8 slices firm, home-style white bread
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/2 cup sour cream
1 small avocado, peeled and cut into slices
Procedure:
Mix the cream cheese, chiles, ham and Jack cheese together. Make four sandwiches with this filling. Press the sandwiches down to make sure that they are firmly held together.
Whisk the eggs, milk, chile powder and dry mustard together and place this mixture in a shallow dish, like a pie pan.
Melt the butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Dip the sandwiches into the egg batter and place them in the skillet.
Cook the sandwiches for about 5 minutes on each side until they are golden brown.
Serve one Croque Monsieur per person and garnish each plate with a dollop each of the salsa and sour cream and a couple of avocado slices.
New Joe’s Special
Joe’s Special is an egg dish that originated in San Francisco. A chef that I worked for called Louis Ludwig introduced the dish to me when I was a pastry chef at Gainey Ranch. He said that it was served at breakfast at many restaurants in the City by the Bay and was a combination of ground beef, eggs, and spinach. This version that I made in one of the breakfast classes features chard instead of spinach and Italian sausage in lieu of the ground beef. I like to serve it with hot buttered sourdough toast.
Makes six servings
Ingredients:
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and tough stems removed
1 pound Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
12 large eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Procedure:
Chop the Swiss chard. Place the sausage and onions in a large skillet and cook until the sausage is nicely browned and the onions are soft. Drain off almost all fat.
Add the chard to the sausage mixture and cook it until it softens and wilts. Season the chard with a little salt and pepper.
Whisk the eggs and add them to the skillet. Scramble the eggs just until they are done.
Divide the eggs between six plates and sprinkle each serving with some of the Parmesan cheese and serve.
Spicy Breakfast Patties
Move over Jimmy Dean sausage! These sausage patties are not only delicious, but are a healthy addition to any breakfast or brunch. I made these in a class to accompany a vegetable quiche for a New Years Day Brunch class. These spicy patties contain less fat than ones made with pork. If you want to keep the fat content low, just make sure that you use all white meat ground turkey. Some of the regular ground turkey contains the skin which is very high in fat and that isn’t the kind you want to buy. The mixture can be made the day before and chilled. The next day, all you have to do is shape the patties and cook them.
Makes twelve 2 ½-inch in diameter patties
Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Procedure:
Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a large mixing bowl. Stir well but do not over mix. Cover and chill for an hour if possible as this makes it a little easier to make the patties.
Shape the turkey mixture into twelve patties about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet and brown the patties over medium heat on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Then, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the skillet, and cook, turning the patties occasionally, until they are crisp and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Serve immediately.
Note: Because all white meat turkey is very low in fat, these patties could stick a little to the pan, although if you use a good non-stick pan, this should not occur. However, if you find that the patties are sticking, add about ¼ cup of water to the pan, cover the pan and let the patties sit for about 30 seconds. They should not be stuck by then as the steam acts to release them from the pan’s surface.
Flavored Cream Cheeses
I have included these two recipes for flavored cream cheeses that can be used on toasted breakfast bagels. I think they are much better than the ones you can buy. Each recipe makes about three pounds and keeps in the refrigerator for about 1 week, but the recipes can easily be cut in half if you want to make a smaller quantity.
Vegetable Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
2 pounds cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup radishes, sliced thin
1 bunch green onions, sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh parsley minced
Procedure:
Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer. Use the paddle attachment and mix the cheese until it is very soft, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Add in the vegetables and mix on low speed for about 1 minute to blend everything in. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill covered
