Joe’s Baked Egg Muffins

I just came from Joejhorn's blog, My Cooking Quest and grabbed a fantastic breakfast!

All it takes is a couple of slices of bread, butter, crumbled bacon, two eggs, a little cream, salt & pepper, topped off with a pinch of cheese.

You know when you're eating something really good and you reach down to your plate to get another bite and there's nothing there?  And you don't remember finishing off the meal and you're really not finished tasting all the goodness you were eating?  That's what happened here.

Don't get me wrong. I made two and two makes a very satisfying breakfast.  But I was not finished eating when I finished eating these baked egg muffins.

HERE'S HOW JOE PUT THESE TOGETHER

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Butter your muffin tin.  Cut edges off each piece of bread to form a square about four inches by four inches. Butter the bread slices.  Press each slice gently into the bottom of the muffin cup so that the four edges are pointing up like in the picture.  Bake for 3 to 6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the bread, until it is starting to crisp.

Remove tin from the oven, place the bacon, prosciutto or ham on the bottom of each cup.  Crack an egg into each cup.  Season with salt and pepper, pour a bit of cream on top and cover with cheese to your liking.

Place the muffin tin back into the oven and bake for 10 to 14 minutes until the whites are just set, or to the desired consistency. With a fork or an offset spatula, remove the bread cups, garnish with chives and devour!

I had maple flavored bacon on hand, pre-baked in a freezer bag and used one slice for both muffins.  I prefer my eggs on the firm side, so I baked these for 15 minutes and the eggs were still soft.  Be sure to coat the muffin tin generously with nonstick spray or butter.  One muffin came out fine, the other got stuck on the bottom.

Oh Joe, Joe, Joe, how can I thank you for such a lovely breakfast?

For the exact details of Joe's Baked Eggs click here. and BE SATISFIED.

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Breakfast To Go in 15 Minutes

Don't tell me you don't have time for breakfast. I'll have you eating a very satisfying breakfast on your way out the door that only takes 15 minutes to prepare.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 1 can of grand biscuits (8 count)
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons milk
• salt & pepper
• oven fried bacon or ham lunch meat slices

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Bake biscuits as directed on package. Inside the 15 minutes it takes to bake the biscuits, scramble eggs and milk, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Right before the eggs set, press them flat in the pan to make them look like one flat pancake. Remove from heat and allow the heat from the pan to finish cooking the eggs through.

Microwave as many slices of bacon as you need. For every two oven fried bacon slices, cook at 70% power for 40 to 50 seconds, long enough to reheat but not overcook. If you don't have oven fried bacon on hand, then just use your favorite ham lunch meat.

Slide egg pancake onto a plate. Using a 2 inch biscuit cutter, cut egg into individual servings.

Remove biscuits from oven, carefully open with a fork and slide in egg and bacon slices.

YOU'RE READY TO HIT THE ROAD!

You can easily prep the extra biscuits and store in the frig for tomorrow's breakfast. Wrap the biscuits individually to make them even handier to grab and go. To reheat them, microwave at 70% power for 1 minute or so. Go low and slow, so the biscuit doesn't get chewy. You're reheating, not cooking.

English Muffins Turned Into French Toast

Let me assure you, using whole wheat English muffins in place of regular French bread to make French toast is perfectly delicious!

You know how those mornings go. You want to eat a particular breakfast, but you don't have all the exact ingredients. Well, I wanted French toast and only had day old whole wheat English muffins in the pantry.

WOW! They turned out GREAT! My kids (who I thought would freak out) totally chowed down. I followed French toast recipe just as normal and everything turned out fine.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 6 slices whole wheat English muffins
• 1/2 cup healthy egg substitute, or 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 tablespoon butter for frying
• Pure Maple Syrup

Very Important First Step:

Heat oven to 400F degrees and heat up griddle pan on medium heat.

Mix the healthy egg substitute, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg in a LARGE bowl; large enough to hold all 6 slices of bread.

Allow the bread to soak up all the liquid in the bowl.

Melt butter on griddle pan for an even coating. Add bread slices and cook for one minute on each side, until light golden brown.

Transfer bread slices to a ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan, drizzle with a little pure Maple syrup and serve HOT!

Tastes great with a side of oven fried bacon and fruit salad.

To get a great visual on how to cook French Toast restaurant style, go watch Chef John make French Toast. He's pretty funny and he keeps cooking fun and easy.

Oven Fried Bacon

America's Test Kitchen is a VERY educational and entertaining show. I really dig the food science and equipment reviews. Long before there was Alton Brown, there was America's Test Kitchen breaking down the hows and whys of cooking. Of all the shows I've ever watched, there's one cooking segment that I will never forget. The episode where they taught us to fry bacon in the oven.

I was changed forever. Never again would I stand over a fry pan being assaulted by popping grease. Never again would I stand for an hour cooking bacon that would be stolen off the plate faster than I could cook it and then have little to show for all my efforts. Never again would I clean a grease splattered stove top, back splash, counter tops and utensil caddies. Never again would I feel like I needed to re-shower after cooking bacon. And because of all those 'nevers', my family and I could enjoy eating bacon as often as we wanted.

Since then, I've learned to cook three pound package of bacon once a month. I store it in a good freezer container in the freezer and we enjoy it anytime in any meal.

I taught my son, when he was seven years old, how to plate the frozen bacon and reheat it in the microwave. Now, he enjoys bacon with his toast.

Now just to mention this for those healthy minded folks, I don't always keep bacon in the freezer. When it runs out, it's out. Bacon is a treat for us and we enjoy it so long as it lasts. This helps my family appreciate the flavor without expecting it with every breakfast. As a family of four, we have learned to use it sparingly, so it will last us until Mom is ready to bake again.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

1 package thick sliced smoked bacon

Cover a cookie sheet with heavy duty foil and lay down bacon slices on ungreased foil. Slide cookie sheet on center rack in cold oven, set temperature to 400^oF and bake for 17-20 minutes. There's no flipping. Only rotate the sheet if your oven cooks unevenly. Watch bacon carefully in those last few minutes of baking, it can overcook within one minute.

GOOD TO KNOW: Bacon will appear lighter, but assuredly it will crisp up after it cools.

Rest the bacon on paper towels for a few minutes to absorb excess fat. Pour the bacon drippings into a clean heat resistant jar or container that can take the hot drippings and save for seasoning other recipes. And then reload the cookie sheet with the remaining uncooked bacon. The second batch of bacon will cook faster, so again, watch the bacon in those last few minutes.

GREATEST TIP EVER: Cook the bacon on the soft side of being fully cooked. Store cooled bacon in a freezer bag and throw in freezer for future meals. Reheat 2 slices of bacon in microwave on MED HIGH heat for 30 seconds or until warm. Cook longer when reheating more slices. You know how your microwave cooks, so adjust time as needed. Do not reheat with high power, it burns the bacon. Remember that the bacon is already fully cooked, you just want to warm it up, not cook it again.

Easy clean up is another advantage of this recipe. After storing away the bacon, toss the used paper towels onto the used foil, fold it up so it does not drip and throw away. Sometimes, I plan cooking bacon around good weather days or trash days. Why? So I can open up the windows to air out the grease smell and completely discard any greasy trash. Smelling fresh cooked bacon is good while it's cooking, but it makes a lousy room freshener.

I dare anyone to try baking their bacon at least once.

Let me know what worked best for you. Did you sprinkle your bacon with brown sugar or cracked pepper before baking?