July 17, 2006

Recipe News: Seasonal breakfast recipes a family treat

"The meatball recipes kept rolling in, and some of you asked about the ones with the blue cheese in them, so clearly we have to "do" meatballs again, and now I have a pile of fig bars to work on, too. So while I am dubbing around with that stuff, I thought I would tell you about a couple of other things I make this time of year that you might enjoy, too.

When there is basil and spinach to pick, we fix eggs two different ways at our house as a real seasonal treat. One is eggs with basil. Years ago, I first ate this at a little caf? where I think they were named something like "Italian Eggs." The other is eggs with spinach which I suppose we can call "Eggs Florentine," because if it has spinach in it, it is named Florentine, right?

The eggs and basil recipe comes from our urge to pinch back basil so it won't bloom right way. You don't need much basil for this, so just go along and take out the top two or three little leaves to use. And you need garlic. I know some people probably wouldn't like the idea of starting out the day with garlic on their breath so for them this might be better for brunch or a quick supper. But if all you breathe on is a computer keyboard or table saw all day, go for it.

Eggs Florentine helps us get on top of the spinach situation when the stuff threatens to bolt (like it did this week). Spinach really melts down when you cook it; a huge pile becomes a pathetic little wad in no time. If you wanted to make Eggs Unflorentine, you could use chard, broccoli rabe, slightly overgrown mesclun, or tender young kale. Dill is good in this dish, so is basil or tarragon.

As you will see in the recipe below, the only other thing to think about very much is the time the eggs are under the broiler - just watch them so they don't get hard and dry. The recipes are for one person, though usually I only want one egg for myself. It is easily multiplied for more people."

Includes recipes for:

Italian Eggs

Eggs Florentine

Full article here.