Breakfast for Dinner!!!

Wow.  After spending an hour resetting my Google password amidst pre-bedtime screams, I can finally write about dinner.  Or breakfast.  In either case, It was Potato Pancakes with Avocado and Eggs, from the same issue of Rachael Ray Magazine.  This recipe was pretty fun, not too difficult, and maybe just different enough to shake things up in your household.  It was the "take five" feature of the magazine, which every month showcases a different recipe you can make with only five ingredients.  We are frequent breakfast-for-dinner eaters.  If you haven't tried it, there are many mommy-friendly benefits:

Breakfast is comforting.  At the end of the day there is nothing better than a fried egg and some toast with jelly, maybe even a little bacon, or french toast if you're into that.  Mmmmm, Syrup :)
Breakfast items are usually already in your home and ready to use, even if you haven't been to the store in a few days.....weeks, whatever.
It's fast!  Especially if you leave out the bacon, the meal can be done in minutes.

This particular recipe met the above requirements but was a change from our "usual" as well.  The hard thing about cooking and serving breakfast is that all of these foods get cold quickly, so I have a few suggestions on that subject matter as well.

2 avocados (I like Haas)
4 eggs
1 1/4 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and shredded (about 3 potatoes)
1 grated onion
chipotle-flavored hot sauce (optional).  I like Tobasco's Chipotle variety, or you can use some of the sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

Peel the potatoes (annoying, I know.) and shred them with a box grater.  You can grate the onions this way, too.  Lay them on a dish towel and fold it over, pressing the potatoes in the towel to draw out some of the moisture.  Put them in a bowl and stir in the oinions, 1 tbsp EVOO, and some salt and pepper.  When my husband makes potato pancakes, he puts egg in them too, to help them stick together, so I will try that next time.  Divide it into four pancakes and saute, turning once, for about 15 minutes total.  You want to do this over medium heat, so the bottoms don't burn before the middle cooks through.  If the heat is too high, it will be burnt on the edges and raw in the middle.  I also tented the pan with aluminum foil to sort of "bake" the insides while the outsides were browning. 

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the avocados.  With a chef's knife, cut into the avocado until you hit the pit, then turn it around in your hand to divide it in half.  Give it a little twist with both your hands and it will come apart.  Jab the pit with your knife; it should stick to your knife and come out of the avocado cleanly.  Score the inside of the avocado half, like you're drawing a grid on it with your knife.  Then turn it inside out and scrape the flesh from the peel.  When you've done this to both avocados, mash them up with a pinch of salt and set aside.

Carefully take the pancakes from the skillet (I used two spatulas) and put them on individual plates.  Immediately crack the eggs into the same skillet, to cook them sunny-side up.  You could turn them if you wanted them to be more done, but we like runny yolks.  Divide the avocado into four servings and spread one serving on each pancake.  Then put an egg on top of the avocado and serve with the hot sauce.

Now....if you use an oven-proof skillet for the potatoes, you can transfer it to a hot oven while you cook the eggs in another skillet, if you are concerned about the potatoes getting cold while you're cooking the eggs.  This probably isn't really necessary, though, because it's the eggs that are going to get cold the quickest, and I don't have a solution for that except to eat it immediately.  If you are cooking the eggs longer than suggested, though, it may be a good idea for you to keep the potatoes warm.  Also make sure your avocados are room-temperature so they don't chill the rest of the dish.  If you have some plates that hold heat well, you could try using those for serving.

This would really impress a brunch guest; it looks pretty, and complicated.  (I know, I'll start taking pictures soon.)  The flavors all go really well together, and avocado is a pleasant surprise when paired with eggs.  This dish is actually a great benedict variation and arguably healthier than traditional eggs benedict.  It is meatless and breadless, with the addition of a fruit and two vegetables (potato is a vegetable, right?), but still has the elegant layered presentation of a classic benedict.  Simply eliminating Hollandaise sauce saves you quite a few calories ;)

The baby was able to eat some of the avocado, and she tried to eat some potato and egg (though I think before 12 months they are only allowed egg yolk, fully cooked.)  And my older child actually really liked it!  She ate almost half of an adult serving, which is pretty stellar for her.

There's not a lot better than a pretty craft you can eat, that doesn't take months to complete.  Speaking of which, I have a scrapbooking calendar to work on, and eventually I'll need to say a word or two to my other half ;)

Happy Breakfast Eating!!

BONUS:  Mimosas!!

Liquor tastes good with orange juice, luckily for us breakfast-eaters.  My husband likes it with gin or beer, and I like it with champagne.  Recently, on vacation in Vero Beach, we were introduced to a "Lunch Box:"

a shot of amaretto
half a Bud Light
orange juice

delicious, I must say, and easier to keep the ingredients on hand than if you were making traditional mimosas.  Champagne just doesn't last in my house :)