Mató & Maple Syrup » Breakfast

Polenta for breakfast

alexandra — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:16:49 +0000

I made some polenta for dinner the other day and purposely made more than I needed so I could have some leftover for breakfast. By the next morning the polenta was nice and firm so I cut a think slice, fried it for about 3-4 mins per side on my cast iron pan, I then pan fried some green onions, moved it to the side, fried an over-easy egg and then piled it up: polenta, tomato relish from my farmers’ market, green onions, topped by a nice fried egg. It was SO good.

Spinach day

alexandra — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:55:45 +0000

Pots had lots of fresh local Spinach this weekend so I filled a big bag and woke up this morning wondering what to do with such beautiful greens. I was all set to simply have a toast for breakfast when one look at the goat cheese in the fridge and the spinach sitting in a bowl of water on the counter was enough to make that simple toast a tad nicer. On top of a couple leaves of spinach I piled some broccoli sprouts, and topped the whole thing with goat cheese, which I had mixed with some fresh basil and olive oil. Into the toaster oven it went for five minutes and voilà:

For lunch I decided to try my hand at a quiche. After perusing four different books and two blogs, I made up my own recipe. Before making the filling, however, I made Clotilde’s Olive Oil Crust. While the crust cooled in the fridge and then baked in the oven, I prepared the filling below:

Ingredients

3/4 cup cream
1 cup Gruyère cheese
2 eggs
about 5 oz fresh spinach
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 small onions
pinch nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Wash the spinach well and chop the onions
Heat a 10″ skillet (I use cast iron) and cook the onions in the olive oil until soft and light golden
Meanwhile, chop up the spinach and add to the onion when it’s soft enough, folding it in until it begins to wilt. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Once the spinach is almost all wilted, transfer to a colander and let drain from excess liquid. Let it cool.
Mix cream and eggs until well blended and smooth, add cheese, a pinch of nutmeg (about 1/8 tsp) and mix in the spinach mixture.

Bake in a pie shell in 400 F (200 C) for about 35-40 mins. We had it for lunch with a nice green salad garnished with grapefruit and balsamic vinaigrette.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767929497?ie=UTF8&tag=debormadis-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0767929497

Baked egg

alexandra — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:07:51 +0000

Still on a baked egg kick… this one was inspired by a recipe in the recent edition of the LCBO Food and Drink magazine. Underneath the egg stir-fried tomatoes, shallots, goat cheese with peppers and chives.

Sunday breakfast

alexandra — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:48:25 +0000

Accompanied by some nice Quebec cheese and some rooibos tea.

Cornbread for brunch

alexandra — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:54:52 +0000

Ever since I got my cast iron skillet, I have been going nuts with the cornbread. Based on this sausage & onions cornbread recipe, I made my own version with spinach and then a vegetarian and non-wheat version. On Sunday I varied from that basic recipe once more by replacing the zucchini with 2 cobs of fresh corn and the kale with half a bunch of yellow chard. I didn’t have any basil around so I sprinkled some goat cheese on top at the end of baking for some extra tanginess. There was, of course, some leftover so when I woke up uncharacteristically late on Monday, a brunch was in order. So I fried an egg over easy (again, in my cast iron skillet, which is the best non-stick pan I ever had), then stir fried some small cherry & heirloom tomatoes and voilà: our brunch cornbread. Very very yummy.

Sunday breakfast

alexandra — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:36:48 +0000

We are having friends over for dinner tonight and since we slept in, breakfast needed to be something quick. Alan said “we can just have some eggs with toast”. As he stepped out the door to pick up some milk and bread, I quickly chopped a couple small tomatoes (one yellow, one red), a small piece of fresh mozzarella, and a few basil leaves. Sprinkled with some olive oil it would be an ideal accompaniment for our eggs. As I mentioned before, I’m really into vegetables for breakfast.

I then whisked together four eggs with a bit of milk while I preheated my cast iron skillet. Once the skillet was nice and hot, I melted a teaspoon or so of butter and swirled it around. I then added the eggs and stirred it slowly with a wooden spoon. At some point in this process, I was casually browsing Deborah Madison’s book Local Flavors, where I came across a recipe entitled Fried Eggs with Sizzling Vinegar. It was very simple – after frying eggs, any style, remove them from the pan and add another 2-3 tsp of butter to the hot pan. Add to it a finelly chopped small shallot. Cook it for a minute or so and then add about 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar) and swirl it around to allow it to reduce a bit. Serve immediately on top of the eggs.

For an extra minute or two of preparation it really jazzed up the meal quite a bit. Serve with a few slices of French bread.

Eating vegetables at breakfast

alexandra — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:08:00 +0000

I routinely eat vegetables for breakfast – often added to couscous or steel cut oats. But in these late summer days, when vegetables are at their best, I enjoy them in a simple marinate and served on top of a wholewheat toast of some kind. When I was making lunch the other day, I popped a red and a green pepper in the oven, under the broiler. After about 15 mins flipping it every few minutes, it was nice and charred. I wrapped it up on tin foil and let it cool down and then removed the skin when it was cool enough to handle. I cut the roasted peppers into strips, added a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper, and put it in the fridge for some future use. The next morning I added some of the pickled eggplant I got at the farmers’ market, a handful of basil, and voilà, I had a handy base for an appetizer:

For breakfast yesterday, I put it on toast and sprinkled some feta cheese. Yum.

It was so good that I thought of replicating it this morning. But this time I wanted to add an egg. So at first I thought I’d make the same as yesterday, but add a fried egg on top and eat it as an open face sandwich. Or maybe I should poach the egg? That’s when I remember coming across a baked egg recipe in Mark Bittman’s book. That sounded perfect. While I preheated the oven to 375 F, I chopped up a couple cherry tomatoes, mixed it up with the roasted pepper & pickled eggplant mixture from the day before and filled 2/3 of a ramekin with the mixture. I cracked an egg on top, sprinkled some feta cheese and baked it on a baking sheet for about 15 mins. I then broiled it for another couple of minutes and the result was simply divine:

Scooped on toast, it was one of the most scrumptious breakfasts I had for a while.

I’m addicted

alexandra — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:58:01 +0000

A couple of months ago, inspired by Mark Bittman’s latest book and his column, I decided to experiment with savoury breakfasts. I’ve always preferred to eat savoury food in the morning anyway since I was raised bread & butter rather than bread & jam. One of Bittman’s favourites is steel cut oats dressed with whatever savoury ingredients one has and drizzled with olive oil. Now, my grandmother used to make me porridge every day when I visited her since I can remember so I was raised on the stuff and love it. But it was always super creamy and sweet. The thought of oatmeal with olive oil simply did not appeal to me. I decided to give it a try nonetheless since I had never eaten steel cut oats before anyway. The results went well above any expectations I might have had. I’m so glad I tried! I love the infinite number of ways you can dress this simple dish and how tasty it is no matter what you put in it. For today’s version I cooked the steel cut oats with a bit of collard greens and a dash of turmeric. Once cooked, I topped it with parsley, fresh heirloom tomatoes, and a few dollops of goat cheese, all seasoned with some salt and olive oil. If you can’t fathom it for breakfast, try it for a quick lunch.

Define comfort

alexandra — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:49:33 +0000

If there’s no toast, give me couscous!

alexandra — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:23:46 +0000

It was 7:15 AM and I had been up for nearly two hours. Lecture finished, I need some breakfast. One last egg left in the fridge, I was determined to try frying an egg for the first time on my new cast iron skillet but alas, there was nothing to eat the egg with. No bread, stale or otherwise, in the house. Not even any lavash or melba toast. And I wanted my yolk soft so I need something to dip in or something that would absorb it. Open kitchen cabinets. Sigh. Aha! Couscous! That’ll work! While the skillet heated, I added 1/3 cup of couscous to a bowl, added the same amount of hot water, and covered. While it soaked, I washed and chopped a few carrot greens (about 1/2 a cup’s worth). Once the skillet was hot, I added a bit of olive oil, and the egg, moving it to the side of the pan once the bottom was set. A bit more olive oil, the carrot greens, and then the fluffed up couscous to mix in and warm through. I then scooped it all onto a bowl and set the egg on top. It could make a nice quick lunch as well. It was nice and it took as long as it takes to make toast…