Sunrise At Sunset

Who doesn't love breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day and it can be great comfort food.  Well why not have breakfast for dinner? My son and I usually have breakfast for dinner once a month. It's usually a rainy day and we stay in our pajamas all day long watching movies. Well while that is always fun, I wanted a bit of elegance this time.  I will show you how to have comfort food at it's finest. I made this menu at my place for a dinner party I had on Saturday. The best part? You can enjoy this for breakfast, brunch or even dinner.


I definitely challenged myself with this menu. Especially photographing homemade ice cream. Some may say the dishes I created are easy. However I am self taught. No Culinary school and a lot of these dishes were firsts for me. I've always had a huge passion for cooking and baking.  However I've only really been giving it a 100% since November. I hope to make a career out of this at some point. I truly hope you came hungry, and leave inspired! Please enjoy.



This is what I served:

Blini- Mini Whole Wheat Pancake with Smoked Salmon & Fresh Dill

Hash Brown Rice and Zucchini Omelette

Eggs Benedict- English Muffin (open face) With Ham, Poached Egg, & Hollandaise Sauce

White Peach Sangria

Mimosa

Coffee, Fresh Juice & Fruit

Bacon & Egg Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Sauce


Ok I know I probably lost you at Bacon & Egg Ice Cream, am I right? Bare with me here I feel it's my duty to really sell you on this dessert! Let me break it down for you. The ice cream itself is vanilla and I made it myself for the first time.  I don't have an ice cream maker so it was all done by hand. It really isn't hard to do at all. Are you jumping for joy now that you know you can make it at home with out a machine?!? I know I was!  
Ice cream is made with egg whites so that is the "Egg" portion of it.  As for the Bacon, it's candied! Yes that's right I said candied Bacon.  I'll give you a minute to take that one in..........So now you are either in food heaven or still a little hesitant. When I walk you through the recipe and show you the fabulous pictures of this drool worthy dessert you will be hooked!  When you eat a spoonful you won't even realize it's Bacon. It is transformed into little bits of sweet crunchy indulgence. Oh and of course surrounded by melt in your mouth vanilla clouds all around it. I'm drooling now great!  I just may need to take a break and go have another bowl before I can finish this write up!

On with the recipes!

I always enjoy starting the cocktails first. This way you can "taste test" all while cooking. Just make sure you save some for the guests!

 


Look how pretty! Of course you could always use wine glasses if you wanted to.

White Peach Sangria:
1 750 ml bottle Prosecco
1 750 ml bottle Pinot gGrigio (I used Cavit)
1 can Gingerale
1/4 cup sugar
2 peaches, sliced
1 nectarine, sliced


In a large pitcher, preferably clear, mix the sugar, wine, and fruit.  Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour. Give it a good mix and taste. If you think it needs more sugar then add 1/4 cup at a time. I personally do not like it overly sweet but it's completely up to you just how sweet you want it.  Pour in the gingerale and top it off with the Prosecco. Serve in clear glasses and garnish with peaches.

Super easy and so elegant! Also affordable. I used Cavit Pinot Grigio. No need to splurge on an expensive bottle since it's being mixed with other ingredients. A table wine will work great but make sure it's something you would drink with out it being mixed. I bought a huge bottle for $17 bucks! Also the Prosecco only cost me $10 bucks. The other items I usually keep on hand.



Mimosa:

Prosecco (Champagne of choice)
Orange juice
Fruit for garnish (optional)


Take a fluted champagne glass, wine glass or any other clear glass you desire; fill it half way up with orange juice and top it off with Prosecco or Champagne of your choice.  Garnish with sliced peach, or strawberry and serve. How easy! 

 





Blini:

Salmon
liquid smoke
brown sugar
salt
Fresh Dill
Creme Fraiche


I do not have a smoker so I "smoked" my Salmon in the oven! Now depending how much Salmon you use depends on how much liquid smoke, brown sugar and salt you need. Lay the Salmon down on a cookie sheet and generously rub brown sugar, salt and liquid smoke on each side. Cover with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge over night. When ready to use preheat oven to the lowest temp. about 170 or so. Rinse the fish off really well. Spray a cookie cooling rack really well with cooking spray and place the fish on top. Place in the oven on the center rack and keep the oven door slightly to let out moisture. You want to smoke the Salmon for 6 to 8 hrs. Once finished you want to assemble the blini. Grab a serving dish and lay down the mini whole wheat pancakes. Top the pancakes with a slice of the smoked Salmon, then a small dollop of Creme Fraiche or Sour Cream and finally top with fresh Dill. I couldn't stop eating these! So good.

Mini Whole Wheat Pancakes:
Ellie Krieger helped me on this one

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon double acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup low fat buttermilk (if you don't have it, pour 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a 1 cup measuring glass, fill the rest with milk, let sit for five minutes before adding)
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 tablespoon of honey


Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients together.
Preheat large non stick griddle
Mix wet ingredients in with the dry, it will be a little lumpy and that's ok.
Fill a tablespoon with pancake mixture and drop onto the griddle
When the top becomes bubbly flip over and cook the other side 1 to 2 minutes.

 

Zucchini Omelette:
1 Zucchini, ends trimmed & grated
3 eggs
salt/pepper to taste
1/4 cup of grated cheese ( I used Locatelli Pecorino Romano)
1/4 teaspoon thyme


Once the zucchini is completely grated; drain it really well. Otherwise you will have one soggy mess of an omelette. Once that is drained off transfer to a large bowl, add the cheese and stir. In another bowl beat the eggs and then add to the zucchini mixture. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme and mix again. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add the egg mixture. Cook until the egg is set, occasionally lifting the edges allowing more of the egg to cook. Fold the omelette over and allow to cook one minute longer. Slide the omelette onto a serving dish and garnish as desired. I served mine on hash brown rice.



Hash Brown Rice:
1 cup cooked rice, cooked in chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
salt/pepper to taste
oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, chopped


Mix rice and spices all together in a large mixing bowl. Saute the onions and garlic in a large skillet. Transfer to a plate. In the same skillet heat about 1 inch of oil. Add in the rice and sauteed vegetables and fry about 2 to 3 minutes or until you see a nice brown color on the bottom. You really don't want to fry this too long or you will have a hard mess. Just enough to get crisp and brown underneath.  Transfer to a dish and top with omelette. 

 



Eggs Benedict & Hollandaise Sauce:

2 eggs
4 egg yolks
salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup melted butter
1 english muffin, toasted
2 slices ham


In a saucepan fill it with water about half way up. Add vinegar and a pinch of salt to the water and to a very slow boil. Place a custard cup in the water making sure the water covers at least half of it. Gently break the egg into the cup and cook for five minutes. Do not let it come to a full boil whatever you do. Place a piece of ham on top of one side of the english muffin, then poached egg. Repeat for the other side of the english muffin. You can do more then one egg at a time just time them a few seconds a part to ensure you don't reduce the heat of the water.


Whisk the four egg yolks and lemon juice together until it thickens and doubles. In a saucepan boil water and place a bowl on top, do not let the bowl touch the water. Pour the egg yolks into the bowl and whisk, slowly add in the melted butter;continue to whisk until the mixture doubles. Take off of the heat and add in salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the Eggs Benedict and garnish with fresh greens. 


You can see the egg changing color, getting whiter the longer it cooks.


My very first poached egg. Not too shabby eh?!


Last but not least!
 




Bacon & Egg Ice Cream:
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites
4 slices of bacon
3/4 cup brown sugar

 


Preheat the oven to 350
Lay the bacon out on a cookie sheet and top with brown sugar. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Transfer the bacon to a brown paper bag and let cool NOTHING ELSE! Otherwise it won't stick to the ice cream. Once cooled break into pieces.


In a saucepan combine milk, cream and sugar. Cook until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot. In the meantime with a hand mixer beat egg whites in a bowl until pale and thick. Slowly add in the cream and sugar mixer continuously beating until everything is incorporated. Return the mixture to the heat and cook stirring constantly until it reaches 170 degrees and coats the back of a spoon. Do not let the mixture come to a boil. Pour the mixture into a tupperware container and put in the freezer. Mix it every 30 minutes for about 3 hours or until resembles ice cream. Stir in the bacon, seal the container and return to the freezer for up to a week.


My ice cream pictures aren't perfect. Ice cream for me has been the most difficult food to photograph. Especially homemade! It melts the second you take it out of the freezer! Oh I must have taken dozens of pictures. These were the best I could come up with lol