This week was breakfast food: sausages, pancakes, n’ biscuits!
Sausage – http://cookieandclaire.blogspot.com/2011/12/cooking-breakfast-sausage-in-oven.html
This was damn good sausage. Jeremy also collected about half a tomato sauce jar worth of grease from it.
Roasted vegetable frittata (doubled)
We roasted the veggies the night before. We’ll need to make two frittata’s rather than trying to double it.
2 small zucchini, 1-in diced
2 red bell peppers, 1.5 in diced
2 yellow bell, 1.5 in diced
2 red onion, 1.5 in diced
2/3 c olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 t minced garlic (4 cloves)
2 dozen eggs
2 c half-and-half
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 T unsalted butter
2/3 chopped scallions, white and green parts (6 scallions)
1c grated Gruyère cheese (about 4 oz)
Roast the vegetables at 425 degrees for 15 minutes with 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. After 15 minutes, stir, add garlic and cook for another 15 minutes.
<in two large bowls>
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 dozen eggs, 1c half-and-half, 1/4c Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
In a 10-inch oven proof sauté pan, melt the butter and sauté the scallions over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Add the roasted vegetables to the pan and toss with the scallions. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes over medium low heat without stirring. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake the frittata for 20 to 30 minutes, until puffed and set in the middle. Sprinkle with the Gruyère and bake for another 3 minutes, until the cheese is just melted. Cut into 6 or 8 wedges and serve hot.
I didn’t eat this due to all the eggs (2 dozen!), but comments were all good.
Best Drop Biscuits
From America’s Test Kitchen episode: Holiday Ham and Biscuits – http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=11468&incode=M**ASCA00
Makes 12 Biscuits
If buttermilk isn’t available, powdered buttermilk added according to package instructions or clabbered milk can be used instead. To make clabbered milk, mix 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and let stand 10 minutes. A 1/4-cup (#16) portion scoop can be used to portion the batter. To refresh day-old biscuits, heat them in a 300-degree oven for 10 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (10 ounces)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
¾ teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk (cold)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing biscuits
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 8 tablespoons melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.
2. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl. Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (biscuits should measure about 2 1/4 inches in diameter and 1 1/4 inches high). Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
3. Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.
TECHNIQUE
When you stir slightly cooled melted butter into cold buttermilk, the butter will clump. Although this might look like a mistake, it’s one of the secrets to this recipe. The clumps of butter are similar to the small bits of cold butter in biscuits prepared according to the traditional method and help guarantee a light and fluffy interior.
A greased 1/4-cup measure is a great tool for scooping dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Add a bit of butter to the top and these were pretty great. Good recipe.
Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes
Sharon Wilson Bickett, Chester, South Carolina – The Taste of Home Cookbook
½ c plus 2 T quick-cooking oats
½ c whole wheat flour
½ c all-purpose flour
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
⅓ c packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 T vegetable oil
1 c buttermilk
This was probably my favorite recipe of the night and everyone seemed to agree. Half flour, half wheat pancakes were damn tasty.