Western Scramble & Potato Pancakes

My dad and grandpa harvested a "Sheepshead" or maitake mushroom recently. Dad cleans and processes them and sends some my way chopped and frozen. Perfect! Here's some more info on sheepshead mushrooms for anyone who is interested. (Sheepshead/Maitake mushroom) They're really quite interesting to read about, because they can grow to be 50+ pounds. It's important to note that mushroom hunting (mycogphagy) can be very dangerous and it's of dire-import to do your homework prior to picking and eating wild mushrooms.

I used some of these mushrooms in scrambled eggs this morning and it was SO tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1 c mushroom
• 4 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 of a large white onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

 Directions:
1. Saute the mushrooms in dab of butter until most of the water has cooked out of them. These mushrooms have a large water content, so 2 c of frozen will cook down to about 1/2 c cooked. You'll notice them start to brown when most of the water is gone.






2. When the start to brown, add the onion, garlic and green pepper. Saute together 5 minutes over medium heat. Throw the chopped cooked bacon in and toss for another minute until bacon is heated.






3. Reduce heat to low, add scrambled egg and fold together for 5 minutes until the egg is cooked through.

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Potato Pancakes are a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes and they're great with breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 c mashed potatoes
• 1/4 of a large white onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 c bread crumbs
•  salt and pepper to taste
• 2 glugs of vegetable or canola oil.

Directions:
1. Saute the onion and garlic over low heat with a tiny bit of oil for 5 minutes, until they're soft. Then add them to the COLD mashed potatoes along with salt, pepper, 1/4 c of flour and 1/4 c of bread crumbs. Mix together with your hands or a fork.


2. Combine the rest of the flour and bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Quickly form the mashed potatoes into patties (about a 1/2 c of potatoes each) and dredge them in the breadcrumb/flour mixture.


3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mashed potato patties and let cook 4-5 minutes before turning carefully. Don't stop and check them because lifting up the edges will cause them to break. Just have a little faith... lol

4. Cook 3-4 minutes on the other side and serve warm :) These come out crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and totally satisfying!

Uova al Purgatorio, i.e. Eggs in Purgatory

This is one of my favorite ways to use up what's left in my fridge for an easy and filling meal, perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Since this was my dinner, I added ground turkey to my sauce, but for a lighter dish you can nix the extra protien and add fresh vegetables like peppers, spinach or fresh basil.

You'll find that I'm not very good at written recipes, I should probably take more pictures, but I'm easily distracted. Here's the step-by-step sans visual aides:

1/2 Pound ground turkey

2 Cloves garlic, minced

2 Cups red sauce

4 Eggs

Salt & Pepper

Pasta of your choice

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1. Brown turkey with minced garlic in a sautee pan, I used my iron skillet.

2. Reduce heat to medium low, add red sauce and simmer.

3. Use a spoon create four wells in the sauce and crack a raw egg into each. Top with fresh cracked salt and pepper.

4. Cover and cook on low until egg whites have cooked through completely and yolks reach desired level of firmness. Leaving them a bit overeasy gives the dish a nice creaminess.

5. Spoon sauce and egg over al dente pasta and cover with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Wondering where this delicious meal finds its origins? Well that's up for debate, but many like to believe that it arose as a tribute to the great Italian poet Dante as a reference to his description of Purgatory in The Divine Comedy. However, it is a more widely accepted that the dish came as a result of popular vegitarian Italian diets as a way to combine the delicacy of eggs with the simplicity of traditional red sauce. Either way, the combination is "divine".

Cheese and Chile Quiche

Travis is a big fan of breakfast for dinner, and who can't resist a creamy, cheesy egg dish?! So quiche is a big hit in our house. This is one of my favorite quiche recipes as it is simple and only has one main "non-essential" ingredient in it, roasted poblanos. I served this dish by itself because even after you are full you will want seconds. I suggest it eating it on a rainy day, while on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, watching a good movie (that's what we did last night)!

Notes on the Pie Crust (READ THIS):

I do not use pastry dough for this recipe, instead I use store bought, premade crust from the refrigerated section of my grocery store. If you use this kind of dough DO NOT do steps 2 through 4. If you precook your pie crust it will be very overcooked when you bake it again with the quiche filling. Do step 1, place your premade crust in a tart or pie pan pushing it down and getting all air bubbles out, and then go directly to step 5.

Notes on the Poblanos:

To roast the poblanos preheat your oven to 400 degrees, place the poblanos on a baking tray and roast for about 30 minutes turning and checking on them every 10, until they become almost a blackish green color and have a slight char. Once they are done, place them in a Tupperware with a lid for 10 minutes. This will make it easier to peel them. Take the poblanos out and use your hands to peel and seed them. You can use this method for any sort of vegetables that needs to be roasted and peeled like red bell peppers or garlic.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Pastry dough

1 large garlic clove

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 lb poblano chiles (about 4 large), roasted and peeled (directions above)

6 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup Mexican crema or heavy cream

2 tablespoons finely grated white onion (using small teardrop holes of a box grater)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 lb Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated (2 1/2 to 3 cups)

Directions

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Fit dough into tart pan, without stretching, letting excess dough hang over edge. Fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Prick bottom all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Line shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is set and pale golden along rim, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until deep golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes more. Put tart pan in a shallow baking pan. Leave oven on.
5. Mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt using side of a large knife.
6. Discard seeds, ribs, and stems from chiles, then pat dry if necessary and cut into 1/3-inch-wide strips.
7. Whisk together eggs, milk, crema, onion, garlic paste, and pepper in a large bowl until just combined, then pour into baked tart shell.
8. Sprinkle cheese and chiles over custard (chiles will sink slightly) and bake until custard is just set, 50 to 60 minutes. (Center will jiggle slightly; filling will continue to set as it cools.)
9. Transfer quiche in pan to a rack to cool at least 20 minutes before serving.
10. If you use a tart pan, to remove side, center a large can under pan and let side of pan drop. Serve warm or at room temperature.
    
    

Forget Me Not Breakfast

A little reminder not to forget about all of the delicious bits of leftovers in the fridge when it comes time for breakfast.


Ingredients:

• 1 glug oil
• 1-2 T chopped onion
• 1 t chopped garlic
• Veggies: broccoli (use anything fresh!)
• Leftovers: 1/2 c rice, asparagus, shish kabobs
• 2 eggs
• 1 T parmesan cheese
• 2 T sausage
• Salt and Pepper

1. Heat oil in a skillet, saute onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes
2. Add sausage, brown and crumble another 2 minutes
3. Add lesser cooked/raw veggies
4. Add more cooked veggies and any cooked meat
5. Add rice, two dashes of soy sauce if you're a savor-toothed tiger like me. Brown 1-2 minutes.
6. Make a ring in the pan, turn the heat way down and add the scrambled eggs to the middle of the pan. At this point, resist the urge to push the eggs around in the pan because it's going to make a sticky mess of the rice. Just put the lid on and wait patiently for about 5 minutes, then flip the eggs and kind of chop them with your spatula. Give it another 2-3 minutes covered, and voila!
7. For the ultimate cultural confusion, serve on a warm tortilla :)