Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!

It’s Sunday morning, Labor Day weekend, beginning of a new month, second day into a beautiful Blue Moon, and I am thinking about breakfast. I prefer to eat breakfast after waking gently over a cup of coffee. On the weekend I like to eat brunch rather than breakfast and sometimes have it with a Bloody Mary.

Try garnishing your Bloody with different toppings such as draping a shrimp cocktail over the glass or skewer a combination of cocktail onion, cornichon, olives and roasted red pepper. Another fun combo are pickled mushrooms and fresh cherry tomatoes.

ON TO SOME FOOD…

Here are two different BREAKFAST SANDWICHES

This wonderful blend of flavors goes very well with a Bloody Mary. Lightly fry an egg over easy. Try not to break the yoke. Top with a handful of fresh spinach and a generous amount of crumbled feta cheese.  Put a lid on the frying pan to steam the spinach and slightly melt the cheese. To make this sandwich even better, butter 2 slices of whole grain bread on both sides and fry it until golden brown. Serve the egg on the fried bread along with a small green salad.

Slice a few pieces of proscuitto into strips and fry it as you would bacon until it is nice and crispy. Toast a slice of bread (or fry it as above) and mash 1/2 of avocado on the bread. If the avocado is very ripe you can do this with the back of a spoon so there are still some chunks in the avocado. Top with a couple strips of proscuitto, egg fried over easy and a couple more pices of proscuitto on the top to garnish. Easy and delicious!

I have always wanted to make my own sausage and finally tried making it using a recipe from Alton Brown. I made this pork sausage pretty much just as the recipe called for, but next time I would add some fennel seed. I would really like to try some exotic sausage and stuff into casings, like smoked duck with apple or chicken sausage with sun-dried tomato and fresh basil.

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

Ingredients:
2 pounds pork butt (I used ground pork as it came from the store)
Alton calls for cutting into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 lb. fat back, diced into 1/4 inch pieces. (Because I bought my pork already ground there was plentry of fat in it so I skipped this ingredient.)
1 tsp. Kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. finely chopped sage
2 tsp. finely chopped thyme
1/2 tsp. finely chopped rosemary
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper flake

Preparation:
Combine diced pork with all other ingredients and chill for 1 hour. Using the fine blade of a grinder, grind the pork or as I did buy it already ground. Form into 2 inch rounds. Refrigerate and use within 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. For immediate use, saute the patties over medium-low heat in a non-stock pan. Saute until brown and cooked thoroughly, approximately 10-15 minutes.

This plate could use a sprig of parsley or something to brighten it up!

These eggs are so yellow because they are farm fresh eggs. To make perfect scrambled eggs, lightly beat 2 extra-large eggs in a bowl, add a slight pinch of salt, and a scant 1/4 cup either milk or water. Beat lovingly with a fork until mixed. Get a non-stick frying pan sprayed with a little cooking oil hot and pour the eggs into the pan. Turn down heat to medium right away. Twirl the pan, but do not stir the eggs. When the edges of the egg start to thicken up, then you can very gently start folding the egg onto itself. Keep folding until it is cooked-3 to 4 minutes. The eggs will look soft and hold together well. That doesn’t sound like much time, but the eggs keep cooking when you take them off the heat. Overcooked scrambled eggs are not good. I served with a few slices of avocado and a heated whole grain tortilla.

This is what I ended up making for breakfast this morning. It was absolutely yummy!! Start by laying out 4 pieces of smoked salmon/2 slices per poached egg. My tomatoes are just ripening so I include them with almost every meal. Slice a few tomatoes, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and garnish with a sprig of basil. To poach the eggs, fill a frying pan with water nearly to the top, add 1/4 cap of vinegar. Any vinegar is fine, but tarragon infused vinegar adds a very subtle flavor. This keeps the eggs from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Bring the water to a roiling, but gentle boil. Open each egg into individual small bowl or custard cup. This helps keep the egg intact as it hits the boiling water. Gently pour the egg into the water and poach until the white firms up. Skim water over the top of the eggs as they poach to form a “skin” over the yoke.

OK! That’s better…now I am having some fun!