Egg, Canadian Bacon and Cheddar Biscuit Sandwiches

Day 126: Sara’s Secrets For Weeknight Meals

May 6, 2011

Making a homemade breakfast for my boys makes me feel like I am on top of the world. If I have the time to make them breakfast it means that everything is in balance in my life. So often I go rushing through my day and often don’t take time for the little things, like making breakfast, or giving my boys a hug and telling them how much I love them. I heard a long time ago that your eyes should light up when your kids enter the room. My eyes light up and their eyes light up when I have made them food…..yes they are boys and their needs are simple…..keep them full!

I really like the style of how Sara Moulton cooks. She has kids so she knows what it is like to have to get meal on the table in a hurry. I was able to find many items that my kids would eat in her cookbook. She goes into the typical food groups but she also talks about what you should stock in your pantry as well as if you only have the things in your pantry, what can you cook.

The Ruling: We all liked it….well the youngest child has informed us that he no longer likes eggs. So he picked out the bacon and that was it. The biscuits were surprisingly easy to make and I was pleased with how they turned out. I liked the fact that I didn’t have to roll them out and cut them, simple gather a ball of dough and flatten it on the cookie sheet. So simple and easy to prepare I was actually surprised! I did not have Canadian bacon on hand but I did have regular bacon. I also did not have cheddar cheese so I used havarti cheese instead. It still tasted great. Looking for breakfast for dinner, this would be a great option.

Egg, Canadian Bacon, and Cheddar Biscuits Sandwiches, page 103

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 8 thin slices Canadian bacon (about 6 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 8 large eggs, lightly beaten
• kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper
• 4 ounces Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
2. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Pour in enough of the cream to just form a dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough gently several times and divide into 4 equal balls. Pat each ball to make a flat 3-inch round on the cookie sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or until pale golden. Transfer toa rack and let cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon, turning once, until just golden. Transfer the bacon to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Reduce the heat to low, add the butter to the skillet, and heat until the foam subsides. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the eggs and add them to the pan. Cook stirring frequently, until the eggs just begin to set. Sprinkle the cheese on top, cover, and remove the pan from the heat. Let stand for 2 minutes.
4. To assemble the sandwiches, cut the biscuits in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Top the four bottom halves with a slice of bacon and one-fourth of the cheese-covered scrambled eggs. Top the eggs with another slice of bacon and the remaining biscuit halves.

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity

Register today for “Meal Planning for Busy Families: Grilling Part 1″,  if you are in the Fargo/Moorhead area. Class is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 and includes handouts, recipes, family meal planner and sampling of the food. Cost is $25. Please email MS. Simplicity at Melissa@ididit-fargo.com for more information.

MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.  For daily organizing tips find the MS. Simplicity fan page  here.

If you try any of my suggestions, I would love to hear from you.  It helps me to understand what my readers want me to write about and what they think is a waste of their time….thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Mini Egg Rolls

Day 41: “Sara Moulton Cooks at Home”

January 10, 2011

Egg Rolls are one of those appetizers that I never thought of making myself  in miniature form, but boy am I glad I tried it.  I have been buying mini egg rolls at our big box warehouse store for years.  These however taste so much better and I have control over the ingredients in it.  The simplicity of this recipe is lovely.  The fact that you can have small children help you prepare them is even better.  My egg roll crew consisted of my oldest age 17 walking into the kitchen to pour the sweet and sour sauce into a bowl, not much help.  I did have my lovely husband of 20 years by my side.  He would roll and I would pan fry.  We got it down to a system pretty easily.  When we were having lunch today we were talking about how easy this appetizer would be to make with a 4 year old helping.  You see the most tedious task of the egg roll adventure is making sure all of the edges are wet so when you roll them they stick.  They simply dip their little fingers into the water and trace the edges of the square and viola, you have a new chef helper.

This cookbook is created by a food network star Sara Moulton who is a mother herself.  These are her tried and true recipes for her family, and they really make sense.  Sure some meals sound fancy, but most are pretty straightforward to prepare.

The Ruling:  We loved these….well three and a half of us did.  Middle child wouldn’t try them.  Youngest child only wanted his without the red pepper in it.  And of course oldest child loved them.  The ingredients are versatile and I think you could really substitute your own likes and dislikes.  For example, I didn’t have one lone pork chop so I just went to the deli and bought a prepared chicken breast and sliced it up for our egg rolls.  Because my chicken was already cooked I skipped the step of pan frying the meat with the vegetable and it worked just great.  To cheat I used finely chopped cole slaw mix instead of the napa cabbage.  So much cheaper plus easier.  Please buy fresh ginger when making this.  If you have never bought fresh ginger, please do so.  I just grab a “knuckle” in my produce section (by breaking off a small section of the ginger because I don’t need more than an inch piece).  These would be great as a vegetarian option as well.

Baby Egg Rolls with Soy Sesame Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

For the Egg Rolls:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• one 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• one 1/2 pound boneless pork chop, cut into thin strips
• 2 scallions, white and 1 inch of the green parts, thinly sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 large red bell pepper, julienned 1 cup thinly sliced napa cabbage
• 1/4 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 30 square wonton wrappers

For the Dipping Sauce:

• 6 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Asian toasted sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

1. To make the egg rolls, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, until slightly softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the pork and stir until it turns white, about 2 minutes.  Transfer the pork to a plate and set aside.  Add the scallions, carrot, and red pepper to the skillet.  Cook, stirring until slightly softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the cabbage, stock, and soy sauce.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the liquid has evaporated and the vegetable are tender, about 5 minutes.  Return the pork to the skillet and let the contents of the skillet cool to room temperature.  You should have about 2 cups.
2. Lay the wrapper flat on a work surface.  Brush the edges lightly with water.  Top with about 1 tablespoon of the filling and roll into a cylinder, tucking in the sides and pressing the edges to seal. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking.  WOrking in batches, add the rolls and cook, turning often with tongs, until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving.
3. To make the dipping sauce, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar in a small bowl.  Stir well and serve on the side with the rolls.

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity

 MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.