I LOVE breakfast. It’s funny because I rarely actually eat breakfast, but breakfast foods are my absolute favorite – the eggs, the pancakes, the bacon *drool*. Food in general brings people together, but breakfast is special to me, and I think more memories are built around breakfast than with any other meal. I could not wait for every Saturday morning to wake up and see that my dad went out and got fresh bagels. We would go all out and make an full breakfast spread with eggs, cheeses, fruits, bacon – the works. Those are unforgettable memories.
BREAKFAST TABLE DETAILS
TABLE: PotteryBarn | CHAIRS: Restoration Hardware – Arm chairs and Side chairs [ours are the burnt oak wood color with the belgian linen upholstery in color “Sand”. These chairs were my dream for such a long time, and I ADORE them!!!] |PLATES: Williams Sonoma – Dinner plate and Salad Plate |GARLAND CENTERPIECE: PotteryBarn Magnolia Garland – no longer available [ similar style HERE] | FAUX FLOWERS – PotteryBarn | CHAMPAGNE FLUTES: PotteryBarn – old [almost identical style HERE!] | GLASSES: Williams Sonoma [We have the entire set of these with various sizes and they are our fav!] | CANDLEHOLDERS: PotteryBarn – old |really struggled to find a similar style, but you can find some really cute ones HERE and HERE] | VOTIVES: PotteryBarn |TABLE RUNNER: A HomeGoods find! | SPIRAL TOPIARY: Wayfair | LANTERN: PotteryBarn [these are the medium size and they are almost sold out so if you find some in-store don’t think twice!]
One of my favorite breakfast food is skillets! They are easy to make and they are great for sharing. I love their sort of country vibe, but I have elevated mine with some fresh herbs and fontina cheese and IT. IS. MOUTHWATERING!
Here is the recipe (feeds 4-6 people):
Things You’ll Need
- Grater
- Cast Iron Skillet : We have THIS ONE from Le Creuset in the white color and 10 inch diameter.
- Rubber Spatulas: I used THIS ONE and THIS ONE. Both from Le Creuset. NOTE: If you buy these in white (or any light color), DO NOT use them in anything acidic such as tomato sauce. They WILL stain – I learned this the hard way.
Ingredients
- 1 large potato, peeled
- 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup diced orange bell pepper
- 1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
- 1/2 cup of diced yellow onion
- 1 cup of sliced mushrooms
- 12 large eggs (yes 12! trust me, soft scrambles need more eggs and this skillet feed a lot of people!)
- 1 tsp fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh chives, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped bacon
- 1/2 cup shredded Fontina cheese
- salt to taste
- 3 TBS butter divided
- 1 TBS oil ( I used grapeseed)
Directions
1.Preheat your oven to 400F
2. In a regular nonstick skillet, add 1 TBS of butter on med-high heat making sure to coat the entire pan. Once melted, add in the bell peppers, onion, and mushrooms. Season with salt to taste and cook until they are about 80% done (they will go in the oven so keep that in mind).
3. Add 1/2 of the herbs to the veggie mixture and stir.
4. Shred your potato into a bowl filled with cold water. Mix, drain, and refill with cold water and repeat. Drain once more, and pat dry with a paper towel. Make sure to squeeze out any excess moisture!
5. In your cast iron skillet, melt 1TBS butter and 1TBS oil. Add your shredded potato into the skillet in a layer and cook on medium-high heat just to brown the bottom.
6. Remove cast iron skillet from heat and add your vegetables on top.
7. Put this in the oven for ~10-15 minutes until potatoes have just cooked.
8. While your skillet is in the oven, crack eggs into a bowl and whisk vigorously. Add salt to taste.
9. In a nonstick pan over low heat (good eggs require LOW heat – always! I can’t stress this enough), add 3/4 TBS butter making sure to coat the pan entirely. Add the eggs into the center of the pan. Once curds JUST begin to form, start moving the eggs around with a rubber spatula making sure to get the bottom and sides of the skillet. Continue to do this alternating between leaving the pan on the burner and taking it off the heat. Once big curds have formed, and your eggs are still slightly runny, remove from heat and a remaining 1/4 TBS of butter. This stops the cooking and keeps your eggs soft and creamy. These should be barely set! These are soft scramble eggs which means they are cooked over low heat for a long time with constant stirring (low and slow). This is a much longer process but trust me, once you do them this way you will never go back! It makes them creamy and heavenly which is especially important because these are still going in the oven and you do not want them to dry out.
10. Here is a guide to the different stages you will see when cooking these soft scrambled eggs. Once you reach the 5th and 6th picture, they are done!
11. Remove your skillet from the oven and add your soft scrambled eggs on top of your veggies.
12. Top that with the chopped bacon and remaining fresh herbs
13. Lastly add your cheese (in my book, there is never such a thing as too much cheese, but add to your liking)
14. Put skillet in the oven just until cheese is melted and bubbly (~3-5 minutes)
15. Enjoy this with some toast. If you really want to be fancy, I love having this with brioche toast, lightly buttered and browned in a pan. YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
We had the yummiest strawberry lemonade mimosas with fresh fruit. It was refreshing and the perfect drink with this skillet.
This dish is so filling and incredibly DELICIOUS! The herbs and cheese really elevate this dish and make it a bit more refined. Fontina is the perfect melty cheese because it melts great, is rich, and it does not get rubbery. The brioche bread is also the PERFECT pairing to the meal. This is a breakfast your whole family will love and one you will want to make over and over!
XOXO,
Monica
