Bacon and Egg Breakfast Cups

My brothers and I attended a school that was a 30 to 45-minute drive away. But because we rode the school bus which had to pick up several other students, we had to be ready to go by 5:30 am. That meant our mom, who also had to go to work, had to be up as early as 4am to make breakfast, our baon and also to get ready for work. On many days we simply took our breakfast with us and ate on the ride to school.

I look back on those days as, coincidentally, the new schoolyear starts today for most students in the country. Portable breakfasts like this are important for schoolers and workers on the go. However, it's also a great brunch served with a salad, as a savory snack or as an appetizer.

BACON AND EGG BREAKFAST CUPS

What's In It?

6 Bread slices, ends removed
1/4 cup melted butter
6 bacon slices
6 eggs
Italian seasoning
1/8 cup cooking oil

*Other things you'd need:
6 large aluminum or glass muffin cups
Round cookie cutters
Oven/oven toaster

Kitchen Conjugations:

Preheat oven to 150-200C. Prep muffin cups, brushing the sides with cooking oil.

Dip the bread slices into the melted butter to soften them. Cut into circles so that they fit the bottom of the muffin cups. Line the muffin cups with the round bread slices.

Line the sides with bacon. Crack one egg into the space in the middle and sprinkle a little Italian seasoning.

Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the eggs are cooked and set.

Bon Apetit! :)

Tokneneng / Kwek-Kwek

This post is more than a month late for the 17th edition of Lasang Pinoy, thanks to my hiatus from blogging and bloghopping (I read the LP announcement just last night). I'm hoping the good people of LP will accept it anyway and include it in the (post) round-up.


Tokneneng is the baby version of Kwek-Kwek, boiled chicken eggs coated with orange-tinted batter commonly sold on the street. Tokneneng is made of boiled quail eggs. Both Kwek-kwek and Tokneneng are my boys' favorites, and today I decided to treat them to the hygienic version. (As most people know, Tokneneng and Kwek-kwek get additional flavor from the spraying of smoke, dust and other airborne elements from people and vehicles passing by as they sit on display on the karitons.)



TOKNENENG

What's In It?

24 pcs. quail eggs, hard-boiled and shells removed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp + 1 pinch iodized salt
a pinch or two of black pepper powder
a pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap (optional)
1/2 cup tap water
2-3 drops red food color
2-3 drops yellow food color
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (for dusting)
1 cup cooking oil (for frying)

Kitchen Conjugations:


1) In a shallow pan prepare and heat cooking oil over medium heat.

2) Meantime, stir in food color into water until you get the desired tint. (Tip: Go for a little darker because the shade will pale when combined with the starches.)

2) In a medium bowl combine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper and Magic Sarap or MSG (if using). Gradually add-in colored water, pouring a little at a time as you beat the batter with slow strokes. Add in any remaining water until the batter is fluid but thick. (See picture above. PS - I ran out of red food color so the batter is yellow.)

3) Pour the extra 1/4 cup all-purpose flour into a plastic bag or container. Add in the shelled quail eggs, cover/seal and roll to coat. (This gives the batter something to cling on.)

4) Dunk the floured eggs into the batter. Pick up using two teaspoons (so that you can keep the eggs rolling and coating in the thick batter and keep them as round as possible) then pop into the hot oil.

5) Fry for a minute each side or until the batter sets. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool and drain on a colander.

6) Serve with sweet-chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce (bottled versions available at supermarkets) or spiced vinegar (white vinegar with minced red onion and a sprinkling of ground black pepper and salt). Enjoy!


PS uli: Today's tokneneng, happening on a school day, figured in the boys' lunch box. To make sure the Toknenengs stay crisp and fresh, the sauce was stored separately, to be poured in just before eating. The extra sauce packs I take home and keep from our fastfood eat-outs came handy. :)

SOME TRIVIA:

1) A quail egg has 3 times more cholesterol than a chicken egg.

2) The chicken figurine in the picture above is a candlestick holder, part of a set I bought in 1997. Her partner, the rooster, fell into pieces after being thrown into the air by one of my nieces, who thought it was plastic and was a toy. They were samples for an export project, and I have not found a replacement for Mr. Rooster.

3) The Easter Eggs (at the background) I bought from the Custom Clay Shop factory in San Pedro, for P10.00 each (I think they sold for P120 each at the malls). Gambel accidentally broke one of the eggs yesterday when his kicking pad flew while practicing TKD.

Easter Eggs

So I'm back -- after 10 years. :) I've been back in the kitchen but haven't been as prolific as before, so I'm afraid my posts would still be not as frequent as they were. For now I'd like to share the "recipe" for easter egg dyes and how to paint easter eggs.

Of course it'd be a lot simpler to just buy chocolate eggs, or just fill up plastic eggs with goodies, but where's the fun in that? My kids and I spent 2 hours painting last Saturday-- 2 hours less of boredom and inactivity.

Easter Eggs

What's in it?

20 eggs - good for 4 kids/kids at heart (a child can paint 5 eggs and still be bitin!)
food colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, violet, pink... you get the drift. :)
tap water
white vinegar


Kitchen Conjugations:

For the eggs:
1. Put eggs in a saucepan and add water, to level that's just enough to cover all the eggs.
2. Bring water to a gentle boil (use medium heat)
3. When water boils, throw in 1/2 t salt (to prevent the eggshells from cracking)
4. Let the eggs boil for 4 minutes.
5. Remove eggs from saucepan and transfer to a deep dish with water. Let cool for half an hour.
6. Remove eggs from waterbath and air dry or wipe with cloth.


For the egg dyes:
Combine 2 teaspoons food color, half a cup of water and 2 teaspoons white vinegar in plastic cups.

To paint the eggs:

(Be sure to line the work area with old newspapers for easy clean-up afterwards.)

Plain, colored eggs - slowly drop the egg into the cup of egg dye. Remove after a minute at least. (Keep the egg longer in the dye if you want a darker shade of the color.) Remove with the use of 2 plastic spoons and lay on an egg tray to dry.

Color-Resist eggs - draw designs and shapes on the egg using crayons. Then slowly drop the egg into a food color cup of contrasting color and let it sit there for about a minute or longer for a darker shade. Remove with the use of 2 plastic spoons and lay on an egg tray to dry.

Double-shade eggs - follow directions for plain colored eggs. When the egg is dry, carefully lower half of the egg into a different-colored egg bath and hold it there for half a minute or more (depending on preferred shade).

Marbled eggs - follow directions for plain colored eggs, but apply new/different colors when the egg is almost dry, using sponges, brushes, etc.

Handpainted eggs -- follow directions for plain colored eggs, let dry then apply drawings (swirls, flowers, stripes, objects, etc.) using tools at hand.

Get adventurous, try mixing and matching . :)