Breakfast Souffle In A Bowl

Mmm. Breakfast for dinner.

Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?

I almost feel guilty eating breakfast for dinner...like I'm cheating or something. But breakfast foods, at least of the hot variety, are a comfort food to me. If left to my own devices, pancakes and french toast would each be on the menu at least once a week.  Now we have been known (in a tight week) to have cereal for dinner (and then I really feel weird going to bed four hours later...), but I don't get caught up in as big of a guilt trip with a hot breakfast for dinner.

Especially when there's bacon involved at any level.

This dish combines several favorite breakfast staples into one complete little package. How can that not be good?  I have several variations to try with this one, which I'll get to in a second, but this is the "master" recipe they all stemmed from.

This is also one of those variable types of dishes. You can take out or add what you like...anytime...and it still works!

Dice up some bacon.

Crisp it up in a pan and drain off on a paper towel.

Add some butter and oil (or if there's enough bacon grease, use that) and toss those shredded taters in.

Crisp those bad boys up!

Whisk up some eggs...

...add some milk...

...some shredded cheese...

...some chopped spinach...

...and whisk your little fingers off!

Add potatoes to the bottom of your bowls (or baking dish).

Add the nummy bacon.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and bacon.

I added a small pat of butter (that I quartered) to each bowl. Totally unnecessary, but I wanted more butter. Sue me.

Put the breakfasty goodness in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Add some more cheese to the top and cook another few minutes.

Take 'em out of the oven and let sit for a few minutes to set.

You can remove to a plate, or serve inside the bowl!

Other variations I might try would be cooked in a tortilla shell, a puff pastry shell, or a thick(er) slice of ham that I would shape inside the same souffle dishes or maybe in a jumbo muffin tin.  I might also toss in some items one might find in an omelet, like peppers, onions, mushrooms, or even some shrimp or crab!

Breakfast Souffle

serves 4

6 strips of bacon, diced
4 potatoes, medium to large sized, peeled and shredded
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk
10 oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese blend (I used Colby Jack)

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.

Heat frying pan over medium heat. Add diced bacon and cook until crisp. Remove to drain on paper towel.

If there is at least 2 tbsp of bacon grease left in the skillet, add 2 tbsp butter and omit the olive oil. Use 2 tbsp (or less) of olive oil to make a total of 2 tbsp (so there's 2 tbsp butter plus 2 tbsp of bacon grease/olive oil). Add shredded potatoes and salt/pepper. Cook potatoes until just crisp and starting to brown.

Remove potatoes to the bottom of glass baking dish (a 9x13 would work) or four 6 inch individual souffle dishes. Sprinkle bacon pieces on top of potatoes.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, spinach and 1-1/2 cup cheese together. Pour egg mixture over bacon and potatoes.

Bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup remaining cheese on top. Bake 3 to 5 minutes more, just until cheese melts.  For a crispier top, switch to broiler and broil for 2 to 3 minutes.

Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve!!

Shimp Chowder Quesadillas

Remember that recipe contest that I mentioned I entered?

I created a total of five recipes and forced Papa Bear, Drama Queen, Little Lawyer, and our fantastic friends Steven, Kristina and Vinka to taste test them and rate them so I could decide which one out of the five was the one I should submit.  I submitted Butternut Soup Muffins (so please go vote for me - the deadline is 11:59 pm tonight!)

This recipe was rated number two out of five. It was a very close race between these quesadillas and the muffins! These were a huge hit...and I will be making these puppies again very soon!

Get yourself some nice plump shrimp.

Chop the shrimp up a little. Put them all in a ziploc.

Open up a can of WP's Tortilla soup.

Pour soup into ziploc with those tasty shrimp and marinate iin the ice box.

Chop up an onion...

A red and green pepper (or any color you happen to have!)...

Toss the onion and peppers in a hot pan with some olive oil.

Saute until they start to brown.

Remove veggies to a plate.

To the same hot pan, add the shrimp and soup and cook until shrimp are just done.

Remove just the shrimp to the veggie plate.

Reduce the soup down to half.

Pour soup over plated shrimp and veggies.

Stir all that beautiful goodness together.

In a clean skillet, heat a flour tortilla.

Top tortilla with shrimp and veggies.

Then add lots of cheese...don't be shy!

Add another tortilla, flip, and cook until oozy and melty! Slice and devour!

Shrimp Chowder Quesadillas

4 flour tortillas
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can Wolfgang Puck Tortilla Soup
1 whole large onion
1 whole red bell pepper
1 whole green bell pepper
4 cups cheese, grated (Monterey Jack or Mexi-Blend)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt (to taste)
Salsa
Sour cream

Pour soup over shrimp. Set aside; marinate for 1 hour or more.

Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Heat skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Cook vegetables over high heat until they start to get brown/black. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Return skillet to high heat, then dump in the shrimp with the soup. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until shrimp is opaque. Remove shrimp and chop (if large) into bite-sized pieces. Cook soup down until little liquid remains. Remove from skillet.

In a separate (clean) skillet, heat butter. Place a tortilla in the skillet, then layer on ingredients: cheese, vegetables, and shrimp. Top with a little more cheese and a second tortilla. Cook on both sides, adding butter before flipping to the other side so the tortilla won't dry out. Remove from skillet and slice into wedges.

Serve with rice, beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole—whatever you’d like!