Breakfast + Brunch – Writing With My Mouth Full

Jammy Eggs

Jammy eggs are my new jam! Ha! Even though they need more supervision than hard-boiled eggs, they’re easier to make than poached eggs. They’re perfect to top your sourdough-avocado toast with or to jazz up your instant ramen.

A spider skimmer is useful here; in fact, it’s one of my most used kitchen tools. If you don’t have one, you really should buy one.

Ingredients:
eggs, room temperature
1. Boil enough water in a small saucepot on high heat to make sure your eggs will be submerged.
2. When water is boiling, adjust the heat to low and gently add the eggs using a spider skimmer.
3. Re-adjust the heat back to high and cook for 6 minutes. No more; no less.
4. Turn off the heat after 6 minutes and scoop the eggs out using the spider skimmer and run them under cold water in the sink until they’re cool enough to handle and peel. Slice in half and serve with your favorite accoutrements.

Related post/s:
Buy the most useful kitchen tool ever: a spider skimmer

Homemade Blueberry Oatmeal Scones

I had a long weekend coming and I wanted to prepare for a lovely and slow Monday morning and thought of baking something the night before so I can leisurely enjoy breakfast the next day. I found this blackberry oatmeal scone recipe from 3191 Miles Apart and adapted it using blueberries, the only frozen berries I had left in my freezer from all the smoothies I’ve been making myself in the mornings.

It also required 2 tbsps of milk but I only had almond milk handy so I used that knowing that a wee bit of a different kind of milk won’t make too much of a difference. For the plain whole milk yogurt, I just picked up a small cup of the regular Fage total Greek yogurt. Pulsing all the dry ingredients and then folding it in with the wet was sloppy, but I held them together with flour dustings and gently patted the dough down to make a semi-thin wheel before I sliced them into 8 beautiful pieces.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour, more for dusting
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsps unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 egg
2/3 cup plain whole milk yogurt
2 tbsps almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 400». Add the oats, flours, sugar, zest, baking powder and soda, salt and butter to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add blackberries, toss gently until blackberries are coated.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and vanilla. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the blackberry mixture until just combined. Dough will be sloppy but take care not to crush the berries.
3. Transfer to a floured work space and gently pat out into a circle about half an inch thick. Cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges and carefully transfer each scone to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer baked scones on a wire tray and let rest.

Vegetable Fritters Topped with a Poached Egg

I love where I live in Harlem, but the neighborhood has been a bit slow in opening up restaurants I’d like to frequent. Sometimes, after I bike around Central Park, I wish that I can just chain my bike somewhere and eat a satisfying brunch without the food being soggy eggs and weak coffee. Instead, I bike all the way home and make myself a quick bite to eat and think, “Well, that wasn’t so difficult.”

My mother always told me, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” I’ve created an eating club before called Supper with Strangers, so the idea of inviting people to my home for a civilized and good brunch came easily. Serving brunch to a group of people is easier in theory because there are less courses to prep for and I don’t have to expect my guests to linger like they would if it’s at night. The challenge was presenting more than just eggs to eat, and thus, Not Just Eggs was born. I put up the announcement on my Facebook and Twitter pages and received very enthusiastic responses that I sold out a total of 24 seats for a total of three Sundays in May.

I was actually nervous for the first Not Just Eggs seating. I spent the week before testing a couple of recipes that would taste good with a poached egg on top. I wanted to create a dish that celebrated the spirit of brunch: a substantial meal with a breakfast feel. I had two vegetarian guests and I didn’t want to buy two sets of groceries, so I had to cook a dish that would work for everyone with just the additional meat for the pork lovers as the slight difference.

Since the carrots need to be grated for this recipe, I know you’d be tempted to grate the potatoes as well. Spend extra time to chop them like matchsticks so that they do not get soggy. And it’s okay to use one of those silicone poachers so your eggs come out perfectly. They’re especially handy if you’re poaching eight all at once. The ingredients below made enough for all eight guests with each person getting two fritters. Add pan-fried sausage for the other guests.

Ingredients:
3 carrots, grated
2 potatoes, chopped like matchsticks
scallions, finely sliced
a handful of parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsps flour
salt
pepper
6 eggs
vinegar
oil

1. Mix the carrot, potato, scallion and parsley in a bowl. Add the flour and season well. Stir the eggs into the vegetable mixture to combine.
2. Heat some oil in a sauté pan. Add a large spoonful of the mixture to the oil, lightly flatten with a heat-resistant spatula, and fry each side until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a cooling rack.
3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and soft-poach the eggs. Add a tbsp of vinegar. Crack the egg in a small bowl or a ramekin. Gently pour in the egg–don’t be afraid to get that ramekin wet too–and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the yolk is half-set. Scoop the poached egg out with a slotted spoon and place on top of two fritters to serve.

Roasted Beets with Poached Egg Salad

I miss my routine of going to work, heading to the gym after and then meeting up with friends for food and drinks before the night ends, but I can’t say it has been all bad while I’ve been unemployed. Sure my savings account is dwindling, but I’ve also started to cherish the days when I can catch up with reruns of Bizaare Food, The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Bachelor. The best days have been those quiet afternoons where I can make myself a meal and then head over to a museum and enjoy the space without the crowd. This is one of the meals I made myself last week.

You can roast the beets a day or two ahead. After peeling, transfer the whole beets in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to use. Poaching the egg is the most challenging but really easy. Once you try it, I swear you’ll add a poached egg to every salad you make.

Ingredients:
2 red beets and 2 golden beets, tops cut off
1 endive, sliced
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 leaves of green lettuce, chiffonade
1 egg
1/4 cup of vinegar
oil, salt, pepper

1. Wrap beets in aluminum foil and roast in the oven for about 1 hour or until you can prick each beet with a fork without too much effort. Remove from the oven and set aside. When cool enough to handle, peel using a paring knife or a peeler and then chop in small wedges.
2. Poach the egg when ready to assemble the salad. Fill a deep skillet with 2 cups of water. Add vinegar and a pinch of salt and place over high heat. Crack egg into small shallow bowl. When water boils, reduce heat to a rolling boil and gently pour in the egg. Cook until whites are firmly set. Remove egg with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate. Keep it on the slotted spoon until ready to serve.
3. Assemble the salad. In a large bowl, combine all vegetables with roasted beets. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until well-combined. Serve salad on a plate with poached egg by carefully placing it on top.