Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

December and the holidays are upon us.  We need all the help we can get this month.  My thoughts are on baking cookies, buying presents, entertaining and trying to cram it all into a three to four week period.  I actually relish the festive atmosphere of the month.  Our family will be visiting us in Florida for the holidays for the first time and we have our long standing New Year’s celebration with dear friends to look forward to.  What could be better?  But it does require a little planning.

Let’s consider breakfast for company.  We all have that breakfast casserole that can be assembled and placed in the refrigerator overnight.  Just put it in the oven in the morning and breakfast is on the table within an hour.  Most of those casseroles are based on bread, whether it is sour dough, challah, croissants or French.  I love all of them.  But I was looking for something a little less dense.  I should say lighter.  Since the inspiration for this recipe came from Cooking Light that would be the case.

In place of the bread this recipe has baby spinach, mushrooms, center cut bacon, fresh basil, and just the right amount of hash brown potatoes.  The eggy goodness and Swiss cheese is the same, so it is a casserole that everyone would enjoy.  Everything but the eggs and milk  can be assembled the night before, so in the morning it is almost as easy to get in the oven as the traditional breakfast casserole.

I had fun with my small star cutter.  I opened a jar of roasted red peppers and cut stars out of the peppers and placed them on the top of the casserole before I put it in the oven.  I can see getting even more creative with this for Christmas.  This recipe is open to creativity.  You can replace the bacon with sausage or add any seasoning or ingredients that appeal to you.  Holiday goodness made easy.

EGGS AND HASH BROWN CASSEROLE (Cooking Light)

8 center-cut bacon slices
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
8 ounces sliced shiitake mushroom caps
3 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes)
1/4 cup Chicken stock
5 cups fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3 ounces Swiss cheese, grated
Cooking Spray
1/2 cup low-fat milk
6 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan;  Increase heat to medium-high.  Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic to drippings in pan; saute for 6 minutes.  Add potatoes and stock; cook 6 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add spinach, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.  Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes.  Stir in crumbled bacon and cheese.  Place mushroom mixture in an 11 x 7- inch broiler-safe glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Uncover dish.  Combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, milk, and eggs in a medium bowl.  Pour egg mixture over mushroom mixture. Add any cut out decorations from a jar of roasted red peppers to the top.  Bake at 350 degrees F. for 28 minutes.

Preheat broiler to high; remove dish while broiler preheats.  Broil 3 minutes or until top is browned and just set.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Note:   I did not have to broil the casserole because it browned nicely; though it took a little longer in the oven to set the center.

Printable recipe

There is nothing easier or more forgiving than a frittata.  You can add most anything to it.  It feeds a lot of people and goes together quickly.  This time of year I have been getting tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market, eggs from a farm and herbs from my own herb garden.  Sunday morning is our time to indulge in a big breakfast.  The two of us cannot eat a whole frittata but that doesn’t stop me from making one with eight eggs in a 10″ pan.  We just cut it into wedges and save what is not eaten for another day.  A frittata wedge reheats quickly in the microwave.

I am not bothering to give you a specific recipe because it is so easy.  For this particular frittata I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter in my skillet.  Added chopped onion to cook for a few minutes, added chopped basil and chives, chopped tomatoes and stirred.  Then I added 8 beaten eggs.  It is a good idea to pull your spatula from the edges to the center to move the liquid eggs from the edges.  When the frittata begins to set, put it in a 350 degree oven until the eggs are set.

This is the kind of recipes that Mark Bittman offers in his new cookbook Kitchen Express.  I love this book because he offers simple combinations of ingredients using seasonal food just to give you ideas on what you can do.  All the recipes can be made in 20 minutes or less.

Here is one of his frittata recipes.

PANCETTA AND SPINACH FRITTATA

Beat four eggs; add a handful of freshly grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper.  Cut about a quarter pound of pancetta into small pieces and fry in a tablespoon of olive oil; add a couple of chopped shallots and continue cooking until the pancetta begins to brown and the shallots have softened.  Add a bunch of chopped spinach and cook until wilted and beginning to dry.  Pour in the egg mixture and cook slowly until the eggs just set.  Run under the broiler to brown for a minute if necessary if the top remains runny; serve hot, warm or at room temperature. 

There are creative recipes for everything from soup to sandwiches.  I find the book inspiring.

On this sunny Saturday morning I baked this lovely breakfast casserole. Our friends needed something special to see them off on their journey home, but I am still trying to be mindful of our
calorie intake. This blueberry french toast bake came from Ellie Krieger’s So Easy cookbook. I like her recipes because she packs a lot of nutrition and flavor into her food and not a lot of fat. Also this is one of those great casseroles that you assemble the night before and just bake in the morning. It made the kitchen smell like cinnamon and vanilla and gave me time to prepare the rest of the breakfast while I sipped my morning coffee.

The last two weeks have been a challenge to our commitment to weight lose but we are still on course. I have been walking every day and am thinking of joining a yoga class. Believe it or not, David has joined a Zoomba class at his gym. He is not known for his rhythm and I have a hard time picturing him salsa dancing. At least he is getting a good workout.

Give this recipe a try. It is crispy on top and soft and eggy on the inside with a flavor burst of blueberries and cinnamon. By the way I halved the recipe below and cooked it in a 9″ square pan.

BLUEBERRY-ALMOND FRENCH TOAST BAKE

Cooking spray
1 whole wheat baquette (about 18″ long), cut into 1 ” cubes
2 cups low-fat milk
8 large eggs
8 large egg whites
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Spray a 9 X 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the bread in a single layer in the baking pan. Whisk together the milk, eggs, egg whites, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan, spreading it around so the liquid saturates the bread. Scatter the blueberries evenly on top. Sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Serve hot.

Serving size – 1 4×3 inch piece, 270 calories. 5 Weight Watchers points

Printable recipe