Heavenly Eggs in Hell - Baked Eggs with Chipotle Sweet Potato Grits

First, how about that cute baking dish?  Found in a Kansas Garage Sale, for only $1!!!

Not much use in Kansas unless you have friends visiting from TEXAS for Thanksgiving!


They were heartily impressed.  I served these for Thanksgiving day breakfast.  Perfect stick to your ribs meal to start (and inspire) the busiest cooking day of the year.

This has become my brand new favorite way to make grits and just about my favorite breakfast of all time.  Sweet creamy cheesy grits with a delicious stream of spicy Chipotle Chili in Adobe Sauce.  This was even the very first time my Texas taste testers had ever had grits.  I am afraid I have ruined them for diner grits for life.

It is really not difficult at all.

I made the cute Texas dish, which held 2 servings.  I also made a 9X12 baking dish that held enough to serve 6.  So I fed 8 people with this recipe...

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, prepare baking dish (es) with non stick spray

4 Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cubed and steamed (you can microwave them, make sure they are fork tender), then puree in a food processor.
While Pureeing, add 2 TBS of Chipotle Chilis in Adobe Sauce from a can and continue to puree.

While doing that, start the grits...

3 cups 2X Milk
1 1/2 cups quick cooking Grits (do not over cook them, you will be baking them to finish).

When they are done, add 8 Ounces Cheddar Cheese
Plus Add the Sweet potato Adobe sauce puree
Finally add 1/2 stick of Butter and mix everything together.

Spread the spicy, cheesy grits in the baking dish.  Take the back of a spoon and make indentations into the grits to hold the eggs.

Add the eggs

Bake for 15 minutes or until the eggs reach their desired doneness.

And this was my breakfast.

If you saw yesterday's post, I had a Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread to serve along side the grits.

A perfect combination, sweet bread, served with the spicy grits!  It was a wonderful start to the day.  A chance to relax, catch up with friends and look forward to the day of cooking!

Plenty more to write about over the next few days, but highly recommend this dish... very easy, very tasty and a terrific presentation!

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This simple recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Breakfast Ideas!"

It's the most important meal of the day.  From fancy to simple, there are always ways to dress up a breakfast dish.  These are the meals that make Bed and Breakfast Inns legendary (and usually easier than you think).

Here's your chance to make your guests Ooh and Aah!

***********************PINTEREST*********************

Come and find me on Pinterest... Any of my "52 Ways to cook" Boards are worth following.  If you like this post, please take a second and "Pin" this to your own boards... Better yet, if you are part of a foodie group board please take a second and add this post to your group pins... best way to show your Love!

And BTW, if you are not yet part of a group board, drop me an email at Contact@eRecipeCards.com and request to be added to my group board... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! (be sure to include your pinterest ID when you write)  Once you are added, any pins you add will be seen by 10s of THOUSANDS of followers of the board (and growing daily).

Rules, only 2... 

1. In order to join you need to start following the group board as well as at least one of my boards.
2. And you must ONLY pin original sources, posts from food related bloggers only.  If you are a blogger, this is a great way to have thousands of potential readers see your work,  If you are a fan of bloggers, a great way to share your favorites...
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Version 2 of Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day!  Did you all cook well???

I had an interesting day.  My neighbors decided to host the actual meal.  They set a beautiful table, cooked the bird, while I made the sides and desserts.  I have enough posts to cover all of next week.  But I think I will do this in order.

My neighbors were also hosting their sister and her friend.  They were driving in from Texas.  SO I also volunteered to have them over for breakfast.  Which gets me to this bread...

You have seen this before.  I did a post on Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart ala Taste of Pearl City  a couple of months ago.  It was fabulous then and still is.  In fact, so delicious, and such a wonderful presentation, I knew I was going to save it for a breakfast when I wanted to show off.

I am going to direct you to the original post from Taste of Pearl City (click HERE) for the actual recipe.  It is an egg rich bread, each slice is layered in sugar and cinnamon.  While it does look spectacular, it is very very easy.  In fact, since a picture is worth a thousand words, let's save a few thousand words and show you how to achieve the look...

And that's all there is too it.

I did make a more savory Sweet Potato Grits, Heavenly Hellish Eggs that I will tell you all about tomorrow!

******************************************************

This simple recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Breakfast Ideas!"

It's the most important meal of the day.  From fancy to simple, there are always ways to dress up a breakfast dish.  These are the meals that make Bed and Breakfast Inns legendary (and usually easier than you think).

Here's your chance to make your guests Ooh and Aah!

***********************PINTEREST*********************

Come and find me on Pinterest... Any of my "52 Ways to cook" Boards are worth following.  If you like this post, please take a second and "Pin" this to your own boards... Better yet, if you are part of a foodie group board please take a second and add this post to your group pins... best way to show your Love!

And BTW, if you are not yet part of a group board, drop me an email at Contact@eRecipeCards.com and request to be added to my group board... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! (be sure to include your pinterest ID when you write)  Once you are added, any pins you add will be seen by 10s of THOUSANDS of followers of the board (and growing daily).

Rules, only 2... 

1. In order to join you need to start following the group board as well as at least one of my boards.
2. And you must ONLY pin original sources, posts from food related bloggers only.  If you are a blogger, this is a great way to have thousands of potential readers see your work,  If you are a fan of bloggers, a great way to share your favorites...
   Come and be a part of ... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! on Pinterest

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken SOUP - 52 Crock Pot Easy Recipes

File this as a chicken recipe, but certainly can make this a turkey left over recipe as well.

Remember yesterday's post.  I grilled a chicken with herb butter and roasted root vegetables.  All went perfect, as I was going to use the white meat for a basic chicken dinner (and it was a winner, winner).  Then use the carcass to make fresh chicken stock to use for my Thanksgiving meal (and that worked just fine, 8 cups of stock from the bird)!

But if you look close at the photo above, you can see that the breast meat (top of the bird) browned and cooked up nicely.  When the temp hit 165 on the white meat i pulled the bird off.  The legs were still slightly under temp.  But I had this in mind, so i was willing to pull the thighs and legs off to use to make soup.

And I wanted to make a teriyaki soup.  I have had two occasions to make this recipe and I think I have adapted enough to make this my own version, inspired by Penny from the Lake Lure Kitchen.  So in place of her (WONDERFUL) teriyaki chicken thigh served on rice; I present my adapted Shredded Chicken Teriyaki Crock Pot Soup!

I am just starting to learn the benefits of crock pots.  Dump in and forget!  Few hours later, fast as you can slowly say Bob's your uncle... Soup!

This does take a second step half way through the process, but even so, no real hard work...

First step, Pull off the legs and thighs from your roasted chicken.  Leave whole if you like, bone on.

Also, leave the skin on.  You can pull it off later if you like, but the bones and the skin make the soup richer.

OK... Crock pot on low... put the chicken parts in the bottom.  If you need to, bust em apart, but will be easier if you cook them down for awhile before you try to separate the thigh from the leg.

Next whisk together these ingredients...

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Spy Sauce

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

1 tsp ground Ginger

1 tsp Dried Garlic Flakes

1 tsp Dried Onion Flakes

Couple of pinches of Pepper

And pour this mix over the chicken parts.

Cover with the lid and let it just sit for a couple of hours.  You may need to turn the chicken parts over to insure that all the parts get soaked in the sauce!

Sorry about the photo, no good available light, so it is too yellow.

But, once you have the chicken nicely cooked, you can reach in and pull a bone and the meat practically falls off.  Leave the delicious sauce in the crock pot, but pull out the chicken pieces.  You can easily pull off the skin and pull the meat from the bone.  Now's the time to toss those away.

And the meat shreds easily.  Once you've separated the skin, the gristle, the odd little pieces; pop it back into the crock pot.

And add a few veggies...
For this, 4 carrots, cut and diced...
2 stalks of Celery, cut and diced...
2 medium Onions, cut and diced...

And turn the crock pot back to high this time and allow everything to simmer for 2 mote hours.  I like my veggies to have a slight crispness to them instead of completely mushy.

I also added 2 cups of Chicken Stock.

And that's it.  When it was ready to serve, I sliced up a few green onions just to add a little visual interest.

This is my third time to toy with this teriyaki chicken idea.  Every version has been a winner.  For different purposes.  Not gonna say what I like better, but this is my favorite soup I have made for a long time.  Just incredible flavors from the teriyaki... Makes a terrific soup!

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So,  I am pleased to list this as one of my Growing list of "52 Ways to Cook SLOW COOKER-CROCK POT Easy Recipes"!!!

From meat dishes (Like an AMAZING Root Beer Pulled Pork that will feed a small army), to kitchen staples (FREE Gallon of Chicken Stock anyone?) to a slew of Soup and Stew recipes, these are the dishes that will change the way you cook.  Start in the morning, set and forget and dinner is on the table... Easy Peasy indeed!!!

****************************PINTEREST**************************

Come and find me on Pinterest... Any of my "52 Ways to cook" Boards are worth following.  If you like this post, please take a second and "Pin" this to your own boards... Better yet, if you are part of a foodie group board please take a second and add this post to your group pins... best way to show your Love!

And BTW, if you are not yet part of a group board, drop me an email at Contact@eRecipeCards.com and request to be added to my group board... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! (be sure to include your pinterest ID when you write)  Once you are added, any pins you add will be seen by 10s of THOUSANDS of followers of the board (and growing daily).

Rules, only 2... 

1. In order to join you need to start following the group board as well as at least one of my boards.
2. And you must ONLY pin original sources, posts from food related bloggers only.  If you are a blogger, this is a great way to have thousands of potential readers see your work,  If you are a fan of bloggers, a great way to share your favorites...
   Come and be a part of ... FAVORITE FOOD BLOGGERS! on Pinterest

Bread Machine 10 Minute Rosemary Bread

By 10 minutes, I do not mean you can have fresh made bread in 10 minutes, I mean 10 minutes, hands on effort and you have a loaf of fresh made herb bread.  Nothing fills your home with great cooking smells like fresh made bread.  There is time in the bread machine, then you form the loaf and allow it to rise for 40 minutes and then baking time.  SO it is actually a three hour loaf of bread that you only have to work 10 minutes to achieve!

It's easy...

It NEVER fails...

And it is beyond delicious.

OK, first of course you need a bread machine.  Easy to find and if you plan ahead, brand new ones are always on sale.  Me, I bought mine at a Goodwill store for $10.  Personally, I am not a big fan of bread actually baked in a bread machine.  Odd shape, crust a bit just wrong and it simply looks  like a cheat.

BUT, there is a setting on all bread machines that reads "Dough".  Mine is setting number 7.  This setting does all of the leg work of making a loaf of bread.

It Mixes.

It kneads

And it is a warm environment where the bread dough rises perfectly every time!

This is my formula for what I call Herb "Eng" Bread.  Named for my beloved cat who passed away almost 2 years ago.  Eng, who has a sister named Chang, named from the biography my wife was reading 12 years ago when they found us.  Eng was my kitchen cat.  He loved to sit on the counters and watch as I made dinner.  Kneading bread was a personal favorite of his... But I digress...

It is a French loaf of bread, just a little sweeter than normal (like my cat).

One tip, rather than cook by time, I like to insert a remote prob thermometer (same I use when I cook meat).  I bake my bread to 190 degrees.  I do time it also, but I usually need to continue baking for a few minutes.

And if you really want to impress the Mother-In-Law, while you are baking the bread, take a few whole heads of garlic, lop off the top, drizzle Olive Oil into the opening, sprinkle some herbs, seal in aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes (a bit longer than the time it takes to bake the bread, but it is worth it!).

Another great touch is to add an egg wash (you will get that beautiful color from the wash.  It also makes it easy to add a few pinches of fresh (or fried) cut spices.  I was making Rosemary, so I added about 2 TBS of cut fresh Rosemary after the egg wash.

You also want to make a few 3/4 inch deep slices into the loaf before you bake but after you do the egg was.  If you do not, the bread will split at some point to allow steam to escape.  The slits allow you to control the look.  It gets the beautiful colors and look of a true artisan loaf of bread.

So incredibly easy, never fails and it sure sets the tone for a special day!

OK, here's the recipe...

1 cup Water (warm, about 105 degrees
2 TBS Butter softened to room temperature
1 egg
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/3 cup Sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp instant yeast (They also call it bread machine yeast)
2 TBS Dried Herbs (Rosemary, Chives... I make my own blend I call "Not Your Grandmother's Herbes de Provence"

• Place all the ingredients in the bread machine, select "dough" and allow to run the entire cycle
• Dump out onto lightly floured surface,  Shape each into a cylinder loaf
• Place on silipat or Parchment Paper, preheat a pizza stone and the oven to 375 degrees.  If you do not have a pizza stone, you can bake on a cookie sheet.  But the stone will help a crusty bottom.  BUT, be sure to have the stone pre-heated for at least 30 minutes.
• Do an egg wash on the loaf and sprinkle a topping (I like garlic or Onion flakes... or course Sea Salt is great as well.  For this, I used fresh cut Rosemary)
• Allow a second rise for 40 minutes (Cover and keep the loaf away from a draft.  Try to place in a warm spot)
• Bake in pre-heated 375 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees, until golden brown.

If you have the time, slice, drizzle with Olive Oil, Fry up to toast and top with the roasted garlic.

Now this is Mother-in-Law intimidation!