<p>Ma mere’s tourtiere is very simple…make and chill a basic 2-crust dough. Sautee a diced onion 'til soft, add 1.5 lbs of ground pork (center cut - with some fat, ground fine from the butcher), .25 tsp ground clove (more, if it’s not very fresh), tsp salt, ground pepper, a bay leaf, and about 1/2cup to 1 cup of water …enough to nearly cover meat. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, cool slightly, add to pie shell. It should be very moist but not runny and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. </p>
<p>You can use good quality beef broth instead of water, if you happen to have it for a richer taste. Lots of variations too – mixture of veal, pork, hamburg. Cinnamon instead of clove. Thyme instead of bay leaf. Add diced celery or a clove of crushed garlic.</p>
<p>In my mom’s younger days, tourtiere was served after midnight mass with strong red wine – and leftovers, if any, reheated for breakfast. No-one in this younger generation wants to stay up that late…so it has become just a xmass breafast food.</p>
<p>My first breakfast is always 2 squares of chocolate and banana. My second breakfast is an apple or orange depending on season. My 3rd breakfast is another fruit. None require cooking. I do not like cooking. So, here is my recipe.</p>
<p>A French toast bake was mentioned, but this is REALLY EASY and everyone at my house loves it.</p>
<p>9x13 pan, melt half a stick of butter in the bottom–if you want lower fat, give it a really good spray with Pam</p>
<p>1 loaf Italian bread cut into about one-inch slices
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup orange juice</p>
<p>Place bread in pan over butter. Mix together eggs, milk and OJ. Pour egg mixture over bread and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes–longer if you like it drier. You may sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top if you like or serve with syrup.</p>
<p>Thanks, ebeeeee! Yes, you are correct. Spam became a HI staple. We lol’d at spam pizza at a pizza hut in HI a few years back. I’m not cooking the stuff - my famiy will kick me out if the house if I do. Just kidding. I did secure some fine Ukrainian bacon from a local Euro deli where I go to get my rye bread, and that will be on the menu.</p>
<p>^I cannot stomach any bacon either. SPAM, bacon, any meat will not go down in a morning. For some reason, meat taste different in a morning than at dinner time. I have no problem with lox though, but still prefer it in afternoon.</p>
<p>I **love **this and have been serving it on Christmas morning for years. </p>
<p>1 pound Italian-style sausage, or sausage patties
1 medium onion, chopped
12 slices white bread, quartered, with the crust on
1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
8 eggs
4 cups low-fat milk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste</p>
<p>Squeeze the sausage out of the casing into a large
skillet, breaking the meat up with spatula (if using
sausage patties, simply crumble into pan), and
brown over moderate heat for about 8 to 10 minutes,
stirring frequently. Drain the sausage on a paper
towel and set aside.
Add the onion to the pan and saute about 5 minutes,
stirring well, until golden brown.
Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Line the bottom of
the pan with half of the bread, creating a bottom
crust. Sprinkle with half the sausage, half the onion,
and half the cheese. Create a top crust with the
remaining bread and top with the rest of the sausage,
onion, and cheese.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, mustard, salt and
pepper. Pour evenly over bread mixture and cover
with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and
up to 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes
to an hour, or until lightly browned and puffed up like
a souffle.</p>
<p>Izzie: I made the Pioneer Woman’s Baked French Toast Recipe (post #16) this morning. I used a bagette and fresh blueberries and blackberries. FANTASTIC!! It got gobbled up, thanks!</p>
<p>I’m so glad you liked it! I made it for a wedding shower brunch a year and a half ago and people are still talking about it. Served it with what we call Party Bacon where you dip bacon in a paste of brown sugar, cayenne pepper and a little water and cook it in the oven. Heaven!</p>
<p>Our traditional Christmas breakfast - for years, ever since I first tried it from Yankee magazine. Loved by all (family and any friends we have over), not healthy but it’s only once a year. Often I double the recipe (at least) because people want to nibble at the leftovers (reheated in microwave) all day.</p>
<p>Sausage Coffee Cake</p>
<p>1 lb. bulk sausage<br>
½ C chopped onion
¾ C grated cheddar<br>
1 egg, beaten<br>
¼ t Tabasco
1 ¼ t salt, or to taste
2 C Bisquik
¾ C milk
¼ C lite mayo</p>
<p>Brown sausage and onion. Drain. Add next 5 ingredients. Make batter of Bisquik, milk and mayo. Spread half of batter in 9x9x2 greased pan. Pour in sausage mixture. Spread other half of batter over.</p>
<p>Bake at 400o for 25-30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before cutting into 3 squares.</p>
<p>(Can be doubled for 9x13 pan. Freezes well).</p>
<p>Don’t worry if there’s not enough batter to make a full layer on the top… just dollop on whatever you have. It’s all good ;).</p>
<p>We always have cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I make them the night before, except for baking, and put them in the fridge overnight. Then I just pop the pan in the oven Christmas morning.</p>
<p>Waaaa… DH says he wants pickled herring and beet salad for breakfast!That’s what was served at his hotel in Swededn. :eek: Where is that can of SPAM?!!</p>
<p>Mix eggs and milk for a few seconds in the food processor. Season to taste. Butter a baking dish and pour in. Bake for a 30 mn at 350 degrees. Makes the fluffiest scrambled eggs you’ve ever eaten, almost a souffle but in only seconds. Like a souffle, it will fall as it cools, so make sure you serve immediately. I do some bacon in the microwave, slice some fruit, and voila!</p>
<p>^^ jmmom had the Sausage Coffee Cake, and GeminiMom had the Brunch Puff – either one of which I’d love to have tomorrow morning, if only I’d revisited this thread soon enough to go shopping. I think the Coffee Cake for New Years Day brunch, and the Puff for Easter. They both sound TOOOOOO yummy!</p>
Just kidding. I did secure some fine Ukrainian bacon from a local Euro deli where I go to get my rye bread, and that will be on the menu.</p>