Breakfast/Brunch

Healthy Cauliflower Toast – eat your veggies

February 3, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Salty from the prosciutto, melted Swiss cheese, loaded with healthy cauliflower perfectly describes this Cauliflower Toast recipe.

This Cauliflower Toast recipe is from Ina Garten’s cookbook, Cook Like a Pro, which by the way, is a great cookbook!https://barefootcontessa.com/cookbooks/cook-like-a-pro

I’m always looking for new breakfast recipes that I can incorporate some healthy vegetables, like this Cauliflower Toast.

Add some soft boiled eggs to your cauliflower Toast and you have an even better toast!https://the2spoons.com/soft-boiled-eggs/

Healthy Cauliflower Toast – eat your veggies

Here you go fir the yummy recipe! Enjoy!

Cauliflower Toast

Salty from the prosciutto, melted Swiss cheese, healthy cauliflower describe these Cauliflower Toast!

Print Recipe

CourseBreakfast, Lunch

CuisineAmerican

Keywordcauliflower, toast

Prep Time30

Total Time32

Servings Servings

Ingredients

1 Small head cauliflower
4 Tbsp Olive oul
1/4 Tsp Crushed red pepper flakes
12 Oz Italian mascarpone cheese at room temperature
6 Oz Gruyere or Swiss cheese, grated
4 Oz Thinly sliced prosciutto, julienned (you could use bacon)
1/4 Tsp Ground nutmeg
6 Large slices country style bread
Papeika
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp Minced fresh chives
Flakes sea salt, like Maldon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Turn the cauliflower upside down on a cutting board. Cut off and discard most but not all of the stems, then cut the florets into small, ½-inch clusters. Place the florets on a sheet pan, toss them with the olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper, and spread them out in a single layer. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing two or three times, until the florets are tender and randomly browned. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Set the oven to broil and arrange a rack 6 inches below the heat.
Transfer the florets to a large mixing bowl and add the mascarpone, stirring to coat the florets evenly. Stir in the Gruyère, prosciutto, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
Toast the bread in a toaster until lightly browned, and place in a single layer on a sheet pan lined with foil. Mound the cauliflower mixture evenly on each toast and dust with paprika. Broil the toasts for 2 to 4 minutes, until browned and bubbling. (Watch them carefully!) Transfer to plates and sprinkle with Parmesan, the chives, and sea salt. Serve hot.

Easy – Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy

January 30, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Jump to Recipe

These Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy are a staple in every Southern household. We may not eat this everyday but most of us grew up eating biscuits and gravy! The cream or white gravy alone is a must for Southern Fried Chicken or Southern Chicken Fried Steak!

I used a hot breakfast sausage because we like a little heat. Use your favorite breakfast sausage in the recipe. I always use whole milk when making gravy. 2% would likely work, but I kind of think the whole milk works a little better.

Here’s the link for the southern Fried Chicken: https://the2spoons.com/?s=Southern+fried+chicken+#wprm-recipe-container-6743. You’ll love this fried chicken recipe! A must try!

The Best Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy

The biscuits I made were are on the blog and they are delicious! Here’s the link for them: https://the2spoons.com/my-easy-homemade-buttermilk-biscuits/.

These biscuits are delicious and so tender. Be sure and complete the fold process and use a cutter that you can cut the biscuits without twisting. This is the cutter I use: https://amzn.to/2vdk0sf.

See all the layers in the biscuits? That’s because of the folding.

The Best Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy

Here’s the recipe for the biscuits and gravy! Make them this weekend while everyone is home!! You’ll love them.

Buttermilk Biscuits With Sausage Gravy

Print Recipe

CourseBread, Breakfast, dinner, Side Dish

CuisineAmerican

Keywordbiscuits and gravy, buttermilk biscuits, homemade biscuits, sausage gravy

Ingredients

2 tbsp Bacon drippings or vegetable oil You can use vegetable oil or butter
1/4 Lb Breakfast sausage
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 green onions, diced (optional)
2-3 cups whole milk
salt and pepper to tasste
cayenne pepper (optional) optional

For the Biscuits

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (spoon and leveled)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup butter, cold and grated or shortening
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk
2 tsp honey (optional)
melted butter for brushing when out of the oven

Instructions

Add the oil to a skillet, then add your sausage, breaking up with a spoon or spatula. Cook until sausage as lightly browned. Add the diced green onions and cook another minute or two.
Add the flour and cook about 2 minutes. Then add the milk and whisk to prevent lumping. Cook until thickened adding more milk if needed. Season with salt and black pepper. Cayenne pepper optional.

For the Biscuits

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl. Grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients and with a pastry cutter, two forks or my favorite, your hands, cut the butter into the flour until coarse crumbs form. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add the buttermilk and the honey. Stir just to combine. Do not overwork.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently mold it into a rough looking rectangle using your hands. Fold one side into the center, then the other side. Turn the dough so it’s long horizontally. Gently flatten. Repeat the folding again. Turn the dough so it’s long horizontally once more. Gently flatten. Repeat the folding one more time.Gently roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it’s 1 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch circles. Re-roll any scraps until you have 9-12 biscuits. Arrange in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (Make sure they’re touching.)Brush the tops with a little buttermilk. Bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown on top.Brush the tops with butter. Enjoy warm! Place the leftover biscuits in a zip lock back or air tight container and store in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 days.

Southern Cheesy Grits Bowl with Mushrooms, Poached Eggs & Sautéed Spinach

January 25, 2019 by Becky Spoon

Cheesy Grits Bowl with mushrooms , sautéed spinach, and poached egg.. I mean this is the absolute best breakfast! Everything you need in one bowl.

Not only do I love this cheesey grits recipe and all it’s yumminess , I love that it’s a meal in a bowl. Whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner, I like a bowl.

It is no secret that breakfast is my favorite meal. I go to bed thinking about what I’m going to have for breakfast the next morning! Yes, I do that. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that you should eat the most food at breakfast so you won’t eat so much at night! And I have to say a Cheesy Grits Bowl is one of my favorites!

Cheesy Grits are a southern thing. I’ve eaten Grits my entire life! Who doesn’t love grits? They are hearty, then you add mushrooms, spinach and a poached egg? Wow! Not only delicious, but balanced.

And you’re getting your greens and vegetables early in the day! Click this link for my Garlicky Sautéed Spinach recipe:https://the2spoons.com/garlicky-sauteed-spinach-red-pepper-flakes/

Nutritional information for the spinach: https://www.livescience.com/51324-spinach-nutrition.html

Here’s the recipe for this Southern Cheesy Grits Bowl!

Cheesy Grits with Mushrooms, Sauted Mushrooms and Poached Eggs

Print Recipe

CourseBreakfast

CuisineAmerican

Keywordbreakfast, cheese, grits, spinach, mushrooms

Servings servings

Ingredients

For the Grits

1 cup quick grits
4 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

For the Poached Eggs

4 large eggs
enough water to cover the eggs
2 tbsp white vinegar

For the Mushrooms

6 oz button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

For The Spinach

1 Recipe Sauted Spinach https://the2spoons.com/garlicky-sauteed-spinach-red-pepper-flakes/

Instructions

For the Grits

Bring 4 cups water to a boil along with the salt. Add the grits continuously whisking until combined. Reduce the heat to simmer and cook the grits until they have thickened. If they become too thick add a little water and whisk. Add the cheese and combine until melted.

For the Mushrooms

Melt the butter and add the extra virgin olive oil to a skillet. Heat to medium-high. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown, a little caramelized. After the mushrooms have gotten a golden brown season to taste with a little salt and pepper.

For the Poached Eggs

In a saucepan bring enough water to cover the eggs along with the vinegar to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Break the eggs, one at a time into a ramekin. Stir the water to start a circular motion and drop the egg into the swirling water. Cook for about 4 minutes. Continue until all 4 eggs are cooked. You can cook a couple at a time…or if you have a large pan, all 4 at a time, you just want to have them all in ramekins that you add to the wanter one after the other so they will evenly cook.

To assemble the dish

Pour the grits into a wide bowl. Scatter with the mushrooms, add the sauteed spinach, then top with the poached eggs. Bon Appetite!!

Notes

If you prefer stone ground grits, follow the instructions and add the cheese at the end. I use both.

Our Favorite, Effortless Chorizo with Eggs and Cheese, Refried Beans and Hashbrowns

January 16, 2019 by Becky Spoon

When I visit Mexico the breakfast are legendary. There are fried eggs with picant tomato sauce (huevos rancheros) that are delicious and scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes, eggs with chorizo, beans and potatoes with fresh made tortillas. — A corn tortilla with Mexican Chorizo, the famous Mexican sausage, scrambled with eggs, cheese, with hashbrowns and refried beans

“From Rick Bayless’s cookbook, Autehentic Mexican writing about Chorizo : “it is certainly like no other sausage: fragrant with herbs and spices, rich and tender with deep red chile, and pleasantly sharp with a touch of vinegar. It hangs in undulating strings all over Toluca (like waves of the Mike, says Sr. Sanchez Garcia) in the butcher counters that border one of the big market buildings and in the beautifully packed taco stalls a few buildings over.

And it’s in the little downtown stores that sell Toluca treasures like asadeti cheese, jars of colorful pickled vegetables, and bottles of orange flavored liquor called Moscow. Strings of chorizos, red with dried peppers and uniquely green with tomatillos, fresh coriander and hit chiles-either of them textured with peanuts, almonds, raisins or pine nuts.”

When I visit Mexico the breakfast are legendary. There are fried eggs with picant tomato sauce (huevos rancheros) that are delicious and scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes, eggs with chorizo, beans and potatoes with fresh made tortillas. I always find Chilaquiles, posole, sauces, refried beans, potatoes, salsa, all kinds of eggs prepared with mexican ingredients.

So my recipe is with the Mexican chorizo prevalent in our region or I should say in Texas, where TexMex rules! There is beef or pork chorizo at the supermarket and many different brands. Honestly I don’t have a recommendation; all I’ve tried has been delicious. I will say, in my opinion, I do like the brands that seem more firm.

This is one of the other Spoon’s favorite breakfast! He likes everything on a plate to eat with a fork scooping into a tortilla; I like to build everything into a tortilla and eat it as a taco!

Mexican Chorizo with scrambled eggs, cheese, hashbrowns and Refried Beans! — I love these!

Try Mexican Chorizo if you haven’t yet!! Here’s the step by step recipe for this yummy breakfast! Bon Appétit!

Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes and Harissa

January 10, 2019 by Becky Spoon

I’m still cooking Mediterranean this morning with this breakfast dish. If you haven’t tried Harissa, you must.

It is a fiery North African paste that is orangey-red in colour. It’s a mixture of peppers, dried red chillies, garlic, caraway seeds, ground cumin and coriander, tomato purée, salt and olive oil. It can be used as a condiment or as an ingredient in cooking and provides a real boost!

Here’s a picture so you’ll know what to look for. I found it at HEB, you can find it at Whole Foods and other grocery stores that sell a good variety of foods and it may be in a jar.

If you can’t find Harissa you can make it with 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 6 garlic cloves minced, 2 tablespoons paprika, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tablespoon ground dried Aleppo pepper, 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Combine in a bowl and microwave until bubbly, about a minute, stirring halfway through. Cool to room temperature. Harissa is great on vegetables , eggs, meats, soups and even sandwiches.

More cooking from Mediterranean inspired recipes! This recipe is light with just using very little extra virgin olive oil, steaming the potatoes and the Harissa and cilantro adding so much flavor. I love this! Here’s the recipe.

This recipe is light with just using very little extra virgin olive oil, steaming the potatoes and the Harissa and cilantro adding so much flavor. I love this! Here’s the recipe.

Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes and Harissa

Print Recipe

CourseBreakfast

CuisineAmerican

Keywordharissa, mediterranean,diet

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
8 Oz Red potatoes, unpeeled,cut into 1/2 inch pieces
8 Oz Cremini mushrooms, button are fine too, halved if small or quartered if large
1/2 Onion, chopped fine
1/2 Cup Plus 2 tablespoons water
Salt and pepper
1 Garlic clove, minced
12 Large eggs
2 Tbsp Harissa, plus extra for serving
2 Tbsp Cilantro, fresh and chopped

Instructions

Heat 2 tbsp oil in 12 inch non stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add potatoes, mushrooms, onions, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until evaporated and potatoes are golden brown. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
Beat eggs, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 2 tablespoons water together with fork in a bowl until thoroughly combined and mixture is pure yellow.
Wipe skillet clean with paper towels and heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the egg mixture, constantly scraping the bottom and sides of the skillet until eggs begin to clump, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and gently and constantly fold eggs until clumped and slightly wet. Off the heat gently fold in potato mixture. Drizzle with the harissa and sprinkle with cilantro. Serve immediately, passing extra harissa.

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup

January 7, 2019 by Becky Spoon

I love Buttermilk Pancakes! Maybe it’s the slight tartness from the buttermilk, or maybe its just this recipe that is sweet and salty. Regardless, they are delicious!

I had some bananas today I wanted to use so I mashed one and added to the batter, then chopped a little and added a more on top.

If you don’t have a good buttermilk recipe, you need this recipe! You don’t need to add bananas or anything….they are perfect with butter and your favorite syrup!

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes with Butter Pecan Syrup

Print Recipe

CourseBreakfast

CuisineAmerican

Keywordbanana, pancakes, buttermilk, breakfast

Prep Time10

Servings servings

Ingredients

For the Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
3 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2-3 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, large
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 banana, mashed
oil or butter for your gridlde

For the Butter Pecan Syrup

2-3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 1/2 – 2 cups syrup, or as needed

Instructions

For the Pancakes

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well and add the buttermilk, the eggs, the mashed bananas, and the melted butter. Combine the ingredients. the batter will be a little lumpy.
Heat a griddle to hot, but not smoking. melt butter or apply some oil to your griddle and add 1/4 to 1/2 cup batter to your hot griddle. Add a couple of slices of banana if you like. Cook until bubbles have formed and holes start to appear.
Turn the pancakes and tet them briefly brown on the other side. This won’t take long because they are mostly cooked when you turn them.
As you remove the pancakes add a pat of butter. If you are making several put them on a sheet pan into a warm oven. Top with the Butter Pecan Syrup.

For the Butter Pecan Syrup

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the chopped pecans and let them cook just about a minute in the butter. You don’t want to burn them or the butter. Add the syrup and just heat through. You may need more syrup depending on how many you are serving. Bon Appetite!