Bacon-Granola Pancakes with Fried Egg or Your Very Own Broncos' Breakfast!

A cold and snowy morning at home.  Kept looking at my granola and wondering what I could do with it that would turn it into something warm.  Pancakes came to mind.  Eggs popped up right after that.   What came to be was a short stack of pancakes that had granola and minced, cooked bacon in them --all topped off with a fried egg and a swizzle of real maple syrup, garnished with a bit more granola. Heaven as I know it.

Years ago, I used to make Marion Cunningham's granola pancakes (just add granola), but I now make my own….She has always been a great breakfast inspiration and her Breakfast Book is one of my favorite cookbooks.

Alyce's granola--recipe below in blue  make my own granola link

Election Day Egg and Bacon Supper

You don't want to cook much tonight, but you want something to get you through until the wee hours of the morning.  TODAY SHOW'S  Savannah Guthrie says NBC news will be on until at least 3a.m.  So get your strength on with this quick breakfast for dinner.  Yes, there are some fried components (potatoes and bacon), but the eggs are poached and sit on gorgeous cheddar-smothered tomato slices with whole wheat English muffins.  Go ahead, tank up.

Apfel Pfannkuchen for One (Apple Pancake, German Pancake, Dutch Baby, Dutch Puff)

 

 I'm not sure there's anything better for breakfast (or breakfast for dinner)  than Apfel Pfannkuchen  (Apple Pancake).  Maybe there is and I don't know it.  Tender, eggy--almost custardy.  Puffy, sweet (not too), a light touch of cinnamon, buttery-- like a sweet Yorkshire pudding or a popover with fruit made in a pan.  If you've never had it, it's time you made it just for you.  

Would You Make Breakfast? Egg & Egg White Omelet Filled with Cottage Cheese on Whole Wheat Toast

 Tired of the same old, same old breakfast?  This little omelet (I cut it so you could see the filling...) sitting on a piece of whole wheat toast is so fast and so luscious.  Not only is it quick and nutritious (made with one egg and one egg white), it'll hold you until early afternoon.  No elevenses (tea and cookies in the UK) needed.   Serve it up with a few slices of great August tomatoes for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!   Try this:

An Egg with a Few Greens for Supper

Egg Salad

This is a light lunch/supper or could be a first course for dinner-- done in 5-10 minutes.  Sweet and filling.  Crunchy and soft.  Make extra dressing and keep in the frig.

Note:  Dressing keeps longer without the shallots or onions.  And you can skip the dressing totally if you make the egg quite soft (runny) and use that as dressing.  Yes.

"Egg Salad #2"  serves 2

4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
2 small tomatoes, sliced (Try the Mexican "brown" tomatoes--tasty and cheaper.)
2 carrots, sliced
1/4 c minced parsley
1/2 English cucumber, cut into thin half-moons
1t fresh lemon juice
2 poached eggs (slide raw eggs, each in a cup, into barely simmering water for 3-4 minutes til white is firm)

Dressing:  1 T balsamic vinegar, healthy pinch each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, 1t minced shallot or garlic, optional, 1/2 t honey, 1/4 t dijon-style mustard, 2T extra-virgin olive oil--Whisk salt into vinegar.  Whisk in all else, though drizzle in 1T olive oil at a time, being sure it's incorporated well before adding the second,)

1. Divide greens and vegetables between two large shallow bowls.  Drizzle equally with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Top with well-drained egg and drizzle with dressing.
3. Serve with a piece of hot, buttered whole wheat toast. 

 Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself, 
Alyce

first posted on more time at the table

Pancakes for One--The Solo Cook and her Breakfast for Dinner: It's a Beautiful Thing!

Fat Tuesday has a great ring to it.  I have memories of a lot of soggy or burnt pancakes made by legions of cook-once-a-year men in kitchen after church kitchen.  I've been in a lot of places. The very best pancakes I've ever eaten are those made by my own kitchen-man husband.  Those are made on a propane camp stove and stand out as some of the finest food in the world to me.  Either everything really does taste better outside, or my man just knows from pancakes.  He puts fresh butter on the griddle for every pour.  He heats the syrup before he starts.  He fries the bacon before he heats the syrup.  He makes the coffee before he fries the bacon.  Did I say he looks good while he does it?

Baby Kale and Spinach with a Roasted Chicken Breast or...

When someone says "greens," I guess I usually think of turnip or collard greens.  Southern parents, I guess.   And while I like those on a  cold day with a big pan of crispy cornbread, that big mess of greens isn't my style all the time.  Give me a sauté pan full of teensy baby spinach just barely heated or even cooked way down with garlic as a base for fish.  Lately I've been adding kale to that mix and having that for lunch. (January, you know.)  A few grape tomatoes and a pinch of crushed red pepper and I'm that happy.  For the solo cook, both baby spinach and baby kale come in those not-so-green (tell me if  you know how to recycle them other than at Whole Foods) plastic boxes.  They keep a long time in your frig, which is useful for anyone who doesn't cook two pounds of vegetables every day.

Here's full-grown kale.  Chop it and saute it if you can't find baby kale.

Porridged Eggs after a Long Winter's Night

 I've never heard of porridged eggs, though my experience is that very little is truly new.  We've just lived too long.  For a few weeks, off and on, they kept coming to me.  I love the idea of oatmeal because I know my body, my heart, needs whole grains and oatmeal's tops.  But I also find that I operate better (and eat less) during the day with a protein for breakfast.  Especially in cold Minnesota. Hence oats and eggs.  But how?

I grew up with the occasional bowl of take-no-prisoners buttered, salt and peppered grits with my eggs fried to a crispy lace in bacon grease.  Along with biscuits slathered with sour cream and honey.  And the very best fried fish in the world.   Lest you think things were always that wonderful, there was the occasional pot of squirrel gumbo, as well.  And often there was dove that required careful chewing lest you bite into buckshot.  While I seldom indulge these days, my displaced southerner living-in-Chicago parents provided me with a culinary heritage upon which I still draw.  (Phew.  That grammar's a killer.)

Poached Eggs on Grilled Cheese Tomatoes

While the world waxes poetic about turkey and pumpkin pie (and I'm about to go that route, too), this week must also be about the balance.  While we'll eat like it's Thanksgiving Thursday, Friday (Saturday? Sunday?), perhaps a bit of lightness the rest of the week is in order.

Everyone who cooks for one has their favorites...a bit of poached salmon and microwaved green beans or two baby lamb chops and a spinach salad that's done in five minutes.  Maybe yours is grilled cheese and tomato soup or even sliced fresh apples with peanut butter and Triscuits. If by chance you like the grilled cheese option best, this might be your new supper.  If you adore Eggs Benedict, but don't want the muffins and Hollandaise on your thighs right now (or would like lighter fare), read and cook.  A spoonful of your favorite salsa is the perfect optional garnish.

Zucchini (Too Much!) for One

Zucchini-Almond Muffin

I hope you have a generous neighbor (as do I) who gardens...  Maybe he'll leave a tres giant zucchini on your back porch one day...

that makes people say things like, "Oh, my God!"  I guess this is sort of a giving thanks for copious amounts of food.  If you don't have a gardening neighbor or friend (and folks at church often bring these tomes to get rid of them after service), the farmer's market in St. Paul sells them for fifty cents.  Talk about food value.  While not as tender or flavorful as the tiny elegant zucchini that grace the plates of fine restaurants, these babies will still feed you.  (And anyone else who's hungry.)

An interesting aside about zucchini, which we usually think of as a vegetable.

Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen ovary of the female zucchini flower.

(This from Wikipedia, should we trust it.  YIKES.)

So here's two recipes for using up zucchini for the solo cook, who might often pass by a big zucchini:

 1.  Zucchini Cakes --  Fried up "pancakes" full of Parmesan and grated onion, they're hearty and healthy.

Zucchini Cakes--Eat 'em while they're hot.  Or not.

          You might have the cakes a time or two before they're gone.  I like them instead of sausage with fried eggs, sliced up over rice and topped with chopped green onions or dill, smothered in a layer of Greek yogurt and a good dose of black pepper, graced with a dop of great salsa, or just by themselves.  Yes, versatile!  Also fine hot, at room temp, or cold right out of the frig.

Ingredients:

3 cups grated zucchini (Squeeze excess moisture out in a towel or you'll have mushy cakes.)
3T minced or grated onion
1/2 cup flour (You might need a little more if mixture looks very liquidy before frying.)
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
Pinch crushed red pepper, optional
1 egg, beaten well
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for garnish if you like)
2-3 T olive oil or butter for frying
Freshly ground black pepper

Toppings:  As you choose from above listings

Mix together all ingredients except oil/butter and pepper.  Heat oil/butter over medium - medium-high heat.  Shape zucchini mixture into patties about 3" in diameter and place in hot fat.  (Or spoon mixture into fat much like pancakes and smooth into shape.) Dust with black pepper.  Let cook 3-4 minutes until quite golden.  Carefully turn over, dust again with pepper, and fry the other side until golden. Serve immediately.  Or later.  Store tightly wrapped in the frig for up to 2 days.  Do not freeze.

Poached Egg Chef's Salad

Poached Egg Chef's Salad--Yum

 When I lived in Germany, I was greatly amazed at the foods that arrived at table with a fried egg on top.  (Beer at McDonald's was another eye opener.)  I don't think I'd seen a fried egg on a pork steak before.  Or on a beef steak.  I got used to it.  The eggs were just barely over easy and if you pricked the yoke with your fork, the gooey orange centers became a decadent, yummy sauce.  My father would have loved it.

Fast forward to summers in Minnesota.  Hot nights and no energy for the grill.  A lovely bowl of any greens, some (any) vegetables from the market, two poached eggs and you're set.  A bit of tomato is great.  A light, but filling meal with no leftovers.  No special ingredients and lovely for one person.   Did I say quick?  Dinner!

Poached Egg Chef's Salad with Vinaigrette serves 1

2 cups fresh greens
1/2 cup chopped fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, broccoli, etc.)
1 scallion, minced (or 1 tablespoon shallot or red onion)
1 slice turkey or ham, chopped or sliced 1/4" thick
1 slice cheese, sliced 1/4" thick
3 cherry tomatoes or 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
1T grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 poached eggs*
1t fresh lemon juice

Vinaigrette:  Whisk together:  1 tsp white wine vinegar, pinch each salt and pepper, a tiny dab of Dijon mustard.  Then, continuing whisking, add 1T olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings. 

In a large bowl, place cleaned greens and add the vegetables, meat and sliced cheese.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.   Add poached eggs, gently tapping the slotted spoon on a towel to remove excess water before placing  at the center of the salad.  Salt and pepper the eggs.  Squeeze the lemon juice over all and drizzle with vinaigrette.

*To poach two eggs:  Check out this wikihow clip.

Or follow my directions:   Heat 2" water to simmering in a small skillet.  Break one egg into a ramekin or small cup.  Slowly pour the egg into the water, stopping after the first bit of white is in..then continuing with the remainder of the egg.  Repeat with the other egg.  Cook 3 minutes or so or until the yolk is as done as you like.  Remove with a slotted spoon or ladle.  Tap off excess water before adding to salad or eating.  Eggs can be made ahead (undercook them a bit), stored in the frig and reheated gently in water right before serving.

Enjoy cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce