Green Eggs & Bacon with Spinach Pesto

We are currently trying to get our health back on track and eating Paleo most of the time seems to work best for us to do this. And the reason we both believe Paleo works best for us is because when eating Paleo we never feel like we are dieting or missing out on great tasting foods. 

Some people find Paleo breakfast the most challenging especially if you are not a big egg eater. I have to admit prior to starting Paleo about 5 years ago, really the only kind of eggs I liked was scrambled or hard fried. 

Now any egg, any way makes the cut. We definitely eat a lot of eggs around here and we feel incredibly fortunate because a good family friend starting raising her own chickens a few years ago so now we get farm fresh, organic eggs delivered to our porch once a week. It's a great treat.

But we have found that mixing up how we prepare our eggs on the weekends really helps breakfast be something to look forward to. And this recipe, a play on green eggs & ham, was a great one to get us out of bed on a lazy Sunday morning. 

We first started by whipping up a quick spinach pesto. Now it's Paleo pesto so no parmesan cheese and walnuts instead of pine nuts but trust us you won't miss them and the drizzle of pesto over the eggs definitely brings a zesty addition to this dish.

We started by plating with a layer of spinach sautéed in coconut oil and garlic first. 

Followed with a layer of crispy bacon topped with two sunny side up fried eggs and then drizzled with our yummy spinach pesto. We added a few slices of avocado to balance out the textures.

This was a great and satisfying breakfast that met our Paleo parameters. Whether you are following a Paleo lifestyle or not we highly recommend this breakfast dish. It's likely you might even just have all of these ingredients in hand too, we did. 

Recipe:

Green Eggs & Bacon with Spinach Pesto

2 cups fresh spinach leaves, well-washed and stemmed

1⁄2 cup fresh basil

1⁄2 cup walnuts toasted

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt

1⁄8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Place all ingredients into food processor and process to a fine paste.

Taste and adjust seasonings and transfer to a glass container and top with a thin coat of olive oil to prevent the top of the pesto from discoloring.

Keeps for weeks in the refrigerator.

Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict

Days like New Year's Day call for something just a little extra special. And this recipe for Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict is exactly one of those extra special recipes deserving of kicking off a whole new year. 

It's so funny up until about 5 years ago you couldn't get me to eat an egg that wasn't either scrambled or fried until the yolks were hard. But now that I've found a profound kind of love for poached eggs breakfast has become somewhat limitless in possibilities. Once I learned how delicious eggs Benedict actually really is I've been playing around with all sorts of versions.

This particular one is combination of holiday extravagance and the beauty of living in the Pacific Northwest where Dungeness crab is definitely king. 

As decadent as it is beyond the hollandaise sauce which can be tricky at times it really isn't that complicated to make. We've started getting fresh eggs from a friend's chickens so poaching these fresh eggs is a treat of sorts. We bought cooked Dungeness crab from our local Metropolitan Market fish monger.

Since becoming an eggs Benedict fan I've been trying to learn how to best poach eggs and make a good hollandaise sauce. To be honest I don't have much advice to offer in regards to poaching the eggs, sometimes they turn out great, sometimes it's a complete disaster so I'm far from an expert at making poached eggs.

Here's a link to the YouTube video that we watched over and over when we first started to learn how to best poach eggs: YouTube Video. 

As far as the hollandaise sauce we've found using the blender version of the recipe from The Joy of Cooking makes a delicious and fresh sauce. Using clarified butter is key we believe in making it taste fantastic. 

Recipe:

Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict:

Makes 2 servings

For Benedict:

4 fresh eggs poached

2 English muffins, split and toasted

1/4 lb. cooked & prepared Dungeness crab meat

Hollandaise Sauce (adapted from The Joy of Cooking):

3 large egg yolks

1 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Ground black pepper to taste

1 dash hot sauce (optional)

Salt to taste

1/2 Cup warm to hot clarified butter

In blender blend on high speed for 1 minute the egg yolks, lemon juice, pepper, salt & hot sauce. With machine still running slowly add in a steady stream the melted butter-about 1 minute until sauce is thickened.

On toasted English muffins add cooked crab meat, top with poached egg on each half muffin, drizzle warm hollandaise sauce over muffins. Add fresh ground pepper.

Salmon Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise Sauce

One of our family favorite breakfasts has become the Avocado Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise that I found on the The Foodie Bride's site several years ago. 

July 22, 2012 Photo

I think the first time I posted about it was July 2011. Since then we probably make it 5-6 times a year. 

It's rich. It's decadent. It's special for an occasion or simple enough for any old Sunday. We just love it. I think it's really the chipotle hollandaise that really attracts us to it. It's just almost to die for kinda good. 

Last weekend G had a great day fishing which means we had fresh salmon for dinner and some left over to play with the next day. I decided to give it a try with this eggs Benedict recipe.

When we are trying to stick to Paleo we skip the English muffin. But we go back to Paleo next week so we splurged this last weekend. I started by adding the avocado mashed with some lime, salt & pepper to the English muffins.

Next I added some salmon fillets.

Followed with poached eggs. 

And finally the scrumptious chipotle hollandaise sauce garnished with a little cilantro. 

It was definitely a treat. One that we used to soak in the last few rays of sun eating breakfast on the patio and decadent food. 

RECIPE:

Chipotle Hollandaise Sauce ( adapted from the Foodie Bride)

• 2 egg yolks
• Juice of 1 small lemon
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 chipotle & 1 Tbsp adobo sauce (from canned chipotles in adobo)
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 2 Tblspns chopped cilantro

1. Place egg yolks, lemon, salt, chipotle and adobo sauce in the blender.
2. Blend for 30 seconds before streaming in the melted butter
3. Serve immediately
4. Sprinkle with cilantro

Bacon Egg Puff Pastry Tart

 

We don't really make much ado about breakfast beyond the occasional Sunday. But it does seem like we are always looking for a new Sunday morning dish because we typically stick to the same few favorites.

 

I came across a recipe for a Puff Pastry Tart on the blog French Press while disappointingly awake at 5:30 a.m. on one of only 2 days I get to sleep in. And typically as I grumpily accept being awake on these mornings I either watch cooking shows or cruise foodgawker to awaken my stomach as well. This recipe found while cruising served as inspiration and made me think, "mmmmm...we have some puff pastry in the freezer pretty sure we could pull this off this morning." This is where the 5:30 a.m. thing actually worked in our favor. I got up and took the puff pastry out of the freezer allowing it to defrost before we decide to really get up on this Sunday. I have a previous somewhat kitchen disaster type story while once trying to defrost frozen puff pastry in the microwave....yeah, don't try that.

 

 

With defrosted puff pastry and some leftover cooked bacon in the fridge this tart came together so quickly. And it's really a very versatile recipe as well. We ended up using sliced mozzarella as the base because that's what we had but you could use just about any type of cheese or meat. Canadian bacon or pancetta would both be great.

 

 

 

Our patio basil is going crazy so I added some to top the tart off after coming out of the oven.

 

 

I actually can't wait to make this one again and change up a few flavors. It makes for a great base recipe and even better its simple enough for a last minute Sunday breakfast but special enough to make for guests or a special occasion.

 

RECIPE:

 



Bacon & Egg Puff Pastry Tart

 

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of puff pastry {thawed}
• 5 slices  Mozzarella cheese
• 1 Tbsp finely diced chives
• 6 strips of bacon {cooked & sliced}
• egg wash {1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp milk}
• 6 eggs
• 1 bunch torn fresh basil
• salt and pepper

 

Instructions

• pre-heat the oven to 425
• on a lightly floured surface roll the puff pasty into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick
• with a sharp knife cut a "border" of about 1/2 inch around the entire rectangle
• prick only the center of the rectangle with the tines of a fork
• Layout the slices of cheese across the pastry
• sprinkle with the chives, and top with bacon
• brush the edges with the egg wash
• bake tart for 10 minutes
• crack the eggs onto the tart, season to taste with salt and pepper
• return to the oven for another 10 minutes {or until the eggs are done to your liking}
• sprinkle with fresh basil & additional chives

 



Polenta with Mushrooms, Asparagus & Poached Eggs

We had one of our typical late get up kind of Sunday mornings. Once finally ready to take on the world we lounged on the patio enjoying G's favorite morning latte' and a chai latte' for me while flipping through our latest Rachael Ray Everyday magazine. 

This recipe motivated us to make some brunch with mimosas. The creamy polenta with the egg yolk was pretty divine we must admit. A quick brunch recipe with ingredients we had on hand made it fairly perfect. 

Recipe:

Polenta with Mushrooms, Asparagus & Poached Eggs Adapted from Everyday Rachael Ray 

3 tspn Olive Oil

1 Cup sliced mushrooms 

5 asparagus sliced on an angle

1 twig fresh thyme chopped

3 clove garlic, diced

Salt & Pepper

1/4 cup marsala

1 1/2 Cup chicken stock

3/4 Cup instant polenta

1/2 Cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

2 tblspn buttter

2 eggs

1) Saute mushrooms and asparagus in skillet with olive oil until browned about 10 minutes. Add garlic, salt & pepper. Add marsala until the liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes.

2) While veggies cook, bring stock and water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and whisk in polenta. Stir until polenta thickens 3-5 minutes. Stir in cheese and butter.

3) Poach eggs.

4) Divide the polenta among bowls. Make a well, then fill with mushroom mixture. Top each with a poached egg. 

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Bakers we are not!

But there is one thing we both do really love that is baked from the oven and that is blueberry muffins. We've been making a recipe from the good ole' Betty Crocker cookbook for blueberry muffins with a streusel topping for longer than we've been married that we crave. But we haven't made them in years.

So when I came across this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Ricotta pound cake from Trials in Food on Foodgawker I thought, mmmm....I bet I could make these into muffins for breakfast. 

So I researched the difference in cooking times from a cake to cupcakes and decided to go for it.

I used all whole wheat flour.

They from the start were pretty goopy. But not being much of a baker I wasn't sure really what to expect. My research found recommended cooking the muffin for 25-30 minutes as opposed to the 80 minutes that was used in the Trials in Food post. I actually ended up cooking close to 45 minutes in the end.

The came out not quite what I was expecting compared to other photos I had seen. Maybe it was the whole wheat flour, who knows.

But they tasted delish. 

Dense but moist and complete.

I am pretty sure that stick and a half of butter had something to do with that.

I think it may have helped if I would have read the post from the original Simply Recipes because she recommended making sure all of your ingredients were at room temperature before preparing. This may have helped with the appearance of my muffins. 

RECIPE:

Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Muffins (adapted from Trials in Food from Simply Recipes)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup  ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar 

3 large eggs

1 tbsp lemon zest 

1 cup  blueberries 

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare muffin tin, line with cupcake wrappers.

 In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Use an electric mixer (you can mix by hand but will get better results if you use an electric mixer) to beat together the butter, ricotta, and sugar, on high speed, for 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for one minute after each addition. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little curdled at this point. It isn’t curdled, it just looks that way.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions, until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Stir in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula. Place on a baking sheet on the middle oven rack of the oven. (This will help moderate the temperature at the bottom of the pan. I didn’t do this) Bake for 25-30 minutes (I baked for about 45 min), or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes in the pan. 

Spanish Tortilla with Chorizo

Weekend breakfast around here is more appropriately called brunch I suppose given we are far from early risers on weekend mornings. We feel pretty lucky to have a bully that also loves to leisurely rise as we do.

We definitely don't do big breakfasts often as once we are up and about we feel the need to get on with the day I suppose. But this weekend was our 13th wedding anniversary and we choose to stick close to home and enjoy some local scenes and just be in our lovely home that we rarely spend time in during the summer months. 

So a special breakfast was in order.

A few years ago I started making a simple but wonderful Spanish tortilla. Of course since I hadn't made in some time I couldn't find the exact recipe so I just decided to go from what I remembered and add some red peppers and chorizo to make it more appealing to G.

I started with browning the chorizo ,

and then slicing my potatoes on the mandolin. It's kind of funny, I remember thinking when I bought this $30 mandolin about 4 years ago that it would be such a waste because I only made scalloped potatoes once or twice a year. Now I believe it was possibly the best $30 spent on a kitchen gadget. Although we definitely don't  use it daily when we do use it it's a huge time saver in cutting things thin and uniformly. 

Adding some onions, red pepper and basil gave some good flavor to the tortilla too.

It was pretty tasty if we say so ourselves. Our cast iron skillet needs some better seasoning done as it did stick when I turned it over sadly.

But it still tasted great. 

A complete meal in one skillet.

Brunch on the patio is always a great way to kick off a day, anniversary or not.

RECIPE:

Tortilla with Chorizo

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1/2 pound bulk chorizo
• 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced inch thick
• 1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 
  

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium ovenproof nonstick skillet, 1/2 heat oil over medium. Add chorizo, cook until browned.
   Add potatoes, bell pepper, and onion; season with salt and pepper (skillet will be very full). Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are crisp-tender, 14 to 16 minutes. Uncover, and cook off excess liquid, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. 
   
   In a bowl, whisk together eggs, basil, hot sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper. Pour egg mixture over vegetables in skillet, and stir to distribute evenly. With the back of a spatula, press down on vegetables so they lay flat and are submerged.
3. 
   
   Bake until tortilla is set, 12 to 16 minutes. To unmold, run a rubber spatula around edge of skillet to release tortilla; invert onto a serving plate. Drizzle tortilla with oil; garnish with parsley.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Mexican Baked Eggs

Baked eggs are new to us. This isn't a dish that we've been eating for years and years. But lately we've been trying some new versions this recipe.

And of course you can predict we'd want to make a version with some Mexican flare. But for a Sunday morning we also wanted  it to be fairly simple as well. We started with some fire-roasted tomatoes that were already 

diced, flavored and ready to go.

And then we cooked some of our favorite bulk chorizo that we get from Metropolitan Market and added the tomatoes. 

To the bottom of two ramekins we added the chorizo and tomato mixture. 

Then we cracked two eggs per ramekin over the tomato mixture.

Finally we grated some Manchego cheese over the top with some salt & pepper.

We then chopped some chives over top and served with some crispy buttered toast. Without the toast this makes a great Paleo breakfast as well.

Recipe:

 

Mexican Baked Eggs

1 can Fire Roasted, diced tomatoes (we only used about half of the can)

1/4 lb. bulk chorizo

2 cloves minced garlic

4 eggs

4 Tablespoons grated Manchego cheese

Chopped chives

Sliced avocado

Buttered toast

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook chorizo on stovetop until brown. Add 1/2 can of the fire roasted tomatoes and the minced garlic. Add tomato mixture to bottom of two ramekins. Crack two eggs into each ramekin. Add grated cheese.

Bake eggs about 8-10 minutes until egg whites are set but yolk is still runny. Serve with chopped chives, sliced avocados and buttered toast. 

Smoked Salmon Hash with Poached Eggs and Horseradish Cream

It seems like we are kind of on a breakfast roll lately so we decided to just go with it.

This is a recipe we've shared before but since it's our absolute favorite breakfast of all time we feel it's worth sharing again.

There is nothing better than the flavors of the horseradish cream with the smoked salmon.

It's truly the perfect breakfast for a nice Sunday. 

Recipe:

Smoked Salmon Hash with Poached egg and Horseradish cream

2 Cups quartered Yukon or red potatoes

1 Cup white onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Salt & Pepper

1 Cup heavy cream

1/4 Cup prepared horseradish cream

2 eggs

1 Cup smoked salmon

In cast iron skillet fry quartered baby Yukon & red potatoes. Add diced white onion. Add diced garlic.  Season with salt & pepper and cook until crispy on outside & soft on inside.

While potatoes cook simmer heavy cream with horseradish cream. Simmer until thickened. Chop a bunch of chives Poach eggs for each dish. Add chunks of smoked salmon to potatoes; cook just long enough to heat salmon.

Plate potatoes with salmon. Top with 1 poached egg per plate. Add cream sauce over egg and sprinkle with chopped chives.

Salmon & Herb Baked Eggs

With Fall finally settling in comfort breakfasts are happening a little more regularly on the few leisurely Sunday mornings we have around here.

Baked eggs was just not a dish either of us had much exposure to before a stay at Abeja Vineyards for our 10th anniversary a few years back. But now it's one that brings both comfort and warmth to the mornings we have the opportunity to enjoy them.

We decided to kick it up a bit on this late, loungey kind of morning. Our patio herb garden was overgrown with basil that needed to put to use and we had some wonderful smoked salmon left over that was also screaming to be cooked with some eggs. 

We decided to open some of our favorite sparkling wine, Sofia, to enjoy on our slow kind of kick off of the day.

Although baked eggs aren't exactly difficult they do involve a few steps that take some attention.

First I chopped the basil and grated some parm and added some minced garlic.

Into two ramekins I added cream and butter and broiled until brown and bubbly.

Carefully sprinkle with salmon,

then add the eggs being mindful not to break the yolks add plenty of salt & pepper.

Then sprinkle with the herb, garlic and cheese mixture.

Broil again for 5-6 minutes until eggs are almost cooked.

So creamy, savory and wonderful.

RECIPE:

Salmon & Herb Baked Eggs

• 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped smoked salmon
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Toasted crusty bread for serving

Directions

Preheat the broiler for 5 minutes and place the oven rack 6 inches below the heat.

Combine the garlic, basil parsley, and Parmesan and set aside. Carefully crack 2 eggs into each of 2 small bowls without breaking the yolks.

Place 2 individual ramekins on a baking sheet. Place 1 tablespoon of cream and 1/2 tablespoon of butter in each dish and place under the broiler for about 3 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle each with the chopped salmon. Quickly, but carefully, pour 3 eggs into each ramekin and  the basil & parsley mixture, then sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Place back under the broiler for 5 to 6 minutes, until the whites of the eggs are almost cooked. (Rotate the baking sheet once if they aren't cooking evenly.) The eggs will continue to cook after you take them out of the oven. Allow to set for 60 seconds and serve hot with toasted bread.