you’ve got a great breakfast.
Bake the quiche for 35 minutes, or until set. Oops! Left that part out.
Asian breakfasts…divine…
– Nasi Lemak from hawkers e.g. Malaysia, Singapore…
– Congee, esp. with thousand year egg (i.e. preserved eggs) + soy sauce + anything else you like to add (animals or veggies)
– Bhaji
– Roti
– can provide home-cooking recipes, if you’re interested
These are giving me so many new ideas! I’m still mulling what to include and how many directions to go, so please keep them coming!
Lizzie, please do email me your ideas: awriterafoot@gmail.com
I also do need a variety of breakfast casserole ideas, so anything you all have like that is great.
Also things that would utilize rice, chiles, beans, leftovers in unusual ways. (As with the polenta–thanks, Vicki.)
Keziah, The orange ricotta hotcakes sound divine. What’s the cafe?
My favorite quick breakfast now is a bowl of plain Greek yogurt, with a big handful of unsweetened mini-wheats mixed in, a little honey, and a heaping spoonful of either cinninmon or really good unsweatened cocoa powder.
I adore unsweetened greek yogurt with honey mixed in. Greek yogurt is unbelievably good. Really thick and rich and creamy (stand a spoon up in it thick) and tart, and very high in protein with not much fat. And it’s pretty easy to find. Trader Joe’s has their own brand and they also carry imported Fage Yogurt. The 2% fat is glorious.
Breakfast has always been non-standard for me because I was still pretty young when we figured out that I needed more protein and less sugar than the average kid breakfast.
Growing up, most of my schoolday breakfasts were some kind of hearty chicken/beef & veggie soup with a couple of hardboiled eggs cut in quarters and dropped right into the bowl.
I’m making myself hungrey 🙂
Vicki
Ooh, Vicki, I love Greek yogurt, too. That suodns very good. Never thought of adding cocoa powder. Maybe both cinnamon and cocoa powder!
probably too late, but I love mushrooms and bacon on toast.
butter (or olive oil) mushrooms (sliced), 2 rashers of bacon (per person) chopped, clove of garlic crushed, fresh thyme, pine nuts. Splash of wine
throw a knob of butter in a hot pan, add bacon and sliced mushrooms, then garlic, then pine nuts, then thyme. Cover and cook 2 minutes, shake pan occasionally so food doesn’t stick. Throw in a tiny splash of wine to moisten, if you need it (or maybe some worcestershire sauce.) Serve on good thick slice of toast. Season with salt and pepper.
Optional additions: squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.