Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side Up Burgers, and More!

By Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth

Inside Breakfast for Dinner you’ll find more than 100 classic breakfast recipes made with a twist. Enjoy hearty "brinner" dishes like Bacon Fried Rice, Breakfast Ravioli, Pizza over Easy, and Cornmeal Pancakes with Beer-Braised Short Ribs, plus such sweet treats as Sunrise Margaritas and Maple Bacon Cupcakes—to name just a few. This cookbook is a breakfast lover’s dream come true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quirk Books
• Release date: Mar 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781594746666

Book preview

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

Breakfast for dinner isn’t anything new. We’ve all enjoyed it. From a quick supper of pancakes smothered with maple syrup to a late-night bowl of cereal, breakfast dishes at dinnertime are quite possibly the ultimate in comfort food.

We both have fond childhood memories of those special nights when waffles or French toast appeared on the dinner table. To us, it was such a treat. In reality, our parents were probably short on time or had only a few random ingredients in the fridge, making do with what was on hand.

The truth is, most people don’t have time in the morning to take advantage of all the amazing flavors traditionally associated with breakfast. Which is why breakfast for dinner is such a perfect way to enjoy your morning favorites when time isn’t as much of an issue.

Throughout this book, we’ve given typical breakfast dishes a twist and infused morning flavors into more customary evening preparations. While some dishes may be instantly recognizable as wake-up foods, others have subtler ties to the first meal of the day: a hint of grapefruit shining brightly in a rich and creamy risotto, for example, or a robust undertone of coffee in a hearty pot of baked beans. We love these flavors, so why not enjoy them at dinnertime, too? After all, they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day—whether it’s served in the morning, afternoon, or middle of the night.

stocking up and taking stock

GETTING STARTED

Here’s the beauty of breakfast for dinner: you know you can make it when all else fails. It’s so much more satisfying than takeout Chinese. And the ingredients aren’t fussy or hard to find. If you have a handle on the basics, you’re good to go.

Bacon

Thick or thin, smoked or cured, it’s all about personal preference. With the exception of the Bacon Old-Fashioned, for which a smoky bacon is necessary for flavoring the drink, use whatever kind of bacon you like best.

Butter

We prefer to use unsalted butter in our cooking because it lets us control the amount of salt. If all you have is salted butter, reduce the salt by ¼ teaspoon per stick of butter.

Eggs

Large eggs are called for in most of the recipes in this book, but medium eggs are ideal when they’re to sit atop something else, like the Sunny-Side-Up Burgers. Our preference is always for farm-fresh eggs. The yolks are a deep golden color, the trademark of a true pastured egg. (Supermarket eggs tend to have lighter yolks, the result of the chickens’ grain-based diets.) When it comes to eggs, fresher is always better, with one exception: for hard-boiling, older white eggs are easier to peel.

Milk

Heavy cream, half-and-half, whole, 2 percent, skim—the only difference is the fat content. We don’t advise swapping one for another, especially in baking recipes, because the results may not be what you expect. Buttermilk is a different product altogether, so don’t confuse it with other dairy milks. However, if you don’t have buttermilk on hand for a recipe, you can easily make your own. Just add a splash of lemon juice to whole milk and let it sour for 5 or 10 minutes.

Flour

All-purpose flour is just that: good for all purposes, such as breads, cookies, and pancakes. A few recipes (such as the Biscuit Waffles) call for self-rising flour, which produces a particularly flaky biscuit. You can use all-purpose, cup for cup, in its place, plus 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt per cup of flour.

Olive Oil

Because olive oil has a relatively low smoke point (the temperature at which it begins to break down), the flavor can become unpleasant when it is heated to high temperatures. For high-heat cooking or frying, use canola or peanut oil instead.

Salt

Our favorite all-purpose type is kosher salt; it’s what we use daily in our kitchen and what we’ve used for all the recipes in this book. Iodized table salt may be slightly saltier, so adjust to taste if that’s what you’re using.

Produce

You’ll find all sorts of fruits and veggies in the recipes that follow. They’re easily interchangeable to suit seasonality and personal taste. Swap broccoli for peas and carrots. Replace blueberries with raspberries, blackberries, or fresh sliced peaches. It’s hard to go wrong with anything that’s in season!

MAIN DISHES

Steak & Eggs Benedict

Nova Lox Benedict, Thanksgiving Benedict, Veggie Benedict

Perfectly Poached Eggs

Pita Bread

Shakshuka

Italian-Style Stuffed French Toast

Easy Marinara

Avocado Cream Sauce

Egg & Chorizo Burritos

Frittata Florentine

Potato & Country Ham Frittata, Garden Veggie Frittata, Broccoli Garlic Frittata, Greek Frittata

Andouille Shrimp & Grits

Kale Chips

Buttermilk Ranch Sauce

Cornflake-Crusted Chicken Tenders

Greek Baked Eggs

Baked Eggs for a Crowd

Bacon Fried Rice

Loco Moco

Huevos Rancheros Tacos

Old-Fashioned Huevos Rancheros

Green Pea Carbonara

Whole Wheat Crepes

Crepes Made Easy

Savory Lentil & Carrot Stuffed Crepes

Goat Cheese Monte Cristos

Cheddar Monte Cristos, Classic Monte Cristos, Thanksgiving Monte Cristos

Broccoli & Cauliflower Omelets

Western Omelets, Italian Omelets, Bacon Omelets

Polenta Cakes with Shiitake Mushrooms

Cornmeal Pancakes with Beer-Braised Short Ribs

Grapefruit Risotto with Seared Scallops

Pizza Over Easy

Breakfast Pizza

Pizza Dough

How to Freeze Homemade Pizza

Sunny-Side-Up Burgers

Easy Shoestring Potatoes

Chicken & Biscuit Waffles

Arugula Salad with Lemon-Honey Dressing

Breakfast Sausage Ravioli

Homemade Pasta Dough

How to Make Ravioli

a fancy brunch classic

STEAK & EGGS BENEDICT

makes 4 servings ★ total time: 45 minutes

A hearty rib-eye steak takes the place of ham in a dish that’s as delicious for dinner as it is for brunch. Replacing the lemon juice in the hollandaise sauce with white balsamic vinegar is a subtle substitution that complements the steak and poached eggs perfectly.

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For Poached Eggs

3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

8 large eggs

For Steaks

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 (8-ounce) rib-eye steaks, at room temperature

Pinch salt and black pepper

For Hollandaise Sauce

2 large egg yolks

Pinch kosher salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar*

⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, plus more for topping

4 English muffins, halved and lightly toasted

Freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon chopped fresh chives (optional)

* White balsamic vinegar is similar in flavor to regular balsamic but is light in color. If you can’t find it, use white wine vinegar instead.

1. For poached eggs (see poaching tips), crack 1 egg into a small ramekin. Fill a saucepan with water to a depth of 2 inches. Add white vinegar and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Add egg and cook for 3½ to 4 minutes, or until it is roughly 30 seconds shy of being done to your liking. Lift egg out of pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining eggs. Keep water at a simmer; you will use it to warm the eggs just prior to serving.

2. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper. Cook steaks for 3 to 4 minutes per side depending on thickness and desired doneness. Transfer to a cutting board and tent with foil; let steaks rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

3. To prepare hollandaise, whisk together egg yolks, salt, and 1 teaspoon water in a glass or stainless-steel heatproof bowl. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water), and whisk constantly until mixture thickens. Slowly drizzle in melted butter, whisking vigorously. Whisk in vinegar, a little at a time, followed by cayenne pepper.

4. Return eggs to simmering water for 20 seconds, or until hot. Slice steaks crosswise against the grain. Arrange slices in a single layer on toasted muffins; top with poached eggs. Drizzle hollandaise sauce over eggs; top with black pepper, cayenne

Reviews for Breakfast for Dinner

[bookscookslooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Seriously - is there anything better than Breakfast for Dinner? I don't think so! I told my husband when we got married that I wouldn't be making him breakfast - it's just too much fuss. But all that fuss for dinner is just fine by me! This cookbook is full of fun recipes that take bacon, eggs and other breakfast staples and turn them into very satisfying dinner options. I see quite a few that I want to try in the coming days, months, years and see several that will become staples in my mealtime line up.The book goes way beyond steak and eggs too. One recipe that I can't wait to try is Bacon Fried Rice. I make a lot of fried rice as it is a great way to use up leftover vegetables. Adding a bit of bacon CAN'T be bad! There is also an updated recipe for a Hawaiian classic the hubby and I enjoyed on our trips to the Big Island, Loco Moco. You haven't lived until you've had a perfectly cooked egg, up on top of sweet rice.There are other recipes that don't need rice such as Maple Glazed Pork Meatballs. I adore maple syrup on my sausage and this recipe is for people like me. I think this will be the one I try next. Mmmm...All of the recipes are written with easy to follow instructions and simple to source ingredients.