Something Else For Breakfast
June 15, 2021
It is said that breakfast is the one meal that’s habitual for most people. I like good coffee in the morning. Traveling through Japan years ago, I realized I really wouldn’t have chosen raw fish for my first meal. Later in the day sushi is more appealing. The broth and rice with a raw egg mixed in was fine, but I found myself appreciating that the hot rice cooked the egg a bit. Still, I do really love a special breakfast once in a while. One of my favorites is this Middle Eastern breakfast:
It begins with roasted eggplant. And hardboiled eggs, tomato, red onion, parsley and a little Indian mango pickle or other hot sauce if you like it.
My daughter calls it a dream breakfast. It works as a salad on its own, or stuffed into pita bread
Cloe’s special take on breakfast recently were these blintzes:
Cloe: “I made blintzes this morning for the first time — they were so good
The filling was cultured sour cream, organic cream cheese, raw honey, and vanilla extract”
Me: “Delicious! Filling sounds like cannoli!”
Cloe: “Similar yes, but no ricotta. Idea came to me at 3am”
Me: “Must have been really smooth”
Cloe: “Yes, so good — And instead of wrapping them like little burritos next time I plan to roll them up like Swiss rolls”
Me:. “They must have tasted like cheesecake!”
Cloe: “True — It was a lot like cheesecake”
FOR THE MIDDLE EASTERN BREAKFAST
Roasted eggplant, cut into strips (see below)
Hard boiled eggs, chopped
Tomatoes, chopped
Red onion, thinly sliced
Italian parsley, de-stemmed and leaves roughly chopped
Indian mango pickle or favorite hot sauce (optional)
To Roast the Eggplant
Peel and salt ¾” slices from 2–3 eggplants and leave them in a colander in the sink to drain for 15 minutes. Then pat them dry with paper towel and lay them on a baking sheet, lightly brushing both sides with olive oil. Roast them in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes, then turn and roast again for another 20. They should be softened and lightly browned by then. Depending on your oven they may need a bit longer.
Use them in anything with eggplant. For the Middle Eastern breakfast, combine a few slices cut into strips with chopped hardboiled eggs, tomato, red onion, parsley and some Indian mango pickle (the brand I like is Punjaji, available at Kalustyan’s: https://kalustyans.com/ ) or other hot sauce you like. I sometimes add a few cut radishes too. And black pepper. There is enough salt in the eggplant from salting it to drain in the colander so that you may not need more, but of course taste it to see.
BLINTZES
Dough:
4 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
½ c. water
½ c. milk
¼ t. salt
1 c. all-purpose flour
Butter for frying
Filling:
4 oz. cream cheese, regular or whipped
½ c. sour cream
2 heaping Tablespoons honey
½ t. vanilla extract
Mix the beaten egg with water, milk and salt and then mix in the flour all at once without over beating it. Let the mixture sit while you make the filling.
For the filling, beat together the cream cheese, sour cream, honey and vanilla.
Heat a skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Start with 2 Tablespoons of butter. When the butter is melted and foaming pour ½–¾ c. of the batter into the pan and tilt to spread into a large crepe. Cook until just lightly brown, then remove to a plate with a spatula. Repeat until you have 6 crepes adding more butter as needed. Put about ¼ c. filling into each one and fold it up like a small burrito. Then finish all 6 in the pan to warm the filling and crisp the outside.
K: Here is another favorite for a dairy and slightly sweet breakfast — flan with very little sugar sprinkled with roasted, salted coconut and pomegranate seeds.
LIGHTLY SWEET (but sweet enough) FLAN
18 large eggs
Scant ½ c. sugar
2 T. vanilla extract
6 c. whole milk
2 c. light cream
Use a large stainless-steel bowl or soufflé dish that holds about 4 quarts.
You will also need a cake pan or oven-safe container large enough to set the bowl in with some space around it to hold boiling water. (If using a cake pan with a removable bottom, line it with foil so it won’t leak.)
Preheat the oven to 350º and boil a few cups of water for the container the bowl will sit in while baking.
Beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined and continue for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves into the eggs.
Add the milk, cream and vanilla and beat until mixed completely. I like to do this right in the bowl which will go into the oven.
Set the container of flan in the cake pan and fill that pan with boiling water to a depth of at least 1 inch.
Bake for about 90 minutes. Shut off the oven and let the flan cool completely in the oven with the door ajar. It will still be jiggly in the center but sets over time.
Serve as is, or sprinkled with salted, toasted coconut (see below), and optionally, pomegranate or other fruit on hand.
You can make half the recipe if that works for you, but you will have to reduce the cooking time. It’s ready when slightly browned on the top and the middle still jiggles a bit. It keeps cooking as it cools and firms up after being refrigerated overnight.
SALTED TOASTED COCONUT
10 oz. unsweetened shredded coconut
2–3 T. olive oil
1 ½ t. sea salt
Line a baking sheet with parchment and preheat oven to 325º
Mix coconut, olive oil and salt with your hands to distribute everything evenly.
Spread out in an even layer and bake for 5 or 6 minutes, remove baking sheet from the oven and stir up from the bottom and return to the oven for 5 more minutes or until it is lightly golden. Remove from the oven, and when complete cool, store in a tightly covered container at room temperature.
This is also a really good condiment to sprinkle on curry or on sliced fresh fruit. Mango is particularly good with it, and yogurt or ricotta with cut fruit, nuts and salted coconut on top also makes a satisfying breakfast.
