Kitchen Tales - Part 4 Bacon Waffles

This is my last post for the day...promise!

So - what do you think of when I say Bacon?  Piggy goodness right?  Now Waffles?  Breakfast goodness?  Thought so.
Someone had the ingenious idea to put the two together.  I must say - in our house...anything with Bacon is a home-run.  The husband once made a bacon log.  That's right, sausage wrapped in bacon and then more bacon.  He has made it twice now and I have yet to have any...I am big fan of living and not so much a fan of cardiac arrest.

I saw this somewhere and knew that it had to be tried.

Here is all you need:

Take an entrire package of bacon and lay them slice by slice on a baking sheet covered with foil that has lightly been sprayed with cooking spray.  Then sprinkle a 1/4 cup of brown sugar on the bacon and then cook in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

While the bacon is cooking away gather the waffle ingredients:

3 cups AP flour, 1 Tbl baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 c brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 2/3 c canola oil, 4 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla and 2.5 c buttermilk

Get out the waffle iron so it can preheat.

Whisk together all the dry ingredients and once done make a well to later incorporate the wet.  My well was not so stellar.

Now mix the wet ingredients and then gently fold into the dry.  Do not overmix - lumps are not the enemy here.
After the bacon is out of the oven and cool enough to handle, do a rough chop

And then add to the mix

Mix it up - just a little and then proceed with the waffle making.  I used about a 1/2 cup batter for each waffle.
On half of the batch I went a little crazy and added about a cup of cheddar cheese.  This should make the husband happy.

Let the delicious circles cool and then eat up.  We froze ours since we made these after breakfast.

Can't wait to have these for breakfast tomorrow.

Kitchen Tales - Part 2 French Toast

So, anytime the husband is away I get a little freaked out.  For no reason, really.  We have an amazing security system and a gun (so don't get any funny ideas).  I just don't like it when he is away and I have trouble sleeping.  This leads to very long nights watching far too much tv to distract me from the fact that I am on my own.

That being said - much of the late night television watching is about food.  People making food, people talking about how to make food or how food is made or the random competition on who makes the best food.  I happened upon an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay".  Bobby Flay is not my favorite.  I cannot tell you why that is as I have no idea.  I thought maybe it was the unfortunate influence of South Park and it's reference to Ginger's...though I hope not as it appears so far Thing 2 is looking like a Ginger.  I may have to work that out.
Anyhoo - this episode was about French Toast.  Who doesn't like French Toast?  Seriously.  I have been intimidated by French Toast - how to get the outsides crispy and have the insides not taste all soft and gummy like wallpaper paste.  It just so happened that my most recent Food Network magazine had an article about French Toast and how to remedy that exact problem.  It was kismet.  I paid attention to the show and tried to memorize what I thought were the key points.  Next AM - French Toast time. 
Well - almost.  In the episode they spoke of the best kinds of bread to use - Challah was the favorite.  On a grocery trip for more eggs, syrup and some fresh fruits to top the Toast, I looked in the bakery.  Much to my chagrin - no Challah.  What's a girl to do?  Make your own bread.  I cheated a little and used my trusty bread machine, so our French Toast would have to wait a day.

I gathered up all the necessary ingredients:

 1.5 cups milk, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp nutmeg, 4 eggs and a loaf of challah

I dredged the bread and then popped them into the skillet with about a 1/2 tablespoon of butter.  Crisped up the outsides and then set aside on a baking sheet.

On the Throwdown episode the competitor had coated his slices in a combination of crushed corn flakes and almonds for a touch of fancy.  I tried this and it did not work out so well for me.  This could be because I forgot about it until the last minute and may or may not have crushed these items to an appropriate tinyness.  Oh well - all the others worked out well.
Once I had all the slices nice and crunchy from the skillet they were sent to the 350 degree over for about 15-20 minutes to finish cooking all the way through.  Genius right?  I thought so- that magazine really is worth the subscription price.  Really.

While the toast was finishing up in the oven, I got my frozen fruit, about a tablespoon of butter and a 1/4 cup of maple syrup (we use sugar free - since Thing 1 is already a nutbag and really needs no extra sugar)

I let this simmer til it heated the fruit through and the "sauce" started to reduce just a bit.  Then I put it and about 4 ounces of cream cheese in the blender.
Once done, it really looked lovely...

And to hear my biggest fan in the kitchen tell you - it tasted better than it looked!

Kitchen Tales - Part 1 Asparagus Frittata

My poor kitchen has taken a beating this past week.  The husband was away for an entire week...which led me to be very bored and walking a thin line between sane and ridiculously crazy.  My remedy...make a whole bunch of stuff and take just as many pictures!

There was an egg inspiration.  A late night watching the Food Network inspiration.  Of course there was a blog inspiration as well.

First the egg inspiration: an Asparagus Frittata.  I got the idea from the here and had previously made the Bacon Egg Cups.  I had a ton more eggs and started looking at other things in the fridge to throw together.  I had some asparagus that really needed to be used...quickly.  So I steamed them and chopped them up and got all the other ingredients ready for the party.

I used 7 eggs, a bunch of asparagus, 2 sliced of bread soaked in milk, some sharp cheddar cheese, about a tablespoon of savory herbs and turkey hot dogs.  That's right, I said turkey dogs...don't judge me!

Introduced all the key players to each other...put them in a casserole dish

 And then into a 375 degree oven for a REALLY long time.  It was about 45 minutes, but felt like much longer since I was really, really hungry.

And there it was in all it's eggy-cheesy beauty.  I got to have this all to myself since Thing 1 was utterly disgusted by the addition of asparagus.  I didn't mind, it was really good.

Egg-cellent Choice

This morning, with sleepy eyes and hungry bellies, I started the day with a quick perusal through my favorite blogs for some divine breakfast inspiration.  I happened over here and saw that she was looking for some inspired and inexpensive egg recipe ideas.  After staring into what feels like the abyss of my fridge, I remembered something I whipped up a month or so ago and was received with high praise...even from Thing 1!

I hadn't given them a fancy name...but here you go:

Bacon and Egg Cups

First gather all the necessary ingredients...of which are not many:

Quantities will depend on how many people you intend to serve.  A single serving should probably be one cup...so one egg and one slice of bacon per person.
Grate some cheese...however much you prefer.
Next you will want to wrap the bacon around the inside of the cup (there is no need to lubricate the pan - the bacon will do all the work for you):

Next step - crack your egg into the cup, season with salt and pepper and top with your desired amount of shredded cheese.  I used some fresh basil on some, just for a little touch of fancy!

 Pop them into your pre-heated 400 degree oven and let cook for 15 to 20 minutes - depending on your desired firmness of the egg.

Once done your cheese will be nice and oozy and the bacon egg cups will pop right out.  Plate ad enjoy!

If you try them, I hope that you enjoy them.  They are a really simple, inexpensive, quick and delicious way to start your day!