Hash Browns, Eggs, Bacon

Three items for a full breakfast: Hash browns, scrambled eggs, and bacon.

Gather the following ingredients:

Bacon

Fresh hash browns (not frozen)
Eggs

Milk

Toppings:
Ketchup
Cayenne pepper
Cheddar cheese

1-2 frying pans, medium or large depending on how much you make

Fry the bacon over a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until cooked. Remove the bacon from the pan and place in a bowl for later. I used a medium pan to cook half the bacon as I needed the other half for a Basque Chicken Stew recipe.

Bacon in a frying pan
Bacon in a frying pan

Use that huge spoon that comes with your silverware and seems to have no purpose to spoon out most of the bacon grease into a container for later. Leave a few tablespoons worth in the pan.

I only cook half of the hash browns so the medium sized pan works well. Add the potatoes and cook them for 6 minutes on a slightly over medium heat. Spoon some of the bacon grease over the top near the 2 minutes to go mark. Do not stir the hash browns or check them during the first 6 minutes. Turn them and cook an additional 5 minutes. Start the eggs after you flip the hash browns and set the timer.

Crack eggs into a bowl. Crack the egg on the table or edge of the bowl and carefully pull apart the shell. Make sure none of the shell gets into the bowl. Add fresh ground pepper.

Peppered eggs waiting to be scrambled.
Peppered eggs waiting to be scrambled.

Add a dash of milk and mix with a fork.

Spoon about 2 tbsp. bacon grease into a second pan. Heat the pan over a medium-low heat and then add the eggs.

Stir the eggs occasionally to make sure they do not burn. This will also break them up.

Place the bacon, eggs, and hash browns on a plate and serve.

I like ketchup on my hash browns. I also like a little cayenne pepper on my eggs. You can also add cheddar cheese by removing the pan from the heat, sprinkling the cheese over the top, and covering the pan with a lid so it can melt on its own.

*If you do not have bacon you can use butter instead of bacon grease. The hash browns will be crisper with the butter. Melt 1/4 stick in the pan for the hash browns, place another 1/4 stick on the top of the cooking hash browns so it melt onto the second side. Use 1 tab of butter for the eggs.

Basque Chicken Stew

Basque Chicken Stew is one of my favorite stews. It is very light.

Gather the following ingredients:

1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 lb. tomatoes
1 lb. Yukon potatoes

1/2 lb. of bacon
3-6 chicken breasts

3 tbsp. garlic
2-3 fresh parsley sprigs
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 celery stalk cut into 3 or 4 pieces

salt
fresh ground pepper
cayenne pepper

1 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth (you can use stock)

Large frying pan
Large stew pot with lid
Cooking string

Chicken Basque Ingredients

Cut the red pepper and green pepper into 1/2 inch slices and then cut them in half. Deseed the tomato and chop it up. Peel the potatoes and cut them into halves or quarters.
– I chop the tomatoes into large pieces.

Cut the bacon into 1/2 inch wide pieces. Separate the chunks and place them into a large frying pan.

Cut the chicken breasts into 1/2 or 1/3 pieces.

Heat the bacon on a medium high heat for 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked bacon with a slotted spoon into a large stew pot. Add the 3 tbsp. of garlic to the stew pot. Add all of the vegetables to the stew pot.
– Keep the bacon grease in the frying pan.

Add the chicken pieces to the frying pan. Cook on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side to brown the outside. Transfer the browned chicken into the pot.
– Do not drop the chicken into the bacon. If it splashes it will burn you.
– I use tongs to turn the pieces at 5 minutes and transfer them into the pot. It will cook in the pot.

While the chicken is cooking tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaf onto the celery.

– I also like to measure out the wine, chicken broth, and flour.

Once the chicken is removed spoon out all of the grease in the frying pan until you have about 1 tbsp. of fat left in the pan, a light coating. Add the flour and cook on a medium heat blending the flour and bacon fat. Stir constantly for 1 minute. Add the wine and the chicken broth and continue to stir for another 2-3 minutes. It should thicken. Drizzle the mixture over the chicken.

Sauce

Add salt, fresh pepper, and cayenne pepper for taste to the pot. Put the tied celery stocks on top.

Chicken and Vegetables with herbs

Cover the stew pot and turn on the heat to simmer (2). Cook for 25 minutes.

Remove the tied celery and keep to the side. Stir the pot. Replace the tied celery and cook for another 25 minutes.

Discard the tied celery and serve.

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits and gravy can taste good at breakfast or at dinner. I prefer them later in the day myself.

Gather the following ingredients:

Grands Biscuits, frozen or in the tube. Buttermilk is the best if you can stomach them, personally I can’t
Meat department sausage, preferably
McCormick Sausage Flavor Country Gravy mix

Medium sized pot
Frying pan
Pizza pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or whatever the package states.

Brown the sausage and try to get it into the smallest chucks possible. Cook it until the pink is gone and then cook it another four minutes. This is pork, you want to make sure it is really done.

Sausage

Start to heat up two cups of water and add the gravy mix. Wisk the mixture and when it boils cook it for another minute.

Gravy

Transfer as much of the sausage as you want into the gravy mix.

When you pull out the biscuits they should be a golden brown. Get them off unstuck from the pan as soon as you can or you will lose the bottoms.

Spoon the sausage and gravy mixture over the biscuit and serve.

Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey Pot Pie – an all in one main course

A great use of that extra Thanksgiving turkey.

Gather the following ingredients:

Frozen turkey from Thanksgiving (I am pretty sure that is the only way to get turkey)
2 packets of turkey gravy
Stove Top Stuffing
Extra Sweet Nibblets (Corn)
Any other vegetable of your choice
1/2 stick of butter
Pie Crust

Medium pot with lid
Medium pot
Pie pan

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Remove the turkey leftovers from the freezer and allow them to thaw for about a day in the fridge.

Cook the Stove Top Stuffing according to the packet. Cook it on the stove rather than the microwave. It takes almost as long and actually taste better.

Set the stuffing aside while you prepare the gravy.

Prepare the 2 packets of turkey gravy on the stove according to the packet.

When it is bubbly gravy turn off the heat.

Add the turkey. Mix well.

Add in some of the corn (drain), not too much. Maybe half a can. Add any other vegetables that you want. I like to add a chopped up boiled potato. Use the mashed potato recipe and stop at 30 minutes no matter how done, a little underdone is preferable. Add some of the stuffing. Not a lot, just around a 5th of what you made.

Gravy, vegetables, and turkey mix.

Place one of the pie crusts in the pie pan and poor the mixture into the pie. If you add too much to the pie it will overflow. Take some out if it is heaping over the top.

Cover the pie with the second crust. Fold the crust under to hide the edges. Pinch the side all the way around to seal it and make the cool pie crust edges.

Place foil over the edges. Do two opposing sides and then the last two sides. Remove the foil carefully. You will need to put it back on once you cook it 15 minutes and you do not want to be forming the foil while the pan hot.

Foil for crust

Use a knife or fork to poke holes in the pie crust. If you don’t it will crack on its own and boil over.

Cook the pie 15 minutes. Pull it out and place the foil back over the crust. This is to protect the edge of the crust from burning. Carefully return the pie to the oven and cook another 30 minutes. Pull the pie out. Let it cool down 5-10 minutes and serve.