The Missionary Cookbook Chapter 3: 9 Easy Egg Recipes for Beginners

 

For those who have been following the joyful journey of this family, you know that my youngest son Luke (pictured above on the far right) is now a missionary and away from home. I know I'm not the first mom who's had a child leave home and want to be sure they eat healthy easy meals. 

Missionaries for our church are not paid to serve, for those who don't know. They actually go on a volunteer basis and pay their own way. Their food allowance is meager. So, I decided to send my son a monthly recipe book with several new easy meals and recipes to try out.

Not every missionary has a chef for a mom. Luke told me he has several with him who have no idea where to begin. So here's where to begin. This stuff. The basics. I hope this helps you and your loved ones as much as I hope it helps him. This is the 3rd chapter, so please feel free to go back and check out the earlier ones. We'll sometimes have a theme. Sometimes not. This just worked out with Easter.        

April means Eggs! Easter there are always eggs on sale and these are a good source of protein. They're easy to cook and usually something that can be made pretty quickly. So this month we've got 10 recipes for easy eggs that these guys and gals can do. 

Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs

Ingredients

6 to 12 large eggs, straight from the fridge

Directions:

 Add the eggs to a saucepan and cover with water:

Fill a saucepan about a quarter of the way with cold water. Place the eggs in a single layer at the bottom of the saucepan. Add more water so that the eggs are covered by at least an inch or two of water.

The more eggs that are crowding the pan the more water you should have over the eggs. 6 eggs should be covered by at least an inch, 7 to 12 eggs, 2 inches.

Bring to a rolling boil: Leave the pan uncovered. Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a rolling boil.

Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit: Depending on how cooked you like your hard-boiled eggs, the eggs should be done perfectly after sitting for 10-12 minutes. That said, depending on your altitude, the shape of the pan, the size of the eggs, and the ratio of water to eggs, it can take a few minutes more. Or if you like your eggs not fully hard-cooked, it can take a few minutes less. When you find a time that works for you, given your preferences, the types of eggs you buy, your pots, stove, and cooking environment, stick with it. I also find that it is very hard to overcook eggs using this method. I can let the eggs sit, covered, for up to 15-18 minutes without the eggs getting overcooked.

SIMPLE TIP!

Adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the water may help keep egg whites from running out if an egg does crack while cooking. Also, some people find adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the water helps prevent cracking as well as makes the eggs easier to peel. If desired, add either or both of these ingredients as the water begins to boil.

If you live at a high altitude, let the eggs sit in the hot water longer or lower the heat and maintain a low simmer for 10 to 12 minutes.

Mom’s Baked Southwestern Chorizo Scotch Eggs

4 large eggs, hard-cooked and peeled

4 oz. good quality turkey sausage

4 oz. chorizo or soy-Rizo meat replacement

Home-made dry breadcrumbs or a good quality crumb such as Panko

Vegetable oil for brushing onto eggs.

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F.

Place the sausage meats in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

Divide the sausage meat into 4 equal portions.

 Form each meat portion into a flat cake large enough to fit around the egg. 

Work the sausage meat around the egg as evenly as possible whilst working hard to keep the egg shape and making sure there are no cracks. 

Place the meat-coated eggs in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.

 Roll the sausage-coated eggs into the crumbs and press lightly to ensure a good coating.

Mist generously with a spritz of vegetable oil, or coat lightly with oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cookie tray and pop into the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown all over.

Buffalo Chicken Eggs-n-Bacon Salad

4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 cup diced cooked chicken

¼ cup cooked diced bacon crumbles

½ cup low-fat mayonnaise

2 Tbsp celery, chopped

¼ cup blue cheese crumbles, optional

hot wing sauce (to taste)

 

Directions:

·        In a medium bowl, combine all salad ingredients.

·       Serve on fresh buns or salad greens drizzled with more wing sauce.

Cupcake Quiche Cups

8-10 oz cooked turkey or ham, well-seasoned

8 slices of bacon, sliced into 3 pieces (total of 24 small pieces)

6 eggs, beat well

1/4 bell pepper, chopped fine (optional)

1 cup chopped fresh spinach (optional)

12 1-inch squares of Havarti or Swiss Cheese

Directions:

·       Spray the inside of 12 muffins well with a non-stick coating (or line with a cupcake liner). 

·       Put pieces of bacon, spinach, and a few chunks of turkey or ham in each muffin cup.  Fill cup 2 Tbsp. scrambled egg. Put a nice little cheese on top of each cup. Bake 425°F for 13-15 minutes. Serve warm. Any leftovers need to go in the fridge. 

Variations of Flavors: Change the seasoning using your favorite variety of fajita seasoning for a Southwest quiche, French herbs de Provence for a more classic flavor, cooked potato or cooked rice can replace the bell pepper if desired. Play with these! 

Easy Ham and Egg Casserole

6 eggs, beaten

½ cup milk

1 cup ham or turkey ham, chopped

1 cup cheese, shredded

1 cup chopped tomato or cooked potato

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp.  ground pepper

2 Tbsp.  butter, melted

1/2 cup Bisquick or pancake mix

Directions:

·       Mix everything together and put in a well-greased 9x13 cake pan.

·       Bake at 350° degrees for 40 minutes or until the knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

·       Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

2-Ingredient Fried Rice Patties (AKA Rice Patties)

These rice patties taste a lot like fried rice but hold their shape and are a great way to use up leftover rice. The rice must be cold and best if it is the next day. We love them made with rice-a-roni too. Yes, very fancy-schmancy. Yes, you can use brown rice or pretty much any cooked grain. Barley is amazing. My mom uses cold cooked cracked wheat. Yea, those are good too.

You will need:
2 cups cooked cooled rice (leftover in the fridge)
2-3 large egg

Directions:

Mix the rice and egg.

In a large skillet with a heavy bottom, cook over medium heat. Make sure you use a non-stick pan or one you have oiled well.

Scoop them into little patties, about ½ cup of rice at a time. 

Cook 3-4 minutes on one side and then carefully slide a spatula under the patties and turn over gently. Cook 3-4 more minutes. We also like them with a slice of cheese.

 Top with butter while hot and season well with salt and pepper. They are delicious with soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, or anything Asian. Hello daddy. There you go. Simple, comforting, and easy. What a wonderful world.

Mom's Gourmet French Toast

4 thick slices of day-old brioche or Texas Toast

2 eggs

1/3 cup whole milk, (80 ml)

1 tsp vanilla extract, (5 ml)

A pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon

2 tbsp unsalted butter, (28 grams) for the pan

powdered sugar, to garnish

maple syrup, to drizzle on top

Directions:

·       To a medium, shallow bowl, add the eggs, milk, vanilla and spice, and granulated sugar. Whisk to combine and break up the eggs completely. 

·       In a medium pan over medium heat, melt 1/2 a tablespoon of butter, moving the pan from side to side to evenly distribute the melted butter.

·       Use a fork to dip a slice of brioche or bread into the liquid batter, dipping both sides of the brioche. Place the brioche into the prepared pan, cooking each side for approximately 1 minute, or until it's golden brown and crisp. Repeat this step for the remaining brioche slices, melting a 1/2 tablespoon of butter in the pan before frying each piece of bread.

·       Drizzle maple syrup all over, then dust with powdered sugar.

Easy Scrambled Cheese Eggs

Ingredients

4 eggs

½ cup cheddar cheese, grated (or Monterey Jack)

1 tsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

 Put a frying pan on medium-low heat and put in the butter or oil.  

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat quickly with a fork.

Grate the cheese and have it ready.

 Tip the beaten eggs into the frying pan. Layer the cheese on top. The eggs will start to solidify almost straight away – as soon as they do use a spatula and ‘pull’ the eggs in from the side to the middle. Repeat the pulling in several times.

  It doesn’t take long, the idea behind this is you’ll have soft, lightly cooked fresh eggs. It’s hard to undercook an egg really, but very easy to overcook. 2 – 3 minutes of cooking time is all you’ll need. When the egg has no ‘watery’ bits left, you’re done! Add some salt and pepper to taste. Done! Quickly remove from heat and transfer to plate – preferably on top of some lovely, hot, buttered toast.

 Cheese Strata

This is a totally delicious, simple, make-ahead heaven of a dish that anyone could do in minutes and could not mess up!   It's bread cubes combined with an egg and milk batter topped with cheese or having the cheese folded into the bread mixture. It's then good for keeping in the fridge and baking at dinner time or baking ahead and reheating individual servings in the microwave or oven.  Usually, we omit the bacon and Jalapeno if we’re trying to save money since the bacon is just getting expensive, but that’s totally up to you!

 Ingredients

 5-6 cups of bread cubes
6 oz brie, sliced (or any cheese of your choice)
 3 eggs
 2 cups milk or cream
 1/4 lb. bacon, diced (optional)
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced (optional)
Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
butter for coating the baking dish

Directions:

•  Butter the inside of an 8X8X4 inch baking dish and fill with bread cubes topping with brie slices. Crack fresh black pepper over the mixture and fold them together. 

•  Combine the milk and eggs. Add salt and pepper to them. Whisk well. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and brie mixture. Allow to sit awhile. Now for the bacon and jalapeno. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes. Add the bacon. Cook until almost crispy then add the jalapenos.  Cook 2-3 minutes more.

• Distribute the bacon mixture over the bread-brie mixture, leaving most of the bacon on top...meaning seriously don't mix them up. Do you know why? Because when you bake it, the bacon will stay crispy.

• At this point, you can either put the unbaked strata in the fridge and chill for up to 1 week or bake for dinner/breakfast right now.  We usually opt for baking it right away. 350 degrees 20-25 minutes until bubbly and delicious. 

• You'll have this thick rich layer of cheese strata topped with a crispy bacon jalapeno layer that will seriously rock the universe. Most of the time we drizzle it with maple syrup or a simple apricot jam for a savory-sweet yin-yang magical experience. 

 

There you go! Happy Egg cooking!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Meal in a Jar: Breakfast Ham and Zucchini Quiche Casserole (Low Carb & Gluten Free)

One of the classes I adored teaching was how to make shelf-stable meals in a jar that are good 5-7 years. This is, in fact, something I have done for my family for years. It's just a super practical way to have a "grab-n-go" meal for any occasion. Unlike other jar meals I've seen, the ones I plan are "just add water" and include the meat, veggies, sauce and all...ONE jar. One place. Grab-n-go!   These quart size jars make a meal for our family of 6 (4 adults, 2 children) and average about 9 cups of prepared food coming from the small amount of space in a quart jar. They can be made in mylar bags, but I personally prefer the jars. They're airtight, rodent proof and clear, so I can tell if the food is still gorgeous. Yes, I do slip into my Hollywood fashion designer alter-ego and say, "Fabulous Darling! Fabulous!"  Yes. I realize I'm odd. Shhh. I'm happy in my delusion. It keeps me young. What was I talking about? Oh yeah...

 I'm sharing an adaptation of an old family recipe that I think is a keeper! I made it for my kids and the 12-year-old had 3 plates of it. Next time I'm making half gallon jars. I'm getting into teen years with these little whipper-snappers. Yikes. Needless to say, the meals will feed a normal family of 5...or one teenage boy. I also plan a loaf of bread a day per person (for rolls, breadsticks, or sides like that) in my food storage. I have a whole series of jars based on those too...but that will be a later post.   This is an adaptation of my mom's Zucchini Casserole. I grew up with this fresh from the garden and I wanted to capture the flavors in a jar meal for storage.  Thankfully I have found the most beautiful freeze-dried zucchini slices!  I have to stop myself from eating them like potato chips right from the can. You know what else I love? I love the there's no junk added to my favorite brand of freeze-dried veggies.  It's just the veggie. Just the fruit. Nothing added but happiness. 

When the Breakfast Ham and Zucchini Quiche Casserole is in a jar, it looks like this...

Cooked, it looks like a quiche and tastes like a quiche...without the crust. 

My Mom's Ham and Zucchini Quiche Casserole

adapted from  cheftessbakeresse: Geneve's Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

2T  Dehydrated Green Onion

1 cup Freeze Dried Ham
1/2 cup Freeze Dried Bell Peppers
1/2 cup Freeze Dried Zucchini
1 T Powdered Butter
1/4 cup Ova Easy Egg Crystals or Scrambled Egg Mix
1/2 cup Powdered Sour Cream
 2T  Ultra Gel
1/2 tsp  Italian Seasoning
1  1/2 cup Freeze Dried Cheddar Cheese

Directions: 
 *Real freeze dried meat must be in a glass jar or mylar bag with an oxygen absorber. Open all your cans of happiness. Line up your jars. Get all your measuring tools and stuff together. Make sure you have all your ingredients. 

Put the green onion, freeze-dried ham, zucchini, and bell pepper in the jar. Add the powdered ingredients and shake them down into the veggie mixture. This is how I get a lot of product into a small space. I shake things a lot in my jars. 

 Add the cheese and top with a fresh 300 cc oxygen absorber. You can also use the jar attachment on a food saver, but you'll need to either cut a coffee filter to fit the top of the jar or use a cupcake/muffin liner at the top of the jar just inside the rim to keep the dry particles from clogging the hose. I prefer the speed of the oxygen absorbers. Frankly, that's how I can do so many in a short amount of time. If you want to use the slower method with the lid attachment, you totally can.  In about 25-30 minutes, the jar lid will "pop", indicating you have a vacuum seal. 

I made eight of these meals in about 15 minutes (one was prepared and in the oven when I took this picture). Eat your heart out, Rachael Ray. One dinner in 20 minutes is so last week.

To prepare:  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Pour the jar ingredients into a 2-quart bowl and add 2 1/2 cups cool water. Allow to hydrate 10 minutes.

 Lightly grease a 9 inch by 9-inch casserole (or solar oven 9 inch round pan works too).

Cover with foil.  Bake until set, 325 degrees 35-40 minutes. Do not over bake. May be stored in the refrigerator after baking and heated for service. 

I had enough ham to make about 10 of these meals, so initially, the cost is about $8 a meal. Some meals or less if you use the TVP. The sausage TVP is amazing. I'm a big fan.

There you go! Welcome to my meals in a jar!  

Estimated Nutritional Information:
Yield 5 Servings, 336 calories, 25 g fat, 5 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 21 g protein.

Again, the sales of freeze-dried products from my website is a huge blessing to my family and will be to yours.  I give out the recipes here as a service. If you do share them, please give full credit to this site.  Thank you so much!  Onward an upward!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Shakshuka : The Versatile Middle Eastern Low Carb Egg Dish

Those of you who have been with me long enough remember the early days of the blog when I first introduced many of my loyal friends to some of my fast, delicious, and super simple comfort foods. My children were young. I ached to express my culinary creativity with my sweet family and dear cooking students. At that time, as it has often been through the years, every penny counted. I wasn't the chef buying truffle oil and expensive wine. I just wanted to feed my babies healthy good stuff.

 I still want all the whole food I can give them.

So, back when we embarked on the "whole foods on a budget campaign", I never in a bazillion years would have known that it would have led us to book deals, radio show hosting and my own TV show airing weekly in Las Vegas. If anything, I thought maybe I wouldn't absolutely lose my mind under a pile of dirty dishes and endless laundry while listening to "The Wheels on the Bus" on a loop.

As for the food, nothing has changed here at home except for the fact that my boys are now teenagers and eat like they have hollow legs. The job title has been added upon, I'm no longer just a full time stay at home mom, but also a full time Caregiver to my aged Mother in Law. When life turned I was given the challenge of being the full-time bread winner working in restaurants and bake shops as an executive chef, it was a struggle to find a balance.

God blessed us with a miracles this year and I am finally now able to be home again as a food writer, chef and recipe developer for a large grain company (and thankfully only having to travel a few times a month away from the home). It's funny how life changes. Both boys are now home-schooled. Little Man is almost done with college!  Granny is still here. Ace is still plugging away. Things are crazy every single day, but we love it!

However, we still want whole food. We still want to stay on budget. We still want it to be super delicious! Super. Freakin'. Drop-dead-happy-delicious. If anything, after all these years, I expect extra awesome flavor in as short a time as possible! 

So...that brings us to today's adventure.  One of the early day recipes we lovingly referred to as  2 Ingredient Ravioli Eggs...

We ate it often. My kids still love it and ask for it.

Fast forward eight years since I introduced it here on the blog.   I've seen a trend here in the Phoenix valley. Bistros and upscale neighborhood foodie establishments are starting to have a similar egg dish on their menu to the one I grew up adoring. We've seen them called "Eggs in Purgatory" but the original dish actually is North African in origin and is well known in the Middle East and Isreal. Earlier this week I saw it on one of my favorite food sites, Serious Eats and I knew I had to share my version of this more complex recipe.   It's a classic comfort dish, simple to make and quick.  Though this more "exotic" version has several more ingredients than my childhood favorite, it has found it's way into my heart with it's spice and additional vegetables. Change up the sauce with southwest seasonings and you've got an awesome fajita version of this dish. Add Bacon, caramelized onion, tarragon, and fennel instead of the cumin and you've got a delicious French version. Keep it simple with just tomato and egg...and you've got what my dad, The Pansy Man, would make for us at the end of a long work day or as a satisfying Saturday morning breakfast with thick wedges of homemade bread from fresh ground wheat.

The sky is the limit on how you can customize this one. However you change it up, it will always be one of my go-to classics. 

Shakshuka (Middle Eastern Poached Eggs)

YIELD:Serves  6-8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons garlic infused Avocado oil
• 1  ½ medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 large red pepper (bell pepper for milder heat, or a hotter variety, such as red horned pepper, depending on your heat preference), stems, seeds, and ribs removed, thinly sliced
• 2 fresh small hot chili (such as jalapeno), stems, seeds, and ribs removed, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp.  sweet Hungarian or smoked Spanish paprika
• 1 ½  teaspoons whole or ground cumin seed
• 2 (15-ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• ½ cup minced cilantro and parsley, blended
• 10 eggs
• Sliced Kalamata or black olives, feta cheese, or artichoke hearts, for serving (all optional)

Directions

Heat oil in a large, deep 12-inch skillet with lid. When shimmering, add onion, pepper, and chili and spread into an even layer. Cook as you would fajita vegetables, without moving until deeply brown and beginning to almost char, about 6 minutes. Stir and repeat. Continue until softened, about another 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until soft and fragrant, about a minute. Add Spices and toast about 30 seconds more. Add tomatoes, stirring carefully. Lower temperate to low simmer. 

With a spoon, make a whole near the edge of the pan and carefully break an egg into the whole. Repeat until you’ve partially submerged all 10 eggs in the pan. 

Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes for runny centers and 8-10 for a more well done firm center, until egg is poached to your preference.

Sprinkle with the herb mixture and additional toppings if desired.  Serve hot with fresh toasted bread. 

We like the eggs a little harder in the center.
My Fitness Pal Nutritional Information : Serving size 2 eggs, 281 calories, 17 gr. Carb, 5 grams fiber (12 net grams carbohydrate), 15 g protein, Fat 17 g.

There you go. A simple and delicious way to have a quick satisfying dinner.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Bacon and Egg Salad of Glory!

Simple egg salad is something everyone should know how to make, but a killer egg salad is one that people will talk about, beg to have for dinner, and will be used for years to come at your house.  This is one of those egg salad recipes you cannot live without!  

Here's the simple recipe:

Chef Tess' Bacon and Egg Salad

1/4 lb bacon, chopped

1/2 medium onion, diced

1/4 cup sliced olives

3 Tbsp dill pickle relish

12 boiled eggs, peeled and diced

1/4 tsp garlic pepper

3 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp salt

Directions: In a large skillet combine the bacon and onion, and cook until bacon is crisp and the onion is caramelized. Remove from  the heat and allow to cool. Place all remaining ingredients in a bowl and add the bacon mixture. 

Chill. Serve as sandwich filling or stuffed in tomatoes.  We love it with a drizzle of hot sauce and some extra blue cheese crumbles. Your family will love this!


There you go!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

2 Ingredient Dinner?! Easy Ravioli Eggs

When I was growing up, Ravioli Eggs were a staple. I now call them Rav-i-oh-leeee-oh-lee eggs. Not sure why that nickname has stuck but I like it. I think the words "quick and easy" had a lot to do with their popularity around my house as a child. Not only did they taste pretty freaky awesome, but they where also a comfort food. We used plain tomato sauce (don't ask me why...). Now as an adult, I use marinara or spaghetti sauce depending on what I want. The good thing is they are low fat, low carbohydrate, loaded with flavor, and easy. Did I mention easy?! They sport a whopping 2 ingredient. I now need to go get more eggs. My kids want more of these bad boys and I only made 6. Little Man says these are now and forever his favorite breakfast food. FOREVER. He totally gulped it down. Three gulp to be exact. Grin. I couldn't be more pleased if I tried.

Ravioli Eggs
2 cups spaghetti sauce
6-8 eggs
Italian seasoning (optional)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a heavy 10 inch skillet with a lid, pour tomato sauce.

Turn on heat to medium and slowly crack the eggs into the sauce as you would for poached eggs.

Sprinkle the top with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Cover and reduce heat to low for 10-12 minutes until cooked through... yolks cooked silly.

Serve warm with crusty Italian bread for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

There you go!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess