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Baked Eggs with Spinach and Bacon

Monday, August 15th, 2011

I get bored with breakfast. There are only so many days one can eat bagels, cereal or egg sandwiches for breakfast. At least that is what I eat during the week so by the time the weekend rolls around the last thing I want for breakfast is another egg sandwich. I decided several weekends ago (I know I have been MIA, but I’m back now and that’s what matters right?) to do something different with eggs. I have never had baked eggs before so I said hey why not? This is a nice way to make eggs and different for me. It was also a good way for me to add in some extra protein to help me build muscle for the bike ride I had been training for. So if you have some time during the weekend go ahead and make yourself some baked eggs. Enjoy!

Cooking Spray
4 slices bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
5 oz spinach
Salt
Pepper
Italian Blend Cheese, shredded
4 whole eggs, if making 2 servings
2 ramekins
Bread, for toast

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a fry pan with cooking spray. Heat pan over medium heat. Add in bacon. Cook bacon until crisp. Once cooked remove the bacon from the pan and place on paper towels. Cool the bacon. Once cool crumble the bacon into pieces. Set aside.

In the same pan remove the grease and add in the olive oil. Add in the onions. Cook the onions until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add in the spinach. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan to allow the spinach to steam. Cook the spinach for about 3 minutes or until wilted. Remove from pan.

Spray each ramekin with cooking spray. Add in the spinach mixture to the bottom of the ramekin leaving a hole in the center. Next add some bacon pieces. Top with cheese. Break two eggs over the cheese being careful not to crack the yoke. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat for each ramekin. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake eggs in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the egg yolks are just set and the whites are not runny.

Toast up some bread, top with more bacon and serve!

Tags: bacon, baked eggs, breakfast, brunch, eggs, spinach
Posted in Recipes | 5 Comments »

Chicken and Broccoli

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

Ok I love Asian Food. I love everything about it. I love the spice. I love the freshness. I love the ingredients. So my love of Asian food has been declared. I even cook it at home on a regular basis. That being said I have never been able to come up with a good and satisfying chicken and broccoli recipe. I love the one my local take out joint makes (I always get it with extra chicken) and this is the closest I have ever gotten to anything I have ever eaten an Asian restaurant. I hope it comes close for you too. You can also change things up and us steak or shrimp or add other veggies (I change it last night and made it with shrimp, steak, green beans and mushrooms) Enjoy!

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less depending on your taste)

1 tablespoon cornstartch

1 pound boneless-skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil or Canola oil

1 bunch of broccoli, cut into florets

1/4 cup water

2 scallions, thinly sliced

In a large bowl mix together the soy sauce, 1/2 the garlic, sugar, cornstarch and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Season with pepper. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the soy sauce mixture. Mix together. Let marinate for 20 minutes.

In a large saute or fry pan heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add in garlic. Then add in the broccoli. Season with salt, pepper and more crushed red pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Add in water and cover the pan. Continue to cook the broccoli while covered for another 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the pan (about 2 tablespoons) and crank the heat up to medium-high. Add in the chicken and the scallions. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add in broccoli. Stir to combine and cook for an additional minute.

Serve over rice and Enjoy!

Tags: broccoli, chicken, chicken and broccoli, dinner, entree, main dish, rice
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »

Panko Crusted Pork Loin

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

It’s been a long time since I have been in the kitchen. The first thing I did when I got back into it was this Panko Crusted Pork Loin (then I took another hiatus). I love keeping pork loin around. I buy a very large piece when it goes on sale and usually cut it into four smaller pieces and freeze them. It is so unbelievably cost effective to do it this way. I know some people are against freezing meat and only like to use it fresh but when I am not one of those people. I have no problem freezing any meat and using it later. It also benefits my wallet because it allows me to buy in bulk on occasion. Anyway, I also find pork loin looks pretty impressive yet it is really easy to cook so I like to keep it around. This recipe looks great of a plate and only calls for a minimal amount of ingredients. It does take a little time to cook but it is worth it. Enjoy!

1 3-4 pound boneless pork loin, trimmed (I like to leave a little fat around the edges because pork fat rules! but you don’t have to if you don’t want to)

Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons Whole-grain Dijon mustard

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Olive oil

3 Garlic cloves, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Season the pork loin on all sides with salt and pepper. Spread the whole-grain mustard over the top of the pork loin. Set on a rimmed baking sheet and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the panko breadcrumbs and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle in olive oil and mix together until the breadcrumbs are coated. You may need more or less olive oil depending on the brand of panko you use, some are drier then others.

Coat the pork loin in the panko breadcrumbs putting most the breadcrumbs on the top where the mustard is so it will adhere. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered. After 15 minutes cover with aluminum foil and continue to bake for 1 hour or until the meat internally reaches 155 degrees F.

Allow to rest before slicing. Enjoy!

Tags: crusted pork loin, dinner, entree, main dish, panko crust, panko crusted pork loin, pork, pork loin
Posted in Recipes | No Comments »

Chocolate Pizza

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Ok, so Pizza Week turned into two weeks. I am sorry to be neglecting all of you but I have been taking care of myself. First like I said I was in Vegas but during this time I have also been training for a 30 mile bike ride. Training has taken up a lot of my time especially since I haven’t been on a bike in probably 18 years. I go to work come home ride and hope that I get to eat dinner by 9 pm at the earliest. Due to the training I’m lucky to eat none the less make a meal (there’s been a lot of sandwich eating going on). The ride is on June 11th and I should be back in full swing by then or at least grown a custom to my new schedule so I can continue to share with you all my recipes.

So to finish Pizza Week(s) here is a chocolate pizza recipe. It makes for a great dessert and you can play around with all the toppings to suit your needs. Have fun with it and Enjoy!

1 pizza dough

2 tablespoons buter, melted

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread like Nutella

Your favorite toppings I used mini marshmallows and dark chocolate M&M’s

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire. Brush the dough with melted butter. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone until the dough begins to become golden, approximately 17-20 minutes. Don’t let it get as brown as I did (I walked away).

Spread the chocolate hazelnut spread all over the pizza dough. Top with your favorites toppings. Place pizza back in the oven and bake for 3 minutes or until the chocolate begins to melt and marshmallows puff up.

Slice and Enjoy!

Tags: chocolate, chocolate pizza, dessert, dessert pizza, marshmallows, pizza
Posted in Recipes | 7 Comments »

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza

Monday, May 9th, 2011

I haven’t forgotten all of you I promise! Life has just gotten in the way. The week where I didn’t get to post at all was because I was out of town at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinicals in Las Vegas. Work sent me for work and play! Then this past week I had to play catch up at work and deal with a serious case of jet lag. I’ve been to the west coast before but my jet lag was never as bad as it was upon this return.

Anyway I should be back in full swing and posting three times a week. I wanted to continue with pizza week even though it now spans two weeks lol. The inspiration for pizza week actually came during Lent. My friend Nicole wasn’t eating meat on Fridays and she was coming over for dinner. The perfect solution for me then was to make her pizza and I did. We had quite the pizza party that included all the pizzas I will and have shared with you. She loved them and I hope you do too. Enjoy!

1 pizza dough

Olive Oil

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1 pound of white mushrooms

Shredded Fontina Cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a saute or frying pan heat about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add in onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly over medium-low heat until the onions have become soft and caramelized. Add in wine. Cook until wine has evaporated or reduced down. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more olive oil to the pan if necessary. Add in mushrooms and cook until tender. Remove from pan.

Dust a clean, flat surface with flour. Dust the pizza dough with flour. Roll out dough into the shape you desire. Top with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Then sprinkle with Fontina cheese. Bake in oven on a cookie sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake for approxiametly 17 minutes or until pizza is crisp on the bottom.