New York Bagel Casserole

 Tim and I got up early to watch the Super Bowl again this year.  And while I love traditional Super Bowl snacks, cheesy dips, spicy chilis and other decadent treats, those are not as appealing at 6:30 Monday morning, which is when the Super Bowl airs live in Jakarta. 

 We opted for a hearty breakfast casserole instead, care of my new Smitten Kitchen cookbook: big, seed-coated bagel chunks dotted with cream cheese, eggs, onion and tomatoes, baked to perfection... mmm.

My only complaint is that my casserole seemed a little bit under-seasoned, although I think that is a result of the Jakarta bagels (which are fine and I am thankful we have bagels at all, but they pale in comparison to the NY bagels we ate when back in the States both in texture and in toppings)...  I should have added more salt and possibly some garlic to compensate. 

Deb from Smitten Kitchen suggests pairing the casserole with capers, salmon and/or bacon.  I am thinking that next time maybe I might mix some combination of those things into the casserole itself, which might help my seasoning problem.  

By the way, I made a half recipe of the casserole in an 8" x 8" pan and it worked out just fine!

Broccoli Frittata

Frittata = world's easiest weeknight meal... maybe not the most exciting, but certainly pretty decent for you when you stuff it chock full of broccoli.
I added some minced garlic when I sauteed the onions, because you know how I feel about garlic. Topped it with a combination of fontina and Romano. Served alongside some roasted potatoes.

Mexican Feast

I heard that chilaquiles is what people in Mexico eat when they're hungover. Today I think I still had a bit of a hangover from Chuck and Liz's party on Friday night, so I thought chilaquiles might do the trick. Stale corn tortillas, crisped up, cooked in roasted tomatillo salsa, topped with onions, sour cream, feta and a fried egg. Mmm.

Served with a side of Mexican-style street corn (off the cob, as Tim is due for a root canal tomorrow)... awesome.

Family-style Rolled Spinach and Cheddar Omelet

Wow, this little rolled omelet trick from the other Martha is a potential brunch revolutionizer!

No more slaving over the stove to make individual omelets (that inevitably break or spill their filling) for your brunch guests! Instead, make one giant, flat, open-faced omelet on a lipped cookie sheet in the oven, roll it (as pictured below) into a fancy-looking spiral , and cut off however much each guest wants....Super simple to make, serves 4, looks cool and could easily be done with any of your typical omelet ingredients. Ours was CSA spinach and cheddar cheese, but if the guests want different fillings, you could just lay the fillings out over the eggs in lengthwise stripes and cut the servings along the stripes after you roll. Awesome.

This will definitely be thrown into my easy, no-brainer dinner rotation.

Chickpeas with Bacon and Spinach (Topped with an Egg)

So, you could probably tell from my blogging history that I have a special place in my heart for bacon, as well as quick dishes with chickpeas and greens. Also, I subscribe to the theory of "when in doubt, throw an egg on it"... Tonight these disparate loves of mine came together like magic. This dish is ridiculously easy (only 6 ingredients), has bacon, and tastes amazing with a fried egg over easy thrown on top. I think Tim would second my feelings about it, but his memory of the meal may be tainted by the fact that the Nats scored 2 homers against his Mets whilst we ate it.

The recipe had one odd set of instructions that I took the liberty of ignoring... the recipe calls for boiling the bacon in water before browning it in the saute pan. While there is probably some specific reason for that step, I just couldn't justify the extra effort, nor could I ignore the disgusting images that flashed through my mind when I thought "Boil bacon?," which included that breakfast scene from "Better Off Dead" where the mother served slimey green boiled bacon because her husband doesn't like all the grease of fried bacon. So I just browned it in the pan, took it out and crumbled it, poured off the excess fat and carried on with the recipe. My only other suggestion regarding the bacon is that you not cook it further with the chickpeas and spinach- that only serves to make it soggy. After you cook the bacon, remove it and set it aside, then fold it in at the end. Enjoy!

Egg and Mushroom in Ham Cups

I saw these cute little eggs in ham cups and knew I had to try them... unfortunately they didn't work out exactly like they did in the photo.The ham I bought was a little too small and didn't quite form a full cup. The egg runneth over. Thus I couldn't remove them from the cups so they could stand on their own. Oh well. They tasted good anyway.

I added a little bit of shredded cheddar and some chives to go with my biscuits... mmm. Served with roasted potatoes.

Deviled Eggstravanganza!

After attending the always fabulous 6th Annual Eggstravaganza at the Marks-Finder household, we found ourselves with a plethora of hard-boiled eggs, just begging to be deviled. (Does anyone else read "deviled" like "de-viled" as opposed to "devil-ed"? Maybe it's just me.)

Chuck had the day off, so she was the devil-er. She rocked out six different and delicious types of devil, as follows, from left to right:

Herbed deviled eggs: chock full of fresh herbs

Lemon dill deviled eggs: similar to the herbed eggs, but with a lemony kick

Chipotle deviled eggs: smoky and spicy

Deviled eggs with capers, dill and cucumber: a little chunky from the cukes and vinegary capers

Avocado deviled eggs: nice in theory, but not devily enough/a little boring

Sriracha deviled eggs: of course, these spicy MFs were the most devilish and, therefore, the best of the bunch

Linguine and Prosciutto Mini Frittatas

Everybody loves getting his or her own personal treat... that's why I thought these mini-frittatas I saw on Food Network would be good for our post-Christmas brunch. The mini-frittatas are a Giada recipe, so it's obligatory that I provide you with a video, in case you'd rather watch her (and/or her boobs) make the recipe, than read about it.

This recipe was tasty- the smoked mozzerella is essential, for sure. You could easily substitute veggies for the prosciutto, I bet- sauteed spinach and mushrooms, perhaps? I also think you could make it ahead of time and shove them in the oven in the morning if you're having guests for brunch.

Eggs Benedict with Leftover Stuffing, Turkey and Brussel Sprouts

I saw this idea for reimagining Thanksgiving leftovers a couple years ago in a Daily Candy email:

• Form your leftover stuffing into little patties and fry them in a little olive oil until warmed through and a little crispy on the outside.


• Top with warmed shredded turkey (I splashed a little chicken broth on mine to keep it moist, then popped it in the microwave for a minute).


• Throw on some greens- sauteed spinach, or, in our case, leftover brussel sprouts


• Top with a poached egg and some hollandaise sauce (I used the Washington Post's blender hollandaise sauce).

An awesome way to transform the leftovers into something new and edible. Essential for me since, as you know, I hate leftovers (particularly mixed grill).

Simple Breakfast

Saute minced garlic and some chopped scallions in olive oil, add chopped swiss chard... top with an egg fried over easy.

Serve alongside some broiled tomatoes from Martha's garden and a faux latte. Awesome.

Pasta Carbonara

I've always wanted to try carbonara... bacon and eggs and pasta... how could it be bad?

I saw this simple version of it on GoodBite, a new bloggers-making-cooking-videos website, and thought I'd give it a go. Pretty simple, definitely tasty.

We made it with pancetta instead of bacon, and this long fusilli stuff instead of bucatoni.

Lobster Salad Stuffed Eggs

I was going to make lobster salad for dinner from leftovers from my THREE POUND b-day lobster...so I thought I would attempt an appetizer that went along with the seafood theme. I saw this recipe and it looked good. I left out the radishes after finding out that I couldn't really replace them with anything (thank you Meg) and I used langostino for the seafood portion of the recipe.

In the words of Calvin...BLECH! Martha liked them but they were icky in my opinion. Then again...I have texture issues. Not a fan of slimy items. The filling would be better on a cracker and not in an egg.

Hash!

Last night we had Mom's BBQ pulled pork sandwiches for dinner (mmmmmm), and this morning, Chuck, Tim and I all have the day off, so I made hash with the leftovers. I used regular and purple potatoes, an onion, and eggs fried over easy from my CSA, sprinkled with cilantro. Finally, we topped it with some of the leftover BBQ sauce. Pretty damn good.

Green eggs, no ham.

I had a craving for this egg recipe that I had when I visited Liz in Atlanta. This Rachael Ray recipe seemed reasonably close to what I remembered, and it was. Pretty good overall, but I think I liked the restaurant's version better. I finally remembered the name of the restaurant, the Flying Biscuit, and it turns out they have the recipe online! I think the feta is key, rather than the cheddar that Rachael calls for...