Southern Gal's Breakfast

This is what a southern gal's breakfast looks like:

My Grandpa, my dad's dad, grew up in Augusta, Georgia - an interesting spot for my original Irish ancestors to wind up. This is my main claim to being actually southern. After attending Georgia Tech and becoming a hell of an engineer, this southern boy moved to Detroit.

And even in Detroit, my Grandma managed to find grits to cook for her husband. My dad grew up with grits as a breakfast staple, and to this day he makes the best grits I've ever tasted.

But back to Grandpa. He passed away when I was only 13 years old. But one of my earliest and most treasured memories of him comes from a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house, in North Carolina where they retired. Grandma cooked us a big breakfast of fried eggs over easy, buttery grits, and slices of toast. Grandpa put his toast aside, picked up his knife and fork, and cut up his eggs right into his grits, stirring the yolks up into the grits and making a huge mess of his breakfast! That's the way he always ate his grits and eggs, and even now, I do the same from time to time, just to remind me of him.

But today it was scrambled eggs with grits. Don't do the instant grits - find some that you actually have to cook - the flavor and texture is to die for. We get ours from a local mill just up the way in Helen, Georgia - the Nora Mill Granary Grist Mill & Country Store. It is a really fun place, a truly authentic mill with a great store right on the Chattahoochee River. Their white speckled grits are my favorite. Wow, you can order their stuff online, too - who knew?

Now remember- grits aren't just for breakfast. Try serving grilled fish on top of a bed of creamy grits, or shrimp and sausage baked in grit-cakes. Delish.

Scrambled Eggs 'n' Grits

For the eggs:
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

For the grits:
1/2 cup grits
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Butter, for dressin' it up

Preheat a nonstick skillet over low heat. Lightly beat together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook over low heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir the eggs occasionally to scrape the cooked layer off the bottom. Just as the eggs start to firm up and come together, toss in the cheese. Serve immediately

For the grits, combine the grits, milk, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and continue to simmer the grits, covered, for about 20 minutes. Serve with a thin tab of butter on top. Enjoy!

Going Bananas

One of my culinary inspirations growing up was Nathalie Dupree. Her cooking show on TV was one of my favorites, and to this day, I swear by her cookbook New Southern Cooking. But the best thing about her show was that things didn't have to be perfect. She would spill a little flour on the counter, pick egg shells out of the bowl, or maybe get a few cake crumbs stuck in the frosting. But that was alright - it almost made it better, more homemade.

I do enjoy recipes from perfectionist chefs, like Martha Stewart, from time to time. But when it comes right down to it, perfect pastries are not my style. I like things to look, taste, and feel homemade.

Banana Pudding
based on Nathalie Dupree's recipe

1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup flour
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups milk
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 a pinch of nutmeg
30-40 vanilla wafers
4 bananas, sliced
4 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar

To make the custard, mix together the 1/2 cup of sugar, the flour, and the salt. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan and add the dry ingredients. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat. Beat the egg yolks lightly with a whisk. Pour a little bit of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking together. Then add the egg mixture to the saucepan. Bring the custard to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly, and cook until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and nutmeg. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.

Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8-inch baking dish with vanilla wafers. Next, line it with a layer of banana slices. Repeat, alternating layers of wafers and bananas until you have used them all.

Then pour over the custard so that it completely covers the bananas and the wafers.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually add the 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Spread the meringue fully over the top of the pudding, so that it touches the edges of the baking dish.

Bake until lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. You may serve the pudding warm or chilled. Serves 6-8.

Valentine Sweets

Whenever I have some egg whites on hand, I love to make some meringues. They are such a light and tasty cookie that you can enjoy guilt-free since they are very low in fat! The delicate texture and lightly sweet flavor is perfect for a little treat. They melt in your mouth so perfectly - yum!

Here are a few of my tips on making the perfect meringues:
Make sure your bowl and beater are clean and grease-free.
Make them on a day with low humidity (no rain).
Allow your egg whites to come to room temperature before beating them.
Superfine sugar helps keep the meringues light and fluffy, but regular sugar works too.

Almond Meringues

1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
4 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2-3 drops food coloring, if desired

Preheat your oven to 200 degress. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle almonds on the parchment paper, spreading evenly. Set aside.

In a large electric mixer bowl, combine egg whites with cream of tartar and salt. Beat on high until soft peaks form.

Next, while continuing to beat the mixture, gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Mixture should become glossy and thick, forming stiff peaks. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the food coloring, if desired.

Using a pastry bag with a decorative tip, or just a zip lock bag with the corner snipped off, pipe the mixture into decorative shapes on top of the almonds. I made hearts and kisses for Valentine's day, but you can also make other shapes. You can pipe baskets to be filled with mousse, ice cream, or other fillings. The possibilities are endless!

Bake for 1-3 hours, or until meringues are dried and firm. Cool on racks. Store in a tightly sealed container for up to a week, or freeze these little treats until you need them.

Easy Make-Ahead Brunch Strata

This is a Christmas morning tradition in our household: I make the monkey bread, and mom makes the breakfast casserole. Both can be made the day before, and then popped into the oven while the family is opening presents. Mom's strata is sooooo delicious, and not too greasy or heavy like the recipes I've seen that use crescent rolls. It puffs up and browns beautifully, and it heats up well the next day if you have leftovers!

The other great thing about this recipes is that you can customize the combination of ingredients to any taste - we've even made it vegetarian a few times. We like ham with tomatoes and swiss cheese. We like sausage with cheddar and mushrooms. We like bacon with anything!

You could make it "Mexican" by adding a can of green chilies, drained, using some chorizo sausage and using a Mexican cheese blend and salsa. You could make it "Italian" with some Italian seasoning, an Italian cheese blend, and chopped up Roma tomatoes. You can make it "Southern" by making it with sausage or country ham and serving it with biscuits and gravy. It's very versatile and, most importantly, extremely easy and delicious!

I hope you enjoy this brunch treat!

Mom's Egg and Cheese Brunch Strata

1 lb. sausage (or 4 cups ham, or 8-10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)
1 1/2 (8 ounces) cups cheese, grated ( whatever type of cheese you like: cheddar, swiss, etc.)
10 eggs
4 cups bread, cubed in 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt (opt.)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms and/or chopped tomato

Grease a 9" x 13" pan. Arrange bread cubes in pan and sprinkle with cheese. In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, pepper and mustard with a whisk. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread and cheese layer. Sprinkle with meat and vegetables. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake strata uncovered until eggs set in the center, about 1 hour. Cover loosely with foil (sprayed with Pam) if top browns too quickly.