Category: Breakfast

Sunday Morning Simple Fruit Tart

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I don’t know about you, but I always need something sweet with my savory for breakfast!  That yin and yang of flavors on my tongue is what satisfies me the most.  Today I threw together this tart at the last minute.  It really is super easy and takes very little time. The result is something that looks impressive; like you spent hours making it, and tastes delightful and fresh. I happened to have the ingredients on hand.  I had one frozen roll out pie crust and bits to fruit that needed to be eaten – you know how you end up with one of things and no one eats them and they sit and rot? Well, not today. I used up the last large peach, large mango, and the leftover fresh blueberries. You can use just about any fruit you have. Viola! a fancy tart for breakfast.

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You Will Need

1 pie crust ( I used store-bought frozen roll-out crust)

1 1/2 – 2 cups fresh blueberries

1 large mango chopped into bite sized pieces

1 large peach chopped into bite sized pieces (or 2 medium peaches)

1 heaping TBSP flour

1/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 TSP cinnamon

2 TBSP cream or one egg whisked

3 TBSP butter sliced thinly

6-7 lemon snap cookies or other very crunchy cookie (for topping)

1 tart pan

Heat oven to 350 degrees F

Instructions

Place pie crust in pan, do not cut off excess around edges, set aside

Cut peach/es and mango into bite sized pieces. Place in a mixing bowl with your blueberries

Add sugar, cinnamon, flour and pinch of salt.  Mix ingredients until the fruit is coated by the dry ingredients

Place the mixture into the pie crust in the tart pan and distribute the mixture evenly

Bend the edges of the pie crust over the edge of the fruit in the tart

Lay slices of butter all over the top of the fruit

Place your cookies in a plastic bag and crush them with a mallet (or similar tool) until they are about pea sized pieces

Sprinkle the cookie crumbs over the top of the fruit and butter

Brush the bent over edges of your crust with your cream or egg mixture

Bake tart in a 350 degree F oven for about 45-55 minutes – until the middle of the tart bubbles and topping is golden.

Let cool before serving

Prep time: about 15 min

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 min (approx.)

 

Ham and Rosemary Scramble

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IMG_1426I love ham in scrambled eggs!  I had rosemary in the refrigerator and thought this would be a great savory addition. A great compliment to this dish is roasted red potatoes with onions, peppers and rosemary. (Serves 3-4)

You will need:

  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup diced ham (good quality)
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 tsp of rosemary
  • Salt & pepperIMG_1422

Directions:

  • Cut ham into 1/2″ cubes
  • Remove some of the leaves from your rosemary sprig.  Chop very fine to equal 1/4 teaspoon.  Rosemary is strong, it does not take much!
  • Crack and whisk eggs in medium bowl.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add chopped rosemary.
  • Add cubed ham.
  • Preheat pan on medium low.
  • Add 1 tbsp butter and melt.
  • Add egg mixture to pan and cook over gentle heat.
  • Serve

I have to interject here…..please don’t cook your eggs on high heat or overcook your eggs. Your eggs should cook slow and gently to retain that soft velvety texture. Remember, when you take them out of the pan they will still continue to cook (carryover cooking).  I cook my eggs until they are soft scrambled and then remove them from the heat and from the pan immediately so that they do not over cook.

Pineapple French Toast Bake (with pineapple maple syrup)

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French Toast BakeThis is a great Easter breakfast/brunch item.  Or dollop a scoop of vanilla ice cream on this warm bake and it makes a fabulous dessert! I like to make these bakes because it satisfies my breakfast sweet tooth and you just throw everything together and bake. So easy!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

You will need:

  • 5-6 cups bread cubes – about 2″  (I use a good sourdough round as it stands up well to the custard. You can also use french bread). You can also slice your bread about 1 1/2″ thick and lay your slices into your casserole dish.
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp group cloves
  • 1, 20 oz can pineapple tidbits in pineapple juice (drained and juice reserved)
  • 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
  • 5 tbsp butter
  • pinch of salt
  • zest and juice of one orange

Directions:

  • Cube your bread and set aside.
  • Drain pineapple, set aside. Save pineapple juice for syrup.
  • Put 2 tbsp butter in 10″ saute pan and melt until it just begins to brown.
  • Add drained pineapple and 3 tbsp brown sugar to pan.
  • Saute pineapple on medium heat until it begins to caramelize then remove from heat.
  • Prepare custard mixture by beating 5 eggs in a large bowl.
  • Add 1 cup coconut milk,  1 cup whole milk, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves.
  • Melt remaining 3 tbsp butter. Slowly drizzle butter into mixture with whisk.
  • Add zest and juice of 1 orange and pinch of salt. Whisk mixture until well blended.
  • Add your bread cubes to custard mixture and stir to coat all of the bread cubes. Let sit for 5 minutes, mixing a couple of times so that bread absorbs custard. (If you have sliced your bread, lay slices into casserole dish and pour custard over them and allow custard to absorb into bread slices.)
  • Pour bread and custard mixture into a deep casserole dish which has been rubbed with butter or sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Put dish into oven and cook for approximately 30-45 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes.IMG_1423
  • Spoon into dishes and spoon pineapple maple syrup over each serving.

If serving as a dessert, place one scoop of vanilla ice cream over warm bread and drizzle pineapple maple syrup over the ice cream.

Pineapple Maple Syrup:

  • While the french toast bake cooks, pour reserved pineapple juice into small sauce pan and put on medium high heat.
  • Reduce pineapple juice mixture to about 1/4 of its original volume.
  • When juice is reduced, remove from heat and add 1 – 1 1/2 cups maple syrup.
  • Let stand while your french toast bake cooks.
  • Serve over french toast bake when serving.

Italian Sausage & Veggie Fritatta

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IMG_1444This is a great full flavored fritatta that works for breakfast or dinner.  Fritattas are a great easy go to when you need a quick and flavorful meal. This was one of those I threw together with ingredients I had in the refrigerator.  For breakfast or brunch you can serve it with roasted breakfast potatoes, fruit or a muffin. For dinner it is great with a nice arugula salad with balsamic dressing. Don’t cut the veggies in this recipe too small, you want this to be a rustic dish.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You will need:

  • 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
  • 1/2 yellow bell pepper chopped (or any other color pepper you choose)IMG_1436
  • 1 small crookneck squash (yellow squash) chopped
  • 1 medium tomato chopped into 1″ pieces
  • 2 mild Italian sausages removed from their casings
  • 1 shallot diced (or white onion)
  • 1 large garlic clove diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 5 large eggs
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  • Saute your Italian sausage in 10″ oven safe saute pan. Break up into pieces and saute until lightly browned.
  • While sausage cooks, chop your vegetables.
  • When sausage is cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
  • Add  2 tbsp olive oil to pan, saute shallot, garlic, peppers and squash in pan until they start to caramelize.  Add Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.IMG_1437
  • When veggies start to caramelize, add tomatoes and sausage into pan and cook with veggies until tomatoes just start to soften.
  • Turn heat on pan down to medium low.
  • Beat your eggs and add a pinch of salt and pepper
  • Pour egg mixture over veggie and sausage mixture and gently move eggs throughout mixture and then let sit on heat and begin to cook.
  • When egg mixture has partially cooked on edges and bottom, move pan to your preheated oven and allow to finish cooking – about 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on your fritatta and do not let your eggs overcook.
  • Remove cooked fritatta from oven and let set about 5 minutes before slicing.IMG_1442