Chef Kittie

Tall Trees and Eateries: A Photojournal of the Pacific Northwest

by chefkittie on October 15, 2012

Two weekends ago, The Husband and I took a road trip up to Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. Saturday night was my best friend Amy’s 30th birthday party, which was quite an event, but we took time to visit friends, sightsee a bit, and explore eateries. Any trip, no matter how short or hectic, can feel like a bonafide vacation if you eat some fabulous food.

Most people said, “Ew, you’re driving?! But it’s so far!” It was far – 12 hours driving excluding breaks – but it’s time we spent together with no interruptions. That’s very precious to us these days. Also, plane fare + car rental was ridonculously expensive.

There are some great photos on The Husband’s phone as well; I’ll retrieve them soon. In the meantime, here’s Round 1, in chronological order. Enjoy!

Her name is Lola!

We drove all night Thursday, and arrived in Portland early Friday morning. Our dear friends Isaac and Tera were on hand to greet us as they started their day. It was our first time meeting their beautiful dog in person — she was just as loving and energetic as we’d observed online.

Salt'n'Pepper Tots

After we settled in and took a quick nap, we were ready to venture out and find some lunch. Portland is renowned for its food truck culture, and it did not disappoint. Isaac took us to his favorite mexican truck, which happened to be next to an amazing burger truck specializing in tater tots (a personal favorite). We ordered a bit of everything and sat down in the (rather unseasonal) sunshine to stuff our faces.

What about the ladies?

I saw this beer truck making deliveries and had to capture the moment.

They're worthy of the hype.

Later that day we explored downtown Portland and adjacent neighborhoods. We made our obligatory pilgrimage to Powell’s, then meandered up and down city streets, eventually entering Voodoo Doughnut, which I’d determined to try before we even left California. Voodoo has quite the positive reputation in food circles, and as someone who’s still mastering the doughnut making process, I wanted to see if they lived up to their reputation. They do.

Everything should be griddled in blackberry jam.

We spent the evening visiting Tera and Isaac’s favorite game shop and local Thai restaurant before heading to their place for dinner, dessert, wine and board games. It was A Perfect Night. Saturday morning we hit the road, stopping in Olympia, WA to have breakfast with my Uncle-in-law at his favorite corner place. New Moon offers fresh pancakes, cooked up in their homemade blackberry jam, and it’s heavenly. Definitely something I’ll be trying at home. Also, another reason to love the Pacific Northwest: every place has great coffee!

Secret garden view!

From Olympia, we drove north to Seattle and checked into our hotel room before heading over to help Amy set up for the party that night. Georgetown is a fairly industrial neighborhood, so I was delighted by the view from our room window. You can see Fall emerging in the leaves.

Seattle Moonrise

The party that night was held in The Tower House, narrow, a multi-storied house overlooking the Seattle waterways. The evening was clear and cool; the moon hung around all evening long. The food was amazing, the music was thumping, the company was excellent and the wine was flowing. Between the dance floor, the planetarium on the roof, the fire pit and the craft table, it was a night to remember.

Duck, duck, johnnycake!

The next morning found us moving… a bit slower than normal. Brunch was in order and locals sent us to Calamity Jane’s, just a few blocks away. Equal parts hotel, bar and restaurant, with a coffeehouse feel, Jane’s featured a special I could not resist: roasted duck meat and a poached duck egg over sweet potato hash browns and johnny cakes. I left promising myself to make sweet potato hashbrowns and johnny cakes at home as soon as humanly possible.

Best flavor ever.

Post-brunch, we proceeded to hang out with Amy and friends for the rest of the day. We arrived just as they were finishing gifts and ice cream, and I discovered yet another recipe to try at home.

A self portrait

More board games were played with music, snacks and conversation in the background. The planetarium mirror from the previous evening joined us at the game table.

The woods are lovely/Dark and deep

Social times continued ’til around midnight, when we finally bowed out, and returned to the hotel to rest up before the drive home. We stopped more frequently on the way down; lunch, leg stretching, and impromptu photo sessions were all so much easier in the daylight!

Prowlin' Around

Truck stops are highly entertaining.

We arrived back home just before midnight on Sunday night. I still can’t believe how much we accomplished in three days! It was a short trip, and a fabulous trip, and as always, I can’t wait to go back to Portland and Seattle, to see my friends and the forests and the food trucks.

I’ll post another round of pictures as soon as I get them off the other phone!

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Some Thoughts On Promotions and Chocolate Chip Cookies

by chefkittie on October 8, 2012

It’s been nearly 2 months since I updated last, and that’s shameful. I’m sorry.

Thing is, I got promoted at work (yay!), and as it turns out, getting promoted = more responsibility = less free time until you sort out your new schedule. Plus, we moved into a new office, and as the now-official SysAdmin (yay!) I bore the brunt of the wiring/set-up/lengthy calls to telecommunications providers.

It’s very hard to make food, let alone plate and take nice pictures of it, when you’re super busy. Who knew!

To me, this sounds like an excuse, and it’s not. It’s an explanation. But I’m still ashamed of my lack of updating.

At some point, I want to sit down and really dig into the art of food blogging, because it is an art, and it does take time, and that can be really tricky for the average working person. It would be awesome to have other food bloggers contribute thoughts and opinions.

I am still cooking; I’ll never stop cooking; it’s just gosh darn difficult to set up the camera at the end of a long day, when the lighting is bad and the cats are hopping about and all you want to do is eat some food already.

SOOC shot of the cats when they were kittens. Eee!

I’m starting to explore the option of setting up a small corner of our (admittedly small) house as a little photo studio. That would help.

My good friend Derek (who still needs to write a paleo guest post, nudge nudge) lives very far away from me, which is sad, because we rarely get to just hang out. He suggested we schedule video chats, so we did, and the first one was awesome! Sort of half-podcast, half-hangouts. It got me thinking — what other important things, that I might be tempted to put off until “later,” should I schedule?

Apparently blogging needs to be one of them. On the calendar it goes!

As for the chocolate chip cookies: Farmhouse Restaurant in the California Russian River Valley put their famous recipe up on their site. I can’t wait to try them! You should too, even if you have a favorite recipe; sometimes it’s nice to compare and contrast.

Also, you can have more than one favorite kind of cookie. It’s totally allowed under Cookie Law.

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Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

by chefkittie on August 10, 2012

This week we’re continuing the theme of Veggies I Hated When I Was Younger Because They Weren’t Cooked Well. Enter the humble Brussels Sprouts.

If you hated these, or still hate them, I’m not surprised. They’re not for everyone, but most often, the hate stems from improper cooking.

Think of Brussels Sprouts as mini heads of cabbage. Is cabbage really all that interesting when boiled? Or steamed? Sure isn’t. It’s bland and soggy and looks sort of icky.

Luckily, the intense dry heat of an oven, combined with Brussels Sprouts, olive oil, salt and pepper, creates a very special alchemy. Suddenly, a vegetable once bitter and limp is transformed. Crispy, chewy, tender and full of rich flavor. Now I love Brussels Sprouts!

I like to slice up some white or yellow onions and toss them in alongside the greens, but it’s a strictly optional flavor combo.

We’re past the height of Brussels Sprouts season, but many grocery stores sell them washed and bagged year-round. Next time I spot some, I’ll whip up and post my extra-special version with skillet-fried bacon; until then, if you’re not already a fan, I hope you’ll give these little guys a second chance!

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Recipe type: Side Dish, Vegetarian

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 4

Oven roasting transforms Brussels Sprouts into a crispy-yet-tender side dish full of nutrients and rich flavor.

Ingredients

1 lb. Brussels sprouts
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper, fresh grind if possible
1/2 medium Onion, sliced (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut off the ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any loose outer leaves. Slice each in half and place in a bowl (add sliced onions if desired).
Add olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir well to coat.
Pour sprouts into an oven safe baking dish and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Sprinkle with a touch more salt if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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(Barely adapted from Ina Garten’s recipe.)

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Steakhouse Creamed Spinach

by chefkittie on August 3, 2012

Happy Friday, everyone!

I had to take a bit of a break from food blogging; between work, traveling, and a new fitness initiative, I was on the verge of overload. Something had to be patient and wait a few weeks. Thankfully, my camera is a forgiving creature.

Today, to celebrate having time and energy to blog once again, I’m sharing my most favorite recipe for creamed spinach. It tastes exactly like the $12 side dish served in steakhouses, and it’s so easy to make, you don’t even need to buy cream. No cream in creamed spinach? I know, sounds incorrect. But stick with me.

I hated this dish when I was little, because I was only ever served the frozen variety, and ew. Fresh creamed spinach, on the other hand, is miraculously delicious. Creamy, buttery, savory and bursting with fresh spinach flavor — because the spinach is fresh! This dish takes about as long to make as it takes to heat up the frozen version, and you can make it year-round, because spinach comes cleaned and bagged in any supermarket.

I was lucky enough to have a bunch of farm-fresh spinach when I made my last batch! Look at those lovely roots and stems. It did take quite a bit of washing and de-stemming to get it ready for the pot, though.

I love serving this creamed spinach alongside grilled ribeye steak and mashed potatoes, but it’s quite flexible. I’d definitely eat it alongside roasted chicken, baked salmon, or a quinoa dish. I think it would also make a tasty alternative to green bean casserole at holiday dinners and potlucks! Don’t let the steakhouses dictate creamed spinach consumption any longer.

Steakhouse Creamed Spinach

Recipe type: Side Dish, Vegetarian

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4

A rich and creamy spinach dish that doesn’t use any cream! Just as tasty as the side dish served by fancy steakhouses.

Ingredients

4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
4 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 small Onion, finely diced
1 clove Garlic, finely diced
1 cup Milk
Salt & Pepper
Nutmeg
1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
12 oz. Baby Spinach, give or take a few oz. (1 bag)

Instructions

Melt 4 tbsp butter in a pot over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk to blend into a paste. Cook for 5 minutes, or until light golden in color. Mix in onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Whisk milk in slowly until combined. Let cook 5 minutes while the spinach is prepared.
To prepare spinach, melt 1 tbsp butter in a separate pot over medium heat. Add spinach by the handful and toss occasionally to coat. Cook until spinach for 4-5 minutes until wilted but not soggy – it should be bright green and the stems should still have a crunch to them. Remove from heat.
Season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Add spinach to the sauce, folding to combine.
Plate immediately or serve in a warmed dish. Enjoy!

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(Recipe halved, but otherwise unaltered, from The Pioneer Woman. Thanks, Ree!)

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Cocktail Tuesday: Stone Fruit Sangria

by chefkittie on June 26, 2012

Stone fruit season is upon us! Peaches, nectarines, cherries — all beautiful on their own, all delicious in a white wine sangria.

Sangria originated in Spain or Portugal, depending on who you talk to, and traditionally consists of Wine, Fruit, Sweetener, and Brandy. Either red or white wine can be used, so long as it’s on the sweet/dry end of the spectrum. The sweetener varies wildly, from simple syrup to honey or orange juice. As for the brandy, it’s often substituted with a seltzer-based beverage like soda water or 7-UP.

I’m a sangria purist. There are few things more delicious than an excellent wine and fruit paring; these flavors should speak for themselves. Don’t worry about the brandy and the soda and the 18 kinds of chopped fruit. Focus on a good wine, 2-3 types of fresh, seasonal fruit, and a basic sweetener. Mix these up and let them chill. They will mingle and mellow, and you’ll be treated to what I can only describe as Summer In A Glass.

And, as an added bonus, when the wine’s gone you’re left with Boozy Fruit! It’s good stuff, man. Good. Stuff. You can eat it with ice cream, or bake it in tarts, or just eat it out of the glass like me.

Stone Fruit Sangria

Recipe type: Beverage, Cocktail

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 8 hours

Total time: 8 hours 15 mins

Serves: 4-6

This simple wine punch takes delicious advantage of stone fruits that ripen in early summer.

Ingredients

2 bottles White Wine, Dry & Sweet (See notes)
2 large Peaches
8 oz. Cherries
1/4 cup Simple Syrup (recipe below)
Soda Water or Citrus Soda, optional

Instructions

To make simple syrup: combine 1/4 cup Sugar and 1/4 cup Water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, and remove before syrup boils. Set aside to cool.
Halve the peaches, remove the pit, and slice each half thinly. Set aside.
De-stem the cherries. If you have a cherry pitter, remove the pits and slice in half. If not, slice the cherries in half, and remove the pits.
Combine the peaches and cherries in a large pitcher (2 liters/8 cups). Pour the simple syrup over the fruit. Uncork the wine, and gently pour over the fruit and syrup. Stir to combine.
Cover the pitcher and place in the refrigerator. Let the sangria chill for at least 8 hours, or overnight if you can.
To serve: remove the covering, add soda water or citrus soda if desired, and thoroughly stir. Spoon fruit pieces into glasses and pour wine over them.
Enjoy!

Notes

Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer are all excellent wine choices, and readily available for under $10 at most grocery and liquor stores.

For this particular batch, I used white peaches and red cherries, because they were ripe and available; feel free to use any kind of peach or cherry that is available to you! The ripeness, not the kind, is what makes a delicious sangria.

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(This recipe was inspired by several websites, and is ultimately my own creation.)

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Foolproof Buttermilk Biscuits

by chefkittie on June 12, 2012

How foolproof, you ask? You don’t even need to buy buttermilk. Bam.

Buttermilk Biscuits

I will never claim to have perfected the quintessential Buttermilk Biscuit — as with all regional foods, they are an art form unto themselves, and ‘ware to the (non-Southern) blogger who claims perfection.

That being said, no one should ever be afraid to bake biscuits! They are lovely, fluffy objects, so open to toppings and fillings and all sorts of deliciousness. Also, they require no kneading, no proofing, and no rising — just some crumbling, mixing, and cutting. Can you make cookies? Then you can make these biscuits.

If you have buttermilk in the fridge, or are skilled enough to remember it at the grocery store (unlike me), your biscuits will have an extra +5 to fluffiness. If you don’t, or aren’t, never fear! The instructions below will take care of you, and your biscuits will still be amazing.

Buttermilk Biscuit Rounds

I serve these alongside soup, grilled chicken, or eggs’n'bacon; they’re also a wonderful alternative to English Muffins in these breakfast sandwiches. They may not be Southern perfection, but they’re darn tasty. And that’s what matters.

Foolproof Buttermilk Biscuits

Recipe type: Biscuit

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 8-12 biscuits

Light and tender biscuits that you can make anytime, even if you don’t have buttermilk in the fridge.

Ingredients

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
6 tbsp Cold Unsalted Butter
3/4 cup Buttermilk or Soured Milk (see instructions)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F.
To make soured milk, pour 1 tbsp White Vinegar or Lemon Juice into a 1 cup measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup with milk to just below the rim, and stir. It will foam/curdle a bit; this is good! Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Remove butter from fridge and slice into chunks. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is well blended and the butter is pea-sized or smaller.
Measure out 3/4 cup of buttermilk or soured milk, and slowly drizzle over flour mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the milk into the flour, until mostly combined. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and use your hands to fully combine, being careful not to overwork the dough (kneading is too vigorous).
Pat the dough out into a 3/4″ thickness. Use a clean water glass or circular cutter to cut out the biscuit rounds. **Important! Do not twist the glass or cutter as you push down, as it will crimp the edges and prevent rising.**
Push dough scraps together and cut more rounds, until dough is used up.
Place rounds on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating once, until tops are lightly golden.
Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight bag or container for a week in the fridge, or up to a month in the freezer.

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(Source: a little piece of yellow note paper that lives under a magnet on my fridge. I don’t remember where I found this recipe; I only know it works every time.)

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Cocktail Tuesday: The PomPom Fizz

by chefkittie on June 5, 2012

I don’t know if Cocktail Tuesday will become A Thing™, but I hope it will. It has such a nice ring to it.

The PomPom Fizz Cocktail

After whipping up a batch of homemade grenadine syrup, I had to taste test; it took enormous willpower to let the syrup cool to room temperature. My litmus test: the Shirley Temple. Except I didn’t have any regular lemon-lime soda. I did, however, have Hansen’s diet tangerine lime in the fridge, and boy were they a match. Homemade grenadine has a lovely weight and texture to it, and it’s plenty sweet. Regular soda probably would have been too much.

As I was sipping the fruits of my labor (badum ching!), I decided the lovely, warm spring evening deserved a cocktail. The PomPom Fizz is my own creation, and while it’s not fancy, it’s delicious, and if you have pretty stemware and colored garnish sugar, it could be fancy.

My most favorite thing about this drink is the diet soda base**. You could use any sort of citrus fizzy water, to be honest — the grenadine is just sweet enough to pull it all together — and it’s just not that calorically dense. Perfect for those overheated nights when you need to escape the kitchen/office/living room and enjoy the evening air.

The PomPom Fizz

Recipe type: Cocktail

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 2

A cocktail that blends vodka with citrus and pomegranate, garnished with lemon.

Ingredients

1.5 oz. Vodka (1 shot)
1.5 oz. Homemade Grenadine Syrup (1 shot)
12 oz. Diet Citrus Soda, chilled (1 can)
1 lemon, cut into 1/4″ slices
Ice

Instructions

Combine vodka, grenadine syrup and a few ice cubes in a cocktail shaker (or other vessel). Shake three times, briskly, to blend. Pour soda into the shaker and swirl/stir to combine.
Pour cocktail mixture evenly between two glasses, adding ice as desired. Split two lemon slices from rind to center and slide onto glass rims as garnish.
To serve: remove lemon slice from rim, and push once to bottom of the glass. Let float to the surface, and enjoy!

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** I am not a fan of soda, diet or otherwise, that contains chemicals like Aspartame. That’s just me; I don’t judge. If you ever want a soda, diet or otherwise, that’s tasty and natural, the Hansen’s line is quite good, and many stores now carry other natural sugar/alternative sweetener sodas.

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DIY Grenadine Syrup

by chefkittie on May 25, 2012

My family didn’t eat out much when I was a child, so when we did, we had fun with it. My favorite part was ordering a Shirley Temple, and I ranked restaurants by how many cherries arrived in the glass.

Grenadine Syrup Group Shot

The Shirley Temple is a wonderful conceptual base for all sorts of drinks, be they soft or hard. It’s difficult to go wrong with bubbles and sweet syrup! Unfortunately, most grenadine syrup nowadays is Red Dye #40 and Corn Syrup, usually High Fructose, and that’s no good. We can do better.

Grenadine Syrup Ingredients

True grenadine is a syrup made from pomegranate juice, so this homemade version will have a pomegranate-y flavor to it, but it’s subtle. If you mixed it with plain sparkling water, you’d have a refreshing pomegranate beverage; if you mixed it with citrus soda, you’d have a Shirley Temple with a slight hint of berry. Either way, it’s sweet in just the right way, and supplies a lovely pinky-purple color to boot.

I like using ultra-fine sugar when making syrups because it dissolves quickly and evenly, but any sugar will work. As for pomegranate juice, as long as it’s 100% juice, you’re good to go. Trader Joe’s happens to have a 32 fl. oz. bottle, which is super convenient (and affordable), but any brand is fine.

Best of all, your grenadine syrup can be stored in the original juice bottle, and should keep in the fridge for a few weeks! If it lasts that long.

DIY Grenadine Syrup

Recipe type: Syrup

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

This sweet and slightly tangy syrup is made from pomegranate juice and sugar, and is worlds above the store-bought version.

Ingredients

32 fl. oz. Pomegranate Juice
2 cups Sugar

Instructions

Bring pomegranate juice to a boil in a small pot or saucepan.
Lower heat and simmer until juice reduces by half, 15-20 minutes. For thicker syrup, reduce another 5 minutes.
Remove pot from heat. Add sugar and stir to dissolve.
Let cool to room temperature before pouring into a clean bottle. Store in fridge for 2-3 weeks.

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(Recipe straight from Stef at The Cupcake Project.)

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Geek Gastronomy: Boba Fettuccine

by chefkittie on May 10, 2012

Hot sand swirled across the landing pad as the bounty hunter disembarked. Above him, the colorless sky was filled with ships of all shapes and sizes, some coming, some going. He envied those going.

Across the open space, the door to the Mos Eisley cantina divided a dirty wall. The spaceport’s normal crowd of traders, troopers and transients was thin that evening, and few spared him a glance as he paced toward the dark entrance, gun cradled in one arm.

He would neither eat nor drink until back aboard his ship – no distractions during business transactions – but the smell of something spicy beginning to burn over a grill triggered a sudden memory of home.

White walls. A cold chair drawn up to a stainless metal table. His father smiling, saying something and handing him a bowl of pale noodles studded with seafood, freshly harvested from the relentless ocean. Clones normally ate genetically modified meals, designed to deliver maximum nutrition with minimal digestive effort, but sometimes Jango charmed the cook into serving something Kaminoan. Just for them two.

Beneath his helmet, Boba Fett slowly blinked his dark eyes. The cafeteria vanished, and his father’s face with it. He reached over one shoulder and twisted his air intake valve. The spicy aroma filtered out as he stepped over the cantina threshold, and into the hunt.

Boba Fettuccine

Recipe type: Pasta, Entree, Dinner

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4

A spicy seafood pasta dish inspired by Boba Fett’s oceanic home world of Kamino.

Ingredients

8 oz. Fettuccine Noodles
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 medium Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 cup Chicken Broth, low sodium
1/2 cup White Wine (or Chicken Broth)
1 lb. Shrimp or other seafood, raw (and defrosted if previously frozen)
2 cups Fresh Spinach Leaves, chopped
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
Optional: Your favorite hot sauce

Instructions

Cook fettuccine according to directions. Drain, cover and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until oil shimmers. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender and golden, 8-10 minutes. Add tomato paste, wine and/or broth; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, and add seafood, spinach, cayenne pepper, red paper flakes, salt and pepper. Optional: add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce. Cook uncovered for 3-5 minutes, until shrimp is pink and opaque all the way through.
Turn off heat, and add fettuccine and spinach to skillet. Toss to coat pasta and serve immediately.

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(Note: Both recipe and writing are my original creations. Characters and locations from the Star Wars universe are creative property of Lucasfilm Ltd. This is not a commercial post.)

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Spinach, Egg & Pepper Jack Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

by chefkittie on May 7, 2012

My live-in taste tester (a.k.a. husband) recently requested I come up with a Breakfast Solution for him. He is not a morning person – neither am I – and prefers food he can grab and eat during his commute. Then, that very same day, I stumbled across this post, detailing eggs baked with fillings, and then sandwiched. I’m pretty sure I said Eureka! out loud.

These breakfast sandwiches are awesome for several reasons:

Delicious. The one-of-six I snagged for taste testing was better than I expected. So much so that I had to wrap the others and freeze them before I ate them.
Easy to make. Basic assembly, some oven time. I had a half-dozen (minus one for taste testing, it was necessary!) prepped, photographed and frozen in under an hour; most of that time I was doing something else, thanks to the baking. It would take the same amount of time to make a full dozen. Less, actually, if you minus the photography.
Infinitely variable. You have muffin, you have egg, and then you have whatever else you feel like. Same principle as the quiche and frittata. My next batch will have mushrooms. And maybe bacon.
Healthy or indulgent, it’s your choice. Whole wheat muffins paired with low fat cheese and veggies. Buttered muffins paired with gouda and sausage. Either way, they will taste fantastic.
Affordable. Have you seen how much Rhymes-With-Harbucks charges for a breakfast sandwich? It’s crazy. These sandwiches cost me roughly $1.00 each in materials when all was said and done (your cost will depend on your location and choice of materials, of course, but it shouldn’t be anywhere close to R.W.Harbucks).

These would be equally welcome at a large breakfast/brunch/get together. Prep the fillings and muffins ahead of time, and the eggs can bake while you’re chatting with company.

Personally, this recipe falls under the “Why didn’t I think of that?!” category. These are so easy to make, so customizable, and so easy to store for noms on the go. A game changer.

A delicious game changer.

Spinach, Egg & Pepper Jack Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

4.0 from 1 reviews

Recipe type: Breakfast, Sandwich

Author: Chef Kittie

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 6

Baked egg cups sandwiched between English Muffins make for a healthy and filling breakfast.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Butter
6 Eggs
2 tbsp Milk
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1 cup Raw Spinach leaves, roughly chopped
8 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese, grated
6 English Muffins (one package, or homemade)
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease six cups in a muffin or cupcake pan with butter. Evenly divide spinach between the cups and set aside.
In a bowl, scramble eggs with milk, garlic, and salt/pepper to taste. Pour egg mixture evenly into buttered cups. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway. Egg should be puffy and dry on top, and cooked all the way through. Remove and let cool (eggs will deflate a little) before removing.
While egg cups are baking, split muffins and lay out on a baking sheet. Evenly divide the cheese between all halves. When eggs are out of the oven, bake the muffin halves at 350° for 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and muffins are lightly toasted.
When egg cups are cool enough to handle, pop out of pan and place one cup in between two muffin halves, until all sandwiches are paired up. Using gentle pressure, squish the top of the muffin downwards to flatten egg to edge of sandwich.
Serve immediately, or wrap individually in foil and refrigerate (up to one week) or freeze in a plastic bag (up to one month).
To reheat: Bake in foil for 30 minutes at 350°, or remove from foil and microwave for 2-3 minutes.

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