Leahy - Eggs for Breakfast

EGGS FOR BREAKFAST: Delicious, Healthy Recipes to Jump-Start Your Day

A Chef s Guide to Cooking Eggs with Over 50 Easy-to-Follow Recipes

By Donna Leahy Photography by Robert Leahy

Eggs for Breakfast: Delicious, Healthy Recipes to Jump-Start Your Day
A Chefs Guide to Cooking Eggs with Over 50 Easy-to-Follow Recipes

By Donna Leahy

Photography by Robert Leahy

Food Arts Fusion LLC

ISBN - 978-1-942118-05-3

2015, Donna Leahy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

The information contained in this book is based on research and personal experience unless otherwise stated. It should not be substituted for qualified medical advice. Health-related information provided in this book is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always seek the counsel of a qualified medical practitioner for an individual consultation before making any significant changes to your diet and lifestyle and to answer questions about specific medical conditions. The author and publisher disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects that may result from the use or application of the recipes and information within this book. The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties including, without limitation, warranties of fitness or health for a particular purpose. This is work is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering medical or other professional advice, and that neither is liable for damages arising from it.

Thank you for purchasing this book. I am pleased to have you along for the journey to better health and better eating. I know you could have picked from dozens of cookbooks, so to show my appreciation Id like to offer you a bonus: Eggs for Breakfast: Ten Quick and Delicious Recipes for Weekdays. Simply sign up on my website www.donnaleahy.com and I will send you the PDF. I will include you on my list for free stuff and also periodically send you exclusive special offerings as well.

As an experienced chef and author, I write cookbooks on a variety of topics and themes, so my other cookbooks may interest you as well. Please feel free to let me know what aspects of the book you enjoyed and what things you wish I had included. If you have any suggestions for future topics, Id love to hear them as well.

Finally, if you have a moment to review this book, Id really appreciate it. This type of feedback will help me continue to write the kind of cookbooks that you want to use. Thanks again, I look forward to hearing from you.

Chef Donna

Welcome to Eggs for Breakfast, the first in a series of cookbooks highlighting delicious, healthy recipes for the most important meal of the day. Were about to go on a culinary journey that will give you a reason to jump out of bed every morning, beginning with practical techniques and delicious, step by step recipes focusing on eggs. While many have explored the versatility of the egg in dishes ranging from a savory souffl to pastry cream, for me the hens egg shines most brightly when the sun is peaking over the horizon. Morning is the time when eggs can mean the most for us, both as a healthy meal and a culinary adventure. At its simplest, the egg is an easy-toprepare, healthy alternative to consuming processed breakfast food. In its most magnificent form, the egg is a blank canvas for our creative culinary brushes to paint. While eggs play an important role in a variety of dishes, the egg reigns supreme at the first meal of the day.

If you want to consume a healthy yet tasty breakfast, the humble egg may be the most perfect, natural source for providing it. And with minimal effort, the egg can become something less humble, a blank palette for culinary creativity that knows no bounds. Simple to prepare, yet able to exceed our expectationsit seems weve been looking at the perfect breakfast food all this time and perhaps never really appreciated its greatness.

I can hear some of your objections rising, so lets resolve this once and for allYES, you do have time to make breakfast! If you dont believe it, I am about to show you how. As a chef and cookbook author, my goal is to provide a path to healthier eating by encouraging you to prepare your own food. But forgoing processed food does not mean you need to spend all day in the kitchen. In the time it takes you to head to your pantry and un-wrap a processed health food bar, you could have scrambled some eggs. Need a breakfast on the go? Hard cook a few eggs while youre making dinner the night before. Have some extra time on a weekend morning? A little extra effort spent will wow your friends and family with dishes that taste so good they will change the way they look at eggs forever. The egg, a spectacular combination of taste, nutrition and affordability, can single-handedly change the way you view breakfast.

Eggs are affordable because hens produce a lot of eggsup to 270 per year. The average cost of an egg as of this writing is about 20 cents. Yes, 20 cents! (Anyone remember when a chocolate bar cost 20 cents?) Nutritious eggs contain the highest biological value for proteinthats right, more than that fat juicy steak some health and fitness experts think you should consume often to up your protein. Dont get me wrongI enjoy a good steak. But its impossible to beat the value an egg brings to the table.

One egg has only 75 calories, but 6 grams of high-quality protein. It contains 5 grams of fat, of which 1.6 grams are saturated fat. What about cholesterol? you may be asking. Because of its high dietary cholesterol content, the egg was once deemed a health risk, giving rise to yet another processed foodthe world of egg substitutes. Scientists have since learned that cholesterol in food has a minimal effect on blood cholesterol. In fact, saturated fat (yes, the kind found in that big, juicy steak) has a much bigger effect on blood cholesterol. However, many people today still mistakenly believe eggs cause high cholesterol because the message was so pervasive (its ironic that the fact that the experts were wrong is less widely known). Loaded with iron, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids and disease-fighting nutrients like lutein and the antioxidant zeaxanthin, the discovery of the health benefits of consuming eggs continues to rise. Recent studies found that eggs may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older adults. Additionally, brain development and memory may be enhanced by the choline content of eggs.

In terms of taste, eggs have a versatility that makes them a great choice for breakfast. But in the culinary world, breakfast often suffers the same underdog status that eggs have until recently enjoyed. As a professional chef, Ive never understood why breakfast doesnt command the attention of other meals. Perhaps its simply that most high-end restaurants dont open their doors for breakfast. Of course, that doesnt mean that they dont borrow from breakfast fare. Youll find eggs on the menu at the finest Michelin-starred restaurants and the most humble neighborhood bistros. In restaurants around the world, slow-cooked eggs make their appearance atop soups while deep fried eggs garnish an elegant stir-fry of exotic mushrooms. Those qualities that make eggs a component of some of the most memorable dinner dishes around the world are the same ones that make them shining stars on the breakfast table.