rollin' for breakfast.

I had some leftover ready-made pizza dough sitting in the fridge so I decided to try and make some breakfast rolls this morning. I was tempted to make something sweet, but the need for a savory breakfast in the morning decidedly won out. Plus, the recipe sounded interesting and I was in the mood for eggs anyway.

Reading through the recipe, this seemed simple enough. I decided to add more spices and onion to the filling to make these rolls more flavorful. I didn't have any breakfast sausage so I swapped it with some thick-sliced deli ham. Then, all I did was roll out the dough, layer on the fillings, and bake that sucker for 30 minutes. Yum!

I do wish my rolls were more big and fluffy, though. But that's more my fault than anything, really. If I had used a similar dough like the kind called in the recipe, I'm sure I would've gotten big, fluffy rolls as well. As for the taste, they were pretty good! Nice and savory especially with all that onion added in. I do wish that I had more cheese in these rolls, though, so next time I'm doing the full one cup. So would I make these again? Definitely!

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Breakfast Rolls
(adapted from The REAL Housewives of Riverton)

1 pkg ready-made pizza dough
4 eggs
1 tbsp milk
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 to 3 slices ham, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese
olive oil

 
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

In a bowl or a glass measuring cup, combine egg, milk, parsley, and spices. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and beat together until well combined. Set aside.

In a large skillet, drizzle some olive oil and saute garlic, onion, and bell pepper until slightly browned. Pour egg mixture over the contents of the pan. Let the eggs cook for up to a minute or until the bottom starts to set, then flip by sections. Repeat the flipping every few seconds until the eggs are firm but still moist. Remove from heat, transfer to a plate, and set aside.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Sprinkle on egg mixture, chopped ham, and shredded cheese. Roll tightly, pinching the ends together, then cut into even 12 sections with a sharp knife. Transfer to a well greased pan and bake for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 12 rolls.

leftover remix: garden ham quiche!

Happy New Years's Eve!

I can't believe that 2016 is almost here. Just a few short hours and we'll be welcoming another year! But with that being said, I do find it unbelievable that my nearest grocery store is already stocked for Valentine's Day. It's crazy . . . their New Years section was almost nonexistent. What is the world coming to?!

In my house, we're actually still going through Christmas leftovers. Since we cooked a lot for our Christmas feast, it stands to reason that we've been surviving on leftovers for the last few days. The game hens turned into our usual enchiladas, but the ham still has a ways to go.

What to do? Well, since it's around breakfast time, I figured that I would make something appropriate for this meal time. After googling "leftover ham ideas", a few recipe staples came up, including quiche. After changing my search to "ham quiche", I stumbled on this recipe that not only utilized ham, but a bunch of different other ingredients too. Well with the word "garden" in it, I couldn't possibly resist making this recipe!

What I really liked about this recipe was the fact that it was fairly easy to whip up. Plus, it had a good amount of vegetables and I didn't have to worry about making a crust. Again, super quick and easy and has a lot of room for add-in and changes. For my quiche, I added some sun-dried tomatoes for a little tartness and decreased the cheese to about half a cup (because I ran out, lol). I also used fat-free half ad half since I didn't have any milk. For the batter, I added parsley, some garlic powder, and a touch of paprika since I usually season my eggs that way.

I was so happy with how this turned out! The quiche itself had a pleasant density to it, probably due to the Bisquick. Flavor-wise, it was a good balance of ham versus veggie. The little bit of sun-dried tomatoes that dotted throughout the quiche gave it that tart and tangy tomato flavor every other bite. Although I had baked it a tad too long, the hubby even had seconds! That was a nice surprise, since he's not all that into quiches.

What a wonderful addition to the leftover remix rotation! This is a definite winner in my book!

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Ham and Broccoli Garden Quiche
(from Farm Eats, City Streets)

1 ½ cups diced cooked ham
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup chopped green pepper
1 ¾ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups milk
¾ cup Bisquick baking mix
3 eggs
¼ tsp black pepper

 
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a deep dish pie plate.

If using frozen, steam the broccoli in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Drain and cool. Otherwise, mix the ham, broccoli, onions, green pepper and cheese. Pour the mixture in the pie plate.

Beat the remaining ingredients (milk, Bisquick, eggs and black pepper) until it’s fairly smooth. Pour over the broccoli and ham mix in the pie plate.

Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 35-40 minutes). Remove from oven and brush with butter. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

leftover remix: turkey enchiladas!

The hubby and I were looking forward to turkey day this year. Man, oh, man, the good thing about people not eating the turkey was having so much leftovers! Why? to make turkey enchiladas, of course! This dish is soooo freakin' tasty and is a great alternative to casserole or sandwiches.

For Thanksgiving this year, the hubby decided to forgo the usual canned cranberry sauce and decided to make a huge batch of cranberry salsa. We made this salsa last year when we experimented making enchiladas using our usual recipe. Since he didn't have a high tolerance for spicy heat, we opted for pablano peppers for a milder salsa to keep the flavor or chiles but without the mouth-burning heat of jalapenos. Turns out, that was a great idea!

You would think that the Mexican flavors of the enchilada would clash against the festive flavors of cranberry and turkey. In actuality, it actually blends together with the turkey and the tart cranberry salsa is perfect with the pablano and cilantro. If Thanksgiving had a Latin version, this would be it!

I can see a pattern developing here, lol. Right when I started packing up the turkey, he asked whether of not we were going to have enchiladas the next few days. I can see why he loves it so much. Not only is this good, but it's so festive looking on a plate! Heck, even on sad paper plates, this looks super tasty! Huzzah for leftover turkey!

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Turkey Enchiladas with Cranberry Salsa
(adapted from Laura's Best Recipes and Food Network)

For the Salsa:
1 (12.oz) bag fresh cranberries, divided
1 cup sugar
zest from a large orange
2 tbsp water
1/2 pablano pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

For the Enchiladas:
extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups turkey broth
handful chopped cilantro leaves
2 (14.oz) cans green or red enchilada sauce
3 cups shredded turkey
3 rounded tbsp chopped green chiles
6 large flour or corn tortillas
1 to 2 cups Mexican cheese blend
salt and pepper, to state

light sour cream
chopped tomatoes
finely chopped romaine lettuce
shredded cheese blend

 
Make the salsa:
Empty bag of cranberries into saucepan and reserving 1 1/2 cups to a small bowl. Add sugar, zest, and water to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and stir in 1/2 cup reserved cranberries. Add sugar, then salt and pepper to taste.

Chop remaining 1 cup cranberries in a food processor and add to cranberry sauce. Stir in pablano pepper, lime juice, honey, and salt. Let cool to room temperature then stir in cilantro. Set aside.

Make the enchiladas:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and ancho chile powder then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on flour and stir to ensure flour doesn't burn.

Gradually add stock to make a sauce. Continue stirring over low simmer until flour cooks and liquid thickens. Add green chiles, chopped cilantro, and shredded turkey. Stir in 2 tbsp of enchilada sauce and continue to cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Mixture should be thick, but not runny.

Take a large foil-lined baking pan and lightly coat with cooking spray. Cover the bottom of the pan with a light layer of enchilada sauce. Take a tortilla and briefly toast both sides on a griddle pan. Put a scoop (about 1/2 a cup) of the shredded turkey mix on top of the tortilla. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it. Place the rolled tortilla in the baking dish and repeat for the remaining tortillas.

With the remaining enchilada sauce, pour in between and over tortillas then top with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese has melted. Serve topped with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream with cranberry salsa on the side.

to make a mockery.

Sometimes I like making breakfast just for me. I get to experiment with "weird" food more freely and test things out before introducing it to the hubbs. Take this recipe, for example... this would definitely fall under the "weird" food category for the hubby. Would I make it for him? Eh... maybe.

I didn't have any grape tomatoes in the house, so I decided that I would make a play on eggs benedict. I loooove me some eggs benedict. But since I was feeling slightly lazy, I just scrambled the eggs and made a batch of my favorite mock hollandaise; my go-to recipe ever since I found it on the web.

What I really like about the mock hollandaise is how easy it is. Basically, it's a lemon gravy with the flavor notes of hollandaise. Make a roux, add some milk, then season with lemon and cayenne. Best part? It isn't as fatty and rich as a real hollandaise. :)

I've made this sauce quite a few times already. While the original recipe calls for food coloring, I find that turmeric or ground mustard works just as well. I dunno...adding food coloring to sauces just seem wrong. And why add something that's tasteless when you can add a little depth with additional spice?

Well... kind of.

The 1/4 tsp of mustard or turmeric isn't really that discernible... Here, I use it more for color than for anything else. Occasionally, I'll squirt some Dijon in for taste just to change things up a bit. That, or add chives to the sauce. Overall, this hollandaise is a great recipe to have in your repertoire. Hell, I know I'm glad to have it! Makes life that much more easy, no? ^_^

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Mock Hollandaise Sauce
(barely adapted from Kitchen Project)

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup cream, half and half, or milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
1 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp ground mustard or 1/4 tsp turmeric
ground white pepper

Melt the butter on medium heat in a 1 quart non-aluminum saucepan. Add the flour, stir and cook for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps, and cook till thickened. Add the salt, lemon juice, cayenne, and ground mustard or turmeric. Season with additional salt and ground white pepper to taste.

*This can be made a few days ahead of time and reheated

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Savory Sourdough Parmesan French Toast
(from Knead For Food)

4 slices 1/2″ thick stale sourdough bread
4 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
salt and pepper

Whisk all of the ingredients together for the French toast, except the bread. Get a casserole dish large enough for all four slices and pour in half the egg mixture. Place the slices in the casserole and let sit for a few moments. Pour the remainder of the mixture over the bread. Every 3–5 minutes, flip the bread slices around. This will take about 20 minutes for the bread to absorb as much as it can.

Heat a griddle over medium low heat. Butter the griddle and fry the bread two slices at a time. This will take about 3-4 minutes per side. Top with eggs, tomatoes, breakfast meat, or any other savory topping as desired. Serve with a generous drizzle of hollandaise sauce.

it's all greek to me.

Today was a hectic grocery day. I don't know why I didn't do it on Sunday, but I found myself wandering the island and getting things for next week's lunches and dinners. So not only did I get the groceries, I did a ton of prep today as well. Man... Am I pooped.

With that being said, I still wanted to make something that took *some* effort (even though I was starting to run on fumes) despite the busy day I've had. So I went on my pinterest board and looked for inspiration. I don't know what made me look for "Greek", but when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. And being an over-achiever that I am, I decided to make some mash and veggies to go with it.

The first problem that I ran into was not having any Greek seasoning. Another quick looksie through pinterest and I found this spice mix which looked interesting (with the added bonus that I had everything listed in my pantry). After tasting a bit of it, I was really blown away! Herby a little salty, I knew this was a killer spice mix! I made sure to save the recipe in my files so I can make it again when I run out in the future.

With the main problem out of the way, everything went surprisingly smooth and with very little effort than I anticipated. Of course, it definitely helped that I went grocery shopping earlier today...I just so happened to get all the ingredients that I needed for the recipes I chose. Yay for happy happenstance!

With regard to the actual meal, I thought that it all went well together. Loved the mash and also the veggies. The chicken was so-and-so... I'm thinking that I went overboard on the yogurt (I halved the recipe) and it didn't cook that way it was intended because I used skinless boneless thighs. I may do this recipe again, but with no lemon juice (just zest) and just enough yogurt to coat the chicken...

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Greek Seasoning Blend
(from AllRecipes.com)

2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried Greek oregano
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried rosemary, minced
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Mix salt, garlic powder, basil, oregano, cinnamon, black pepper, parsley, rosemary, dill, marjoram, cornstarch, thyme, and nutmeg in a bowl. Store in an airtight container. Alternately, blend spices in a spice grinder for a finer texture.

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Greek Marinated Chicken
(from Budget Bytes)

1 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tbsp dried oregano
1 medium lemon
½ tsp salt
freshly cracked pepper
¼ bunch fresh parsley
3½ to 4 lbs chicken pieces

To make the marinade, combine the yogurt, olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a bowl. Use a fine holed cheese grater or a zester to scrape the thin layer of yellow zest from the lemon skin into the bowl. Also add the juice from half of the lemon (about 1-2 Tbsp). Stir until the ingredients are well combined. Roughly chop a big handful, or about ¼ bunch, of parsley and stir it into the marinade.

Add the chicken pieces and marinade to a gallon sized zip top bag. Remove as much air as possible, close the bag tightly, and massage the bag to mix the contents and make sure the chicken is well coated. Refrigerate the bag for 30 minutes. After marinating for 30 minutes, either cook the chicken on a grill OR preheat the oven to 375 degrees in preparation to bake the chicken.

To bake the chicken, place the chicken pieces in a large casserole dish (9x13). Bake the chicken in the preheated 375 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

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Feta and Herb Mashed Potatoes
(from Katie's Cucina)

6 medium white potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp salt
1/4 cup each fresh parsley, dill, and sliced green onions
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 tsp black pepper
*3 tbsp milk if needed

Peel, chop, and rinse potatoes. Fill water to just above the potatoes and add 1 tbsp salt. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft enough to fall apart when a knife is inserted in them.

Drain potatoes, and add 1/4 cup butter to the pot the potatoes were boiling in. Add the potatoes back to the pot then add fresh parsley, dill, and green onions followed by feta cheese. Place a lid on top of the potatoes and let them sit for 5 minutes.

Add black pepper to the potatoes and mash using a hand-mixer. Add milk if needed (one tablespoon at a time or until moist). Top with more fresh herbs and butter and serve immediately.

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Easy Mediterranean Vegetables
(from She Wears Many Hats)

2 tbsp + 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 medium zucchini, cut in eighths lengthwise, then halved crosswise (about 3 inches long)
1 medium yellow onion, cut into ¼-inch wide strips
1 small red bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch wide strips
2 tsp greek seasonings
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp garlic salt
¼ tsp sugar

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large grill-safe skillet and place on hot grill (or stove-top over medium-high heat) until hot. Add zucchini, onion and bell pepper; cook and stir 6 minutes or until browned on edges.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil plus remaining ingredients.

Remove skillet from heat. Add seasoning mixture to cooked vegetables; toss gently to coat.