Baked Oatmeal

Found this on MDC. This is good stuff, especially for lazy winter mornings or as part of a festive brunch. It's kind of a breakfast dessert--like an oatmeal cake. It's nice to prepare it all the night before and then all you have to do in the morning is put it in the oven and wait 35 minutes. I especially like baked oatmeal with cooked apples on top. You can just peel and slice a bunch of apples and put them in the crockpot with some sugar, cinnamon, and butter (or just by themselves) and put it on high for an hour and the apples are done. But I wouldn't do that in the morning--I would have the apples made ahead of time. Anyway, the baked oatmeal:

1/2 cup applesauce or vegetable oil (I use organic cinnamon applesauce)
3/4 cup sweetener (I use a little less and use a combination of honey and sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I use light plain soymilk)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups regular oats
1/2 cup raisins (or other dried fruit, I like cherries)
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions: Beat together applesauce and sweetener. Mix in eggs, milk, salt, baking powder, oatmeal. Beat well and then stir in raisins. Pour into a lightly greased pie pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Refrigerate overnight. The next morning, preheat oven to 350. Bake in preheated oven until firm, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Migas

In the breakfast thread I totally forgot my favorite breakfast ever. Migas. Oh, how I love thee. I figured Migas were deserving of their own post.

So, if you go out for breakfast anywhere in Texas, south New Mexico or Northern Mexico, you will encounter Migas. From taco stands to IHOP, Migas are everywhere. Basically, Migas are scrambles eggs with left over tortillas. So good. And I'm thinking about Migas because Adam is in Austin eating Migas and breakfast tacos everyday.... sigh. Here is my basic recipe.

5-6 Corn tortillas (no flour, gringas!)
5 Eggs
1 Jalepeno diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Oil for frying
Handful of cooked black beans, veggies, chorizo, or other savory something
Large handful of cheddar cheese

Heat a couple Tbl of oil in heavy bottomed pan. Tear tortillas into bite sized pieces. Cook in oil with onion until browning around the edges and otherwise soft. Add garlic. Add Jalepenos and other ingredients. Finally add eggs, either scrambled or you can scramble in pan. When eggs are mostly set, add cheese and cover or cook until melted.

Serve with refritos, tortillas, salsa and maybe some potatos. Migas con papas y refritos! Yum!

The word Migas comes from the spanish for crumbs and basically means leftovers. Like omelets, migas are a great way to use up the leftovers from dinner the night before.

Pad Thai

This is one of my very favorite recipes. The prep of the noodles takes a little time but it's so worth it.

Serves 2-3
1/3 of a 1 pound package of clear rice noodles (very thin ones are easiest to use)
Quartered lime
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce (Tiparos, from Jay International)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
Just under a pound of cooked meat of any sort (I mostly use tofu or chicken)
Cooked veggies (I use broccoli and carrots)
About a handful of bean sprouts
2 chopped up green onions
2 Eggs
About a handful of chopped peanuts
2-4 cloves of chopped garlic
Oil for frying (I prefer peanut)

Submerge noodles in a bowl of hot tap water. Cover and let sit at least 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes. Combine Sriracha sauce, fish sauce, and sugar in a cup and have it ready. Put heat on medium. Fry garlic in wok for a few seconds. Add noodles and a little water if they need to be softened up a bit. Add sauce mixture. Move noodles aside and scramble eggs in the wok. Mix scrambled eggs with the noodles. Throw in cooked meat/veggies and cook long enough for them to heat up. Add about half of the sprouts and green onions. Serve on plates and garnish with limes, the rest of the sprouts/green onions, and chopped peanuts.

When it comes to the sauce, all that's important is the 1:1 ratio. So often I will double the amount of sauce to make the dish spicier. But the way it is, Alex can eat it--it's spicy but not too spicy for her. I then add more hot sauce just to mine. There are probably a lot of different hot sauces besides Sriracha that would work with this recipe, too. It's not exactly like Pad Thai at a Thai restaurant but it definitely satisfies my desire for Thai food.

EGGS IN A NEST

-from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

2 cups uncooked brown rice

Cook rice with 4 cups water in a covered pot while other ingredients are being prepared.

Olive oil – a few tbsp

1 medium onion, chopped, and garlic to taste

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil in a wide skillet until lightly golden.

Carrots, chopped

1⁄2 cup dried tomatoes

Add and saute for a few more minutes, adding just enough water to rehydrate the tomatoes.

1 really large bunch of chard, coarsely chopped

Mix with other vegetables and cover pan for a few minutes. Uncover, stir well, then use the back of a spoon to make depressions in the cooked leaves, circling the pan like numbers on a clock.

8 eggs
Break an egg into each depression, being careful to keep yolks whole. Cover pan again and allow eggs to poach for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve over rice.