Brunch at Home -- Polenta with Salmon & Fried Egg

HAPPY 2014 my darlings!! 2013 was a very tumultuous year, I am glad it's over. I am proud to say I have a new job. I love going to work every day, which is a nice change of pace. I'm living back at home with Jane B, and it's so nice to be home and centered and stable. I've dedicated 2014 to focusing on myself, being happy, being loving, being grateful, being peaceful, being healthy and moving forward with my life. That being said, I hope y'all find happiness in 2014 too!

I live for Sunday Brunch. Like LOVE LOVE LOVE it. But this year, I'm trying to be more healthful, less boozing (a staple at brunch, let's be real), less eating out, saving some money. I don't know if you've heard, but I have a big race to prep for in September... THE BERLIN MARATHON!!! I am so psyched I can hardly contain myself. Unfortunately, my left knee has been bothering me for a few months and now that I finally have insurance again (it's great to have a full-time job! whoop!), I finally went to the ortho. He said I have patellar tendinitis, so I am unable to run, jump, squat, lunge, basically anything I do on a regular basis, for a few weeks. It bums me out, especially since I love running just to clear my mind. 

So this weekend, I wanted to recreate one of my favorite brunch meals from Dexter's in Orlando -- Mahi-Mahi with grits & a fried egg. My mom defrosted a piece of salmon for dinner Friday that I didn't eat, so I used that instead of mahi-mahi. We didn't have any grits (WTF Jane B??), but we did have corn meal, so I made polenta. And then a fried egg is a fried egg! My polenta turned out lumpy, I was so disappointed, especially since I whisked and whisked and whisked. I'll have to try it again. But the flavor was really yummy. The recipe on the back added in Italian seasoning, so I put that on the salmon as well. It turned out delicious!! 

Happy new year yall :)
xoxo,
janie from scratch

Friday..err Monday Happy Hour: Coquito aka Puerto Rican Eggnog

I've been remiss about keeping up with this blog this year :( and I've made so many delicious things! One of my favorite part of the holidays is hanging out with the bees when they make coquito (the bees are a group of girls in Orlando). I got a recipe from one of the gals at my new job (YES! new job in Tampa!) and decided to make some to share at Christmas this year. It's pretty simple... here goes:

Coquito

• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 12 ounce can evaporated milk
• 14 ounce can cream of coconut (you can usually find this with the mixers in the supermarket)
• 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup white rum (okay, I used a whole cup)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Start by cooking the egg yolks & evaporated milk over a double boiler until it reaches 160 on a candy thermometer or it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

In a blender, combine the rest of the ingredients. 

When the egg mixture is cooked, add it to the blender and blend for 30 seconds. I left the little middle lid off and covered with a towel just in case it tried to explode like that one time at BTW's (cleaning gazpacho off blinds is NOT fun, FYI). 

Then I cleaned out two wine bottles and poured the mixture into both. It made a LOT! Almost two full wine bottles! 

Then, just let cool and sit overnight and you're ready to share with all your alcoholic friends and family! I should've made fancy labels but it's almost Christmas and ain't nobody got time for that! 

Hope you have a great holiday :)
xoxo,
janie from scratch

Breakfast Burritos

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. I got laid off two Fridays ago. I've spent the majority of the past week drinking by the pool. But now it's time to focus, really get serious... and move my afternoons to the beach. HA! Anyways, last week I kept waking up super hungry, and I usually eat breakfast at work, but wanted to make something easy I could grab on my way out the door (TO THE BEACH!). I've been craving a breakfast burrito for awhile and have been wanting to make some so I ran to the store, grabbed some ingredients and whipped a few up! So easy (as always), so fast.

Janie's Breakfast Burritos

• breakfast sausage 
• eggs
• grated cheese
• frozen hashbrowns
• sauce -- you could use salsa, hot sauce, spicy mayo, anything!
• large tortillas

First, brown the sausage. I used half a roll of spicy breakfast sausage, but I think you could probably use the pre-formed sausage links. Then, scramble the eggs (of course I scrambled them in the sausage fat!). I used 5 eggs. Then assemble your burritos!

Put a spoonful of sausage, eggs, cheese and a few hashbrowns in the tortilla. I forgot to put the sauce, but some taco sauce or hot sauce would be super yummy! Save your mayo-based or non-microwave friendly for after you zap these. 

Roll up tight.

Then, roll up in a piece of plastic wrap.

And store in a big plastic zip lock bag in the fridge.

This made SO MANY -- 8 burritos in total! I microwave one for 45 seconds IN the plastic wrap so the tortillas don't dry out. Then, since I forgot sauce, I add a little sauce at every bite. (I actually had some leftover bloomin' onion sauce from a dinner party -- mayo-based -- and put that on as I ate, YUM!) Voila.. easy, quick and tasty breakfast. You could even make these healthier using egg whites, whole wheat tortillas, turkey sausage, and sauteed veggies instead of hashbrowns. 

Breakfast Sandwiches

Don't you just love a hot breakfast sandwich from McDonalds? I can't get over my sausage biscuit obsession, but sometimes, you just want to lounge in your PJs instead of racing to McDonalds for a McGriddle before 10:30 (who's up on the weekend in time for their 10:30 cut off anyways?!?). It's easy enough to make a tasty breakfast sandwich at home any time of the day! I'll tell you how:)

First, you'll need to gather the ingredients. I usually have either bagels or English muffins (but you can totally use regular bread too), eggs and cheese on hand all the time. But you'll also need a protein (if you like meat in your breakfast sandwich...and I LOVE MEAT). So next time you go to the grocery store, pick up some bacon or sausage (if you're super lazy, just get the pre-formed raw patties). Use what you need, and freeze the rest until you want to make another Bacon, Egg & Cheese.

Next, crack a few eggs (about 1 per sandwich) and mix them with a little milk or cream, salt & pepper, and a few dashes of hot sauce (I dunno why, but this really makes them amazing! And not spicy, I promise). Scramble them up just like you're making scrambled eggs, but when they are almost set, form them into whatever shape your bread is. And at the very end, put your cheese on top (while they're still in the pan) so that it can melt.

Then, cook your bacon or sausage. Bacon is super easy to cook in the microwave--just follow the instructions on the package. Or, I usually make it in the oven, which is super easy too. Ryan and I bought a cookie cooling rack that we've dedicated to proteins (you can cook chicken like this too!). We spray it with some Pam and put it inside a half-sheet pan (make sure the pan has sides) lined with some aluminum foil. Put a few slices of bacon on the cookie rack, and cook in the oven at 425 for 15(ish) minutes, or until the bacon is as crispy as you like it. Cooking it like this lets the fat drain off the bacon, and it ends up crispier than in the microwave. Of course, you can cook it in a pan the old-fashioned way too, but whenever I do it that way I get little fat sprays all over my stove. Sausage I do in a frying pan, with fat sprays all over the stove.

While your eggs are scrambling and bacon or sausage cooking, toast your bread, then butter it (if you really want that greasy, fast food taste).

Put the protein on the bread, and top with the eggs with cheese, and the other piece of bread. Whip up some coffee and pour some OJ, then, head back into bed, snuggle with your sweetie and enjoy your delicious and homemade breakfast sandwich!!

My bacon, egg & cheese bagel sandwich:

A delicious sausage, egg & cheese croissanwich.