Breakfast Sammies

Joey and I have had trouble remembering to eat breakfast daily. It's the most important meal of the day- hellur! We needed something that will keep us full until lunch and have a on-the-go quality without being fast food. Enter - the freezer breakfast sammich.

I sent Joey this picture of these Egg Rings from Williams Sonoma - these were a splurge/impulse buy -I  could pretty much hear him swooning over text. If you don't want to blow a ridiculous amount on egg rings (we have been talking about them for weeks so it was time to splurge), muffin tins work pretty good too.

I got the Whole Grain english muffins, but any type of bread you want will work fine too!

6 English Muffins (or bread of your choice)

6 eggs

6 slices American Cheese (or any cheese of your choice)

3 slices turkey bacon (news flash: Joey didn't know it was turkey bacon until I told him, HA!)

6 baggies

patience :-)

 Overall this will take you about 20 minutes to do. How to help pass the time? Watch Scandal DVR at the same time. ;-)

Start by cooking your turkey bacon - you want to cook this all the way through!! Probably about 5 minutes on each side and then drain on paper towels. Then give it a rough chop. Set to the side until you are ready to cook up your eggs.

Scramble your eggs in a bowl. Add some pepper if you want. There is salt in the bacon already that will help season the eggs.

The egg rings!  Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat. Spray your ring and pan with nonstick cooking spray!! I learned this the hard way. 

About 1/4 c is one egg. Add some bacon in your egg scramble. This is where the egg rings get a little complicated. I didn't want to flip super runny eggs so I covered the pan and hoped that the egg would cook through better that way, and it did! So while there was still a little runny-ness on top, it was easy to remove the egg ring and give the egg "patty" a quick flip. 

(Or muffin pan at 350 for 20 minutes) When building sandwich using muffin tin eggs, I slice them hortizontally to cover more of the english muffin, if you go that route!

It's not beautiful but it definitely does the job! When finished, place on plate and let cool for a few minutes. 

 The best part! Building your sandwich.  I used american cheese slices, but you can use whatever your heart desires. Slice your english muffin with a serrated knife. Add egg and cheese.

Seal your breakfast sandwich and put in the freezer for breakfast for the week!

When ready to eat, wrap sandwich in a paper towel and heat for 45 seconds, check if it is hot enough for your liking, and enjoy! The cheese gets really melty and delish.

These are super awesome to grab and go to work everyday, because if you are like me, I get ready in the mornings for work by the minute. Sleep is not wasted in our house.

Shrimp and Weisenberger Grits

Do yourself a huge favor and make this soon. Perfect comfort food for fall, a great "date night at home", or just because you feel like being fancy. These shrimp and grits were one of the best meals I've ever made, and it only took right around 30-35 minutes to make.

I started off frying off bacon, both for the topping and grease to fry the shrimp in. Everything is better using bacon grease - pancakes especially. Drain the grease off into a container on the side and move pan off the heat. I used a cast iron skillet for frying but you can use whatever your heart desires.

Once I fried up the bacon, I got started on the grits. The package of grits gives standard directions - 4c water to 1 c grits. In my grits, I used 2 cups milk (2% but any will work) and 2 c chicken stock. This is a magical combination. Bring the 4 c of liquid to a simmer then add 1 cup of grits and 1 clove of garlic chopped -the garlic will soften with the grits. Bring to a boil then immediately lower the temperature to low/med. You want to keep an eye on these stirring frequently, and cooking for about 25 minutes. You will feel them tightening up as you stir.  Around 20 minutes in, I covered the grits and let them cook for the last 5 minutes covered up. Remove from heat and add 1/2 c heavy cream and 1 c parmesean cheese (I used grated). You can really use whatever cheese you want. The grits should be thin, but not runny.  To keep warm, you can cover or keep on low heat.  I stirred in a handful of spinach last that wilted down while I cooked the shrimp.

Last step is to cook your shrimp (takes 3-4 minutes).

The only things I seasoned my shrimp with are Old Bay and tabasco sauce. Generously coat your shrimp - you don't have to add salt or pepper since it is in the Old Bay seasoning already.  Pour a little of your reserved bacon grease on the cast iron skillet, and bring heat to medium. Put shrimp on and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes per side or until pink.  Make sure not to overcook your shrimp, because they will also cook a little bit longer when you put them in the hot grits.

Toast up a baguette, top with chopped bacon, and dig in!

Recipe:

Grits recipe from Grits and Greens in Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking by Nathalie Dupree

The Grits:
2 c milk
2 c chicken stock
1 garlic clove
1/2 c heavy cream
1 c grated parmesean
1 c yellow grits (I used Weisenberger)
1 c baby spinach

Bring 2c milk and 2c chicken stock to simmer, add grits and garlic. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Cover with 5 minutes to go.  After 25 minutes, stir in heavy cream and cheese. Add more heavy cream if consistency is too thick. It should be loose but not runny. Add salt to taste if desired. Stir in spinach and set aside.

The Shrimp:
1 lb 40-50 shrimp - peeled, deveined, tails off, thawed
2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tbsp tabasco
4 slices thick cut bacon

Cook bacon and reserve grease - drain bacon on paper towel lined plate.
Bring skillet to medium heat with 2 tbsp bacon grease.
Season shrimp with old bay and tabasco
Place on skillet and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side until pink.

Pour grits into shallow bowl and add cooked shrimp in the center. Top with bacon and serve.

Serves 4.

Let me know if you make this soon and how you liked it!

You Want Fries With That?

I have been MIA, and I really don't have an excuse why, other than I am lazy, so here I am again. 

Hey! 

So, here's those fries I instagrammed eleventybillion months ago. They are still awesome, though.

I don't know if you know this, but Rally's fries are the best fries ever to exist on the planet. #amirite?

UNTIL NOW.  I know the secret! I know the secret! Well, at least that's what I am telling myself.  It's all about the double fry.  Yep, you heard me. Twice fried. Better than Rally's fries #almost 

A magical invention, the Fry Baby Daddy (what?)

Quit hatin'. So we like As Seen on TV crap. As a side note: The Stufz was disappointing, but still worked.

You really don't have to use these as seen on TV items, I just am a sucker for a $10 gag gift.s. Pocket hose? The Clapper? You know who you are (everyone reading this has a ASOT item they truly, truly love, so stop denying it).

 Anywho, I cut these fries with my "Perfect Fry" but you can use a really sharp knife. These are scrubbed really good, but you can peel your potatoes if you want. I like a little skin on them. My mom always told me the nutrients were in the potato skin - but maybe that was just so I would eat everything on my plate. I was just feeding 2 people, so I used 3 large russet potatoes.

 Anyway, even if you don't have the magical Fry Baby Daddy*, you can use a dutch oven or stock pot with oil (PEANUT OIL. TRUST.) I used about a 3/4 a gallon of peanut oil.  Heat to 325 degrees. If you are using a pot, you will need to use a thermometer. If you don't own one, I bet if you went to buy a thermometer, you could use a bed bath and beyond coupon and spend a couple dollars more to buy this device, just sayin'.

Anyway - when your oil is ready, add your potatoes to the oil (be careful, that oil is on fia). For 5-7 minutes, cook at 325 degrees.  Pull out and dump onto a paper towel lined plate to drain the grease.  When all your potatoes are done, crank the heat up to 350.  When it's ready then put the already cooked fries BACK IN the oil for 3 minutes.

Drain again on some fresh paper towels on a plate - then while still pretty hot, sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt.These potatoes are crispy on the outside, and nice and tender and creamy on the inside. 

Then, make your handsome husband/partner/bff/enemy grill some burgers and serve along side. A perfect side dish! Also, whoops about the beautiful laundry basket in the background. We use Tide with Downy, if you wanted to know. Just keepin it real.

Here's the full recipe:

Double Fried Freedom Fries

Serves 4

6 russet potatoes

1 gallon peanut oil

kosher salt or sea salt

Heat oil in fry daddy or dutch oven to 325 degrees.

Cut potatoes into strips, or your choice of fry shape

Place potatoes (usually about half) into oil.

Deep fry for 5-7 minutes.

Drain on paper towel lined plates

Repeat until all potatoes are cooked once

Increase oil heat to 350.

Put par cooked potatoes back into the oil for 3-4 minutes

Pull out - sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt

Let me know if you tried these and if you liked them as much I do!

Update:  If you are using a large pot to make these, to fish the fries out when they are finished cooking, use a metal slotted spoon. Be really careful with the oil, it will burn you and it is no fun, even just a little.

These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty!

"These pretzels are making me thirsty!"  - Everyone that matters on Seinfeld

Let's get to it. My dear friend LP was at dinner with me last month and suggested I try to make these. So, here we are! Thanks LP for the inspiration!

WAIT, I forgot something…. remember, time = glasses of wine while I cook. (Disclaimer: I drink cheap wine, so sometime in the future, sure, I could possibly critique Trader Joe's vino, but no where in the near future).

I don't have recipes in my head just ready to be shown to the world! Yep, my trusty google is my BFF and the first recipe to pop up was a soft pretzel by Alton Brown.

SOLD! He is the bomb.com and knows what he is talking about. Good Eats! is my favorite show on Food Network, ever. Hashtag bringbackgoodeatstoprimetime anyone? I tend to go off on a tangent, click that link above to make these the right way...

Let's make some pretzels. I changed one thing about this recipe because I read the first 10-15 comments about the recipe to see if something worked better for the layman like myself. So always read the comments if you want to know what people really think of it! Please laugh with me at these comments. See what I did differently below:

Here's the ingredients & recipe:

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water (hot to the touch)

1 tablespoon sugar (Totally important food for the yeast)

2 teaspoons kosher salt - this is where I deviated from the recipe: I put the salt in with the flour and butter.

1 package active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups - this amount worked perfectly
 
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted 

Vegetable oil, for pan and bowl (approx 4 tbsp)

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water (pretty spot on)

Pretzel salt, soooooo I am using Kosher Salt because, well, I just am, okay? I couldn't find it at the 

grocery. 

Please, this isn't that boring. Wake up! Realize your worth that you are able to make pretzels from scratch and they aren't just frozen and hung in a spinning hot box waiting for you after a serious dip in the pool. (IDEA: I need to make slushies!)

Please follow the directions except for the salt part. Cause these are DEELISH.

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.  (this is really really obvious, you can see it foaming) Add the flour and butter (read the directions, i almost put in non-melted butter) and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. (these two speeds are totally accurate)

Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl (i just wiped out with a paper towel) and then oil it well with vegetable oil (2 tsp). Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes (I left for about 1:15 because life happens and I had to fold laundry) or until the dough has doubled in size.
 During this step, I drank a glass of your favorite vino.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper (this is very important!) and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.


In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

 See the difference after an hour? It's awesome. Yeast (in cooking) is awesome.

 Cut in 8 sections. Pretzel pizza anyone???

After rolling into a snake,

Whip it into this. I can't actually tell you how, just roll and twist into a pretzel. Trust, you will be able to do this. :)

THEN: this is soooooo important. Boil in the bubbly baking soda and water for 30 seconds.. I set a timer. Really, 30 seconds that is IT. Its so the most important thing ever in the world for your pretzels.

DO IT NOW. But, one at a time. You will see that they stick together. 

They are still uncooked, but are shaped. :-)

 Well, well, well…. after spreading salt and a bit of egg yolk (per directions….)

These beauties are the end result!

When I told J that I was making pretzels, he stopped for 2 kinds of mustard. Clutch. One sweet (for me), one spicy (for him). Huh, fitting for our opposite personalities. ;-)

SUCCESS! Challenge accepted! Challenge accomplished.

What's your challenge for me? Joey just said Challah…..holla, ain't no stopping me, copy written, so, don't copy me! (yeah, I said it!) Challenge….Accepted!

Pot Roast

I love my pot roast. Joey loves my pot roast. My daddio loves my pot roast!

So here's how you make you and all of your favorite men and women in your life happy!!

The setup - See the pretty cabinets? ehhhhh.
Top: One big onion, 2 baking potatoes deeply scrubbed (no joke, get the sh*t off of them), baby bella mushrooms, S&P (duh)
Bottom: Carrots (i know, I slacked), celery, 3 lb chuck roast
Missing: Garlic (sorry, late memory)

The way to start it off: Preheat oven to 325. Heat your pot on Med/High while you chop up all of your veggies. You won't need to chop them fine…I do around 2 inch cuts. They get SUPER soft and delish when roasting so you really won't be disappointed. I just cut the onion in half, and sliced into chunks. Carrots- I cheated and bought pre-peeled and baby ones. So basically did similar sized cuts. SORRY!!!! The mushrooms were a suggested from Joey. (great suggestion, ps) Garlic should be chopped. It gets soft too so you won't be biting into big chunks when you are eating.

Step Uno: Pat your beef with a paper towel. It helps the searing process. Do it, don't ask questions!!!  S&P your beef. More than you think. Sear that sucker in your hot pan you have been heating up when you've been cutting up your veggies. 

Brown on both sides for about 7-10 minutes a side or when you can see there is a delightful crust of s&p on there…you will know.  Take the roast out of the pan and put on a plate to rest. I don't waste a good plate on it. Use a plastic plate or an ugly plate. Cooking isn't always pretty.

This tool is awesome to help you get the roast out to rest it before you add all the veggies.

See the purdy crust?

Once you pull out the meat - VERY important: turn heat down to medium/low and make sure to pour white wine or chicken stock (1/2 cup) into your pot to save all those yummy fatty beef flavors that stayed on the bottom of the pan. Then add all the veggies to your pot.

Once I put all of my veggies minus the potatoes in the pot, I realized there really wasn't room for the taters. This was kinda awesome because they are better roasted anyway….more on that in a second.

I took all the veggies out onto a plate after about 15 minutes of stirring, and getting a little browning on them...and then put my roast at the bottom of the empty pan, covered it with chicken stock (you can add any stock you want but that's what I had) and then added my veggies back on top!

Cover that sucker and leave it alone for 3 hours!

All the pretty veggies pre-roasted

Best way in the world to make sure you season your potatoes right: big plastic bag. I put my potatoes in the bag (cut them to about equal size), olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and s&p. Really, however much you want.  I do the same method with all veggies. Start small, then close the bag, throw it around, and see what distributed. Add more if you are feeling wild (:-) When there was 30 minutes left on my roast (after 2.5 hours the roast was already in the oven at 325) I put them on a pan and put them in the oven. They will be done at the same time your roast is.

After around 3 hours, your roast should be inventing your own candle scent to how great it smells in your house. But, alas, we all can't do that, so take the top off your pot,  break up the roast with tongs, and dish out as MUCH as you want! 

And that's all she wrote. You can plate it however you feel!

Errrr. Doesn't look like there is roast on there, but there is!! It's hidden behind all the delish veggies. Trust.

Sometimes I make gravy out of the drippings but did not tonight. Will share that later! It's still good with the drippings poured over your whole dish. Make sure you get all the goods on your plate. 

Tell me what you make in one pot!