Lindsay Landis - Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Frittata Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More!

2013 by Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number: 2012904031

eISBN: 978-1-59474-666-6

Designed by Katie Hatz
Production management by John J. McGurk

Quirk Books
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Philadelphia, PA 19106
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Breakfast for dinner isnt anything new. Weve all enjoyed it. From a quick supper of pancakes smothered with maple syrup to a late-night bowl of cereal, breakfast dishes at dinnertime are quite possibly the ultimate in comfort food.

We both have fond childhood memories of those special nights when waffles or French toast appeared on the dinner table. To us, it was such a treat. In reality, our parents were probably short on time or had only a few random ingredients in the fridge, making do with what was on hand.

The truth is, most people dont have time in the morning to take advantage of all the amazing flavors traditionally associated with breakfast. Which is why breakfast for dinner is such a perfect way to enjoy your morning favorites when time isnt as much of an issue.

Throughout this book, weve given typical breakfast dishes a twist and infused morning flavors into more customary evening preparations. While some dishes may be instantly recognizable as wake-up foods, others have subtler ties to the first meal of the day: a hint of grapefruit shining brightly in a rich and creamy risotto, for example, or a robust undertone of coffee in a hearty pot of baked beans. We love these flavors, so why not enjoy them at dinnertime, too? After all, they say breakfast is the most important meal of the daywhether its served in the morning, afternoon, or middle of the night.

stocking up and taking stock

Heres the beauty of breakfast for dinner: you know you can make it when all else fails. Its so much more satisfying than takeout Chinese. And the ingredients arent fussy or hard to find. If you have a handle on the basics, youre good to go.

Thick or thin, smoked or cured, its all about personal preference. With the exception of the , for which a smoky bacon is necessary for flavoring the drink, use whatever kind of bacon you like best.

We prefer to use unsalted butter in our cooking because it lets us control the amount of salt. If all you have is salted butter, reduce the salt by teaspoon per stick of butter.

Large eggs are called for in most of the recipes in this book, but medium eggs are ideal when theyre to sit atop something else, like the . Our preference is always for farm-fresh eggs. The yolks are a deep golden color, the trademark of a true pastured egg. (Supermarket eggs tend to have lighter yolks, the result of the chickens grain-based diets.) When it comes to eggs, fresher is always better, with one exception: for hard-boiling, older white eggs are easier to peel.

Heavy cream, half-and-half, whole, 2 percent, skimthe only difference is the fat content. We dont advise swapping one for another, especially in baking recipes, because the results may not be what you expect. Buttermilk is a different product altogether, so dont confuse it with other dairy milks. However, if you dont have buttermilk on hand for a recipe, you can easily make your own. Just add a splash of lemon juice to whole milk and let it sour for 5 or 10 minutes.

All-purpose flour is just that: good for all purposes, such as breads, cookies, and pancakes. A few recipes (such as the ) call for self-rising flour, which produces a particularly flaky biscuit. You can use all-purpose, cup for cup, in its place, plus 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt per cup of flour.

Because olive oil has a relatively low smoke point (the temperature at which it begins to break down), the flavor can become unpleasant when it is heated to high temperatures. For high-heat cooking or frying, use canola or peanut oil instead.

Our favorite all-purpose type is kosher salt; its what we use daily in our kitchen and what weve used for all the recipes in this book. Iodized table salt may be slightly saltier, so adjust to taste if thats what youre using.

Youll find all sorts of fruits and veggies in the recipes that follow. Theyre easily interchangeable to suit seasonality and personal taste. Swap broccoli for peas and carrots. Replace blueberries with raspberries, blackberries, or fresh sliced peaches. Its hard to go wrong with anything thats in season!