Fun Breakfast Cups

This used to be a Land-o-Lakes (butter) recipe, but I've made some changes and wound up spicing it up a bit. Also, this weeks bulk pork sausage was pretty spicy. Have to watch out for that. It was almost too much for breakfast.
Ingredients:
1/3 lb bulk pork sausage
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk plus 1 tablespoon
2 eggs
Mrs. Dash Garlic flavored (salt substitue)
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoon no salt Butter
½ cup any refrigerator cubed hash-brown potatoes
1 can Pillsbury® Grands!® Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Directions:
Heat oven to 375°F.

Preparing sausage:
In nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until completely cooked. Drain; return sausage to skillet. Stir flour into sausage then gradually add milk and cook over medium heat until thickened. You'll have to continue stirring. Use to wooden spoon so it doesn't feel so hot. Set aside.
       
Preparing potatoes and eggs:
In small bowl, beat eggs, 1 tablespoon of milk, Mr. Dash and Italian seasoning. In another skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in potatoes. Stir frequently until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir remaining butter into potatoes and then pour eggs over potatoes; cook, mixing potatoes and eggs together. Cook until eggs are ready. Set aside.
   
Preparing cups for cooking:   
Separate dough into the precut biscuits; place each biscuit in ungreased six cup muffin pan. Because the biscuit dough is so sticky use muffin cups to line the pan cups. Firmly press dough in muffin cup and up side of each cup, leaving a cup in the center of biscuit. Spoon potato mixture evenly into dough-lined cups. Spoon sausage mixture evenly over potato mixture. The cups will be full to the top.
       
Bake until edges of biscuits are deep golden brown. It took about 20 minutes, sometimes it can take a couple of minutes more. Cool 5 minutes.

Greek Moussaka

Last weekend my husband and I attended the Greek Festival in Concord, CA and had a chance to eat some great food provided by the church group that put on the event. The food was expensive, but really worth it. So of course I had to come home and check out the recipes I found on line.


I'm a fan of eggplant. Several years back my Ratatouille Ala Garlic, was a finalist at the Gilroy Garlic Festival cooking contest. The first recipe I tried from the Greek Festival was the Moussaka. I'd never tried it before, but from all I read Moussaka is basically a lot like the ratatouille. Any vegetable can be added. The one at the Greek festival used eggplant and potato, so I stuck with those, although the idea of zucchini sounded good as well.

I choose to use lamb in this recipe because this is a Greek meal and the Greeks seem to like their lamb. Even so my son wasn't so fond of the lamb because it has a stronger flavor, so for those who don't like lamb, ground beef can be used. As a matter of fact the one we tasted at the Greek festival was made with ground beef.

Keep in mind that this dish is very similar to lasagna. It is made with layers. So if you are changing the vegetables, just make a couple of different kinds to make enough layers. And like lasagna it takes a good while to prepare.

Ingredients:
2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1/2   cup salt
1 cup olive oil
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter
1 medium onion,  chopped
1 pound ground lamb or ground beef
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2  teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1/2 cup Merlot red wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups milk
3 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions: 
Preparing eggplant for cooking:
Once eggplant is peeled and slices put in a large bowl filled with water and salt. Let soak for 20 minutes. According to www.FineCooking.com "Globe eggplant works deliciously in just about any eggplant dish, provided you salt it first. Salting, also known as purging, accomplishes two goals: it pulls out juices that carry bitter flavors, and it collapses the air pockets in the eggplant's sponge-like flesh, thus preventing it from absorbing too much oil and getting greasy."

Preparing potatoes:
While the eggplant is soaking, heat 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet and add the potato slices cooking until golden on both sides. After cooking place on a paper towels to drain excess grease. Keep this up until all potatoes are cooked. Set the potatoes aside.

Back to eggplant:
Place 1 cup of the flour in a bowl and coat each slice of eggplant in the flour. Place one layer of eggplant in skillet with 1/4 cup flour. Cook until golden on each side. Place cooked eggplant on a paper towel to drain grease. Continue until all eggplant is completed. You may need to clean out the greasey skillet at least once before eggplant slices are completely cooked. Also you may need to add more oil during cooking.

Preparing meat layer:
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet, add the onions and cook until clear. Add the ground meat and spices cooking until completely browned. Add  wine and cook until evaporated. Stir tomato paste into meat and then add tomatoes. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Set side.

Preparing cheese sauce:
In a medium saucepan melt 3 tablespoons of butter and, when hot, whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour and cook 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, stirring until smooth and thick. Whisk in the eggs yolk. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese and set aside.

Preparing layers:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish.

Place the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the dish in an even layers until all potatoes are in the pan.

Add half of the eggplant slices.

Add the meat sauce.

Spoon an even layer of the cheese sauce evenly over the meat then sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Top with the remaining eggplant slices.

Spread the rest cheese sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on the top and heated throughout, 40 minutes. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Pictures of the finished recipes

Mixed Berry Blintzes
The recipe is below.

Spent all morning putting together the Mixed Berry Blintzes I found the recipe for. There is a reason why restaurants like IHOP are famous for these tasty treats. It is because it takes so long to make them. I had a few mishaps but when finished the family enjoyed them. Here is my not so pretty picture of the final product.

Noodle Kugle
Recipe below

I'm not a fan of rasins,  so I checked around and found that basically noodle kugle can be made with any kinds of fruit. So I made it with 1/2 cup raspberries and 1/2 pineapples.

This dish is a lot sweeter with these fruits and tasted pretty good, but I'm still not sure I'm into the noodles with the fruit.

Great recipe ideas for Yom Kippur

Cheese Blintzes with Three-Berry Compote
From Bon Appétit Magazine 1992

Filling:
1 1/4 pounds hoop cheese or 2 pounds nonfat cottage cheese
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1/2 teaspoon (scant) salt

Crepes:
1 1/2 cups water
3 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil

Compote:
2 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened boysenberries (about 11 ounces)
2 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries (about 11 ounces)
1 12-ounce basket strawberries, hulled, halved
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Fresh lemon juice (optional)

Assembly:
Vegetable oil
Sour cream
Lemon peel strips (optional)

Filling:
If using cottage cheese, place in center of kitchen towel, gather towel around cheese and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Measure 2 1/2 cups packed cottage cheese (reserve remainder for another use). Combine 1 1/4 pounds hoop cheese or 2 1/2 cups packed dry cottage cheese and sugar in processor; blend well. Add eggs and salt; process until almost smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Crepes
Combine 1 1/2 cups water and eggs in blender. Add flour, sugar and salt. Blend on lowspeed until very smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of container. Pour batter into medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Heat 10-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Brush very lightly with oil. Transfer 3 tablespoons batter to small cup. Working quickly, pour batter into center of skillet; tilt and shake skillet to spread batter into 7-inch round. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook crepe until bottom is speckled brown, about 45 seconds. Loosen sides of crepe with spatula and turn out onto paper towel, cooked side up. Cover with paper towel. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing pan occasionally with oil and layering crepes between paper towels.
Place 1 crepe cooked side up on work surface. Place 1/4 cup filling in 3-inch-long log just below center. Fold bottom of crepe over filling. Fold sides in. Roll crepe up, enclosing filling completely. Transfer blintz to plastic-lined platter. Repeat with remaining filling and crepes. (Can be prepared ahead. Cover and chill overnight or freeze up to 1 month. Do not thaw frozen blintzes before cooking.)
Compote
Combine all berries, sugar and lemon peel in large bowl. Let stand at room temperature until berries defrost, sugar dissolves and juices form in bowl, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours.
Strain berry mixture thoroughly, reserving juices. Place cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan. Gradually add reserved juices to cornstarch, whisking until smooth. Whisk over high heat until syrup boils and is thick and clear, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Cool 15 minutes. Mix berries into syrup. Adjust tartness with lemon juice. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Assembly
Pour oil into 2 large nonstick skillets to depth of scant 1/8 inch; heat over medium-low heat until hot. Place blintzes seam down in skillets. Cook until bottoms are brown and crisp, shaking pans gently and moving blintzes occasionally to prevent sticking, about 6 minutes (for frozen blintzes, cover skillet for first 6 minutes). Using spatula, turn blintzes over; cook until blintzes are brown and crisp and blintzes feel firm when lightly pressed, about 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined platter. Place 2 blintzes on each plate. Spoon compote over blintzes. Top with sour cream. Sprinkle with lemon peel.

Noodle Kugel

From the Food Network

Ingredients
1/2 pound wide kosher for Passover eggnoodles
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 pound cottage cheese
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Directions:
Boil the noodles in salted water for about 4 minutes. Strain noodles from water. In a large mixing bowl, combine noodles with remaining ingredients and pour into a greased, approximately 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Bake until custard is set and top is golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Rugelach

From rubyglen.com

Rugelach, which means "little horns", is a delicious cookie of Jewish heritage.  These bite sized crescent cookies are made with a rich cream cheese dough that is filled with either poppy seeds, jams, nuts or fruit.

For the dough:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

For the nut filling*:
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins, optional

For the topping:
1 egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon milk
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
 
Directions:
Place the butter and cream cheese in a food processor (or mix with mixer); cream until thoroughly combined.

Add the flour and sugar, and pulse until combined.

Divide the dough in half and flatten. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

To make the filling: place the pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins in the food processor, and pulse until combined.

Preheat the oven to 350°.

On a well-floured surface, roll out each half of the dough  into an 8 - 9 inch circle. Sprinkle each circle with half of the sugar-nut mixture.

Cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped pieces. Starting at the wide end of each piece, roll it up toward the point. Place on a parchment lined (or greased) cookie sheet.

Mix the egg and milk together and brush on the cookies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the cookies.

Place in oven and bake for 16 - 19 minutes, until golden brown.

Other fillings: For the fillings below, I always sprinkle a little granulated sugar/cinnamon mixture over the fruits and preserves.
apricot preserves
fruit jams
mini chocolate chips
finely chopped dates
finely chopped apples

Streusel Coffee Cake
Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cake:
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Topping. In small mixing bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork until crumbly. Set aside.
Sift 1 1/2 cups sifted flour with baking powder and salt into a bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together beaten egg and 3/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Add milk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture and mix well.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square or 9-inch layer-cake pan. Sprinkle topping crumb mixture evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake tests done. Partially cool in pan on wire rack. Cut coffee cake into squares while still warm.