Breakfast Strata

 Way back, in the last half of the eighties, our wee crew was living in Roseburg. That welcoming community, that made us feel right at home, also made sure we were involved. And the main involvement for both N and I, was at Melrose Elementary. Before we knew it, we were involved in raising funds for a bell tower and I was being urged to take a position in the PTO.

One of the big yearly events, was a volunteer breakfast, that the PTO board put on for all of the school volunteers. And that's when I learned about breakfast strata. Susan Yoder, PTO president and encourager of others, had invited me to her house (the day before the breakfast) to help put together the stratas. I was impressed with her ability to estimate how much to purchase and how to divvy up the ingredients on the fly, for such a large group.

The tasty and easily changeable casserole, was something I decided to add to our family recipe file. I'm not sure how it was relegated to Christmas morning breakfast and eventually included Thanksgiving, but it made the enjoyment slightly special. (Maybe that was my plan.)

Now, I prefer making skillet strata--they're smaller and are put together and baked at the same time, rather than sitting in the refrigerator overnight. Plus, making them more often than twice a year, has placed that recipe in my memory--the recipe now is rarely needed ... unless I'm thinking of making a change up of ingredients and want to see what others have done. 

There are oodles of recipes out there. Go find one that matches your belly and your larder. Lykkelig å spise! 

Love, K

Sweet Potato Love

Over the past couple of years I've been developing an increasing appreciation of sweet potatoes, thanks to daughter Fran's cooking. Last week, daughter Lise made these sweet potato fries to go with a rotisserie chicken for a quick dinner. Heavenly! Absolutely heavenly! They were tender and moist on the inside with a caramelly tasting, slightly crunchy exterior.


I suppose that's why I woke up Saturday wondering if there were any recipes for sweet potato hash browns on the web. I began a search that left me wondering which version to make. The cakes or the hash browns?

Jodi on Twitter suggested I make one version on Saturday and the other on Sunday. I was still wondering whether it was a wise experiment. So I stored that idea and crept on.

I included all the recipes below, because I borrowed from each to make 2 dishes that best suited N's and my tastes. I made simple hash browns for Saturday, seasoning only with salt and pepper, yet including the onion sauteed in bacon fat.

On Sunday morning, I took the remaining half of food processor shredded sweet potatoes (yes, 2 medium/large potatoes are twice as many as two people need) and borrowed from two of the other recipes to create patties with egg whites, olive oil, parmasean and Gruyere cheese and rosemary.

I'll be making both versions again and again and again. What pushed the patties over the top for me? Two over easy eggs on top. What I'll add next time? I'm thinking a patty or two of breakfast sausage. My taste buds hinted that would be a delightful accompaniment.
~K <3

Remember, sweet potatoes will turn to mush with too many flicks of the spatula--utilize the timer to curb overflipping tendency. 
(click here to print all)

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

1 ½ pounds sweet potato, peeled, shredded
1 cup chopped onion
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Mix sweet potatoes and onions in a large bowl. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-low to medium heat in a large skillet. Add about half of the sweet potatoes and onions, and stir to coat. Press with a spatula to flatten. Cook about 7-8 minutes; do not stir. Flip, and cook another 3-5 minutes. Remove from skillet, and set aside. Repeat to cook remaining vegetables. When done, combine the two batches in the skillet. Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about ½ cup)

Recipe Notes
To shred potatoes, it's best to use a food processor (shredding disc attachment). Variation: Use a combination of sweet potatoes and Yukon Gold or russet potatoes.
Makes a great breakfast dish!

(K's notes: Only used sweet potato/yam. Shredded, sprinkled with water, covered with side vents and microwaved until just tender, seasoned with a tsp rosemary, salt, pepper, gruyere and Parmesan cheese, left out curry)
Crispy Sweet Potato Hash Brown Cakes

Makes about 10-12 pancakes
1 large sweet potato, skin removed and grated
2 medium white potatoes, skinned and grated
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp paprika
dash of salt and pepper
1-2 TB olive oil for skillet

Blend ingredients and form into rounded patties with hands with about 1/3 cup of mixture. Place oil in pan over medium heat and cook pancakes for about 4 minutes until nicely browned on each side.  Serve with a bit of yogurt and cilantro or as desired.  These are great with curried chicken and a salad.


Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Ingredients:
1/4 pound diced bacon
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 pound sweet potatoes (roughly 3 medium) — peeled and grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large skillet, over medium high heat, fry the bacon until crispy, about 8 minutes.
Add the onions and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the garlic and sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Source: Emeril Lagasse


Rosemary and cheese sweet potato hash browns

Ingredients
For hash brown
3 medium sweet potatoes
5-6 slices pickled jalapenos
1 tbsp corn flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp rosemary
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method
Grate the sweet potatoes and add the corn flour, salt, pepper, jalapenos, rosemary and 1 tbsp olive oil to it. Mix well and keep aside. Mix the rest of the olive oil and rosemary in a bowl. Heat the skillet and  brush it with the olive oil and rosemary. Fill the molds with the sweet potato mix. Top with grated Parmesan  cheese, cover  and  cook on  medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Keep checking to see that it doesn't burn. Slide them out out with a tooth pick or a sharp knife and serve

Gingerbread Waffles and "the process"

My favorite breakfasts involve eggs-- scrambles, omelets, a couple lovely over-easy ones atop crispy hashbrowns (if I wasn't already stuffed, I'd be craving eggs again). So it's a puzzle to both N and I why, over the past few years, I've begun to experiment with waffles. Perhaps it began with that bacon waffle N ordered at Andy's Cafe. Now that was a beautiful waffle!

This time the idea was all about gingerbread waffles (though the bacon and blueberry experiment is gaining tradition status). My usual recipe finding process may be similar to yours-- I Google and Google and Google, refining the search until I find 6-8 that sound like what I'm looking for. I leave those tabs open on the browser, until I can whittle the selections down to 2 or 3. Sometimes I'll print all 2/3 before I can decide. I was tempted by the recipe that called for pumpkin, but decided on a recipe from Annie Eats blog. (I worry about wasting the leftover pumpkin). The only change I made was to add brown sugar instead of white.


I served them with applesauce, butter and maple syrup. Neither of us could imagine eating the waffles without applesauce or apple butter. It added a fresh, bright and slightly tart flavor to all the sweetness. They seemed a little dry, but still delicious. I think it'll be worth it to try the other two recipes. Only because it's a fun way to spend a weekend morning.

The recipe we made: Annie Eats

The recipe with pumpkin: Cristine Cooks

The recipe with buttermilk: A Bloggable Life

Time-out for tea & scones in Stayton

Shirley and I, decided to give the new Gardner House Cafe in Stayton a try this morning.
I'm adding my review here, since it may be awhile until it appears on Eat Salem
So many beautiful memories she and Dan took with their cameras on their vacation! And I only looked a the first few days worth of photos!

"I was anxious to hear more about my friend's cruise, but she didn't have a way to meet me for breakfast in Salem. I suggested I pick her up and we visit the newly opened Gardner House Cafe in Stayton, near her home. The cafe wasn't hard to find since my friend is familiar with the area and remembered driving past the bed and breakfast on 633 N Third.
We walked up the path, past the fountain, the Ginkgo tree and up the stairs to the front door. Once inside, we admired the old fashioned flowered drapes with lace curtains and the sunny yellow walls. There were about 5 tables in the dining area immediately inside the front door, nicely lit from the sunlight coming in the windows that look out onto the front porch. One of the owners, peeked in and said he'd be right with us. He invited us into the next room to taste their scones and choose our tea. Their generous samples of lemon lavender, orange cranberry & coconut chocolate chip scones, helped us make our selections. The owner suggested we try a pot of their "creamsicle roobios" tea. In addition, we each chose a bowl of fruit. My tender, orange cranberry scone had a nice balance of flavors and wasn't overly sweet. While neither my friend nor I could taste the "creamsicle" in the roobios tea, it's light fruity flavor was a nice accompaniment to the scones and melon balls. I liked how the china cups and saucers added a special touch to our table. On our way out we mentioned we were going for a walk and the owner helpfully told us that The Covered Bridge Park was just 5 blocks from the cafe. The stroll to the picturesque bridge and fir shaded park was a nice finish for our morning together."