Sunday, September 12, 2010

Breakfast at Our House

One thing that has changed drastically with moving to Costa Rica from the fast lane of Silicon Valley is *Breakfast!* This used to be a quick canned shake on the road, followed by coffee at my desk. Ugh.

Now? Most mornings we have a full, cooked breakfast, eaten together - much better!



Veggie Scramble
Chop the following:
- 1/2 onion
- 1/4 sweet red chili
- 1/2 piece palmito and/or carrot (~2-3 inches)
- 1/2 zucchini (or some other green vegetable, such as broccoli, chayote, or green beans)

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet, add the veggies, and cook until done. I like mine browned and somewhat caramelized.



Break 3 eggs into a bowl, and remove one yolk (either throw it away or keep for another purpose). Add the following, and stir well:
- a bit of water or sour cream (about 2 tablespoons)
- black pepper
- powdered ginger
- basil
- any other favorite spices (Rick likes garlic)
- cheese en polvo - that is, a dry cheese, powdered or grated (optional)

Add the eggs to the veggies, and reduce the heat. Stir until done. Remove to a plate and cover until ready to serve.

Sides
Heat a shallow layer of oil in the pan, then add sliced maduro. Cook on low until browned, then flip to brown the other side.
Meanwhile, slice tomato (sprinkle with basil or pesto sauce), avocado, and fruit.
If cheese is not in the scramble, slice some queso fresco (aka tierno, aka new cheese)
For a *very* hearty breakfast, add some Gallo Pinto :-)

Toss everything on 2 plates, serve with bread and jam, and sometimes sour cream and Lizano. And don't forget the coffee!

Budget tip - throwing away egg yolks is still cheaper than buying prepared egg whites! But stay tuned for a crème brûlée recipe (ok, so it's Pots de Crème) :-)

5 comments:

Julie said...

Kathy asked about foods that are different or the same as in the states. Here's what I wrote:
one of my favorite topics!
- cheese = different, although you can find queso fresco at some mexican restaurants (Hobee's has it)
- eggs, onion, carrot, zucchini = same, although there is also a squash related to zucchini that I sometimes ...use
- sweet chili = different, although red bell peppers are almost, sorta close
- maduro = hard to find in California. I think you can buy platano verde, and let it ripen, but I'm not sure how well that works
- apples = same, but so much other fruit is just not available (I think it doesn't ship well)

if you look at all the "recipe" and "feria" posts on my blog, you can see some of the different foods.

Julie said...

And about queso fresco:
queso fresco is just a very mild, un-aged cheese. The stuff here is almost always low salt, low fat. It is a bit rubbery, doesn't melt well, but is excellent for frying (not a lot of oil, just straight on a non-stick pan). For breakfast, I either fry it or plate it cold.

jFosberry said...

I miss my eggs and gallo pinto and maduro! While I am happy to be back in California, breakfast is toast and reheated microwave sausage. Strawberries on the side on a good morning. I miss eating good breakfast everyday. And I think my waistline agrees!

Julie said...

yeah - this breakfast always sounds like a lot, until you realize that it's really just one and 1/4 egg each, and a lot of stuff that's good for you. It is probably equivalent, calorie-wise, to my old breakfast drink. And much, much more pleasant!

Rick said...

I can vouch for that "much more pleasant". :)