Easter (Week) Eggs

Can you think of anything as versatile as eggs? I can't, and I suppose that's why I found myself with two dozen of the little beauties this week - I bought a dozen at Marin Sun Farms' butcher shop last weekend when we drove out to Point Reyes Station for fun and forgot that I had another dozen of organic eggs from a larger farm in the fridge.

So, I've been finding all kinds of ways to serve eggs, but this was easily the simplest and one of the best. Poached eggs on English muffins with sautéed mushrooms. One pan, ten minutes and you have dinner.

I sliced and sautéed the 'shrooms in a healthy pat of butter, then drizzled in a tad of lemon juice before spooning them on top of the toasted, buttered muffins. Added water to the same pan and poached the eggs once it had come to a boil. Slid them on top (it's all slippery - be careful!), salted, peppered and there you have it. Maybe shoulda wandered out to the herb patch for some fresh ones but I didn't. Served alongside a cold artichoke with lemon-mayo dipping sauce, spring dinner par excellence!

Fridge Clearing Pizzas

So, we had these very large homemade English muffins lying around, really too big to enjoy with breakfast, so big they really are breakfast. What to do?

As usual, I had a lot of odds and ends in the fridge so it occurred to me in a blinding flash of brilliance that I could make English muffin pizzas and, in an even more brilliant inspiration, that I could let My Beloved construct his own dream pizzas while I assembled mine.

I fried a strip of bacon and chopped it; sizzled some minced herbed salami; and sauteed a single breakfast link worth of sausage for the meaty choices. Prepped some sliced green onions, tomato, broccoli, mushrooms, minced garlic for the veggie part. Made some tomato goop as a base for all that pizza goodness (mix tomato sauce and tomato paste in roughly equal proportions and add oregano to taste), and we were ready to roll.

On the right is my traditional combination of muffin brushed with olive oil, tomato goop topped with mozzarella and raclette cheeses, sliced mushrooms, crumbled sauteed sausage, sliced green onion and sliced fresh tomato. Very nice, but the real winner is the one on the left. It was also made with tomato goop (To me, it's just not pizza without tomato goop) on a muffin that was lightly brushed with olive oil before topping, then layered with broccoli florets, Humboldt Fog goat cheese, crumbled bacon and some thin slices of fresh tomato.

We slid them onto the preheated pizza stone at 500 degrees for just a few minutes until all the cheese melted and lightly browned.

This is a stellar way to use up the odds and ends from the fridge - My Beloved enjoyed playing with his ingredients as much as I did, and we both ended up with a satisfying supper.

Muffins, Man

Having read on three different blogs about the ease of making homemade English muffins, I decided to try them myself. I looked at this recipe but I had no sourdough starter so I followed this one instead.

They really are pretty easy! The hardest part is the patience one needs to await the risings, and I have to admit I wasn't quite patient enough. I waited out the first rising but I hurried the second one so my muffins were heavier, denser than my usual gold standard muffins, Thomas' brand.

They were also far larger! Next time, I'd make 16 muffins from the recipe rather than 8 - one of these is a meal in itself and half of one is a good, solid breakfast!

They are tasty, however, despite the lack of rising yeast bubbles that make nooks and crannies, and I'd happily do them again another time, probably for house guests, using the overnight rising method.

There's a real thrill to making your own muffins, man!