so what's for breakfast today?

My wife makes strawberry preserves by cooking down the strawberries and then adding more strawberries . You wind up with a nice sweet/tart flavor with lots of strawberry"ness"

We have a shepherds pie every few months for a Sunday supper. It relies on real mashed taters , not stuff from the box. Lots of ground pepper and spices that we like (like bay leaf and single clove ).
Believe it or not, we dont like it with lamb but with a mix of beef/pork burger mixed with Mrs F's spice mix.

pork and beef in shepherds pie sounds really good

the best tourtiere in my opinion is made with both pork and beef

have you ever had a hotpot?

Lancashire hotpot is a culinary dish consisting essentially of meat, onion and potatoes left to bake in the oven all day in a heavy pot and on a low heat. Originating in the days of heavy industrialization in Lancashire in the north west of England, it requires a minimum of effort to prepare. It is sometimes served at parties in England, because it is easy to prepare for a large number of people and is relatively inexpensive.
There are many regional variations. It is frequently found listed amongst the usual pub grub dishes in hostelries around Britain. The basic recipe consists of a mix made up of meat, vegetables (carrot, turnip, potatoes, onion or leek) then covered with sliced potato or pastry. The type of meat to be used in a true Lancashire hotpot is a matter of some controversy, with many being of the opinion that it should be lamb (with optional lamb kidney or lamb liver) and some thinking it should be beef. As much food can be added as will fit in the pot.
Flavour can be enhanced with seasoning; salt and pepper would be the most traditional, and any other ingredients available in the kitchen. Some stock is usually added to cover the contents while it cooks, though some recipes rely on a well sealed pot on a low heat to retain enough moisture within the meat, onion and potatoes.
The hot pot referred to is a brown pottery dish with straight sides used to cook casseroles in British cuisine. The basic recipe once included oysters, but increasing cost brought them out of common usage. Pickled red cabbage is often served as an accompaniment.

Come on, Farmer. Minimalism is acceptable in art but not in the kitchen.

So I think I've perfected my home-made homefries, I think. In my ever-so-humble-opinion.

Start pan on medium heat. Add oil to coat.

Dice potato or potaoes to 1/2" to 3/4". Add to pan once oil is hot. Spread potatoes as thinly as possible over bottom of pan.

Cover. This is important. I find that a reflective metal cover is more effective than a glass cover, though that could be placebo effect.

Coarsely chop onion (1/2 a large yellow onion per medium potato). Put on top of potato. Mince some garlic. Put this over onion. Re-cover pan.

Grind together with mortar and pestle: rosemary, thyme (small amt), parsley, whole cumin seed, coriander, paprika, black pepper, sea salt/kosher salt. Grind with pestle.

Shake this mix evenly over contents of pan. Stir contents of pan to evenly distribute ingredients and seasoning mix. Add a little bit of chicken stock (about a tablespoon per potato). Reduce heat to low-medium. Re-cover.

This'll sit for a few minutes, until the edge of a spatula easily cuts one of the larger pieces of potato.

Two options now. You can dump the whole mix into an oiled pan over medium-high heat, or you can turn up the heat in the pan you're using to medium-high. The former is more effective, but makes for more clean-up, obviously, and uses more energy.

Cook in the hot pan long enough for the surfaces of the potato to start to brown. If you're lucky, the onions may caramelize a bit, too.



I've spent years trying to figure out how to make good homefries without leftover baked potatoes and a restaurant flat-top grill, and I think I've finally got it.

Mmmmm, brekkie.

patio, if you add diced bacon to it, it makes it perfect!

cj :
but don't use the "commercial" bacon , instead spend a little extra money and buy double or triple-smoked bacon : much better "smoky" flavour and just a litle bit of bacon will do - no need to use the "lardy" regular bacon .
enjoy !
hbg

the double-smoked also gives great flavour to soups and red cabbage - the rind will do - no need to toss it out

Boy, that sounds good, Pdawg.



Today, torta di mele, again. I make a big baking dish of it, then cut it up, freeze in packets for breakfast use. Link: http://able2know.org/topic/78049-1#post-2114544

Added note, I use various apples, including granny smiths, and usually more than five. If I use way more apples, I increase the other ingredients. I also halve the sugar, as I'm not fond of too sweet baked goods. Which is to say, I probably vary the recipe every time. I've tried it with pears, don't like the torta as well with them. Do often add raisins...

I had Osso's favorite...oatmeal muwahaha!

cringes..

same thing I've been having Monday - Friday since mid-November - oatmeal

big bowl of cereal ,fruit and yoghurt
scrambled egg with just a bit of double-smoked bacon
fresh bread from the portuguese bakery with butter and two-year old cheddar
LOTS of black tea

did not need a snack before lunch at 2 pm

soft boiled eggs on toast . These are our homegrown eggs that the yolk is so orange it looks phony. (The birds eat marigold mix in sunflower meal)
Fresh squoze ornage juice (we just bought a box of TEMPLE oranges. The Best for juice, the Best Jerry.

I hope this doesn't make Setanta ill, but this morning I cooked a sweet potato in the microwave (after punching holes in it with an ice pick, of course). Then after five minutes I mashed the insides with a fork, with some honey and orange juice, a little salt and cinnamin. Very satisfying (with hot coffee), and man what a bm all that fiber produced.

I made some scrumptious and healthy muffins this morning. Whole wheat, oatmeal, cranberry flax seed muffins. Yum.

This morning I had to make fried eggs (up) and mexican frijoles refritos, with hot coffee, o.j. and a wheat english muffin. Nothing special but "called for".

toast with butter ! and cran-raspberry preserves
2 steins of Irish Breakfast tea

5 grain oatmeal with craisins

green tea

baked oatmeal as a cereal. oj n coffee

the usual banana , cereal , fruit , yoghurt mix - fresh portuguese bread with sweet butter , boiled egg , real swiss cheese (emmentaler) , jam - lots of black tea