An Easter Breakfast...of Sun Dried Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Sunday mornings are often a time of hurried breakfast-ing and dressing and rushing to church.  Over the past couple of months, we have set our alarm a bit earlier so that we can enjoy the morning, lingering a little longer over a cappuccino (complements of my husband) or a cup of tea.  Sometimes we succeed, and sometimes we linger just a little too long and end up in the same hurried mess.  


Easter is one of the most beautiful celebrations of the church, and we wouldn't want to enter that frazzled and distracted.  But on Easter morning, we are trying on new clothes, opening up Easter baskets and gifts, and trying to enjoy that same breakfast before heading to the church.  It has high potential for failure.  

This breakfast casserole is here to help with those hurried Sunday mornings.  It can be prepared the night before and baked while you enjoy your coffee, try on your new clothes, check your e-mail, and linger for a few minutes before church or wherever you might be heading.  While you can use a cup of oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, the home-made oven-dried tomatoes really do make this casserole outstanding.

Sun Dried Tomato, Basil, and Goat Cheese Breakfast Casserole

Adapted from Whipped


1 quart grape (or cherry) tomatoes, halved
Olive Oil (to taste)
Pinch of sugar, salt and pepper
8 cups day-old French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

2/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup basil, julienned 

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon pepper

9 eggs

3 cups milk


The day before:
Preheat the oven to 225.  Arrange the halved tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with the sugar, salt and pepper.  Bake the tomatoes for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  Chop the dried tomatoes.


Butter a 9 x 13 inch casserole.  Scatter the bread evenly in the dish.  Sprinkle evenly with chopped tomatoes, goat cheese, basil, salt and pepper.  


In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs.  Pour evenly over the bread mixture.  Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.


In the morning:
Remove the casserole from the refrigerator and uncover.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Bake the casserole for about 40 minutes, or until the middle is cooked (test with a knife) and the casserole is browned and puffed all over.  Cut into squares.  


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Spring Break and Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday

It is amazing how fast our Spring Break has passed.  It is already Friday, and the next couple of weeks promise to bring lots of work, final papers, and exams, and then not too long after that, graduation.


I told my husband just last night that, although I am thankful for the week-long break, true rest will not come until Summer is here (and it is, indeed, just around the corner).  Spring Break is nice, but there still remains so much to be done, most of which is written down on a neglected to-do list for this week.  

Instead of focusing on that homework and other household chores, I trekked across New York City with friends on Monday, spent the day shopping on Wednesday, had a Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Night with some of my favorite girl friends on Thursday, and have spent much time resting.  

Not only is it a wonderful week to rest (and ignore that to-do list and coming deadlines), but it is also Holy Week and a great time to prepare for Easter.  I love the traditions that are reminders of what this week means.  Today is Good Friday, and traditionally, Hot Cross Buns are made and eaten on Good Friday as a reminder of Christ's death on the cross.  While I did not grow up eating these delicious buns, they have become a Good Friday tradition for us over the past few years, and I have adapted this sweet roll recipe to our liking.  They are sweet and tender and full of fruit, while not being overly dessert-like.  While these rolls are traditional for Good Friday, they can also be enjoyed for Easter breakfast or brunch.  

Hot Cross Buns

Adapted from Allrecipes


2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water (110-120 degrees)
1 tablespoon honey
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
3/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, cherries, currants, cranberries) or candied citrus peel, chopped
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cream
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract


In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the yeast, water and honey.  Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, until bubbly.  


Add 2 cups of flour, salt, sugar, spices, milk, butter and 1 egg to the bowl.  Using a dough hook, mix for 1 minute on medium speed, until well combined.  Add the remaining flour and mix for 8 minutes on medium.  Add the fruit and mix until well dispersed.  


Transfer the dough to a well-greased bowl; turn to coat the top.  Cover and let rise for 1 hour, until doubled in size.  Punch down the dough and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.  Divide the dough into 12 portions.  Shape into rolls and place in a buttered 9 x 13 inch pan.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  


Before baking, remove the rolls from the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Using a sharp knife, cut crosses into the buns.  Brush with the egg and cream mixture.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the buns are golden.  


Combine the powdered sugar, milk, and extract in a small bowl.  Transfer to a small bag and snip the corner of the bag.  Pipe a cross on each bun with the icing.  


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Hospitality, Entertaining, and Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms and Truffle Oil

When we open our home for others, there is often a silent heart struggle between whether we are showing hospitality, or merely entertaining.  Sometimes the two concepts seem synonymous and they look largely the same, but I am coming to understand how largely different they are as a matter of the heart. 

Entertaining is welcoming someone who you love and enjoy into your home.  It is largely about spending time together and enjoying the company of one another.  You bring out your best things and you serve your best meal.  The problem with entertaining is that it all too often becomes all about me, the host or hostess.  The focus can quickly change from loving and serving your guests to impressing your guests; it can quickly become self-centered.  Everything can turn into a show, an occasion for praise; the focus is no longer on serving or even enjoying the company of your guests but impressing them.  When opening your home turns this direction, you find yourself becoming frazzled if things do not go as planned, and a successful evening is judged by the number of compliments offered.  I speak from experience here, can you tell?

Hospitality, on the other hand, is welcoming someone into your home in order to love, serve, and enjoy them.  The actions might look the same, but the heart is different; it is others-centered.  You bring out your best things and serve your best meal in order to honor your guest.  Your time together is less about you, and more about how you can serve, love and enjoy them.  The focus is not on the success of a well-executed meal, but rather is on blessing those who are in your home. 

I don't want to come across saying that it is wrong to have friends over for an impressive meal, but I hope that each year I might do less entertaining, and more hospitality.  Hospitality seems to emphasize love of others despite myself; it calls me to open my home and life to both friends and strangers, to those who I enjoy and those who annoy, whether I am on top of my game or exhausted at the end of a week.  Being a gracious hostess means that when others walk away from our home, they take a blessing with them.  It is an embodiment of true love. 

We are beginning a new semester today (my final semester), and one thing that I hope to keep before me throughout this semester is to love others well, even in the busyness of life.  With this in mind, we decided to seize our last "free" morning to open our home to some of our best friends for brunch, with the hope of loving them well.  I hope that our friends enjoyed this delicious meal (including these wonderful scrambled eggs), but more importantly, I hope they left our house feeling blessed and loved. 

Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms and Truffle Oil

1/2 tablespoon butter
8 oz mushrooms (Cremini or a mix of wild mushrooms), chopped
2 green onions, sliced (divided)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon butter
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons half & half
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon truffle oil

Heat 1/2 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon sliced green onions for 5-10 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and most of the liquid evaporates, stirring often.  Season the mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon salt and transfer the mushrooms to a small bowl, set aside.

Stir together the eggs and half & half.  In the same skillet in which you cooked the mushrooms, melt 1/2 tablespoon butter over low heat.  Add the eggs to the skillet and cook, without stirring, for 1-2 minutes.  Once the edges start to set, gently stir the eggs once every 30 seconds until the eggs are almost completely set; remove from heat.  Season the eggs with salt and pepper.  Pour the eggs onto a warmed serving platter and drizzle truffle oil over the eggs. 

Return the mushrooms to the hot skillet and cook over medium heat until they are warm; pour over the scrambled eggs.  Sprinkle the remaining green onions over the top. 

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(In case you're wondering, that not-so-lovely but oh-so-yummy treat in the background of these photos is praline bacon).

Food for Comfort: Orange Rolls

Do you ever have one of those days or weeks when life just hits hard?  This weekend was like that for me.  I knew it would be busy.  I had everything planned, including what homework I would finish and when, who would be coming over for meals, what I would cook, household tasks, and more.  Let's just say I was ambitious.  And before my weekend barely began, my plans were knocked out from under me.  I know that times like this happen for a purpose; still, days and weeks like this are hard, frustrating, overly emotional. 

I am thankful for my husband, my family, and my friends who encourage me and remind me to find true and lasting comfort in God, especially in the midst of suffering.  What a great and awesome truth! 

While I look to God as I embark on this next week (with the ever growing to-do list, a bit of exhaustion, and added emotion), there is always something comforting about good food, even if only momentarily.  While the spinach quiche, fresh fruit, and sausage that we enjoyed for brunch today were good, I could eat the whole pan of these orange rolls.  I'm quite certain that eating the entirety would give me great momentary comfort; however, one or two will suffice. 

Orange Rolls

For the rolls:

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (.25 oz package)
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups bread flour
 
For the filling:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
zest of two oranges
 
For the glaze:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
juice of 1/2 orange
1/8 teaspoon salt
 
In a small saucepan, heat the milk and water until the mixture reaches 120 degrees.  Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Add the sugar and yeast, stir once, and let sit until the mixture bubbles (around 10 minutes). 
 
With the mixer on medium low speed, add the egg, butter, salt and flour.  Increase the speed to medium for 8 minutes.  The dough will be slightly sticky. 
 
Grease a medium metal bowl.  Add the dough, and turn to coat the top.  Cover with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for one hour.  After the first rise, deflate the dough, and cover again with the towel while you mix together the filling ingredients. 
 
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 25 x 6 inch rectangle (you may want to split this into two 13 x 6 inch rectangles). Spread with the filling mixture.  Roll up the dough and pinch together.  Slice into 24 one inch slices and place on a baking sheet.  Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Alternately, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Let the refrigerated rolls sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350°.  Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops of the rolls begin to brown.  While the rolls bake, whisk together the icing ingredients until smooth.  Remove the rolls from the oven and top with the icing.

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