Category Archives: Breakfast

Morel Havarti Omelet

Morel Havarti Omelet

One of the things that I love about Oregon is our morel mushrooms.  I never tasted a morel mushroom before until I moved here well over 25 years ago.  Nearly every year I hunt for them on the forest floor of the Cascade Mountains in the spring and early summer.  Some years I am able to find buckets full of mushrooms, sadly, this year, I was so busy with other things, I did not get a chance to go…  From what I heard from people who live in the mountains above the Rogue Valley is that the weather conditions were less than ideal this year and the picking season was terribly short.  So, when I saw these tasty little morels at my favorite food coop, I snagged a brown paper bag full.

Morels are easily identifiable by their shape and their honeycomb texture.  Before going out and picking morels be sure to do your homework and learn how to identify them properly.  There are other mushrooms out in the forest that are similar in shape and size to a morel. Those mushrooms are called false morels and what’s bad about them is that they are not edible and in fact, they may be poisonous.  False morels look similar to a morel so, just be careful…

A half pound of morels.  I always rinse mine before I use them.  The little ridges and pits in the mushrooms can contain dirt and other forest debris.  If you ever get a chance to purchase morels or go hunting for them, by all means, do it.  Morels taste amazing and are super simple to prepare.  You can saute them, fry them, put them in soups, sauces, or use them in ways you would white or crimini mushrooms.  I decided to take some of these mushrooms and put them in an omelet.  I prepared a basic 3 egg omelet and sauteed morels, shallots, thyme, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper in a bit of melted butter.  Filled the omelet with the morel mixture added some Havarti cheese and melted additional Havarti on top.  It was absolutely delightful! Enjoy!  Tessa

Ingredients:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon cold water
  •  sea salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 Tbs canola oil
  • 1 cup morel mushrooms (cleaned and halved)
  • 1 Tbs shallots (minced)
  • 1/2  tsp fresh thyme (minced)
  • 1 tsp butter
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 ounces havarti cheese
  • sprigs of fresh thyme for garnish

In a small bowl whisk vigorously together the eggs, water, salt and pepper.  In a nonstick pan on medium high heat add canola oil.  Add the egg mixture covering the entire pan.  Lift parts of the egg mixture with a spatula to allow egg mixture to go under the omelet and cook.  Cook until set.  Meanwhile in another pan, saute the morel mushrooms, shallots, thyme, salt and pepper in butter.  Add mushroom mixture to omelet.  Add 1 ounce Havarti cheese and fold.  Add remaining havarti to the top of the omelet, add a tsp of water, cover and melt.  Remove from pan and slide onto a plate.  Serve immediately.  Garnish with fresh sprigs of thyme.  Makes 1 omelet.

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Asparagus Leek Quiche

 

Asparagus Leek Quiche

My son came home to visit for the weekend and before he went back up to school late this afternoon we hosted a Sunday morning brunch at our home.  I baked some quiches, made my “famous” biscuits and gravy, served eggs cooked to order, set out a big bowl of fresh picked strawberries and a dished up a variety of fresh salads.  We even had fresh squeezed orange juice and mimosas.  Delish!

Quiches are one of my favorite dishes to make.  First of all, they are very versatile because you can put so some many different types of ingredients in them.  Second, they are super easy to make.  And three, you can get away with serving quiche for any meal of the day.

I work full time during the week and have been known to make quiche on the weekend just to have slices available for my breakfast or lunch while I am at the office.  I simply warm it up in the microwave in the break room for a few seconds, grab a fork and my meal is done.  Simple, no muss, no fuss.  And, I am back to work at my desk in no time at all.

My Asparagus Leek Quiche is baked with local free range organic eggs, fresh picked asparagus, organic leeks, and shredded creamy Havarti cheese in a flaky golden pie crust.  Enjoy!  Tessa

Ingredients:

  • 1 – 9″ refrigerated pie crust (unfold and roll to fit pie or tart pan)
  • 1 cup leeks (washed and thinly sliced)
  • 2 cups asparagus (chopped)
  • 1 tsp canola oil
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 4 ounces Havarti cheese (shredded)
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Begin by rolling out the pie crust and placing it in a 9″ pie pan or 10″ tart pan.  I used a tart pan.  Heat a saute pan on the stove, add the canola oil, asparagus, leeks and salt.  Saute for a few minutes until asparagus are tender.  Don’t over cook.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, half and half, white pepper, salt and nutmeg.  Add asparagus, leeks and Havarti cheese.  Mix well and pour into pie crust.  Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Turn down heat and bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or until crust is golden.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Slice into wedges.  Makes 1 quiche.

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Red Potato Ham and Cheese Pie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Potato Ham and Cheese Pie

I stopped at the store the other day and came home with a couple of pounds of gorgeous locally grown red potatoes.  At first, I was thinking of making a garlic mash with them and then I thought maybe some good old fashioned scallop potatoes.  I could not decide and then I figured it out…  I wanted to make a Red Potato Ham and Cheese Pie.  I imagined a savory red potato pie without a crust but with chopped ham, onions, garlic, fresh shaved Parmesan and Oregon’s own Tillamook cheddar cheese.  I wanted to make it kind of like an “impossible pie”.

My Red Potato Ham and Cheese Pie is a lovely dish to serve at a Sunday brunch or with a cup of soup or salad for lunch or dinner.  I ate my slice of Red Potato Ham and Cheese Pie with a perfectly cooked over easy egg on the side.  It was absolutely delicious!   Enjoy!  – Tessa

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped ham
  • 1 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup medium diced onion
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. ground coriander
  • 1 tsp. garlic paste
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. white pepper
  • salt to taste (it all depends on the saltiness of the ham)

Begin by boiling your red potatoes in salted water until just fork tender.  Whatever you do, just do not over cook the potatoes.  You want to be able to slice them thinly later.  Remove cooked potatoes from water and let cool.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grab a nine inch diameter spring-form pan and spray with non stick cooking spray.  Line the bottom of the spring-form pan with parchment paper.  Spray again with non-stick spray.

Begin by slicing the red potatoes (with peels on) into no more than 1/4 inch thin slices using a sharp knife or a mandoline slicer.  Set potatoes aside.  In a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, coriander, garlic, nutmeg and white pepper.  Salt only if you think that you need it.

Take one third of your potatoes and layer the bottom of the spring-form pan.  Overlapping the potatoes is fine, leaving gaps on the bottom is not.  I found I preferred to use the ugliest of the slices and bits of the potato on the bottom of the pie that way the pretty slices are used in the second and top layer.  Add one third of the shredded cheese, chopped onion, ham and egg mixture.  Repeat two more times alternating potato, cheese, onion, ham and egg mixture.

Place pie in the oven on a cookie sheet (to catch any drips) and bake for about 50-55 minutes until the pie is golden brown on top and the egg mixture has set.  Remove from oven, let rest 10 minutes before slicing.  Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese and sprigs of fresh picked herbs.  Makes 8 slices.

Notes:  If you don’t have a spring-form pan, it’s no big deal!  Just work with what you have. Use a baking dish large enough to fit all your ingredients and make at least 2-3 layers.  Don’t worry about the parchment paper either.  I just used it to get perfect slices out of the spring-form pan.  Just follow the recipe, cut into squares and serve!

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Pancakes with Raspberries and Tropical Syrup

It’s a beautiful day today in Southern Oregon.  It’s early in the morning and my family is still fast asleep.  The sun is shining, the sky is blue and I have the day off.  I feel as though I am one lucky woman.  I took a personal inventory and determined that have a wonderful family, a great husband and cool friends.  I know that it does not get much better than that.  My guys don’t know it yet but as soon as they wake up they are going to get raspberry pancakes for breakfast.  I also have a little box of fresh fruit that was leftover from a fruit plate that we had with dinner last night that I am going to turn into a an easy tropical syrup.

Fast forward a couple of hours.  My guys loved them!  The pancakes were simple.  I opened a box of readymade pancake mix and followed the directions for 4 servings…  Ya, I know what you are thinking… It’s shameful for a food blogger to admit that.  Before you dish out the insults, stop and think and I’d be willing to bet that you have done that too.  I then gently folded some chopped raspberries into the batter and began to prepare the tropical syrup.

The tropical syrup was pretty simple too.  All I did was chop up the fruit that I had (there were bits of strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, blueberries, and raspberries) and it came to about 3/4 cup of mixed chopped fruit.  I added the fruit to a saucier and added 3/4 cup of water and 1 cup of extra fine sugar.  I cooked the syrup on medium low for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally until the fruit cooked down.  I then removed the syrup from the stove and let cool.  It made about a cup and a half of syrup.  Meanwhile, I cooked the pancakes.

The key to great looking pancakes is to use a hot griddle, be sure to not over mix and to use a small scoop or ladle for dishing out the batter.  Enjoy!  Tessa

 

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Breakfast Soft Tacos

I love lazy Saturday mornings.  I can sit for hours sipping on coffee and reading the newspaper.  This Saturday morning instead of reading the paper, I decided to make some breakfast soft tacos.  I thought to myself, who made up the rules and said that tacos are only for lunch or dinner? My breakfast soft tacos are filled with scrambled eggs, refried beans, crispy bacon, fresh picked tomatoes and cotija cheese.  I like to drizzle hot sauce on mine for a fiery kick.   These breakfast tacos are super easy to make and can be made as a quick breakfast on a busy weekday morning.

I purchase my eggs from a family in town who has dozens of chicken roaming around in their yard.   When I put in my order, I never know what I am going to get.  Mostly I get the brown eggs but sometimes if I am lucky I get the ones that are a lovely light blue or green.  There is nothing better than farm fresh organic free range eggs…

Ingredients:

  • 4 small flour tortillas
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 slices cooked bacon crumbled
  • 1 cup refried beans
  • 1/2 c. coarsely chopped tomatoes
  • 1/4 cotija cheese (crumbled)
  • 1 green onion sliced on the bias
  • your favorite hot sauce (optional)

Let’s begin by prepping all your ingredients.  Cook your bacon and crumble, chop your onions, heat up your beans, chop your tomatoes, crumble your cheese, and slice your onions.  Set aside.  Heat up your tortillas briefly in the microwave or in a dry frying pan.  Put on plates.  Add 1/4 cup refried beans on top of each tortilla.  Whisk together your eggs in a medium sized bowl and cook in a nonstick pan coated with cooking spray.  Divide your eggs and put on top of the refried beans.  Add your bacon, tomatoes, green onion and sprinkle on the cotija cheese.  Drizzle with hot sauce if you like.  Makes 4 tasty breakfast tacos.  Enjoy!  Tessa

 

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