Category: Breakfasts

These are recipes that Grandpa has served for breakfast. Some of them are really easy, cause Grandpa is not a morning person. Some are good for when Grandpa is feeling a bit frisky in the morning.

Egg Basket Breakfast

For each person, One egg – plus…
3/4 inch slices of French bread
1/4 inch slice of Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1/4 C shaved ham
1/4 C beef or chicken broth
1/4 C white wine

For each serving use an oven-proof ramekin
Cover bottom with TOASTED French bread
Cover with shredded ham
Top with cheese
Pour broth and wine over top
Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed
With back of soup spoon create an impression
Break an egg into it
Bake another 10 minutes or until egg is cooked

Open Faced Breakfast Sandwich

INGREDIENTS

  • A muffin ring or even a tuna can with both ends removed
  • One egg
  • Shaved (thin) ham
  • Sliced or shredded cheddar cheese
  • Onion diced – one slice

STEP BY STEP

If you haven’t tried my recipe for English Muffins, you should. That being said, this is a sandwich using those muffins and the metal ring used to make them. If you need a larger ring, click here.

    1. Place your ring in the bottom of a skillet and turn on the heat to medium high.
    2. Spray the bottom and insides with spray oil
    3. Dice onion and put on the bottom.
    4. Next put a slice or two of shaved ham in and mash it down
    5. Put in one beaten egg
    6. Top with shredded cheddar or American cheese

 

  1. Cover with a plate or another skillet to retain heat.
  2. Reduce the heat down to low and let cook about 10-12 minutes
  3. Slide a spatula under the ring and move to your English muffin
  4. Use a tongs to remove the metal ring.  Careful – it’s hot.
  5. Sprinkle with oregano or hot ground pepper
  6. Serve with Grandpa’s Marmalade for the other half of the muffin.

 

Frozen make ahead egg sandwiches

egg_muffinMix 12 eggs with 1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1/4 cup cream
Create egg mixture with above ingredients

Grease sheet pan
Pour egg mixture onto pan
Optionally top with one can of green chilies
Bake at 425° for 12 minutes
Lay a slice of grated cheddar, Swiss or (gasp) American cheese
Bake three more minutes

Use a biscuit cutter to cut round pieces
Cut like cue balls are racked for maximum efficiency.
– Set aside leftovers for a breakfast scramble

While the eggs cook, fry up 12 patties, and toast your English muffins
Assemble your muffins, and wrap in plastic.
Freeze for up to a month.

Baked eggs

baked_eggINGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 C Salami
  • 4-6 Kalamata olives (pitted)
  • 1/2 Minced onion
  • 1/4 C Frozen spinach (squeezed)
  • 1 can diced tomato
  • 4 Eggs – broken into cups so that yolk does not break
  • Mozzarella to taste
  • Basil
  • Parm/Reg or Romano cheese to taste
  • Garlic bread

STEP BY STEP

  1. Preheat oven to 350º
  2. Dice salami
  3. Fry lightly in EVOO
  4. Toss in diced Kalamata olives
  5. Add some minced onions
  6. Optionally toss in some frozen spinach (squeezed)
  7. One can diced tomato (drained) or tomato pieces
  8. Simmer 5-10 minutes
  9. Disburse into ramekins
  10. Make a little pocket for the eggs
  11. Top with mozzarella pieces season with salt and pepper
  12. Top with basil
  13. Cook at 350° for 15 minutes
  14. Top with grated Parmesan or Romano
  15. Let set for no more than two minutes or the egg will over cook
  16. Serve with grilled garlic bread

Gravy Recipes

Gravy is generally a 4-4-2 recipe (4 TBL flour, 4 TBL butter, 2 C milk) Use this as your base and then experiment from here. Just remember to whisk almost continually.

Grandpa’s Pan Gravy

– 2 tablespoons butter
– 2 tablespoons flour
– 1 TBL EVOO
– 1 C beef stock
– 1 tsp thyme
– 2 TBL white wine

1. Combine and brown in skillet making a roux
2. In a separate bowl, mix 1 TBL corn starch in with 1 C beef stock
3. Add beef stock to your roux and whisk together
4. Add black pepper
5. As it thickens, add 1 tsp Dijon mustard
6. Strain if necessary

For white gravy, substitute buttermilk for the beef stock

Grandpa’s Sausage Gravy

1. In a separate pan brown pieces of sausage or pork
2. Add chopped bell pepper, celery, and onion to taste
3. Add crushed garlic
4. Add your 1 C beef stock and 1 bay leaf
5. Simmer while you do the next steps

– 2 tablespoons butter
– 2 tablespoons flour
– 1 TBL EVOO

6. Combine and brown in skillet making a roux
7. In a separate bowl, mix 1 TBL corn starch in with 2 TBL water
8. Add beef stock to your roux and whisk together
9. Add black pepper
10. As it thickens, add 1 tsp Dijon mustard
11. Strain if necessary

Easy Gravy

Ingredients
3/4 CU vegetable, safflower, or sunflower oil (not olive)
1 CU flour

Instructions
1. Combine in heavy pan or skillet and whisk together
2. Heat SLOWLY over low heat.
3. Bring to a near boil.
4. Stir constantly with wooden spoon (not metal)
5. Heat until darkened – approx 20 or more minutes
6. As it thickens, add 1 tsp Dijon mustard
7. Strain if necessary

 

A recipe from FoodNetwork.com for Grandpa’s Personal Reference

 

Mushroom Gravy

Basic Turkey Gravy

Gravy

Bucket O’ Gravy

2015-12-31 17.27.20

  
   

Grandpa’s Layered Buttermilk Biscuits

Note the layers that you get by folding.

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 C Flour (Spelt or other high-protein)
  • 1 TBL sugar
  • 2 TBL dried milk
  • 1 TBL Baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking soda
  • 1 tsp Salt
    – Sift together dry ingredients
  • 1 egg
  • 12 TBL COLD butter in tabs
  • 1 1/2 C COLD buttermilk
  • 2 TBL melted butter for layers

IMG_6286

For Drop Biscuits, you can just mix the ingredients and drop them into rustic piles.

STEP BY STEP

  1. Pulse the butter with half the dry ingredients in a food processor.
  2. Add the COLD buttermilk and mix briefly using your hands – or better yet a bench scraper – DO NOT OVERMIX or biscuits will be tough.
  3. Roll flat, fold in thirds and repeat a total of FOUR TIMES – Folding, but not kneading.  Brush each layer lightly with butter before folding.
  4. Your final mat should be about 9×12 inches.
  5. Cover and let it rest in the fridge for an hour
  6. Put on floured surface and cut the edges of with a VERY sharp knife.
    – If using a circle cutter DO NOT TWIST the cutter. This will crimp the edge and flatten your biscuits,  Cutting the edge off also affects how well the biscuit layers can rise and separate.
  7. Cut the remaining mat into squares.
  8. Put on baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart.
  9. Brush lightly with melted butter or spray with spray shortening
  10. Bake at 400° for 18-22 minutes – Turn tray around about halfway between cooking
 

Crepe Breakfast Cake

Make a stack of crepes – about 6-8. Keep them under a damp towel after cooking so that they don’t dry out.

Here is my CREPE RECIPE.

Step by Step – Be Creative

  • Stack the crepes on a serving dish and layer one crepe, then spread a thin layer of cream cheese.
  • Another crepe and then jelly.
  • Another crepe then Nutella or drizzled Nestle Chocolate Syrup
  • Another crepe and a thin layer of scrambled egg
  • Another crepe and more cream cheese
  • Continue until you feel you have made enough to feed everyone.
  • End with a a crepe on top.
  • Carefully cut them into eight wedges and serve with syrup or honey.

For a lunch crepe (ala quiche style) substitute chicken, egg, turkey or tuna salad for some of the sweeter ingredients.  Perhaps a layer of Romaine lettuce

Alternate layers or toppings are: caramel sauce, mocha whipped cream, regular whipped cream, chocolate pastry cream, flavored pudding, bananas, jam, chocolate ganache, slivered almonds, etc.

Photo from Martha Stewart magazine, but this is Grandpa’s recipe.

Cranberry Bread

cran-breadINGREDIENTS

  • 2 C cranberries
  • 1/2 C walnuts
  • 1 tart apple
  • 2 C flour
  • 1 C granulated sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 TBL butter – softened, but not melted
  • Zest and juice from two oranges
  • 1 egg

STEP BY STEP

  1. Coarsely chop cranberries, nuts and apple – Set aside
  2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt
  3. Cut butter into flour mixture until it is like coarse corn meal – Set aside
  4. Mix together egg, peel and juice
  5. Combine flour mixture and egg mixture
  6. Add the fruit mixture and nuts
  7. Mix well, but do not over-mix
  8. Spoon into buttered and floured small loaf pans or cupcake pan
  9. Bake on the middle shelf at 350º for 1 hour (45 minutes if using cupcake pan)
  10. Top should be golden brown and inserted knife should come out clean – if knife has batter on it, bake another 20 minutes.
  11. Let rest 5 minutes before cutting

Potato Skins

Before we begin…

  • When you grate potatoes for hashed browns, or cut them up for potato salad, don’t lose those wonderful potato skins.
  • Cut off nice thick pieces for potato skins.
  • Store them for up to a week in salt water

Ingredients to feed 4 people

potato skins
– cut thick enough to enjoy
  • 1 C hot water
  • 1 tsp salt

Step by Step

  1. Stuff a canning jar with the potato skins
    – use the whites of the potato for whatever recipe you have going
  2. Fill a measuring cup with two cups of hot water
  3. Add a tablespoon of salt to the water and stir to dissolve
  4. Pour over the potatoes in the jar
  5. Put the lid on the jar
  6. Let them cool on the counter for half an hour
  7. Put them into the refrigerator and store for up to a week

fried eggWhen you are ready to eat your potato skins…

  1. Dump the salted water
  2. Fill the jar with fresh water
  3. Dump this rinse water, but only rinse them once.
  4. Pat them dry with a towel and spray with vegetable spray or wipe lightly with EVOO
  5. Bake in the oven at 400º for 45 minutes to an hour
  6. Serve with sour cream mixed with your favorite dried spices.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce or ketchup, and serve with eggs.

This is a recipe that has been created or modified by Robert (Grandpa) Andrews.
CLICK HERE for a free sample copies of Grandpa's Cookbooks. © 2016, 2017, 2018.

Smoothie Recipes

HINT: Frequently the blender blade will fit into a ball jar, which can then be screwed into place. Use this for your smoothie and everything is self-contained.

Kale Breakfast Smoothie

6-8 Kale leaves
1/2 C water
1 C frozen banana slices
10-12 seedless grapes
1 VERY ripe pear (peel is OK, but small pieces)
1/2 C orange juice
1 tsp grated ginger
Blend well and serve on ice.

Banana Breakfast Smoothie

1 C frozen banana slices
1 C milk
1/2 C strong coffee (cold) – espresso is even better
1 TBL coconut oil
1 TBL peanut butter
1 TBL honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

A few other smoothies:

Strawberry Banana Smoothie
The Ultimate Smoothie
A Google Listing

Ebelskiver

These are light roundish Danish-style pancakes that will require an ebelskiver cast iron pan. Serve warm with melted butter. Can be rolled into powdered sugar or filled with a berry filling.

ebelskiverINGREDIENTS

for 21 small balls

    • DRY INGREDIENTS
  • 1 C Bisquick (sifted)
    . . . or 1 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp CinnaSugar®
  • 1 TBL granulated white sugar
  • Scallions
    • WET INGREDIENTS
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 C low-fat buttermilk
  • 2 TBL melted butter
  • 2 TBL confectioner sugar
  • OPTIONAL:  SWEET POTATO if you want savory balls for dip shown below

STEP BY STEP

  1. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl; whisk in the buttermilk, sugar, and salt with the egg yolks until thoroughly mixed.
  2. Sift the Bisquick (or flour, baking powder, baking soda) and cinnamon together in a separate bowl.
  3. Beat the flour mixture into the egg mixture just until smooth and most of the lumps are gone.
  4. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites in a bowl until they form stiff peaks.
  5. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
  6. Place the pan over medium-high heat.
  7. Put small tabs of butter in the round ebelskiver depressions, and brush melted butter around the depression once melted
  8. OPTION 1:  When the butter is very hot pour batter into the bottom of each depression, filling the round shapes not quite halfway.  Put balled fruit, jam, etc in the very center of the batter, then just barely cover with a bit more batter.
    NOTE:  Do only 3 or 4 rounds at a time, or they will get overdone.
  9. OPTION 2:  ALTERNATELY:  Fill a bit more than halfway and do not fill with fruit, jam etc.  Once rotated, the dough will flow to the bottom of the depression creating a hollow ebelskiver.
  10. Allow the ebelskiver to cook until the bottoms are golden brown, 2-3 minutes. The inside batter will still be runny.
  11. Using a shish-kabob wooden skewer, gently push each ebelskiver at an edge to loosen from the pan. Insert the toothpick lightly into a top edge from the inside, and gently lift and rotate the pancake to turn it over.
  12. Turn them so the round bottoms are facing upward and the liquid batter in the center of a pancake runs into the bottom of the round depression.
  13. Cook until the other side of each pancake is browned, about 1 more minute.
  14. I like to rotate them one more time because there is usually an “uncooked spot” that I like to brown.
  15. Remove the finished pancakes from the pan with the toothpick, transfer to a platter, and serve warm.
  16. If you made them without any filling, you can inject Creme Patisserie into the center as a filling.

DIP

  1. Greek Yogurt
  2. Buttermilk to thin
  3. Salt & Pepper
  4. Parsley
  5. Cilantro
  6. Lime zest and juice
  7. Minced garlic – pasted

Hint

This is a technique that I saw on Dining with the Chef (hosted by Chef Tatsuo Saito)

I have not yet tried it, but will absolutely give it a try.

  1. Coat the entire cast iron top surface with oil.
  2. Pour the batter generously into the cups, allowing it to overflow and spill onto the “non-bowl” surface, but not spill out
  3. As it cooks, use your chop sticks to separate the cups, and then form them into the traditional balls.

See Akashiyaki

Grandpa’s Healthy Happy Pancakes

HH_PancakesTo make pancakes for two people
1 TBL sugar
1 egg (beaten)
scant salt
2 TBL Melted butter (cooled)
1/2 C buttermilk
1 CU Pre-Mix – GET MY RECIPE HERE
About 1-2 TBL Canola oil for step 5
Canola oil (for pan)

If you like puffier pancakes, add an additional 1/4 C of pancake pre-mix before step 6

1. Preheat your skillet to between 350 and 400º degrees
2. Mix egg, sugar, salt and (cooled) melted butter
3. Beat to uniform consistency
4. Drizzle in buttermilk, and mix
5. Drizzle in oil
6. Add liquid mixture to Pre-Mix all at once
7. Stir only to moisten MOST particles. It doesn’t have to be completely moistened
– DO NOT OVER-MIX. – Over-mixing will result in tough pancakes
8. Let batter stand for two minutes to “rest”
9. Drizzle oil into pan
10. Add uniform amounts of batter to the pan
11. Cook until bubbles appear and edges start to cook
12. Flip to cook other side
13. Repeat

Just for fun, when you serve, you can use a biscuit cutter to cut out a circle, then flip it over and put it back into the pancake.  It just looks cool.  It doesn’t do anything to the taste.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Make your Filling

  • Cut 2 C misc berries and other fruit so they are all about the same size.
  • Toss with 1/4 C confectioners sugar
  • Put into freezer overnight

Make your Dough

  • In a food processor, pulse the following for about 30 seconds
  • 3 C AP flour
  • 1/3 C granulated sugar
  • 1 TBL baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 TBL frozen butter
    THEN
  • Add 6 more TBL frozen butter, and pulse, but only for about 10 seconds

Create your Muffin/Scone mixture – Will be firm

 

  • 1/4 C unsweetened orange juice
  • 2 TBL canola oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 egg
  • 2 TBL dry milk
  • Frozen berries
  1. Form into rectangles, and cut into triangles from there
  2. Bake at 425º for 10 minutes
  3. Meanwhile, create a glaze with 2 TBL butter and 1 TBL honey
  4. Brush tops with glaze, then bake 5-8 minutes more

 

Grandpa’s French Toast

french-toastINGREDIENTS – REGULAR

  • Bread – Preferably French bread, Brioche, or Challah bread
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 C buttermilk
  • 1 TBL Grandpa’s CinnaSugar®
  • 1 TBL sugar

INGREDIENTS – SPECIAL

  • Above ingredients plus
    • 2 TBL cream cheese
    • Fruit Jam or Compote

STEP BY STEP

  1. Combine all of the above except the bread
  2. Cut your bread.  Don’t be boring. Cut your French Toast into triangles, rectangles, or even circles.
  3. Use the scraps to make a French Toast Casserole.
    • SPECIAL:  Cut a “pocket” in the bread
    • Spread inside with softened cream cheese and compote
  4. Dip bread and let it soak for a couple of seconds, then put into hot greased pan @ 375º
  5. Flip a total of 4-5 times so that it heats all the way through and gets a nice crust on it.
  6. Serve with butter and syrup or heat fruit in the microwave.

VARIATIONS

  • Try using a bit of cardamom rather than cinnamon

Irish Scones

sconeINGREDIENTS

  • 2 C AP flour
  • 1 TBL baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1/2 C sugar
  • 1 egg – separated
  • 1 C currants. cranberries or raisins
  • 6 TBL cold butter
  • 4 OZ (1/2 C) sour cream
  • 1/2 C buttermilk – room temp
  • Turbinado sugar for garnish

STEP BY STEP

  1. Grease a heavy baking sheet
  2. Sift dry ingredients together
  3. Cut in cold butter until crumbly
  4. In separate bowl, mix currants, egg yolk, sour cream and buttermilk
  5. Make well in the center of the dry mixture
  6. Mix slowly until wet and dry are combined
    Use a woooden spoon to mix
  7. Using your hands, form the ball into a circle
  8. Cut into eight wedges
  9. Brush flat surface with egg white
  10. Roll from the wide end to the pointy end
    Don’t compress, leave fairly loose
  11. Place onto cookie sheet
  12. Brush with egg white
  13. Garnish with Turbinado sugar
  14. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown
  15. Serve warm
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