Post by Alison Hein.

Sometimes I need help coming up with ideas for this blog (hint, hint). So I asked my sister Janet for some inspiration. “I love breakfast sandwiches,” she said. Huh. Great idea. Everyone loves breakfast sandwiches, including me. Wonder why I didn’t think of that…

In the U.S., a biscuit is a small, leavened quick bread that can either be rolled out or dropped from a spoon (thus the term “drop biscuits”). Biscuits are fairly versatile – serve them with gravy like they do in the South for a wonderful savory experience, or sweeten them up with a little sugar in the batter, and perhaps a honey glaze, for an almost dessert-like dinner bread. I prefer them unsweetened, served warm with a pat of butter. The perfect accompaniment to the evening meal. And also, the star of our morning breakfast sandwich.

Drop biscuits are cute and homey. Flaky and buttery, they form the perfect base for some spicy sausage and melted cheddar. Dusseldorf mustard and a few baby arugula leaves add a little spice. You can easily wrap these babies up and take them with you – even back to bed for a homey, spicy breakfast in bed.

Biscuits

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vinegar

 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly grease baking sheet and set aside. Combine white flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and mix with flour, using a pastry cutter if you like, until mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir vinegar into milk. Pour all at once into flour mixture, and stir until just mixed.

Drop batter onto prepared baking sheet using greased ¼-cup measure. Bake until crispy and golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 8 biscuits.

Sandwich

1 whole wheat drop biscuit
1 breakfast sausage patty
1 teaspoon oil
1 egg
1 thin slice cheddar cheese
Dusseldorf or Dijon mustard, to taste
3 to 4 baby arugula leaves

Preparation

Slice biscuit in half and set aside. Cook sausage patty according to package instructions and place on bottom half of biscuit. Heat oil over medium heat in small frying pan. Crack egg into pan and fry on one side (sunnyside up) until cooked to your preference. Break the yolk gently while cooking if you don’t want the egg to be runny. (Or you could scramble the egg. See Becca’s Scrambled Eggs) Place cheddar cheese on egg while still in the pan and let melt slightly. Put egg and cheese on top of sausage, add some mustard and the arugula leaves. Cover with biscuit top.

Makes one breakfast sandwich.

Tags: bed, bedroom, Breakfast in Bed, Breakfast Recipe, Breakfast Sandwiches, Charles P. Rogers

Post by Alison Hein.

It’s almost time for the Super Bowl! This excites me for two reasons: 1) I get my husband back, and 2) my sister and I dream up an awesome game day menu with foods from both team’s hometowns. Well, I suppose there is a third cause for excitement – our very own New York Giants are once again poised to win the big game!

Janet and I are deep into our menu planning. We usually go through a ‘one from column A one from column B’ routine – a New York steakhouse chopped salad, New England clam chowder, mini-hot pastrami on rye sandwiches, lobster roll bites… well, you get the idea.

Anyway, this year I thought it would be fun to serve a Super Bowl breakfast as well. Instead of traditional dishes from each spot, I wanted to make one dish with elements from both locations. It also had to be pretty straight forward (so I have enough time to bake both cheesecake and Boston cream pie). Super Bowl Māgels, or Maple Bagels, form the perfect middle ground. A crisp, malty New York bagel adorned with a New England maple-infused schmear.

To me, maple syrup is one of nature’s wonders – honeyed, amber elixir I could eat by the spoonful. Sadly, some find it too sweet, so pour it into the cream cheese with a light hand. You will also need to refrigerate the spread for at least two hours to allow it to firm after mixing. All kinds of bagels, toasted or not, work well. My favorite is pumpernickel, but plain and cinnamon raisin are also delicious.

On game day, I plan on lingering with my māgel over a super, maple-y breakfast in bed. I’m not sure what the New York Giants will be serving that day, but I’m hopeful they’ll be eating the New England Patriots for breakfast.

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup
10 to 12 assorted bagels

Preparation
Remove cream cheese from refrigerator until softened. Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Pour in maple syrup and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spoon maple cream cheese spread into a small container and refrigerate until firm, at least two hours. Serve with bagels.

Serves 10 to 12 people.

Tags: bed, Breakfast in Bed, Breakfast Recipes, Charles P. Rogers, Superbowl

Post by Alison Hein.

So far this year, I’ve made no gym or diet resolutions, and I’ve done plenty of eating. Sooner or later that has to change. In the meantime, I’m enjoying some good old-fashioned comfort food on these dreary January mornings. Waffles! Nothing warms the heart like biting into a crunchy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside batter cake, its little grids filled to the brim with melted butter and maple syrup.

Not surprisingly, waffles originated in what is now Belgium (Think freshly whipped cream and ruby ripe berries!) in the form of wafers. Unleavened batter was poured onto wafer irons – two metal plates hinged together and attached to a long handle – then held over the fire to cook. Today, delicious variations of this simple theme abound across the globe.

Waffles are easy to make, but you will need a waffle iron and a little practice. Every iron differs and requires somewhere between ½ cup and ¾ cup of batter per waffle (mine uses ⅔ cup). You may create a few skinny waffles, or spillovers, until you get it just right. Try experimenting with different types of flour (wheat, rice, chestnut), or add some chopped fruit or nuts to the batter for variety. Kids, of course, love waffles. Any extras can be wrapped and frozen for a special weekday breakfast.

If you’re like me, and have no diet resolutions, or perhaps have given up already, try these waffles for a good old comforting breakfast in bed.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup vegetable oil, or butter, melted and slightly cooled
½ cup sour cream
Cooking spray

Preparation
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl. In separate bowl, add milk, eggs and vanilla and beat until frothy. Pour oil or melted butter into liquid mixture and stir well. Using a wooden spoon or hand mixer, gradually add liquid mixture to dry ingredients until batter is smooth. Stir in sour cream.

Spray waffle iron with cooking spray and heat to high. Pour ½ cup to ¾ cup batter into center of iron, making sure you have enough batter to evenly spread across the surface of your waffle iron. Cook until golden brown and crisp and waffle pulls away easily from iron, about 5 minutes. Serve warm with melted butter and maple syrup. Top with fruit, if you like.

Makes 4 to 5 waffles.

Tags: Breakfast in Bed, Charles P. Rogers, Children, family, Recipes, Waffles

Post by Alison Hein.

If you read my post last week, you know I recently returned fromTexaswhere I visited my sister-in-law Suzanne and her husband, Randy. What you don’t know is, besides my unfortunate cooking mishap, something really awesome occurred– Suzanne and Randy presented me with a cookbook written by Randy’s grandmother!

Elsie Druckhammer Patranella Sauer was born in 1905 in Washington-on-the-Brazos, otherwise known as “the heart ofTexas.” Randy describes her this way: “Elsie was a true Southern belle and genteel hostess who loved to cook and entertain. Then, an hour after everyone left her sophisticated cocktail party, she would put on her hunting boots and head off alone in search of wild game… and never return empty-handed.”

A true daughter of the Lone Star State, Elsie reinvented herself several times throughout her life. Her parents were German immigrants, and although Elsie had only a sixth-grade education, she later went on to secretarial school and a successful career atTexasA&MUniversity. She married twice, was widowed early, and raised a child mostly on her own. Throughout, she never lost her love of cooking.

“Cook, Eat, and be Merry with Elsie” is peppered with the German recipes of Elsie’s youth, Italian dishes from her first husband’s family, and many other ethnic specialties she learned from friends and neighbors in the melting pot of College Station, Texas.

You can be sure I will revisit Elsie’s book in the future, especially to try some of Randy’s favorites – Czech Kolaches and Texas Sheet Cake. In the meantime, here’s one of Elsie’s spicier choices, Eggs Creole. Elsie says you should serve Eggs Creole with hard rolls and fruit, which I found surprising, yet perfectly complemented this distinctive, lively dish.

Hope you enjoy Elsie’s spunky, Texas-style breakfast in bed!

Ingredients
6 eggs
Cooking spray

Red Sauce
1 small onion
1 green pepper
1 stalk celery
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
½ teaspoon Creole seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

White Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk

Topping
1 tablespoon butter, melted
½ cup bread crumbs
½ cup Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Place eggs in small heavy saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil on high heat and continue to cook eggs for 10 minutes, until hard-boiled. Cool, peel and slice. Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Place sliced eggs in dish and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To make red sauce, finely chop onion, pepper, celery and garlic. Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped vegetables. Sauté about 8 to 10 minutes until soft but not browned, stirring occasionally. Add tomato sauce, Creole seasoning, salt and pepper. Simmer sauce until slightly thickened, 20 to 25 minutes. Make white sauce while red sauce simmers.

To make white sauce, melt butter in small heavy saucepan. Whisk in flour until smooth, thick paste forms. Whisk in milk and cook until slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour sauce evenly over sliced eggs. Let set for a few minutes, then pour red sauce evenly over white sauce. The white sauce becomes firm quickly, so it is easy to spread the red sauce without mixing the sauces.

To make topping, melt butter in small saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese until thoroughly mixed. Spread evenly over red sauce. Place in oven and cool 20 minutes, until bread crumb topping is golden brown. Serve immediately with hard rolls and fruit on the side.

Makes 12 – 14 servings.

Tags: Breakfast, Breakfast in Bed, Breakfast Recipe, Charles P. Rogers Beds, family

Post by Alison Hein.

Sorry everyone, I’m a little short on photos this week. What I do have is a good story, a great recipe, and some words of wisdom for the new year.

We just got back from a trip to Texas, where my sister-in-law Suzanne and her husband Randy hosted a family holiday at their beautiful ranch. There were about 20 of us – from toddlers to grandparents – spending a few days visiting, playing, and eating.

I was happy to jump into Suzanne’s gorgeous kitchen to make dinner, which would end with a sweet, creamy flan. Another sister-in-law, Lindsay, offered to help. The two of us had pots cooking, beaters beating, and timers timing. Suddenly, more guests arrived, youngsters reached across the counter for gummy bears, teens searched for afternoon snacks, a bottle fell out of the refrigerator and crashed into pieces, and then, I put my fingertips into a dish containing the caramelized sugar I had just removed from the stove!

Later, reflecting on my bandaged hand and wondering how I had managed to do such a dumb thing, I realized I had lost my focus. I may have become so comfortable with flames and knives, and so confident in my cooking skills, that I was skimming across the common sense rules of basic kitchen safety:

• Never leave a cooking pot untended
• Wear an apron
• Put away potentially dangerous cooking tools immediately after use, and above all:
• Stay focused and present at all times while cooking

My husband swore he could see my fingerprints embedded in the sugary top of the flan. We all enjoyed it anyway, and I vowed to add “be focused and present” to the top of my New Year’s Resolutions.

Flan, a sweet crème caramel popular in Latin countries, is just as delicious for breakfast as it is for dessert, and there are many variations. This recipe is an easy Puerto Rican-style custard with just the right number of eggs for a smooth, sturdy texture, and enough vanilla to add a rich, aromatic flavor. If you try it, remember to be present while preparing, and later while enjoying, your sweet, creamy breakfast in bed.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Fresh mixed berries for garnish (optional)

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350°. In a small heavy saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat until caramel forms, stirring constantly until sugar caramelizes and becomes syrupy and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Pour the caramelized sugar into an 8-inch round mold. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla. Mix well with the eggs.

Pour the mixture into the caramelized mold and cover with foil. Place in a water bath on a strong cookie sheet and bake for about 1 hour, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let the flan cool at room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.

To serve, invert the flan onto a platter. Garnish top with fresh berries.

Photography courtesy of Suzanne Birdwell.

Tags: bed, Breakfast in Bed, Charles P, Children, family, Recipes