Friday, December 4, 2009

A Breakfast Bowl for Champions Served to You by Gourmet Gin



When it comes to breakfast (brunch) I tend to take many chances with my family's menu.  My culinary inventiveness (actually it is just a desire to use all leftovers) trumps traditional breakfast fare on most days.

This week, for some odd reason, we had fresh delicious corn on the cob at the market.  Go figure, I have never seen it in December EVER!!  It has been nice here (Cincinnati) so I fired up my grill.  I treated my family to a summer dinner of steak, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.

I am using family loosely here because my oldest son is away at college, and my senior in high school has a job, a girlfriend, and a schedule that on most days has me feeding him separate.  This has been hard because family dinners have been an important tradition through the years to me and my husband.  Times change, and I am going to change with them.

 I can see that I am really going to have to practice cooking for two!  I had several ears of corn left and there was no way I was going to let those go to waste.

The breakfast bowl consist of my 2 packets of low fat Ramen Noodles, fresh corn on the cob, fried egg, spicy relish and fresh limes.



Gin's Spicy Relish

4 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

(1) Mix all ingredients and let marinate  for 1/2 hour.  (2) Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat, add oil and then sear remaining ingredients for 4 to 5 minutes stirring frequently.  (3)  ENJOY!

I use this relish on just about everything.  I love it, guess who doesn't?



That's right, Mr. Picky Head.  Imagine that??  His loss!  While I am enjoying perfectly cooked fish with a spicy topping, he is just eating fish.  While I am enjoying a taco with an additional fresh topping,  he is eating the same old "boring" taco.  (I think I will stop here since he is helping me with the purchase of a new camera!)

I divided the Ramen Noodles in three bowls and topped mine with the spicy relish, corn, fried egg and fresh lime slices.  The other two bowls were topped with corn and fried egg.  Why?  Mr. Picky Lucas Head is his father's son.





They are two picky peas in a pod.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  Here the two are at a picture taking event at his girlfriend's (Betsy) house for senior Homecoming. Betsy's Mother ( in the background) was kind enough to host this event at her house.

This dish is perfect anytime of the day.  I want to serve it with poached eggs, but I am terrible at this process!  The relish gives it just enough kick to get your taste buds going and the lime adds a subtle fresh flavor.

So go ahead, dare to serve this "different" breakfast to your family.  Hopefully you don't have Picky Heads in your house!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYBODY!!


11 comments:

  1. You have a beautiful family...very handsome son!

    You definitely made a breakfast of champions...I know it's delicious whenever he gets a chance to enjoy his mom's cooking.

    I'm with you, eating together as a family is very important to me.

    Love your relish recipe, my husband would adore this!

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  2. What a handsome young man. I love to have a "different" breakfast, so I'll be trying your spicy relish very soon. Have a great day.

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  3. handsome family... but duct tape him and teach him to enjoy food... I love the idea of this relish...

    And sigh, I so miss sweet corn on the grill!

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  4. Two very handsome men in your life, and boy do they ever look alike; definitely two peas in a pod.

    Gin, I don't know if you came back and looked at the comments on my candied orange peel, but I have never made them with chocolate. I tried to do a google search for you, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of info on it. I found a couple of blogs, but can't don't "know" the bloggers. Katherine from Smoky Mountain Cafe left a good idea about using a ganache and dipping the candied slices in the ganache and letting them dry after. I think that idea sounded particularly appealing but I don't know how hard gananche gets (it's that chocolate thing again, grins). I think you could just do some semi-sweet chocolate melts and dip them, but what do I know.

    Anyway... your relish sounds absolutely dee-lish! YUM YUM YUM

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  5. Amazing..amazing..I have nothing much to say..all my fave things into one :)

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  6. Wow, a new camera huh! How exciting! This does look like a great breakfast. I quite often go for something sweet but I know things like this are much better for me.

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  7. Your picky family is adorable! Fresh corn in December is impressive! I think I need to get more creative with my breakfast.

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  8. Oh, this is a delicious idea, you know I would gobble it up....with lots of that relish!! Looks great :) And sure, send everything my way...and I'll send it back ASAP! LOL ;)

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  9. I think it's a great idea to diversify breakfast! Cereal is boring.

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  10. Haha that is quite the breakfast creation!! love it.

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  11. Hope everything is ok with you!

    Merry Christmas!

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