4th of July Breakfast

Happy 4th of July everyone. I hope everyone has plans to enjoy the holiday and eat some great food. This morning I treated the family to a red, white, and blue breakfast. Well I should amend that to a white and blue breakfast but I think that the juice from the blueberries can qualify as red. I made some lemon biscuits with a blueberry sauce. I think everyone enjoyed them as my husband had thirds, my son took seconds, and the baby even ate one. Here is the quick and easy recipe.

For Biscuits:

5 cups of instant pancake mix (see note)

1 1/2 cups of water

1/4 cup of milk

zest from two lemons

For Sauce:

2 cups of clean blueberries

1/2 cup of sugar

juice from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Using a non stick cooking spray, spray cookie sheets, using a tablespoon, spoon dough onto sheet making sure to leave some room between biscuits. Bake in the oven for 8 to 11 minutes. While biscuits are baking, in a medium saucepan cook blueberries, sugar and lemon until the blueberries release their juices, about 7 minutes. Take sauce off of the heat and place in a bowl to serve. When biscuits are done transfer to a large plate and serve with sauce and butter. Enjoy...

Note: Make an instant pancake mix or use something like Bisquick.

For instant pancake mix use Alton Brown's recipe that can be found on the Food Network website.

And now for a little preview of what is coming later...

Eggs in a Basket or Eggs in a Covered Basket?

Some people may call them frog eyes, but since V for Vendetta I think most people know this great dish as Eggs in a Basket. I have been making this since high school, it is one of those great midnight snacks after being out drinking, it is also a great breakfast. My son has never had one and so I NEEDED to make this for him. He said that this was one of his new favorite breakfasts, but the big flatterer may have been trying to just make mommy happy because he has yet to ask for this again. So for those of you who don't kn0w about this tasty morsel at all let me give you a crash course in making an egg in a basket.

The first thing to consider is the bread, me I like a nice thick Texas Toast so that the eggs has enough room to stay in the basket rather than get all over the bread. The next thing is to butter the bread on both sides and then cut out a hole for the egg. By this time I already have my skillet heated and after I get the hole cut out I place my bread in the heated skillet and toast it on one side until it is nice and golden brown, at this point it is time to flip the bread and add the egg. I then place the cover on the skillet and after about 3 to 5 minutes it is time to decide whether or not to cover the basket. If you want it covered take a piece of cheese and cover the egg and toast with the cheese, reduce the heat, and place the cover back on the skillet, check after 2 minutes and it should be good to go. Add some salt and pepper if you wish, serve and enjoy.

Jacques Pepin, Fast Food My Way

I have been watching this show every so often on the Create Network and on a recent library trip found a book of recipes from the show. I was inspired to try one for a light lunch after a trip to a local market found us some red radishes. I normally roast radishes or add them to a salad, obviously my french cuisine education has been lacking or I would have been eating these tasty bites long before now. It is simple, thinly slice a radish, cut up a nice baguette into slices, add some good quality butter, place radishes on top of the butter, dust with sea salt, and your done. I love this easy snack and will be on the look out for fresh from the radishes to enjoy in a new (well at least for me) way.

Fried Rice

I am sure that I have mentioned that I normally purchase fried rice from Trader Joe's but never again will I. For some reason fried rice was something that I was scared to make. I did not know how to make it, so I never bothered trying to figure it out, this changed when my 1 year old started eating solid foods. Fried Rice is a great food for new eaters as it has everything but dairy in one dish. I found a recipe on http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=25505 and started to play, I made some chicken fried rice and some beef fried rice, and both were a huge hit with the whole family. Here is my recipe modified from the link above:

Basic Fried Rice Recipe

4 cups of cooked rice

1 cup of frozen peas

1/3 cup of chopped carrots

1/2 cup of diced onion

2 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

1 1/2 cups of cooked Chicken, Beef, or Pork

Cook rice following instructions on package. Pour rice into a large bowl to let it cool in the refrigerator. If adding meat to the recipe, cook meat and set aside. Scramble the eggs in a small pan over medium heat, separating the eggs into small pieces while cooking. In a large pan add some butter, and cook onions and carrots until the onions are translucent, set aside with eggs and meat if using. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan that you cooked the onion and carrots over medium/high heat. When butter has completely melted, dump the cold rice in the pan and make sure that it is coated with butter. Add all other ingredients into the pan and add soy sauce. Cook rice for 6-8 minutes over heat, stirring often. Serve.

Scallops, Finally

I wrote about this recipe awhile ago on Foodbuzz, but I have not made it in forever as my guys are not couscous fans. I had been craving this so on Friday, I made them up some greens and I enjoyed my couscous. For those not on Foodbuzz here is the recipe, for those on Foodbuzz sorry for the repeat.

Simple Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon Pepper Couscous

couscous to serve 2

zest of one lemon

juice of 2 lemons

3 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of black pepper

6 large/jumbo scallops

¼ cup of Marlborough sauvignon blanc

In large heavy bottomed skillet heat butter on high/ medium high heat until about to brown, add scallops and sear on both sides for about three minutes each side. While butter is heating and scallops are cooking, prepare couscous according to box directions. When scallops are done searing place on a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine and lemon juice to pan and deglaze, reduce wine, lemon juice, and butter mixture until thick. When couscous is done mix in lemon zest and pepper. Plate couscous, add scallops and pour sauce over the plate. Eat and Enjoy!