The review of Friday's breakfast reminded me of the last time I was truly impressed by an interpretation of eggs benedict. This was in Chicago at a little breakfast and lunch place near Grant Park whose name escapes me. The dish consisted of poached eggs on english muffins and spicy black bean cakes and then dressed with a chipotle squash puree. It was amazing. Interestingly, the Flying Biscuit in Atlanta (one of my favorite places for breakfast) has a recipe, Egg-ceptional Eggs, which consists of two fried eggs on black bean cakes topped with tomatillo salsa and sour cream that sadly just does not work. The Biscuit does breakfast very well, but on this it falls short.
Now I am feeling inspired to construct a recipe similar to that I had in Chicago that I am calling Negro Frijoles Benedict.
Ingredients
English muffins, toasted
Poached eggs
Spicy black bean cakes (recipe links to follow)
Butternut squash and chipotle puree or Sauce or salsa of some kind
Avacado slices
Spicy Black Bean Cake links:
Epicurious.com
Sara Moulton/The Food Network
All Recipes
Many spicy black bean cake recipes come include a sauce recipe or salsa recommendation that would work well. Otherwise, my search for a chipolte and squash puree has turned up little in terms of things that might approximate the sauce that accompanied the dish I had. The closest I can find is from a Salmon recipe on about.com
Otherwise, I think the best bet is to make a basic squash puree (Kabocha or butternut seem to be the best to accompany black beans) and add chipotle to it.
Prepare cakes and sauces according to directions. Lightly toast english muffins and top with avacado slices, black bean cakes, and poached eggs. Spoon sauce and/or salsa over egg. Serve with a side of grits (or polenta!) or potatoes and fresh orange juice (or mimosas!).
Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Bar Harbor/Acadia Part I: Breakfast
As expected, Andy and I spent a good deal of our honeymoon eating. Our cottage had a kitchenette so we were able to save some, but by no means a lot, of money by making our own breakfast and coffee and packing lunches. We are not lobstah eaters in general, but I had a couple of bowls of lobster bisque. Instead, our Maine food of choice is blueberries. These reviews are organized into three parts, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner/Dessert.
We ate two breakfasts in Bar Harbor (although there were many coffee stops throughout the week all over the island). The first was a light meal at Morning Glory Bakery on Monday. We both had coffee. Andy had a walnut cranberry scone and I had a mushroom, asparagus, and bacon quiche that, although not heated all the way through, was very tasty. The bakery was a treat itself and reminded me of the one run by Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in Stranger than Fiction with the employees sporting tattoos and punk rock hairstyles.
The second breakfast was on Friday at The Two Cats Inn and Restaurant. This could very well be The Flying Biscuit's Yankee cousin. Andy had raspberry almond pancakes, spicy sausage, and hot coffee. I had eggs benedict (on a biscuit), a single blueberry pancake, and iced coffee. The hollandaise sauce was thinner than I expected and very lemony, which I liked very much. Overall, the food was wonderful but the service left much to be desired. Our waitress was simply terrible. As customers go, Andy and I are very easy going. As long as our coffee and water cups remain filled, waitstaff tend to fade into the background and we very rarely tip less than 20%. I was also not impressed by the woman who came to bus the table. When I mentioned that the eggs were very good, she merely shrugged me off. Andy mentioned that she may not have spoken English, which makes her reaction somewhat understandable. I don't particularly enjoy waitstaff who are super friendly, but I don't like being treated like an inconvenience. The experience was saved by the work of a very attentive waiter who procured coffee refills and ketchup for us.
Morning Glory Bakery
Food Quality: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 9
Value: 8
Two Cats Inn and Restaurant
Food Quality: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 6
Value: 8
We ate two breakfasts in Bar Harbor (although there were many coffee stops throughout the week all over the island). The first was a light meal at Morning Glory Bakery on Monday. We both had coffee. Andy had a walnut cranberry scone and I had a mushroom, asparagus, and bacon quiche that, although not heated all the way through, was very tasty. The bakery was a treat itself and reminded me of the one run by Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in Stranger than Fiction with the employees sporting tattoos and punk rock hairstyles.
The second breakfast was on Friday at The Two Cats Inn and Restaurant. This could very well be The Flying Biscuit's Yankee cousin. Andy had raspberry almond pancakes, spicy sausage, and hot coffee. I had eggs benedict (on a biscuit), a single blueberry pancake, and iced coffee. The hollandaise sauce was thinner than I expected and very lemony, which I liked very much. Overall, the food was wonderful but the service left much to be desired. Our waitress was simply terrible. As customers go, Andy and I are very easy going. As long as our coffee and water cups remain filled, waitstaff tend to fade into the background and we very rarely tip less than 20%. I was also not impressed by the woman who came to bus the table. When I mentioned that the eggs were very good, she merely shrugged me off. Andy mentioned that she may not have spoken English, which makes her reaction somewhat understandable. I don't particularly enjoy waitstaff who are super friendly, but I don't like being treated like an inconvenience. The experience was saved by the work of a very attentive waiter who procured coffee refills and ketchup for us.
Morning Glory Bakery
Food Quality: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 9
Value: 8
Two Cats Inn and Restaurant
Food Quality: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 6
Value: 8
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