I’m honestly happy for the people with that sort of Valentine’s Day budget.  However, my budget,  and perhaps yours,  is much more modest.

Since Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday I propose a Valentine’s Day brunch.  Here’s the menu:

• Coffee
• Orange Juice
• Apricot Bread or Raspberry Bread
• Creamy Scrambled Eggs

Creamy Scrambled Eggs

Serves 3 to 4

1 large green onion, thinly sliced

1/2 tightly packed tablespoon curly parsley leaves, chopped

1/2 tightly packed tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons heavy cream

3 ounces cream cheese, cut into about 3/4-inch pieces

Salt and pepper as needed

2 tablespoons butter

1. In a medium bowl, use a fork to loosely combine the eggs and cream. Stir in cream cheese, onions and the herbs.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. In a large, heavy, non-stick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the eggs and stir with a spatula for a few seconds.

3. Lower heat to medium-low and keep stirring in a slow steady movement for 3 minutes, or until large curds form. Eggs can be served almost wet (moist yet approaching firm) or quite firm.  Be sure not to overcook.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Bread Pudding
2. Rosemary Bread

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

1 1/2 Cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar, packed
4 Cups bread flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Cup raisins
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. Set the machine on the dough setting.

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured surface.  Divide the dough in half.  Then divide those pieces in half.  Keep going until you’ve got 12 equal pieces of dough.  Then roll each piece until it’s a 10 inch long rope.

Form each rope into a circle and place on two greased cookie sheets.  It’s OK to give the ends a little pinch to make sure things stay together.  Cover them with towels and let rise for 30 minutes.

(Please excuse the state of my pans.  One of goals for 2010 is to get new ones.)

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 mintues.  Then turn the bagels over and bake for another 10 minutes.

The bagels were a little more brown than I’d like.  The next time I make this recipe I’ll decrease the cooking time by a few minutes.  It was a winner though, so I will be making this one again.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Raisin Bread Stuffing – Leftover Bread Recipes

Bread Pudding

8 cups torn/crumbled bread
3 cups milk
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup raisins
¼ cup butter
1 t vanilla
¼ t salt
¼ t nutmeg
3 eggs

1 – Start out by putting the milk, sugar, raisins, butter, vanilla, salt and nutmeg in a saucepan. Set the temperature on low and let it slowly warm while you deal with the rest of the preparation. The goal is to have the milk just start to boil (and not burn) by step 4.

2 – Take a small square pan and put tap water in it until you’ve got about an inch of water. Put the water-filled pan on the lower oven rack. Set the oven at 350 degrees. The water and the temperature will create a nice steamy environment for the pudding.

3 – Grease a 2 quart baking or casserole dish. Put the crumbled bread into the baking or casserole dish.

As an aside let me mention that this is a great way to use up extra bread. We save all of our bread heals in the freezer until we have enough for a batch of bread pudding.

4 – Beat the eggs gently in a medium bowl. Now we turn back to the cooking milk mixture. Ideally it will be just starting to gently boil. (Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn at the bottom. ) Once you see a few bubbles take it off the heat and add a few tablespoons of the mild mixture into the eggs and stir it around. Then add the egg mixture to the milk.

5 – Pour the milk and eggs over the bread. Gently stir to distribute the raisins and make sure that all the bread gets wet. Open the oven (brace yourself for the steam) and put the pudding on the upper rack. Cook for one hour.

When you serve you can top this with honey, jam or cream.

Share this:

No related posts.