Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Breakfast for Dinner!

OK I am going to let you all in on a little secret here. Although I LOVE to cook....I don't really "do" breakfast. That's more Danny's thing, which he is AWESOME at btw! Except for fried potatoes and onions...I can make a mean batch of those. :)

Anyway, I get side tracked easily. So last weekend I was watching Food Network (shocking I know!) and Cooking for Real was on with its host Sunny Anderson. She was making the best looking breakfast and I decided right then and there that we were having THAT for dinner one night that week! So here are the recipes!

Open-Faced Breakfast Sandwich

Ingredients

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small saucepot over medium heat add the oil, rosemary, thyme sprigs, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Heat until the garlic begins to brown and thyme is crisp. Strain the oil and remove the thyme to a paper towel-lined plate. Discard the rosemary and garlic, but reserve the oil.

Brush one side of each piece of bread with the oil and place them oiled-side up on a wire rack fitted inside a baking sheet with sides. On another wire rack place the strips of speck ham and brush the top of each with maple syrup. Bake in the oven until both the toast and ham are golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the eggs. In a nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat, add a few tablespoons of the reserved olive oil. Crack each egg over the pan and allow to fry until most of the whites are cooked, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and a grind or two of pepper, then lower the heat and cover until the top of the eggs are cooked, but the yolks are not, about 2 minutes more.

To assemble the sandwiches: Spread a tablespoon of grape jelly on the oiled side of each piece of bread. Top with a few strips of folded over ham, an egg and a few sprigs of the reserved fried thyme.Garnish with the shredded Parmesan cheese.



Sunny's Sweet and Spicy Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, fennel seed, paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Break the beef into chunks and add to a large bowl. Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the top then with your hand gently mix the beef until the seasoning is evenly distributed. Divide the mixture into 8 even portions and roll gently into balls. Place back in the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove the sausage from the refrigerator and one by one place each ball between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Using a meat pounder, flatten out the sausage balls into 1/8-inch thick patties.

In a large saute pan or griddle over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and cook the sausage patties in batches. Sear on one side until caramelized and golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes, then flip to cook just a minute more on the other side.




Sunny's Saturday Special Hash Browns

Ingredients

Directions

Using a box grater or a food processor with the shred attachment, shred the potatoes and place them in a colander over a large bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water and agitate the shredded potatoes and rinse with water until the water runs clear from the colander. Strain the potatoes and pour into a clean kitchen towel, gather the edges and twist the towel around to squeeze the excess water out of the potatoes. Do this as hard as possible, changing towels if needed to remove the most moisture. Transfer the dried potato shreds to a large bowl. Add the garlic powder, onion powder, Hungarian paprika, 2 teaspoons of salt, and a grind or two of pepper. Toss with your hands to combine.

In a large nonstick saute pan on medium heat, add the olive oil and shredded potatoes. Spread the potatoes evenly and allow a bottom crust to build before tossing to cook some more. Continue to cook while tossing until most of the hash browns are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Pour into a serving plate.



And here is the final meal plate!!! :)


**I did change only a few things slightly. One is I couldn't find Hungarian Paprika so I just used regular, I used bacon instead of the cured ham and I really cheated by using a bag of frozen hash browns that I thawed out before hand!

Also, I don't know about you but when I saw the grape jelly Danny and I thought that was a little strange but went ahead and added it anyway to see what it was like and it was surprisingly good! The sausage to me was REALLY spicy so next time I make them I personally will only add 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper instead. But if you like spicy you will probably think its fine Danny did....maybe im just a wuss?

OK well thats it....have a good night!!

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