Week 20: Mashed Potato Patty Cakes

The Recipe
(makes 4 patties)

1 egg
1/2 tsp onion powder
A dash of salt
A dash of pepper
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

PLUS EITHER
2 cups leftover burning love

OR
2 slices bacon
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

IF USING BURNING LOVE:
Mix the burning love, egg, onion powder, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Add cheddar cheese.
Form the mixture into 4 patties. Melt some butter in a pan over medium heat and pan-fry the patties until crisp on each side - about 4-5 minutes per side.

OTHERWISE:
Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Remove from pan, leaving the bacon drippings in the skillet.
Mix the mashed potatoes, eggs, onion powder, salt, and black pepper together in a bowl; stir in the crumbled bacon and Cheddar cheese.
Form the mixture into 4 patties. Reheat the bacon drippings over medium heat, and pan-fry the patties in the drippings until crisp on each side, about 4-5 minutes per side.

The Verdict
Sooooo good! I love mashed potatoes, and this is a terrific way to use up leftovers. Definitely something I'll be making again. I made these for brunch which worked out extremely well, but they could easily be used as lunch or a side for dinner as well.

Week 33: Bacon-Cheddar Biscuits

Inspired by Lizard from Debora Geary's "WitchLight" trilogy.

The Recipe
2 cups flour (~5dl / 300g)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp paprika (for more of a kick, replace half with chili)
1 tsp onion powder
2.5dl milk
125g butter, melted
8 strips bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled
2.5dl shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg

Heat the oven to 200C.

In a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, paprika, and onion powder. Mix to blend then add the milk, butter, bacon and cheese. Mix gently. The dough will be wet and sticky. Using a table spoon, portion the batter onto a baking sheet, leaving an inch or so around each biscuit.

In a small bowl, beat the egg with a splash of water and then brush this mixture on the top of each biscuit. Bake in the oven until the biscuits are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean, approx 15 minutes.


The Verdict
I had one straight out of the oven, and three the following day for breakfast. They're better warm than cool, but taste great either way. It's really odd how you can't really taste the bacon or cheese in any distinct way - they just combine to give the biscuits an overall savoury taste.

Week 32: Omelet Muffins

From Mark's Daily Apple

The Recipe
6 eggs
1/4 – 1/2 cup bacon - cooked crisp, crumbled and drained (optional)
1/2 cup diced vegetables (I used squash)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp water
1/8 cup water

Preheat oven to 175C. Use greased muffin tins or silicone baking cups. This recipe makes 6-7 muffins depending on the size.

In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add bacon, vegetables, salt, ground pepper, and any other ingredients and stir to combine.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until done.

Can be eaten straight away or cooled and saved for another day.

The Verdict
I made these for breakfast. Had three one day and saved 3 for the next. I hadn't expected them to, but they actually kept me quite sufficiently full until lunch! That was a pleasant surprise :)
I liked them well enough, but by the 6th one I wished for a tad more variation. I think next time I'll try several different types of vegetables instead of just one - and possibly make a couple of smaller batches so I can make several different ones at once.

Week 29: Baked Eggs

The Recipe
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp oregano
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 200°C. Combine the cheese and herbs in a small bowl. Crack two eggs into a bowl or cup, taking care not to break the yolks. Pour the two eggs into a ramekin. Sprinkle cheese-herb blend over the eggs. Finish with a dash of salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake the eggs for 10-15 minutes until the eggs have achieved desired doneness: less time for runny yolks, more time for firm yolks. Serve immediately.

The Verdict
The eggs were actually supposed to have cooked, crumbled bacon as well, but I was too lazy to make that ;) It might have improved the recipe somewhat, but I actually didn't miss it. This was a lovely brunch dish that I'll definitely be making again.

Week 0: Spanish Brunch

Week 1 doesn't actually start until tomorrow (January 4th), but I figured I might as well get off to a head start and try out some brunch recipes as they would be very hard to fit in once work starts again. Both of these are taken from "Spanish Cuisine".

Flaming Eggs
The name sounds fascinating, doesn't it? At least I thought so. Basically, you cook up a tomato sauce using canned tomatoes, paste, bell pepper, onion and chilli, pour the sauce into an oven proof dish, make small indentions in the sauce for the eggs, cover each egg with 2 slices of chorizo (or some other salami) and cook it in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with toast. Quick and easy dish.

Unfortunately also boring. The yolk of the egg was supposed to still be soft, which wasn't the case at all, so obviously 20 minutes was far too much. It's probably yummier if the yolk is still runny.

Also the recipe only calculated with one egg per person which is definitely far too little if nothing else is served. I had to fill up with more toast. I may try it again with certain modifications.

Scrambled Eggs with Squash
No surprises here - it is exactly what the name suggests. Only the name left out the onion, bacon, tomatoes, bell pepper and chilli also added to the scrambled eggs (2 eggs per person). Serve with toast.

Tasted exactly as scrambled eggs with squash, bell pepper, chilli etc. I'd hoped the tastes would 'mesh' somewhat, but that wasn't the case at all. Tasted decent enough, and I was plenty full from the portion allotted me, but not something I need a recipe to make again.


Ah well, at least neither were total disasters, and I got off to a good start with two recipes in one week.