Month: December 2018

Must-try Breakfast Casserole

Posted in Holiday Meals, Make ahead breakfast, Meal planning4 Comments

Happy last day of 2018, and happy first anniversary to this blog!  I began everydayhomegourmet in mid-December of 2017 because I have a passion for creating and sharing good food.  My goal is to make great food that is simple to prepare as well as healthy and tasty. Creating this site and it’s accompanying Instagram account has been a retirement project for me that incorporates my passion for cooking and my interest in taking photos with the need to keep challenging myself to learn new things and feed my need for creativity.  I have been cooking since my late teens and have always loved taking photos. I received my first camera on my 10th birthday. My cooking and photo skills have definitely improved over these many years and hopefully will continue to get better for years to come! I am still learning!

Although I have used technology in my work for many years, the whole blogging and social media world are quite new to me and I was keen to take a dip into that world and see where it took me.  Learning the technical side of creating this site has taken more time than I anticipated and it is definitely still a work in progress! My goal was to post once a week and as I started learning the ins and outs of creating the posts and recipes I was surprised by how much time it took.  But, as my husband says, “Anything worthwhile degenerates into hard work”. So, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the desire to create something of quality will take hard work, learning and focus! I will continue to work on that in 2019 and hope to always be able to bring quality content and a great reading experience to those of you who read and follow this blog.

As I reflect on this year I am reminded of many things.  Among them, that New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day have always been fun events in our family and we continue the gathering, hosting, and sharing of love, fun, and food.  So, here is a recipe for a great brunch dish that my Mom has been making for over 30 years. It’s easy to prepare and is always a hit. My Mom received this recipe from a friend and has been making it for Christmas morning ever since.  

IMG-3875I have made it a number of times for Christmas brunches and even cottage get-togethers with friends in the summer. It is a versatile dish and definitely open to interpretation. The nice thing about it is that you prepare it the night before and then bake it in the morning.  It also reheats well, so you could bake it a day ahead and reheat it when you want to serve it. If you’ve got overnight guests for New Year’s Eve, or you simply want to have something to throw in the oven as you enjoy your coffee the morning after a night out, give this a try!  Enjoy!

Christmas Morning Time Saver

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: easy
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This may look like more ingredients and more steps than my usual recipes, but if you remember that you are basically making a ham and cheese sandwich with an egg mixture poured over, it will seem simpler than it looks!  The picture shows white bread, but I have used whole wheat bread many times and I prefer it because it keeps you full longer! Serve with fruit.

Ingredients

  • 16 to 18 slices of whole wheat bread, crusts removed
  • 8 thin slices of lean cooked ham
  • 6 to 8 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
  • 6 eggs
  • 3 cups milk
  • ½ to 1 tsp dry mustard
  • ½ tsp ground pepper (black or white)
  • 1 to 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Dash of Tabasco sauce
  • about ¼ cup minced onion
  • about ¼ cup finely chopped green pepper
  • Cornflakes or Special K
  • ¼ pound butter

Directions

  1. Layer a 9×13 inch buttered glass baking dish with bread.  Cover dish entirely. Place ham and cheese over bread and top with another layer of bread, as if making a sandwich
  2. In a bowl, beat eggs.  Add milk and beat briefly to combine
  3. Add pepper, Worcestershire, Tabasco, onion, and pepper and stir to combine
  4. Pour mixture evenly over the sandwiches.  Cover and let stand in refrigerator overnight
  5. In the morning, melt butter and pour over top.  Cover entire dish with the cornflakes
  6. Bake uncovered for 1 hour in a preheated 350-degree oven.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving
  7. Drizzle with maple syrup (optional)
  8. Serve with fruit

 

Tips:  When I’m pressed for time, or just making this for hubby and me, I do not cut the crusts off.  It doesn’t look as neat, but I find the heartiness of the crusts satisfying and more filling.

Variations:  use whole wheat or white bread; use Swiss cheese, or your favourite cheese; omit ham for a vegetarian version

 

posted by: everydayhomegourmet.blog/  

A Quick, tasty and colourful side dish for your turkey dinner…

Posted in Holiday Meals, Side dishesLeave a comment

The countdown clock to Christmas day is certainly running down.  If you are looking for a fresh, great tasting side dish to complement your turkey, stuffing and gravy, I have a great suggestion.  A colleague brought this dish to a potluck a number of years ago and I begged for the recipe after tasting it. I always try to have a variety of veggies and serve them in a simple, tasty way that compliments the star of the meal…In this case, turkey!  Brussel sprouts with prosciutto and pine nuts is a fresh, tasty and colourful side dish that has become a hit with many people in my family. We serve it with our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys, but you can certainly serve it as a side dish any time. You can make it hours before you serve dinner, or even the day before.  If you choose to cook it the day before, I would suggest undercooking the brussel sprouts so that when you reheat them, you can still retain that bright green colour.

When we started making this dish, we used 20 brussel sprouts and it was gobbled up in no time.  We’ve now increased to 40 brussel sprouts for the same size group and it still all gets eaten. I think no matter how much we make, it would still all be gone!

With only 5 ingredients, this is a healthy and clean tasting dish!  It’s also pretty quick to make. I love making and eating this dish because it’s another example of how to turn every day ingredients into what looks like a gourmet dish.  Give it a try and let me know how you liked it.

Brussel Sprouts with Prosciutto and Pine Nuts

  • Servings: 8 to 10
  • Difficulty: very easy
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IMG_1239

A colleague brought this dish to a potluck a number of years ago and I begged for the recipe.  This is a fresh, tasty and colourful side dish that has become a hit with many people in my family.  We serve it with our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys, but you can certainly serve it as a side dish any time. No matter how much we make, it gets eaten up.  With only 5 ingredients, this is a healthy and clean tasting dish!

Ingredients

  • 40 medium to large brussel sprouts
  • 10 slices cured prosciutto, sliced paper thin
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ to ⅓ cup pine nuts
  • ⅛ tsp, or less, ground pepper

Directions

  1. Toast pine nuts in a non stick pan over medium heat until golden brown.  (You could also do it on a baking sheet in the oven). Remove from heat and set aside
  2. Wash and dry brussel sprouts.  Trim end and slice in half, lengthwise
  3. Heat olive oil in non stick pan.  Add brussel sprouts to pan. Stir to coat and cook until bright green and fork tender.  (If pan is drying out as brussel sprouts are cooking, add a splash of water rather than adding more olive oil).  Stir frequently
  4. Slice prosciutto into pieces and add to pan, along with pine nuts.  Stir to combine and heat through.

 

Tips:  1) Watch pine nuts closely if doing them on the stove…they can go from golden to burnt quickly!!  2) Cover brussel sprouts with a lid before adding prosciutto and nuts to speed up cooking time slightly

posted by: everydayhomegourmet.blog/