Adventures in Breakfastland

So for today I have two entries, one a semi-traditional breakfast and the other quite not. I do not like breakfast, generally. That is, I love breaking the fast and all, but I'm not too keen on western interpretations of what one needs to eat first thing in the morning. I love sweets as much as the next person, but I don't necessarily want to eat them at 7am. I tend to appreciate brunch over breakfast: give me savory dishes that warm and delight any day. As a result of this dislike, I find myself quite the beginner when it comes to preparing a traditional breakfast.

So for starters I have two sunny side up eggs over toast with a side of canadian bacon and sauted spinach. Disecting this breakfast with a critical eye, the eggs are underdone, the spinach overcooked, and the toast not quite crispy enough. This is the kind of breakfast I can avoid at all costs, but it was a good experiment.

I must make a note about the bacon. Usually I don't care much for canadian bacon, but in this case I was compelled to buy it over the traditional kind. This was for one reason and one reason only: fat content. Canadian bacon has .5 grams of fat per slice, as opposed to hickory smoked bacon which has 1.5-3 depending on what kind you get. The fact that it's not even bacon does come to mind, but it's still good.

The second breakfast is a rice porridge chuck full of sausage, turkey and shrimp. I made this with some spinach and onions as well. The sausage is chorizo, a personal favorite. There's not much to this dish; it's hardy and delicious. Not your typical breakfast, but not too outside the norm of western style. Personally, I rather love a fillet of fish and rice with a side of a clear broth soup to break my fast.

On the next post I'll be discussing some asian eats, and my second attempt to make dumplings.

The End of Lent Approaches

So, looking ahead a bit, it seems that two weeks from today I will be hosting Palm Sunday Dinner at my parent's house. It will be a dinner for six; small, intimate, but still a bit a pressure. I'm not quite sure what to do for dinner. Mum doesn't want to have lamb - that's reserved for Easter, she says - but I can't quite figure out what to have on such a feast day. She suggested fish and chicken. Boooriing, but it might have to come to that. Last Halloween I made a great roasted lemon chicken with roasted veggies. It was a big hit and quite easy to pull together. I rather enjoy roasting chicken, once the cleaning of the bird is over and done with. For the fish side, I think of poaching, and salmon. Just the other day I made poached salmon and bok choy seasoned with cumin and cinnamon and poached in gin. I served it over short grain white rice. It was delicious! Out of the ordinary, but the flavors worked really well together. I could, perhaps, do that for Palm Sunday. I would need to revise the recipe, though, as i cannot cook with alcohol for my parents' guests.

I suppose I was looking forward to cooking something more exciting, like duck or cornish hens. Last Easter's lamb shoulder was fantastic. I suppose I can make lamb three weeks from today. ^^

So, if the main course shall consist of poached salmon and roasted chicken, I can imagine some nice little sides to go along. I really like having lots of little sides, Korean style. A pilaf, perhaps of the wild rice variety. Nutty green beans. Chickpea salad with roasted beets. Arugula salad with feta. Hmmmm. More thought must go into this, and there isn't much time left. I should spend some time looking through some cookbooks for inspiration.