Spinach-Egg Bake

This is similar to "Breakfast Before," a Barbara Scavone recipe posted by Jimmy. I substituted spinach for the sausage in an old egg bake recipe I had. Posted in Breakfasts, but I made it last night for dinner with fruit cups. ~~Aunt Sandi

2 c. bread stuffing mix
2 c. milk
1/2 bunch fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
6 eggs, beaten
8 oz. shredded Swiss or sharp cheddar cheese
Dill weed
Garlic powder
Minced onion
Salt, Pepper
Grated cheese to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 2 1/2 qt. baking dish. Mix all ingredients together, using herbs and spices to your taste. Pour into prepared dish and sprinkle with Parmesan or Romano. Bake 40 minutes.

Easy Granola

1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups chopped nuts, any kind or a mix
2 cups raisins or other dried fruit, chopped if necessary

Preheat oven to 325.  Line a 12 x 17 baking sheet with parchment paper.

Hand mix syrup, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla and salt by until blended.  Add in oats and chopped nuts and stir until oats are coated.  Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet.  Using a spatula or other utensil, push the oat mixture into a compact even layer (I use a potato masher).  Cook for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan 1/2 way through cooking time.  Remove from oven and let granola cool 1 hour or longer.

Once granola is cool, break into pieces.  Add the dried fruit and mix.

French Toast Baked

I make this for breakfast when company is visiting.

1, 24-inch baguette

6 large eggs

3 cups whole milk

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup whole pecans

1/2 stick plus 1 tsp. unsalted butter

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. In a shallow pan spread pecans out evenly in a single layer. Toast in oven until slightly colored, about 8 minutes. Toss toasted pecans in pan with 1 tsp. butter and the salt. Set aside.

Butter or use cooking spray to grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Cut the baguette into 1-inch slices. In a large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 3/4 cup of the brown sugar. Arrange the bread slices in a single layer in the pan. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate until liquid is absorbed, at least 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400. Remove bread mixture from refrigerator. Sprinkle toasted pecans and blueberries evenly over bread mixture. Cut remaining 1/2 stick butter into pieces and place in a small saucepan with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Heat over medium low heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Drizzle butter mixture over bread. Bake 20 - 25 minutes uncovered, until any liquid from the blueberries is bubbling.

Breakfast Before

Mom used to make this for "special" breakfasts. I double the recipe to bring to breakfasts or brunches.

1 lb. pork sausage (hot or mild)

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 small bag pepperidge farm herb-seasoned stuffing mix

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Cook sausage and set aside to drain on paper towels. Beat eggs with milk, salt, and mustard. Layer sausage, bread crumbs, and cheese in 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour egg mixture over layers. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Marcello Romanelli's Onion Omelet

One time years ago when I was visiting my med school friend Matt Romanelli in Brooklyn, we went out to his parents' house on Long Island for dinner and I got a special treat: Matt's mother always served a wonderful meal, but this particular time his father made this onion omelet to accompany it. A year or so ago I asked Matt for the recipe, and his father painstakingly wrote this. He gives away his engineering background with the precision with which he wrote it. (He worked for Grumman on the Apollo projects and the space shuttle - he gave Joey some of his NASA memorobilia once when we visited. Joey still cherishes all of it.) I have reproduced it precisely as Mr. Romanelli wrote it. Mrs. Romanelli told me that she usually buys Vidalia onions for him to use in this dish. As I said, the Romanellis served it as a side dish that night, but it is hearty enough to stand on its own as a main dish too.


10" fry pan and cover
3 lbs. onions
3 tbs. olive oil
9 large eggs, scrambled

1. Slice each peeled onion in half longitudinally.
2. Slice each half longitudinally into about 3/8" thick segments.
3. Put oil and all 3 lbs. of onions into pan.
4. Cook with a cover over medium heat.
5. Turn onions frequently to achieve uniform cooking. At first, the 3 lbs. will sit high in the pan. Eventually the onions' moisture will steam/boil off, leaving a much reduced height in the pan.

IMPORTANT:
You want to caramelize the onions (to bring out a sugary flavor). You can increase the heat some to speed up the caramelizing. Use an egg turner to scrape the dark brown caramel off the pan's bottom and onto the onions.

6. When the onions are sufficiently browned, reduce the heat to preclude further browning.
7. Slowly pour in the 9 scrambled eggs. Make an effort to evenly distribute the (liquid) eggs among the (solid) onions. You're trying to make a composite structure of the finished pie. (The cooked eggs will bind the onion bits in place giving the pie structural integrity like epoxy and carbon filaments.)
8. After pouring in the eggs, continue at low heat 30-40 minutes with cover on until it looks like a solid pie. Run a spatula around the pie's rim and also under the pie's bottom edges to ensure separation later.
9. Let the pie cool a bit: 30 minutes.
10. Place a serving plate larger than 10" with slightly curled-up edges over the pan. Flip pie over onto plate.

Bim's note: I add a little salt and pepper to the onions as they cook.