Individual Brunch Casseroles

I’m still making a nice Sunday breakfast every week.  I’ve been doing it since the first of the year and I’m really liking that time with my family.  I know the kids don’t really appreciate it yet but I’m hoping they will enjoy it some time down the road.  This was a fun little recipe that was pretty easy to put together.  I didn’t have all the ingredients the recipe called for, nor do I like some of the items they suggested so I tweaked it a little bit and it turned out great.  So this is definitely a recipe that can be adjusted to your liking.

Individual Brunch Casseroles

Ingredients: 

3 c. shredded hashbrowns

¾ c. diced onions

½ c. diced celery

½ c. diced green pepper

2-4 T. vegetable oil

4 eggs

½ t. salt

¼ t. pepper

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

½ lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 can mushrooms stems and pieces, drained

Directions:

In a large skillet, sauté the potatoes, onion, celery, and green pepper in vegetable oil until vegetables are crisp-tender.  If necessary, add more oil to prevent sticking.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, salt, pepper.  Add cheese, bacon, and mushrooms; mix well.  Stir in potato mixture.  Pour into four greased individual baking dishes.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

In my test kitchen:

I loathe celery and I didn’t have any green peppers OR mushrooms.  I’m terrible, I know.  But I did have some crumbled pre-cooked turkey sausage that needed to be used.  So I sautéed the potatoes and onions (I minced my onions and probably only used ¼ c. and then added 1 c. turkey sausage.  Because I was using the sausage I did not put bacon in the egg mixture.  Instead, I cooked up 3 slices and crumbled them and sprinkled it on the top of the casserole just before putting it in the oven to give the casserole a little crunch.  I think the green peppers and mushrooms would be a nice addition to the dish but they weren’t missed by my family. 

~Happy Cooking!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I found this delightful little recipe on facebook. 

A friend of mine had shared it and I'm always in need of new breakfast ideas.  Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! 

I love this recipe because it doesn't require a lot of strange ingredients.  I had everything on hand the first time I made them.  

Ingredients:

For the pancakes: 

4 c. flour

8 t. baking powder

2 t. salt

4 c. milk

4 T. vegetable oil

4 lg eggs, lightly beaten

For the cinnamon filling:

1 c. butter, melted

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

2 T. cinnamon

For the cream cheese glaze:

1/2 c. butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in ziploc bag.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl combine milk, oil, and eggs.  Stir all ingredients togther until just moistened.  Batter will be lumpy.

In a microwave bowl, melt butter and cream cheese.  Stir together.  Whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.  Add milk if needed. 

Heat griddle to 325 degrees.  (too hot will make the cinnamon burn.)  Pour batter on griddle for desired-size pancakes.  Snip corner of the ziploc bag containing the cinnamon filling and pipe onto pancake in a swirl starting at the center of the pancake.  Wait until pancake has lots of bubbles before turning.  Drizzle warm pancakes with cream cheese glaze and serve immediately.

In my test kitchen:

The first two times I made these pancakes, everything went smoothly.  But for some reason when I made them for some friends this weekend, it was a disaster!  My first tip:  DON'T SNIP TOO MUCH OFF THE CORNER OF THE ZIPLOC BAG!  As soon as I snipped the corner, I instantly knew it was too big and wouldn't pipe well onto the pancake.  So I tried to transfer the filling to a new bag.  Wow.  What a mess.  My hands had cinnamon and butter all over them and it was all over the counter.  By the time I got it transfered the pancakes on the griddle were too cooked to let the cinnamon settle into the batter.  So then when I tried to flip the pancakes, the cinnamon filling just melted all over the griddle and there was no visible swirl in the pancake.  So I recommend snipping (a tiny) corner off the bag just BEFORE you put the batter on the griddle.  You should also be sure to pipe the cinnamon filling onto the pancake immediately after getting your batter on the griddle. 

When I made these the first time I wondered why the instructions called to prepare the cinnamon mixture first.  I did as it said and my cinnamon piped really easily onto the batter.  I had been worried that I would need to reheat the filling just before I piped it but then I realized it needs to be sort of cold and settled in order to pipe well.  The mixture needs to harden just a bit so it doesn't run all over the pancake. 

I have also had some trouble with the glaze.  I don't think cream cheese likes to melt down very well in a microwave.  It kept turning out a little lumpy.  So this last time I melted the cream cheese and butter down in a saucepan and I added a couple tablespoons of milk at the beginning of the melt down.  Then I whisked in the powedered sugar and vanilla and added a little more milk.  It turned out much smoother.  So I would suggest doing it on the stove instead.

Also, this recipe makes a lot of pancakes.  I mean A LOT!  I halved the recipe and it still made at least 20 pancakes.  I guess it depends on how big you make them. 

~Happy Cooking!

Breakfast Pie...Status: Success!

I try to cook a nice breakfast every Sunday morning for my family.  Yesterday I made Breakfast Pie.  I got the recipe from a Taste of Home Magazine.  Credit goes to Pam Botine of Goldsboro, NC.  This was a successful breakfast dish.  It set really well so it was easy to cut and serve.  It wasn't as good leftover the following morning...it needed a little salsa or something to liven it up.  But overall, the family liked it. 

Warning:  This recipe needs to be made the night before.

Ingredients:

8 bacon strips, diced

1/2 cup crushed cornflakes
5 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup 4% cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used colby jack)
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups frozen cubed hash browns (country potatoes)

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Remove to paper towels.  Drain, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings.  Stir reserved drippings into cornflakes and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, onion, salt, and pepper until blended.  Stir in hashbrowns.  Pour into a greased 9 inch pie pan.  Sprinkle with bacon and cornflake mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Bake, uncovered at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

In my test kitchen: 

My family really loves meat.  So I added some additional turkey bacon that I had on hand to the actual casserole mixture.  It was good but I think next time I will put crumbled sausage in the mixture instead and sprinkle with bacon.  I also love green onions but I'm a little particular about them mixed into certain dishes.  So I just sprinkled it across the top of the pie with the cornflakes and bacon. 

I did find that my pie needed to cook about 10 minutes longer than this recipe stated.  And my oven runs a little hot. 

~Happy Cooking!