Mushroom (and Sausage) Pie

If you aren't a fan of mushrooms you should probably just stop reading right now. Actually I don't even know if we can keep being friends :). But if you're a mushroom-lover like me, then I highly recommend this dish!

I found this recipe because I had some mushrooms and a pie crust to use up quickly, and luckily I had all the  ingredients on hand for this one. My only changes to the original were using a different cheese (mozzarella vs. monterey jack) and adding some pork sausage to make it a little more of a breakfast treat, but leave that out and you have a yummy, cheesy, mushroomy pie that you could enjoy any time of day.

Original Recipe here

Ingredients
 1 refrigerated pie crust (or be ambitious and make your own)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. sliced mushrooms (I used white button)
 2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
A dash of ground cardamom or nutmeg (optional)
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup cooked and crumbled breakfast pork sausage


Directions

 1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Place pie crust in a pie pan and line the inside of a pie shell with heavy aluminum foil, pressing it against the side. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove foil, poke the bottom of the pie crust with the tines of a fork to create air vents. Return crust to oven, bake for an additional 4 minutes, or until the crust just begins to brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

2. In a large sauté pan melt butter on medium heat. Add mushrooms, stir to coat with the butter. Increase the heat to high, stirring constantly until the moisture the mushrooms has released and evaporated, a few minutes. Lower heat to medium, add minced garlic, stir with the mushrooms for 30 seconds then remove from heat.

3. Beat together the eggs, sour cream, milk, and cream. Add freshly ground pepper, a pinch of salt, and cardamom or nutmeg if using. Stir in the grated cheese and chopped parsley.

4. Spread the sautéed mushrooms along the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust. Pour the cheese and cream mixture over the top of the mushrooms. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until nicely browned on top and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Eggs in Purgatory with Salami

* Photo and recipe from Food Network

A little something different for dinner...I like throwing an egg dish in there every so often because then it feels like breakfast, and I can do breakfast all day every day :)

The salami isn't crucial so you could leave that out to make it more vegetarian-friendly - but definitely don't omit the crusty bread to eat it with!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed
4 oz. deli-sliced salami, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 Italian green frying pepper, thinly sliced (I couldn't find this, so I used an Anaheim pepper)
1 small yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 cup tomato puree or marinara sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
8 large eggs
2 Tbsp. grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard. Increase the heat to high and add the salami, onion, peppers and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the salami starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and 1/2 cup water and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Reduce the heat to medium. Scatter the parsley leaves into the skillet. Make 4 indentations in the pepper mixture for the eggs. Break 2 eggs into a small bowl, then pour both into one of the indentations. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cover and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are cooked to desired doneness. Serve with the bread.

Polish Hash

This is something I don't have an exact recipe for, but I don't think one is needed for something like this...and besides, its much more fun to just wing it and adjust everything to taste.

Directions for the one pictured above:

Saute thinly sliced red onion (about 1/2 a large one) in a large skillet with some butter until tender. Remove from the pot and set aside. Add 4-5 peeled, thinly sliced russet potatoes to the same skillet with some more butter and cook, stirring frequently, until tender and golden brown. Stir back in the onion as well as 1 pound sliced polish sausage, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley, and season with salt and pepper. To serve, top with some crispy sage leaves (saute leaves in some browned butter until crispy, then crumble over the top of the hash) and a fried or poached egg.

No Recipe Needed - Breakfast Tacos

1. Cook up some hashbrowns (tator tots work great, just smash them up in the pan)

2. Mix in cooked pork sausage

3. Scramble in a few eggs and shredded cheese

4. Season with fresh cilantro and whatever spices you like

5. Place on warm corn tortillas and top with more cheese, sour cream and salsa

Of course you could also wrap it up for a breakfast burrito or even put it on tortilla chips for some morning delight nachos (Adam's favorite).

This is what Adam's first plate looked like last night, he tops them with everything:

BLT Strudel

Oh, Paula Deen. You had me at Puff Pastry. You can never go wrong with puff pastry right?

Even though we had this for dinner, its definitely better suited as a brunch item. Adam liked it, and I though it was good, but I'd like to make it again with a few changes...I decided that although I love bacon on its own, I'm not a fan of it mixed in with other stuff, so I might swap that out for some good sausage. Kind of changes the BLT name, but oh well.

The recipe as-is makes 2 strudels, but I cut it in half and only made one.

BLT Strudel
from Paula Deen

Ingredients

12 large eggs, divided
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. bacon, chopped
1 (6 oz) package fresh baby spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese (I used an Italian blend and some Parm since I had it on hand)
1 cup seeded and chopped tomato
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (17.3 oz) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 11 eggs and mayonnaise until smooth. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 tbsp. bacon drippings in skillet; heat over medium heat. Add spinach and garlic; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionaly, or until spinach is wilted. Add egg mixture, and cook until eggs are set, but not dry, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese, tomato, salt, and reserved bacon. Spoon mixture into a medium bowl; cover and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 sheet of puff pastry into a 12x10 rectangle, trimming edges as necessary. Spoon half of egg mixture down center of pastry, leaving a 3" margin on sides and a 1" margin on top and bottom. Cut pastry on side margins into 1" strips. Crisscross strips over filling. Carefully transfer strudel to one side of prepared baking sheet. Repeat procedure with remaining pastry and egg mixture.

5. In a small bowl, whisk remaining egg until smooth. Brush egg evenly over strudels. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Cut into slices and serve.

Chilaquiles

CHEE - LA - KEY - LEIS.

Which in Spanish means "delight". Okay fine, not really, but that's what it should mean.

I googled "chilaquiles recipe" and got about a thousand variations. They are like snowflakes - the basic structure of each one is the same (fried tortilla strips cooked in sauce and topped with cheese and protein) but everyone seems to have their own little twist. You also get a thousand different descriptions...anything from a "poor man's dish" to "true Mexican comfort food" to "best hangover cure ever".

However they're made and whatever they're called, man they are good!

I made this recipe last night for dinner, which is based on the kind served at a cute little taco shop down the road from where we live. We stopped in one morning for breakfast and ordered these and enjoyed

every. last. bite.

I adapted the recipe I made from a few different ones I found and used canned enchilada sauce to save time...which may not be traditional but as much as I would love to make my own ancho chile-tomato sauce from scratch, I just don't have the time for that anymore! We topped ours with fried eggs (like they did at the taco shop) but I've also made a variation using green salsa and scrambling the eggs, and a lot of recipes use shredded chicken instead of eggs. But like I said...however they're made, they are good!

Yes, I know I need to work on my photography skills. Let's not state the obvious.

Chilaquiles

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 - 28oz. can red enchilada sauce
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
12-14 corn tortillas (stale ones work best)
Cheese for garnish (monterey jack, cheddar, cotija)
4 -6 large eggs (1-2 per serving)
Cilantro and sour cream, for garnish

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in enchilada sauce and all seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 30-45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in another large skillet, add enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom. Cut tortillas into strips or triangles, and fry in batches until golden. Drain on paper towels and lightly season with salt.

3. Add fried tortilla srips to enchilada sauce. Stir to coat all chips, and let simmer 5 minutes to soften.

4. In a medium skillet, fry eggs to desired doneness. To assemble chilaquiles, place a spoonful of tortillas and sauce on a plate, sprinkle with cheese, and top with eggs. Garnish with cilantro and sour cream.

Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Oh, Breakfast. How I love thee. If I could only have one meal every day, I would choose breakfast. Yuuummm.

I made this casserole for Christmas Brunch and it was a hit. I put it together the day before, so all I had to do on Christmas morning was pop it in the oven. The croutons bake up nice and fluffy and light, so its a nice change from heavier, potato-based breakfast casseroles.

I couldn't find a good picture, but the recipe is from Allrecipes.com.

Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups seasoned croutons (I didn't bother measuring and just used a whole box)
1 lb. spicy pork sausage
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained and chopped
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 sprigs fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. Spread croutons on bottom of greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Crumble sausage into medium skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned, stirring occasionally. Drain off any drippings. Spread sausage over croutons.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until well blended. Stir in soup, spinach, mushrooms, cheeses and mustard. Pour egg mixture over sausage and croutons. Refrigerate overnight.

3. The next morning, preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until set and lightly browned on top. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve hot.