Thursday, September 25, 2008

Eggstrodinary B-Day Breakfast


This time tomorrow, I'll be celebrating my birthday! (Insert cheering here!) Celebrating might be too big of a word, though, as it's a weekday with weekday stuff on the schedule. Even so, as long as I can sleep in an extra 15 minutes, I'll be a happy birthday girl.

Another thing that will make me be a happy girl on my birthday is a great breakfast. An Eggstrodinary breakfast to be exact! I'd rather enjoy a great breakfast than eat a slice of cake. I can see your raised eyebrows. It's bizzare, I know. I like cake, but I LOVE breakfast. A couple weeks ago, I made the most amazing Crab Cake Eggs Benedict. This is seriously good. This is yummy noise worthy good. This is lick the plate clean good. You will be praising the good Lord for eggs after the first bite.

This past summer, my girls and I enjoyed a girls weekend at the coast with my girlfriends and their children. We had such a terrific time, and the girls particularly liked the special treat of "room service" for breakfast on the last morning we were there. I ordered an amazing crab cake breakfast for myself and just had to recreate it at home. This was my attempt at that, and not only did I nail it, but I think it was better than what we had at the beach.

I've got to warn you, though, that this is a labor intensive breakfast. It's all very easy to make, but it takes a lot of time and planning. It's also loaded with calories, so it really should be reserved for special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries or holidays.

I made the crab cakes the day before. These are a gluten free version coated with gluten free breadcrumbs, but you could use what ever you like. I think panko would add great crunch! For these patties, I really wanted the crab to be the dominant flavor, so you won't see chopped pepper or other veggie chunks in them. Also, the crab meat I had was flaked, so the patty held together expertly. I see no reason why you couldn't use the big chunks of claw meat, though, if you have them. In that case, I'd probably just skip making the patty, and just layer the chunks of crab on the plate. For this version, I used a basic crab cake recipe, bound with eggs, and seasoned delicately with green onion and chives. The outside was coated with the breadcrumbs that were seasoned liberally with seasoned salt, pepper.

Simply mix your ingredients in a bowl, and place it back in the fridge for about a 1/2 hour to firm up a bit. Then remove the bowl, and form the crab mixture into palm sized patties of medium thickness. Using your hands, pat the seasoned breadcrumbs firmly onto the patty. In a heavy skillet, heat some canola oil until hot. Carefully place the patties into the pan without crowding them. Fry until golden brown, and carefully flip over. Fry the second side until also golden. Remove and drain on papertowels. Don't these look crispy delicious? I'm telling you,it was hard to resist not just picking one up and crunch away on it! Do you ever nibble as you cook?

The hollandaise sauce, again, was a basic recipe. I won't post it here as instructions for hollandaise can be explained on the web in much better detail than I can do! I did punch it up a little by adding just a tad of red pepper for some background heat.

I opted to make a soft scrambled egg instead of a poached egg. I like eggs prepared ALL ways ... fried, over easy, scrambled, poached, hardboiled ... it doesn't matter to me. In this case, I thought the colors of the scrambled eggs would look pretty, so that's what I did.

Assembly is a snap. Starting with the bottom layer, place one crabby patty, top with a spoonful of egg, and top with a healthy dollop of hollandaise sauce. Crumble some crisp bacon on top! I sprinkled mine with just a tad of snipped dill. Serve immediately. Take a bite. Make yummy noises.
As a side note, I think different variations of seafood would work beautifully in this application. Shrimp, for certain, would be excellent, as would smoked salmon or smoked trout. A spicy calamari would make for an exotic dish as well. The thing that is so wonderful about this dish is that no flavor overpowers the other. You can taste the eggs, sauce, and seafood independent of each other as well as savor the creamy texture of the sauce and eggs combined with the toasty crunch of the patty. And, since I used gluten free bread crumbs and since there is no english muffin in this version, it's gluten free all the way baby. It's eggstrodinary for sure!

24 comments:

Peter M said...

A super decadent brekkie, you are deserved of it for your B-day...relax, demand to be pampered, sigh and smile!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

This looks so eggscellent! Have a happy birthday!

Deborah said...

Have a wonderful birthday! September birthdays are the best!!

This sounds amazing. My husband made me a big breakfast for my dinner, and I was in heaven! (Although this looks even better!)

Debra said...

Yum...that looks tasty!!
And I hope you have a great birthday.

Jennifer said...

Have a great birthday! Those crab cakes look delicious, I had some at a restaurant last weekend and they were GROSS! I will have to try these.

Esi said...

Hope you have a wonderful birthday! I love crabcakes benedict for brunch. Looks like the effort was worth it!

Linda said...

Have a most excellent Birthday! Be decadent!

Anonymous said...

I will show up with a big present if you invite me on your B-day for this breakfast. Wow is all I can say and Happy Birthday!

Marjie said...

Happy Birthday to my best cyber friend! That looks like a great breakfast. Can you get anyone to cook it for you?

Lisa said...

Personally, I enjoy having a slice of cake for breakfast, though I must say your breakfast does look fabulous! Have a great birthday!!

Proud Italian Cook said...

Have a wonderful B-Day my friend!
that looks absolutely scrumptious!
It reminds me of a breakfast I had in Lincoln City,OR. with the view of the Pacific! Oh how I want to go back!
Big Hugs to you!!
Marie

Pam said...

Happy, happy birthday to you!

This breakfast is TRULY my ideal breakfast. I've had this once at a restaurant - it was divine...yours looks even better!

Finla said...

Looks so delicious and it is indeed Eggstrodinary.
Happy Birthdat to you.
Hope you are having a wonderful Birthdat today

La Bella Cooks said...

I love finding those special dishes while on vacation and recreating them at home. I normally am not a breakfast eater, but I would definitely eat this with the crab cake! Sending you best wishes for a fantastic birthday.

Maria Verivaki said...

wonderful breakfast - happy birthday to you!

(and i love your ideas about lapbooks - i think i'll be organising a few of those with my kids too)

Anonymous said...

Yum! Crab Benedict!
Happy Birthday, Paula! I think you should celebrate all weekend.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday! These look like a really special treat!

Jan said...

Happy Birthday, Paula, indulge yourself. That breakfast looks wonderful.

Swati said...

Happy Birthday Dear!!!

grace said...

i missed your birthday! i hope you got that extra 15 minutes in bed, and i hope you enjoyed an awesome breakfast such as this. eggstraordinary indeed. :)

Lo said...

oooh. Being behind in my blog reading means that I missed your birthday!

I hope your day was specTACular. That breakfast certainly looks wonderful!

The Blonde Duck said...

Happy Birthday! That dish looks wonderful!

Aggie said...

Happy Belated Birthday Paula! I hope you got to sleep in, maybe longer than 15 minutes? What an awesome breakfast! Wow! I might have to have this one in my back pocket for a special day when I really want to make my husband happy! He would go crazy for this!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Now that is a special birthday breakfast Paula. Happy Birthday...I know you had a great day!!!!!!