Recipe: Baked Avocado and Egg

After a long and conspicuous absence, Cheap and Easy is back! School got the better of me for a while and to be honest the food wasn't all that interesting. Now that things have evened out the food has improved and I finally have time to keep posting on here.

To kick things off I thought I'd show you the newest thing that I've tried.  I know that looking at this you may be thinking "Warm avocado...is that a...thing?" Let me tell you, spread on some crusty bread this becomes part of a really delicious dinner (or breakfast). You might also be thinking, "Aren't avocados expensive?" Well that depends, if you have an Aldi near you keep an eye on the advertisements, they often sell them for $0.49-0.79 a piece, which is very inexpensive compared to other stores. Other places may also offer decent specials of their own. Some online recipes have topped their baked avocados with bacon, though I prefer it with just some cracked pepper and sriracha (maybe a spoonful of salsa).

Recipe: Sweet Potato Latkes

At the farmers market this past Wednesday, I picked up some white sweet potatoes.  Generally, my first reaction when I come across an ingredient that I'm not familiar with, or one in a different variety I like to buy it and cook with it.  In this case I roasted the potato last night (it was big and wound up taking like 2 hours at 350)  I then mashed it with some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a tad bit of butter.

You will need:
One large sweet potato, cooked and mashed
Dab of butter
Cheese, I used smoked mozzarella
Thyme, for garnish
1/2 English Muffin, toasted

Take a large tablespoon of the mashed sweet potato mixture and form it into a patty.  Heat a notch of butter over medium heat in a pan until hot.  Add the potato patty and cook until just browned on each side (3-5 minutes depending on how high the heat is).  Top the patty with a little cheese and cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil roof so the cheese can melt.  Place it on top of the english muffin and garnish with a few thyme leaves, if desired.

Recipe: Cheese Toast with Fig Preserves

So this is a really simple recipe and is great as a breakfast, however, it could also easily be made into an appetizer.  The picture at the bottom is how I made it for breakfast, and in the future I would try and cut the cheese just a bit thinner but it worked out fine.  I will provide both how I made that and how I think the appetizer would be made.  Cheese wise I would stick to a white cheese, and perhaps on the milder end.  I would also warn recommend cutting from a block of cheese as sandwich cheese tends to have a bit less flavor. Munster is what I used but a provolone, baby swiss, or mild white cheddar, among others, could all work.  If you are the type that would like the cheese melted, simply stick it under the broiler after it is assembled for a minute or two and the cheese and preserves will be hot and bubbly.

For the breakfast version you will need:
1 piece of bread
Fig preserves
1 slice of Munster from a block of cheese

Toast the piece of bread in the toaster between settings on the setting that will make it just crisp and brown (about 3.5 for mine).  When finished spread a layer of fig preserves on the bread and top with the slice of cheese.  The sweetness of the fig and crunchiness of the bread pairs very well with the cheese.

For the appetizer version you will need:
1 french baguette, cut into rounds
Fig preserves
Slices of Munster from a block of cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 and toast the rounds of the baguette for 6-8 minutes or until browned.  Top each with a smear of fig preserves and a slice of Munster.  Broil in the oven if you wish to melt the cheese.

In the picture the piece of toast closer to you was broiled in the oven after assembly for a few minutes, the farther piece is as described above.

Recipe: Sticky Buns

Sometimes you just need a gooey, sticky, delicious breakfast.  My parents recently tried this recipe from the "Carolina Country" magazine and told me that I needed to share it with you.  While I generally post recipes that I have tried myself or made up, I'm willing to make exceptions...especially when the pictures look so good.  Reading over the recipe it is great because you use pre-made biscuits which would be a huge timesaver over making your own dough.  I know some of you crazy people like raisins in with your sticky buns, so if you want to add them I will try and denote in the recipe where you should sprinkle them.  

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tubes (17.3 ounces each ) large refrigerated biscuits

 

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter: cook and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add the pecans.  Spoon into a greased 13 X 9 X 2 inch baking pan (Sprinkle in the raisins if desired). In a shallow bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.  cut each biscuit in half ( I cut into 1/4s); dip in cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Place, cut side down, over brown sugar mixture.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Invert onto a serving plate;  serve warm.  

Yield 12 - 16 servings

 

This recipe was in  "Carolina Country" magazine March 2011 edition.  They originated in the Taste of Home magazine www.tasteofhome.com.