Main navigation

Pook's Pantry

A Life in Food

Breakfast

Idaho®Potato Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole | Pook's PantryThank you to Idaho® Potatoes for sponsoring this post.   As always, all opinions are my own.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.   I really enjoy making a great spread and sitting around the table for a couple of hours while sipping on coffee and picking on the bountiful feast in front of me.  Mother’s Day is next weekend and if I were able to spend it with my Mom, this is what I’d make for her.   If you would like to solidify your position as her “favorite”, make this for her and you’ll have it in the bag for good.

…

Read More

Restaurant-Style Bloody Mary

How to make a Restaurant Style Bloody Mary

The Bloody Mary.  It is THE quintessential brunch beverage, yet I only have them at a restaurant.  Brunch and Bloody Mary’s go hand in hand.  We are going to make a restaurant-style bloody mary at home.  I made a killer batch of bloody mary’s last weekend and they were hands-down one of the best I’ve ever had.

First things first, we are making it from scratch.  The difference is remarkable when you don’t use a store-bought mix.  The drink tastes MUCH fresher and brighter, which if I’m being perfectly honest, can be dangerous.  I’m usually a two drink max kind of girl and I had two drinks in no time flat.  Consider yourself warned, because they go down Very Easily.

…

Read More

Roasted Red Flannel Hash with Country Sausage

a-roasted-red-flannel-hash-1-2

This week, we have a very special guest post!  You all know her as Pastry Chef Online, but she is my “Sissy”.  She is like family to me. If I could choose a sister, it would be her.  We met years ago and it was an instant kinship.  She is a talented pastry chef, a great friend and a generous, kind and compassionate person.  I am lucky to call her friend and we are all lucky that she has made us Red Flannel Hash with Country Sausage!  

…

Read More

Baked Eggs in Mini Bell Pepper Cups

baked-eggs-pepper-cups

Eggs baked in mini bell pepper cups are the perfect brunch item.  Make a few variations and your guests can help themselves, leaving you to enjoy your guests instead of being stuck in the kitchen.

I had bell peppers on my list.  Not these sweet little things, but the grown up kind. When I laid eyes on these, somehow the big guys lost their appeal.   I’m a sucker for cute little things.

As soon as I got them home, I started thinking about what I could do with them.  The obvious was mini stuffed peppers or filling them with dip and sticking a few veggies in them.   Then I went a completely different direction…  I love the idea of these for a brunch.   With the holidays right around the corner, these would be a perfect bite for Christmas morning or the day after Thanksgiving when any major cooking is off the table.  The evening before, slice the lids from your peppers and wrap them up for the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, crack an egg into each pepper and slide into the oven.  How’s that for easy and minimal cleanup?!

These are also perfectly portable, just toss a couple in a container and off to work or school you go! I’d much rather eat this than a dry granola bar.  Looking for a light meatless supper?  It’s got you covered there too!  They are also a good size for little hands, no silverware necessary.  

baked eggs - Pook's PantryBack to brunch: I love the idea of a platter filled with a dozen of these, with different spices or seasonings, on a bountiful table for everyone to help themselves.  (READ: I’m not waiting on you!)

Small servings work especially well for someone like me who is perfectly content to make a meal of several appetizers.  I like to taste a few different things instead of having one entree!  This allows me to have one baked egg and also a few other treats, which is really my goal in life…  to try everything I can get my hands on.baked-eggs-in-mini-bell-pepper-cups
Be creative!  Try different combinations, different herbs, etc.  Scallions, tarragon, chives and dill are great herbs for eggs.  Curry powder, hot sauce,  HP sauce (from UK) and of course hollandaise, if you’re feeling fancy, are delicious on eggs.  Another option is putting a little cheese or bacon in the bottom of the cup, or whisking it all together and making an omelet baked in the pepper cup.  Whatever your favorite egg combination, make it delicious!Baked Eggs - Pooks Pantry

Baked Eggs in Mini Bell Pepper Cups
Yields 4
Individual Baked Eggs in Mini Bell Pepper Cups
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
18 min
Total Time
23 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
18 min
Total Time
23 min
Ingredients
  1. 4 Mini Bell Peppers
  2. 4 Medium Eggs
  3. seasonings of your choice
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice top off pepper and set aside. Remove seeds and membrane from pepper. Crack 1 medium egg each into mini bell pepper.
  2. Set on a baking sheet or in a glass baking dish and bake for 16 - 18 minutes, until whites are set, but yolks are still a bit runny.
  3. Season with salt and pepper, curry powder, herbs, hot sauce, etc. Whatever tickles your fancy!
Notes
  1. Small or medium eggs work best in mini bell pepper cups. Large eggs will overflow!
Pook's Pantry https://www.pookspantry.com/
PIN IT:
baked-eggs-pin

Lavender Scones…

So here we are smack in the middle of the holiday season and there are pumpkin, gingerbread & peppermint recipes coming out of people’s ears and what am I making?  Lavender scones.

I don’t mean to swim upstream, it just seems to happen…  I’ve been on a bit of a scone kick lately.  I will admit I’ve been making cranberry scones too and THOSE are holiday’ish, but I needed a break from the sea of cinnamon and nutmeg.

They are ridiculously easy  (especially the drop kind like these) and they take very little time, which is a blessing during this frenzied time of year when time and energy are in short supply.   

…

Read More

(Pear) Butter Me Up…

Pear Butter

Recently I found myself with about 7 pounds of pears that were ripening faster than I could consume them.  Normally, this would never happen as pears are one of my favorites and generally don’t last long enough to even get mushy,  yet here we are.

There were ideas swirling around in my head as to what I could do with them, but none of them really thrilled me so I put out a call on the Facebook page for ideas.   Sometimes you just need to get out of your own head, you know?   Get some fresh ideas and perhaps learn a thing or two…  As usual, my friends came through.  I had a dozen great ideas in under 5 minutes.  It pays off to have “foodies” for friends!  Then, my “wish-she-were-really-my-sister” came through with “you could use this as a filling for sweet rolls”.  Well, that girl knows just how to get to me.  From that point on, it was all I could think about. 

I rushed to make it, take photos and write the recipe;  then life got in the way and it took me two weeks to write it up.    So much for planning…   I am still swooning over the idea of this being used as a filling for sweet rolls.  (That Jenni is a bit of an evil genius)

Now that I had decided on the fate of the pears,  it was time to get everything set up for canning.  Let me preface this by saying it is not imperative to can the pear butter.  Feel free to store it in the refrigerator if you are certain it will be consumed within a week or two.   I happen to get giddy over that “ping” of the lids sealing and thus am drawn to canning like a moth to a flame.   It adds 15 minutes to the process and I can leave them in the cupboard or give them to friends as gifts, well worth an extra fifteen minutes if you ask me and your friends will be impressed with your kitchen prowess…  they needn’t know it wasn’t all that difficult.

pear butter 001

pear butter 009

 pear butter 008

Pear Butter
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Total Time
3 hr 30 min
Total Time
3 hr 30 min
Ingredients
  1. 5 pounds very ripe pears (Bartlett or Anjou), roughly chopped (do not peel or seed)
  2. 1/2 cup Elderflower liqueur (or Bourbon)
  3. 1 cup brown sugar
  4. 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  5. 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  6. 1 star anise
  7. 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  8. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. In a large, deep pot, combine pears, elderflower liqueur or bourbon and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and cook over medium high heat for approximately 30 - 40 minutes until fruit is falling apart.
  2. Run mixture through the fine mesh of a food mill to remove seeds and skin. Return puree to pot and stir in brown sugar, lemon juice ginger and salt.
  3. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick and amber colored. (about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs)
  4. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
  5. Makes 6 half pint jars
  6. If you want to can the butter, sterilize jars & lids, spoon butter into jars and process in a water bath for 10 - 15 minutes.
Notes
  1. The original plan was to use bourbon with this... Only to discover I had none and did not feel like going out to buy some. I happened upon elderflower liqueur and it was quite the happy accident. It worked beautifully here.
Pook's Pantry https://www.pookspantry.com/

Buttermilk Biscuits

Sometimes it’s as if people are dropped into your life out of the blue.  This is the story of  one such person.  I was lucky enough to have made a connection with another food blogger and Pastry Chef.  We “met” through Facebook & Twitter.  Like many other food bloggers, we are on each others pages.  We offer support, ask questions and weigh in on life-altering discussions about butter and how best to photograph one’s creations. 

During the course of a few months, we discovered how very much alike we are… although she is definitely the nicer one.  She has become my “Sissy” and this happened the day I met her in person….

Read More

Red Shoes & Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread | Pook's Pantry
 

Soda bread is just as synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day as corned beef and cabbage or green beer.  It’s practically mandatory, whether you are Irish or not.   This recipe is not as dense as most soda breads and it has a touch of sweetness.  It is a recipe I treasure and make every year.

“There are only two types of women that wear red shoes, and YOU my dear are no Spanish dancer”. 

That little gem came out of the mouth of my friend’s 86 year old mother, delivered in the thickest Irish brogue you could imagine.

We had been out shopping and she had purchased a pair of red shoes.   Upon showing off her new purchase, that was her mother’s response.  Did I mention that said friend was in her 50’s?!
I was still in my 20’s at the time and thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever heard, the fact that it was delivered with perfect comic timing from an 86 year old woman made it even better….

Read More

Dutch Puff Pancake – My Momma’s Recipe

Mom & Me in NL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My First Love.

Look at that gorgeous kid…  and the baby isn’t bad either! That woman in the pic still makes the best dutch puff pancake in the Western Hemisphere.

The first love of my life: my Mom.  As little girls, we often play “house” and pretend to be Mommies to our baby dolls and try to emulate our own mothers.  As teenagers, we are less inclined to compare ourselves to our Moms. As adults we come full circle, realizing that “Mom” is a person just like we are who had worries and struggles, peacefulness and triumphs .  Mine, like most, had to balance job and kids, errands, our activities, laundry, blah, blah, blah… and yet still found time to take us to movies or little excursions.   We didn’t have much, but we didn’t know it.  She made the most of what we did have and rarely did we feel like we had “gone without”.

One of my all-time favorite memories, which my Mom & I still giggle about to this day…  Ok, this is going to date me a little, but you regular readers already know I turned 40 recently,  so here we go:

Do you remember that show from the ’80’s, “V”?!   It was about alien-lizards disguised as humans living on Earth.  We LOVED this show.   It sounds ridiculous, but it was the early ’80’s… 
Well,  one night we were in our Chevrolet Chevette hatchback (yes, a Chevette hatchback…  named “Skeeter”, btw) and there were radio and television towers with flashing red lights on the road.  They looked like they were so high up in the sky to me as a little kid…  like they could have been lights on an alien spacecraft!  

All of a sudden, my Mom hunches down over the steering wheel and starts saying “Oh no, they’re gonna get us!”  Well, you can imagine our reaction!  My brother & I started screeching & laughing like crazy and she just kept egging us on… 

…

Read More

Coconut Bread

Coconut Bread

I love coconut, always have.  I love the smell of it just as much as the taste.  So much so that in the middle of winter when sunny days at the beach seem unfathomable, I open my bottle of sunscreen & put just a dab on my skin so I can breathe in the smell of coconut.  Before you judge, I know for a FACT that I am not the only one that does this…

To demonstrate my slightly obsessive love for this tropical treat,  a moment of full disclosure:
For breakfast I had coconut coffee and a piece of this coconut bread. 
Those you of that know me, know that I’m not very “gray”…  I either really like something or I really don’t,  and I really like coconut.

…

Read More

Pook’s Pantry on Instagram

copyright © 2017  Pook's Pantry | Handcrafted with by Triple Latte Design.
Privacy Policy.