April is segmented into each of the most popular 6 “meals” of the day (Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Snack, and Dessert), with each meal suggesting 3 categories of breakfasts befitting that meal. With Traditional I was aiming for a cultural experience – something traditional for a specific culture. While Vegetarian and Egg-free are straightforward, sought after niche breakfast categories.
As there will be over 18 suggestions, I will do my best to narrow down what I prepare and only develop some recipes. I hope you find inspiration and learn something for your breakfast, whatever time of the day.
Traditional: Breakfast Pizza (DeepDish)
Every Friday in Elementary school, my dad would make my brother and I breakfast. A majority of the time we talked him into making us the Red Baron breakfast pizza Scrambles. I always had the ham, egg, cheese one and my brother switched between the sausage, bacon, or ham editions. These deep dish delights were probably (definitely) full of unhealthy calories, but they were delicious, and it was Friday after all.
Unfortunately, we have a food curse in my family, and I seem to have started it. Any time I would like a specific packaged food (the ham selection of the Red Baron Scrambles, or the blue dino egg oatmeal by Quacker, Mini Frosted Chex cereal, etc.) they would discontinue it. It happened so often that I gave up ever liking any food ever again.
Insert <Dramatic Sigh> here.
What is better than frozen pizzas that are not in production anymore? Homemade pizza! It is time to try to make my own breakfast pizza.
I played around with the idea of substituting the ham for other meats: ground turkey or beef, pastrami, turkey bacon, breaded chicken (chicken nugget pizza, anyone?), lamb chops, maybe veal. Most of these were too heavy, or not enough in the scheme of breakfast, but you are welcome to try them and report back! In the end I settled on recreating my childhood memories rather than ground turkey-my second choice (a turkey sausage vibe without the fennel and spices) as my meat and the traditional ingredients to compliment.
The dough could also have creative opportunities. One of the great aspects of home cooking is making it your own. There is no need to limit yourself to a typical flour dough. I debated using a biscuit crust, pancake batter crust, or a nut based crust – more like a pizza PIE. But the Red Baron pizza I am mimicking was a flour dough crust, I know it will have the structure I need, and it will taste the best (not looking for something too sweet).
I will be using my grandma pizza pie recipe for the dough:
Once the blooming sprouted smiles on our faces, we added 2 tbsp of Bertolli 100% pure olive oil, a decent amount of salt (shake across once…twice…and a third for good measure) and 2 cups of flour. The mixer turned on to “stir” until mostly incorporated, we stopped the machine and scraped down the sides before adding another cup and turning it back on. The final cup was added soon after and we turned it to 4 (medium) for 4-5 minutes. It was pretty sticky, but apparently we wanted that, so, awesome. The dough went straight into a well-oiled large bowl, covered in plastic wrap (sorry environment), and into the fridge for 24 hours.
Instead of the baking pan, we will be using a cake tin. Note: we made 2 pizzas for 1 serving of dough.
- Filling:
- 3 eggs
- 1 Tbsp corn starch
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp oil
- dash of salt
- spinach [optional]
- 1/2 cup cream of celery soup, prepared
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 cup cheddar or colby jack cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup ricotta [optional]
- 1 cup chunked ham, ground turkey or beef, cooked
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Oil a 9″ cake or pie dish and mold the dough to fit the pan, covering up the sides but not exceeding. [Optional] Coat the dough in 1/4 cup of softened butter or oil and blind bake for 7 minutes, I used pie weights. In a mixing bowl, whisk to combine eggs, corn starch, milk, and salt (and any other desired seasonings). In a large skillet heat oil then pour in the egg mixture and cook to scramble the eggs (its okay if they are a little under cooked). To the dough in the cake tin, add the cheese, then the meat, then the eggs, and finally top with the cream of celery. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
Vegetarian: Asparagus Toast
Topped toast is trendy, and unreasonably expensive in some restaurants. This open-faced sandwich variant is a fun and possibly reduced carb (only 1 slice of toast) meal. One or two slices of toast does not sound like a lot of food, but when piled with toppings it is quite filling. Most mornings I have what I call “Almond Toast” (multigrain toast, almond butter, maybe honey or jelly, and sliced banana) for breakfast, but there is so much more you can do with toast.
I generally make my Asparagus Toast with prosciutto, but just skip the meat off and you are golden.
- 2 slices multigrain bread, lightly toasted
- 1/2 cup riotta cheese
- 2 poached or sunny-side up eggs
- 8 sticks asparagus
- dash of garlic salt
- 8 grape tomatoes
Whip the ricotta in a small bowl with a fork to incorporate air and fluff up the cheese. Spread it on the toast. Cook the eggs to your taste with a dash of salt (cumin and paprika also go well). Then slide them on top of the cheese. In the same skillet (if you pan fried the eggs), cook and sear the asparagus with a little oil and garlic salt. [Optional] Cook the tomatoes with the asparagus (halved) and/or chop each stick into 4 pieces. Line the asparagus over the eggs. Cut the tomatoes in half and top over the asparagus. Devour immediately.
Egg-Free: Comfy Chicken Biscuit
Atlanta is known for their southern cooking for a reason. They are definitely leaders in home cooked, deep fried, and country style (Waffle House lingo) meals. Next time you are in the capitol of the south make a point to visit Homegrown for their Comfy Chicken Biscuit.
This restaurant is nationally famous, and has been visited by well-known fans (e.g. Bill Clinton). The restaurant and art exhibit/shop (Sew Thrifty 5&Dime) has a unique charm and character. They only serve breakfast/brunch so you better get there early, and count on there being a line. One time my husband and I had brunch there, of course he got the comfy chicken biscuit, and he had his 3x3x3 (“Rubik’s” cube) with him. When we went to pay our bill the guy at the register asked my husband if he can solve the cube. Naturally, he solved it in under a minute (show-off) and the guy gave us 50% off just because he thought that was really neat. Now that the cube has saved us money, I will never be able to complain about it joining us on every outing (to Lowe’s, to friend’s houses, to restaurants – the cube comes too).
Turns out the guy who checked us out painted the mural on the side of the restaurant, feel free to check him out on Insta (@jeremyrayis).
Breaded chicken breast deep fried at 375F, placed lovingly on a homemade biscuit and topped country style with peppered sausage gravy. Served pipping hot with a thin orange slice – to make it healthy.
Food of the Month 