Cooking Day 18: Brinner
Brinner.
It is not something that I am usually excited about doing, but every time it is requested, it conjures fond memories of a show my young little family would watch together, Scrubs. Every time I hear brinner, I am brought back to...
What is brinner? Well in case you still don't understand, brinner is breakfast for dinner. That's right. My family loves brinner...my family loves breakfast, but sometimes it takes a little bit for me to be ready to cook anything early in the morning. I don't normally mind breakfast, but it is usually egg-centered and I HATE eggs. Ugh
Well this time, I complied. Tony was trying to get me to do both pancakes and waffles. Usually, when I make waffles, I make Liege Wafles. Have you had them? If not, you need to. I've made these a few times. I even served these at two brunches, one for my admin after she had her baby and then again for my youngest, Aidan's birthday. Everyone at both brunches was in heaven. The best thing is they freeze and microwave really well!
Alas, I did neither of these things...sorry to disappoint. But I did neither of them because a friend texted me as Tony and I were on our way home from HEB getting the brinner supplies when she texted about how much she wishes she was in Paris...eating crepes...with Nutella and bananas. I replied with, "I can make you crepes!" and that is when Tony decided we would be doing crepes.
Though very intimidating, crepes are really not that difficult. I have done many a different variation on the sweet crepes, but I have yet to tackle savory crepes. I should do that soon.
My sweet crepe recipe is not that difficult. It is 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of whole milk, 1 cup of AP flour, 2 tbsp of melted butter, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 1/4 tsp of salt. You put all the wet ingredients in a blender and give it a quick 10-second mix on low. Then add your dry ingredients and give it a few quick pulses until it is all mixed up. You will have to take a spatula and scrape the sides down a bit, then blend it on low, then medium, then high for about 30 seconds total. Once that is done put the mix in the fridge for an hour.
While we waited for the crepe batter to chill, we began prepping the rest of the brinner. He started peeling, washing, and grating the potatoes for hash browns. To his shredded potatoes he added salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and one egg white. I know! I have never done that before. The mixture just kind chilled out until we were ready to do the had which was right about when all the crepes were cooked.
I lined my baking sheet with non-stick foil and lay out the strips of bacon. Do y'all bake your bacon? Why not?! It is the best and easiest way to cook bacon. Just preheat the oven to about 375-degrees and once it is heated put that tray of bacon in the oven and just let it cook for about 20-30 minutes. Look, I know it takes longer, but you don't have to worry about keeping too close an eye on it, or getting burned by bacon grease spatter, or getting that yummy delicious bacon grease smell all over your house for 3 days. And you can go on and prep other things.
Like the breakfast sausage. We bought the ones in the roll, it is easier to cut. Keep the wrapping on and use a sharp serrated knife and cut the roll into patties about a half an inch wide (about the width of one finger). Then you have them all ready to toss into your heated non-stick skillet.
I also washed my strawberries and hulled them. I put them off to the side in a paper towel-lined bowl to catch up stray water from the washing. I chopped them up and sliced two bananas while I cooked each crepe. I also made the whipped cream, remember, that's only heavy cream, powdered sugar, and your choice of flavoring (shhh...I used bourbon). I also took this opportunity to have Wes grab my Brulee torch from the top shelf, yup...I am about to get fancy.
To cook the crepes, give it a quick pulse in the blender to make sure nothing settled. Just one quick pulse is all you need. Melt tbsp of butter and keep it off to the side to brush your non-stick pan with between crepes. Heat your pan, mine is 10 inches, and when heated, brush with the melted butter. You are going to pour just enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan. Swirl your pan to spread out the batter. The crepe will cook for about 45 seconds to a minute until you see the bubbles stop forming, flip your crepe, and cook for about 30 seconds on the second side. Do not worry if your first crepe breaks or is misshapen. Usually, the first one is a throwaway. Continue making your crepes. Believe me, once you do the first, you get the hang of it pretty quickly, and you kind of get into the crepe groove. As they come out of the pan, place them on a paper towel-lined plate. When they are all done, you can begin to assemble.
I assembled the crepes according to what each person wanted. First, everyone had Nutella on the inside, because why wouldn't you? For mine, I decided to put a layer of bananas and then sprinkle a good layer of sugar on top and then took my torch to it! Once I got that crispy sugar layer, I folded the crepe over and topped it with strawberries and whipped cream. I did a second one with Nutella, bananas, and strawberries inside and added sugar to the crepe itself and torched that sucka up until crispy, then topped it with whipped cream.
While I assembled the crepes, Tony browned up the hash browns in butter and then cooked up fried eggs in the grease from the sausage. He seasoned the eggs with salt, pepper, and dill. I taught him the dill trick.
I have to admit, it was a great dinner. Maybe I won't be so reluctant to brinner again. Comment below with your favorite brinner dishes.
It is not something that I am usually excited about doing, but every time it is requested, it conjures fond memories of a show my young little family would watch together, Scrubs. Every time I hear brinner, I am brought back to...
What is brinner? Well in case you still don't understand, brinner is breakfast for dinner. That's right. My family loves brinner...my family loves breakfast, but sometimes it takes a little bit for me to be ready to cook anything early in the morning. I don't normally mind breakfast, but it is usually egg-centered and I HATE eggs. Ugh
Well this time, I complied. Tony was trying to get me to do both pancakes and waffles. Usually, when I make waffles, I make Liege Wafles. Have you had them? If not, you need to. I've made these a few times. I even served these at two brunches, one for my admin after she had her baby and then again for my youngest, Aidan's birthday. Everyone at both brunches was in heaven. The best thing is they freeze and microwave really well!
Alas, I did neither of these things...sorry to disappoint. But I did neither of them because a friend texted me as Tony and I were on our way home from HEB getting the brinner supplies when she texted about how much she wishes she was in Paris...eating crepes...with Nutella and bananas. I replied with, "I can make you crepes!" and that is when Tony decided we would be doing crepes.
Though very intimidating, crepes are really not that difficult. I have done many a different variation on the sweet crepes, but I have yet to tackle savory crepes. I should do that soon.
My sweet crepe recipe is not that difficult. It is 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of whole milk, 1 cup of AP flour, 2 tbsp of melted butter, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, and 1/4 tsp of salt. You put all the wet ingredients in a blender and give it a quick 10-second mix on low. Then add your dry ingredients and give it a few quick pulses until it is all mixed up. You will have to take a spatula and scrape the sides down a bit, then blend it on low, then medium, then high for about 30 seconds total. Once that is done put the mix in the fridge for an hour.
While we waited for the crepe batter to chill, we began prepping the rest of the brinner. He started peeling, washing, and grating the potatoes for hash browns. To his shredded potatoes he added salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and one egg white. I know! I have never done that before. The mixture just kind chilled out until we were ready to do the had which was right about when all the crepes were cooked.
I lined my baking sheet with non-stick foil and lay out the strips of bacon. Do y'all bake your bacon? Why not?! It is the best and easiest way to cook bacon. Just preheat the oven to about 375-degrees and once it is heated put that tray of bacon in the oven and just let it cook for about 20-30 minutes. Look, I know it takes longer, but you don't have to worry about keeping too close an eye on it, or getting burned by bacon grease spatter, or getting that yummy delicious bacon grease smell all over your house for 3 days. And you can go on and prep other things.
Like the breakfast sausage. We bought the ones in the roll, it is easier to cut. Keep the wrapping on and use a sharp serrated knife and cut the roll into patties about a half an inch wide (about the width of one finger). Then you have them all ready to toss into your heated non-stick skillet.
I also washed my strawberries and hulled them. I put them off to the side in a paper towel-lined bowl to catch up stray water from the washing. I chopped them up and sliced two bananas while I cooked each crepe. I also made the whipped cream, remember, that's only heavy cream, powdered sugar, and your choice of flavoring (shhh...I used bourbon). I also took this opportunity to have Wes grab my Brulee torch from the top shelf, yup...I am about to get fancy.
To cook the crepes, give it a quick pulse in the blender to make sure nothing settled. Just one quick pulse is all you need. Melt tbsp of butter and keep it off to the side to brush your non-stick pan with between crepes. Heat your pan, mine is 10 inches, and when heated, brush with the melted butter. You are going to pour just enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan. Swirl your pan to spread out the batter. The crepe will cook for about 45 seconds to a minute until you see the bubbles stop forming, flip your crepe, and cook for about 30 seconds on the second side. Do not worry if your first crepe breaks or is misshapen. Usually, the first one is a throwaway. Continue making your crepes. Believe me, once you do the first, you get the hang of it pretty quickly, and you kind of get into the crepe groove. As they come out of the pan, place them on a paper towel-lined plate. When they are all done, you can begin to assemble.
I assembled the crepes according to what each person wanted. First, everyone had Nutella on the inside, because why wouldn't you? For mine, I decided to put a layer of bananas and then sprinkle a good layer of sugar on top and then took my torch to it! Once I got that crispy sugar layer, I folded the crepe over and topped it with strawberries and whipped cream. I did a second one with Nutella, bananas, and strawberries inside and added sugar to the crepe itself and torched that sucka up until crispy, then topped it with whipped cream.
While I assembled the crepes, Tony browned up the hash browns in butter and then cooked up fried eggs in the grease from the sausage. He seasoned the eggs with salt, pepper, and dill. I taught him the dill trick.
I have to admit, it was a great dinner. Maybe I won't be so reluctant to brinner again. Comment below with your favorite brinner dishes.
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