Christmas Breakfast for One

Merry Christmas!

I'm blessed.  This is the view from my front door.  The mountain isn't fake; I didn't photoshop it; it's Pike's Peak and I live in Colorado Springs.   I really took this photo.

Merry Christmas to you!  If you're cooking for just your wonderful self this Christmas morning, you're blessed to be up and about and turning on the stove.  I hope you already made your coffee, fed the cat, brought in the paper, and maybe turned on some Christmas music.

Three Tenors' Christmas Concert

A lovely quick and filling breakfast can be had in one sweet little skillet.   If you'd like some scones to go with the eggs, I give a recipe at the bottom.  Do make the scones first!  Share the rest with a neighbor or wrap them well, store in the fridge, and have with your tea or a finger or two of scotch over the next few days.

Try this:

christmas breakfast for one--your own frittata

2 teaspoons butter or olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups fresh spinach
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, optional
kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and crushed red pepper
1/3 cup cooked green beans, optional
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
2 eggs, beaten with a teaspoon of water
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

              Aside:  If you're having a special drink, fix it first and put it at the table.  

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place oven-safe plate within to warm.

To an 8-inch non-stick skillet heated over medium heat, add butter or olive oil, onion, garlic, spinach, basil (if using), and cooked green beans.  Season generously with a good pinch of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and a capital-T tiny pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, until vegetables are softened.

            Aside:  If you're having toast, push it down now.

Add tomatoes and cook until heated through, 1-2 minutes.  Pour beaten egg mixture over the vegetables and lower heat a bit.  Cover and cook another 2-3 minutes or until eggs are set to your liking.

Remove warmed plate from the oven and, having the courage of your Christmas convictions, flip skillet upside down over the plate so that frittata sits looking right at you, bottom-side up.

Serve hot with a Bloody Mary, a Mimosa, or a great big cup of coffee.

  P.S.  This lovely frittata is also tasty warm or even cold.
                                                           ………………..

irish fruit scones     makes about 10  2-inch scones

Adapted for American kitchens-   original recipe by Edmund Cronin, THATCH COTTAGE, County Kerry  

 INGREDIENTS:

•  8 ounces all purpose, unbleached flour (1 3/4 cups approx.)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 50 g (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons) butter
• 50 g (2 ounces or 1/3 cup) granulated sugar
• 75 g (3 ounces or 1/2 cup) sultanas (raisins)--I used currants
• 1/4 pint/ 125 ml (1/2 cup approx) milk       

Cut-out scones waiting to be baked.

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (425 F/ gas mark 7)
2. Lightly grease a small baking sheet.
3. Mix together flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl.  Cut in butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in sugar and raisins or currants.
4. Add milk and mix to produce a soft dough.
5. Turn the dough onto a floured board or counter and knead about a minute until well-combined and holding together.
6. Roll out dough to about 3/4-inch thick.  Using a floured 2-inch cutter, cut scones into rounds and place on baking tray.
7. Brush with milk to glaze.
8. Bake 12 minutes or until done to your liking; I like them a bit crisp on the outside.
9. Remove scones to a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature with soft Irish butter. (The Irish and many others might serve these with whipped cream rather than butter.)

Baker's notes:  I used a food processor fitted with a steel blade for steps 1-4, but I turned the mixture out and did the rest by hand, including working in the last of the milk.  The dried fruit would be chopped finely if you continued in the food processor much longer.  To do the whole thing by hand or with a pastry cutter would be fairly quick and simple, as well.  Some cooks would just use their hands to get the butter into the flour; I find it melts too much from the heat of my hands and prefer a metal cutting force of some sort--either the pastry cutter or the food processor blade.

Scone Song...listen here.  

If this breakfast doesn't appeal to you, there are lots of others on this blog...check out the labels at the bottom and look at breakfast …or look at last Christmas' omelet with a Blueberry-Cranberry Muffin.

I really liked this slideshow with recipes for 32 Christmas breakfast ideas from SAVEUR.  Check it out just for fun.

I hope you had fun cooking for yourself,

Alyce