Poached Egg on Toast with Hot Milk

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This is one a my favorite breakfasts. When I was a child I only got this for breakfast when I was sick. Somehow it seems my mother thought a sick child should eat an egg. I remember once, when I was maybe in the first grade I told my mother that I was sick. She said I could stay home, but I would have to eat a fried egg. I went to school. It was winter, and I had to walk about a mile, but nothing was going to get me to eat a fried egg. Maybe that was my mother's way of seeing if we were really sick. But the poached egg was another thing all-together. Later that year, not much later, I got the chicken pox. I stayed home quite a while, and I got poached egg on toast with hot milk. I remember it was still very cold outside when I was finally well enough to go back to school. I had been given a present of a big new box of crayons and I was taking it to school. On the way I went through a woods on a hill and I fell and my crayons went all over the place, but I bet I made sure I found everyone of them before continuing on my way. I loved crayons - I still do.

1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 buttered piece of toast (I like wheatberry best)
a pinch of salt
a dash of pepper

Put the milk in a small pan and start heating it up.
Make the toast and put it into a soup plate.
When the milk is getting visibly warm add the egg and salt and pepper.


Continue heating and when it gets foamy put a lid on it.
At this point you need to keep a careful watch on the pot, as the milk can boil over at the drop of a hat.
If this should happen, add a bit more milk to replace what is now all over the stove, and a bit more salt and pepper.
When the egg is done to your likeness, turn off the heat, and using a pan cake turner, put the egg on the toast.
Then pour the milk over it and enjoy.

Broiled Cinnamon Toast

This is the way my Mom made cinnamon toast when I was a kid, and this is the way I made cinnamon toast for my children, especially served with hot chocolate when they came inside from playing in the snow. We all think it's the best cinnamon toast ever.

Slices of bread, buttered liberally
Sugar, sprinkled liberally on each buttered slice
Cinnamon, tapped gently onto each slice, I used a tea strainer.

Preheat the broiler
Place all the slices onto a baking sheet
Broil in an oven with the door ajar until nicely done, not burnt
I like to cut each piece of toast into three pieces, like fingers.

Alsatian Babies

These are individual Dutch babies with a French twist.

6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
nutmeg

Meyer lemons wedges
icing sugar
butter

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
Melt a dab of butt in each of 6 small oval ramekins in the oven. In other words you are getting the dishes hot and the butter melted. This is like making Yorkshire pudding.
Mix up the batter. Ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter into each ramekin and bake for about 8 minutes. This is a great dish to watch cook. It is good to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn.

Serve with the butter, lemon wedges, icing sugar in a tea strainer. But of course some people will want to put something else on them, like jam or syrup.

French Waffles

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I don't know where the name for these came from, or where the recipe came from. I suspect I made it all up myself.

6 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cream
1 cup eggnog
(this would be the kind you buy in a box at the grocery store. I find myself trying to use it up when other members of the family have purchased it. I'm not to keen about drinking it, but it's not bad for cooking with.)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter, melted
2 cups flour (9-10 ounces)
1/2 tsp salt

Beat the whites with the sugar until nice peaks form and it's not too stiff. Combine the egg yolks and the liquids and the salt. Sift the flour and stir into the liquids. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Bake in a waffle iron, or if you don't have a waffle iron you can treat this as a pancake recipe and cook on a griddle.

I like to serve this with berry sauce or apple sauce. And of course some members of my family will put syrup on anything.

Crepes Betty Crocker

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This is the recipe for crepes that I started on when I was in high school.

Heat in a saucepan:
1 cup milk
2 tbls butter
When slightly cooled, beat in:
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Beat until smooth.
Bake in a greased 4 or 5” skillet.
Serve as dessert pancakes.

amount: 30 3” pancakes

At the time I am pretty sure I made mine bigger than 3 inches.

I have since come up with a better recipe, and I don’t really know where it came from. In this first recipe I do not like the addition of baking powder, there is too much salt, and sugar is very good for a proper browning of the crêpes.

Crêpes Molly

Another discussion of crepes can be found on my other blog.
I don't know when or how I came up with this recipe. The noticeable oddity in it is that half of the liquid is water. It seems to make for a nice light crepe that is easy to cook. I don't think I got the idea on my own. In other words, it's probably a French way of doing it. I always like to make a lot of crêpes, so be forewarned.

8 eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
1 2/3 cups water
2 cups flour
1-3 tablespoons sugar
a pinch of salt
4-6 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoons vanilla (optional)

Mix it all together very thoroughly and let rest for a while if bubbly.
To make the crêpes get a small skillet, or if you have it, get two or three crêpe pans. I can do three pans at once, but it takes concentration.

Get ready your pan(s), a 1/4 cup, a saucer, a plate and a turner, a very small dish with a tablespoon of oil in it, and a paper napkin. When the pan(s) hot enough (medium) dip the crumpled napkin into the oil and use to lightly grease the pan. Dip the 1/4 cup into the batter to fill, pour into the pan, quickly swirl to cover the pan, and set the cup down on the saucer. Let cook until the bottom is nicely browned and the top of the crêpe takes on a dry look. Carefully turn over, having gently eased the crêpe loose at the edge. The second side cooks more quickly than the first. Pile up the done crêpes on a plate, covering with a tea towel to keep them warm if you like.

We generally serve these with yogurt of any kind smoothed around on the flat crêpe then rolled up. A dusting of icing sugar is nice, and for a special occasion spoon on fresh-made berry sauce.

Scrambled Eggs

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I'm rather picky about scrambled eggs.  I learned how to cook them from my amah Lita in Hong Kong.  It's a very simple and clean method, and if you do it right the pan is practically clean when you are done.  You can use this method for doing one egg or up to 8 or 9.  If more eggs are used you do need a BIG pan, as the eggs will cool down the pan.

eggs, at room temperature preferably (not more than seven at a time)
salt and pepper
1 to 2 tablespoon of oil

Stir up the eggs using a fork. Heat the oil on medium high in a frying pan or saute pan if going a big batch.  Do not use a non-stick pan for this method of making scrambled eggs. The oil must come to the point where it starts to have a rainbow effect as you look at it, but is not smoking.  In other-words you want the oil to be as hot as is reasonably possible.  Have the eggs and a fork ready to go in at the right moment.  With the fork in one hand and the dish of eggs in the other slowly pour in the eggs, stirring with the fork as they go in.  Stir stir stir with the fork, flipping the eggs around to get all the bits cooked.  As soon as the eggs look mostly cooked tip the eggs back into the bowl they came from.  The heat will continue to cook the last bit of uncooked eggs.  And at this point the pan should look almost clean.  There should have been absolutely no sticking of the egg to the pan.

Flakey Scones

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This recipe was bought by my daughter Corey (who says is was bought by my daughter Annie) from the owner of a British Tea Room in the Washington countryside. The place is not as classy as I think it should be, but the recipe is from England and it is very yummy. It's really like a biscuit if you're American.  The original recipe didn't call for salt, which I think must have been an oversight.

2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, more if desired
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
6 Tbl butter, cut into bits
3/4 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients.
Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with pasty blender.
Stir in the milk all at once using a fork.
Knead the mixture about 10 times.
Preheat oven to 440 degrees.
Pat out dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick and cut into squares.  Of course you can cut it anyway you like.  I don't like to fuss with cutting things into circles and then having dough scraps to deal with.
Place close together on baking sheet.
Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This is what the tea room owner said is the key to the scones. This step is nice to do, but not necessary.
Bake about 12 to 18 minutes.   I cook on the less amount of time.

variation: whole wheat flaky scones - use 1 part whole wheat flour and 3 parts white flour

If you are making a special dinner and you realize at the last minute that you forgot the bread, this is a wonderful substitute. In about 20 minutes the scones are made and done and ready to put on the table.